Where to Find Great Recipes from Kraft

What will you be feeding your family for dinner tonight? There are times when that is a rather difficult question to answer. It helps if you have plenty of recipes to choose from. Fortunately, there are many places to find recipes from Kraft. There was a time when people had to rely on cookbooks, women’s magazines, and the box of handwritten recipes that their mother and grandmother handed down to them for recipe ideas. Today, companies that make food products are very active online. This makes it really easy to find plenty of recipes that include products from your favorite … Continue reading →

Breakfast Items that Freeze Well

One of the ways to save money is by avoiding the expensive cost of breakfast. You may be overspending on this important meal if you rely on convenience items, such as dry cereal, individual oatmeal packets, and store-bought frozen breakfast items, from sandwiches to pancakes. To reduce your spending in this area, consider preparing your own breakfast items and freezing them for later use. This way, you will always have a ready breakfast at hand, no matter how hectic the morning turns out to be. You can approach preparing freezer breakfast items in at least two different ways. You can … Continue reading →

Does It Cost More for a Homemade Lunch?

I started out making homemade lunches for my first-born child for financial reasons. It just seemed cheaper that way than to buy lunch from the cafeteria. Years later, all of my kids still pack their lunch bags every day. They actually prefer it because they don’t have to spend time waiting in a cafeteria line or trying to decide on food they might not like. A friend of mine agrees with the preference but not with the cost. She says she winds up spending more money when her kids pack a lunch compared to when they buy it at school. … Continue reading →

Touring the City on Less: Food Extravaganza

The summer and fall are great times to tour a fun city. Of course, you want to do it for less. Yesterday I shared the money-saving way to save on transportation around the city. If you missed that post, you can find it here. Today it is all about having a food extravaganza. Part of the fun of visiting a city is all of the great food that you can try. Most cities offer a variety of great food, different fusions and ethnic dishes, traditional and down home fare. It would be a shame to waste this opportunity because of … Continue reading →

Make Your Own Snow Cone Syrup

Cut down on the cost and eliminate the high fructose corn syrup when you make your own snow cone syrup. It is easy and inexpensive. What are summer days without a snow cone? This classic summer treat can bring smiles to practically any child. I remember my childhood summers. One of my favorite “toys” was my snoopy snow cone machine. It took a lot of work to get enough shaved ice to make one small snow cone, but it was worth every moment. Because my parents weren’t interested in buying any of the snow cone syrups that were available, I … Continue reading →

Starbucks Raised Its Prices

I don’t know if you noticed or not, but Starbucks has raised its coffee prices. This means that the chai latte or Oreo Cookie Mocha Frappuccino is costing you more this month. I confess that I hadn’t noticed, but that is probably because I rarely get a coffee out, unless it is a sort of emergency. For example, I am trapped in the car on a three-hour road trip or a four-hour round of errands, and it is the afternoon, and my only option to avoid a caffeine headache is the Starbucks at the rest stop or the strip mall. … Continue reading →

Nutritious Food on a Limited Budget

Think you are forced to choose between an affordable grocery bill and healthy, nutritious food? Think again! There are many easy ways to get your family the healthiest food you can, all while spending less at the grocery store. On Tuesday, my friend Amy delivered our half of the CSA farm bounty. Our two families split a farm share, and we alternate pick up. This means that we get fresh, organic produce each week for a cost of about half of what it would be in the store. Among all of the good food were the sweetest organic raspberries that … Continue reading →

Is Giving Meal Choices a Good Idea?

Plenty of parents I know make up separate meals for the kids and the adults or older children in the family. One mom and dad actually make an average of three different dinners each night, just to make sure that everyone in the family eats. Now I understand that certain childhood disabilities, from diabetes to autism, may require special diets, and in those cases parents have to do what they have to do. That isn’t what I am talking about. More so, I am referring to families with healthy, average children who have fallen into the pattern of becoming short … Continue reading →

Inexpensive (and Easy) Summer Meals

For my family, summer is not all about cooking, unlike during the winter holidays. Instead, it is about spending time outdoors, going on summer adventures, visiting with friends and family, days at the park or pool, and nights on the grass watching a movie or music concert under the stars. It is about inviting the neighbors over for a campfire and smores, catching lighting bugs, trying to get all of the ice cream drips before they run down your arm, and re-experiencing the feel of a light breeze coming off of the ocean. Still, we all have to eat, so … Continue reading →

Saving Money at the CSA

Today was my first pick up at our CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) farm. My friend Amy and I met there. Sharing a full membership can be a great way to save money. Often, a full membership is less than the cost of two half memberships. Plus, if one of you goes on vacation, the other can still pick up, so that week’s share isn’t lost. With Amy and I, we are going to alternate weeks. One week she will pick up the items and then drop my half off to me, the next week I will do the same for … Continue reading →