Thrifty Living

Broccoli Chicken Cheddar Braided Crescent Recipe

2012-02-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

This is our new favorite meal!

This beautiful braided crescent is easy and quick - as in the whole thing is prepped while your oven preheats! That's my kind of dinner. I saw this recipe on Food Family Finds, and knew I had to try it.

Mix together chicken (I've used canned chicken as well as Cousin Darlene's chicken), broccoli, cheese, egg, and mayo together in a bowl. When I used leftover chicken I didn't add the mayo.

Spread your crescent rolls out to form a rectangle. You can use store-bought crescents, but I've been making my own and they are fantastic! I think I've actually cured myself of the urge to buy Pillsbury crescent rolls! (recipe below)

Add the chicken mixture to the middle of the crescent roll rectangle. Then use kitchen shears or a knife to make strips along each side. (this looks like the braided calzone, doesn't it?!?)

Beginning from one end, alternate sides, pulling the dough across at an angle. Each strip should be close to the one before it, but it certainly does not need to be perfect.

This part actually goes quickly...

and yet the final result is awesome!

Brush the braid with a wash of egg white mixed with a tablespoon of water. Top with more cheese if desired.

Bake in your preheated oven at 375 for 30 minutes...golden, cheesy, and delicious!

Homemade Crescent Roll Recipe (adapted from food.com)

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup Crisco

1 cup water

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

1 teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

Beat eggs and sugar until well combined. Add sugar, Crisco, water, yeast, salt, and 2 cups flour. Gradually add remaining 2 cups of flour. Turn out onto a well floured surface and knead in enough additional flour so the dough is no longer sticky. I usually do not have to add much additional flour. Divide the dough in half - each half makes about 12 crescent rolls or one broccoli chicken braid.

To make immediately, let dough rise in a warm place for about 1 hour. Then shape dough into crescent rolls and bake or flatten on a cookie sheet for the braid.

To make later, store in the refrigerator without rising. As long as you let it sit for about 4 hours, that will be sufficient rise time in the fridge. Or store for up to 2 days and use as above.

Broccoli Chicken Cheddar Braided Crescent Recipe (adapted from Food Family Finds)

2 cups chicken, cooked and chunked - use canned or leftover chicken for minimal prep
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped frozen broccoli, thawed
1 egg yolk (reserve egg white for wash)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
rosemary (or other preferred herb)
crescent roll recipe (above) or 2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375. Combine chopped chicken, cheese, broccoli, egg yolk, mayo, and rosemary in a bowl. Spread crescent roll dough onto a large cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Add the chicken mixture to the middle of the dough. Using kitchen shears or a knife, cut strips along each side of the chicken. Start from one end and alternate sides, pulling a strip of dough across to the opposite side. When the whole braid is finished, add about 1 Tablespoon of water to the reserved egg white and brush the top of the braid with the wash. Sprinkle additional cheese if desired. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown. Slice and enjoy!

Homemade Valentines: Brown paper candy pouches

2012-02-08T14:49:00.000-05:00

I was trying to come up with a cute homemade valentine that wouldn't be too labor intensive, and I remembered how much fun I had with the sewn paper candy pouches for Christmas. So with just a few adjustments, I ended up with this:

I used a cookie cutter to trace a heart shape on a Trader Joe's paper bag. After I cut out the hearts, we decorated them with stickers and stamps.

I filled a few with little lollipops, which ended up working way better when I hand-stitched around the edges instead of using my sewing machine.

I filled the rest with pink M&Ms.

Super simple, and minimal time involved. You don't even need a sewing machine! (although I will add that my fingers were a bit sore after stitching a few of these by hand)

Aren't they cute?

Let me know if you make them!

Quick dinner recipe: Cheesey baked chicken

2012-02-07T09:06:00.000-05:00

This has been a family favorite since I was in middle school. My family has always called it Cousin Darlene's Chicken, thanks to my dad's cousin who made it for us originally. Its super easy, and I even make it in the crockpot if I'm going to be out for a while that particular day.

All you need is condensed cream of chicken soup (or mushroom works too), swiss cheese, and bread crumbs or Stove Top stuffing. And chicken!

I spread a little of the soup in the bottom of my baking dish with a spatula. Place chicken in the baking dish and cover with remaining soup. You could also add a little water, depending on how much chicken you are making. Top with swiss cheese and sprinkle on stuffing. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes, or until chicken is done.

I probably shouldn't even include these "after" pictures. The lack of daylight when I finish dinner is really making it difficult to post recipes! Trust me, these look way better in person. (And yes, two large pieces of chicken are already missing)

We usually serve this with rice and veggies. The soup makes a lovely sauce that is amazing poured over your rice. This is a great comfort food in the winter, and a winner for the whole family!

Side note: I am planning to use these instructions from Mindfully Frugal Mom to make my own cream of chicken soup. Have you ever made yours from scratch? I'm looking forward to trying it!

January Goals Update

2012-02-06T08:15:00.000-05:00

We are just over a month into 2012 which is a great mile marker to evaluate how I'm doing on my year-long goals. Here is a look at how I am doing on my big goals:

Read 48 books. I read 6 in January (that's 2 ahead of my pace for the year) - 4 were "normal" reads, one audio book, and one read aloud to my daughter. I use Goodreads to keep track of what I read.

Memorize 52 Scripture verses. My husband and I are working the Fighter Verses together. We have 4 out of 5 weeks memorized right now, so that's a solid start! Also, we are working with our 3-year-old on memorizing the "Foundation verses" - these are shorter and have a visual aid to help them remember the passage. She has 3 of 5 memorized, and then yesterday came out with our whole week one verse, which is much longer!

Work on our Adoption. We have made only a little progress here. We are looking at different agencies right now and talking with friends who have experience with foster care adoptions. Hoping for some real news to report at the end of February!

Organize and Declutter. I'm loosely using Home Storage Solutions 52 weeks to a more organized home as a guide. I worked on the kitchen in weeks 1-3, thanks to my ongoing battle against food waste, I have very little to do in the fridge and freezer, and I'm hoping to get a shelf up in my kitchen this week to store my cookbooks in a location that makes more sense. I'm happy with this progress!

I have new motivation for making our home more organized thanks to Organized Simplicity. As I'm going through old papers, trinkets, and a few boxes that have yet to be unpacked from our move (3 years ago!) I am asking "is it beautiful? is it useful?" If the answer is no, I'm getting rid of it! I highly recommend Organized Simplicity; its an easy read with tons of practical advice.

Lastly, I have a fun ongoing project for this year. Every weekend I'm writing down one or two highlights from our week - favorite family activities, important things that happened, or special memories. Sometimes these are big, but sometimes just a little thing that I know would be forgotten even a few weeks from now. We're planning to read through them at the end of 2012. If you would like to join me, now is the time! You could probably come up with something from each week so far in the year by looking back at your calendar. But I know that if I don't write things down, they will be gone from my memory way too soon!

Do you have long term goals set for the next several months? If not, I cannot recommend it enough. Making a goal and breaking it down into manageable smaller goals has been so helpful for our family. Its great to be able to look back and see that we are making progress, even if it is not always quite as much as I had hoped!

Here is my original goals post.

Simple Winter Activities, Part 2

2012-01-31T14:19:00.001-05:00

Did you see the first installment of our winter crafts and activities? Here are four more winter-themed crafts that we've enjoyed the last few weeks.

I thought this brown paper bag fireplace from Kaboose was too cute! We've used it as decoration for our TP snow people, they are the perfect size.

I took a plain brown paper bag and used a ruler to draw brink lines on the bag. Then we colored it with a red crayon.

I also cut out the rest of the fireplace out of construction paper. The link to Kaboose has a patter, but I just free handed it. Its not perfect, but it still turned out well.

Our finished product!

I saw this ice activity on Delia Creates and thought it was pure genius! I took several plastic containers I use for leftovers and filled them with water. Then I put in a few different toys, mostly taken from our bath toy collection. A few hours in the freezer turned them into blocks of ice filled with hidden treasures!

I also used some leftover sour cream and yogurt containers to make some different sizes and shapes.

I filled up a tub with warm water and stuck the kids on a towel in the kitchen. They loved playing with the giant ice cubes and seeing the animals appear as the ice melted. I also frozen some ice cube trays with colored water. First we added the yellow ice cubes. You can see the water has turned pretty yellow here! Then we added the blue cubes (lower left corner of the tub) and watched the water change from yellow to green. They absolutely loved it, especially getting to play in the water in the middle of winter.

2 Teaching Mommies has a great Polar Lands Preschool pack available for free download, which we have really enjoyed. One of the fun activities is to take this penguin printable and attach him to a old cereal box. Cut a hole in his beak and then you have a great fine motor skill activity!

During their morning snack, my kids fed him cheerios while they ate some of their own. Then we got down and used poof balls to feed the penguin. They sat together and stuffed him full of poof balls, and then I had them do "races" - a relay across the room to get poof balls then run back to feed the penguin. Its a great way to burn off some energy when you are stuck inside!

This last craft is probably my favorite. I love homemade puffy paint. We use it for tons of different art projects, and it is easily colored too. For this snowman, white was the perfect color though. Our supplies: shaving cream, school glue, three paper plates, two pipe cleaners, and foam sheets.

To make your puffy paint, mix shaving cream and glue in about equal parts. I make it a little heavier on the shaving cream side usually. I cut the paper plates to make the three snowballs for our snowman and we used paint brushes to heap on the shaving cream.

I cut a had, buttons, and the mouth out of our foam paper (but you could use construction paper too). I cut out a triangle for a carrot nose, and the blue scarf also. Since the paint has glue in it, we could just stick the foam into the puffy paint and everything held in place!

What a great face! The puffy paint gives such great texture and depth.

We taped the plates together and hung him up on our front door!

Do you have any favorite winter activities to share?

A little sewing project

2012-01-30T16:18:00.000-05:00

I had some fun with a quick sewing project a few weeks ago. My sister, who is a photographer, was visiting that day, so it made it a lot easier to get some nice pictures...thanks, Becca!

I found these adorable babydoll bunk beds sitting by the curb on trash day several months ago. They were adorable and seemed to be in decent shape, so I decided to give them a new home!

I wanted to give them a bit of makeover, though, so I took an old sheet and a curtain valence we were not using and set to work to repurpose!

From the old flat sheet I made fitted sheets for both of the doll mattresses, a flat sheet for each, as well as a little pillow.

I kept things really simple...sew the edges for the fitted sheets, then flip them inside out.

The unused valence became baby blankets!

I used a seam-ripper to take off the loops for the curtain rod so I was left with a large rectangle. I cut that into two smaller pieces, finished the end, and instant blankets!

The end result:

This was a simple and easy way to repurpose (someone else's) trash and a few things that were collecting dust in my house. And I'm happy to report that a certain little girl is loving her baby bunk beds!

Any recent repurpose stories to share?

Chick-Fil-A style chicken nugget recipe

2012-01-27T09:39:00.000-05:00

One of the most read posts on Thrifty Living is the Chick-fil-a nugget recipe. It always makes me cringe slightly when I click back through the post, though, because the pictures are not some of my best quality! So, here is an updated post of the same recipe.

You will need:
Cooking Oil {you can use Peanut but it is not necessary} -- I always use vegetable oil and they taste great
1 Egg
1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons of Powdered Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Tablespoon of Salt (I cut that in half)
2 Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast, cut in strips or cubed

First mix together the egg and milk and let the chicken pieces set in the mixture. (There is plenty of speculation that Chick-fil-a adds dill pickle juice to the marinade, but I've never done this). In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt and pepper and stir.

I let it soak for an hour or so. Its nice to be able to prep everything before hand so all I have to do is coat and cook the chicken when its time to eat.

Heat oil (I used a cast iron skillet on the stove over medium heat). Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mixture until coated. I usually double dip - so egg/milk, then flour, back to egg/milk, then flour.

Place chicken in hot oil. Cook about 5 minutes per side, depending on the size of your nuggets. Resist the urge to flip too early! You want them to be golden brown.

Once the chicken is cooked on both sides, remove from oil and place on a paper towel to dry. I usually cook mine in two batches.

Be sure to pair with your favorite dipping sauces...we use BBQ, ranch dip, blu cheese dip, ketchup, or honey.

These are really best the day they are cooked. We usually have a few leftovers, and they are just not the same the next day!

Originally from Under the Table and Dreaming, though you can find it on many different blogs as well.

Simple Winter Activities, Part 1

2012-01-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

We've had so much fun lately with some winter themed crafts and activities! These are all so simple; you probably have all the supplies already in your home.

