Olive Oil

I am always in the pursuit of personal care items that are more natural, and less, well, chemically-concocted. So, I was doing a little 'green' reading and came across an interesting idea - olive oil as a body moisturizer after bath instead of lotions (which are a myriad of chemicals anyway). So I tried it, and I love it (and no, I don't smell like and italian restaurant all day).

So, what you do is take a shower or bath, then, while your skin is wet (or in other words, before you towel off) rub a little olive oil in your wet skin. That's easy. How much? I use a dime sized amount for each arm and a quarter sized amount for each leg and my torso. Just rub it in well before you towel off and that's it.

I don't have to continuously remoisturize, there are no ashy elbows or knees, and the 'heavy' oily feeling (not really heavy, feels about the same as if I just slathered on lotion) only lasts about 5 minutes, then it's gone.

And yes, I use plain old olive oil like for cooking.

Stockpiling

This is a newer thought for me, and I mean stockpiling as being a more intense effort than 'stocking up'. Our economy is not better than it was just 6 months ago, and I have been thinking that it may be wise of me to create a stockpile in case of even more difficult times, especially since we are a single income family.

Creating a stockpile does not need to take up a ton of space nor a big investment. For our family, I plan to dedicate just $5 a week to creating our stockpile. I plan on placing the items in different places around the house, like in the back of closets or in other storage areas where the items will #1 be out of the way, and #2 not be used just as routine items. I also will list them items (like a log or an inventory) of where the items are, what they are, how many and the expiration date (so I can rotate items out seasonally and nothing goes bad).

As a side note, does anyone know how I can post any of my listing/recording keeping documents to share - I can't figure it out.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

I had to make Key Lime Pie today for supervisor lunch and I thought I had a can of sweetened condensed milk, but I was wrong. So, I went searching for a good substitute and this is what I found:

The best make-your-own version is to mix 1 cup of evaporated milk

with 1-1/4 cups of sugar in a saucepan, heat and stir until the sugar is

completely dissolved, and let cool. If you don't have evaporated milk on

hand either, you can make your own by slowly simmering any quantity

of milk in a pan until it reduced by 60%, and then adding the sugar.

This was easy and it worked really well - plus the evaporated milk is about 1/2 the price of the sweetened condensed per can.


*****let it steam for a little while so it can thicken - -about 10 minutes********

Homemade Mayonnaise

Yesterday we were going through a few things we would need at the grocery store and hubby mentioned we were out of mayo. I wrote it down on the list, but then remembered I had a recipe to make my own!

So, I decided to whip up a batch to save a few dollars! Plus, I love knowing exactly what is in my food!

Here is the recipe:

Homemade Mayonnaise (Yield: 2 cups)

1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika (I omitted this)
3 Tbs vinegar or lemon juice
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil (I used canola)

Put egg, salt, sugar, mustard, paprika & vinegar in blender. Cover & blend for a few seconds. With blender still running, add the oil very slowly. Blend until thick and smooth.

Note: you can substitute pasteurized egg substitute for raw egg for pregnant women or elderly persons.

Personal notes: This recipe turned out really well. It was a little tangy, so I think I'll play around with the vinegar and sugar. Next time I will use 2 tablespoons vinegar and add an extra teaspoon of sugar.

Hubby is pretty specific about his mayo and how his food tastes and he approved this, so it was success. No more buying mayo for me!!!

Playpen sheets

If you have small ones, then you have probably had a pack n' play, or some other brand of playpen. If you need to use sheets with them, as I do, you know how expensive this can get! I had 2 of the store bought sheets, but one of them got ruined. At $7 to $15 each, I didn't want to have to buy more. I rummaged in the linen closet and found an older child print twin size flat sheet that did not match anything. (You could even buy a new sheet or fabric, and this would still be cheaper than buying the packages ones!) This was just right to to turn into 4 new sheets for my playpens! I just used the old sheet to mark my sizes on the "new" fabric. Then I just copied the old sheet style to fold the corners & sewed them tight! It took me less than 1/2 hour to cut & sew it. Four new playpen sheets that are nice & tightfitting for nearly free!

