Saving Money...by making your own Stock!

In the winter I make a LOT of soups (and freeze them).  Which means I use a LOT of chicken & vegetable stock.  The Dollar Store actually sells 32 oz, chicken & beef stock (MSG free) for $1, which I have been very happy with, but this past winter I have started making my own and discovering how NOT only am I saving money--but my homemade stock is SOOOOOO much yummier!  (Even the kids devour it!)  It takes little time and energy and I make it while making another meal so time-wise it is DEFINITELY worth it...

Let's start with chicken stock and then talk about vegetable stock...

I start with either a whole 3lb rotisserie chicken (that I get on sale at Copp's for $5 every couple months).  I also use chicken thighs or any other boned chicken parts that I have bought.


Isn't he cute???

The first meal is always just enjoying straight up baked chicken--mmmm...and I am happy because I didn't do much work (just prepared the sides).

The next night, I pull off the leftover chicken and turn most of it into another dish like chicken pot pie or chicken & spinach lasagna or fajitas--or something like that.  The skin and leftover bones I toss in a pot and add water until it just covers the bones.  I then gently boil the bones for 1 hour or more. 

Leftover chicken on left, boiling bones and skin on right

After an hour or so, I strain out all those yummy juices and have my broth.  At this point you can salt it. If it is bland you can always boil longer or add some chicken bouillon (I have had to do that on one occasion--I guess that chicken just didn't have much flavor :) )  At this point you can freeze it in muffin tins and then place in a Ziploc bag or freeze it in quart jars (don't fill to the top!) until you need to use it--but I like to take it one step further....

okay seriously--this IS as good as it looks!

I like to add chopped up onion and celery and carrots and seasonings of my choice--like thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt, pepper (and even some chicken pieces).  I will then simmer it an additional 30 minutes and then freeze.  This makes and AWESOME chicken soup base!  When the kids want chicken noodle soup, I will pull it out of the freezer, warm it up on the stove and add some egg noodles! YUM! 

And if you kept track--yes, I got 3+ meals out of one $5 rotisserie chicken.  And if I use chicken thighs, it will be 3+ meals out of about $3 of chicken (buy on sale $0.98/lb or less--I like to stock up at $0.68/lb.)

Now onto vegetable stock...This is too sweet....who would have thought you could make stock from all those vegetable scraps that you compost or toss (AND you can still compost after making your stock...) Check it out!

Think about all those parts of the vegetables that you normally toss--ends of cucumbers, onion skins, pepper seeds & stems.  Start saving all those parts instead of tossing them out.  Put them in a Ziploc bag and store in the freezer until you have 2 bags--then make your own vegetable stock.  Check out this link to give you all the details.  (I have been warned not to save cabbage, zucchini and broccoli parts as that can make your stock bitter.)  Feel free to experiment by adding your own herbs as well!

http://www.ehow.com/how_4767967_vegetable-broth.html

Saving Money... by joining a CSA!

Before you say--"WHAT?!  How does joining a Co-op save me money??"  Let me explain...

Did you know that most Health Insurance Plans will reimburse you up to $200 a year for "Healthy Lifestyle Living?"   Some of these "Healthy Lifestyle Living" items include gym membership (though many have a requirement that you must go certain amount of times a month to get reimbursed), exercise and health classes, and joining an organic co-op.

Two years ago, Rob and I decided to try it out.  We joined a co-op for about $240.  For 18-20 weeks, we then received a 1/2 share of produce every week.  And this half share was more than enough for the four of us! (Note:  We have 2 small children--but we are SERIOUS veggie eaters!) AND most of my garden produce was then able to be frozen for us to eat in the winter.  To make this deal even sweeter--our health insurance reimbursed us $200.  That means we only spent $40 for 18-20 weeks of produce!  AMAZING!  (Just a warning--prices for co-ops have gone up since then and are closer to $300 for 1/2 share, but we still feel that with the amount of produce we receive and the reimbursement--it is WELL worth the cost.  There are also other options if you would like a reduced price/free--such as volunteering to work at the farm in exchange for your share.

