Free Recipes Giveaway

I have two e-books that I have added to my site for purchase, but this week I am going to be giving both of these e-books away to two lucky winners!

To enter, you may do any or all of the following:

1. Comment on this blog post

2. Subscribe to the blog. If you're already subscribed, you have already been entered.

3. Add your link to my Mr. Linky for frugal sites (the new one for today). Please be sure that your site is a frugal or money saving site. If not, it won't count.

I will choose the winner on Friday, April 24th. Good luck.

Update: This giveaway is now closed and we have two winners.

Dying Produce? Nearly Out of Date Leftovers? Use them NOW!

Do you have produce in the frig that is nearly dead? Maybe you have leftovers that have one more day before they need to be tossed. Go through your frig each day and find these things. Use them up NOW! They are already paid for and will only fill up the landfills if they go unused.

We have used this tactic this week. It has modified our menu plan somewhat but no drastically. We actually had dessert one evening because the strawberries that I bought a week or so ago were starting to mold. Not all of them, mind you. Just a few on top and in the middle. I threw the bad ones out (or to our chickens and they just loved them) and served the rest with whipped cream.

We grilled hamburgers today for lunch and the leftover burgers are going in the crockpot on Sunday with some gravy to make hamburger steaks. I'll add a few side dishes and Sunday lunch will be a snap.

Think of all the ways you may be able to use up some of those dying, decaying, nearly rotten things in your frig. We all have them so save a little money this week and use them up. Your budget and the trash guy will thank you.

One Bag and 5 Dinners from Kraft Foods

If you are in a money crunch and/or menu planning crunch, try the 1 Bag 5 Dinners at Kraft Foods. There are 4 choices of types of dinners: Chicken and Beef, Chicken and Pork, Chicken and Seafood, and Healthy Living.

Once you choose which types of dinners you want, then you have several samples within that choice. Five dinners are included with recipes and a shopping list for Monday - Friday. Everything that you need should fill one grocery bag.

We've used this before and most of the meals are good. Best of all, the service is free and you know that when you leave the store you have everything you need to cook for the week. If you're in a money crunch, try to pick dinners that include things you already have on hand.

I am going to use this site for my next week's menu planning. Check out their site and then back here on Sunday to see what we'll be eating this week.

Tackle It Tuesday

For me, this is Spring Break Week and we are off from school. I have been tackling all kinds of things this week. Yesterday, it was my awful home office desk.

Today, I am tackling my kitchen cabinets. With my husband and little one helping to put away dishes from the dishwasher, I have noticed things don't always end of in the "right" place. Every thing has a place but who knows where that place may be today.

Keeping my kitchen cabinets organized keeps me out of the restaurants and fast food lanes. When I know where everything is located, it is so much easier to get started on meal at home. This tends to save us money because you all know that eating at home is so much cheaper than eating out.

What are you tackling today? If you need ideas, visit 5 Minutes for Moms.

Menu Plan Weekly for 3-29 - 4-04

Sunday - Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs (we do this a lot on Sunday evening and then eat the leftovers for lunch during the week - we usually grill some venison sausage links and eat those as well), baked potatoes

Monday - Hamburger Goulash (ground hamburger, stewed tomatoes and elbow macaroni), salad

Tuesday - Fried cubed pork chops, broccoli casserole, 3 bean salad, bread

Wednesday - Grilled chicken, potato salad (will we ever finish all these potatoes), corn on cob, fried okra

Thursday - Pancakes, leftover sausage, fruit

Friday - Fried fish (bream from the river), coleslaw, cheese grits, hushpuppies (I've been eyeing these fish in the freezer for several months and now that it has warmed up we'll pull them out and have a feast).

Saturday - Garlic lime chicken (browse toward the bottom of the link for the recipe), scalloped potatoes, sauteed spinach with garlic, bread

You can check out other menus at Menu Plan Monday over on I'm an Organizing Junkie.

My Most Recent Best Buy

This week our grocery store had ketchup for $.78 (36 oz size of Heinz) and green, seedless grapes for $.99 per pound. My little one loves green grapes and they have been so expensive lately (like a lot of other fresh fruit). I had purchased grapes at nearly twice that earlier in the week, but I bought these today anyway. I washed them good, sacked them up and threw them in the freezer. A lady that I work with does this and says they are fabulous. I decided since we already had a bag in the frig, these could be put in the freezer for a later time.

Just to let you know, we have tried the frozen grapes and they are really good. My little one likes to let them thaw first (kids sometimes don't like to try new things), but I think they are best frozen. This will make a fabulous summertime treat. The best part: No more spoiled grapes!

You Might Be A Redneck If...

you use ratchet straps to make a clothesline.

As I mentioned in another post, we had quite a bit of illness in my family over the past few weeks so this past weekend all of the bed linens needed to be washed. All at one time. I couldn't fathom using the dryer (and all that electricity) for some much laundry and that's where my dear hubby came to the rescue. We strung up a couple of ratchet straps and got all the laundry done. Of course, all of the neighbors are jealous! LOL!!

I know this doesn't have anything to do with saving money at the grocery store, but we are being frugal and trying to do what we can to save money.

Until next time!