Remember that giant butternut squash I bought at the farmer's market a month ago?! For just $3.50! Well, I finally got around to cutting it up...feel free to watch :) Steam-bake it. Then puree the flesh. Here are a few things you can do with the butternut squash puree. Make homemade baby food. Hide in the cheese sauce of homemade mac and cheese. … [Read more...]
Grocery Budget Makeover – The “Brand Loyal” Edition
Linda writes...and I think this is something we can all relate to... I spend $200-$300 a week on food, paper products, cleaning supplies, office, & drug store items. We eat fresh veggies, whole grain products, eggs, meat/chicken/pork or fish daily. 3 meals a day for 2 at home. We're very health & weight conscious. Fresh food is important. We can't have a … [Read more...]
Grocery Budget Makeover – New Diet Restrictions
Maureen writes... Trying to be the organized mom, I keep a list of our meals, who likes them, what to have as sides, which meats we like & how expensive they are in an excel spreadsheet. I open up the spreadsheet every time I work on our grocery list and meal plan. I do this so we don't keep having the same things over and over, and forget about other things we like. … [Read more...]
How to Cut a Green Pepper {Video}
Or perhaps the wrong way to cut a green pepper?!? I am a total green pepper cutting rebel and do my own thing when it comes to dicing, slicing and cutting green peppers. I am not, however, a rebel without a cause. I definitely cut with a cause. In this case, freezing all these green peppers! In the end, I wound up with the following meal size portions: 6 … [Read more...]
How to Save on Diapers
Diapers. Oh diapers. They are expensive...but they don't have to be. (I don't use cloth diapers. I explain here.) My goal, as with everything, is to pay as little as possible...and this rings especially true with diapers...as I buy them often. I watch the drugstore circulars and the grocery store circulars to see if there are any great deals to be had. (I use … [Read more...]
How to Spot a Great Price on Meat
UPDATED JUNE 2018! Don't you wish we could still get prices like those? Reader Question: Can you let us know what a good deal on meat is? I personally don't know when to stock up or when to hold off. How much a pound is good on all the meats? Spotting a great price on any product can be difficult. It takes time and practice. But what I like about meat prices is … [Read more...]
Printable Coupons
A few great printable coupons that are out there: $2 off Huggies Pull Ups $1/3 Libby's Canned Veggies and $1/5 Del Monte Canned Veggies (this coupon was also in this week's newspaper...hold onto them until a sale to really save while you stock up for winter soups and stews!) And be sure to stop by Smart Source and Coupons.com for more great printables! … [Read more...]
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce and Salsa
I had a surplus of about $25 from my August grocery budget. I decided to go on a "tomato spree." The farmer's market just down the road from me offers a "You Pick" price for Roma tomatoes of $.69/lb. Not too bad. Plus we (yes, I took the kids for "the experience") got to have a little fun and learn about "good" and "bad" tomatoes! All that you see above (2 habanero … [Read more...]
How to Stockpile & Freeze Blueberries
When blueberries are on sale for $1 a PINT, of course I’m gonna buy a few extras…and by a few, I mean 9! Yes, I bought 9 pints of blueberries last week! I tossed 1 pint into the week’s fruit salad. The other pints I froze…just like the raspberries. I rinsed and dried them, and then laid them out in baking dishes and put them into the freezer. Once frozen, I … [Read more...]
Fruit Salad
These days I'm trying to cut as many corners as I can without sacrificing the quality and healthiness factor of our food. I've decided to make a fruit salad twice a week with the different fruits that I find on sale each week in the produce department. I find myself cutting up a different piece of fruit every day for lunch and another for a snack. Not really the most … [Read more...]