• banana bread or muffins
• sliced on top of oatmeal or cereal
• banana sandwich – banana and peanut butter or banana and mayonnaise (I like Miracle Whip.)
• inside waffles or pancakes
• smoothie
• ice cream topping
• banana split
• banana pudding
• banana souffle
• dehydrated into chips
• banana cream pie
• banana ice cream

What ways to you use bananas?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

For the kids:

• Thankful tree
• Thanksgiving coloring pages
• Thanksgiving place mat
• Planning Thanksgiving for the Kids
• Thanksgiving turkey banner craft
• Thanksgiving Children’s Activities
• Thanksgiving Party Games and Activities for Kids
• Thanksgiving word scramble
• Fall and Thanksgiving songs
• Thanksgiving place mat Craft for Kids
• Thankful pumpkins
• Rustic vests
• Pumpkin song
• Thanksgiving baby bibs

Decorating and Entertaining:

• Thanksgiving scripture place cards
• Pumpkin Serving Dishes
• Tips for Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner
• 5 Ways to Save Money on Entertaining
• Easy Gourd and Candle Fall Centerpieces
• Fall Party Centerpiece Ideas with Gourds
• Apple Decorating Ideas for Fall Parties

Recipes and Food Ideas:

• Thanksgiving brunch ideas
• A Dairy Free Thanksgiving: Pumpkin Bisque
• Healthy Thanksgiving Recipes from Cooking Light
• 35 Holiday Recipes
• Pumpkin Cheesecake (with photos)
• Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes
• Sweet Potato Casserole
• Apple Cake Recipe
• Mini Pecan Pumpkin Pies
• 6 Ways to Cook Your Thanksgiving Turkey
• Thanksgiving Turkey: Easy Prep, Easy Serve
• Thanksgiving Recipes Cookbook Download

Other:

• How to Save Money on Thanksgiving Dinner
• Avoid Food-Related Illness on Thanksgiving

Which ideas do you think you’ll try?

image (c) Linette Gerlach

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Although I have been eating tuna since I was a small child, I was excited to try some of the Bumble Bee products.  Bumble Bee has an assortment of inexpensive and nutritious lunch ideas that I want to share with you.

One of my new favorite tunas is the lemon pepper tuna. Bumble Bee now has three flavored tunas – Lemon Pepper, Sundried Tomato, and Spicy Thai Chili.  For less than $1.50, you can get a small can of flavored tuna with crackers.  This is a great inexpensive and healthy lunch idea. Bumble Bee offers the new flavored tunas in larger cans with no crackers.

For those that prefer their chicken and tuna with mayonnaise, Bumble Bee has premade chicken and tuna salad lunch packs. There is also a fat free tuna salad.   

Bumble Bee has a sustainability intiative.  They support global policies and management initiatives that ensure long-term sustainability of these resources. 

By becoming a Bumble Bee facebook fan, you can print a coupon good for $1 off three specialty items such as crab, shrimp, oysters, and sardines.

What inexpensive lunch ideas can you share?

images (c) Karen Weideman

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Prepare the foods yourself.  Don’t go out to the ham store and order a precooked ham or turkey.  I’ve heard of some people paying $30-40 for a precooked ham.  Yikes!

Shop the pre-Thanksgiving sales.  Some stores offer tremendous weekly specials to lure you in.  Look for buy 1 get 1 free specials on vegetables, potatoes, stuffing, and frozen pies.  When the turkey and sweet potatoes hit rock bottom prices, go ahead and buy those too.  Make sure you freeze the turkey and follow these safety tips to avoid food-related illness.

Ask others to contribute. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner by yourself is a big undertaking and it’s costly too.  Most people will ask what they can bring.  I recommend suggesting something easy like a pie and green bean casserole.  If you can’t think of anything at the moment, tell them you’ll get back to them in a few days.  If the person doesn’t offer to bring anything, you can say, “Is there a special dish you like that you’d like to bring?”. 

