A Very Productive and Frugal Day

Today was very busy, but also very productive. I had a lot to do today and my hubby canceled a breakfast meeting to stay home and help me. You see, my brother and his family are coming to visit us tomorrow for the week. Since we just moved here last month, there were alot of little things that hadn't quite gotten done and I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I really appreciated the sacrifice my hubby made to help me.

After getting all that done, I then made some homemade buttermilk since my brother likes buttermilk. I also made some peanut brittle and peanut butter. Then I made a double batch of my homemade granola cereal so we would have enough for the week with extra mouths to feed.

I also made a trip to Albertson's to take advantage of a great deal they had for free eggs, milk and bread, as well as many items for only $1.88. And strawberries were only $1.48 for a large container, as well as blueberries for $1.88 a pint. Picked up some Scott Extra Soft Toilet Tissue for $.88 and some Hunt's Spaghetti Sauce for $.88, too. I also stopped by Basha's to get their chicken breasts for $.69/lb. I was able to get 6 packages with 4 breasts in each.

I also refilled my foam soap and mixed up some liquid for a box of baby wipes that had gone dry. Whew! It makes me exhausted just reiterating all this for you! I was very busy, my family all helped, too, and we accomplished a great deal!

Have some last minute cleaning to do in preparation tomorrow morning, but we are very excited to have them coming to visit us in our new house!

Blessings Galore Today!

This morning I went out to yard sales looking for 2 items: a smaller bookshelf for all of our music books and curtains for my daughter's bedroom. As I got into the van about 8am, I asked God to lead me to the places where I could find what I was looking for at a great price (I only had $10 in cash on me and couldn't afford much more than that anyway).

Within the first 3 stops, I found a wonderful bookshelf and they were only asking $10 for it. I had picked up a bread tray with tile warmer at a previous stop, so I only had $8 on me. They took $8 for the bookshelf! Then I had a little time to kill before the Goodwill opened at 9am (today was their 50% off everything day), so I wandered around a little more to a few more yard sales. I passed an area where there were a bunch of people handing out tons of produce. My curiosity got the best of me, so I stopped. I walked over to find out if it was a farmer's market or something, and found out that it was a food bank farmer's market giving away carts full of produce for FREE! All you had to do was sign in, get a number and wait your turn. So I decided God had led me here to bless us and took my turn. I received a pizza, more yellow squash than we could ever eat, about 20 bunches of green onions, honeydew, a bag full of apples, some peaches, a bunch of packaged bake goods, a box of candy canes, 4 small cabbages, a bag full of leaf lettuce, a fruit tray, 6 cartons of grape tomatoes, some ready to bake Christmas tree cookies, a 2.98lb Tri-tip from Trader Joes (priced at $17!!) and a few other things. Whew!! What a blessing that was! I shared some of the produce with our pastor's wife and she is going to use some of it for our church meal tomorrow. I also sat a peeled almost all of the apples to make a couple of apple crips (since most of them were bruised). I will be making Yellow Squash Casserole and the Tri-tip for dinner tonight. I baked the pizza for lunch.

Then I finally got to Goodwill and they had curtains made of fabric with horses on them - my daughter's room is horse-themed!! And they were less than $6 for three panels (I am going to use one to make accent pillows, etc.)!!!

God is SO awesome! He is so anxious to bless us if we will just ask Him and seek His leading in everything we do! Even going out to yard sales to find a few items!!

Frugal Valentine Ideas...Yummy Valentine Treats

Works for Me Wednesday is being hosted today over at Don't Try This at Home while Shannon is in Uganda.

For Valentine's Day, I have been thinking and planning easy homemade ideas that won't hurt the budget. Here is what I have come up with:

Heart-shaped Microwave Fudge - I will add marshmallows to my daughters. I am also going to try it with peanut butter for my son.

Coconut Clusters and Peanut Clusters for my hubby.

For breakfast, we will have Eggs-in-the-Basket (with cutouts heart-shaped).

And I am going to leave pink and red heart-shaped "love notes" all over the house and in my hubby's lunch and backpack. I am up late after everyone is in bed anyway, so this will be a nice surprise when they wake up.

