Ten Minute Meal Thursday...ok, like 15 (but that doesn't count the time it takes to boil the water...this is active prep time)

UPDATE: I've added pictures, and changed a couple of things...the cheese was a tiny bit more expensive than I had thought, so I updated the price, and the meal took a little over 10 minutes. That doesn't count the 5 minutes the water takes to boil, though. I'd prep the garlic and tomatoes while the water boils.

Here's the first Ten Minute Meal Thursday Recipe. I'm trying to incorporate a sale item from the area, which would be the organic cherry tomatoes over at Shaw's. Stay tuned next week for another Ten Minute Meal using the $2.99/lb pork sausage at Whole Foods!

Tomato Basil Toss
serves 4

- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes ($2.99 organic on sale @ Shaw's starting 2/27)
- 2 T olive oil ($.24)
- 2 cloves garlic ($.04)
- 1 t. dried basil ($.06)
- 1/2 t. salt (<$.01)

- 1 dash black pepper (<$.01)

- 1 lb. whole wheat or plain spaghetti or linguine (organic whole wheat @ Trader Joe's $1.29)

-1/2 c. grated fresh Romano cheese (I really don't know exactly what this costs, since I haven't bought it in so long, but I'm pretty sure that at TJs it's around $9.00/lb which would make a half cup (which weighs 1.3 oz) cost $.73)

Total: $5.37 for a mostly organic dinner for 4! Not bad.

1. Put on pot of boiling water and salt it well (with, like, more salt than you'd think, about 2 T./pound of pasta).
2. Slice garlic cloves into thin slices and cut tomatoes in half.
3. In a large (preferably nonstick) skillet, heat garlic, oil, basil, salt, and pepper all together at the same time on medium low (if you add garlic to a hot pan it will burn on the outside and stay raw on the inside). You could sprinkle in some red pepper flakes here if you're looking for spice (1/4 t.)
4. Your water should be boiling now, so put in the whole package of pasta.
5. Once garlic is just barely golden, add the tomatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes over medium high heat, or until they start to soften a bit.
6. Ladle out 2 or 3 ladlefulls of pasta water into the skillet and allow that to simmer together on medium until the pasta is done.





7. When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the skillet (turn off heat), tossing to coat with tomatoes and oil and such. You can add the cheese during this final toss, or add it to each bowl after it's served.

scrimpyTips:

- If you garden in the summer (I'm doing containers on the fire escape!), this is a great go-to meal. It'd be even better with fresh basil from the garden :).
- Reserve some of the pasta water, and if the pasta looks a bit dry try adding another ladlefull of pasta water.
- Taste this before taking it out of the pan, the recipe may under-do the salt. I figure everyone has different taste and you can always add a bit more in the end (however, it's always important to try to season your food to your taste while it's cooking, because salting something while it's cooking brings out and enhances the natural flavors of ingredients, whereas adding salt at the end mostly tastes salty).
- This is delicious leftover and cold, perfect for a microwave free lunch
- You can slice the garlic and tomatoes beforehand and store them separately so they're ready to go when you are
- This is easily made vegan with the omission of the cheese

- Add the cheese in very last, if you add it in while the skillet is hot it gets stringy

The next Thursday meal is going to be a 20 minute meal. I'm going to include the time it takes to make the pasta...10 minute meal is actually a little misleading...

Interesting story about Haymarket!

Hey, I came across undergroundboston.net. Apparently, according to this article, they are planning to make the vacant building adjacent to Haymarket into an indoor market. How cool would that be?

Undergroundboston.net is a neat site.

Stay tuned for pics of this past Thursday's 10 Mintue Meal as requested by BC Letourneau over at www.freedomandsport.blogspot.com.

Natural Cleaning Product Recipes!

Good morning, everyone! I usually like to get a good amount of decent cleaning done on Saturdays, because I have Mike's help with the baby. During the week, it's all I can do to just keep up with the minimum of cleaning, because Dylan needs me! Anyways, it's nice to have my hands free on Saturday and be able to clean up real nice :).

In my research, I came across this site that is way better than anything I could put together. I'm going to just write my recipe for favorite all time cleaning tricks. I'm a bare minimum type of girl, because why use more ingredients than absolutely necessary, right?



Taylor's Favorite Homemade Cleaner

1/4 c. vinegar ($.05)
4 c. water ($.00)
30 drops of any essential oil you'd like (lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree...) (optional) ($.23)

Mix this all together and pour it into a recycled (or new) spray bottle. Vinegar is a great disinfectant and deodorizer. The vinegar smell goes away so quickly, even if you don't use essential oils. Personally, I don't even use the essential oils, because I'm trying to keep the cleaners superscrimpy. But, I know that you can get bottles of lavendar essential oil pretty inexpensively on amazon.com. I think I'm going to invest in some so that I can experiment a little more, and make some really nice home cleaners. You should, too! I buy a gallon of vinegar for, like $3 at stop and shop, which makes these cleaners $.05/windex bottle (32oz) without essential oils.

OK, so that link above for amazon, ok here it is again, is for 4 oz. of tea tree oil for $18.40 (with . shipping). That would mean that every 30 drops are $.23. So, an entire thing of this cleaner would cost you $.28 and would be all natural and safe for your family.

Total for a windex sized spray bottle full is $.28. I use it for:

• Countertops
• Stove Top (just spray, let it sit, and come back to it, spray again, and wipe)
• Dylan's high chair tray
• Bathroom
• Sink
• Floors
• Um, everything

Another great idea from treehuggingfamily.com that I had never thought of is boiling citrus peels with some essential oils or spices or fresh lavender or romemary on the stovetop!

I also like the method of simmering fresh rosemary, thyme, or sage and straining. This makes a disinfectant water. Adding a few drops of castile soap or other natural soap will help cut grease.

Anyways, as you can see, there are a ton of options, but above is the easiest, cheapsest, most multipurpose cleaner I know of. Make a batch and let me know what you think!

Making your own cleaners is a great way to keep crap out of the air and your environment. I love knowing that my family is not exposed to any chemicals.

Oh, and PS. Baking soda. Yes, baking soda. So cheap, and is a great non-abrasive yet so abrasive scouring agent. It won't scratch things and is amazing for getting ANYTHING off of ANYTHING. Once I realized this, I went crazy on some pans that I thought were past the point of no return, and guess what? They weren't. Baking soda beat their asses. Try it.

All Hail the first Freezermeal Friday!

my camera isn't too good with food pics (neither am I)


Welcome to Freezermeal Friday! I'm so excited you're here and I hope to help you prepare a healthy, organic meal that you and your family can enjoy in a pinch. This serves 4 hungry adults over brown rice ($.81).

Black Bean Confetti Chili

1 28 oz. can organic tomatoes ($1.67)
1/3 bag dried organic black beans (about 2 1/2 c. prepared) ($.66)
2 cloves garlic ( $.04 - Haymarket 5 heads garlic/$.75)
1/2 medium onion ($.07 - Haymarket bag of 13 onions/$1)
1 T. olive oil ($.24)
1 T. salt (<$.01) 1 dash black pepper ($.06)

1 t. dried basil ($.06)

1 t parsley ($.06)

1 1/2 t. cumin ($.28)

1T. chili powder ($.06)

1/4 t. cayenne pepper ($.06)

1 c. frozen organic corn ($.99)

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic and add it with the oil, salt, pepper, basil, and parsley to a pot on low heat. Half of this medium onion chopped is about 3/4 c. Keep the top of the pot on to keep the moisture in, if you don't the moisture will evaporate and your onions and garlic will burn. Here is a picture of what I consider a medium onion:

Here is another picture portraying what I consider to be the easiest way to peel an onion:

I cut off the ends, slice the outermost layer, and then peel it off, along with the skin! (God, looking at these pictures makes me realize how badly I need a manicure. Good thing my mom is taking me out for one when I visit her in NY next week - thanks Mom, love you!).

2. Cook the onions and spices and garlic and oil until the onions are translucent.

3. Add can of tomatoes and stir together. Add cumin, chili powder, and cayenne (which can be omitted or increased for personal preference).

4. Simmer the tomatoes and spices for 10 minutes and then add the beans. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes on low, or until the consistency is to your liking.

5. This makes about 4 servings for dinner for adults. To freeze, portion out in your bag(s) of choice, and bring them to room temperature by either leaving them out (maybe on the windowsill with an open window) or putting them in a cold water bath (make sure those bags are sealed well, or you'll be damn sorry).

6. Oh, I should've mentioned this before, but if I go back and add it the whole recipe will be ruined because I'm on my fiance's computer that is a little messed up --- LABEL THE BAGS WITH SHARPIE - include date the food was cooked, how many portions are in it, and what it is.

7. Lie the bags flat (so they take up less room and are easier to manage in the freezer) and allow them to freeze. Lying them flat also allows them to freeze quicker, reducing the chance that the food in the middle will grow bacteria before it's frozen.