Koolaid Cake

No, that's not a type-o. The cake mix most commonly on sale is yellow or plain, and Kool-aid packets (the little ones) are about 4 for $1. Well, if you want strawberry cake, or orange cake, lemon cake or even the lemon-lime flavor, just add a package of Koolaid mix to the cake (2 if you want a really intense flavor and color) during the mixing and bake as usual. The Koolaid mix doesn't alter your recipe because it adds no liquid and very, very little dry volume. If at first glance you say "but Kool-aid has artificial dyes," then I would encourage you to look at the flavored cake mix box - theirs are artificial too. Besides, you don't have to flavor every cake, just have a little fun with it.

Home Garden

A home garden can save you some $$$.


You can grow so many things, and can store some for the winter if you know how (or are willing to learn).
Share your seeds and /or seedlings with friends. (Thanks Mommy B!)
Reuse items. We are using an old trampoline enclosure for the trellis to our beans. Our tomato cages are being re-used from previous years. Some of the plants I bought were buy 1 get 1 free because I started them a little late for the season. Our weed blocker fabric wil be reused for probably 2 more years.
Fresh is best!
If you grow your own produce, you know exactly what has been done to it (important if you like all natural & organic goods), and can cost a lot less than at the grocery store.

The Washcloth

Here is an underestimated tool. Laugh all you like, but here me out. Have any of you ever purchased a pouf? You know one of those plastic fluffy shower scrubber things - well, if you look at them closely, they do not have protrusions to create a 'rough' surface that is needed for good exfoliation like the loofah has. The washcloth on the other hand, has tons of them, and since they are soft, they do less damage than the loofah - and all you have to do to make them work is, well, wet them, apply soap, use a little bit of pressure and a circular motion and then you have it - exfoliation. And I didn't even mention the fact that they are a wash a reuse item. The pouf is supposed to be replaced every 30 days (about $25 annually), and it's a massive germ magnet because it's not designed to be tossed in the washer on a regular basis.

Oh and by the way, you probably already have washcloths, so you don't actually have to buy anything, just use what you already have :) Reduce, reuse, recycle.

What's better than ice cream?

Why, free ice cream, of course!

Oh yes!!

Go check out the Walmart website and put in your zip code to make sure they are participating in Free Ice Cream Day. Then get your bottoms over to your Walmart on Saturday, May 30th between 11am and 4pm and enjoy!

Just don't miss it! It's Saturday, May 30th only!

coleslaw

This is actually pretty versatile. I make mine with shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, onion powder, salt, mayo, cider vinegar, sugar, salt and celery seed. Coleslaw is based on cabbage which is cheap, but also, since it is not a cooked food, you get the health benefit of both the green leafy cabbage and the orange carrot raw which keeps it's nutrients intact.

My basic recipe, and I do modify for fun pretty much every time

2 heads cabbage (any variety you like - or are given)
1-2 carrots (depending on how much you want in there)
2 cups may0
1/4 cup cider vinegar (you can try varieties here, could be fun)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp celery seed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder

Mix the mayo, vinegar, sugar, celery seed, salt and onion powder in a large bowl. taste it after you mix it to see if you need to make any changes because remember, this is the dressing and it's easire to modify before you put the slaw in it than after - trust me on this!!! After you get it right (and please writed down what you changed as you did it so you don't forget). Shred your cabbage and carrot and add it to the bowl and mix well. It's best if you refrigerate it for at least an hour so all the flavors can mix, but if you don't have the time, it will still be great.

Teaching Tools - Placemats

In Wal-Mart, KMart and most Family Dollar or Dollar General type stores you can get laminated place mats to use not only to keep your table a little cleaner at lunchtime but to help get an educational point across to your child. They make them with the alphabet, numbers, planets, presidents, colors, shapes, cursive letters, addition, subtraction and even multiplication tables. They are about $1 each and are very handy.

If you can't find one to fit your needs, here is a frugal alternative: Create an 8x11 document with the information your child is studying on it, decorate it with colorful fonts and graphics, print it off and laminate it yourself (if you have a machine). This gives you a little more versatility with the information on the placemat and the child can help you create it.

The Response Letter From Harris Teeter

Thanks for your email and for taking the time to respond to your shopping experience. Our pricing program during the summer months/peak season (Memorial Day to Labor Day) in this store will in fact differ from other stores; as the store is so much different than our ?regular? stores. This store during the summer months will have great prices on summer items all summer long to support the need of the thousands of vacationers.