That's all - enough for me! Just want to express how much I love them!

It Feels Like Spring, So Let's Make Salad!

Ok, I realize that most of you are still in the peak of winter with plummeting temperatures and snow. But we live in the Sonoran Desert and our winters are usually beautiful. These last two months have been quite cold for us and I have been making hot stews and soups alot to keep us warm (we do not have heat in our house, so temps in the 40s at night is really chilly for us inside the house).

But yesterday felt like spring with a gorgeous 78 degrees and, of course, sunshine! We only see clouds a few days each year, so our weather is pretty monotonous:-).

Now that some of you want to beat me with a stick, I will share my recipe for this delicious pasta salad I threw together. I started with some whole grain penne pasta, cooked and drained. I left it to cool while I chopped what I had in the frig: carrots, celery tops (I used to throw them away), onion, tomatoes, cucumber, baby spinach, and broccoli. To this I added about 1/3 of a piece of turkey ham (very frugal meat - about 3 meals for $2.00), chopped into cubes. When the pasta was cool, I tossed it all together with some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and topped with some Parmesan cheese.

Everybody loved it! And my hubby took the leftover (not much) for his lunch at work today. Since most of the produce I got from our community food bank, the whole meal probably cost me about $2.00! That fits my frugal budget, how about yours?

Frugal and Healthy Breakfast

I was in a quandry today what to make for breakfast. Then I came up with a frugal and healthy dish! I had some potatoes, LOTS of spinach and only 3 eggs to feed 4 of us. So here is what I made:
Spinach, Potato and Egg Pitas
I took 4 small potatoes and diced them with the skins left on (for extra nutritional value). I sauteed them in a little canola oil and sprinkled some 21 Seasoning Salute (from Trader Joe's) on them. Put the lid on the skillet for a few minutes to soften them. Then I added a BIG handful of baby spinach (I just ran the knife through it to chop it a little). When the spinach seemed mostly cooked, I added the 3 eggs, scrambled. Let this cook a few minutes and when the eggs seem almost set, sprinkle a handful of Fiesta Blend shredded cheese. Put the cover on and turn the heat off. Then I spooned this mixture into some of my homemade whole wheat pita pockets, added a little Chalula (hot sauce) and we had a great breakfast!

Preserving Citrus

For us here in the Southwest, citrus is in season. Yes, I know this seems weird for any of you on the East coast, but that's how it is out here in the Southwest. Everything is in season at different times than I am used to, being from the Northeast.

Anyway, we receive alot of lemons and oranges that we cannot possibly eat before they begin to dry out. So I needed to find a way to preserve it. Here is what I found. You can squeeze the juice from the lemons or oranges and put it in ice cube trays to freeze. After it is frozen solid, just pop them out and put in a ziploc bag and back in the freezer. Then when you need some lemon or orange juice for a recipe or lemonade, just take them out, pop them into the microwave for a few seconds and you have wonderfully fresh juice!

You can also freeze the peels in a ziploc bag for future use as zest. No need to thaw first, just use your citrus zester or fine grater.

For more great Kitchen Tips, visit Tammy's Recipes.

Isn't Vinegar Amazing?

Isn't Vinegar Amazing? My friend, Jaye, emailed me yesterday with her tip about using vinegar to wash fruits and vegetables. She said, "You just mix 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar. It kills 99% of the bacteria and removes traces of pesticides, etc... and it’s super cheap!" Thanks, Jaye!

Here are some uses from the Vinegar Institute:

Garbage disposal cleaner:
Garbage disposals may be kept clean and odor free with vinegar cubes. Vinegar cubes are made by filling an ice tray with a mixture of 1 cup of vinegar and enough water to fill the ice tray and then freezing it. Run the mixture through the disposal, and then flush it with cold water for a minute or so.

Coffee maker cleaner (automatic):
White distilled vinegar can help to dissolve mineral deposits that collect in automatic drip coffee makers from hard water. Fill the reservoir with white distilled vinegar and run it through a brewing cycle. Rinse thoroughly with water when the cycle is finished. (Be sure to check the owner’s manual for specific instructions.)

Clean the microwave:
Boil a solution of 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.