There's your first scrimpy Freezermeal! I hope you enjoy it. Here's some tips to make it even better:

• You can add a pound of any type of ground beef to this. Just brown it in a pan and add it to the tomatoes with the beans. It will then serve 8 I think...right? (if you do this let me know how many hungry adults it serves)
  
• I love to add sour cream and hot sauce on top of mine.


• It's good on over orzo pasta, too.


• You could add chunks of grilled chicken to it, too.


• To reheat, just soak bag in hot water and dump the frozen brick into the pot and warm over low until hot. I don't have a microwave but I'm sure micorwave defrosting it wouldn't be too difficult. You could also leave the bag in the fridge in the morning and it would probably be soft by the time you got home.


• Excuse the picture, but we ate it last night and I forgot to take the picture. There's rice all mixed in and it just doesn't look as pretty without the dollop of sour cream (and garnish of chives). My bad, OK people? I have a baby...so that's my excuse, I'm busy! PLEASE excuse the formatting problems, too. Again - I don't have my computer and this one's keyboard is broken!

TOTAL: $5.07/4 servings which is $1.27/serving. Not bad. If you're not into organic this would be, like, half the price...but go organic, it's better for you!

Haymarket Roundup!

Hey all! Welcome to the very first Haymarket Roundup...here I will let you know if I've found any good deals. First, let me tell you what you can usually always get there for a good price:

-Onions (yellow and red)

-Carrots

-Celery

-Apples

-Pears

-Peppers

-Potatoes

-Tomatoes

-Berries

None of the above are organic. So, I don't necessarily recommend getting all your produce here, but if you're not into organic, then the above are great deals. Also, if you need something in a pinch and you live around here, you can stop by and pick up whatever.

Here is what I found this week at Haymarket:

-Oranges ($2/6)...I buy these here because they're a low pesticide residue crop. Since they barely retain chemicals, I buy them conventional. They're great because they're so cheap in season. During the winter it's one of the only fruits we eat.

-Organic Bananas! I found organic bananas 3lbs/$2! That's $.67/lb for organic bananas! Now, there in the front of the market closest to the T stop. You walk back towards government center, and across from the fish you'll find organic bananas. They're easy to spot because they have big stickers on them and their numbers start in "9".

-Mushrooms - at TJs they're $2.80/lb and here they're $2/lb. So I bought them for the upcoming 10 minute meal using the whole foods sale sausage. I buy them conventional because they're not on the dirty dozen list of high pesticide residue food.

scrimpyTips:

- When you find a great deal on organic bananas, buy a crapload of them. Then what I do, is break them into thirds (once they're perfectly ripe) and freeze them for use in smoothies or muffins. For smoothies, just throw them in with yogurt, milk and/or berries. For muffins, defrost them in the fridge before use (they'll be all brown and watery, but it's ok, just use them - they're fine). I'm going to post about freezing your own fruit. It's a great thing to do when you have ripe fruit that you can't use up in time.

- Check out my other post to make sense of Haymarket.

- Please mind the tiny font in the drawing...

More Whole Foods Sales!

Ok, so I ran to the store today to check out what other unadvertised deals they had. Here's what I have for you:

• Organic whole wheat rustic bread $2.19 from $3.39
• Conventional grapefruit $.69 (that's $.10 cheaper than stop and shop)
• Avocados 2/$3 from $1.99 each

That's all :)...nothing too major. If you like grapefruit, stock up, I know I will. They can stay for up to 2 weeks in your fridge (or they can in mine, at least) and are a great fat burner (plus they're full of fill you up fiber!).

Stop and Shop Sales

Hey guys! I don't really shop at stop and shop because it's too far away, but they have some really good deals. Whole wheat flour is $2.19/5 lbs. It's not organic, but it was such a good deal, I couldn't pass it up.

Here are the best deals from this week's sale circular, again - the best being in RED, the good being in plain old BLACK.

Organics:

28 oz. Nature's Promise canned tomatoes 2/$3. That's $.16 less than the next cheapest (365 WF). If I had a car I would buy 20 of these, no joke.*

Nature's Promise organic ice cream 2/$6. It's cheaper than Haagen Dasz and it's organic!

Nature's Promise Ground Turkey $3.59/lb. Stock up for burgers and chilis!*


Not Organics:

Barilla Pasta 10/$10 or $1 each...TJs has pasta everyday for $.99, but if you shop at S&S, this is a great sale!*

Bumblebee tuna $10/10 or $1 each...good deal (just be cautious of your mercury intake).*

Florida grapefruit 5 lb bag/$3...that's $.79/lb (WF has them for $.69/lb)

Stop and Shop Yogurt 6 oz. containers 20/$10 or $.50 each. This is even cheaper than if you had bought the big container of organic at TJs (but, buying in big containers and making portions yourself saves all the little containers from landfills, so...). It comes out to $.08/oz. Make sure you choose plain and add some fruit, honey, or nuts. All yogurt has good for you pro biotic bacteria, but you could probably do without all the added sugar (and in yogurts, there's a lot, that's why I make my own)

Friendly's Ice Cream 2/$6 or $3 each.

Green Seedless Grapes $.99/lb ( I didn't put them in red because they're not organic and not really a necessity...plus their shelf life isn't as long as something like apples, grapefruit, or oranges. I set the bar for Bold Red font high, people!)
Avocados $10/10 or $1 each, nice deal for making guacamole!


OK - that's it! A word of caution about "Nature's Promise"...their wording in the press is tricky, but not everything is organic. Only things marked "USDA organic" are...so be careful and happy shopping :).

* These are great items to help stock up/build your pantry ("pantry" includes your cabinets of dry goods and your freezer)!

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

In honor of the CVS sale on almonds here's the recipe for cinnamon roasted almonds. I make this recipe for my dad all the time. He loves it, and it makes my apartment smell like Downtown Crossing (um...yeah, well sometimes it actually smells good down there when you catch a whiff of the cinnamon nuts!).

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds
makes about 3 1/2 cups

• 1 egg white ($.29 - organic)
  
• 1 t cold water ($.00)
  
• 1 t vanilla ($.17)
  
• 2 1/2 c whole almonds (plain, not salted!) ($3.56)
  
• 3/4 c white sugar ($.23)
  
• 1/2 t salt (<$.01)
• 1 t ground cinnamon ($.06)

Total: $4.32...this makes enough for 2 gift sized jars ($2.16 each)

1. Preheat the oven to 250.
2. With a mixer, mix up egg white until it's a bit foamy and then add 1 t. of water and 1 t. vanilla. Split this mixture in half (I know, there's like, nothing there...but split it in half anyways, please!)
3. Combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon and split that in half, too.
4. Toss nuts in one half of the egg mixture.
5. Toss nuts in one half of the sugar mixture.
6. Arrange on baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone liner (nothing sticks to this baby) in one single layer, spreading nuts out so they all have some room around them. If they're too close together, they won't get nice and crunchy!
   
7. Bake for one hour, mixing them around half way through.
8. Take them out after an hour and let them cool (if you don't let them cool they will cook the egg whites during their second coating).
9. Coat them in reserved egg white wash.
10. Coat them in reserved sugar mix.
11. Bake again for one hour, mixing half way through, being careful not to burn them (you will smell it, so just keep an eye out for them, and taste them halfway through - they're amazing).

scrimpyTips:

-One pound of almonds is 3 1/2 cups (approximately)
-This is just as good (if not better) when made with unsalted cashews, which are also on sale at CVS (this recipe is flexible, you can just sub. a canister for the 2 1/2 cups and decrease the sugar to 1/2 c.).
-When I make these with nuts that already come in a little canister, I rip off the label (it's silver underneath the CVS brand label) and tie around a ribbon. This makes them perfect for gift giving. You could also cut a piece of used brown shopping bag and glue it around for a cool look.
-You should wrap these up as soon as you make them if you plan to give them for a gift. You will eat them all (personal experience).
-These make great holiday gifts and party snacks.
-You could use a mix of brown and white sugar for this recipe.
-If you want more coating, just decrease the amount of nuts you use.
-They stay good for weeks (at least 2...most likely longer)

CVS Sale of the Week Honorable Mention

As I was sitting here writing and snacking on some almonds, I realized I should encourage you to go buy some almonds on sale at CVS this week (the sale ends Saturday). I come to you with this news because:

1. $4.99 is a great price for a pound of almonds.
2. They're so nutritious. I like to eat a few almonds (around 10 or 15) with a smoothie, which is a really filling and healthful mini-meal. Just be careful with the portions, the calories add up!
3. It's great to have some almonds on hand, because you can use them to bake with. I like to make almond brittle, and roasted nuts. (Almond brittle and cinnamon roasted almonds are two really cheap recipes...I must share them with you this week! I think I promised to share the roasted nuts in another post and then forgot. Well, I've remembered and I'll post it!)

