This is it! I am taking the plunge and inviting readers and people on the Cecil County Discussion Forum to join me in starting a “frugal club”. Here is an article from Wisebread about what a frugal club is:
http://www.wisebread.com/entertainment-value-start-a-frugal-club
The author gives some great ideas on what a frugal club could do. I envision it as a place to talk about how to save money in particular areas, or talking about what stores have what good deals and maybe doing bulk purchasing of food/goods. I like her ideas for “field trips” and swaps. We could have monthly swaps of things. Maybe one month it is kitchen and dish ware. The next month we could swap toys and kids stuff. These are just my ideas. I am excited to hear other people’s ideas and get this off the ground!
If you would like to join send me an email from the web site or post a comment. In it let me know a good evening of the week for you to meet and what library branches you are willing to travel to. I will take care of getting the room reservations. Bring your ideas on what our frugal club should include in its activities. Tell your friends and see if they want to join. I will also post something on the CCF Discussion List.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Applesauce – The Frugal and Healthy Food
I think applesauce is a great invention. I love to eat it alone or on pork chops. Babies usually are given applesauce as one of their first solid fruits. Applesauce is, also, great in baking as a substitute for oil.
To make applesauce you will need to purchase a large quantity of apples from a local orchard. You can purchase “seconds” from Millburn Orchards. They give you a large paper bag (about 20+ lbs.) for $9.95. Colora Orchards sells apples for $8 a half bushel and $16 a bushel. What is a second? A second is an apple that is, usually bruised, or strange shaped or just not perfect. They are usually fine for eating and excellent for baking.
Once you have your seconds, you will need to store them in a cool, dry place. I put mine out in our unheated, inside porch area (along with the potatoes).Wash, peel, core and cut up as many apples that fit in your crock pot with a few inches at the top to spare. Put a bit of water in (maybe half cup?) and turn the crock pot on to low. You can do this before bed. In the morning, when you wake up, you will have applesauce. All you need to do is mash the apples. In the crock pot you will have extra moisture from the apples so they will not burn over night. You may want to pour off some of the moisture before you start mashing.
For baby food, I also puree the cooked apples in the blender. You can put the rest in jars and refrigerate or freeze some in plastic containers. I also can jars of applesauce.
In winter, we go through a lot because I substitute applesauce in recipes that call for oil. I have used it in brownie mix, pancakes, quick breads and muffins. This is a healthy alternative to oil and no one knows the difference. Whoever discovered this is brilliant!!! I do not know if it is cheaper but it probably is if you make the applesauce yourself from seconds. (Really, the math boggles my mind sometimes!)
Applesauce is, also, a cheap, delicious snack for young children. Instead of buying individual serving containers of the stuff for your child's lunch box, buy a reusable, plastic container and fill it daily. Just make sure your child doesn't throw it away.
Now you know why I love apple sauce!
To make applesauce you will need to purchase a large quantity of apples from a local orchard. You can purchase “seconds” from Millburn Orchards. They give you a large paper bag (about 20+ lbs.) for $9.95. Colora Orchards sells apples for $8 a half bushel and $16 a bushel. What is a second? A second is an apple that is, usually bruised, or strange shaped or just not perfect. They are usually fine for eating and excellent for baking.
Once you have your seconds, you will need to store them in a cool, dry place. I put mine out in our unheated, inside porch area (along with the potatoes).Wash, peel, core and cut up as many apples that fit in your crock pot with a few inches at the top to spare. Put a bit of water in (maybe half cup?) and turn the crock pot on to low. You can do this before bed. In the morning, when you wake up, you will have applesauce. All you need to do is mash the apples. In the crock pot you will have extra moisture from the apples so they will not burn over night. You may want to pour off some of the moisture before you start mashing.
For baby food, I also puree the cooked apples in the blender. You can put the rest in jars and refrigerate or freeze some in plastic containers. I also can jars of applesauce.
In winter, we go through a lot because I substitute applesauce in recipes that call for oil. I have used it in brownie mix, pancakes, quick breads and muffins. This is a healthy alternative to oil and no one knows the difference. Whoever discovered this is brilliant!!! I do not know if it is cheaper but it probably is if you make the applesauce yourself from seconds. (Really, the math boggles my mind sometimes!)
