Is it possible?

I have often heard people say that eating healthy and using coupons is just not possible. Saying that the coupons "out there" are for only junk food. The following example is of a recent grocery "find" shows that this just isn't true. This is how I was able to purchase organic food for little to no cost:

Right now, there are printable coupons available at these locations : Link, Link or Link. They are Save $1/1 when you buy any flavor/variety of Muir Glen/Cascadian product (Exp. 10/18)

I used these at our local North Western Albertson's store that has Muir Glen organic diced, whole, or fire roasted tomatoes 14.5-15 oz on sale for $1.25. With coupon, made them .25 cents each! [price good till 10/3]

Then again at our local Fred Meyer's (Kroger Company), I used these with their Muir Glen Tomato paste for .99 each. Which made them FREE, but for some tax.

Lastly, at WalMart, I used this coupon with their Muir Glen organic diced, whole, or fire roasted tomatoes 14.5 - 15 oz. for $1.17. Final price .17 cents each. They also had packages of the Cascadian Farm Broccoli Florets - 8 oz package for .48 cents w/coupon.

Last year when these coupons came out, I was then able to find the Muir Glenn Tomato products, and Cascadian mixed vegetables, corn, carrots, cereal, and granola bars for some good prices.

I simply brought these coupons with me when I did my regular shopping trips, and then made notes of whether these would be good values or not. Our family really enjoys these brands of organic products. They seem to have a much better taste than even some of the name brands; and they are healthier for you, too!

Be sure to stop over at Money Saving Mom where this discussion of "Balancing health and frugality" continues...

*Special thanks to pinchingyourpennies.com for the links*

Freezer Pleaser #5

Simple Salisbury Steak

1 can of mushroom soup
1 pound of ground beef
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms (or 2 small cans of sliced mushrooms)

In a bowl, mix together 1/4 cup of the soup, beef crumbs, egg and onion. Shape firmly into 6 patties. (If you are using raw meat, you can freeze it now and brown the mushrooms and freeze them too, or you can freeze everything after cooking)

In a skillet over medium heat, cook patties, a few at a time, until browned on both sides, spoon off fat, set aside.

Stir in remaining soup and mushrooms, return the patties to the skillet, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until done, turning patties occasionally.

Allow to cool and place patties and sauce into freezer bag. Lay flat to freeze.

To COOK: Allow to thaw. Reheat and eat!

*Can put this dish over rice or noodles and make with a little extra gravy mixture.

(Campbell's soup recipe)

Happy Dance

There are some people that I call my friends who don't use creamer in their coffee. Just black is good for them. I'm not one of those people. ;) I love to flavor up my coffee. So when I came across this deal at Walgreen's, I was doing the happy dance.

Here's how it worked out:

~2 Coffeemate Liquid Creamers 16 oz: $4.38 regular price
~Buy one get one free: $2.19 on sale
~Used two, $1.00 off each printable coupons = .19 cents

Living Well

Thanks to everyone for their encouragement with our "yuckies". Mom and brother are getting better. Just need to get our appetites back. But little sis is still having troubles, so we are keeping an eye on her. :)

I have been following a wonderful blogger series called, "Online Finishing School - "Living Well", by Meredith written on her blog "Like Merchant Ships". I hope that you will stop by and take a look at her series this week. Her blog is very refreshing and has so many great ideas for living life well. Here are some of the titles of topics posted so far:

Living Well:
~Start Small
~Breakfast
~Budgets
~Managing Servants
~Purchasing
~and more to come...

Frugal Fridays! - Cook Once & Eat Twice

Baked Potatoes are a wonderful thing to cook once and eat twice. Regular potatoes and yams and sweet potatoes work with this and are so good and tasty. They are wonderful as left overs, and warm up so nicely.

At Wal-Mart, there is a bag of large baking potatoes for under $4.00. There are 9 to 10 large baking potatoes in it. This is very inexpensive compared to other stores for baking large baking potatoes.

This would be great for either a large gathering at your home to provide a potato bar of baked potatoes and many different types of toppings like broccoli, cheese, chives, bacon, sour cream, chili, tomatoes, salsa, black beans mixed with salsa, left over taco meat, chicken, left-over veggies...the ideas are endless for what you could offer as some toppings.

When baking this many potatoes, you can pierce them with a fork on both sides and then wrap them with foil. You can also brush them with olive oil and roll them in sea salt before wrapping in foil, if you would like to. Then put them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 2 to 3 hours depending on your oven.

I would suggest that even if you are not serving these potatoes to guests that you go ahead and make the entire bag of them, and then eat them once more as baked potatoes or make home made scalloped potatoes with garlic, heavy cream or half & half, shredded cheddar, Parmesan and provolone.

You could also cube these cooked potatoes and make a sort of hash brown potato with onion alongside of a meatloaf, or chicken or to serve with eggs.

You could also make a very quick and easy potato soup with the left over baked potatoes. You would just slice them up and put them in a pot with some half & half, butter chopped onions, frozen peas, garlic, seasoned salt and pepper...heat through and serve! :)

Click on this recipe for Homemade Oven French Fries, and other frugal meal ideas.


Find lots of great frugal tips at Biblical Womanhood, hosted by Crystal.

Freezer Pleaser #4

"Left Over Stew"

Basically, we keep any leftovers from meals that we won't be using for the next day in a quality freezer bag.

Add:
*Any vegetables: corn, peas, broccoli, green beans, onions, zucchini, tomatoes going ripe, etc.
*Any meat: hamburger, taco meat, bacon, sausage, chicken, etc.
*Any 1/2 used cans of food: stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce, cream of corn, green chilis, olives, beans, whatever!
*You can also keep chicken & ingredients that would go well with each other, in a different bag, and have another one for more of the red meat.
*Just keep adding ingredients and when there is enough to fill two - quart size freezer bags, then place it all in the crock pot.
*Depending on what has been collected, add more veggies or meat. But typically there is plenty of each.
*Then add any type of canned or cooked bean. Last time we added 1 can of Northern Beans.
*Lastly, add a can of stewed tomatoes and some Italian seasoning.
*Cook in the crock pot and serve with WARM CORNBREAD and HONEY.

Turns out great every time!

This meal cost less than $1.00 to make for a family of 4.

Freezer Pleaser #3

A great way to stock the freezer - Buy Hamburger in Bulk - On Sale.

Recently, we purchased 10 pounds of hamburger on sale. When we got home from shopping, I took some time to especially prepare this hamburger for future meals. I cooked about 2 lbs of taco meat, 3 lbs of regular ground and then left 3 or so pounds of non-cooked meat for whatever other meals may come up. The meat was then flattened in quart-size Ziploc bags for maximizing storage and also helps with quick defrosting.

We also do this, now more often, with Turkey meat that we find on sale combined with coupons of course!

We were able to purchase this Extra-Lean Hamburger on sale from one my favorite Albertson's stores. Every day the Butcher Block grinds up fresh hamburger and then in the evening or the next morning they reduce it for quick sale. This particular Albies had theirs on sale for.99 /lb. Typically, other stores reduce it from $1.29 - $1.69.

So regularly this 10 lbs of extra-lean hamburger would go for $3.49 lb.,costing $35.00.
Then with buying it at reduced rate this same 10 lbs. at .99 cents lb.,costing $10.00
A savings of $25.00

This works great for us:
Saving money, not having to go to the store so often & pay the higher prices, and then already having hamburger, prepped and ready to go for future meals.

For more Works for me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer!

Good Stuff!

Hello everyone!

Found this article over at Mary Ann's House: Frugal Fridays - "Eating Well on a Very Small Budget".

I could not have said this any better, myself. She is doing so many of the things that we do in our home. Though, it has taken me a few years to figure it all out. It is so great how she is trying to be a good steward with what the Lord has given her. I really love how she is also keeping everything balanced by eating healthy in a limited budget. Also, being resourceful without going overboard. There is some great stuff in there - be sure to check it out.

For more Frugal Friday posts, please visit Biblical Womanhood

Counting Pennies

These recipes ares some of my favorites for quick & inexpensive meals. Feel free to share any that you may use in your own home.

Ground Beef 'N' Biscuits

This saucy

meal is

family pleasing

and also

budget-pleasing

at .98 cents

per serving.

Ingredients:
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. pepper
2 cans (8 oz each) tomato sauce
1 pckg. (10 oz) frozen peas
1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

In a skillet over medium heat, cook beef, celery and onion until meat is no longer pink and celery is tender; drain. Stir in the flour, salt, oregano, and pepper until blended. Add tomato sauce and peas; simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer to a greased 13 x 9 x 2 inch baking dish. Separate biscuits; arrange over beef mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until biscuits are golden and cheese is melted. Yield: 6 servings.

**********************************

Creamed Tuna Recipe

Serve creamed tuna as a lunch dish or for dinner over toast, biscuits, or rice.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 can (about 7 ounces) tuna, drained
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup frozen peas, cooked

Preparation:

• Melt butter over medium-low heat; blend in flour, salt,
  and pepper.
• Stir and cook for about 2 minutes, or until smooth and bubbly.
• Gradually stir in milk while stirring constantly. Continue cooking, stirring
  constantly, until mixture thickens and begins to bubble.
• Add drained tuna and cooked peas. Continue heating and stirring until hot.
• Serve creamed tuna over toast, biscuits, or rice. Creamed Tuna recipe makes approximately 3 cups. Cook time: 7 minutes
  
  From Diana Rattray of Your Guide to Southern Cuisine from About.com

**********************************

Homemade Oven French Fries:

Ingredients:

• 2 baking potatoes or sweet potatoes
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• Peel potatoes (optional) - by leaving peeling on it offers more nutrients
• Cut into strips, about 1/4 inches in diameter.
• In a bowl, combine potatoes with olive oil, and mix well so that potatoes are evenly coated with the oil. (optional) - Instead of using a mixing bowl, I use a Ziploc bag or even better, the plastic liners of empty cereal boxes. It recycles and leaves no mess.
• Spray baking sheet (0ptional)
• Place in a single layer on a baking sheet in a preheated oven.
• Bake until potatoes have browned, about 20 minutes.

**********************************

Baked Pork Chops and Potatoes

Ingredients:
4-6 pork chops
Salt & Pepper
1/3 cup onions, chopped
Vegie Oil
4 cups potatoes, thickly sliced
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 1/4 cups milk

Directions:

• Pour a couple of teaspoons of vegie oil in pan. Add onions and saute. Add pork chops that have been seasoned with salt and pepper. Brown on both sides.
• Place potatoes in a 2 quart greased baking dish and arrange browned chops on top. To the cooked onions in the skillet add the soup and milk. Stir and heat. Pour on top of chops and potatoes.
• Bake covered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Uncover and bake 30 - 40 more minutes. Serves 6
  
  From: Living On a Dime Newsletter

**********************************

Easy Pizza Sauce
Have you ever ran out of the canned pizza sauce when you really needed it? This recipe is so good and easy you may never buy pizza sauce again. by Bonnie Young at www.recipezaar.com

Ingredients:

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
4 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 cups water

Instructions:

• Combine tomato paste, garlic, parsley flakes, onion, oregano, basil and water in 2 quart saucepan. Cook over medium high heat until mixture boils. Reduce heat to low and simmer 10 minutes.
• Cool a little and spread on your pizza crust and proceed with remainder of your toppings. Makes 3 cups, 4-6 servings.

*Here are the adjustments we made for our preferences:

• Used Organic Tomato Paste we had on hand. Made for a sweeter taste.
• Used 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder instead of 2 cloves garlic
• Used 1/2 tsp. of Onion powder instead of the 4 tspns. of dried onion flakes
• Added 1 tsp. of sugar
• Added 1 tbsp. of Olive oil and removed 1 tbsp. of water.
• Added a few pinches of salt.

Eggs galore...

One of the basic rules of frugality is to waste not, want not. In this case, I want to not be wasting all the hard boiled eggs I have leftover! I dislike having the same thing over and over and over, so I try to reuse items in a creative way.

Last night we made Eggs Goldenrod with peaches. This is a meal that has biscuits with gravy and then chopped hard boiled eggs on top. The meal was especially frugal as we used peppered gravy from a previous meal that had been stored in the freezer. Also put in some chopped up sausage from that morning's breakfast. Very yummy!

Then we will be making Egg Sandwiches for lunch.

One more tip:
Be careful to not break the Easter eggs in front of your children.
May cause trauma. :)

Two great articles

Here are two great articles to share with you:

The first one is from www.Biblicalwomanhood.com, where she does a very good job in sharing great ways to stretch the grocery budget. She also hosts "Frugal Friday's" on her blog with lots of great tips from her and other people's shared postings.

Then over at www.hubpages.com , she has a great article on finding children's clothes for cheap. This is great, as I'm sure we are all looking through our closets and assessing what is needed for summer, and what can be put away from winter. I found this to be a nice refresher on the different places to find good deals: http://hubpages.com/hub/FInding_Childrens_Clothes_for_Cheap

Waste Not

The other day I came to the realization that from my lack of diligence, I had wasted $8.00.

There were 3.5 lbs of hamburger that had been bought on sale for $5.20. My intention was to brown it, then store in separate Zip-Lock Bags for Taco's, Sloppy Joes, whatever. I put it off for a few days until Saturday morning when I decided that it must be cooked or go to spoil. I had put the lid on the pan to let it cool. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about putting it away until we got home in the afternoon.

Then there was an unopened block of cheese in the back of the fridge that had molded. Nope, it was not salveagable. I have a hard time scraping off mold, unless it is a small layer. Yuck! That was $1.48 for a small chunk of Monterey Jack.

Last of all, there was half a bag of shredded lettuce that was left open in the fridge. Not closed with a rubber band or something. 50 cents on sale.

This may not seem like a "big deal" to some people, but it irked me. If I am to go through the trouble to find the best prices on items, I don't want to waste my time.

In between shopping trips and "working the menu", I try to plan how to wisely use what I have in my fridge and pantry. Such as using up the salad and fresh fruits that will spoil earlier in the week. Then as we get into it more - use canned mandarin oranges or some other fruit/vegie that lasts longer.

I typically clean out the fridge and take stock of the items each week. Although this last one was a struggle with the pain I was having in my back. Not much of an excuse though. :)

As I was thinking about this it reminded me how we need to be diligent in all aspects of our lives. Like in our work, marriages, friendships, daily surrendering our lives to God, training/disciplining our children, training the dog, managing and upkeeping our homes, taking care of the weeds outside, our finances, blogging, or whatever.

I need to keep "paying attention". If not then things and/or people get forgotten, broken, piled up, wasted, go into chaos, have no direction, and spoil.

Better Late than Never!

Received this excellent article by Michelle Jones over at WWW.BetterBudgeting.com. I really like the last part that talks about taking the time for the people in our lives. Enjoy!

Better Late than Never!
by Michelle Jones

Children are special. They listen to everything you say when they are little, or at least (hopefully) most of what you say, and then when they grow up they repeat your own words back to you. Today, my 16-year-old daughter did just that and I couldn't’t have been more proud. She encouraged me with one of my own ultimate motto's for life… “better late than never!”

More...

At the time of this writing Christmas is less than 10 days away and although our entire town put up their Christmas lights several weeks ago, we did not. Like many working families our schedules have little room for anything extra and putting up outdoor Christmas lights certainly qualifies as EXTRA. However, we did manage to put up our tree two weeks ago and a few of our favorite holiday decorations throughout the house. The few outdoor lights that we do have managed to find their way next to our front door, just in case we might somehow find the time to put them up.

Well, as you may have already guessed from the title of this article, we finally managed to put up our small set of outdoor lights… at 10:00 p.m. last night!

They’re beautiful. The children are delighted, and so are we. And it took less than an hour to get them set up. So why, WHY, did it take us so long to get them up? They’ve been sitting right by the front door just waiting for someone to get the job done, but day after day we passed them by thinking, “no way, we don’t have time for that.”

This morning, while driving my daughter to school, we were talking about how pretty the lights are when I said, “and it didn’t take very long to put them up, why didn’t we do them sooner?!” She replied with no hesitation, “well, better late than never!” I love it… she had no concern for why we were late getting the job done, or even for the weeks we lost that could have been enjoyed with beautiful Christmas lights hanging from our front porch—which is probably just a ‘mom thing’ anyways. Instead, she is just happy they are up.

I couldn't help but smile as I replied back to her “yes, that is what I always say; better late than never!” I paused for a moment and then added with a chuckle “and that’s because we always are!!!”

Seriously though, I believe these words with all my heart and have no doubt that they apply to all areas of our lives, including our finances.

Here are a few examples:

* Have you not been putting enough (or any) money into a savings account, until now?
Better late than never!

* Have you never worked with a household budget to manage your money better, until now? Better late than never!

* Have you thrown away thousands of dollars of grocery coupons, until now?
Better late than never!

* Have you been in debt for years, but are finally getting out? Better late than never!

* Have you neglected your finances completely, until now? Better late than never!


"The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it."
- W. M. Lewis

No matter what our reasons are for putting things off, whether it’s that we can’t get to them because we’re too busy or that we just don’t want to do them, what matters the most is that at some point (and hopefully sooner than later) we take care of the people and things in our lives that need to be taken care of. We just have to MAKE time for them. And always, always, always…

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

Love this...

~A penny saved is still a penny earned, even if it is a penny.

The less we spend, the more we are able

to save and to give to others~