First, crystal snowflake:

You could make these for pretty much any occasion. Just mix Borax and boiling water in a widemouth mason jar and suspend your pipe cleaner shape with a string.

Check back the next morning and (like magic!) you have crystals. I just made a simple snowflake shape, but you could do anything - I think a snowman would be really cute!

Speaking of snowmen, look at this cute couple:

Our supplies here were two toilet paper tubes, construction paper, marker, and glue. We wrapped the toilet paper tubes in white paper, added strips for their hats and scarves and a little triangle nose, then used a marker to dot eyes, mouth, and buttons.

As a final touch, we rubbed some glue on the snowman's hat and cheeks and sprinkled with salt for a nice textured look.

This penguin was the most labor intensive:

For detailed instructions check out Kaboose. There is also a template for the penguin.

I keep construction paper cut into little pieces in bags for mosaics. We don't do them a ton, but it saves a step to have the paper pre-cut.

I threw together this snow shoveling activity so I had a few minutes to prep the penguin craft and my kids loved it! We had a small amount of snow this weekend, so they really enjoyed pretending to shovel and dumping the "snow" over and over again.

I put the cotton balls in a pyrex lid to they had a little help getting them on their shovels. And we dumped the "snow" into all sorts of different containers!

I'm hoping to post a few more of our favorite winter activities soon!

The Ice Cube Method: Not just for baby food!

2012-01-19T07:19:00.000-05:00

Remember the ice cube method for freezing homemade baby food? I've been doing a good bit of ice cube freezing since I started making baby food. I already try to portion and freeze a number of different foods (like spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese, or freezer meals like shepherd's pie or lasagna), but I've found that liquids work really well frozen in ice cube trays.

Some of my recent favorite freezes are juices (like the leftover pineapple juice from canned pineapple), and homemade stock. I've also used muffin tins to freeze stock. They are slightly more practical for me because I usually need at least a cup of stock at a time.

Sometimes the cubes need a little coaxing to pop out of the trays. I just use a paring knife and they come right out.

Recently, I decided to freeze some root beer that had gone flat. Incidentally, have you ever noticed that root beer is one of the best off brand sodas?

I'll use the root beer cubes the next time I make pulled pork. It won't matter that the soda is flat and we love the way pork tastes when it is cooked in root beer!

Do you have any creative ways to freeze food? Even though I'm not posting about food waste anymore I still believe that using up ALL the food you buy is one of the best (and simplest) ways to save money!

Charlotte's Web Birthday Cake

2012-01-17T09:12:00.000-05:00

This weekend was our daughter's 3rd birthday! We had a great time celebrating, and I especially had fun making her special birthday cake. This year I asked her what she would like on her cake, and amid the dozen or so different ideas, she kept coming back to "animals".

I looked at a bunch of different animal cake ideas online, and while a bear or a monkey or a fish were all cute (and I'm sure she would have loved it), I wanted to do something a little more specific and personal. I found a video with instructions for a barn cake with farm animals on Betty Crocker, and the idea was born...Charlotte's Web!

We read Charlotte's Web aloud this past year and she really enjoyed the book. I made a special Wilbur cupcake for her. (I made the cake from scratch using this chocolate cake recipe from the Frugal Girl. And I bought canned icing...priorities!)

I made a number of changes to the instructions to make it fit our needs, specifically I omitted all of the coconut! Instead of coconut hay and grass, I just used colored sugar sprinkled on the barn. I also added a spiderweb to the open door of the barn, along with a secret message from Charlotte...can you see it?

The barn was simple; I made 4 cuts in the cake to create a slanted barn roof. Then frosted the whole thing and dragged my offset spatula from top to bottom to create a slat effect for the barn. The red frosting was a little tough to get right. I used a red gel in white icing and followed the tip in the video of adding a little cocoa powder to get a better red color. It was a little more of a faded red than I had hoped, but it still worked well. I used graham crackers for the roof and the barn doors, and pretzels for the doorframes.

For the pigs, I used pink M&Ms in the snout, chocolate chips for eyes, and rolled out fruit leather cut into triangles for the ears.

The sheep were supposed to be covered with mini-marshmallows that were cut in half. My cutting in half didn't work great so I opted to squish them flat instead. I also squished marshmallows into rectangles for the sheep ears instead of gumdrops.

The chicks were rolled in yellow sugar...I love the sleek and clean way they look! I used an orange Starburst candy for the beaks - flattened some with a rolling pin and then cut into little beak shapes. Chocolate chips for the eyes again here.

Check out last year's cake also...cupcake train!

Organized Simplicity: Free download!

2012-01-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

This is a great freebie! Amazon has Organized Simplicity available for free on Kindle right now. Prices can change at any time on Amazon, so make sure to download your free copy quickly. If you do not have a Kindle, you can still read Kindle books on your computer or smartphone.

Organized Simplicity is a great book that I really enjoyed. Read more of my thoughts about this book on my goals post.

Keeping things real

2012-01-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

Last week I wrote about my goals for this year, including staying organized around the house. While organization is not something that happens over night, sometimes it seems like the messes and disorganization can happen in just a few hours!

Thanks to a busy day and evening yesterday, this morning I had my work cut out for me. Living room...

Kitchen table...

Counter and sink...

Talk about a daunting task. I had some time this morning to devote to getting things under control, so while I'm not done yet, here's a look at the progress.

Table...

And living room...

I actually enjoy (or at least somewhat enjoy) cleaning up when I've got a good audio book to listen to at the same time. This morning's companion, The Hobbit!

Have you tried listening to audio books while doing household chores? Its a great way for me to use my time wisely to make my goals happen!

Get Organized!

2012-01-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

One thing our family has been trying to do better at over the last few months is keeping things more organized around the house. I've read several things lately that encouraged me to make this a priority. I'm not calling organization a "new years resolution"; I want organization to be a habit that stays with me for the rest of my life. Building on the ways I improved last year, and looking ahead to where I want to be in another year...that's a practical application of Thrifty Living for me!

Are you looking for some encouragement to get organized too? Check out a few of my favorite resources:

The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine. She has a lot of good ideas about de-cluttering. Her "time budget" has changed the way I think about how I spend time on specific tasks. I can certainly carve out just 15 minutes a day to spend on organizing or de-cluttering. And that time adds up - over an hour a week and 65 hours in a year (that's a ton of time!). Check out my in depth review of the book here also.

Right now, I'm reading Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living by Tsh Oxenreider. This is a fantastic book about the joys of living simply and purposefully. I've waited 6 months or more to get this book from the library because of the number of holds...I totally should have just bought a copy of my own!

If you benefit from having a very detailed schedule, you may want to check out Home Storage Solutions' series, 52 weeks to a more organized home. This blog has 52 areas to de-clutter and organize with a lot of practical tips for each specific area. You can take the 52 weeks challenge and stay accountable with others who are looking to get their homes in order this year also.

Being organized is about way more than file folders and to-do lists, though they surely have their places. Living organized allows you to do the things that matter most, to accomplish your goals, and to be purposeful with your time

Last year I set a goal to read 48 books (4 books a month), and I read 53! This isn't something that just happened, I had to be intentional. I started using Goodreads to track the books I read, as well as any good books I wanted to check out in the future. I had to give up some things to make time to read. I watch very little TV, I read less articles on the internet, and I read instead of folding laundry and filing papers. (Well, sometimes I folded laundry and filed papers while listening to an audiobook, but not always!) I feel more organized this year because I made time for something I love (reading). I feel more organized even though everything is not perfect.

My 3 Big Goals:

Read 48 books. I think this is a manageable goal that will challenge me and be fun again this year. This also includes audio books.

Memorize 52 Scripture verses. My husband and I are working on these together using the Fighter Verses app. There are 5 sets of verses (its a 5-year plan) and we are starting with set one. If memorization is something you want to grow in, check out the Fighter Verses site, there are a lot of great resources (the app is $3, but comes with quizes and many other aids).

Work on our Adoption. We want to adopt a child through the Delaware Foster Care System. Our goal for the month of January is to finalize our adoption agency and begin the necessary paperwork. The timetable for an adoption is not set in stone, so it is likely that the adoption will not take place this year, but it would be a blessing if things moved quickly too!

My smaller organizational goals will help me to meet these big goals...cleaning closets, shredding old papers, going through clothes and toys to have a yard sale, and being proactive about going through the mail day as soon as it comes into the house.

Do you have any goals for this year? Tell me in the comments or link up with Money Saving Mom!

A Birthday Paper Chain

2012-01-03T09:40:00.000-05:00

We had so much fun counting down the days until Christmas with our homemade Advent Calendar this year! Our daughter's 3rd birthday is next week, so I thought it would be fun to give her another visual and count down the days until her birthday.

I cut several strips of construction paper, wrote the dates on each, and taped them together to make a birthday paper chain. She is super excited!

Every morning she gets to tear off a new link. I told her that when it gets to the last link it will be her birthday and she will get to open presents. Her response: "Good idea, Mommy!"

Do you have any creative ways to help kids wait for big events?

Wrapping outside the box

2011-12-21T14:22:00.000-05:00

Do you still have gifts to wrap? I'm almost done, but I still have a few to go. I am finishing up a few handmade gifts right now, and I'm waiting on one more thing to come in the mail!

Recently, I found some great inspiration for an adorable and quick candy pouch from Peppermint Plum. Be sure to check out her tutorial!

I used a brown paper bag from Trader Joe's and cut out some shapes

And sewed them together on my sewing machine. I left a little gap to stuff in the candy, and then finished the last bit on the machine.

I made a few stocking shapes and a few circles!

It was amazingly simple and super cute! If you have a few minutes, I bet you can whip up a few of these too, just using things that are already in your house! And while you could dress them up a bit more, I love the simple "wrapping" of the brown paper.

Next wrapping: a clementine box and some newspaper.

In this case, the newspaper is actually homemade firestarters (inspired by Whole Living). I used a pinecone and some pine cuttings inside.

I also dipped the pine in some wax melted from an old candle.

Wrap it up and twist the ends

Tie with twine (I used ribbon that can be easily cut off before burning!) and place in the clementine box. Beautiful!

To make your gift card gifts a little more snazzy, check out some of these ideas.

Make a snow globe out of an old jar (via The Creative Mama)

I love this idea for a Starbucks gift card from Saucy's Sprinkles.

Since I didn't want to make a trip to Starbucks just for an empty cup, I used a box that had Starbucks VIA packets in it...very cute, and much easier to wrap!

I decided to print out some free Christmas sheet music and use it to wrap an iTunes gift card. I just picked a Christmas song, but you could print out lyrics to a song on a particular album the gift card recipient wanted, or a photo of the album cover. The creative possibilities are endless!

Have you wrapped anything in a new or creative way over the last few days?

If I had all the time in the world...

2011-12-19T08:07:00.000-05:00

By nature, I'm an implementer more than a creator. I do come up with some ideas of my own from time to time, like our Advent Calendar, but mostly I like to copy the ideas of others. The trouble is, there are way more ideas out there than I could ever accomplish! And my time is limited because of normal tasks of life (my family wants to eat, wear clean clothes, oh, and I have small kids, right?!).

So, if I had all the time in the world, here are a few projects that I would love to do. I'll pick one or two, and maybe you will also!

There's no way I can do elaborately decorated cookies, but these melted snowmen from Crazy Domestic are too cute!

These homemade gumdrops would be fun to make any time of year. I've got to do it sometime! (via bakerella)

I'm a minimalist when it comes to decorating, and I love how clean this box Christmas tree looks! (via Better Homes and Gardens)

In a similar vein, check out this beautiful window decoration from Room Service - pine cones, ribbon, and greenery.

The colors in this yard wreath are so bold, especially against the blue door. Love it! (via Better Homes and Gardens)

I really wanted to craft these adorable snowmen from peanuts, but I think that might be a project for next December. You can buy them from RawBoneStudio on Etsy, but they are a little pricey. Of course, they look way better than mine would!

Do you have a fabulous project that is on your someday list? Post the link in the comments; I'd love to see!

Giveaway Winner!

2011-12-12T08:48:00.001-05:00

Thanks to everyone who entered to win a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget by Crystal Paine!

The winner is Eunice B who said, "We line dry out clothes, unplug appliances when not in use, combine trips to town, don't have TV, use coupons, and walk in the neighborhood instead of pay for a gym membership. :-)" Congratulations, Eunice! You've been emailed!

I really enjoyed reading the different ways that each of you save money...I'm inspired!

