Black Beans and Rice

We love black beans and rice! We eat something with black beans at least once a week. This Fall I bought several cans of beans from the dry-pack cannery. I make a huge pot full of beans about once a month and then freeze it 4 cup servings. That's enough to make a few dinners with leftovers for my husband and I. Here are a few of our favorite recipes:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/black-beans-rice-10000001031604/index.html

http://kidshealth.org/kid/recipes/lactose/li_chicken_beans.html

Enjoy!

Frugal Funk

I keep thinking of fabulous frugal ideas... which require me to spend money to try... hmmmm seems counterproductive no?  So my latest frugal movement? Do. Nothing.   It's not that much fun, but heck it saves us money. 

In the meantime, I do have a question for ya'll.  I realize that getting a sitter who you actually have to pay is not the most frugal idea, nonetheless, what's YOUR going rate for babysitters? When we had one child we paid $3 an hour.  Now that we have 2 we pay $3-$4 (for example: they watch our children for 4 hours... 4x3 = 12, we usually bump it up to $15 which makes it a little more than $3.50 an hour for 2) What are your going prices?  How many kids do you have? Am I over paying? Underpaying? 

One idea for a sitting swap that was suggested (I have yet to implement it, but I LOVE the idea) is gathering about 4 couples and their children and spreading the love over a month.  You watch ALL the children (yes, all 3 other couples children and your own) once a month.  They also watch all the children once a month free of charge.  So, for one night a month your life is insane, crazy, child-filled and your house gets ripped apart.  But the trade off?  THREE date nights with your husband or a girls night out for FREE.   Good idea, eh?  It would definitely be something you'd need to be 100% committed to, especially the Friday or Saturday night you say you'll watch the children.  But SO WORTH not having to pay a sitter. 

Hair Flowers for Little Girls

I love flowers in the hair of little girls. And I have 3 little girls. I have seen similar flowers in the stores or craft boutiques and the prices that range from $3-8 a piece, which I can't afford or justify. So I figured it out on my own. I am also telling you this now because Spring is coming (at least I hope so!! lol) and pink is a color that you cannot find in the Fall. So, you may want to purchase some fun colors and make some hair accessories for Easter or a birthday or baby shower.

You will need:

artificial flowers from the craft store

A needle

A thimble (this is optional, but it does help!)

quilting thread (regular thread is ok, but breaks easily)

barrettes

ribbon

small beads (I got a package of 250 for $2.49)

Hot glue gun

Pull the flower off the stem and take it apart. Between the layers of the flowers there is usually a plastic piece that helps separate the layers. Take those out and throw them away and put the flower back together. (this plastic center gets thrown way)

Thread your needle, and sew a bead in the center of the flower, just like you would sew on a button. Don't skimp here. If the bead comes off, it will be a choking hazard, so really use good thread and sew it on extra tight.

Cover a barrette with a short piece of ribbon. If you can find the "alligator" clips, I think those would be better, but I couldn't find them anywhere. You can even recycle old clips you don't use and cover them.

You have to cover it in ribbon so that the hot glue will have a place to stick. Then hot glue the barrette to the back of the flower. Viola! You are done.

You can also make headbands with ribbon or stretch lace and then clip different flowers to the headband. Since a bunch of flowers will come with more than you need, you can use the leftovers for gifts or split the cost with some friends and share the flowers. It is fun to have matching flowers (2 pair) for pony tails.

Singing Time Deal

Erin's friend Mel sent this to me:

It's Signing Time With Alex And Leah

via Baubles & Bits on 2/17/09

We love the Signing Time movies around here.  They are awesome!  My kids are learning lots of signs.  The only downside to them has been the price.  They are expensive, usually $20+ each dvd.  Right now Best Buy has some sets from season two for $14.99 each!  We ordered both and 1-3 is backordered but received the other set and we LOVE it!  It came with 4 DVDS and also a CD of music!  We can't wait for the other set to get here.  These sets would normally be $60-$75!  I would grab them while you can.  You won't be disappointed!

Free Internet & Phone

My friend Erin let me in on this little secret.  If you make less than $26,000 a year and it's available in your area you can get free internet, phone, and cell phone service... 

check it out.

Safelink Internet

Diet Dr. Pepper

If you go here http://www.freedietdrpepper.com/, you can get a coupon for a FREE 2 liter. I just got my coupon in the mail today! Why not, it's free?!

Oats

I asked for food storage for my birthday and my rockin' sister in law got me raw Oats.  Yay.  Except I have no clue what to do.  She bought them during the Macey's sale so they are in the 42qt size tubs.  She bought me a 45lb bucket and mentioned that she was going to be canning hers in the #10 cans in March, I could do the same.  

What would you do?  I don't even know how often I'll be using them?  Should I put them in a big bucket? Keep them in their cardboard tubs? Can them?  What recipes do you have that I could make the Oats useful?  I'm suuuure there are a lot more ideas than just oatmeal cookies and oats for breakfast.  Thoughts?

Ziploc Zip'n Steam

I will warn you right now: This is not the most frugal tip you've ever heard. But, sometimes our families need a meal in a hurry and we didn't plan ahead. Some days are very busy and in our culture people tend to stop at the drive-thru or order a pizza because we don't have time to make anything.

Enter: Zip'n Steam Bags from Ziploc. These bags are available in the grocery store on the same aisle as the rest of the ziploc products and plastic wrap, etc. You can place frozen food in them and have it ready to eat, moist and delicious, in less time that it would take you to stop at the drive-thru -- no kidding.

