Working on some new stuff...

I have been busy working on some new stuff this past week.  We always seem to get out of the habbit of being less wasteful.  Nothing big, but we need to get back on track.  I made some more cloth napkins this week.  We also finished out last roll of paper towels, so it is back to using cloth towels.  Sometimes you really do need paper towels though, especially when it comes to food.  For instance, patting a whole chicken dry with a cloth towel always leaves fuzzies.  The bad thing is, if we have the paper towels we will use them for everything.  Kind of an all or nothing type deal.  I am going to try and go without them again and see how it works.  I have also been wanting to replace ziploc baggies for awhile now.  I always reuse them, and recycle them when they are too worn out, but I wanted something that I could send to school with my son that wouldn't get thrown out.  Since most of our containers are glass, I decided to make some reusable snack bags.

I wanted to make something that was waterproof so I could send stuff like strawberries or grapes.  I did some research, but there doesn't seem to be any reliable information about the safety of using ripstop nylon or PUL.  I settled for unbleached linen instead.  It works for snacks like pretzels, raisins, and peanuts, and I prefer the idea of using cotton.  I still wouldn't mind having a few bags that could be used for wet snacks so if anyone does know of a place that sells food safe nylon material please let me know :)  They are super easy to make and require little materials so I hope to have a tutorial up on the website by next week!

This week whole chickens were only .85 lb. so that was the focus of my meal planning this week.  I made a roast chicken last night (that turned out awesome!), and chicken salad, and chicken stock today.  Tonight I will use the stock to make chicken noodle soup and the chicken salad will be dinner for tomorrow.   I finished a new page for the website, so check it out if you would like to learn how to make 3 meals from one chicken. 

Our grocery bill has been a bit out of control the last month or so.  Still trying to get back on track with that as well.  One thing I am working on is serving more whole grain, dry bean, and potato side dishes as well as a veggies side dish with every meal.  This seems to help stretch meals.  Always more things to try and areas to improve I guess!  Hope you enjoy the new page!

Making your own shampoo...

I recently decided that I wanted to stop buying shampoo and start making my own.  I hate all the packaging that comes with store bought shampoo.  Plus all that garbage that gets absorbed into our skin and then goes into our water is just gross.  So I started researching it and there are some really easy and cheap alternatives to shampoo. 

My favorite is a combination of baking soda and apple cider vinegar.  You can find the full page at my website.  Enjoy!!

Homemade cleaners....

I have been making my own homemade cleaners for awhile now and will never go back!  Not only are they better for the Earth, but they are much better for my budget too!  Homemade laundry soap is only the start.  Check out my new page on the website for more info.

My new website and a recipe for mac and cheese....

Sooo I started a new website http://www.simple-and-frugal-living.com/.  Blogger is aight but I really wanted to go the extra step.  I love all things simple and frugal so I thought it was a good idea to put my knowledge and passion into a website!  I would love if you get a chance to check it out.  I just added a recipe for my easy baked mac and cheese.  It is really tasty and frugal recipe.

I have some other recipes, tutorials, tips, and such.  I will try and post everytime I add something to the site.  If you like what you see, you can share it on Facebook, Twitter, etc. at the bottom of each page.  I would be very appreciative!  I hope you enjoy!

Frugal Kids Birthday Party....

httpYesterday was my son's 5th birthday.  I think everyone had a great time.  My son really loved it!  I always make homemade cakes for my kids as it saves a lot of money and I think they taste better (if I do say so myself!).  He really wanted a banana flavored guitar cake.  Lucky for me I actually have a guitar shaped pan I bought a few years ago for my husbands 30th birthday cake.  I also used this Martha banana cake recipe.  It was really tasty, and not that hard to make. 

Just try to ignore the squiggly lines on the strings!  Lol!  Oh well, the boss liked it so that is all that mattered.  I also made some chocolate cupcakes because I was unsure if people would like it, but it went over really well.  We had the party at 2 so I just did some light snacks.  A veggie plate, no bake cookies, chips, pretzels, pigs in a blanket, and s'mores pops.

I wanted to do s'mores inside over a sterno, but thought this would be safer!  I just dipped the mallows in chocolate and rolled them in graham crackers.  The kids loved them!

I also made a birthday banner for him.

I made this banner out of some scrapbook paper I had lying around.  That is an exclamation point on that last triangle.  It was really simple to make and I plan on putting a little tutorial about it on my crafty blog.
I also made the treat bags.

I made these bags out of an old shirt.  I used pinking shears and just foled the fabric in half and sewed up each side.  I saw this idea on a blog but can't find it so if anyone knows where this idea came from just leave a comment so I can link to it.  I also got those wooden stars at Hobby Lobby and me and my son painted them with some watercolors.  I used a hot glue gun to to attach a pin back to them.  I filled the bags with some "Cowboy Trailmix".  The recipe I came up with was,

2 1/2 cups peanuts
2 cups raisins
11/2 cups chocolate chips

This makes 6, 1 cup servings.

Overall it was a really fun party! 

Makin stuff and savin money....

Is it just me or have grocery prices been outta control on some stuff?!  Even generic butter is $3.00.  I used to spend $30-$60 a week but lately it has been more like $70 or $80.  It is easier to lower bills in the summer when we have so much produce, but I still need to try and keep it around $50.  There are some things I want to try.  I spend too much during the week on things I don't need, so I started taking out $100 at the beginning of the week.  If I spend $50 on groceries, and maybe $20 or $30 on odds and ends (like the new mouse I needed for the computer today) that will give us a little extra spending money and a little left over for the savings.  I have been using a lot of dry beans lately.  We also started baking our own bread again.

I also made some carrot muffins from a recipe I found in Backwoods Home magazine, that contains 4 cups of carrots!  It is such a cheap and healthy recipe!  Some things at the store have been good, or even great priced so I have been trying to buy those.  I started this week by planning meals based on what we have, then read the ads so I could plan the rest by what was on sale.  Carrots were 3 lbs for $1!! (hence the carrot muffins ;) ).  I also found a great recipe for homemade ranch dressing on The Family Homestead.  It is soooo good and pretty cheap to make.  I figured a pint jar costs about .80.  I have heard that dressings are one of the worst things you can buy (due to preservatives, chemicals and what not), which I don't know much about it, but I figure if something has more then 20 ingredients (especially a condiment!), it is probably best to stay away from it!  If you haven't checked out The Family Homestead before I highly recommend it.  She is a mother of 8 and has amazing tips and recipes for the frugal homemaker. 

In other news, we ordered our seeds.  We got our first batch from the first company yesterday.  Eek!  I am always shocked to see all of those packets.  Did I order all of those?!  Lol!  We saved a lot of seeds but still needed to buy a lot to.  We just don't have the room to space plants out enough to save seeds.  I have been obsessed with reading all of the seed catalogs and can't wait to start planting again.  I am thinking about trying to grow some lettuce in unheated cold frames.  I am going to give it a shot when the ground thaws a bit.  I even started some basil, cilantro, and oregano on the shelves we have in the basement.  I also sprouted some seeds in this neat little sprouter my mom got me.  I would show you the picture I uploaded but blogger uploader isn't working again.  Pretty basic system, but there are a lot of ways to sprout with household stuff.  Here is a site about sprouting lentils.  I get mine from the store, which some people say you can't do because they are processed and won't sprout but i don't have a problem.  Plus I don't want to pay $4.00 for a 1/2 a pound like some places charge ;).  I am hoping that next year I will can enough stuff, and store enough veggies in the cellar, that our grocery bill will be even less.