You can still pre-order a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget through Amazon. I highly recommend it!

disclosure

Food Waste Friday

2011-12-09T08:56:00.000-05:00

I've been MIA from Food Waste Friday for several weeks now. For the most part, the good habits I've cultivated over the last 2 years (wow, that long!) of posting about food waste continued even without the accountability. I'm back today for what may prove to be my last food waste picture, at least for a while. I think with the business of December and the family events of the start of a new year, it is best for me to focus my time elsewhere.

I'm still committing to use up leftover, not overbuy (especially produce), and to be purposeful with menu-planning, and I think I am much better equipped to succeed because of the habit of food waste Friday!

On to this week's food waste. Or really last week's, because I'm pretty sure all of these things were destined for the trash then too. I have one watermelon radish, one white (yes, it used to be white) radish, and one (head? stalk?) of fennel. All of these are from our CSA, which makes them 3 weeks old at least. The radishes simply got forgotten and the fennel I knew I wouldn't use because I'm not a fan. It was in a pre-packed box, otherwise I would not have chosen it!

Have you ever worked to reduce your food waste? When I first started taking pictures of ours, I was shocked at just how much we were throwing out. A lot of the time, I was buying to much of something, or not planning to use leftovers well. If you are looking for some inspiration, be sure to visit The Frugal Girl as she records her food waste each week and provides a linky for other bloggers to participate as well!

Also, today is the last day to enter my giveaway to win a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget. Check out Money Saving Mom too!

Christmas Cookies

2011-12-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite parts of getting ready for Christmas when I was little was baking cookies with my family. My sisters and I loved getting to help mom in the kitchen, and surprise dad with his favorites when he got home from work. I have a few favorite recipes that I've been making for so many years, I couldn't imagine this time of year without them!

My very favorites are Peppermint Candy Cane Cookies. Lots of people make these different ways, but I really think rolling them out in long ropes instead of lots of little balls makes them way easier. They have a wonderful moist texture too!

I've really enjoyed making biscotti the last few years. Its a nice treat with my morning coffee, but also a gourmet gift that is pretty easy to make. I really like Cinnamon Sugar Biscotti because it tastes like a Snicker doodle cookie! And a fun Christmas-y biscotti recipe is Candy Cane Biscotti.

Two other cookie recipes I've posted in the past include Molasses Sugar Cookies (soft, chewy, and savory), and Chocolate Crinkles (so good!).

In addition to some old favorites, I have a few new cookies that I plan to try this year. I have a Christmas cookie pinboard with some recipes to try.

With the number of ideas on the internet for Christmas decorating, recipes for cookies, and fun activities, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed and too busy. If making one batch of cookies is perfect for your family, then don't feel obligated to make six. If you don't have storage for ton of decorations, then its probably best to not buy a ton even if they are on sale. And all the activities and experiences are unimportant if your family is stressed from being constantly out of the house. Do what works for your family and keep your priorities in order. I think that is the key to having an enjoyable and memorable Christmas.

With that being said, I'm getting ready to try a new cookie recipe!

Review and Giveaway: The Money Saving Mom's Budget

2011-12-02T14:22:00.001-05:00

One of my favorite money saving blogs is MoneySavingMom.com written by Crystal Paine. Crystal's first book, The Money Saving Mom's Budget, comes out in January 2012, but I was given an advance copy to review.

As someone who reads her blog regularly, I was familiar with a lot of the material in this book, but it didn't seem redundant or boring. I think a big part of that is the different feel of reading a book versus a blog post, or even series of posts. A book can go into more detail than a single blog post, but it is also constrained by the physical nature of the book. Blogs allow for unlimited posting, but books make you pair things down, and I think that's the beauty of this book in particular.

This is a quick, easy, and encouraging personal finance book...how often do those qualities go together?! It was also much more than a book about money. The principals concerning being careful with your finances extend to all aspects of purposeful living - at work, at home, with children, living on your own, or in college.

The chapter on eliminating chaos and clutter was especially helpful for me. I have plenty of days where I feel like I am busy all day, but didn't accomplish much. Crystal's suggestion is to create a Time Budget. Instead of having to-do's like "clean the upstairs, do the laundry, put away the kid's clothes" she recommends setting a specific amount of time for each task.

I could work all day "cleaning the upstairs" and still not be done because the task is too broad and the goal too far-sighted. Budgeting a smaller amount of time (de-clutter for 20 minutes, then put things away for 10 minutes) will help me get a lot more accomplished in a smaller amount of time. And really, I only have small chunks of time in my days right now anyway!

I really appreciated her observation: "The Time Budget puts you back in control as the master of your minutes. You will no longer end your day with nothing to show except exhaustion. When you tell you time where to go, not only do you have a lot more time, but you also have a lot more peace and order in your life" (The Money Saving Mom's Budget, p. 25). I am challenged to now budget a specific amount of time for certain tasks and focus fully for that time, instead of getting distracted by several tasks all at the same time!

Crystal gives step by step instructions on how to pair down your budget so you can live within your means, while still giving generously to others. She advocates not using credit cards at all, and even going without debit cards for a time so that you can get accustomed to a cash-only system. We use credit cards for most everything, though we are careful to pay the bill in full each month and not carry a balance. I don't see our family switching to a cash-only system anytime in the near future, but I am challenged to start small, perhaps with the grocery budget, and see if only using cash really can decrease our spending.

Crystal is a huge advocate for everyone (yes, everyone!) using coupons, and gives some great beginner and then more advanced couponing tips. Of course, she covers coupon tips much more extensively on her blog, but the basic concepts are really important too. There are also chapters on ways to spend less on groceries without using coupons, strategic splurging (loved that chapter), and an appendix on ways to make a little extra money.

Most importantly, she reminds us to be content - not envious of what others have or comparing our situation to others who have more. The contentment chapter was the perfect conclusion to the book. "A cheerful attitude can go a long way in less than ideal situations; you can either complain about the thorns or you can savor the roses that bloom in their midst" (The Money Saving Mom's Budget, p. 170). After reading this book I see a number of new ways for me to savor the roses I have instead of complaining about the thorns. Thanks, Crystal!

My book is a pre-release copy, so when the book comes out in January I will be sent the final edition. BUT, I thought it would be fun to give that copy away to one of you! (Hey, my book still reads fine!) So...

Win it!

Leave a comment on this post telling me one way that you save money. I'll start...I save money by making my own laundry detergent! Please make sure that your Blogger profile is enabled or that you leave your email address in your comment. I need to be able to get in touch with you if you win. The giveaway will be open for one week, at which point I will choose a winner at random.

If you are not the lucky winner, you can still pre-order a copy of The Money Saving Mom's Budget on Amazon (the price is $11.09 right now). If the price lowers after you pre-order, Amazon will give you the lower price too.

I was given an advance copy of this book by the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Half Price Cold Stone

2011-12-01T08:57:00.000-05:00

Groupon has a sweet deal today...get $10 to spend at Cold Stone Creamery for just $5.

This would make a great stocking stuffer gift! Be on the lookout for other great deals from the daily deal sites over the next few weeks, but make sure you are checking something off your list. Its only a good deal if its a good deal for you!

Thrifty Living's Advent Calendar

2011-11-30T15:17:00.000-05:00

Now that our daughter is old enough to understand about Christmas and get excited, we wanted to have an "official" advent calendar planned for the month of December. Thanks to my Christmas board on Pinterest, I've come across a ton of different ideas for homemade advent calendars.

My favorite is this Kaisercraft Advent Calendar. It comes plain, and there are so many awesome decorating ideas. I really like the colors and decorations in this one.

I recently found this advent calendar from Target, and I love it too!

But, both of these are a little pricey ($25 and $40, respectively), so I'm going to check after Christmas to see if I can get one on sale.

Instead of buying something that I didn't love while I try to find a good sale, I decided to use jars that I already had on hand. I easily came up with 25 beautiful glass jars! Most of them are Ball 4 oz canning jars and 1/2 Pint canning jars that I've been using for homemade yogurt, along with a few odd baby food jars, Herlocher's jars, and a spaghetti sauce jar.

I wanted to have us read through the Christmas story as we go through our jars, so I divided it up from the Gospel of Luke. This way we only have one verse to read each day. Depending on how it goes, we may read the previous verses as well as the new day's verse all together. I printed them out and cut out each verse, gluing them to colored construction paper.

Pinterest also helped me to find a ton of Christmas activities to include in our jars, but most of them didn't seem quite right for our family, so I ended up making mostly my own list there also. This was a lot of fun because I got to really personalize our advent calendar!

Here's the complete list of our advent activities:

Decorate the tree

Make paper snowflakes

Sing carols at home

Make handmade ornaments

Bake cookies

Make a popcorn garland

Dance to Christmas music

Watch Elf

Make hot chocolate

Read ‘He’s Here!’

Read ‘The King of all Kings’

Merry Christmas! Open gifts!

Pray as a family

Build a snowman

Write a letter to Santa

Go see Christmas lights

Go get the Christmas tree

Deliver cookies to neighbors

Read ‘The light of the whole world’

Make Christmas cookies

Color a Christmas picture

Read ‘The night before Christmas’

Wrap gifts

I am so excited for how the advent calendar turned out and can't wait until tomorrow to get started opening our first jar!

Here are some close-up peeks at a few of our jars.

(This jar is full of marshmallows and toothpicks...our snowman building materials!)

The Christmas Day jar.

Do you do an advent calendar with your family? I'd love to hear what you do!

Traveling Ideas & Thanksgiving Links

2011-11-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

If your family is anything like ours, then you will probably be doing a fair amount of traveling for the upcoming holidays. And traveling with little ones in the car is always a bit of a challenge. The last few months we've been putting together some ideas for the car that don't involve watching movies or playing computer/tech games. Here are a few favorites!

Color Matching/Fine motor skills (Inspiration):

These are made from paint chip samples! I used two of each identical paint chip, one I cut up and glued to clothes pins, the second for the clothes pins to be clipped on.

To make the paint chips a little more durable and to minimize the number of clothespins I needed, I doubled the up the paint chips. Purple on the back of green, blue on the back of orange, etc. This is super fun!

Tracing pages (Inspiration):

We use plastic page protectors and a dry erase marker to make these reusable tracing pages. There are tons of tracing pages that are free to print! These are Thanksgiving themed, but we switch them up based on the seasons.

My daughter also enjoys tracing letters and numbers this way.

Another favorite for adults and children alike is audio books! We check out a lot of audio books from the library. Some recent favorites including Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (With CD),

The Billy Goat's Gruff, and Scuffy the Tugboat..

I also wanted to include a few favorite bread recipes that are great for special occasions (or really any day!).

Homemade Beer Bread. Mmmm I just made a loaf of this yesterday. Its so simple to make and way less expensive than those pre-packaged mixes. And great toasted with butter for breakfast!

I love The Frugal Girl's recipe for Honey-Glazed rolls. These are awesome...you really should try them!

And of course, a favorite all fall long for us was Pumpkin Spice Scones.

Do you have any car activities that are family favorites? Or a special recipe that you are making this Thanksgiving? Please share!

Crock-pot recipes

2011-11-21T14:46:00.000-05:00

I've tried out a few nice crock-pot recipes lately, so I thought I would share them!

First up, French Onion Soup!

This recipe is from Smashed Peas and Carrots and turned out great! Even our kids enjoyed the soup, and we had it with homemade french bread that we topped with swiss cheese. It warmed up really great too, which made for a nice lunch the next day.

We also tried Apple Pie Oatmeal from Healthy Slow Cooking. This recipe is great to make the night before...then breakfast is ready first thing in the morning! Since you are cooking the oatmeal overnight, it calls for steel cut oats since they hold up better. I'll probably add a bit more water next time since the oatmeal stuck in a few places. Other than that, this recipe is a keeper too!

Have you tried out any new crock-pot recipes lately? Feel free to post them in the comments. I'm always looking for something new to try!

Giveaway winner

2011-11-17T09:19:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone who entered to win the Star Wars cereal and Walmart gift card...I loved reading about all of your favorite Star Wars characters!

The winner was commenter #4, Katie, who said Princess Leia was her favorite! Congrats, Katie!

I've got another giveaway in the works for December that is really exciting, so stay tuned!

Homemade Pedialyte

2011-11-14T09:38:00.000-05:00

My kids had a stomach bug the last few days, but thankfully both Martin and I stayed healthy! I thought about running to the store for some Pedialyte, and then I found a recipe for a homemade version in Baby 411 (love that book!). It's so simple, just three ingredients - water, salt, and sugar.

Homemade Pedialyte (source: Baby 411)

4 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon Jello gelitin powder (for flavor) you can omit or I used a bit of powdered Gatorade to flavor

My one-year-old drank it without any flavoring, but my nearly three-year-old had a hard time choking even the flavored version down. She was feeling a good bit better and wanted something more "tasty".

