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Cooking With Herbs-Chives
This post should really be called what to do with a bumper crop of chives. I hate wasting anything, especially food, so when I saw that this year’s chive crop was more than I could handle in one afternoon of drying and freezing, I had to get creative. Here are some ideas I came up with- Think Holiday Gifts I used to make four or five different flavored vinegars each summer but haven’t done it in a long time. This year I decided to try it again. As you might have guessed first one, chive vinegar. It’s simple to do and you can use old bottles that once housed things…
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An Afternoon Tea Treat-Cranberry, Orange and Walnut Quick Bread
One of my favorite things to do is put together an afternoon tea, complete with finger sandwiches, scones, and other sweet treats. I’m always looking for new recipes to add and here’s one I came up with last week. I thought I’d share it with you because it’s easy to make, has simple ingredients, and maybe even perfect for a Mother’s Day treat- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 cup orange juice 2 eggs, beaten 1 orange, peeled and cut into small pieces (also toss the pieces in some flour to stop them from…
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Saving Money On Heart Healthy Products
Here is Marcia’s February post all about ways to save on good for you foods- One of the myths about coupons I frequently hear is that the only coupons available are for processed foods; that there are no coupons on healthy items. While I will admit that you will see more money-saving coupons good on snacks and desserts, there are certainly plenty of coupons issued for organic foods, gluten-free products, sugar-free products, as well as all natural cosmetics and cleaning items. So since February is American Heart Month, let’s take a look at how to save big without buying artery-clogging items. The Coupon Hunt The key to finding coupons on…
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A Budget Friendly Appliance-The Slow Cooker
One kitchen appliance I love for saving me both time and money is my slow cooker. Actually I have two of them. If you haven’t tried using one to cook a couple of meals a week, here are some resources I gathered up to help you- Converting Recipes I have lots of recipes using the slow cooker that I use over and over again. And yes, that’s the problem. I wanted to convert some of my other recipes to this style of cooking but didn’t know where to start. I found this useful guide from a site called Saving Dinner…you can sign up for the newsletter too. http://savingdinner.com/articles/crockpot-troubleshooting/ Lots of Good Recipes One…
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Save Time and Money with Desperation Dinners
Workwise it’s been a hectic week for me and sometimes we’re all entitled to days when cooking dinner is the last thing we want to do. I know it’s tempting to get in the car and head to restaurant but here are some meals I fall back on when things get crazy. I call them my desperation dinners. Cook From the Pantry Supply If you’ve never been motivated to keep the pantry well stocked, now’s a great time to do some planning. Make a list of things you’d like to keep on hand and buy one or two items each time you’re at the store. If you stock the right…
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Three New Recipes to Try
I always love the recipes the folks at Pringles send my way. Here are three that look easy to make but I’m sure delicious. I’m told the chicken fingers are especially good. And with fish going on sale next month when Lent rolls around, the fish nuggets will make an ideal meal. Chicken Pringlers INGREDIENTS · 2- 6.38-ounce cans of Pringles (BBQ, Honey Mustard, Xtreme Blastin Buffalo or any of your favorite Pringles flavors) · 2 pounds of boneless chicken breast or chicken tenders, cut into 1 1/2” nuggets · 2 cups of skim milk or buttermilk DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the middle. 2. Place nuggets in milk. 3. Puree the…
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Five Must Have Appliances for the Budget Smart Kitchen
Since my teenage years I’ve been a collecter of cooking gadgets, appliances and utensils. However, if I had to narrow down five appliances that I would keep no matter what, these would top my list. I don’t think any budget smart kitchen should be without them- Slow Cooker Even when they went out of fashion I still used one. I now have two and thinking about adding a third one. I’ve used mine from everything from making mashed potatoes to apple butter. Most of the time I rely on them for soups and stews. They’re not expensive to buy, cost efficient to run, and once everything’s placed inside you can walk…
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Getting Organized for the Budget Minded
Years ago when I was a publicist I’d drive to one of my client’s offices a couple of times a month. On that journey I’d pass a store selling everything you’d need to get organized. I’m not sure what it was about the store that drew me in every month but I felt compelled to go check it out. However, the outcome was always the same. I’d come out empty handed and disheartened because being organized was obviously out of my budget. Always one for a challenge, I took note of the items in the store. I looked around to find things that were either free or low cost to help organize my home and…
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New Year Resolutions for the Budget Minded
A happy New Year to everyone. I you all enjoyed the holiday season. Now it’s back to normal and being that it’s a brand new year articles about resolutions are everywhere. Most of them focus on losing weight and exercising but it’s the perfect time to think about money and savings ones too. I’ve made a few, like throwing zero food away. I’m pretty good about it now but there’s still room for improvement. I’ll also be making my own gourmet breads instead of paying almost $5 for a loaf I can make for a few dollars, even less…I’ve almost got the cheese bread down to an art! I’ve attempted this one for the…
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It’s Meatless Monday-Roasted Veggie Shepherd’s Pie
One of my favorite comfort foods is Shepherd’s pie. Sometimes I make it with tofu but the other day I thought about trying a roasted veggie version. Best thing about this is it’s the ideal way to use up leftover vegetables and other items that might be sitting in the fridge and pantry. You don’t have to roast the vegetables for this but I think it makes the flavor more intense and worth it. 3 carrots, peeled and chopped About one cup of chopped celery 2 medium sized onions, chopped 8 ounces of mushrooms, sliced. I used baby bellas because they were on sale Place the vegetables in a roasting…
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