Applesauce is, also, a cheap, delicious snack for young children. Instead of buying individual serving containers of the stuff for your child's lunch box, buy a reusable, plastic container and fill it daily. Just make sure your child doesn't throw it away.
Now you know why I love apple sauce!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Agricultural Extension Offices
I love going to different agricultural extension offices’ web sites. They are wonderful gems of information on how to shop, prepare foods, create budgets, and live frugally. This is a link to the USDA website with links to all 50 states’ agricultural extension offices.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/
One of my favorite extension web sites is for the state of Michigan. Their Furthering Families web site has basic information on weathering financial storms (as well as what to do if you have a Bovine TB positive animal!) http://www.fcs.msue.msu.edu/ff/financialmanagement.html . They also have a Financial Matters web site that gives good budgeting information as well as other good financial information. http://www.fm.fcs.msue.msu.edu/
The Maryland extension web site is not as large as Michigan’s. Here is a link to the publications that you can get from them on family and financial issues:
http://extension.umd.edu/publications/Category.cfm?ID=A
The Cecil web site does advertise a few classes that are being given and also gives you a name of who to contact. You can probably contact the agent to be put on a notify list. But, all in all, I don’t think Maryland has much going for their web site.
Delaware has a great web site and produces a newsletter called “Two Cent Tips for Delaware”. Notice the left hand side of the page has different personal financial issues that you can click on and get great information. They also have links to some federal government resources.
Delaware’s Ag extension gives classes on money management topics. I see the flyers in the main branch of the Cecil Public Library. Here is a link to the New Castle County monthly calendar:
http://ag.udel.edu/WebCalendar/month.php?user=_NUC_NCC_Extension
Pennsylvania has a nice web site too. Here is a link to their family financial planning and consumer affairs publications web site: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/PubSubject.asp?varSubject=Family%20Financial%20Planning%20and%20Consumer%20Affairs
They have a multi-part series on what to do if your income drops. With 10.2% unemployment, this could come in handy. Each county in Pennsylvania has its own web site I urge you to explore different counties’ web sites under the Families and Children area (on the left side of the screen click on this topic). A wealth of information is available!
In addition to financial planning issues, the web sites contain a huge amount of information on canning and preserving, which is a great frugal activity. If you are planting a garden you can get gardening advice here too. I planted my first garden this year and these web sites will be invaluable for planning next year’s garden!
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/
One of my favorite extension web sites is for the state of Michigan. Their Furthering Families web site has basic information on weathering financial storms (as well as what to do if you have a Bovine TB positive animal!) http://www.fcs.msue.msu.edu/ff/financialmanagement.html . They also have a Financial Matters web site that gives good budgeting information as well as other good financial information. http://www.fm.fcs.msue.msu.edu/
The Maryland extension web site is not as large as Michigan’s. Here is a link to the publications that you can get from them on family and financial issues:
http://extension.umd.edu/publications/Category.cfm?ID=A
The Cecil web site does advertise a few classes that are being given and also gives you a name of who to contact. You can probably contact the agent to be put on a notify list. But, all in all, I don’t think Maryland has much going for their web site.
Delaware has a great web site and produces a newsletter called “Two Cent Tips for Delaware”. Notice the left hand side of the page has different personal financial issues that you can click on and get great information. They also have links to some federal government resources.
Delaware’s Ag extension gives classes on money management topics. I see the flyers in the main branch of the Cecil Public Library. Here is a link to the New Castle County monthly calendar:
http://ag.udel.edu/WebCalendar/month.php?user=_NUC_NCC_Extension
Pennsylvania has a nice web site too. Here is a link to their family financial planning and consumer affairs publications web site: http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/PubSubject.asp?varSubject=Family%20Financial%20Planning%20and%20Consumer%20Affairs
They have a multi-part series on what to do if your income drops. With 10.2% unemployment, this could come in handy. Each county in Pennsylvania has its own web site I urge you to explore different counties’ web sites under the Families and Children area (on the left side of the screen click on this topic). A wealth of information is available!
In addition to financial planning issues, the web sites contain a huge amount of information on canning and preserving, which is a great frugal activity. If you are planting a garden you can get gardening advice here too. I planted my first garden this year and these web sites will be invaluable for planning next year’s garden!
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