Remember that today is the last day to enter the Walmart gift card and General Mills cereal giveaway. Just click through to this post and leave a comment!

Tiny Prints Christmas Card Review

2011-11-13T10:53:00.001-05:00

I love making our Christmas card each year! Sure, its a bit of pressure to get a good family photo, especially to make sure the kids are looking normal (ha!). There are TONS of options for Christmas cards out there, and I usually go with the most inexpensive (free) option. So, when Tiny Prints offered to give me free photo cards in exchange for a review, I said sure!

(Distinct Wishes)

I often use Shutterfly for our photo cards throughout the year. They run nice promotions and I have always been pleased with the final result. I've done a bunch of looking at the selection of Christmas cards offered by Tiny Prints and I am impressed! There are tons of options to personalize the front, inside, and back of your card.

(Sweet Watercolor)

Tiny Prints beautiful cards in a number of different styles. I really like their color pallet; many of the cards have rich, dark reds and greens instead of neon shades. I also appreciate the variety of pre-written wishes on the cards. I'm not going to pick "Holly Jolly" or "Jingle Bells" for our Christmas card (though there isn't anything wrong with that if you like it!). I much prefer a classic and simple "Merry Christmas".

(Gift for Noel)

I really like the flat stationary picture cards. They have the same design options as many of the folded cards, but instead of being white on the back they have a pattern that matches the front of the card. Little things like this are a great touch! And I checked out the Shutterfly folded cards...nothing on the backs of their flat cards!

(Picture It)

Square cards look so interesting, and I especially love the rounded corners. They are tempting for sure, but remember that they usually require additional postage!

(Wreathed Charm)

If you are looking for a really different type of Christmas card, check out their selection of circle card and flip cards. They are sure to wow!

Thanks for the chance to do a review, Tiny Prints! I'm excited to see this year's Christmas cards. I know they will be beautiful!

Would you like a chance to review Tiny Prints and get free cards also? Apply here.

Disclosure: In exchange for my honest review, Tiny Prints is giving me free photo cards. All opinions are 100% my own.

Some Photo Freebies

2011-11-11T15:51:00.000-05:00

There are a few photo freebies that I am loving right now!

My Publisher will send you a code for 5 free photo cards with FREE shipping when you enter your email address on their website. Free shipping is awesome!

Do you live near a Rite Aid? You can get 15 free 4x8 photo cards and 25 free 4x6 prints shipped to your local Rite Aid for free. Get all the details from Money Saving Mom. Once the 25 free prints are in your cart, get a free 8x10 also when you use the code FREE8x10!

I recently got an email from Shutterfly for 75 free prints for you and 5 friends. If you are on Shutterfly's email list you probably got one too. The deadline to share with your friends is today, but the free prints are good through November 18. Shipping costs will apply, however.

Have you gotten any other great photo deals lately? I know there have been a bunch!

Commenting options

2011-11-11T13:54:00.000-05:00

If you would like to enter the cereal and gift card giveaway but have not commented because of not having a Google ID....good news! I turned on the anonymous comment feature, so feel free to comment that way, just make sure that you still leave an email address in your comment so I can get in touch with you if you are the winner!

I have not allowed anonymous comments simply because I think it is important to have some accountability on what you say on the internet. The impersonality of online comments seems to empower some people to say whatever they are thinking without concern for the person on the receiving end. This is a bigger problem on site larger than this one, and for that I am grateful.

If you are interested in commenting on blogs powered by Blogger that do not allow 'anonymous' comments, consider making a Google ID just for the purpose of commenting.

All that to say...anonymous comments will be available for giveaways, but not permanently, unless I hear a lot of feedback that they would be super helpful!

Have you entered the giveaway yet? All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this review post. Oh, and you don't have to be a Star Wars fan to enter. The Walmart gift card will be nice to put toward Christmas gifts, I'm sure!

Walmart Star Wars Review & Giveaway!

2011-11-10T13:54:00.000-05:00

We are big Star Wars fans in my house, so I was super excited to get the opportunity to check out the Star Wars edition cereals from General Mills!

We received three boxes of cereal...

along with a $25 gift card to Walmart. These special edition cereal boxes are available at Walmart to celebrate the release of all six Star Wars movies on Blu-ray.

Check out the mural when you put all the boxes together!

I'm a huge fan of Honey Nut Cheerios, and they are a nice change from the plain cereal that we usually buy, but without being too crazy sweet.

My daughter call Cinnamon Toast Crunch "the tasty cereal". Too cute! Like Yoda? Not quite!

And both Martin and I love Lucky Charms...once in a while that is. I can't do too much sweet stuff for breakfast, and so we usually opt for a sugary cereal for a snack instead of as part of a meal.

Win it!

I have a prize pack to give away to one of you! The prize pack includes 1 box of each of these three cereals (with the limited edition Star Wars mural!), as well as a $25 gift card to Walmart. For your chance to win, simply leave a comment on this post. If you are feeling creative, let me know your favorite Star Wars character. Of course, you don't have to be a fan of Star Wars to enter!

Please include your email address with your comment, or make sure that your email is visible in your blogger profile. I will contact the winner via email to get your mailing information. The giveaway will close Monday, November 14 at 9pm. Winner will be chosen at random.

Disclosure: The cereal, gift card, information, and giveaway have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.

Stocking Up: Peanut Butter

2011-11-08T07:53:00.000-05:00

Have you heard that the price of peanut butter is expected to rise as much as 40% because of a poor peanut harvest this year? This article from CNN indicates that prices began to rise starting November 1.

We love peanut butter, and our kids especially eat it nearly every day, so I decided to get a few extra jars at Costco recently:

While that might look like overkill to some, we go through a large jar about every month. So, I really only bought a 6-month supply, and this peanut butter is good until 2013! I got two 40 ounce jars for $7.99 (9 cents per ounce), which is the best price I've seen, even compared to som.e of the good deals on Amazon lately (the best being 14 cents per ounce).

Do you use peanut butter like us? It might be worth buying an extra jar (or more!) in the near future. And even if prices do not go up as expected, I know this stockpile will not go to waste!

Thrifty Clothing Thoughts

2011-11-07T08:52:00.000-05:00

Are you working on a Christmas list yet? I'm working on a few ideas right now, and at the top of my list the last few years almost always seems to be clothes. I'm always on the lookout for a great clearance deal on clothes for myself, but other than that, I rarely buy clothes.

Since price (oh look, its marked down to $1.50!) has often been the deciding factor in whether or not I buy something, I've found that I've complied a large wardrobe of things that I wear, but few things that I actually love. In many ways clothes are clothes and functionality is more important than the perfect outfit. But the pieces that started out just ok quickly become dust catchers on a hanger...taking up space and being a waste of money, even if it was only a few dollars.

The last few years we've been trying to stay on top of donating things that are not being worn and buying smarter when we do go shopping. Earlier this year Real Simple ran a story entitled Never Buy the Wrong Thing Again that really helped me to think critically about clothes buying. I love the 4 easy steps to help you buy clothes that you love, in order to make the most out of fewer items.

Today I'm just going to share a few thoughts about the article, and later in the week I plan to focus on how this has made me more careful and purposeful with my clothing habits!

(Image via Real Simple)

Step 1: Identify what's working
There are some great questions to ask yourself about your favorite outfits! Why do I like this? Is it comfortable? A great color? Practical?

Step 2: Analyze your mistakes
What things do I avoid pulling out of my closet to wear? Why don't I like them? Why did I buy them in the frist place? Was it a great price that I couldn't pass up?

Step 3: ID the missing pieces in your wardrobe
Real Simple has a "wardrobe checklist" that is a good starting point, but what you need is more important than what they say you need! Make a list of a few things that you want to add to your wardrobe...instant Christmas list ideas!

Step 4: Shop smarter
If its on sale but not on the list, leave it in the store! Or, once you find something that looks good, put it through a couple tests...when you try it on at the store sit down, move around, and bend over to check the fit. If you ened up buying it, do the same thing at home. Make sure it works and if it doesn't, taking it back to the store might be the best bet!

Do you have any great tips for purposefully adding to your wardrobe?

For the love of...baking soda!

2011-10-27T12:59:00.001-04:00

Baking soda?

Yes! My new best friend!

Over the last several months I've started cleaning with baking soda and couldn't be more pleased with the results! My stovetop looks (almost) like it did when it was new. And that is saying something, because cleaning the stove was always that chore I put on the back burner ;-)

Now I sprinkle baking soda on the stovetop, focusing on the spots that are messy. I have a old salad dressing spritzer bottle that I filled with equal parts vinegar and water. I spray that on the baking soda, wait a minute, then use an old rag to clean it all up. The baking soda acts as a great abrasive and really helps to get up those messes that have been there for a while (cough cough)!

I recently tried Martha Stewart's Tub Scrub since I kept seeing tons of pins adoring how well it worked.

All you to is take a portion of baking soda (I used about half a cup) and mix with just enough water to form a paste. Add a teaspoon of dish soap and stir. I wiped it on the ring around my tub and then wiped it off with a cloth...it was too easy. I was totally impressed! Goodbye Scrubbing Bubbles and Magic Eraser...baking soda has you beat!

I really like that this is natural and still works. I've tried several different "green" cleaners and never been impressed. The baking soda scrub really worked better on the tub than anything else I have ever used.

Do you clean with baking soda? I'd love to hear your favorite way to get things clean!

Dishwasher detergent experiment

2011-10-25T13:27:00.001-04:00

If you've been around Thrifty Living for any amount of time, you probably know that I'm a huge advocate of homemade laundry detergent. I especially love how it makes me less dependent on buying yet another product.

I've used homemade dishwasher detergent also, and while it worked pretty well, I found that the savings wasn't nearly as great as with laundry soap, and the product just didn't work quite either. So since I usually buy dishwasher detergent, I try to make sure I get the best bang for my buck.

These two Cascade products are priced the same: 20 count packs and 75 ounces of liquid gel.

The packs are so handy...no mess, no squeezing. But I was always pretty sure that they were overpriced compared to the gel. To confirm my suspicions, we kept a tally every time we used the gel. And the verdict? 45 washes!

I think I am completely cured of my desire to buy those cute little packs from here on out! And I think this little experiment helped me to be a more active consumer of the products that I am choosing to purchase.

I think I'm going to have to test the powdered dishwasher soap next and compare that to the gel

Read more of my thoughts on Active Consumerism.

On the days when I am weary of living thrifty

2011-10-24T08:42:00.001-04:00

That is, weary of my thrifty lifestyle, not thus blog. Blog? I have a blog? Ok, maybe the blog too. But they go hand-in-hand, life and blogging.

When I'm enthusiastic about saving money and living wisely, I blog more and enjoy it immensely. But these days when I'm tired of my cooking, washing sheets everyday (overnight potty training fail), and wishing that cloth diapers cleaned messes out of themselves, blogging is much less of a priority.

Thrifty burnout. The more I think about it, the more firmly I believe that it is a good place to be, as long as I address it and move on.

A while back I wrote about yogurt burnout...I took a break from making yogurt and was fresh and ready to get back to it. That's living thrifty.

So I've got some store-bought frozen pizza in my freezer. It is more expensive than homemade but way cheaper than a meal out, even take-out pizza. That's living thrifty.

It's 8am and my daughter's clean sheets are in the dryer with last night's spinning in the wash. She will have sheets for nap without me having to scramble and neglect something else later. That's living thrifty.

And cloth diapers...well, we used a few disposables over the weekend. The dirty diapers are in the wet bag and my bathroom is freshly disinfected. Sometimes I hate the extra work of cloth diapers. But a few disposables later I'm reminded that they keep the mess in better, they are just as easy when there is only pee, and they are WAY cuter! That's living thrifty.

So I'm going to enjoy the fall weather with my kids, make soup and homemade bread for dinner, and be thankful for all the things I can do because we are living thrifty.

Saving money and living a thrifty lifestyle looks different for us all. That's what it looks like for me today. What about you?

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

2011-10-12T15:02:00.000-04:00

Another of our favorite apple recipes is this one. I love how the house smells while this is baking in my oven! Its a simple recipe, and unlike many baked oatmeal recipes I've seen, it does not call for a ton of sugar. I also like the contrast between the sweetness of the oatmeal and the tart Granny Smith apples. Top it with almonds and dried cranberries too. You've got to try this recipe!

I doubled this recipe for the first time recently and it worked like a charm.

The original recipe is from Two Peas and Their Pod, though I've made a few alterations.

