What did you do to save $ today?

me&thegals

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miss_thenorth said:
I made peach jam out of frozen peaches that were not getting eaten in smoothies, and I made bagels today, and I made yogurt (again--I make yogurt about three times a week). And I hung three loads on the clothesline. Yay!!
Could you tell us how to make bagels? I've never made them but love them for breakfast sandwiches. I would especially love a whole-grain recipe, pretty please. :fl
 

cjparker

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Today I checked the "closeout" meat section at the grocery store. I got an 11 pound "Rancher's Reserve" beef roast for $8 and not quite nine pounds of really good looking boneless pork chops for $7. I passed on the 50% discounted chicken breast.......originally $6.99 a pound! Even at half price, that's almost double what my personal limit is for chicken breast.
 

miss_thenorth

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me&thegals said:
miss_thenorth said:
I made peach jam out of frozen peaches that were not getting eaten in smoothies, and I made bagels today, and I made yogurt (again--I make yogurt about three times a week). And I hung three loads on the clothesline. Yay!!
Could you tell us how to make bagels? I've never made them but love them for breakfast sandwiches. I would especially love a whole-grain recipe, pretty please. :fl
This is the recipe I used, but i wasn;t quite happy with it. My dh says they are yummy, but I wasn't crazy about them. I think , if I do use this recipe again, I will not broil them before I boil them. Before we moved here, I had a recipe that I absolutely loved, but I can't find it now. Oh, and I always use 100% wholewheat flour in all my recipes. I did add a couple of tablespoons of gluten though.
http://www.recipezaar.com/Bread-Maker-Bagels-92290

i am going to look for a better bagel recipe, and when I find one, I will post it. good luck! They are labour intensive.

eta--I'm gonna try this one this weekend - I'll keep you posted. http://www.recipesource.com/baked-goods/bagels/bagels4.html?source=googlebase
 

freemotion

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Wow, spring is here (sort of.) I got enough scallions today to use some and put up a whole jar of salted scallions. And they are just starting.

Brought some catnip in for the kitties, they were thrilled!

Picked about 4-5 pounds of dandelion leaves to turn into milk (through Mya the goat) and turkey meat and eggs. Everyone else has to pick their own :p

It was a work day for me, so not much time for the fun work at home. I stopped at the store where I'd seen coconut oil for about half what it is at the health food stores, and picked up a couple of pounds. I plan to make some healthy chocolate bars tonight with some bitter chocolate that was given to me by someone who bought it by mistake and took a bite! Giardellis (sp?), too! If I like the results, there is a great deal on high-end baking chocolate at the discount store down the road, I'll high-tail it over there and snag a bag to freeze before they are all gone!
 

lupinfarm

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Umm..i started tiling the upstairs bathroom... it's saving money cause i don't have to hire someone to tile! i also built a bird platform/table for birdseed out of scrap from fence posts, a bit of old plywood, and some old wood flooring. AND i started work on the new farm sign from a piece of 1 inch plywood salvaged from an old whelping box we used at the old house that was too big for this house.
 

freemotion

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Tiling? Cool! Come visit and help me!

I made another mold from bigger containers so I can make a four-gallon batch of cheddar today when it rains. It cost me about $4 for the containers, not bad, since a mold costs about $65 in some catalogs! I just have to make a shorter wood follower to fit under the lever arm, I have the scraps, should take five minutes since it is my second one and it is all figured out.

I made the chocolate bars, they came out great! I will post the recipe in the recipe section.
 

VT-Chicklit

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I got 8 pounds of sweet red peppers today at the market for 29 cents a pound! I made a beef and pepper stir fry with 2 lbs, and sliced up 4 lbs into strips, which I froze. The remaining 2 lbs are going to be used for stuffed peppers tomorrow! I even took the inside ribs and seed area and chopped it up for my chickens for a treat. Sweet red peppers usually cost $2.99 a lb so I saved about $10.
 

freemotion

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Wow! Sounds like someone moved a decimal point!

I have a three pound batch of cheddar in the press overnight, and waxed the third two-pounder and put it in the cellar to age.

Found some soft white wheat berries at Stop 'n' Shop, of all places! Bob's Red Mill 2# bags. Ground some up and made biscuits with the lard I'd rendered, and goat yogurt. We each had a jar of soup with biscuits, I chose pork stew and dh chose 13 bean soup with ham. Mmmmm..... And strawberries were on sale, so we had strawberry shortcake for a rare desert!

Since stevia does not draw the juice out of the berries like sugar does, I mash half with a potato masher and slice half the berries. Works great.
 

gettinaclue

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We got our food delivered by a neighbor from Angel Food Ministries today. She buys the meat, I bought the fruit and veggie boxes.

Had DH pick up some strawberries on the way home and we had fresh fruit salad for dessert.

Total, dinner with dessert per person cost 2.75 and we have some yummy leftovers, so that makes it even cheaper!
 

solarkate

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Yesterday, I experimented to see what it would be like to use absolutely NO electricity. I kept all my blinds open, cracked my windows to let in fresh air, and used bottled water instead of a faucet. I actually liked it. I will try it more often, maybe once a month. :cool:
 
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