Great prices on summer items, great service, fresh products and clean stores are how we will best meet the needs of our summer customers. Concentrating on these areas will enable us to spend less time/labor changing prices every week and allow us to put our efforts on great service, fresh products, and clean stores to get our customers in and out of the store and back to the beach in the fastest way possible.

During the off season as the market changes to mainly serving our local customers, the Outer Banks store(s) will be on the same advertising program as the other stores in the nearby area.

We are truly appreciative of all our shoppers and find our pricing program flexible enough to meet the needs of all customers.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your concerns. I hope this letter gives you an understanding of our pricing program and how we plan to meet the needs of all our customers. I hope your enjoy your new Harris Teeter and we are able to meet your shopping needs.

Sincerely,
Tom

Harris Teeter Customer Relations
Reference: #873005


- so, in essence, they understand that I was not excited about their decisions, but they are justifying it with catering to the vacationers - I guess us local folk will be important again after Labor day

Grinding

I was at Sams' Club today and was looking at the prices of meat. Chuck roast was 1.98 per pound and ground beef 80/20 was 2.48 per pound. So, I am going to try something new tomorrow - I am going to dice up the chuck then grind it myself. I already have the food grinder I have just never used it for meat. I'll let you know how it goes. If it goes well, I will have saved .50 per pound and instead of a 'mystery mix' of meats for ground beef, it will be all chuck, or round or sirloin or whatever I want. You could also do it for turkey, chicken or pork. You can grind veggies with the food grinder for sauce making if you have folks in your family who want the benefits of homemade sauces, but don't like chunky vegetables. I can live with making sauces smoother so my hubby is happier. He doesn't mind veggies, he's just not into chunky sauces. What else could I use a food grinder for?



5/18 - I did the ground beef today - very easy and it looks much better than the store stuff. Took all of 10 minutes.

Free Coupons

I recently emailed a few companies to ask questions about where the produce for their products comes from, 2 of them were Welch's and Florida's Natural. Both of these companies mailed me coupons after I got their email responses. It pays to ask a question.

BTW both companies' products are grown, harvested, processed, packed, shipped and are sold right here in the USA.

Frugal Friday - Harris Teeter

There are a few things about this store that make it a good frugal choice:

1) Double coupons every day and triple every month or so

2) 5% discount for seniors every Thursday

3) Sales on their organic merchandise

4) Their discount produce cart is almost always available, the produce is not already rotten to the core when it makes it there, there is usually some organice choices on the discount produce cart, The discount produce is cheap, and it gets emptied within a day so that the same old stuff isn't there day after day after day

5) Repeat #4 for their meat section

6) Variety - there are so many brands and variations to choose from it will make your head spin. Why is that frugal? Because the more options you have for eating at home, the less likely you are to just say "Forget it, I'm going out"

7) Ready to take home food. They have preprepared chicken, sushi, mac & Cheese, wraps, chicken strips, etc so that 'take out' can be a little better for you and probably cheaper than sitting down at a restaurant

8) Products made in the USA. What in the world does that have to do with frugal? Easy - take apple juice for instance. Did you know there are only 3 brands that I can find that are 100% made in the USA? Murray's out of Roanoke, Virginia; Floridas Natural out of FL and Martinelli's out of either PA or NY. Buying made in the USA means that the growers, packers, processors, shippers, distributors and retailers are here in the USA, so buying from ourselves is keeping ourselves at work and having a job gives us the money we need to be frugal with in the first place.

9) Eggs - 2.97 for 2 1/2 dozen - a good frugal food

10) Open 24 hours - this lets you pick a time to go without the kids because we all know that when you take the little ones, they get bored, we get tired and we rush and don't take the time to look at the options and get the best deals and selections (You don't need 2 hours to grocery shop, but a good hour without bored kids every once in a while may be a good idea

11) They give away groceries for a year every week for VIC card holders (see website)

12) Promotions, I recently got $50 in gas cards from them for spending a certain amount of money ( like $50 a week for 6 weeks or something like that). I was going to spend the money anyway, so it was nice to get the $50 in free gas

Take a minute to look around, there are frugal deals to be found everywhere, it just takes a little know-how.

Frugal Friday - Math Manipulatives

Buttons. Plain and simple, bright and fancy, you name it, you can have it. Buttons can be found or purchased dirt cheap and used as math manipulatives with you homeschool curriculum or if you just want to teach you child how to count items, group items by size, shape or color. You can even use them to teach addition, subtraction, multiplication and simple whole number division. My son likes to take items like this and use them to make letters. Have a wonderful and button smart day!