Ok, that's all, just thought this sale deserved a mention, too! I hope you've been moved to go get you some almonds.

There are endless ways to enjoy almonds. What's your favorite way to eat almonds?

Get $100 from Sovereign Bank

Hey all! Sorry for the short notice on this one, but until the 28th, if you open a new interest checking account you will get $100 from Sovereign Bank. There's really no catches except to avoid a $5.00 monthly fee you must have direct deposit (they'll help you with that at the bank), and you have to make 6 purchases within 60 days. Not too bad.

Read about it here. We opened one yesterday.

If you are going to do this, email me @ tsaggio@gmail.com and i'll give you a code so you can let them know I sent you!

Buying and Using Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

Hi my friends, good morning! It's Thursday, which is good because:

1. The office and 30 rock are on...oh, and Kath and Kim, that's show's OK too (especially the episode where they're obsessed with Winona)
2. Friday is tomorrow
3. If you're in college, you don't have class, and you can go out and get drunk tonight
4. The garbage gets taken out
5. Um, that's it

I wanted to talk to you all about the benefits of using frozen fruit and vegetables. During the winter months here in the Northeast, there is really no way to get a variety of fresh, local, organic vegetables. Sure, there are some things that are at Whole Foods that are from the area, but there isn't much. What's a Bostonian to do? We have 2 options:

1. Pay out the you know what for vegetables and fruits that have been shipped who knows how far (very bad for the environment, and not that good for us, either because the nutrition degrades as they sit and sit)
2. Buy frozen fruits and vegetables (which are a steal no matter what month it is, really...)
   
   I'm going with number 2 and here's why:
   
3. Frozen fruits and vegetables are frozen at the peak of ripeness and then sent to the store. This means that you are getting optimal nutrition and flavor from what you're purchasing.
4. Buying frozen makes it much, much more affordable to buy organic. I get 12 oz. bags of frozen organic wild blueberries for $2.69 at Trader Joe's. Buying that many fresh organic during the winter would easily cost 3 times as much.
   
5. Frozen fruits and veggies don't go bad as quickly as fresh, meaning you can keep them on hand longer and stock up on them when they go on sale. They will get freezer burn, though, so try to use them within a month or two of purchase.
6. Frozen vegetables are great for a quick meal in a pinch.

Here's some ideas for using frozen veggies:

• You can throw a medley in a pan and have a delicious stir fry (I'll share my recipe with you) in no time at all. Throw atop some whole wheat spaghetti or soba, and you have quick, easy, and CHEAP organic noodle bowls. Trader Joe's also carries Thai rice sticks for $1.99. SO GOOD.
• You can also just throw a whole bag in a steamer and have an instant side dish to make sandwiches into a dinner.
• I'll buy a corn, pea, carrot medley and use it in pot pie filling. I just saute onions, garlic, oil, and spices, then add flour and milk to create a white sauce. Dump in the frozen veggies, and voila! Veggie pot pie filling.
• You can also toss bags of frozen vegetables into soups and stews
• They are great for making baby food. I toss a12 oz bag of organic365 WF sweet peas ($1.99) in my steamer and have more than a week of peas for Dylan after tossing them in the food processor. You'd pay over a dollar for one small jar of organic pea baby food.

Ideas for using frozen fruit:

• You can easily make peach, blueberry, or strawberry pies using bags of frozen fruit (so much cheaper than fresh!)
• Toss them in the blender or magic bullet or vitamix (these things sound awesome...I want a vitamix!) with some soymilk and water for a delicious smoothie.
• Toss frozen blueberries in pancake mix and muffins.
• Snack on frozen cherries, berries, or mango chunks. This is great for those on a diet, because they're frozen and take a while to eat, and you can have a huge cup for under 90 calories.
• Cook with sugar and make toppings for pancakes, cakes, and ice cream.

When using frozen fruits and vegetables, the possibilities are endless. I hope I've motivated you to use your imagination and see what you can come up with. It'll save you a ton of money, and hopefully get you eating more organic fruits and veggies!

What's your favorite thing to do with frozen fruits and veggies?

Shaw's Sale Alert!

This is from my last post, but I just had to take it out and put it on it's own because it's too good of a deal to pass up!

Boticelli Olive Oil $9.99. OK, here's the math for this one. (It says sizes range from 68 oz. - 102 oz. I'm assuming the Extra Virgin will be the most expensive, and this the smallest.)

The best price around for Extra Virgin Olive Oil is $7.49-$7.99 at TJs and WFs, respectively.

At 33.8 oz/bottle, this comes to $.22/oz-$.24/oz.

This comes out to be $.15/oz.

This is a great deal.

I'm going to take advantage of this one, because I feel like I'm buying olive oil at the beginning of every month. What I'll do, though, is save my old bottle and decant from the huge bottle into my more manageable bottle and keep the big thing of oil in the cabinet. Make sure you get the extra virgin.

If you're a cook like me, you realize you can't pass this up! I'm buying 2.

Shaws Sales 2/27-3/5

Hey guys,
I just figured I'd peek at Shaw's to see what's good on sale. If you live in this part of town (Back Bay, South End, Mission Hill even) I'd recommend dividing your shopping up between Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, and Shaw's. Whole Foods generally has better prices on organic and natural stuff, but Shaw's has some good sales on "normal" things. Trader Joe's doesn't carry everything you need, so you need to supplement. The great sales are in RED and the OK sales are in black. These prices start tomorrow. I didn't want to write a whole post on sales that are done today, you know?

Crest toothpaste 2/$5.00

Um, Shaw's Huge PAIL of ice cream is $5.99. If you're a big ice cream eater (or frequently have the munchies), this one's for you. That's a great deal on ice cream.

Breyers Ice Cream is buy one get one free. Since I don't know how much they cost, I'm not sure if it's a better deal than "THE PAIL".

Bumblebee Tuna Solid White Albacore 4/$5. $1.25/can. Not bad, it's usually about $2.00. Just go easy on it, because of the mercury. The Chunk Light is on sale 10/$10 if you prefer that kind.

Smucker's Jelly $2.99. That's a good price. I love me some Smucker's.


Healthy Choice Frozen Entrees 5/$10. That's a really good deal, and although I'm a strong advocate of making and bringing your own fresh lunch...and these have some crap in them...Full disclosure here

Boticelli Olive Oil $9.99. OK, here's the deal with this one. It says sizes range from 68 oz. - 102 oz. I'm assuming the Extra Virgin will be the most expensive, and this the smallest. The best price around for Extra Virgin Olive Oil is $7.49-$7.99 at TJs and WFs, respectively (which is $.22-$.24/oz). This comes out to be $.15/oz. This is a great deal. I'm going to take advantage of this one, because I feel like I'm buying olive oil at the beginning of every month. What I'll do, though, is save my old bottle and decant from the huge bottle into my more manageable bottle and keep the big thing of oil in the cabinet. Make sure you get the extra virgin.

Skippy PB 2/$4. I know it's not the all natural kind but I just love it...It's great for cheap sandwiches for lunches. They do, however go on sale 3/$5 at CVS.

Poland Spring gallons 10/$10 That's a great deal.

ok. so I'm at an impasse. A few of these items that are on sale really should be bought organic. There are high pesticide residue foods from the dirty dozen. That being said, it's better you eat conventional lettuce than no lettuce at all, so here are some really great deals on conventional produce:

Fresh Express salad blends or baby blends are buy one get one free (Go with the baby blends, and aim to at least have some romaine in there. Try to stay away from iceberg (no nutrition)...but, if you love it, try mixing it half and half with a baby blend ;D).

Shaw's Apples 3lb bags 2/$4. That means you're getting 6 lbs of apples for $4 which means you're paying $.67/lb. You could also just but 1/$2. If you have trouble using up all those apples, you can cut them and freeze them and use them in muffins and pies. I'll write a post about freezing fruit soon.

ORGANICS:

Potatoes 5 lb. bag/$4.99: great deal...potatoes are on the dirty dozen list, so you should buy them organic

Organic frozen fruit 25% off

Organic frozen veggies 2/$3

Broccoli Crowns $3.49/lb. Not a great deal. Last week or the week before I think they were on sale at Whole Foods...which is generally where you're going to find the best prices on organics.

Cherry Tomato Pint $2.99 This is an OK deal. These are great tossed with pasta. I'll write a recipe for you for that.

Leftover Challenges!

Good evening everyone, it's during a commercial on LOST so I'm blogging real quick!

I was looking in my fridge today thinking about what I could make from my leftovers. I'm sure you guys purchase things that don't always get used all the way, and I'm sure you wish you were able to use up that little bit of goodness before the products go bad.

Well, I'm here to help! I want to hear what's leftover in your fridge and what you do (or don't do) with it. If you're stumped, let me know, and I'll come up with a magic spell to use your leftovers in a meal.

Go ahead, tell me...I won't judge you.

