Save on Dish Soap and Paper Plates

Here's what I found when I walked in the kitchen last night. My 10-year-old daughter made a beautiful, delicious custard that my 3-year-old proceeded to spill on (and eat off) the floor.

At about the same time I said, "Disgusting!", I had some sense to grab the camera.

Tips:

• Make sure your floor is clean! I use ammonia and water to clean my tile floors. I love the clean smell, and it's so cheap--a $1 container will last me for months.
• Reassure yourself that a little dirt won't hurt.
  

Good Deal at Sprouts...again.

I wish all of you had a Sprouts near you, and I apologize for constantly bringing them up when not all of you have access. I'm not trying to rub it in...really.

However, I can't help sharing a great deal when I find one! The excitement just busts out of me. The only thing I can think to compare it to is when a woman finds out she's pregnant and is anxiously awaiting the announcement to her husband. (But not the kind of emotion she has when telling him she's pregnant...and has an IUD....)

Anyway, Sprouts has pineapples for $0.97 each and cluster tomatoes for $0.97 a pound starting tomorrow at our local store.

My Dad makes a divine Pineapple Upside Down Cake. Here's the recipe:

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1 1/6 c. flour

2 eggs

1 1/2 t baking powder

1 c. sugardash salt

3 T. hot water

1 t. vanilla

Mix together and pour over pineapple rings arranged in 1/4 c. butter and 3/4 c. brown sugar melted in the bottom of an 8 X 8 pan. Bake at 325 for 50 minutes. Immediately loosen cake from sides and invert on a cake plate. Let sit until cake drops from the pan onto the plate.

Tips:

• Pick a good pineapple: it should smell fragrant and have fresh green leaves. Here's more info.
• Pick tasty tomatoes: ones that are fresh, firm, and free of blemishes. Click here for more.

Printer Ink

It's time to replace my black ink cartridge (HP 92).

I normally buy a combo pack from the Costco warehouse, but this time I'm not satisfied that's the cheapest way to go. Perhaps I'm tired of shelling out so much money for ink (that my kids use to print an entire page of black).

Here are the options:

• Costco.com sells one cartridge for $14.98.


• Amazon.com sells a twin pack for $24.08.


• The Amazon marketplace sells a recycled twin pack for $13.78.


• I also found an ebay seller that sells a 6-pack of recycled ink cartridges for $29.90.

WWBD: I just placed a bid on ebay for a 6-pack, starting bid: $24.95 ($4.16 per cartridge). There are no bids and the auction is over in a few hours, so I feel pretty confident I will win. I set my highest bid as 29.50, so if someone outbids me, I can go back and get the other one I just listed above.

Tips:

• Don't outbid me!


• Try a google search, ebay search, and an amazon search to find the best price for your particular print cartridge.


• Save the planet. Ordering recycled print cartridges keeps them out of the landfills. (You know me, Ms. TreeHugger...) Refilling them yourselves is even cheaper, but pretty messy. I like the idea of having someone else refill them for me.

Discount Grocers

My friend, Heather, and I stopped by Town Talk (in Fort Worth, TX), a warehouse-type grocery store that sells closeouts, products from bankrupted grocers, etc. Here are some deals we found:

Continuous spray sunscreen averages about $10 at the grocery store. Discount: 80%

Sesame dressing: about $3 regularly. Discount: 90%

Regularly $0.95. Discount: 66%

$5 at the regular grocery store. Discount: 80%

Same-sized container at the grocery store: $7.50. Discount: 60%

Freshly bakes Tuscan boule: $4 at the grocer's bakery. Discount: over 90%

$10 at the grocery store. Discount: 80%

$9 at the grocery store. Discount: 50%

Here's a map and address for Town Talk.

Tips:

• Check expiration dates. Some items might be ok past the "best if used by" date.
• Find specialty or organic items. You'll probably find more of these items heavily discounted.
• Readers who are not local to the DFW area might find similar discount groceries at Closeout Central. Or try using terms such as "discount grocer" or "thrift grocery store" with Google.

Landscaping for free (or almost)

My #1 rule: Use perennials!!!

Ajuga: One plant ($2) spread and multiplied, and after a year I dug up a few starts and transplanted them to other spots in my yard. I chose this picture, because NOTHING will grow in this spot--except ajuga. I love you, ajuga...

If you plant annuals, let the dead blooms fall on the ground, or scatter them where you'd like them to grow next year. I planted these snapdragons 1 1/2 years ago. Check out the circled one in the top left corner that found its way to the rocks.





I know nothing about roses except that mine thrive on poor soil conditions and neglect. I pretty much ignore them except to cut some for a bouquet.

Spearmint: one small start from Home Depot set me back $2.

Sugar snap peas: one seed packet--$0.99. I expect some in my salad in a few weeks.