Baked Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

source: Two Peas and Their Pod

Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups skim milk (I cut it back by 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup applesauce
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 egg whites (I use 1 whole egg)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large Granny Smith apple, cored, and diced

Method:
Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl, mix together oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside. In a second bowl, combine egg, milk, applesauce, melted butter, and vanilla. Whisk until combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined. Add apples and stir. Pour oatmeal into a greased 8 x 8 glass baking dish.

Bake for 20 minutes. I always give the oatmeal a stir after 20 minutes and bake for an additional 10 minutes to firm up the oatmeal. Top it with chopped almonds or dried cranberries.

Fall Foods

2011-10-11T14:13:00.000-04:00

Doesn't Fall make you think of certain foods? I know the same is true with other seasons, but I think there is something about the cooler weather that bring certain foods to mind...like apples! And pumpkins!

I've jumped on the applesauce making bandwagon that is all over the blogosphere! I got some 69 cent apples last week (seconds from a U-pick farm) and used about 3 pounds worth to make homemade applesauce. I cored and peeled 6 apples, then put them in my crockpot with some water. I didn't add any cinnamon or brown sugar, but you could certainly add either!

I let it simmer away for most of the day until the apples were soft and mashable. I just used my potato masher on the slices but didn't smooth it out entirely for a nice chunky texture. MMmmmm! So good!

Homemade applesauce is head and shoulders better than the store-bought stuff for sure. But don't expect it to save any money. Even with my 69 cent apples I only just broke even, but adding in the prep time homemade applesauce is a bit more expensive. This stuff is so good that I'm planning to make some more with the rest of my 69 cent apples, but I'll be buying applesauce from the store most of the time I'm sure!

I already posted several of our favorite pumpkin recipes last week. Over the weekend I made a batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies...

This has been one of our favorite fall treats the last few years. I got the recipe from a friend and so I'm unsure of the original source. The texture is cake-like and the spices and chocolate go so well together.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 c. 100% pumpkin
2 1/2 c. All-purpose flour
1 t. Baking soda
1 t. Baking powder
1 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Nutmeg
1/2 t. Salt
1 1/2 c. Sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)
1 egg
1 t. Vanilla extract
2 c. Semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method:
Pre-heat oven to 350

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Beat softened butter and sugar in mixing bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Mix in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded teaspoonful onto greased cookie sheets.

Bake 14-16 minutes until edges just turn brown and center is firm.

Braided Calzone Recipe

2011-10-06T14:17:00.000-04:00

We love pizza! A major money saver for us is homemade pizza instead of ordering it out. Since pizza is on our menu plan each week, we like to mix it up and try lots of different types of pizza. It keeps things interesting and keeps us from wanting to order a pizza too!

I saw a picture of a braided calzone on Pinterest (I love Pinterest! Have I mentioned that before? Yeah, thought so!) and had to put it on the menu last week. I opted for making one of my more traditional pizza dough recipes, though I added a bit of whole wheat flour because I ran out of white flour.

Roll the pizza dough out into a rectangle, spread pizza sauce down the center, top with your favorite toppings (we used pepperoni) and then cheese. Cut slits (I used kitchen shears since my calzone was sitting on the pizza stone) down each side of the dough opposite the sauce, making sure to not cut all the way to the sauce (Don't want it to run out while baking!). Starting at one end alternate strips of dough from each side, pulling them across and down to cover the filling.

It is really easy to do and looks beautiful!

A peak inside...

Cheesy, pizza pocket amazingness!

This was sooo good...its back on the menu this week!

Pizza Dough (source: Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook Bridal Edition)

2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (I used about 1 cup wheat)

2 1/2 teasp. yeast

1/4 teasp. salt

1 cup warm water

2 Tbsp. cooking oil or olive oil

Method:

Combine 1 cup flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl; add warm water and oil. Beat on low for 30 seconds, then on high for 3 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, kneeding in additional flour to make a pliable but stiff dough.

Roll dough into a rectangle. Spread pizza sauce down the center, top with your favorite toppings (we used pepperoni) and then cheese. Cut slits (I used kitchen shears since my calzone was sitting on the pizza stone) down each side of the dough opposite the sauce, making sure to not cut all the way to the sauce (Don't want it to run out while baking!). Starting at one end alternate strips of dough from each side, pulling them across and down to cover the filling.

Bake in a preheated oven at 375 for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins Everywhere!

2011-10-04T13:23:00.001-04:00

The fall weather lately has been amazing! It is great to be able to bake without the house getting miserably hot. Today I tried a new recipe - Pumpkin Scones! They were oh, so good!

(Image from Shoe Box Kitchen)

The recipe I used is from The Shoe Box Kitchen. It was super easy, especially compared to several of the other pumpkin scones recipes I've looked at recently. Scones are not exactly the healthiest food...this recipe has a good bit of butter, but uses half and half instead of heavy cream. It was super moist and smelled amazing.

(Image from Joy the Baker)

Another favorite pumpkin recipe in our house is Pumpkin Pancakes. The recipe is from Joy the Baker and is really great also. We love the Pumpkin Pancake mix from Trader Joe's and this recipe is a great copycat!

Do you have any favorite pumpkin recipes?

Frugal Finds: Walmart this week

2011-10-03T16:51:00.000-04:00

I make a trip to Walmart every few weeks or so when there are good coupon overage deals. Today I took my $8 off 2 Cover Girl Face products from yesterday's P&G insert and also found a few nice clearance deals.

The CG blush is priced at $3.74 at my Walmart, so I was able to get 2 for free, plus $.52 overage to use on the rest of my purchases. I took a quick look at the summer clearance isle and found a sheet of glow-in-the-dark 4th of July stickers for 25 cents, as well as a calendar for next year for $2. This is the calendar that I always use, so it was a bonus to find it marked down.

I also took a quick look at the bakery items and found a pack of four cheesy bagels marked down to $1.50 and 2 loaves of fresh made Texas Toast marked down to $2.13. I was going to make garlic bread later in the week to go with our lasagna dinner, so I decided to just switch up my menu plan and we'll do lasagna tonight. I'm going to freeze the second loaf of Texas Toast!

I was really pleased with myself and excited when I got home to take out my "spoils"...at which point I realized the cute birthday napkins for my son's first birthday party next week said "Sensational 60"!

The funny part is that I looked these over to make sure they didn't say something ridiculous. I saw the Sensational but somehow missed the giant 6-0 on the balloon. Whoops! I'll probably still use them for the party...it will make for a good laugh!

So my $.52 overage paid for my 2 packs of 60th birthday napkins!

Do you have any recent frugal finds to share? How about a frugal "bust" like mine?

Individual sized homemade yogurt

2011-09-30T12:56:00.000-04:00

Do you ever get one of the moments where the light bulb just switches on suddenly?

I've been making yogurt in quart sized mason jars for several years, and I really do love my homemade yogurt. But there is something about pulling an individual container of store-bought yogurt out of the fridge that almost always seems more desirable. Lately I've been really thinking about why I tend to prefer the store yogurt.

I think it comes down to the ease of being able to grab a portion of yogurt and simply go...without having to spoon out a portion into a bowl, often making a mess when I'm in a hurry. When I say it out loud, it sounds lazy - I can't even scoop yogurt? But then the light bulb went on - I could make my own individual yogurt containers!

This week when I made my yogurt I used three different size glass jars: quart, pint, and half pint.

It was so easy! I poured the yogurt from my large stock pot into a pitcher to cool. Once it was the right temperature I just poured the yogurt into my little containers, screwed on the lids, and put them in the cooler to incubate. Piece of cake!

These little guys are so irresistible! I took one to the mall with our lunch yesterday. If you are in to making yogurt at home, give this a try. I drizzled some homemade chocolate syrup on the top of one for a snack one evening...yum!

Have you ever made individual yogurt?

Food Waste Friday

2011-09-30T07:54:00.000-04:00

Every Friday, I join with The Frugal Girl and other bloggers to clean out my fridge and freezer and take a picture of anything that has gone bad over the last week. This holds me accountable to faithfully check every week, and motivates me to use up our leftovers. This has made a huge difference in the amount of food we waste every week. I hope you will participate with me in food waste Friday, too!

This week I was able to use up a bunch of leftovers, but this sweet potato had to go down the garbage disposer this morning. I don't like sweet potatoes, but they are one of my husband's favorite foods. I buy them from time to time and make sweet potato fries or mash them with brown sugar and marshmallows for him. I cooked these and then never did anything else with them. I think it was probably the same night that I made regular mashed potatoes for dinner, and these just got shoved in the fridge. I am not inspired at all by the sight of sweet potatoes in my fridge, so they just sat until they became rather...fuzzy.

I had fun making yogurt this week in a new and innovative (at least for me) way...in individual containers. I have a few pictures that I'll share later today!

Homemade Turkish Delight

2011-09-27T13:32:00.000-04:00

Last week I mentioned that we have enjoyed making Turkish Delight lately. My daughter loves The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Even though she is only 2 and 1/2, we read the book out loud several months ago and she also enjoys watching the new version of the movie that came out a few years ago.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found this recipe from Sprinkle Bakes. My first attempt at the recipe was pretty good, but not great. The second try was much better, but even now I think I can make improvements the next time we make Turkish Delight.

We made lemon this time and vanilla the first time.

I had some help from this little munchkin.

Just a few simple ingredients for our Turkish Delight: Corn starch, water, sugar, corn syrup, lemon extract, and food coloring.

I don't have a dish big enough to make this full recipe, so both times I have cut it in half. In the first stage of microwaving the water and corn starch, these little clumps formed, probably because of over-cooking. The second time we made this I cut back on the cook times. Even though there were still a few lumps, I was able to whisk most of them smooth and get a wonderful texture at the end.

After the water and cornstarch and smooth, add in that sugar!

We passed the time while the Turkish Delight was cooking in the microwave by singing songs.

Keep whisking that Turkish Delight until it gets really thick and stiff. It will hold in the bulb of the whisk when it is done. You can also take a little bit out and roll it into a ball to test for doneness. My daughter really wanted to make our lemon Turkish Delight blue, but we ended up settling for yellow!

I use a mini loaf pan (its flimsy foil, but I have reused several times) to hold the Turkish Delight as it cools. Then lay the slab out on a cutting board. I patted it with powdered sugar before I cut it up. I used a bench knife to cut it into bite-size pieces, but you could use a regular knife or a pizza cutter too.

Coat all sides of the pieces in powdered sugar for the final touch!

I love that you can make this in the microwave instead of having to fool with a candy thermometer

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups of cold water
3/8 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tbsp. pure lemon extract
2 drops yellow liquid food coloring
Cooking spray, or cooking oil (light taste, like canola) for greasing pan
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Method:
Put water and cornstarch into a large, microwave safe bowl (like Pyrex). Whisk until cornstarch is dissolved completely. Microwave for 1 minute. Whisk smooth. Take care to leave little to no lumps of cornstarch at this initial stage. Microwave again for 1 minute. Whisk mixture (it will turn white and paste-like). Microwave for 1 more minute. At this point I started using a potholder to remove the bowl.

Combine the sugar and corn syrup with the mixture, whisking smooth. Microwave for 2.5 minutes, remove the bowl and whisk the mixture smooth. Repeat this step 2 additional times, each time removing the bowl and whisking smooth.

At this time, your mixture should look transculcent and be a good bit thicker than when you started. Add the lemon (or another flavor) extract and the food coloring, whisking everything together. Microwave another minute, then whisk. At this point you may need to microwave at 1-1:30 minute intervals 2 or 3 more times, depending on the power of your microwave. The important thing is to whisk the mixture each time. You are looking for it to be quite thick, so thick that most of it gets suck in the bulb of the whisk.

Once the thickness is reached, transfer the mixture to a greased loaf pan (I used a mini one for this half recipe). To make it easier to transfer, I coated a spatula with Pam first. Spread the mixture as evenly as possible (this is rather difficult). Allow it to cool for a hour or two at least. We usually can't wait until the whole thing is cooled to try it!

The block should slide right out onto a cutting board where you can coat in powdered sugar (mixed with a little cornstarch). Delicious!

Have you ever tried Turkish Delight? Made Turkish Delight? I've heard that the really good stuff is supposed to melt in your mouth, and I this recipe does just that!

Food Waste Friday

2011-09-23T07:31:00.001-04:00

Earlier in the week my computer died while I was in the process of finishing up the instructions for our Homemade Turkish Delight. I have a few options for blogging, but pictures and hyperlinks will probably be limited for a little while!

out food waste this week isn't too terrible; I sent this corn casserole down the garbage disposer because of it's rather pungent odor. And I have about a quart of milk that soured. I was planning to bake with it, but thus far have been quite uninspired. I was thinking of freezing it for later but it is whole milk so it would probably separate when I unfreeze it. Any experience with freezing whole milk? I hate wasting milk!