Whole Foods Wednesday

Hey all! Whole Foods puts out their little online (and in store) sale flyer online on Wednesdays...it's only a small portion of the things that are on sale, though, so I'm going to go to the store tomorrow to fill you guys in on more really good sales.

This week is pretty good. I'll make a list (ooh, yeah, you bet I'm breaking out the bullets on this baby).

• Navel Oranges (conventional, not organic): $.79/lb down deom $2.49/lb. Personally, I'd get my oranges at Haymarket, especially if you're not buying organic anyways. We get about 12 oranges a week (usually Sunkist) and usually pay about $3 total for them. By the way, when you're at Haymarket, and some of the oranges look a bit, how do you say, anemic, don't worry. As long as they have thick skins and are heavy for their size, they're every bit as good as the day-glo ones you see in the store. They dye the ones in the stores...I'm pretty sure all oranges are not that bright of orange, so don't let a pale complexion scare you away from Haymarket oranges.
• Split Chicken Breasts: $2.99/lb from $4.29/lb (that *JUST* makes the 25% Threshold for a sale). I'm not too sure how you would eat these, since the bones are in...I guess you'd have to take a look at them and see what you could do. Definitely chicken soup!
• Pork Sausage: $2.99/lb down from $4.99/lb . That's a great value, plus they make them in the store without any preservatives. "Double Bonus" as Mike would say. I would even buy some to freeze if I were you. Ooh, I should post a sausage recipe this week for you guys so you can take advantage of the great sale. Sausage potato soup. Yep, I'm posting that this week. On March 1st (since my grocery budget's done for this month). We're not really even meat eaters, but for you guys, I'll do anything!
• Cantaloupe 2/$4 (or 1/$2) down from $2.99/each: Bring these bad boys home, and prepare them right away. Make yourself melon cubes in a glass container in the fridge and enjoy them all week. You'll be surprised by how much melon this produces. A little hint of summer in your cold winter day (actually tomorrow is supposed to be, like, 50 degrees).

So that's a list of things from the flyer that I think are a steal. I will go to the store tomorrow and take a gander at what else is going on over there! Enjoy :)

OH! And don't forget to tune in on Sunday for the Sausage Potato Soup recipe. UPDATE: I decided to edit this to Sausage and Mushrooms with Penne. This way, it'll be a very cheap, very easy, very QUICK meal. I promise it'll be scrimpy and you'll get to take advantage of a great sale at Whole Foods.

Making Babies (OK...making baby WIPES)

This bum's feeling good with these homemade baby wipes!

As I was typing "baby" the song on the radio said "baby"...I live for coincidences like that.

So, I make my own baby wipes (you need paper towels, baby wash, water, a stove, a wipe container, and oil - optional) here at Casa Fitzgerald. I'll give you some food for thought:

The cheapest wipes cost $25.99/770 wipes. This means they're $.033 each.
My paper towels are Bounty $6.99/12 rolls on sale at CVS. Follow me through the breakdown:

There are 56 sheets in a roll. Times 2 because you cut it in half. That gives you 112 wipes/roll.

112 wipes/roll x 12 rolls = 1344 wipes. That's $.0052/wipe. That means these wipes are 6.35 times cheaper than the wipes you buy. Oh, and you know what's in them, so that's nice...no chems. Oh, and you have to account for the soap you put in them but trust me that's nominal. OK fine, I'll do the math since every cent counts...

We use California Baby which is the creme de la creme of baby washes...all organic etc etc etc...
It's $1.00/oz. That's expensive - shit. Fortunately, in these wipes you use about 1 1/2 teaspoons per batch, which is .25 oz which means $.25 per batch. Half a roll makes about a batch, so that'd be $.50 of wash for every roll. That means $6.00 of wash for every 12 rolls of paper towels.

The wipes now cost $.009/wipe, which is still more than 3.6 times cheaper than store bought wipes, and they're organic and natural. So you win, basically.

Here's how you do it:

1. This part's a pain in the ass. Prepare the rolls of paper towels. You may want to do this all at once (like when you buy the pack just cut them all). You should use the sharpest knife you have. Serrated ones will produce a bunch of ripped off paper pieces, so a knife like a meat cleaver is best to work with (I have my Miracle Blades!). I hear an electric carving knife works well, too.
2. Once it's cut, you can do two things. One is purchase a plastic cylindrical container that will hold the roll. The other thing you can do is fold the whole roll accordion style in a way that makes the wipes fit in your old wipe container. This is what I do, it's time consuming but relaxing. You just fold each sheet in half until it's a nice stack that will fit in your tub. I leave them all connected and just rip as I go. Half a roll = 1 batch.
3. Take the water (about 2 cups) and boil it for a few minutes (this helps remove the possibility the wipes will mold). Then let it cool to room temperature. When it is room temperature, add the soap (1 1/2 t. soap) and mix it up (You can also add some vitamin E oil or Olive oil at this point to make them more moisturizing for sensitive bums...that would make these wipes a full $.01/wipe. Still 3 times cheaper than store bought)
4. Pour the mixture over the wipes. You can pour it all in and wait for the towels to absorb it, but since the tub container and number of wipes you'll have will vary, I like to play it safe and avoid having too much extra water in there. I just pour the solution over the wipes slowly, and add more and more until the wipes are wet all the way through. If you've used the cylindrical container method, you can now pull the cardboard out of the middle and pull the wipes from there.
5. Voila. You have homemade baby wipes for your baby or yourself!

scrimpyTip:

- You have to use good quality paper towels or else they will fall apart.
- You can add all sorts of essential oils like lavender for scent.
- You can use any type of baby was you'd like

Props to my ads

Hey all,
I was weary to put adds on the site, thinking they'd be garbage, but today I was surprised again! I got some seventh generation coupons (which are great to have on hand in the event they go on sale at Whole Foods - ideally you should use coupons in conjunction with a sale!) and some organic valley coupons. I've also found a pretty neat bulk organic grains/beans/nuts site that only charges $7.50 for shipping. All the prices I've found online haven't really been too much of a savings, but the prices here are actually lower than what I've managed to find in the city, if you can anticipate your need for, say, brown rice. However, once you average out the shipping you have to order A LOT to see the savings.

Just saying, I'm happy with these ads, and I don't feel like they're harassing you with pointless scams and other junk. Click on them, you'll make me money and probably save yourself some.

Another dining deal...Half Price Top of the Hub Gift Certificates!

While watching T.V. Diner the other day, I heard them mention project half price. Every Friday at 8 a.m. they will open up for purchases of gift certificates to the participating establishments. This Friday, there's 2. Some restaurant in Amesbury and Wakefield called Ristorante Molise...and the ever popular and famous Top of the Hub. So, anyways, get there quick because they'll sell out fast.

If you're looking for a half price trip to the Top of the Hub (or Ristorante Molise - whatever that is...) now's your chance! Remember to log on every week to see the restaurants and nab the deal.

Restaurant.com deal...(some fine print, but a good deal nonetheless...I've actually made the fine print bold for your pleasure!)

This tip comes to us courtesy of Teresa at Citiesonthecheap.com. In her post she alerts readers to a great deal on Restaurants.com. Restaurants.com is a great website (maybe better for some cities than others, as there aren't too many restaurants listed here in Boston) where you purchase gift cards to restaurants in your area at a deep discount.

For example, a $25 gift card to Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro would cost me $10. That's a great deal, but what's even better is that Teresa has provided a code..."DINE" to enter at checkout, thus saving you an additional 80%. Yep, EIGHTY percent, giving you a $25 card for $2.

Here's the catch, you can only use one card per party, per month, per restaurant. So, I wanted to buy 4 cards for a total of $8 (value of $100) and have a nice night out. But, I could only use one of those. So, these cards are great deals, but the simply reduce the price of a meal. The "DINE" code is good until February 28th. My advice would be to get one to use on a special occasion, thus softening the blow of a fancy meal at a nice restaurant. These would also make great gifts for future secret santas, etc...You can give $25 cards for $2, can't beat that!

So, anyways, just wanted to give you all a heads up! Here's a link to the restaurants in Boston you can buy these cards for.

Happy eating :D (I learned a new smiley face from my fellow blogger and follower, Julian in Canada!)

Free Kashi Meal!

I was watching T.V. yesterday and on came the Kashi commercial..."BLAH BLAH BLAH HEALTHY CAN BE TASTY". Ok.

I asked Mike to go to the website to sign up, and he asked me "Uh, how do you spell 'Kashi'"...Who doesn't know how to spell Kashi?

So, if you go to their website, you can get a coupon for a free frozen entree. They're probably, like, $6 at Whole Foods, so I went to the site and signed up. This way, I will have a meal in the freezer if I ever have to leave Mike all on his own around dinner time...FOR FREE!

