Reminder! Time to Buy Strawberries and Freeze!

In my area of the country, it's strawberry season! This means buying strawberries on sale in bulk, hulling them and freezing them! I just paid $1.29 a pound, soaked them in a vinegar/water mix (takes out some of the pesticides), hulled them and froze them (after they are hulled I just put them right in baggies and freeze!). I just did 5 pounds and will do more later when they go on sale again. Strawberries frozen were about $9.00 for four pounds last I checked so this saves some more pennies to add up to dollars to save or purchase items on sale!

Happy Savings!

Pennies Pennies Everywhere! Save Money on Milk!

A number of years back, I stopped using cow's milk. Before I did, I added water to every gallon to stretch it. I saved a lot of money that way. You can hardly tell the difference if you get the ratio right and it tastes just fine! (I would wait until the gallon was down maybe four inches and then fill it back up and shake it.)

In recent years, for health reasons, I switched to almond milk. I also added water to that and saved money there as well.

Recently, I needed to change for health reasons again! I was a bit stumped until I remembered that you can make oatmeal milk!

Since the only thing I really use milk in is smoothies, instead of almond milk, I just put some water and a small handful of quick oats in the blender with the other ingredients, blend and voila! It works perfectly and amazingly it is MUCH cheaper than almond milk!

If you want to make oatmeal milk that is strained, you can follow this recipe or the many other variations of recipes online:

http://www.godairyfree.org/recipes/oat-milk-recipe-vegan

There are so many ways to save money. There are pennies, pennies everywhere!

Happy Savings!

Pennies Pennies Everywhere! Don't Throw Out Those Old Bananas!

There are many ways to save a little money here and there and it all adds up! I bought a lot of extra bananas a while back because they were on sale (of course!). I usually use brown bananas in smoothies but I had too many this time, so I decided to make banana bread! 

You can use leftover bananas for banana bread, smoothies, banana muffins or even banana cookies! Bananas also freeze so if you can't get to them right away you can keep them in your freezer until you are ready to use them (although they are a bit mushy and watery when thawed-they still work well for baking.)

Here is a banana bread recipe to try: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

We usually eat one loaf right away and then I freeze the other one for later on. Yum!

Happy Savings!

Pennies Pennies Everywhere! Save Money on Baggies and Recycle Too!

If you save your bread bags, you can reuse them instead of paying for baggies. As you can see, I bought some rolls marked down from $2.28 to .89 saving there as well! So, in this instance, I not only saved money on the rolls but I am reusing the bread bag to save rather than buying Zip-lock or off-brand baggies.

If you save pennies here and there they all add up! There are truly pennies, pennies everywhere!

A Very Inexpensive and Tasty Snack: Popcorn!

 Popcorn is a very inexpensive and tasty snack! Not only that, it is better for you than chips. According to this article: http://www.livestrong.com/article/441733-chips-vs-popcorn-which-is-worse/ here are the calories and macronutrient content and fiber content of each:

Chips tend to be higher in fat and calories than popcorn. A 1-ounce serving of regular potato chips has 152 calories, 10.2 grams of fat, 14.2 grams of carbohydrates and 1.8 grams of protein. The same quantity of tortilla chips has 132 calories, 5.8 grams of fat, 18.9 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of protein. Air-popped popcorn is the best choice. Each ounce has 128 calories, 1.3 grams of fat, 21.8 grams of carbohydrate and 3.6 grams of protein. Popping your popcorn at home in oil lowers the benefits a bit, as each ounce has 140 calories, 7.9 grams of fat, 16.3 grams of carbohydrate and 2.8 grams of protein. If you choose regular microwave popcorn, however, you won't be much better off than if you choose chips. Each ounce has 163 calories, 12.2 grams of fat, 12.6 grams of carbohydrates and 2 grams of protein.

Both potato chips and tortilla chips provide a small amount of fiber, with 5 percent to 6 percent of the daily value. Popcorn is a better source. Air-popped popcorn has 16 percent of the DV per ounce, oil-popped popcorn has 11 percent of the DV per ounce and regular microwave popcorn has about 9 percent of the DV for fiber per ounce. Dietary fiber helps you control your weight and blood sugar while lowering your risk for high cholesterol, heart disease, cancer and digestive issues such as constipation.

According to the USDA, chips cost about $3.86/lb. I buy popcorn in bulk, shown below, for $7.99 on sale for 12.5 lbs. That's .64 lb un-popped. One lb of un-popped popcorn is a LOT of popcorn when popped. I use an air popper and use either coconut oil or real butter on it. It does take a little work but is worth it for the $$ savings and better health! Better health also means savings! Popcorn can also be used to make tasty popcorn balls.

Happy Savings!