Since then, every year we have become members of a local co-op which delivers the produce to my husband's work (it is one of the pick-up sites), weekly.  We are always excited to see what we get and we LOVE knowing our food is organic AND we are supporting local farmers AND we are spending WAY less than if I purchased the produce at the grocery store AND my garden veggies can be saved for the winter.  (Check out all those PROS!)

So put a call into your health insurance and see if they will offer you a reimbursement for your food!  And then check out the CSA's in your area.  (You will want to do this soon--as many co-ops are already filling up for this coming summer!)

Here is a link to the CSA that we use and LOVE
http://www.wholesomeharvestcsa.com/

and here is a listing of CSA's in the Madison area.  Check it out!
http://www.reapfoodgroup.org/atlas/farms/csa.htm

$20 Amazon Gift Card for $10! Today Only!

Right now you can snag a $20 Amazon Gift Card (1 per person) for $10.

You simply order the gift card and tomorrow you will receive an email with your gift card redemption code to use on Amazon. I love Amazon! There are so many day to day purchases I make on this site (including AWESOME diaper deals!)

You can purchase the gift card here
http://livingsocial.com/deals/21336-20-amazon-com-gift-card?msdc_id=47&preferred_city=47&transaction=129547186697297875633

or....if you want to get more BANG for your buck, you can do it through your SwagBucks account and earn 280 bonus Swagbucks ( 450 swagbucks get you a $5 Amazon gift card!  Check out my prior post on swagbucks to learn how you can earn free Amazon Gift Cards on Swagbucks )
http://simplegreensavings.blogspot.com/2011/01/swagbucks.html

If you order through Swagbucks, simply do the following to earn your BONUS 280 Swagbucks.

Go to http://www.swagbucks.com/ (make sure you are logged in)

Click on the middle banner when the Amazon Gift Card promotion comes up.

Pick a "Living Social Deal"  (Depending on where you live, you will have different deals listed.)

Click on the "Continue" button in the popup box.

You will taken to the Living Social Website.

Look on the right hand side of the page and you will see the Amazon Deal listed for Washington DC.  Click on it and order it. 

When you return to your SwagBucks account, you should see your 280 swagbucks credited to your account.

Woo-hoo!  Free money!  And I have some birthdays I need to shop for!  Enjoy!

Free money through Swagbucks!

Swagbucks...I know it sounds kind of cheesy, but it's fun...Since I started using Swagbucks a year ago I have earned over $100 in Amazon Gift cards--FREE--with no strings attached!!!! All I did was do my normal GOOGLE searches on their site! (And you know I don't have much time to be doing searches!

So what is Swagbucks? It's a search engine (powered by Google and Ask) that randomly rewards your searches with "swagbucks", basically points which you can save to redeem for amazon gift cards or other stuff in the swag store. (They have LOTS of Gift certificates, such as Target, JCPenney, Starbucks, etc...)  

I'm sure you do internet searches everyday anyway, why not earn something from them??That's all there really is to it--just do your normal seaches on the Swagbucks search engine instead of your normal search engine, win swagbucks and then redeem them for cash! Find out more, and sign up HERE. When you sign up using any of these links, I'll get referral points too. Then when your friends sign up using your referral link, you'll get even more swagbucks too!

To make the most of your swagbucks account, I recommend setting your homepage to Swagbucks.com OR installing the swagbucks toolbar so you have their search engine at the top of your page.
This is too awesome to pass up!  I LOVE SWAGBUCKS!  (Especially when I redeem my gift cards for diapers delivered to my doorstep!)

648 Huggies Wipes for $7!

I just bought 648 Huggies wipes for $7 courtesy of Toys R' Us.  If you have it shipped to Toys R' Us or Babies R'Us you get FREE shipping!

Great deal for those with/expecting a baby.  Here's what you do...