Fall Weather!

2011-09-19T13:16:00.000-04:00

We have been loving the change in seasons from Summer to Fall! Its always a little sad to see summer and warm weather leave, but the crisp, cool autumn mornings that warm up in the afternoon sun have made it wonderful. I know it was not this cool last September because I was very, very pregnant, swollen, and totally bummed that "fall" had not brought any relief from the summer heat. I'm even more ready for fall this year because of that, I think!

Check out these beautiful colors! Our CSA food this week is beautiful. We have a lovely assortment of peppers (orange, red, and purple), more colorful heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, and a lettuce mix and mesclun (an Asian lettuce mix that has a nice little bite to it).

We also took advantage of the cooler weather to visit Milburn Orchards this weekend. In September and October they have Fall Festival Weekends with tons of activities for families, especially those with young children. It was not very crowded at all this weekend, but I've heard that the October weekends very busy.

We had a great time! We made it through the Corn Maze in one piece...

W especially loved the hay ride.

And check out this turkey! Mmmmm thanksgiving!

Millburn also has U-Pick apples. Click here to see the U-pick apple schedule for this fall. I'm hoping that we will make it down to Lockbriar Farms in Chestertown for U-pick apples also!

And remember, if you are not local and are looking for a place to do U-pick apples this fall, check out PickYourOwn.org!

This and That

2011-09-16T12:47:00.000-04:00

I have a bunch of not-so-related items today...starting with the Fridgesmart giveaway winner. Megg, you've been emailed...congratulations! And thanks to everyone else who entered. I hope you will check out Gretchen's Tupperware site if you are interested in getting some Fridgesmart stuff of your own.

It was a crazy week around here; both our little ones came down with stomach bugs. Thankfully they were 12 hour bugs, and even more thankfully, Martin and I only suffered from lack of appetite! But something like that always makes me feel behind for a few days. I tried to do some fun things once we started feeling better, including our second batch of Homemade Turkish Delight! E loves the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and so she is particularly enamored with making something from the book.

We used this recipe from Sprinkle Bakes...made in the microwave! The second time around was wayyy better; I adjusted the microwave cook times because I halved the recipe. I'm really impressed with this Turkish Delight - it melts in your mouth!

Trying to take advantage of the great Fall weather, I took the kiddos to the park this morning. My little man knocked his chin climbing and bit into his tongue. And for 11 months old this kid has quite a mouthful of teeth. He's got three nice tooth marks in his tongue now, but thankfully a phone call to the doctor was all that was necessary.

I'm pretty sure I have some dessert to dump for Food Waste Friday today. Does anyone else waste dessert?It was leftover from a family get together over Labor Day and with all the stomach bug stuff I think it will probably get dumped this afternoon!

I'm hoping our trip to Colchester Farm is uneventful so that I can get a picture of our CSA items up tomorrow morning!

Cloth Diaper News from Cotton Babies

2011-09-12T09:56:00.000-04:00

Check out this new product video from Cotton Babies, makers of the cloth diapers that we use and love, Bum Genius and Flip. I am so excited to see this new flip "pull-up"...wow!

Food Waste Friday

2011-09-09T07:13:00.000-04:00

Every Friday, I join with The Frugal Girl and other bloggers to clean out my fridge and freezer and take a picture of anything that has gone bad over the last week. This holds me accountable to faithfully check every week, and motivates me to use up our leftovers. This has made a huge difference in the amount of food we waste every week. I hope you will participate with me in food waste Friday, too!

Yay! No food waste this week! It has been a while since I was diligent to keep things from going bad by Friday. I do have a few things that I need to freeze so that they stay out of next week's photo.

Check out Thrifty Living this week for my top four tips on avoiding food waste. And be sure to check out my Fridgesmart giveaway. Click here to enter to win this Tupperware container that helps produce stay fresh longer. I love mine!

Resale this Saturday

2011-09-08T14:59:00.000-04:00

Image

There is a large children's resale event this Saturday at Alfred Waters Middle School (1235 Cedar Lane Road, Middletown, DE) from 8 am until 12 noon. This bi-annual sale is sponsored by the Middletown Moms Club. I have never been to this one, but I have heard that it is nice. Make sure you bring cash, as that is the only accepted form of payment. I wish I could go this weekend, but I will not be able to make it...maybe next year!

If you find any great deals at this resale event or another similar one, I'd love to hear about it!

Be sure to enter my Fridgesmart giveaway this week!

Fridgesmart Review and Giveaway

2011-09-07T07:27:00.005-04:00

Image

Yesterday I posted some of the ways that I've learned to help avoid food waste over the course of keeping track of what I throw away for Food Waste Friday. Last summer, my mom and I hosted a Tupperware party, something I had never done before. One of the products we learned about was the Fridgesmart line, and I ended up getting one of the medium size containers.

Fridgesmart is a line of Tupperware containers that are designed to keep fruits and vegetables fresh longer based on the amount of air each type of produce requires. The Fridgesmart containers are built with tabs that allow more or less air to reach the produce, which helps the item stay fresh longer.

For example, grapes are a light breather, so both air tabs should be closed, but broccoli is a heavy breather, so both tabs should be open. Or you can open one tab and have the other remain closed for lettuce and many other fruits.

Each container has a picture guide to help you remember what types of food need extra or less air. Also, the bottom of each contain has ridges which help the food to receive extra air and to prevent a piece of produce from being mushed down against a flat bottom.

This summer, I noticed how long my lettuce in particular was staying fresh. We've had hardly any lettuce or spinach food waste over the last several months. Part of that is definitely that we have been eating more lettuce fresh from the farm because of our CSA. But another big factor is that I've been using my Fridgesmart container to store the lettuce each week.

I contacted Gretchen, the Tupperware consultant who did the party my mom and I hosted last year and asked if she would be interested in sponsoring a Fridgesmart giveaway on Thrifty Living. I was thrilled that she said yes!

Win it!

Your prize pack includes a small Fridgesmart container as well as a $15 Tupperware gift certificate. To enter, simply leave a comment on this post telling me what recent produce you have had go bad! If you haven't throw out any produce lately (that's great!), just leave a comment saying "enter me". Please make sure that your Blogger profile is enabled with your email address, or leave your email in your comment so that I can contact you if you win. The giveaway will be open until midnight on Saturday, September 10 at which point a winner will be chosen using random.org. Winner will be contacted via email and have 48 hours to get back to me before another winner is chosen. The gift certificate can be redeemed through Gretchen, with the winner responsible for shipping.

If you are in the Delaware-Maryland area and thinking of hosting a Tupperware Party, I totally recommend Gretchen! She was loads of fun and we really enjoyed ourselves. If you are not local and are interested in purchasing Fridgesmart, be sure to check out Gretchen's site.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this giveaway other than the prize pack to give away. All opinions are 100% my own. Full Disclosure.

Avoiding Food Waste: Four Thrifty Living Tips

2011-09-06T07:13:00.002-04:00

Last month marked two years of blogging here at Thrifty Living! One of the things I blog about most weeks is our food waste. I've learned over the last two years that I throw out way more than I thought I did, and that I throw out way less when I am consistently going through our fridge every week and being held accountable by taking a photo!

Here are four ways that have helped me to waste less!

1) Buy less. For my family this usually means only enough produce to last a week, until the next shopping trip. This also means that I usually buy less variety of foods. Sure, by the end of the week we might be sick of only eating grapes and watermelon, but then we are free to buy whatever is on sale the next week without worrying about using up the old stuff.

2) Most food can be frozen. Especially when it comes to perishables like fruits and vegetables, but also meats, cheese, and bread, most food does great in the freezer. We love snacking on frozen fruit in the summer, and I've frozen several vegetables that were extra from our CSA so that I can use them this fall and winter.

3) Pinpoint - what is my family (me) most likely to waste? Apparently I'm terrible at using up ricotta cheese! I know that when I buy ricotta I need to have a plan for ALL the ricotta. Sometimes that plan is part of the week's meals, and sometimes the plan is simply to freeze the extra. Do you always have fruit that is going bad? Why does that happen? Questions like these have helped me figure out the what I need to work on and have a plan before I bring that particular food home again.

4) Use up the old one before opening a new container. Do you ever get near the end of something (salsa, dip, etc) and just want to move on to the new jar? We do! If we give in and just open the new one, the old contain usually sits and sits and becomes a science experiment. Of course some things, like salad dressing, have multiple varieties. But the other day I saw 3 bottles of Ranch in my fridge door (although one was still unopened)! We finished off the two that we nearly empty, and now the unopened bottle is ready for next time.

AND (a bonus just for kicks!)

5) Menu plan. Not the complicated here is our menu for the next 6 weeks kind of plan (although if you're there, that's great), but a plan for your meals before you shop. Not only does it help me make sure I'm not buying too much that will just go to waste, but I can make sure I am buying enough, which cuts down on those extra trips to the store before dinner.

Do you have any favorite tips to avoid wasting food? I'd love to hear them!

And be sure to check back tomorrow for a fun giveaway of a product that has helped me reduce our food waste!

Food Waste Friday

2011-09-02T08:18:00.000-04:00

Every Friday, I join with The Frugal Girl and other bloggers to clean out my fridge and freezer and take a picture of anything that has gone bad over the last week. This holds me accountable to faithfully check every week, and motivates me to use up our leftovers. This has made a huge difference in the amount of food we waste every week. I hope you will participate with me in food waste Friday, too!

This week was much better than last week! But I've still got plenty of room for improvement considering how well we were at all but eliminating food waste at the beginning of the summer.

This is a small portion of ricotta cheese that has been sitting, and sitting, and sitting. I put plastic wrap down on top of the cheese which kept it good for longer, but that time has long since passed! I also had two produce casualties this week; half a red pepper from our CSA got mushy, but I saved the other half as part of dinner last night! And then I cut into a plum that I bought yesterday and found that it was rotten through the center...boo!

Ricotta cheese seems to be the thing I throw out the most for on Food Waste Fridays. Do you have any food like that...always struggling to use it up before it goes bad? At least I know that I'm bad with ricotta since it is always cropping up in these pictures! So really, it is shame on me for not having a better plan when I buy it! I've frozen some (so it didn't go bad!) which I'll use in a lasagna sometime soon.

It looks like we are shaping up for a less eventful weekend here on the East Coast. Happy Memorial Day!

Delaware Deal Chicken: Johnnie's Dog House

2011-08-31T08:01:00.000-04:00

Today's daily deal on Delaware Deal Chicken is $10 worth of food and drink for $5 at Johnnie's Dog House. We eat at Johnnie's 2 or 3 times a year, so this will make for a really inexpensive meal one day this fall!

Johnnie's Dog House also provided the inspiration for the summer Hot Dog Challenge that I've been posting...trying new twists on the familiar hot dog without eating out! I really like their Texas Ranger hot dog, and my husband is a fan of the Delaware Destroyer - two hot dogs on a kaiser roll with mac and cheese and chili! Johnnie's has also won best family restaurant in the northern part of Delaware several years in a row. It is a fun place, and I am excited to go and use our deal!

Get yours today!

Today, I'm thankful

2011-08-30T07:19:00.000-04:00

...for cooler mornings that make me put on socks (even if they are mismatched!)

...for time while my kids are still sleeping to read.

...for my husband who made my coffee (I'm thankful for coffee too!).

...for my little people who are now up, even with their wet sheets that need changing and diaper that needs changing.

...for homemade chocolate chip scones, made in preparation for Irene, the storm that did not even affect our power.

...for lukewarm chocolate chip scones, coffee that is no longer piping hot, and a book I'll probably not get to read this morning because I'm a mommy first.

...for encouraging words from Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches:

Joy is not giddy. It is not an emotional rush--it is what happens when you accept your lot and rejoice in your toil. So rejoice in your children. Look them in the eyes and give thanks. You will not even remember the work of all this planting when the harvest of joy overwhelms you.

Today, I'm thankful for joy.

Children's Art Gallery

2011-08-29T13:16:00.000-04:00

The same week that I did this side table makeover, I also started working on a frame that I rescued from (yet another) neighbor's trash. The end result looks like this:

The perfect framed art gallery for all those children's art projects!

My frame started out looking a bit worse for the wear. It was trash after all!

