Freezing Zucchini

I'm very disappointed in my vegetable garden this summer. I planted 9 tomato plants, 3 cherry tomato plants and I guess it was 6 zucchini plants. As I stated in a previous post, (read Here for that and for my zucchini bread recipe) we had a lot of rain this summer. So I think I got out of all those plants 5 tomatoes, and they were really small ones. And a couple handfuls of cherry tomatoes. Other years I had so many tomatoes I couldn't keep up with them. Which was great I would be able to make sauce and even freeze some of it. Other years I had so many cherry tomatoes I was giving them away to the neighbors. Oh well, this summer was a bust for the tomatoes.

But I managed to get a reasonable amount of zucchini out of the garden. I think I had maybe about 14 or 15 zucchini that managed to grow this summer. I made some zucchini bread with some of the zucchini. But the problem with zucchini, just like all vegetables is that by the end of the summer you have a bunch of them all at once. I had them all in the refrigerator, but they wouldn't last to long in their. So I decided to freeze them.

I'm just using them for zucchini bread. So what I did was shred it, measuring 2 cups at a time. And then putting them into ziploc baggies. Because it takes 2 cups of shredded zucchini to make a batch of the zucchini bread. (this will actually make 2 loaves of bread) So I figured when I want to make some zucchini bread, all I have to do is grab a bag of the frozen zucchini and I can make some bread. I tried it last week with one of the frozen bags of zucchini, and the bread came out great. I hope it will stay good frozen for the rest of the winter, because with what I froze I will be able to make about 14 loaves of zucchini bread!

Here's a few pictures of the shredding and the bags of zucchini:


(See similar post here: Freeze Your Bananas)

Five Tips To Save Money on Your Groceries

Here's some things I thought of while I was grocery shopping the other day. Some quick and easy tips to help you save money on your grocery bill (which I'm sure we could all use with the prices of everything going up.)

1.Don't go grocery shopping when your hungry. This might sound silly and maybe even obvious, but it's true. If you go when you're hungry you will be more tempted to buy more food. And you also may buy more junk food, which is unhealthy for one thing, and also tends to be more expensive.


2. Shop at the same store. If you do your shopping at the same store every week you will be more likely to purchase only the things you need, and you will also know their prices. I stick with my favorite supermarket, which for me where I live is Market Basket.I feel if you know the layout of a store you will buy your regular items and won't be as tempted to buy whatever is handy, in a store you don't know, because you can't find what you want.(Make sense?) Which could end up costing you more.


3. Go shopping once a week. I talked about this in a previous post Grocery Shopping. Read more about it there.

4. Make a list. I find that if I make a list or even just mentally plan out ahead, what I'm going to buy, I spend less. If you organize and prepare your shopping list you will more likely stick to it, and spend less because you won't buy things you really don't need, or the more expensive things in the store.

5. Buy generic brands. Maybe you don't agree, but I find the generic brands on many things tastes the same.To me milk is milk, and if I can save money on the store brand, I will. Also sometimes the store brand tastes better than the commercial brand. An example is my sister was visiting recently and loved the french fries I made. She asked what kind they were because she hasn't been able to find a kind she likes, I said Market Basket! (Big plug for Market Basket -lol)

Those are just a few tips I thought of while shopping the other day. Do you have any tips to save money grocery shopping? Let me know, I'd love to get some more ideas!

Freeze Your Bananas

One thing I recently learned was you can freeze bananas. If you have bananas that are ripe, and you don't have time to use them right away, you can freeze them. There has been times when I have had bananas that get to ripe for eating, but you just don't have the time to make banana bread or something else with them. So you end up throwing the bananas away.

But now I found out that you can freeze the bananas, so you can use them later on when you have the time and energy, to make something. You can freeze them in different ways. One is to peel the banana, mash it up and freeze in a freezer bag. Another way is to peel the banana and just freeze it whole in the freezer bag. Or you can even just throw the whole banana, peel and all, right in the freezer, as is.

Then some time down the road when you feel up to making something, you can just grab your frozen bananas and add them to your ingredients. Its a win win situation. Because many times I have had to throw out the bananas, and many times when I am making banana bread I have wished I had a nice ripe banana to add to it! So freeze your bananas!

Let's Make Easter Eggs

Every year my kids like to decorate Easter eggs, especially my daughter. I buy the eggs and supplies you need to make them. And my husband boils the eggs, because I am no good at doing that part! And the kids do the decorating.

One thing you should remember when making the eggs, is to add some vinegar then the dye, it makes the colors come out brighter. Another thing I learned from doing them last year was to buy these plastic containers for the dying - see picture above. Because last year I ended up having to throw away some of my bowls, because the dye wouldn't come out!

It's a great activity to do with the kids, and a great tradition to do every Easter. I guess we'll be eating hard boiled eggs, deviled eggs, or egg salad for a while. Hope every one has a Happy Easter!

Get More Use Out of Your Kitchen Sponge

When your kitchen sponge starts to get old and a little grungy, don't throw them out right away! You can get a lot more use out of it if you do one of two things.

One way to clean a kitchen sponge is to wash it in the dishwasher. Just place the sponge in the top rack of your dishwasher, before you do a load of dishes. Wash sponge in a regular cycle with the dishes, and when you take it out the sponge is clean again, and almost like new.