Comet

I love this stuff. I really try to go low chemical and low odor in my home (youngest child has milk asthma), so this stuff works well. Yes, it has chemicals, but not too many and there is very little smell. It's also been around for about a hundred years, and YES!! it cleans wonderfully!! Sinks, tubs, microwaves, grout, toilets, toaster ovens, faucets, and so much more. Plus the best thing - IT"S CHEAP!! It costs only about a buck a can and the can lasts a looooooong time!

Frugal Friday - Envelopes

You know how every piece of mail you get nowadays comes with it's own envelope, well do you just toss the envelopes? Save them! Use their backsides to make lists, plan meals, doodle, brainstorm, let the kids draw, or just use them as envelopes. No matter what you do with them, they were free for you, they have already been made into a piece of paper, so you might as well use it instead of throwing away that perfectly good piece of scrap paper to reach for a piece of 'pretty' scrap paper that you paid good money for - Remeber, every penny saved counts, especially if it's not a painful way to save the pennies!

Spring has sprung, and so have sprouts!

Vegetables are one of those things that elicit 2 types of reactions: yum and yuck - mostly dependant on your age group. If you are one of those people who likes to serve veggies to your spouse, your kids, yourself and pretty much anyone else that comes along, try growing a few. I planted a few things in my flowerbed right along with my flowers last year and had a great return. For instance I had 3 grape tomato plants, that probably cost about $2.50 each, but it yielded at least 600 tomatoes over the course of about 3 months. Now, in the grocery store a pint of conventional grape tomatoes is about $2.50, and the organics are about $4. Each pint is worth about 40 grape tomatoes. So, let's do the math:

• 3 plants at $2.50ea yielded 600ish tomatoes = 200ish per plant (.013 each tomato, about 16 per week for 3 months in the summer)
• 1 pint at $2.50 = 40 tomatoes (.063 each tomato)
• A tomato plant in the Southern US will yield fruit for about 3 months
• 1 pint of tomatoes a week for 3 months = $30
• 2 plants that produces for 3 months = $5.00

You can save about $25.00 by having 2 plants that produce during the summer, plus you make your plants as organic or not organic as you want depending on the water and fertilizer you use. If you want to go even cheaper, plant the tomatoes from seeds inside about 4 weeks before the last frost - then you get probably 20 plants for about $1.50 - you'll be giving away tomatoes! Or better yet, let your kids open up a front yard produce stand and you can sell the surplus and teach your kids about money. I personally also planted basil, rosemary, parsley and oregano in my flowerbed because the cost of 1 plant is generally equal to the cost of 1 of those little plastic prepaks of the same herb, so if I just use each plant one time I'm even, if I use it twice or more, I'm saving money already. And as an added bonus, my rosemary, parsley and oregano have survived the winter to give me a second year of fresh herbs!!!

This year, I have also planted green beans, broccoli, mixed lettuce, greeen leaf lettuce, spinach, green onion, chives, cilantro, and bell peppers. My husband is going to till up a portion of the backyard so I can have a small garden to work with the kids. We'll both be learning this year, but I think it's a good lesson for both them and me. If you can't have a garden due to space and or time, go for just a couple of herbs in some flowerpots, they'll be easy to maintain, and give you lots of savings since fresh herbs are so expensive anyway - more bang for your buck

PS - If you're local, I'll be happy to give you some clippings of my own herbs for you to root and grow yourself. I'll also share a few sprouts if you want to pot something.

***If you feel intimidated by the thought of 'gardening', please don't. It is not that hard - but start small. I think most people feel like failures over this because they start too big or too complicated. Find something you like - maybe tomatoes and green beans and just plant 2 of each to start. Next year, you can go onto some more adventurous stuff. You need the encouragement of having a few plants do well in order to gain the confidence to work with many.

Mascara Remover

A few months ago, I was reading a book entitled "Cheap Talk with the Frugal Friends" and came across this tip - it's a great one.



If you wear mascara and want a macara remover that is easy, effective, safe for your eyes, clean rinsing, nonirritating and recommended by pediatricians - (drum roll please) - baby shampoo, especially the tear free kind. The cheap brands are about $1 a bottle, but if you have sensitive eyes, I would go ahead and splurge on the $4 per bottle brand - it's gonna last you a long time anyway!