Oh, and by the way, I don't usually click on ads on blogs, but since I have them on mine, I've taken to clicking around just to make sure you readers aren't being abused with awful advertising. Guess what? You're not. I got a coupon for soy milk today from an ad on this very blog!

Oh, and if you're into watching YouTube videos (which I'm just not), I've installed some on the bottom of the blog. So, just like I normally don't click on ads, I normally don't watch YouTube videos - but - since I have them on my blog I have to try them out...make sure they're not bullsh*t. The first and only video I watched was from a guy named "It's Brent" and was about how all the fillings in Valentine's chocolate are crap and how he buys them the day after on sale, which I loved. The video made me laugh. Watch those videos down there, they may make you laugh too.

scrimpySnack of the Week

Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone!

I'm sick, so I'm sorry if I sound a little bit stuffed up. Just ask me to repeat anything you can't understand (oh my god HA HA HA!).

Every Sunday I try to make a delicious snack to go in Mike's lunches. Sometimes it's banana bread muffins and sometimes it's cookies, and then other times when I'm lazy he just gets 2 pieces of fruit. This Sunday, I came across a recipe that's great for two reasons.

Reasons this cookie recipe is great:

1. It's delicious
2. It uses vegetable oil instead of butter which is convenient if you:

1. Don't have any butter (on the off chance you have MOLASSES but not butter...)
   
2. Have a dairy allergy or something else like that

Molasses Crackle Cookies
(Oh, and another cool thing about these is that they actually crackle on top and look really pretty...next time I will try rolling them in confectioner's sugar...on that note, is it "confectioner's sugar", "confectionary sugar", or "confection sugar"? From now on I should say C. Sugar. OK solved.)
Makes 32 cookies (enough for 2 days...they're pretty good)

2/3 c. vegetable oil ($.58)
1 c. sugar ($.31)
1 egg ($.29 - organic)
1/4 c. molasses($.42 - organic - TJs)
2 c. flour ($.30)
2 t. baking soda (not powder...quadruple check this PUH-LEASE) ($.02)
1 t. cinnamon ($.06 - CVS)
1 t. ground ginger ($.06 - CVS)
1/2 t. ground cloves ($.06)
1/3 c. sugar ($.10)

Total: $2.20 (that's $.07/cookie (Seven Sent Cookies, like Heaven Sent, just Seven Cent!) The molasses makes them a little more expensive than some other cookies...)

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Combine oil and sugar then add egg and molasses.
3. In a separate bowl sift together (or just whisk together if you are LAZY - like me sometimes) flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet.
5. Roll into nice sized balls (ha)...about 1 1/3"-1 1/2" and then roll those balls in sugar (HA).
6. Place them with about 3 inches in between each other on the cookie sheet (they are going to flatten out and spread...hopefully...)
7. Bake for 10 minutes, or until they're crackled on top.
   
8. Let them sit on the baking sheet to get hardened a bit, and them remove them to a plate to cool.
   
9. Store them in an air-tight (preferably glass with a plastic top) container. I stored them like this and they have stayed really soft and chewy. Trust me, I just had 4. They're still good to go.

scrimpyTips:

- I found that when my oven got a bit too hot, around 360ish, they crackled better, so I don't know...you may want to put your oven a TAD bit higher than 350. My first batch came out the least crackled, and the subsequent batches came out better...
- If you don't have ginger or cloves, you could easily omit them. Granted, they wouldn't be AS good, but they'd still be good, just a little different.
- If you only have one good cookie sheet, put the dough in the fridge in between batches.
- These would be great with soft vanilla ice cream in between them.
- These make great Christmas cookies

Whole Foods Product of the Week

I think that I will start posting a few of my favorite Whole Foods deals. I used to be totally against Whole Foods. I thought it was such a waste of money to shop there, and thought that everything there was ridiculously over priced. However, with a little investigation, I've found that there are several (countless - really) products that are an incredible value.


Whole Foods has a great website that highlights their services. My favorite feature is that you can call up at 617-723-0004 and ask for Serena Hsu and schedule your own tour of the store. They also have pre scheduled trips through the store to highlight certain values. I'm sure they go through the baking aisle and show you how cheap the flour is.


Anyways, the store is full of overpriced goods, but is also full of healthy values. (And if you can afford the nice expensive stuff - you can be sure it's preservative free).


My pick of the week is the organic 5 lb. carrot bag for (drumroll please) $3.99. Uses for these bad boys include:

- making fresh carrot sticks. This is a place where you can avoid a processing step and do it yourself, thus saving money. In the beginning of the week, I cut up an entire container of sticks. To save even more time, you could put them in individual containers or baggies (you're better off reusing a glass container to avoid throwing away all the plastic bags) and just grab and go throughout the week. I use them in Mike's lunches and we snack on them before dinner. They're so healthy and they really fill you up and curb your appetite before dinner.

- making baby food. Dylan goes crazy and loves him some carrots. I take aforementioned sticks and chop them up, but them in my steamer pot and steam until softened. I then pop them in the magic bullet (you can use the food processor or even the blender - but have fun cleaning the blender...I hate cleaning the blender) and voila! Baby food, fresh and organic. Just a note about making your own carrots...there is some concern over making your own carrots for baby food dur to nitrate content. To avoid this and make your own carrots safely, don't worry, just don't add the steaming liquid to make the puree, add fresh water...and use organic carrots, of course. I think all baby food should be made with organic food because babies' little bodies are much more sensitive to all the pesticides.

- roasted as a side dish or vegetarian main dish. Just drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper (and dried parsley, or oregano, or garlic powder) and roast in the oven at 350 until golden on top. These can be made into a vegetarian main dish by adding brown rice or quinoa and a salad.

- it's always great to have carrots around to make a soup. You just add celery and onion, and you have your own little base for a soup (more on that this week).

- they're just great to snack, snack, snack on! When reheating leftover soup, I sometimes throw some fresh carrots in so that they are nice and crisp in the soup (when you reheat soup, the original carrots can be pretty soft).


These carrots are one of the most affordable organic options at Whole Foods, and one of the most versatile vegetables I use. I buy a bag a week and enjoy every single carrot. Go buy a bag and let me know how you use them up!

(By the way, Mike just told me I was going "blog wild"...that's a good one).

Stainless steel water bottles

So I just came across an ad on the blog about stainless steel water bottles and I figured I'd try to motivate some of you to make the switch. The SIGG bottles we have here cost about $22 at Whole Foods, not exactly scrimpy. However, we managed to get ours at Crate and Barrel for $9 a piece, thank god. From what I can tell, you can also find them on ebay and other places online cheaper. Whole Foods also makes their own brand, but to me they seem uncomfortable to drink from.

Anyways, these bottles somehow make the water taste cleaner and colder, and alleviate any fears you have about what's leaching out of the plastic you drink from. They're great on the go, too, because they're extremely light weight. They'll pay for themselves in a few months (or weeks, or days, depending on how much of a bottled water fiend you are) and, in my opinion, are totally worth the expense. Buying them had been on my to do list for so long, and I'm so happy I finally have them! An added benefit is their eco-friendliness. We drink from them for our health (let's be honest), but saving all those bottles from landfills can't hurt either.

Plus, you'll look like all the cool kids with your sleek stainless steel bottle. Now, how can you pass THAT up, my friends?

Ooh! About a year ago we switched from delivered bottled water (which has who knows what in it anyways) to a Brita faucet attachment. Those are great investments, but the refills are SO expensive...my advice, buy them at BJs or another wholesale club. You save half off what you would pay at CVS.

Just a few ideas on clean water I wanted to share with all of you! I'll be back with a more interesting post later!

Book Talk

The Concise Guide To Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour...I just came across this online, and although buying a book is a little out of my price range, I think I'll find it at the library. It sounds like it could be quite interesting.

Has anyone read this book? Has anyone ever heard of it??? Sounds cool, we'll see.

I'm currently browsing through the Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck and I can't wait to share information from the book with all of you!