If I was doing a really good job, I would have spent a good bit of time sanding all that yucky old white paint off, but since this was supposed to be a simple project, I opted for just painting over it. I ended up needing about 3 coats of black paint to cover all the cracks and holes in the wood. My vision for this was to mimick this wonderful kid's art wall from A Soft Place to Land. Maybe one day I'll get the chance to add to our gallery wall!

I love that this is a big frame, so we can hang several different pictures together. Also, I won't be constrained by the size of the artwork, even though the ones currently hanging are all the same size. I'd like to get some cute clips to hold the art, but for now we're just using sticky tac...it has worked well so far!

I'm also hoping this will be an easy way for us to love the art projects and enjoy them without building up a ton of clutter. It hard to know what to do with the doodles that my daughter loves to make. They have sentimental value, but I don't need a whole box of them to store! Now we have a great place to enjoy the projects, and when there is a new picture that needs a spot to be displayed, something else will have to come down. It will likely get recycled at that point, though I'm sure some "extra special" artwork will still get saved.

Do you have any fun ways to display your children's artwork? I'd love to hear about it!

CSA Week 13

2011-08-27T11:03:00.000-04:00

Last night for dinner we used several of the items that we picked up from the farm in the afternoon: peppers, squash, and lettuce. It's awesome knowing that the food we are eating was picked that very day! Everything tastes so much better fresh, doesn't it??

We got another watermelon this week, though they are much smaller now than when we first started them...a sign that summer is wrapping up! Also we got lettuce, the purple and orange peppers, summer squash, and potatoes. Yum!

We are just waiting on Hurricane Irene now. I'm planning to do a little baking this afternoon since the storm is not supposed to really hit here in Delaware until late afternoon or early evening. It's kind of fun knowing that we'll be hanging out at the house and not going anywhere today and tomorrow, but we're also trying not to take things too lightly. Thankfully our house is on quite a hill by Middletown standards, so we should be safe from any flooding. Stay safe this weekend if you are in the path of Irene also!

Food Waste Friday

2011-08-26T10:07:00.000-04:00

Oh boy....after doing so well with our food waste this summer, the past week has been pretty rough. The little bit of leftover pizza sauce and salsa should have just been used up instead of getting stuck back in the fridge. Its so much harder to use a little bit of something! The corn and carrots were both from our Colchester CSA. I just never got around to dealing with them either. And the only thing that I will claim was not really my fault is the leftover orzo. Martin took it to work two different times and never finished it up. I guess I could have eaten it instead, but rejected leftovers never seem super appetizing to me!

One of the good things about the accountability of taking a picture of our weekly food waste is that I am able to pinpoint why food is getting thrown away. Pretty much everything this week was a result of my own laziness. A lot of the time I can get away with not being as diligent as I should and can still salvage our food from ending up in the trash. But this week it all caught up to me. Whew! I'm all the more determined to fight my lazy attitude towards food waste (and a number of other things) this coming week. Thanks so much for joining me as I learn to live a purposefully, thrifty life!

Hot Dog Challenge: Corndogs

2011-08-23T14:30:00.000-04:00

This summer we're trying out different toppings for our hot dogs instead of the old standbys of ketchup, mustard, and relish. Its been a lot of fun so far!

I found this recipe for homemade corndogs from Farmhouse Table, and we decided to try it out! Here's a look at our finished product:

Since all the corndogs I have ever seen were on a stick, I used these wooden skewers and stuck them in the ends of my hot dogs. This ended up being an unhelpful step - the skewers prevented the hot dogs from laying flat in the oil! I ended up getting flustered and pulling them all out without taking any pictures. It was pretty funny looking thinking back on it now! But I also had to redo the hot dogs that I first tried with the skewers, too.

Anyhow, once that all got sorted out, I finally had something that resembled a corndog. On the whole, I was actually disappointed with how they looked...not like the pictures on the original recipe. But, I think the main problem was that my cornmeal batter was too runny. I'm not sure if that was because I added too much liquid or if something else was different. Next time I will make sure that my batter is thick enough that it does not roll right off the hot dog before they get in the pan!

I ended up spooning batter on top of the hot dogs as they sat in the oil to get full coverage. Certainly not the prettiest thing I've ever made, but they tasted amazing!

Mmmmm! Crispy and golden brown on the outside. We dipped them in spicy mustard, but the flavor was so great they would have been amazing by themselves.

Our taste tester agrees! Homemade corndogs are excellent!

Check out the rest of our Hot Dog Challenge specialty dogs!
Texas Ranger
Salsa Dog
Avocado and White Sauce
BBQ and Peppers

Cloth Diaper Sale: Cotton Babies

2011-08-19T16:38:00.000-04:00

Cotton Babies routinely runs sales on "seconds", merchandise that is not perfect, but has minor enough flaws that it is still functional. Right now there are a number of items on Clearance from Cotton Babies, which is a great way to add to your cloth diaper supply.

The Flip covers for $9 caught my eye, as well as the bum Genius 4.0 covers for $10! Neither of these come with inserts, so be aware of that. There are some organic flip inserts on sale as well.

When we went from one to two in cloth diapers, we opted for the Flip system. Not only is it cheaper than the full pocket diapers, but you need less covers since they can be reused without washing, and since the Flip is a bit more streamlined, it fits a little bigger than the pocket diaper. For more of my thoughts on the Flip diapers, check out this post.

I really would love to upgrade some of my 3.0 bum Genius diapers to those new 4.0 covers that are just $10, and it is so tempting when Cotton Babies runs a great sale like this. We decided that our diapers, while showing a good bit of wear, still have plenty of life left in them. And now that E is potty trained except for overnight, we have extra diapers on hand! So I'm passing up another great deal because for us right now the thriftier option is to spend nothing, even when it's on clearance.

Free 8x10 photo collage from Walgreens

2011-08-18T13:54:00.001-04:00

Here's a great way to remember your favorite moments from this summer!

Now through August 20, get a free 8x10 photo collage from Walgreens Photo center. Use the code PRINTONE when you check out! You will have to pay shipping to have it sent to your house, but choose in-store pick-up to get it completely free.

I've made a number of these through the free offers Walgreens offers periodically and they always look very nice!

Trash to Treasure

2011-08-16T07:18:00.000-04:00

Our newest piece of furniture is this lovely little end table. I mentioned on Facebook last week that my kids took really good naps several days in a row (apparently I'm wearing them out this summer!) so I was able to finish up this little project!

Here is the original table. I first spotted it on a neighbor's curb waiting for the trash. I couldn't let that happen, so I rescued it! Before it was even in the house, I could already see it painted black.

Thanks to this little orbital sander, I was able to get most of the yellow paint of and sand down to the real wood underneath.

The only sanding I had to do by hand was for the drawer knob. My 2-year old gets the credit for this picture!

The new black knob!

And the finished product! I had to do 2-3 coats of black in order to make sure that none of the light wood or leftover paint peeked through, but it was really simple and easy. The perfect nap-time project! I'm sure I could have done a better job getting all the old paint off, especially if I had stripped it like I did with the desk to dresser redo. But since this was a lot cheaper piece of furniture, I was ok with cutting a few corners.

We are excited to put this to good use, much better than it ever could have if the garbage truck had gotten to it first!

Have you ever rescued something from the trash? I'd love to hear about it!

Bacon and Avocado Quesadillas

2011-08-15T08:27:00.000-04:00

One of our favorite go-to meals, especially in the summer, is quesadillas. I love that they are quick, only require the stove top to be on medium-low, and are so flexible that we can use whatever is on hand as the filling! Plus, I almost always have the basic ingredients, cheese and tortillas, in the house at any given time, so this is a great last minute dinner option to avoid unplanned eating out.

On this particular night, quesadillas were on our menu plan, so they were a little nicer than plain cheese! I started with a little bit of mozzerella, added crumbled bacon and chunks of avocado, then topped it all with a layer of cheddar cheese. I like putting cheese on the top and bottom of the topping because it makes things stick together much better for flipping!

Let the tortilla shell get crispy and brown on the first side before you flip. Get the heat up to medium to make sure that you are not waiting around for 20 minutes!

Once the quesadilla is done on both sides, slice into pieces (a pizza cutter works great for this!) and for a little extra flair, serve with sour cream, salsa, shredded cheese, and chopped tomato. This makes it feel a lot more like a quesadilla you would get out at a restaurant.

Add some fresh fruit on the side and you have a delicious, quick meal for a warm summer day!

Some of our favorite other versions include shrimp and bacon (with BBQ sauce), pizza (with pepperoni and tomato sauce inside or for dipping), spinach and bacon or chicken, and BBQ chicken and onion...the possibilities are endless!

Do you have a favorite way to have your quesadillas?

CSA Week 11

2011-08-14T16:06:00.000-04:00

We are loving the melons from Colchester Farm! They are some of the best melons that I've ever tasted. We picked up another watermelon and another cantaloupe, along with heirloom tomatoes, potatoes, and a beautiful lettuce mix.

We have been getting a ton of rain this weekend! It sounds like more is headed our way, so hopefully our yard won't end up like a swimming pool when its all said and done.

I'm looking forward to posting some fun new recipes this week. Stay dry!

Food Waste Friday

2011-08-12T08:23:00.000-04:00

This little section of lime is barely worthy of a food waste picture in some ways. This was leftover from my Cherry Limeade making adventure. It would have been so easy to stick it in a glass of water and enjoy it instead of letting it grow pink mold, though!

I also had a few of last week's CSA carrots that got a little limp on me. I cut the ends off and have them in water in my fridge, though, so they should firm up and we'll either eat them today or I'll cook them and freeze them for later.

Have you checked what's growing in your fridge lately? Its a constant battle for me, but it is worth it!

Delaware Deal Chicken

2011-08-09T07:58:00.000-04:00

Daily deal sites are popping up all over the place right now. I am not an impulse shopped at all...in fact I rarely take advantage of the one day sales with Groupon or Living Social. It's a good thing in that we are not spending money on impulse buys we do not need. But I am also learning to have a few things that I am always on the look out for, so that I am ready to make the same day purchase. It's almost always things that we go through on a regular basis, not "extras", though!

That being said, a new daily deal site called Deal Chicken just opened for the Delaware area today! The first deal is for Matilda's Pub in Newark, and it will be great to see some what other businesses will be featured in the coming weeks.

Be sure to visit Deal Chicken to sign up to receive their daily emails!

CSA Week 10

2011-08-08T14:21:00.000-04:00

Whew! I'm a little behind today. Here's a look at what we picked up at Colchester Farm on Friday for our week's CSA share:

A watermelon (pink inside this time!), a cantaloupe, corn, purple peppers, and carrots.

We have already enjoyed the cantaloupe, peppers, and carrots...delicious! Melons just taste like summer!

Homeschool Freebie of the Day: Narnia Audio Download

2011-08-05T14:15:00.000-04:00

Note: The site is moving very slowly. This is a great freebie and many people are taking advantage of it. It will probably take time, but it is working.

The Homeschool Freebie of the Day is an audio download of the Complete Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. Here is what Homeschool Freebie has to say about this collection:

The reader is Chrissi Hart, who has a lovely British accent just perfect for these readings. The readings are downloadable or available as 101 half-hour podcasts, so between the seven books in the series, there's almost 50 hours of listening here! Wonderful for family or bedtime listening… bookmark this site and enjoy this incredible treasury of some of the best children's books ever!

I have a different audio copy of the Narnia books. I recently read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to my daughter. She's 2 1/2 of course, so her attention span was not always there, but she understands the characters and the story even at two. They are truly classics that anyone can enjoy!

Food Waste Friday

2011-08-05T07:39:00.000-04:00

I spotted this little container of creamy tomato sauce yesterday. I was growing some lovely fuzzy bumps on the inside. Its always a bit frustrating to have such a little bit of leftovers, because it is easy for them to get lost in the back of the fridge and forgotten about. Really, I should have just made some extra pasta for lunch the next day to use it up! This cucumber is from our CSA several weeks ago. It looks like just the one end is going bad, so if I cut it off, the rest should be fine for lunch today.

I was very pleased with how we did this week, especially because I was able to salvage several things by freezing them! I have half a container of ricotta that I'm planning to use for a Stromboli tonight. I also have another 3 or 4 pounds of bananas to cut up and freeze. I love having these as a treat in the summer for my kids, but I bought a ton of bananas this week to have them in the freezer for homemade ice cream. You might say that I have a slight addiction! Other than the ricotta, everything else in my fridge is in good shape, and we'll be getting our new CSA food today! I

Homemade Salsa Verde

2011-08-04T13:31:00.000-04:00

Lately we have had the option of picking tomatillos as part of our CSA share. Colchester Farm sent us this Salsa Verde recipe the first week that tomatillos were available to help with ideas for using them. I've made this Salsa Verde three times now, and we have finished it off quickly each time!