This package contains 7 large bags. I believe they were about $1.79 (I'm not positive) and there was a peelie coupon stuck to the package to save $0.55 per package. I have seen coupons for them in the inserts as well. The bags come in a medium size (10 bags per package) or a large size (7 bags per package).

Last night I made a frozen pizza for me & my kids. I knew my husband was getting tired of stuff like that, so I pulled out some frozen salmon fillets and put them in the bag. In 6 minutes they went from frozen solid to completely steamed, delicious and flaky. Yes-- flaky. Mine were preseasoned, but you can add whatever spices you would like to the items you are cooking.

These bags could also work for someone who has different diet requirements than the others in the family. My husband doesn't always want to eat a greasy pizza. He was thrilled that he got something healthy instead.

The bag tells you how long to cook things, from meats to veggies and you can season them how ever you would like. You don't need to add any water. Here they are frozen:

And here is the finished product. My husband made fun of me for not removing the skin before I took the photo, so sorry about that. Hopefully you can still see that the fish was perfectly cooked and very flaky. I have cooked vegetables in them also and it works really well. I have even washed and reused the bag once when it was used for vegetables. I am sure the package doesn't recommend that, but it still worked ok.

Just passing on an idea for a quick meal that might help you save on your budget on those really busy evenings when life is crazy!

Towels, Papertowels, and Washcloths

A friend of mine has always done this in her house. I was skeptical of it actually saving me money until I tried it.  She only uses papertowels to clean the mirrors in her home.  Every thing else in her house is cleaned with rags, old washcloths, cut up old towels, etc.  She claimed she could go almost a year using ONE big set of papertowels from Costco.  hmmmm.  I on average purchase about 4-5 sets of papertowels from Costco in 12 months.  

So about 4 months ago I started doing that.  You know what?  I still haven't even gone through half the package of paper towels and things look just as clean.  It takes a little bit more effort to wash your rags on regular basis, but it has saved me quite a bit of pass through costs.  

Take your old towels that have been bleached stained, are too old, have holes in them... whatever their dystfunction and cut them into small squares.  Rags can be used a VERY long time and survive MANY MANY washes.  You can even use old t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc as rags.  

Try it and let me know what you think!

hi all! i'm a friend of lori's and a first time poster here. i've been loving all your great tips! here is my inaugural tip: i often buy cheaper (and thus tougher, less tasty) chicken and beef and then use it in slow cooker recipes. the slow cooking makes even the toughest meat tender and tasty. there are oodles of slow cooker bookazines out there but one of my faves is: Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Slow Cooker. bonus: there are like 20 recipes in there under 10 bucks! here's one to try on a cold winter night:

Cheeseburger Soup
Total cost: 9.62
Prep 25 minutes
Cook 5 to 51/2 hours on high, 10 to 11 hours on low

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups coarsely chopped russet potatoes (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup sliced carrot
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
1 serrano chile pepper, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 14 oz. cans beef broth
1 10.75 oz. can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Brown ground beef with onion and garlic. Drain fat.
2. Combine beef mixture and all ingedients but shredded cheddar in 4 to 5 quart slow cooker.
3. Cover and cook on low for 10 to 11 hours or on high for 5 to 5 1/2 hours.
4. Top each serving with a little shredded cheddar.

happy saving!

Another Website

I really should add these to the sidebar.  hmmm. 

My e-friend Tanya  sent me this, check it out!  

I honestly don't know if this only applies to Utah County, because I really wouldn't expect grocery ads to differ *that* much. But, here's a website that I was just directed to and am still trying to figure out but seems reeeally useful!

http://savvyshopperdeals.com/

Tyson Chicken and Milk

Smiths is having a sale on whole Tyson chicken for .59 cents a pound. That comes to just around 3 bucks for a 5 lb chicken. I like to buy several and stick them in the freezer. Sometimes I cook two at a time and use the meat off one for sandwiches, soups, or pastas. They are SO easy to bake: Rinse and remove neck/gizzards, stick in a roasting pan w/rack, and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees for another 1 1/2 hrs. (until the temp. reaches 180 degrees). Add a little bbq sauce, a baked potato, some veggies, and that's dinner!

Smiths is also having a sale on Mt. Dairy milk....3 for $5.

Free Custom Workouts

Looking for a way to add variety to your workout? KSL's Studio 5 Health and Fitness Expert Melanie Douglass has created a pdf file that you can download for FREE. She has a wide variety of exercises, complete with descriptions and photographs, and you can mix and match the different exercises to build a custom workout.

If you want to watch Melanie Douglass on Studio 5, click here. I'm sure we can all use ideas to add variety to our daily workout, and free is our favorite price!!

Check out Oprah Tomorrow (February 3rd)

Tomorrow Oprah will be featuring a section on how to cut your grocery bill in half.  If you're home might as well tune it!  Ready, set, watch Oprah!

Thanks to one of our readers, The Fords, we all now know!

FREE CHICKEN

I got this email from Sharlynn....

A couple months ago I bought the 40 lb box of boneless chicken breasts from Maceys for $47.  I've re-packaged it all into 1 lb  or 3 lb. freezer bags, that have been stored in our deep-freeze.  Anyway, I DON'T WANT IT ANYMORE, because it's not that great (pretty tough meat), and I'm wanting to switch to organic meat (we're thinking of getting our own chickens--really!).  I asked about donating it, but they won't take it, since it's been re-packaged.  If anyone wants any, please just come and get it.  NO CHARGE!  Like I said, it's not that great of quality, but it's free, so what do you have to lose?  Email me if you want some (there's about 32 lbs left). joshandsharlynn@hotmail.com