What we do to "green" our lifestyle

When I noticed that I don't write too much about the "greening" of our lifestyle, I asked Mike (my fiance) to help me compile a list of all the things we do to be kinder to the earth. Here's the list (I'm going to go all out with bullets and everything). I really intended for this blog to include techniques to live a "greener" lifestyle, and I think that goal has gotten lost a bit. I will write posts individually fleshing out some of these little things, but here's a quick list:

• Buying everything we can possibly afford organic (that includes Dylan's clothes at H & M)
• Using Dr. Bronner's organic castile soap for everything except the dishes
• Using Method natural dish soap
• We unplug every single electric appliance we have in our house (except for the fridge and alarm clock) to reduce our energy use
• When I forget our reusable bag, I save our paper bags and use them for gift wrap and other crafts
• I reuse all nice sized glass containers (like applesauce sized- before I started making it myself) to hold things that come in plastic (raisins, flax seeds)
• Recycle paper, glass, and aluminum
• I make my own paper baby wipes which I only use for Dylan's number twos
• I cut up an old pair of terry cloth sweat pants into squares and created a reusable wipe system for Dylan's pee pee diapers
• I use organic vegetable shortening on Dylan's booty instead of diaper cream with chemicals
• I use all natural cleaning supplies that I make myself
• We walk everywhere we possibly can and avoid taking the train
• We hardly use paper towels, we use dishtowels and I clean with a microfiber cloth that can be washed and rinsed and used forever
• We only use the dishwasher on the weekends
• I only use the dryer for half of my laundry. The rest I hand on a rack to air dry
• Always try to use the reusable canvas shopping bags
• I make everything I can myself. This helps me be green because I'm not using up all the packaging that comes with bread, yogurt, cookies, cakes, rolls, beans, etc...
• Our lights are on dimmers and we keep them off during the day and only on low when it's dark
• Use California baby on Dylan - it's all natural organic lotion
  

Green things I'm planning on doing in the near future:

• Container gardening organic lettuce inside
• Container gardening organic tomatoes and basil outside on my fire escape
• Using all natural, earth friendly laundry powder
• Use green dishwasher detergent
• Buy more organics
• I plan to visit the bulk bins at Harvest market in Cambridge to avoid packaging. I just have to check out the prices and etc...That's a trip for the springtime I think
• I want to find an all natural/affordable hair conditioner
• Make my own soaps and lotions
• I have a lot of containers saved (like the ones breadcrumbs come in) and I hope to be able to make Dylan some toys out of them
  

So that's a nice list of simple things you can easily do to green your lifestyle. I strongly believe that even if something is cheap or free, you should still use only what you need. The earth is everyone's home and we want to keep it going as long as possible! Of course, there's only so far you can cut back without living in the woods, but seriously, it's not too hard to only take and use what you absolutely need. It'll help the environment, and your bank account!

Just a few ideas, try a couple and you'll feel more green instantly :).

Organic and conventional can coexist!

While writing my CVS sale circular post I realized that this blog may contradict itself a bit. While I enjoy doing things as naturally and green as possible, I also understand that not everyone can afford to do that. That is why I will alert my readers when something goes on a great sale, green or not. Because of this, I feel like my blog doesn't fall into the "green" category, which sucks, because I don't think being green is an all or nothing endeavor. Furthermore, I think that people living a completely "green" lifestyle often scare everyday people away, because people think you have to transform your whole way of life. I try to strike a perfect balance between natural and cheap. Usually the two can coexist peacefully with a little work, but occassionally, I'm making the non-organic tuna noodle casserole with the Campbell's soup, ok? Even a little arsenic won't kill you, so I'm assuming that my family will be okay.

More of my life would be greened had it not been for me stocking up on amazing sales, but for now, I have plenty of laundry soap left and I'm not just going to throw it out to buy some environmentally friendly product. What I will do, however, is buy a different brand (or make my own) once that runs out. I just did the same thing with my $.99 Palmolive dish soap. I waited until all the soap I had ran out, and then went to Whole Foods and purchased a Method product (there's a cheaper one there for $3.39 for 25 oz.). I purchased the Method because I had a coupon from this season's Whole Foods circular and it came to a total of $3.49. I paid the extra $.10 because the Method one had a vitamin E type of thing in it to hopefully help my hands (even though I'm not such a believer in that kind of stuff).

I also encourage buying everything you can possibly afford organic, but for us it's just not 100% possible. However, I am working towards that goal every shopping trip. In fact, last week, I had my first entirely organic shopping trip. I spend a total of $32.23 (actually it was $29.23, I had a $5 coupon from my neighbor...so I added that because I know you don't have that coupon) and got:

- A gallon of organic whole milk (for yogurt making - costs half the price of buying organic yogurt) ($5.99)
- 2 half gallons of organic 365 soy milk (one vanilla and one plain) ($3.39 each)
- one pound of organic 265 black beans ($1.99)
- one 12 oz. bag of frozen organic 365 spinach ($2.19)
- one dozen organic eggs (used my coupon from the circular to save $1) ($3.49)
- 24 oz bag of organic pacific rim blend coffee (lasts us about 2 1/2 weeks - we DRINK coffee...a lot of it - this would probably last someone normal a month) ($9.99)

So, I walk home from the store - spring in my step - feeling pretty good about myself. I get home, and what do I realize? THE MILK ISN'T ORGANIC. It's plain Garelick (antibiotic and hormone free at least) and it was a DOLLAR more expensive than it is downstairs at CVS (to add insult to injury). Anyways, I amended my list for you to reflect what the price WOULD have been had I not been an IDIOT. What makes this even worse is that last week, Mike (my fiance) left our SIX DOLLAR GALLON OF MILK in the stroller and forgot about it. I still made yogurt out of it when I found it the next day because I couldn't stand to waste it, and it didn't make me sick, but it also didn't make me look forward to eating that yogurt. Ehh...

My point is that I'm not judging you! Buy what you can organic, and make the rest of your food from scratch with fresh ingredients when you can. Either way, eating carrots (organic or not) is better than eating baked Lay's. Fact.

When a deal is too good to pass up, I will let you guys know, and if you're already using a more natural, green product, and you can afford it, than of course that's always best. But since I created this blog to help all of us living on a tiny budget, I think it's important that everyone be aware of the sales going on! I know not everyone can afford to be totally green, all we can do is our best, right?

The good news is that since we've made the switch to more organic grocery shopping, I've noticed a change in our consumption. First of all, we buy less because it's more expensive. Second of all, because we buy less, we usually wind up using it all, and not letting any go to waste. When I would spend $20 on conventional produce, you could be sure I'd waste about $5-$7 of it, but when I spend $15 on organics I am sure to use them all. This has caused our grocery bills to remain close to where they were before we purchased anything organic.

And, overall, when I dread paying organic prices, I think of what I am actually paying for. I'm paying for food that has not been genetically modified, that has not been sprayed with poisons, that tastes better, and that is healthier and more nutritious for me, my family, and the earth. That helps, too.

CVS Sale Sunday!

Alright, here I go...There are a few decent sales going on today (as usual)...I always get excited for Sundays because when I need something I usually wait for it to go on sale. This week, I really needed toilet tissue, and here it is, on sale!

The winner of the Sale Item of the Week Award goes to (not just because I needed it):

Scott Tissue 12 pk. Bath Tissue
$6.99 from $11.99

This is by far the best value in bath tissue and here's why: Sure other bath tissues are thicker and more absorbent. One sheet of Charmin ultra absorbs as much as 4 sheets of Scott. And that's all well and good, but the fact remains that no matter how absorbent a tissue is, you still need a minimun amount of actual pieces to wipe with. So, you wind up using 6 sheets of Charmin and going through a roll every 2 days (as a girl). Go with the Scott, it's not as fancy but trust me...you'll be going through toilet tissue a lot less frequently. And saving a few dollars, too. Use it on a manicure.

Gold Emblem spices are $.77 (from $.99). CVS actually has a great assortment for spices, and I use them in all my cooking. I'm sure they're nothing special, and they're definitely not organic, but they do the trick for those of us in a money pinch. This is a good way to fill up your spice rack on the cheap. They have everything from garlic salt to cayenne and chili powder. It doesn't seem like that great of a sale, but let's see...if you bought 5 at the normal price, that would cost $4.95...buying 5 on sale you'd spend $3.85. That's a savings of $1.10! Nice work!*

Haagen Dasz or Ben and Jerry's ice cream 2/$7.00 or 1/$3.50. These ice creams are usually $4.99 and are a great deal considering how good they are. It's also always good to keep a pint of Haagen Dasz in the freezer should you need a quick dessert for company or to bring to a friend's house. It's extremely easy to make ice cream sandwiches with a quick batch of cookies if you have a pint of good ice cream on hand.

Campbells soup buy one get one free, that's half price. These are great lunches in a pinch. I always stock up on cream of mushroom and chicken noodle so that I can always make a tuna casserole or soup and salad lunch nice and quick. PS. The swanson broth is also on sale but I never buy broth, I fashion my own which i'll explain this week.

Aquafresh, Colgate, Ultrabrite, or Gleem toothpastes $.88. This is a tricky sale. The best one, Colgate, is a tiny tube (4.6 oz) but even if you bought 2 of them it'd still be a deal @ $1.96. Aquafresh is probably the best deal of them all because the tube is bigger and it's good stuff. Ultrabrite, in my opinion, is gross, and you couldn't pay me to use it. My mom used to stock up on it and ECHK. But, hey, if that's what does it for you, congrats, because it's on sale.

Honey Bunches of Oats, Shredded Wheat, and Cocoa or Fruity Peppbles are buy one get one free. If you eat these cereals (not the HEALTHIEST breakfast but way better than what you COULD be eating, I suppose) this is a great deal, because technically they're half price. Stock up, I would.