Deodorize the kitchen drain:
Pour a cup of white distilled vinegar down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.

Clean the refrigerator:
Wash with a solution of equal parts water and white distilled vinegar.

Clean and disinfect wood cutting boards:
Wipe with full strength white distilled vinegar.

Brass polish:
Brass, copper and pewter will shine if cleaned with the following mixture. Dissolve 1 teaspoon of salt in 1 cup of white distilled vinegar and stir in flour until it becomes a paste. Apply paste to the metals and let it stand for about 15 minutes. Rinse with clean warm water and polish until dry.

Ant deterrent:
Ant invasions can sometimes be deterred by washing counter tops, cabinets and floors with white distilled vinegar.

Cleaning Stainless Steel Appliances
Apply vinegar with a soft cloth to remove streaks from stainless steel appliances. Try in an inconspicuous place first.

Cleaner Dishes and Glasses
Pour 1 ½ cup to 2 cups white distilled vinegar in the bottom of dishwasher, along with regular dishwasher soap. Wash full cycle.

Remove Refrigerator Smells
Place 1 cup apple cider vinegar in a glass and set in refrigerator. Within 2 days, any smell is gone!

Check out Tammy's Recipes Kitchen Tip Tuesday for alot more tips that are very useful!

A Popcorn Secret

I can only imagine why we have never heard of this before - it is a well kept secret. Did you know that you can use regular popping corn and a brown paper bag to make popcorn in your microwave? No oil or butter?

Just throw a handful of popcorn in the little brown lunch bag, fold over the top a couple times, place in microwave and turn on for about 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. Then stand by and listen, when the popping slows down, turn it off. In just a couple minutes, you will have freshly popped popcorn with no oil or butter! Then you can season it however you like (I personally like Cajun Seasoning on mine) and enjoy! So simple, so quick, so healthy! It is my favorite snack!

Oh, and make sure you reuse the brown paper bag over and over, unless (this happens occasionally) you get a tear from a particularly violent popcorn:-).

Foam Soap Refill

Do you love that foam soap but hate the price? Well, my daughter absolutely LOVES foam soap and begged me to buy it. One day I broke down and bought ONE. When it ran out, I thought to myself, "I wonder if you can make this soap?" Well, I went out and searched on the internet (don't know where I would be without this great instant resource:-) and found it is easy AND CHEAP!! The foaming is in the pump, not the soap.

All you have to do is put 3 Tablespoons of liquid hand soap or dishwashing soap in a bowl with 2/3 cups of water. Gently mix soap with water - DO NOT SHAKE! Pour into foam soap dispenser and VOILA! More foam soap at a fraction of the cost of any other since you are only using 3 Tablespoons!!

How cool is that? And I am sure your kids will wash their hands more often and for longer with the foam soap. Mine do!

Make Your Own SAFE & CHEAP Cleaning Products!

These are my most requested recipes - homemade cleaning products. I used to make and use these when we lived in Myrtle Beach, SC, but I got away from it when we moved to Mexico. Then last summer I realized how silly it was to be struggling financially and buying all those expensive cleaning products when I like the homemade ones better. So I went out at bought three things: Borax, baking soda and white vinegar. Yep, that's it! Three ingredients for most all of these recipes. Tomorrow I will tell you about making laundry detergent, and that requires two other ingredients: Washing Soda and Fels Naptha Soap.

Here are the recipes:

Window/Glass Cleaner
1/2 white vinegar
1/2 water
Mix equal parts to fill your spray container.

All Purpose Cleaner (like 409)
1 quart warm or hot water
1 tsp. Borax
squeeze of lemon juice or splash of vinegar
Mix together and pour into spray container.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Sprinkle baking soda around the toilet bowl, wait for a few minutes, scrub with toilet bowl brush and flush.

Dishwasher Detergent
1 cup Borax
1 cup baking soda
1/4 cup salt
Mix together and store in a container (I like to use old Gatorade or powdered drink mix containers). Use 1 Tablespoon per wash load. For spot-free dishes, put white vinegar in rinse compartment. Also, if you have a problem with getting a film on your dishes, put a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent (like Dawn) in with the dishwasher detergent.

Enjoy a clean and healthy home!