Borrow or use natural decorations.  Avoid spending money or new decorations.  See if someone has something you can borrow.  If not, go outside and gather pretty fall colored leaves, pinecones, acorns, etc.  If you’re looking to save money on new decorations, try stores like Michael’s and A.C. Moore.  Many of them offer 50% off sales before the holiday.  Sometimes The Dollar Tree has some good finds.

You might also want to read Tips for Hosting Thanksgiving Dinner.

What ways can you save on Thanksgiving dinner?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1)  Grow your own.  Growing your own can help to drastically cut your food bill.  As an added bonus, you get to control the use of fertilizers and pesticides. 

2)  Can and freeze for the winter months.  Many people plan a large garden so that they will have enough to can and freeze for future months.  These come in handy for soups, casseroles and crock pot meals.

3)  Buy in-season produce.  I am more likely to buy cucumbers, tomatoes, and other produce when they’re at seasonal low prices.  When tomatoes are $.99/lb I’ll plan to make pico de gallo, tomato casserole, and other dishes that use tomatoes.  When they’re $3.99, I find something else to make that’s less expensive.

4)  Buy locally.  Last week I was thrilled when I stopped at the farmer’s market and found squash and zucchini for $.19/lb and sweet potatoes for $.29/lb.  I walked out with two large bags of produce for only $2.97.

5)  Properly store the vegetables.  Some vegetables like to be stored in air tight containers.  Storing vegetables the proper ways lengthens their lifespan. 

You might also like 10 ways to eat more fruits and vegetables.

What ways do you save money on vegetables?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

1)  Shop at day old bread stores and close out stores. Sometimes you can find great deals at Merita stores, Big Lots, and Dollar Tree has even had some Nature’s Own bread.

2)  Look for coupons.  Just last week I was at Food Lion and found a great coupon.  It was to get a free bag of Sara Lee bagels with the purchase of a loaf of bread.  The bread was only $1.99 and the bagels were $3.69.  I got two free bags of bagels. 

3)  Look for promotional offers.  Sometimes Sara Lee and Ball Park will offer a promotion in which you get free hotdog buns with the purchase of the hotdogs.  If the hotdogs are buy 1 get 1 free or if you have a coupon, you can really get a deal.

4)  Use your reward points.  Stores such as Lowe’s Foods offer points to their customers for each dollar they spend.  You can use your points to get free bread.

5)  Make your own.  Some specialty breads can be really expensive, but making your own can save quite a bit of money.

6)  Don’t let it go to waste.  If you have some bread that’s going to waste, try to find a use for it.  I’m thinking french toast, cinnamon toast, cheese toast, grilled cheese sandwiches, peanut butter toast, croutons.  There’s a lot of different items that can be made with bread.

7)  Look for buy 1 get 1 free sales.  Sometimes it’s easy to grab the same bread each time.  If you’re not name brand loyal, you can save 50% on your bread.  I have seen several buy 1 get 1 free offers lately.  It also provides a good opportunity to try something different.

How do you save on your bread purchases?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Rite Aid Deals for October 4-10 at Money Saving Mom

Rite Aid Deals for this week at Deal Seeking Mom

Food Lion Deals for September 30-October 6 at Thrifty Mommy

Target Deals for October 4-10 at iMommies

Dollar General Deals for September 30-October 11 at Bargain Briana

The CVS Weekly for October 4-10 at iMommies

CVS Deals for October 4-10 at Money Saving Mom

The Walgreens Weekly for October 4-10 at iMommies

Walgreens Deals for this week at Deal Seeking Mom

Free Snuggle Dryer Sheets from Family Dollar at Deal Seeking Mom

Meijer Deals at Bargain Briana

Hasbro and Playskool coupons at Saving Everyday

Also, I’ll take a brief moment to mention that I have a great giveaway going on for a $50 basket of school supplies. 