Gold Emblem Nuts are 2/$7.00 which makes them $3.50 each. I love making gifts out of nuts, and in honor of this sale will post my Cinnamon Roasted Nuts recipe today. They are amazingly delicious...what I would imagine "street nuts" from downtown to taste like, and make a great scrimpy gift!*

Gold Emblem Pistachios and Almonds are $4.99/lb. That price rivals Trader Joe's. It's a great deal for a pound of nuts, and almonds are a great source of fiber, protein, and calcium.*

All Laundry Detergent Small and Mighty $4.99 (from $7.29-$8.29). This is a great deal if you have to walk far to do laundry because the little bottle is so light and lasts a long time. It's not the greenest option for laundry, and after my laundry detergent is out I'm switching to something earth friendly, but for those of you interested, this is a good sale.

CVS Bleach 2/$4. Not as good as the Clorox 2/$3 last week, but if you need bleach, that's not a bad price to pay for it, I suppose. I'm sure not stocking up, though.

Ziploc/Hefty sotrage bags on sale 2/$4.99. I'm not sure how good of a sale this is because my dad buys this stuff for me bulk at BJs. But it seems fair enough!

So, there you have it. Those are the household deals CVS has to offer you this week!

* These items are a great chance to build up your pantry!

Great Grocery Success!

We've started a new system of tracking our expenses in this household. When we purchase something, we place the receipt in a big folder. Then, at the end of the month, I calculate the expenses and categorize them. We then see, at a glance, how much we've spent. There are websites to help with this, such as mint.com, but they have flaws. I don't like to use them because they don't provide an accurate picture of your finances. Here's why:

• expenditures are not always categorized correctly
• debit purchases do not appear immediately
• purchases at whole foods are not necessarily food and etc...

Anyways, I just like doing the calculations by hand. This month, I really strapped down and wanted to see how little I could spend grocery shopping. As of today, I've spent $150.00! I don't think I'll have to spend more than $20 this month...that would be $170.00 for the entire month! Half of that (at least) was organic. It just goes to show you, that a little planning (and a lot of eating leftovers) goes a long way! This was including my special Valentine antipasto platter and all of our Valentine treats.

I think I will write a post on grocery strategies to keep the bill on the down LOW, but I wanted to come on really quickly and share how everyone in Boston can have the same grocery success that I've had this past month! I fed 2 people 3 meals a day and entertained for dinner at least twice. That's an average of $42.50/week. Nice job, Taylor!

New (Sexy?) Look!

Hey everyone!

So, my blog got a little makeover tonight. I never really liked the layout, and planned to change it, but I couldn't really figure it out. With my free time today (which I actually had some of, since I'm sick...) I made a new header, and installed ads on the blog. Click on them (even if you're not interested), they make me a bit of money (please?).

I hope you all like the new layout, we're getting some followers, so a big scrimpBoston WELCOME to all of my wonderful readers! I just found out that my girlfriend from Belgium/Northeastern is a reader, which is great. Hi Holly! Thanks for reading!

I'm really surprised by how exciting getting followers is. I suppose when I started writing, I never really thought I'd have any followers, but here I am, with FOUR followers! It's so exciting to come on and see that people have been checking out the blog. I love it, and it motivates me to keep the content fresh and updated. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow and will be able to post something interesting.

Here's a few ideas I have for this week:

- How to make your own wet wipes for the bathroom and/or the baby (you won't believe how much money you save)
- Why you should make and use your own cleaning supplies
- The first FreezermealFriday
- CVS SaleSunday (coming up tomorrow, stay tuned!)

As always, happy reading and I hope you're all having a great weekend!

xo
Taylor

Putting the Creme in those Puffs!

So, I've shared with you how to make the actual puff. Now, I need to fill you in on how to fill them in...ha!

Vanilla Pastry Creme (Creme Patisserie)

makes about 2 cups (I just feel like this book overestimates the yield...I don't think I got 2 cups from this...)

1/3 c. sugar ($.10)
2 T. all purpose flour ($.02)
2 T. cornstarch ($.13)
4 large egg yolks ($1.16 - organic)
1 1/3 c. milk ($.48 - organic)
3/4 t. vanilla extract ($.13)

1. Pour milk in a small saucepan and bring milk to a simmer.
2. Meanwhile, beat sugar, flour, cornstarch, and egg yolks on high speed until thick and pale yellow (about 2 minutes). It's crazy, it seems like it's all dry ingredients, and then it's a pale yellow cream.
3. Gradually pour about 1/3 of the milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking to combine. Scrape egg mixture with milk back into saucepan with the rest of the milk. Whisk constantly and scrape the bottom and corners to prevent scorching.
   
4. Keep whisking until the custard is thickened (only a few minutes - happens way faster than you expect) and beginning to bubble. Then continue to cook and whisk for 45 to 60 seconds. Using a clean spatula (without raw egg yolks on it) scrape custard into a bowl.
5. Stir in vanilla extract.
6. Cover surface of custard with plastic wrap (to prevent a skin from forming) and allow it to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate before using.

Total: $2.02 (and that's with organic milk and eggs...not bad!)

To fill creme puffs with the creme (I like spelling it "creme" better than "cream"...it's like, dainty and sounds more sophisticated and fancy):

Fill a pastry bag with creme and pipe in to puffs. If you don't have a pastry bag, put the creme in a ziploc bag and snip the tip off (be careful not to make the whole too big) and pipe it in to puff through the steam hole you created.

I like to top the puffs with confectioner's sugar...ha, like I make these everyday. What I should say is the one time I made them, I put confectioners sugar in a strainer and tapped it over the puffs. It created a beautiful, snowy effect, and a delicious mouth feel!

scrimpyTips:

- This keeps in the fridge for 2 days.
- Make sure you whisk well, because the eggs can cook and leave it lumpy and gross.
- This is the first time I had ever made it and it came out perfect, so it's easier than it seems.
- Even though it's more expensive than the plain whipped cream (recipe follows), it's so much better and is really what you're supposed to fill the creme puffs with. **The whipped cream actually turns out to be more expensive if you don't have a use for the rest of the heavy cream, because then you've spent $3 and only used $1.50 worth. Therefore, it's not really cheaper if you're not using up the rest of the cream.**
- Another option is to fill with ice cream, and since it was on sale for $3.50 at CVS, that was an option, but the pastry creme really turned out cheaper!


You can go for plain vanilla whipped cream. This is as easy as it gets, but if you're using this I would advise cutting the puffs in half and spooning the cream in and placing the top on. This cream isn't "stabilized" it can weep or deflate...and you don't want that. Here's the recipe:

Sweetened Whipped Cream
(also from The Joy of Cooking...can you tell I'm scared I'll get in trouble from using recipes from someone's book?)

makes 2 - 2 1/2 cups

1 c. cold heavy cream ($1.50)
2 T. confectioners sugar...or to taste (anywhere from 1T-4T) ($.10)
1/2 t. vanilla ($.09)


Total: $1.69

In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters, at med-high to high speed beat the cream until thickened. Add sugar and vanilla and beat to desired consistency. It gets too thick quickly. Ideally you stop when it's the consistency of cool whip. If you beat it until it's very stiff, it gets reallllly rich. So if that's what you're going for, keep on beating, but if you want a soft dollop, don't overdo it.

scrimpyTip:
- You can use this the same way you'd use whipped cream, and it's cheaper than most store bought varieties.


All said and done, the creme puffs cost $4.06. This makes from 15-30 puffs, so that's an average of $.23/puff. I want to go to the bakery and see what they cost each there. But I bet it's at least $1.25 each.

Delectable Creme Puffs...I love the word "puffs"

I spent a semester in Belgium in 2007 along with a few others from my school, Northeastern University. My roomate, Teddy, and our 2 girlfriends Sandra and Tracey have all kept in pretty good touch since returning to the states. Every so often, we have a little get together to catch up and get drunk and eat fattening foods. We've had homemade pasta ravioli (i make pasta! watch out world!), a fondue party, holiday brunch, etc...

This is a bit of a digression about how important it is to get together with friends, if you just want the recipe and technique for $4 Creme Puffs, just skip this part:

Getting together with a few of your friends with inexpensive wine is a really healthy habit to get into, I say. It's good for you to get out (especially during these cold winter months) and socialize, and doing it at someone's home really makes it an affordable thing to do. Sometimes keeping in touch with friends is hard, and as everyday life takes over it falls by the wayside. It really does make a difference in your life, though, to keep up with friends and family and make sure those relationships stay strong. After all, that's what's important in life! (A little sappy, but it's seriously true). I try hard to maintain my friendships because when all is said and done, friends are the people that love you rich or poor, fat or thin, happy or sad...