Go to http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3441647&siteID=CY3NkS.Y9qw-1T1IA1gz7qllzVfJY8Im0w

add 3 Huggies Natural Care Fragrance Free Refill Baby Wipes (216 ct per refill pack) to your cart (or you can pick other varieties).  Each package is priced at $6.99, but the deal is buy 3 for $7.  Choose in-store pick-up to receive free shipping.  Enjoy!

Last Minute Christmas Gifts (or gifts to keep in mind for next year!)

Mint Tea I have made in the past

This blog is for the “last minute, I don’t know what to buy them”, Christmas shoppers.


We all have family members that really don’t need anything. Or how about those people that you want to give a gift to but you don’t know what they would like. For those people, I like to put together some homemade EDIBLE gifts. (Everybody likes to eat, right??) Here are a few things I have done over the years.

Every year, we make baskets of goodies for loved ones. I pick up the baskets throughout the year at garage sales or thrift stores. This year, I scored big and purchased 10 VERY nice baskets for $1 at the Salvation Army. Usually, baskets run me about $0.25 - $0.50 each. In lieu of baskets, I have also used various decorative tins that I have found in garage sales as well as Christmas bags which I have picked up on clearance after the holidays.

In these baskets we place tissue paper and then stuff them with goodies. These goodies usually include bags of various cookies we have baked, homemade bread, and jams or jellies I have preserved for the year. (On the jars, I will write—“For more Jam next year, please return the jar and screw band.” ) I will often receive them back, and for those I don’t, it isn’t a big deal since I usually pick up 12 – 24 jars every year in a garage sale for cheap. But as always I like to encourage reuse of items so they don’t get tossed.

Homemade Jelly

Other things we have put in the baskets have included herbs, dry soups and cookie mixes, and hand sewn napkins, stockings, aprons, etc...

I know this blog is pretty late for this year, but here are some great ideas to keep in mind for next year.

Herbs-I grow my own herbs in the summer. In the fall, I will cut them and hang them to dry for 1 – 2 weeks. I then cut off the leaves and split the herbs between baby food jars (that I have saved or other people have saved for me) and decorate.

Herbs in decorated baby food jars

Dry Soup mixes- Check out these recipes to make your own dried soup mixes. Simply place in a quart canning jar, tape on directions, and VOILA you have created an instant dinner for someone you love. (You could also make your own biscuit mix to accompany the soup mix.) Here are some recipes.

Calico Bean Soup

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Calico-Bean-Soup/Detail.aspx

Chicken Rice Soup

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Rice-Soup-Mix/Detail.aspx

Country Soup in a Jar

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Country-Soup-in-a-Jar/Detail.aspx


Love Soup

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Love-Soup-Mix-in-a-Jar/Detail.aspx


And here is a webpage with a TON more!

http://www.recipegoldmine.com/foodgiftsoup/giftsoup.html



Biscuit Mix-This is similar to Bisquick. You simply add milk and bake! (Add some of your favorite Bisquick recipes to the outside of the jar.)

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/biscuit-baking-mix/Detail.aspx


Cookie Mixes—These you make the same as soup mixes. Layer the ingredients in the jar to make it “pretty” and tape the instructions on the outside.

The possibilities here are endless—Take a look!

http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/christmas/gifts/cookie-mixes.htm

What kind of home-made gifts do you like to give?

60 photo cards for $5.00 Shipped Overnight

I am excited.  I just created a Christmas card and ordered 60 of them for $5.06.  Processing takes a couple of days, but they will be shipped overnight.  At the latest I will receive them on December 15th.

So here is the scoop!

*Sign up for a new account on http://www.new.seehere.com/ (or login to your existing account)


*Create a 4×8 single flat Photo Card

*Add 60 cards to your cart

*Start the checkout process

*Enter coupon code 50cards

*Change shipping time to Overnight.

*Your final cost should come to $4.80 + tax.  (Mine totaled $5.06!)

Take advantage of this deal soon!