Another way to clean your sponge is to heat in the microwave. I've been using this method myself for a little while. Just place the sponge on a microwave safe plate, put in microwave for about 30 seconds. Keep an eye on it while your doing it, just to make sure your not heating it to long, and everything is ok. But after about only 30 seconds in the microwave, the sponge is like new again, and heating it kills some of the germs that might be on it. Heating it in the microwave is also great for getting out any odors on the sponge.

Try one of these methods and you can get a little more use out of your kitchen sponge!

The Spaghetti Stain Versus the Plastic Container

A great tip I heard the other day has to do with "Pam" (or any other cooking spray) and plastic ware.

You know how, when you put spaghetti, or anything with sauce in it, into a plastic container and then the sauce stains it? It's virtually impossible to get the stain out. So you end up having to throw out the plastic container.

Well a way to avoid that is to spray some "Pam", or other cooking spray, in the plastic before you put the food in it. This will prevent the stain from adhering to the plastic, and save you time from trying to scrub out the stain, and save you money too, because you won't have to throw out all those containers and buy new ones.

I tried this last time I had spaghetti, and it really works!

Buying Kids Clothes on eBay

You always hear about people selling on eBay, but you don't hear much about buying on eBay. I tried to sell a few things, I had some luck, but to me it seemed like a lot of effort without much profit.

But I have had some luck on buying on eBay. One thing I have bought is clothes for my kids. After doing a little research, I have gotten some really good deals.

I go to the clothing category, click say girls clothes. One piece of advice is go 1 to 2 sizes above their size. The clothes seem to run a little small. Then if I'm looking for say sweaters, I check that and I sort by Price + Shipping lowest first. Then I like to look for more then one piece of clothing sold together.

If you see something you like place a bid on it, enter a maximum bid, but don't go to high. One of the things you have to watch out for is getting in a "bidding war" with someone. You'll end up paying more then you intended. I learned sometimes you have to let some of the items go, if it goes higher then you had wanted. Also make sure you check the sellers feedback.

But for example my daughter takes dance classes, and I won 5 dance outfits for only 1 dollar. I also got about 5 pairs of pajamas for my son for 99 cents. Even with shipping charges they were both deals. Another note is I've bought mostly "used" clothes (that's how you can get such great deals), but all have been in good to practically like new condition.

So if you want to save money on kids clothes, check out eBay for some great deals!

(*above is picture of 2 sweaters I won for my daughter for only $1.79)

Grocery Shopping

Grant - Eco-friendly Reusable Grocery Bag by JP Monkey - _MG_9712.catalog, originally uploaded by sean dreilinger.

One way to save money is to only go grocery shopping once a week. This is something I just recently incorporated myself.

I remember seeing on Oprah not to long ago, a show where they put some families on a budget. One of the things they did was to bring them to the grocery store and have them buy enough groceries for at least a week. The point was the less you go, the less you will spend.

Seems obvious right? But until recently I was to lazy to think to far ahead when I went to the store. I was going up to 3 times a week. But now I plan out a week of groceries and I am saving money! I figure I'm saving between 50 to 60 dollars a week now.

One of the reasons is I'm not buying as much snacks and junk food. Instead of running out every other day, because my daughter ran out of cookies, she can have whatever else is left in the cabinets. For example my kids like oatmeal, when there's no cookies or other junk left, they'll eat oatmeal for a snack. Which is also better for them anyway!

Washing Your Shower Curtain Liner

A great tip I read recently in Martha Stewart Living Magazine was to wash your shower curtain liner in the washing machine.



You know how your shower curtain liner gets all grungy and mildew on it after awhile? Well don't throw them away! Put the liner in washing machine, add some detergent, a little bleach and wash in hot water. Don't put in dryer. Just hang back up, and it's as good as new.



It should be able to withstand a few washings. I tried it and it really works! I know shower curtain liners don't cost that much to begin with but why not get a few more uses out of it?

How to save money on pet products

Here is a picture of my cat. Her name is Buttercup. She'll be 5 years old next month.




As you can see, she's pretty lazy. Especially in the winter. So far it's been a pretty cold and snowy winter here in New Hampshire. She has barely been out of the house in the past couple of months.


Here's the first picture I took of her the other day.





She was running away from me! I just wanted to take a couple of pictures of her, and at first she was running around crazy. Every time I tried to get a picture she took off like a shot. She probably thought I wanted to give her some kind of medication or something. She's weary of me because usually I do have to give her medication.

This past summer she had a terrible case of fleas! Let's just say I was not a happy camper. A few times I bought flea medication from either the pet store, or from a website that was kind of expensive. Until it dawned on me that I should check on Ebay for it. At first I purchased Front Line Plus. Which I personally don't think worked to great. Because she still had fleas (but at least I got it for a good price, about half off of what I paid through another website). Then I tried Advantage, which I think might of finally gotten rid of the fleas. And I paid only about $26.00 for it on Ebay, for a 6 month supply. So check out Ebay if your looking for flea medication for cats or dogs.

She also had ear mites recently. I got medication really cheap for that at Target. So my money saving tip for today, especially with spring around the corner, ( I hope spring is around the corner!) look around to get the best price on Pet medication. The pet stores aren't always the cheapest places to get them.




This year I'm going to hopefully prevent her from getting any fleas! Now I have to clip her claws. Heeere Kiiiitty Kiiiity!