So, now that that's over, I can tell you what we ate. Tracey decided to do fajitas. I always love to bring dessert, so I suggested I'd make something spanish-mexican-texmexish to go with the theme. I found out that cream puffs are kind of a Spanish thing. I don't even know how that's the case, but it may or may not be. Anyways, I decided to go for it. I had never made them before but after cross referencing The Joy of Cooking with allrecipes.com and a Barefoot Contessa recipe from foodnetwork.com...and find, an Alton Brown recipe, but I hate him so I don't even like to give him any credit (for the record I didn't use his recipe), I decided I could do this...and I could do it for UNDER $5. Here's how (from The Joy of Cooking):

Creme Puffs are made from a dough called "choux" which is French for "cabbages" - The Joy of Cooking says this is because the little dollops of paste expand in the oven to resemble tiny cabbage heads. I would say that's a stretch. It can be made sweet or savory, but that's for another day.

This dough is cooked on top of the stove and then shaped and baked. The paste must cool a bit before you add the eggs, so that you don't cook the eggs in the pastry. If the dough is too cold, however, your eggs will not incorporate properly. The finished paste should be shiny, smooth, and very thick but not stiff.

Choux Paste (creme puff dough - this makes between 15-30 puffs depending on the size)

1 c. all purpose flour ($.15)
1 c. water or milk (I use water because it's FREE) ($.37 if you use organic milk)
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter cut into small pieces (if you only have salted just omit the salt from recipe) ($.70)
1 T sugar ($.02)
1/2 t. salt (<$.01) 4 eggs at room temperature (if I don't have time to wait, I just put the eggs in a cup of warm water for a few minutes - like, while you're doing the dough) ($1.16 - organic)

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
   
2. Measure out the flour and put it aside.
3. Combine all other ingredients (water/milk, butter, sugar, salt) in a medium saucepan. Bring the mixture to a full boil over medium heat.
   
4. Add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon. The mixture won't look smooth, but just keep stirring fast. In a few minutes the paste will become dry and won't stick to your spooin or the pan, and when the spoon is pressed on it lightly it will leave an indentation. Do not overcook or overstir at this point because the puff won't puff in the oven.
   
5. Transfer to a bowl and let cool for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.
6. Add one egg at a time, beating rigorously or on low speed with a mixer (I used a kitchenaid stand mixer, but I know we don't all have them. Only use your handmixer if it has a REALLY low setting, or else this is better done by hand I think). Make sure the paste is really smooth each time you add an egg so that you can be sure each egg is fully incorporated. This is important.
7. Continue to beat with each egg until the dough is smooth and shiny. The proper consistency is when a small quantity of dough will stand erect if scooped up on the edge of a spoon.
8. You can now either put the dough in a pastry bag fitted with a round tip and pipe out little mounds on a sheet (covered in parchment paper or a silicone baking mat - this is a must, they will stick) or spoon them out and pat down the spikes on top with wet fingertips (this is what I did).
9. Bake them at 400 for 10 minutes and then lower the oven to 350 and allow to bake for 25 more minutes or until they're golden brown and very firm to the touch. As soon as you take them out of the oven poke them with a small knife to let the steam out (if you don't the steam will come out and make them soggy).
10. Let them cool completely before adding the filling (whipped cream or pastry cream...recipe follows)

Total Price for Puffs $2.04...$2.41 with organic milk.

scrimpyTips:

- This dough can be refigerated up to 4 hours and does not need to be brought to room temperature before you bake it.
- You can fill these with whipped cream, pastry cream, ice cream, or even cool ship in a pinch...I'm posting whipped cream and pastry cream recipes in my next post...just have to get my little peanut down for a nap!

Makin' some money with my blog!

Hey all!

As much as I love staying home with Dylan and being able to share all of my tips with you, I also miss having a paycheck of my own. The only thing that could make blogging more fun would be to make some dough and has always been in the back of my mind. Once I really get going I figured I would concentrate on promoting the blog and trying to do a little advertising for products as well. It's been a few weeks of writing, and I came across an amazing service for Bloggers called Blogsvertise. Blogsvertise allows Bloggers to assist makers of products generate buzz and increase online exposure, and it allows me to introduce you to new products and services that become available. Even better news for me is that this helps me to make some income from my blog (which we could really use!).

I have also recently added scrimpBoston to blogcatalog. blogcatalog is an online directory of blogs, which will help people interested in my topics find me. Hopefully this will be a great resource for myself and others looking for information about living naturally and on the cheap in Boston.

So, that's what's going on with scrimpBoston. Just figured I'd give you all a head's up on what's happening and what fun changes the future holds. Even though it seems like just writing about whatever, keeping up this blog has proven to be a pretty significant task. It's a labor of love, and the wheels are always turning -- coming up with new ideas to share with you.

My newest idea is compliments of my cousin, BriAnne (my second follower! Hi BriAnne! Hi Liam!). She called me on Sunday asking if I had any ideas for meals that were easily frozen. I figure many of my readers work during the day, and don't have the energy or desire to cook a whole healthy meal when they walk in the door. Freezermeal Fridays will be a post I write on Fridays about making meals and other foods to freeze. So, stay tuned for that. You can read the post on Friday, and then spend some time over the weekend making one for the week ahead. And, of course, you can bet they'll be quite scrimpy (I'll try to include ingredients that are on sale locally!).

I will be posting my creme puff recipe that I brought to my friend, Tracey's, house. Just a tease...I made 18 creme puffs and the total for ingredients was.....






...$4.06! (and it was simple...kind of...but you can do it! They're scrimpy AND impressive, what more could you want???)

Valentine Truffles

These confections are named after the savory black truffle mushroom found in the forests or France. They are not meant to be perfectly round in shape, but organic looking and earthy. We cover them in cocoa powder to represent the dirt found on truffles in the woods. How cute! I can remember my mom making these around Christmastime and I loved them -- still do!

The great news is is that these are easy easy easy (did I say easy?) to make. Here you go:

Dark Chocolate Truffles

Makes about 80 pieces (so the recipe states...I think I just make mine a bit bigger because I've never gotten more than 40 out of it)

-12 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate ($1.99)
-1 1/4 c. heavy cream ($1.50)
-1/4 c. organic cocoa powder ($1.24 - TJs)

1. Prepare! I like to cover a 9 x 12 stoneware baking dish with plastic wrap to cut down on the mess. So, do that. Prepare a dish to pour the chocolate in to so that you aren't scrambling to do it later.

2. Chop chocolate into tiny pieces and put in a medium mixing bowl.

3. Heat the cream until just under a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat. This is called "scalding" milk.

4. Pour the hot cream all at once over the chocolate and stir gently until the mixture is smooth and thoroughly blended. Pour it in to your prepared dish and let it cool to room temperature.

5. Refrigerate the dish of chocolate (now a "ganache") for 3 to 4 hours until the ganache is thick and stiff. Also put the platter you plan to place your rolled truffles on in the fridge, too, so that it's cold when you put them on there.

6. Cut a grid into the dish of ganache, forming squares the size of half an ice cube from an ice cube tray. That's the best way I can explain how big they should be. I guess the squares should be anywhere from 1/2"-3/4".

7. Take each piece and roll between your hands until they are round and place on the chilled dish.

8. Cover them in plastic wrap and refrigerate again for 2 hours.

9. After 2 hours, roll them in your hands again, and coat them in cocoa powder, cocoa powder/cinnamon mix, cinnamon, confectioners sugar, finely chopped nuts, or coconut.

10. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Bring the truffles to room temperature about a half hour before serving.

Total Cost: $4.73 (with the cost of 2 oz. of organic cocoa powder - this is the least expensive way to make them other than using confectioners sugar which is nice, also). This makes a lot of truffles and is a great idea for gifts around the holidays or any other time of year when it's not sweltering outside.

scrimpyTruffleTips:

- If you prefer semi-sweet chocolate, you can use a bag of chocolate chips, just pulse them in the food processor beforehand, because the chips are a *little* bit too big for the recipe. They won't melt all the way in the hot cream. I figured that out the hard way the last time I made these.

- These make a great hostess gift. For Mike's Christmas party, I took a small platter and arranges 6 rows of truffles alternating nut covered and cocoa covered. They looked beautiful and were so inexpensive. It was like, $1.25 worth of truffles, but they are so delicious and impressive.

- If you make these with bittersweet chocolate, beware that they are REALLY chocolately, so they may not quite be for everyone. I love them, and actually prefer the bittersweet, but I also drink black coffee and like stuff like that. So, if you're serving them to people whose tastes you're not quite familiar with, I'd play it safe and go for the semi-sweet chocolate chips.

- Trader Joe's has great prices on chocolate. They sell something called "pound plus" which
actually turns out to be more expensive ounce for ounce than chocolate chips, but I believe it's better quality chocolate. It's worth buying when you need something less sweet than semi-sweet (bittersweet). It's $3.99 for 18 ounces I believe. I'll double check and update that.

- If you can find mini muffin cups those are perfect to put these in for a professional presentation.

- These make great gifts and are much more delicious and inexpensive than commercial truffles.