Eliminate Food Waste: You Can Eat These

Eliminate food waste by taking advantage of good food that is commonly thrown away. Get some valuable nutrition and save money on your food bill. Here is how. Almost-Expired Eggs Most eggs will last for at least a few days past their expiration date, but if you don’t want to take a chance, try this trick. Boil almost-expired eggs. The hard-boiled eggs can be used as snacks, turned into egg salad, or used to pump up the nutrients in a green salad. Broccoli Stems We buy a lot of fresh broccoli in this house because it is inexpensive, and the … Continue reading →

Slow Cooker Basics Part 2

If you want yummy, perfectly cooked slow cooker or crockpot recipes that cost pennies per serving, then keep reading. With a little knowledge, your slow cooker meals will help you reduce your food bill while keeping your family happy. This post is part two of Slow Cooker Basics. If you missed the first post, you can find it here: Slow Cooker Basics. Now, let us add to your knowledge about how to make delicious slow cooker or crockpot meals. Some Food Cooks Faster than Others Vegetables usually take longer to cook than meat does. Don’t worry, you can still cook … Continue reading →

Slow Cooker Basics

Save money when you use your slow cooker or crockpot. You can have dinner on the table, ready for you, and spend just a few dollars a meal for the privilege. Most people who want to save money, really want to save money, rely heavily on at least one slow cooker to help them prepare low cost meals. Others may have given up a slow cooker or crockpot prematurely, because they had a bad experience, such as with an overcooked, an undercooked, or a tasteless meal. Usually this is because they simply weren’t aware of some slow cooker basics. Slow … Continue reading →

My Bulk Cooking Section –Organized Pantry

Yesterday’s project of organizing the pantry yielded some food that needed to be used up soon. Time to do some bulk cooking. These are items that were nearing the expiration dates or had just over stayed their welcome in the pantry. What I didn’t mention in yesterday’s post is that I actually cleaned out two pantries, plus a smaller three-section bin that usually holds produce. In the latter, was a five-pound bag of organic potatoes that were just threatening to grow eyes. I hate potatoes with eyes. Ew. I mean, really ew. So, this afternoon I decided to attack the isolated … Continue reading →

Money Saving Meals for Busy Families

Busy families shouldn’t miss out on the savings just because they have little time to cook. Home cooked meals are one of the best ways to save on the food bill. With a little knowledge, you can spend very little to cook at home, no matter how hectic your life is. Here is how. Crockpot Recipes I’m convinced that the crockpot must have been invented by a busy mom. If you don’t have this little appliance, run out right now and get one. Don’t worry about the expense. You can pick your first one up for a few dollars at … Continue reading →

McDonalds New Menu Items (Wendy’s and Burger King, Too)

McDonalds New Menu Items McDonald’s has some new menu items, and so do its competitors. There is a big push this month to get people coming into the restaurant with more variety and better pricing. In this economy, even fast food restaurants are concerned. Many families are choosing not to eat out as often, and that includes eating at McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants. In 2013, I am making an effort to make sure that our family stays purposeful when it comes to eating out. I’d like to eliminate those too tired to cook moments, as well as the … Continue reading →

Not Wasting Food Today

During the holidays, our food waste was a little high. We shopped a lot, cooked a lot and packed the refrigerator with all sorts of ingredients and good things to eat. The environment was just right for food waste, since we hardly knew what we had. Having another person in our home didn’t help, either, since we all tending to save things for each other to the point where some items went bad (a crying shame in the case of the over-the-top chocolate bread). Since one of my New Year Resolutions is to find an extra $5,000 toward my mortgage … Continue reading →

Forget the Fiscal Cliff; It is the Dairy Cliff that Will Get Me

We are all are more than a bit concerned about the approaching fiscal cliff, but what about the dairy cliff? That is the one that I think is going to get us. We go through about three gallons of milk each week, along with about 20 cups of yogurt and a pound of butter (sometimes more). I haven’t even mentioned cheese, yet. It has its own overflowing bin in the refrigerator. No, I’m not raising sumo wrestlers, just kids who are active and happen to take their own lunch and snacks to school each day. Lest you think that we … Continue reading →

Help! I Need Motivation to Cook

Cook from scratch to save money. It is automatic. Unless you are springing for prime cuts of steak or exotic mushrooms (in which case, feel free to cook a meal for me some time), you will always spend more money eating out than you will cooking from scratch, especially when you factor in nutrition. Heating up a frozen pizza you picked up from the grocery store doesn’t count. Those things are expensive, too (and tiny; they are very tiny). Still knowing something is good for you and your budget and actually doing it are too different things, as most of … Continue reading →

Unconventional Leftovers

Sure, you can slap some turkey on bread and call it a sandwich, but after a few days of leftovers, you have to get creative. I give you full permission (not that you need it) to eat an entire bowl of nothing but mashed potatoes if you like. Sometimes in the midst of the stress of the holidays, it is good to have a little comfort food. As for turkey sandwiches, you can use up more than one leftover by getting creative. Use the leftover dinner rolls for bread, slicing them if need be. Then layer mayo, cranberry sauce, stuffing … Continue reading →