Which stores do you like best for bargain shopping?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Three days sale items:

Edy’s ice cream (reg $5.39) $1.99, limit 4
Scott or Cottonelle 12 roll bath tissue (reg $9.79-$9.99) $4.99, limit 4
Gain laundry detergent, 100 oz liquid or powder (reg $13.29) $7.99, limit 2
Bounty paper towels, 8=12 giant rolls (reg $14.59) $7.99, limit 2
Kraft shredded or chunk cheese, 8 oz (reg $2.79) bogo, limit 2 free
–These were supposed to be 2/$2.79 but they were ringing up 2/$2 at my Food Lion because they are also on sale for $2 the rest of the week.

Other sales until Tuesday:

boneless chicken breast fillets or tender $1.79/lb
10 lb bag Russet potatoes $1.99
Smithfield smoked bacon bogo, limit 2 free
General Mills cereal, select ones bogo, limit 2 free
50% off Smithfield center cut ham slices
Alpo prime cuts bogo, limit 2 free
Porterhouse or t-bone steaks $4.98/lb
boneless shoulder steak or roast $2.99/lb
Pillsbury Halloween ckae mix $.99
Pillsbury Halloween frosting $1.29
Barilla pasta 5/$5
Clorox bleach $1.75
Progresso soups 3/$4
Betty Crocker cake mix 10/$10
Campbell’s chicken noodle or tomato soup $.59
Keebler Chips Deluxe cookes bogo, limit 2 free
3 lb bag yellow onions $1.99
Food Lion chicken breasts or tenders, individually quick frozen, bogo limit 2 free
whole pork tenderloin $2.99/lb
Perdue Perfect Portions boneless chicken breasts $5.99
Contessa meals, bogo, limit 2 free
Freschetta pizza, $3.99 (There should be a $1 coupon at coupons.com.)
Gorton’s value pack fish, bogo, limit 2 free
Ore-Ida fries and potatoes 4/$10
Jif peanut butter 18 oz, 2/$4
Food Lion jumbo biscuits 5/$5
Thomas English muffins bogo, limit 2 free

Other:  My local Food Lion also had Luck’s beans for $.59/can and Food Lion beans 2/$.89. Now would be a good time to stock up on canned beans for the winter months.  Red Baron pizza was $3.99 and I had a $1 coupon.  I did not see these sales advertised in their paper. Also, if an item is 2/$4 you do not have to buy 2 of the item to get the sale price.  As always, you can combine a coupon with the sale for more savings.  Check your local store or online ad for specials in your area.

Do you shop at Food Lion?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Little did I realize that I had become patterned in my buying again and was no longer conscientious of egg prices.  Finally, this week when the price of large eggs went up once again, I looked around the shelves.  To my surprise, I noticed that extra large eggs were only four cents more!

I am a person that is constantly comparing prices so I was surprised that I had unawarely become a shopper of habit.  If this can happen to me, it can happen to you too.  How many times do we buy something out of habit without even realizing the cost?

My challenge to you this week is to get out of your shopping rut. Look around on the shelves before you buy.  Make sure you’re getting the best deals.

Are you a shopper of habit?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

While many items are still good for a while past their best by date, it’s important to get fresh products so that they’ll last longer and taste better.  If you like to stockpile groceries while they’re at rock bottom prices (or buy ahead), it’s especially important that you pay attention to the dates.  It doesn’t really help to save money if the products you buy go out of date before you can use them.

One way to get the best date is to look around on the shelves.  If you find an item that’s soon to expire, move the items around and look towards the back of the shelf.  Stores put the newer items at the back so that they can sell the older items first.

Honestly, there are some products that I don’t check the dates on.  These items are usually things with a long shelf life such as cereal, cookies, and canned goods. 

Items you should definitely check the dates on are:

• mayonnaise/Miracle Whip
• salad dressing
• cheese
• coffee creamers
• coffee
• premade foods
• medicines
• meat
• dairy products

Do you check the dates on the food while in the stores?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy