January 27, 2010

The Coupon Experiment

Filed under: saving money — Tags: discounts, food, health, saving money — K @ 1:47 AM

Something has been bothering me. I’m attracted to the real food movement and have been was making progress eating more real food. I try not to eat processed foods and have been limiting packaged powders. I was getting good at grocery shopping and finally staying either in or close to our budget. Then something happened. I’ve read quite a few blogger’s out there get their groceries for a little bit of nothing thanks to coupons and rebates and this intrigued me. I subscribed to the Sunday paper for $7 per month to get coupons. If it didn’t work out, I could easily cancel. Here’s how it went…

Week #1: Wow! I saved $10 on groceries! Crap – I just spent double our budget.

Week #2: Wow! I saved $13 on groceries! Crap – I just spent double our budget, again.

Week #3: Wow! I saved $16 on groceries! Crap – I just spent almost double our budget. The real food is disappearing from our cart

Week #4: Wow! I saved $30 on groceries and only went a little over budget! Cart filled with processed foods

At this point I feel like I fell into a trap. It’s winter in Iowa and there are no markets around here. The nearest grocer that sells a decent supply of locally grown meats and organic produce is one hour away. We need to save money and I actually ended up spending more, not just monetarily, but with our health as well. In the last month, even though we watched what we ate during the holidays, D and I have both gained weight. Our cabinets are getting more and more full, leading us to snack on, guess what, crap foods throughout the day. At this point, I feel stuffed and upset to my stomach. I blame the cereal and HFCS-laden white bread.

Week #5: Well, we’re stocked up on canned soups, fruits, and veggies. We also have plenty of powdered cake, pancake, and cupcake mixes as well as cereal. We did buy quite a bit more fresh produce than usual due to the store’s 80th anniversary sale. We ended up $5 under budget and saving 25% off of our total bill due to the coupons. Saving money makes D really happy.

I had worked out a system and kept a budget and was purchasing real food before all this couponing business. Now we’re so into clipping, we have a stockpile of “Q’s” that we can dig through and use without going over budget. I’m feeling much better this week and am thinking of a plan to get more good food back into the cupboards.

I have found that many whole food producers do actually have coupons! Many I can’t use around here, but my grocer does carry a few products. Some whole foods retailers give away copies of magazines that have coupons in them or even coupon books! I already have plans for a garden around our fire pit. I have some herbs, garlic, a grapevine, and rhubarb planted around the house – that was my first step last year ~ edible landscaping!. This year I’ll be adding some veggies and another grapevine.

See the next page to see how I’m going to save money on real food…

Pages: 1 2

Comments (7)

January 18, 2010

Sesame Turkey Recipe

Filed under: food — Tags: food, meal, saving money — K @ 3:07 PM

Yep, this recipe is delicious sesame goodness, only with turkey instead of chicken. There is a distinct turkey taste, but it’s good and an excellent, non-traditional way to use up leftover turkey!

We like to serve these with my newest discovery, cheese puffs (aka crab rangoon without the crab). You can find wonton wraps in the refrigerated area in your grocery – at Hy-Vee, they are next to the salad mixes and tofu. And of course, these goodies aren’t complete without some homemade sweet and sour sauce!

The original sesame chicken recipe is from RecipeZaar.

Sesame Turkey Recipe Ingredients

Turkey – I use about 4 cups leftover turkey. But I you can adjust the amount.
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2-1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds – put sesame seeds in a hot pan and stir. They’re done when they’re light brown.

Sesame Turkey Recipe Instructions

Cut turkey into bite size pieces.
Heat a large non-stick skillet that has been sprayed with Pam, over medium-high heat.
Cook turkey until no longer pink. (Or just reheat turkey.)
Mix together honey, soy sauce, water, corn starch, ginger and red pepper flakes.
Whisk until no corn starch lumps appear.
Pour sauce mixture into skillet with turkey.
Cook until sauce thickens slightly.
You can add more water if sauce is too thick.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until turkey starts to soak up the sauce.

Cheese Puffs Recipe

Put a spoonful of cream cheese on a wonton wrap.
Rub water around the edge.
Pinch the edges toward the center.
Drop in hot oil until light golden brown.

Homemade Sweet and Sour Sauce

The following recipe tastes just like the packaged stuff but doesn’t contain high fructose corn syrup. Instead of a bright red color, it’s a translucent brown. This recipe is from About.com.

1/3 cup white or rice vinegar (Note: rice vinegar gives better results)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 4 teaspoons water

Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Mix together the cornstarch and water, add to the other ingredients and stir to thicken.

Thanks for visiting! If you’re interested in more recipes you can check out my food and recipes pages. If you want to know what I’ve been up to this week, visit my front page or subscribe via RSS!

I’m also participating in the following carnivals today! You can find many more recipes here:

Comments (7)

January 13, 2010

5 Ways to Green Your Cleaning in 2010

Filed under: saving money — Tags: cleaning, DIY, health, home, natural — K @ 3:39 AM

: Image via Wikipedia

The following is a guest post by Marcy Tate.

Greening your cleaning is not only good for the planet, it’s good for your pocket. It’s pretty simple to green your cleaning and you’ll notice the savings right away. Clean better and feel better in 2010 by following some of these eco-friendly cleaning tips:

1. Natural Cleaning Products –You can reduce your exposure to harmful chemicals found in chemical based cleaning products by using inexpensive, natural cleaning products found right in your pantry. Using vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice is not a new idea, however it is often overlooked. Make a separate area away from your pantry to store vinegar, baking soda and lemon juice. It will remind you to go green when you clean.

Vinegar

Vinegar has many cleaning uses. Vinegar cleaning involves diluting vinegar with hot water in a bucket or in a spray bottle. Use it for washing hardwood floors, windows, toilets, tubs and more. Vinegar is great for removing hard water stains from glass shower doors. You can purchase vinegar in bulk from warehouse stores or buy it at your local grocery store for under $4 a gallon.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is a natural deodorizer and stain remover. It is great for removing stains from clothes. Just add some baking soda to a hot-water load of clothes. Other great uses for baking soda include unclogging drains and removing odors from a garbage disposal. Some baking sodas contain aluminum. Check the ingredients of the baking soda you select to make sure it does not contain aluminum. Some studies suggest that aluminum exposure is linked to diseases, such as Alzheimer’s.

Lemon Juice

Lemon juice has similar cleaning capabilities to vinegar. Also acidic, lemon juice can disinfect sinks and toilets.

Simple Combinations

Try these natural cleaning product combinations for quick, easy and eco-friendly cleaning:

Multi-purpose cleaner: Dilute baking soda, castile soap, water and a few drops of any essential oil.
Clog remover: Pour ½ C. to 1 C . of baking soda down the clogged drain. Then pour ½ C. to 1 C . of vinegar down the drain. Wait about 15 minutes and flush with very hot water.

2. Green Cleaning Products – Green cleaning products refer to products made from non-toxic, biodegradable and renewable resources. Green cleaning products are manufactured by companies that produce chemical-based cleaning products. Not all green cleaning products are as green as they claim to be. The EPA does not require manufacturers to list all ingredients in household cleaners. Check the labels of the products to be sure they are eco-friendly; mineral or plant-based ingredients are a sign that they are eco-friendly.

Choose refillable containers when purchasing green cleaning products to help you avoid the need to purchase a bottle each time. Tip: Don’t throw away your old cleaning products. It’s better to dispose of them at a toxins recycle center that accepts cleaning product waste.

3. Get Rid of Disposables – Disposable cleaning supplies are filling up landfills at alarming rates. All types of disposable cleaning products, such as dusting cloths, paper towels and cleaning wipes should be replaced with reusable rags and microfiber towel or cloths. An even greater cost-effective method is to cut up old T-shirts and undershirts and use them as rags. A great perk is that you can choose the size of the rag.

4. Water Conservation – Washing dishes with an open tap can use up to 20 gallons of water a day. Instead, fill the sink, dishpan or bowl with water. Closing the tap can save 10 gallons , which equates a few hundred dollars a year off your water bill. An additional way to green your dishwashing is to cut down on your dishwasher use by running the dishwasher only when it is completely full.

5. Hang Your Laundry – Hanging laundry is extremely eco-friendly. It can save you money by lowering your gas and electric bill. Hanging laundry reduces your gas and electricity usage. It also eliminates the need for dryer sheets, which cuts down on waste.

Marcy Tate is a blogger at Networx. She is also a featured author at Landscaping Networx.

Comments (0)

January 7, 2010

Easy Bagel Dip Recipe

Filed under: food — Tags: food, holidays — K @ 2:25 AM

So, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know how much my family is into creamy dips and intriguing desserts during the holiday season. My mom has been making the following dip recipe for a few years now and it is so addictive and so easy to make! D loves dips too and specifically wanted this one for our New Year’s Eve get together last week. And out of all the junk food available, guess which one was gone first? That’s right, this one!

The base of mayo and sour cream is well, very creamy. The beef adds a saltiness along with the herby parsley and dill. This dip melts in your mouth!

Beef Bagel Dip Recipe

Ingredients:

16 ounce jar real mayo
16 ounce container real sour cream
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 packages dried beef (not corned!)
2 packages bagels (I’ve tried plain, honey wheat, and onion)

Instructions:

Chop beef – just pull it out of the package and slice it one way then slice it the other – voila! That’s good enough.

Dump everything except bagels in a bowl and mix well. This dip does not need to let the flavors blend in the fridge – it’s good from the get-go.

Slice each bagel into large bite sizes. This helps to scoop up ample dip I cut it like I’m cutting a pizza, only with a knife, then pull apart the pieces.

All in a new bowl my sister got me for Christmas!

If you’re interested in more recipes you can check out my food and recipes pages. If you want to know what I’ve been up to this week, visit my front page!

I’m also participating in the following carnivals today! You can find many more recipes here:

8GM5Y6TG8RRA

Comments (19)

January 5, 2010

Donating Hair to a Good Cause

Filed under: life — Tags: bargains, health — K @ 3:29 AM

For the last six months my super-long hair has been getting matted and just a burden to take care of. Last spring, I asked a stylist how long it was and she said I only had a couple inches to go before I could donate it. Fast forward almost a year. I’ve been saying for a while now that I’m going to chop it – and two weeks ago I finally got the guts! I went to Cost Cutters and after learning that the hair was going to be donated, cut and styled my hair for free!

Before

I’ve always considered giving my hair to Locks of Love because I thought they were the best place to donate to, until I got this message from a friend on Facebook:

Donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths instead. http://www.squidoo.com/locksoflove

Mon at 9:53pm ·

So I checked out the link she sent me. The article sure makes LOL look bad. Since the weather’s been below freezing here, I haven’t left the house to send my hair. I’m going to address it to Pantene instead. I guess there are shady people everywhere, even in the hair donation business. If you’re interested in learning more about Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program visit their hair donating requirements site.