Lavender Cotton: 3 small starts--$2 each.

Lantana: one start from a friend--free. They attract butterflies and bloom during the HOT summer months.

English ivy: 2 small starts--$2 each.

California poppy: from a bag of wildflower seed--$4. These are my favorites! They are so bright and colorful, and they spread and multiply every year.

Wild blackberry: grew from the ditch outside our fence--free. We trained them along our side of the fence. They should be ripe around the beginning of June. Can't wait!

Vinca: one start--$2.

Tips:

• Be patient. Growing perennials and from transplanted starts takes longer than growing annuals, but it really pays off when your beautiful yard sustains itself with little management.
• Start small. Buying smaller perennials from the nursery saves money, and they tend to adapt better.

10 for $10 is Back at Sprouts

Pork ribs (per lb)
Whole chicken (per lb)
Chicken drums or thighs (per lb)
Sausage links
Shrimp skewers
Gourmet stuffed clams

Check your local ad.

If you buy the whole chicken, I have a great Gumbo recipe from a friend of mine, whose husband is Creole and from Louisiana.

1 C Tony Chachere's instant Roux mix (my local grocer carries it)
2 C water
10-12 C water
whole chicken
1 package turkey sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 T minced garlic
1 bunch green onions, diced
Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning (This and the roux mix are key! This seasoning is so good you'll want to put it on everything.)
salt
pepper
garlic powder
red pepper powder
8 - 10 eggs

Directions:Boil the 2 C water. Turn heat to low. Add roux mix. Stir until dissolved and thickened. Add 10-12 C water. Add chicken and cook for 20 min. When chicken is done, remove from water. Let cool slightly. Debone.

Meanwhile, saute onions, minced garlic, and green pepper in 1 T olive oil. Add all vegetables, turkey sausage, seasonings and chicken to roux. Let cook on low for 5 hours. (Can eat sooner, if desired...Katie said so.)

Boil eggs on side, and add when serving.

Tips:

• Invite people over. This recipe makes so much gumbo, it's plenty to feed a houseful and still have leftovers.

Bargain Huntress Faves: Groceries

1. Offering great prices on most everything, Costco is where most of our grocery budget goes. Buying in bulk works well for our family of 7 (on the cusp of feeding growing teenagers).


2. I still don't know how they do it, but they beat the competition hands down when it comes to produce. Since I think my kids are part rabbit, this keeps my grocery bill down as well. We eat through a basket full of fruits and vegetables weekly.


3. I can go to this website (a database of over 200,000 recipes from all over the world), do a search for a couple of food items in my fridge/pantry, and the website will almost always find me a recipe. This way I don't need to waste foods I already have in my fridge. (Illustrated below)

4. Their weekly sales generally include good prices on meat.

5. If I need unusual items that can't be found at the regular grocery store, this is where I go.

Here's how we did Easter dinner this year without blowing the budget:

Easter Dinner Menu:

Ham with Mango glaze

Maple Mustard sauce

Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes

Cabbage and Green Bean Slaw

Rolls with Homemade Strawberry Jam (Thanks Chelsea!)

Strawberry Shortcake (thanks, Jamie!

Ham from Tom Thumb (on sale this week for $0.97/lb).

Mango Glaze recipe at fooddownunder.com. The actual recipe is for Apricot glaze, but I had mango jam in my fridge, so I used that instead. It was yummy!

The recipe for the glaze also includes the recipe for this Maple Mustard sauce.

I had green beans from Sprouts ($0.88/lb) already, but it wouldn't feed the 6 adults and 5 kids at our house for easter dinner. I had some cabbage, too, though (also bought at Sprouts for $0.33/lb) So, I went to Food Down Under, typed in "green bean and cabbage," and eventually decided on this recipe:

GERMAN GREEN BEANS AND CABBAGE

3 slices bacon

1/2 c. vinegar

1/4 c. sugar

3 tbsp. chopped onion

3 c. shredded cabbage

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 can green beans

Cook bacon and tear into 1 inch pieces. Remove bacon. Add vinegar, salt, sugar, onion, cabbage, and pepper to fat in skillet. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in drained green beans and cook for 5 minutes. Pour into serving dish and top with bacon pieces.

It received good reviews from my family. And since I used turkey bacon (from Costco), it was pretty healthy, too!

Similar story with the potatoes. I had some left over from a bag I bought at Sprouts (about $2.88 for 5 lb), but not enough to feed everyone. I found a recipe for Crockpot Creamy Scalloped Potatoes, then added carrots (from Costco) to it.




Here's the spread just before we sat down to eat:

This meal cost about $20.

Tips:

• Scan the local ads. It took me about 1 minute to look through the grocery store ads to decide that Tom Thumb was the best place to buy a ham this year.