The first time I only used half a pound of tomatillos. These little guys have a paper-like skin that you peel off, and then they are sticky! The sticky comes off with a light washing, and then you are ready to cook them. (I've also read that you can make salsa without cooking the tomatillos, but I opted for cooking each time.)

The first time I boiled the tomatillos. Put them in a pot of water and bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cover for 5 minutes. Then remove from the water with a slotted spoon.

Or you can roast the tomatillos. Slice in half and spread on a baking sheet covered in foil. Place under the broiler for 5-7 minutes...

...until they look like this!

While the tomatillos are cooking (either method), chop your onion and place in a food processor. Add the tomatillos, lime juice, cilantro, jalapeno peppers, and sugar and pulse until it looks like salsa!

Tomatillo Salsa Verde (via AllRecipes)
1 1/2 lb tomatillos
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1/4 teasp. sugar
2 jalapeno peppers
salt to taste

Remove papery husks from tomatillos and rinse well.

Cook tomatillos either by boiling or roasting

Place tomatillos, lime juice, onions, cilantro, peppers, and sugar in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until all ingredients are finely chopped and mixed. Season to taste with salt. Cool in refrigerator.

Simple Homemade Ice Cream

2011-08-03T08:31:00.000-04:00

I saw this recipe on Pinterest via Crystal at Money Saving Mom, and I could not wait to give it a try. The recipe originally comes from Sophistimom and is touted as "one ingredient ice cream"! All you need is a food processor (and while a food processor is a kitchen appliance that can be rather pricey, you can also find some great quality ones for less than $30, like the Cuisinart mini - this is what I have and I love it).

Start with chunks of frozen banana. I raided the supply of frozen banana slices that I keep on hand as snacks for my kids! Put the bananas into the food processor and cover. Pulse for a few seconds at a time, chopping the bananas. You may need to scrape them down the sides at times too. Continue to pulse until the consistency of the bananas looks like soft serve ice cream! Then I added a heaping spoonful of peanut butter and about a tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and pulsed again until I had this deliciousness:

Sophistimom also suggested adding Nutella instead of peanut butter and cocoa, and I'm sure any other nut butter would work too. I love that this tasted like ice cream, but was something we could have for a snack in the middle of the day. It really hit the spot and got us through until dinner. My little helper could not agree more!

Ever wonder why I post recipes? Check out this post.

$3 Disney Lunchboxes!

2011-08-02T13:08:00.002-04:00

Today only you can get a Disney lunchbox for just $3 after $3 cashback through ShopatHome! Shipping is also free with the code SCHOOLSHIP at checkout!

This Cars 2 lunch box is one of the available lunch box, along with Toy Story, Disney Princesses, Mickey & Minnie, and Tinkerbell. This is a great Back-to-School deal, but it will likely sell out before the end of the day. If you are new to ShopatHome, you will also get a $5 credit after your first purchase. The Shop at Home links are my referral links.

Thanks, Moms Need to Know!

Why Recipes?

2011-08-01T14:02:00.001-04:00

A regular feature of Thrifty Living is recipes. I've never really talked about why I dedicate a good portion of this blog to posting recipes...its certainly not to show off my cooking prowess! Most of what we eat is simple food, not elaborate like many cooking blogs.

Save money by cooking at home instead of eating out. Any time you eat out, you could have made the same thing at home for less. Eating out costs more because someone is preparing your food, serving you, and you pay for the convenience of choosing from any number of items on the menu. This does not mean that you can never eat out if you are living frugally! Especially if you are used to eating out a lot, going cold turkey may be an unreasonable expectation. We plan our times for eating out, and try to stick to only when we have planned. This way we stay within our budget for restaurant food, but also are able to look forward to when we will be going out to eat.

Those spur of the moment "I don't feel like cooking; let's eat out tonight" moments are still hard. But having a goal (even if you fall short) is going to help way more in the long run!

A big part of eating out for me is particular foods....some things just always taste better out! So I've worked to pinpoint favorite foods I want to eat out, then we try recreating them at home. One of my favorite things to do is "copycat" recipes...especially things like Cherry Limeade from Sonic or Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets.

(Creamless creamy tomato soup with grilled cheese)

Keep it simple. Have a few recipes that are easy. Preparing a highly labor-intensive homemade meal every night of the week is probably not going to make you want to eat out less. You may be more likely to want "a night off" from the kitchen because it is so much work. We have a few "stand-by" favorite recipes, depending on the time of year. Right now a quesadilla is a super easy dinner that does not require the oven, and we've been giving our crock-pot quite a workout! In the fall and winter, chili is one of our favorite go-to meals.

Mix things up! A few favorites are good, but can get old quick if you are having them every week. Pizza is on our menu most Fridays, but we try to have different versions of pizza instead of the same old same old...BBQ chicken, stuffed crust, pizza bagels, etc.

Trying new recipes can be great when they work, but chances are if you are doing a lot of cooking at home, you are going to have a recipe flop! Sometimes you can figure out what went wrong, and sometimes the recipe needs to be filed away with a note that says "gross"! I've had to do both!

I've been enjoying trying some new recipes lately, and I can't wait to share them with you!

(Avocado and White Sauce hot dog)

CSA Week 9

2011-07-30T07:52:00.000-04:00

I love how colorful our CSA items are this week! We got quite a haul....this is the "abundant" season for harvesting, so we are seeing our shares be larger and larger.

We picked out a watermelon (yellow flesh inside), tomatillos, heirloom tomatoes, a Jenny Lind melon (green flesh inside), purple bell peppers, along with some hot pepper and green beans for our bonus items.

These heirloom tomatoes are so beautiful! We have four or five different varieties. And I am so excited to try the purple bell peppers. A great trip to the farm!

Food Waste Friday

2011-07-29T10:27:00.000-04:00

This was a rough week for my food waste fight! Not only did I find this rather mushy and fuzzy (and sadly mostly unused) but when we went to cook our corn ears from our CSA, they were way too far gone also. Corn has been pretty expensive around here, and I was so excited about our corn from the farm.

We have a few leftovers for the weekend, but other wise I think we are in pretty good shape for this coming week. I hope you have a lovely weekend!

Garden Update: July

2011-07-28T08:18:00.000-04:00

We've had another hot and dry summer, which always makes it challenging for growing things. I did not plan things well at all when I put my DIY raised bed garden in full afternoon sun from about 11am onward! It has made gardening an extra challenge since these plants get so much direct sun. Despite all this, we've had a ton of fun with the garden, and we've gotten a nice crop too!

E loves to water and take care of the plants. She also loves tomatoes. As in, we picked 8 or 10 to have with dinner the other night and I let her carry the bowl inside...the bowl with 5 tomatoes!

These little guys are so cute! They are such tasty tomatoes and delicious right off the vine. It is hard for me to wait to put them on a salad too.

My poor cilantro plant...it was doing fantastic, then we forgot to have someone check on things while we were away for a week and it got rather scorched. Thankfully, a little has come back now that it is getting water again. I also found seeds on one shoot and stuck them in the soil. I have a few leftover seeds from the spring that I'm going to plant also, and hopefully we'll have lovely cilantro back soon!

I planted my four Impatiens in a small pot, three of which have survived and thrived! I also got a nice surprise...three tomato plants and two basil plants! I haven't used this pot in 2 years, so it was really a surprise that these came up. The tomatoes are just beginning to appear.

And this is the basil....or is it oregano? I'm not sure!

Even though we have a small space, we are making it work! I love having a garden, and maybe at some point in the future we'll have a larger space to add to our garden adventures!

Homemade Cherry Limeade

2011-07-25T17:19:00.001-04:00

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have seen over the weekend that we enjoyed homemade cherry limeades one evening! I love, love, love Sonic cherry limeades, but they are a rare treat that I get just a few times a year. IBC makes a bottled cherry limeade, and my husband often gets me a 6-pack for my birthday or Christmas, and while they are good, they are also a little heavy on the cherry side. You just can't bottle the taste of fresh lime!

I've been wanting to try making one myself for years now, and thanks to Pinterest, I found a few recipes for some inspiration (The Cooking Photographer and Your Little Birdie). In the end, I decided to basically wing it and make my own.

I had some limeade concentrate in the freezer and I mixed about a quart of it together. My other ingredients were lemon-lime seltzer water, grenadine, and of course, a fresh lime and maraschino cherries!

In a pint Mason jar I mixed about 1/3 limeade, 2/3 seltzer water, and then grenadine to taste (probably close to 1 Tablespoon). Then I poured in as much crushed ice as would fit in the glass, squeezed a slice of lime and added a cherry. Then I added a second cherry because really, you can never have too many in a cherry limeade!

It was deliciously amazing. Both Martin and I agreed that it was as close to Sonic cherry limeade as we had ever had. And if I hadn't made it myself, I probably would have thought it was from Sonic!

Homemade Cherry Limeade

limeade
lemon-lime seltzer water
grenadine
lime slices or wedges
maraschino cherries

Method: Mix 1 part limeade to 2 parts seltzer water. Add grenadine to taste (about 1 Tablespoon per pint of limeade). Add plenty of crushed ice to keep things cool. Garnish with lime and cherries.

You could probably simplify things by just using Sprite or another lemon-lime soda, but the limeade added such an amazing lime flavor, I think I will probably take the extra step to get it perfect.

Enjoy!

CSA Weeks 7 & 8

2011-07-24T08:20:00.000-04:00

This is a look at most of what we got at our CSA for last week and this week. We took a bunch of tomatoes with us and used them during the week. Pictured here are sweet corn, onions, eggplant, loose lettuce mix, garlic, tomatillos, squash, and cucumbers.

I'm really excited to try my hand at making salsa with the tomatillos! And we are a little nervous about the eggplant. We'll see how it goes this week! I'm so thankful for the chance to build our meals around all this wonderful fresh produce.

Food Waste (Saturday)

2011-07-23T13:17:00.000-04:00

Every Friday, I join with The Frugal Girl and other bloggers to clean out my fridge and freezer and take a picture of anything that has gone bad over the last week. This holds me accountable to faithfully check every week, and motivates me to use up our leftovers. This has made a huge difference in the amount of food we waste every week. I encourage you to participate with me in food waste Friday, too!

We were away visiting family all of last week, and in the flurry of packing I did not do food waste last Friday. Yesterday when we got home, I was pretty sure that we would have some milk that did not make it, along with lettuce from our CSA two weeks ago. Happily, both were still in excellent shape, making this a no waste week!

Whew it is another crazy hot day here in Delaware! I've been using the Thrifty Living Facebook page for some summer meal ideas. If you are on Facebook, be sure to 'like' Thrifty Living!

Girls Crocs and eBay

2011-07-20T07:10:00.000-04:00

Last summer I shared some thoughts about buying on eBay, along with a picture of these Crocs that I bought for my daughter for $6

This summer, I decided to sell the same Crocs on eBay. The soles were still in terrific shape, and there was just a little wear around the blue edges. They sold for just over $7, including the shipping cost...more than I originally paid!

I used eBay to purchase this summer's Crocs also. I paid $8 for this pair of Mary Jane style Crocs that were again in nearly new condition! I've noticed that there is a much larger selection of clothing and shoes on eBay for girls. Boys tend to wear things a little harder, and girls end up with more shoes, etc!

My 3 big tips for getting a great deal on eBay are
1) Look for something specific
2) Have a firm "top price" before you bid
3) Be ready to let "IT" go

Selling on eBay is simple, and though I mostly sell little things, I have had pretty decent success. Here are my top selling tips for eBay.

1) Take a good picture. Make sure that the lighting is good. The picture should show the best view of what you are selling, but it is also helpful to include any possible flaws. I wanted to make sure that you could see the wear on the shoes I was selling.

2) Use a strong title and accurate description. Include as many key words in your description as possible, especially brand names, sizes, and colors. Make sure your description is detailed about any flaws in the item, but is also brief and to the point. I like to include information about when payment is expected, as well as stipulating that I do not accept international bidders.

3) Low starting price. I start most auctions at $0.99, especially for little items like children's clothing. Research ahead of time to see what similar items are selling for so that you have an idea what to expect for yours.

4) Have your item ready to ship before you list. I fail miserably at this one! I should have everything ready to go, but I usually pick up packaging on my way to the Post Office. You can print out shipping labels from home, which is very nice, but has also thrown me off when I need to buy the packaging after printing. It is way better to have it all done before hand!

Have you had success buying and selling on eBay? Any items in particular that have been easy to sell or to find in excellent used condition?