In the Kitchen:

1. Make a paste with water to clean up your sink that isn’t very abrasive.
2. Stick a box in your fridge to keep the smell gone.
3. Mix 3 tsp with hot water to soak and remove tea and coffee stains from thermos’ and tea cups.
4. Use it on your counters to get rid of Kool-Aid stains off.
5. Rinse your fruits and veggies with baking sod. Make sure you rinse well.
6. Did you know it will tenderize meats?
7. If you like fish but hate the smell, soak your fish in water and baking soda for an hour in the fridge.
8. A pinch of baking soda added to tomato recipes can help cut down the acid in the recipe.
9. When you make baked beans, add a pinch of baking soda to the beans to help rid them of their gas producing ability.
10. 1/2 tsp of baking soda added to 3 eggs makes a light and fluffy omelet.
11. Baking soda is just as good as lemon juice for getting rid of foul smells on your hands.
12. I boil my baby bottles with baking soda to get them clean.
13. Just as with your laundry detergent, adding baking soda to your dishwashing detergent is a great idea.
14. Boil a little water and baking soda to get burned on food off your pots and pans.
15. Use it to clean your oven as well.
16. Make your own baking powder.
17. Keep an extra box near your stove in case of a fire.
18. Pour 1 cup of baking soda down your drain and chase it with 1c hot vinegar. 5 minutes later, chase it with 1 quart boiling water.
19. For the naturalist in you, when you are taking the feathers off the chicken, add 1 tsp baking soda to the boiling water.
20. Remove melted plastic bread wrappers from the toaster by using baking soda as a mild abrasive.
21. Use it as a mild abrasive to clean those stubborn stains in your Tupperware.

In the Bathroom:

1. Clear out slow drains.
2. Baking soda and water rubbed on rough elbows, heels, etc will help smooth and soften. Follow up with your favorite moisturizer.
3. 1/4 c baking soda and 2 cups warm water will work just as good as a clarifying shampoo.
4. Use it as a tooth whitener.
5. Put a box in the worst of the bathrooms (you know, the ones that the boys get hold of) to get rid of odors.
6. Mix 1 part baking soda with 2 parts oatmeal as a facial scrub.
7. Soak in the bath with baking soda will heal anything form poison ivy, sumac, sunburns, etc…
8. Soak your hairbrushes with warm water and baking soda to get the oil off of them.

In the Laundry Room:

1. Stretch your laundry detergent further.
2. Get the smell out of your clothes.
3. Soak cloth diapers with baking soda to get the smell and anything else that is there out.
4. Soak oil or grease stains with baking soda and water before washing the clothes.
5. You can also use it as a fabric softener in the rinse cycle if you use cold water.

General Cleaning:

1. Use it with water to polish your silver.
2. Mix it with Borax to make a great scouring powder.
3. Put it on a wet sponge to clean crayon off a chalk board.
4. Sprinkle it on your carpet or cloth covered furniture before you go to bed and them vacuum in the morning. Be careful not to let your kids crawl around before you vacuum.
5. If you have pets, sprinkle baking soda where they lay and let it set for 30 minutes. Vacuum it back up.
6. A bonus to vacuuming up baking soda is that it will help you keep your vacuum smelling better.
7. Use it for general cleaning by adding 4 tbs to 1 q of water in a spray bottle. Shake well and wipe clean.
8. Mix it with salt as a great soap scum cleaner.
9. Freshen up stuffed animals by rubbing them with Baking soda and then let them sit for a while. Shake them off and you are good to go!
10. Mix it with a little water as a great chrome cleaner.
11. Wash your garbage cans with baking soda.
12. Clean grease off the garage floor.
13. To maintain good drains, pour 4 tbs baking soda down each drain each week and chase it with hot water.
14. Soak your shower curtains with a baking soda/water solution to keep mildew away.
15. Take a soft brush and baking soda to canvas bags to clean them.
16. Take those stubborn black streaks off your RV or car with a little baking soda and a damp cloth.
17. Baking soda works well to clean your fish tank.  Just make sure you rinse it really well.

General Household:

1. Fill a pair of old socks with baking soda and place it in odorous shoes or your kid’s closet.
2. Put a sock in your car for when your sweaty football players come home.
3. Wipe water stains off your wooden furniture with baking soda and toothpaste.
4. I put baking soda in my diaper pail to help with odors.
5. Karen puts baking soda in the bottom of her litter box.
6. Clean corroded battery terminals with baking soda and water.
7. Put out small fires out by smothering it with baking soda.
8. Fill in nail holes in drywall with toothpaste and baking soda. Let it dry completely.
9. Mix slat and baking soda equally and sprinkle it where you see ants coming in to keep them from liking your home.
10. Need to determine if your soil is acidic for planting? Mix 1.4 c baking soda and 2 c water. Place 1 c soil. If the mixture foams, your soil is acidic.
11. Play Clay recipe: 1 1/4c water, 2 c baking soda, 1 c cornstarch.
12. Repel water from your windshield by heavily coating a damp cloth and wipe the windows inside and out.
13. Clean your jewelry with a baking soda paste and toothbrush. Silver does best but gold will work well too. Be careful with the gems themselves as some are soft and a toothbrush will scratch it.

General Health Ideas:

1. Mix baking soda and a glass of water for an antacid.
2. Gargle baking soda water to help with ulcers.
3. Put it on insect bites to take the sting out.
4. Use 1/2 tsp in a half glass of water as a mouthwash.
5. Make a thick paste of baking soda and water to take care of zits.
6. Remove splinters by putting moistened baking soda on the band-aid over night.  The splinter should be easily removed in the morning.
7. A thick baking soda/water paste poured on a burn and wrapped in gauze will help the healing process and prevent scarring.

Hope you liked the list.  I have learned a lot.  I’m sure there was a surprise or two in there for you too.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Eliza, the new writer for Babylune, gives us 50 Things I Wish I Knew About Breastfeeding.  Some people can tell you what breastfeeding is like.  You can read books and educate yourself as much as possible, but there are still some things that you don’t know until you go through it yourself.

Maricar at Keeping the Castle has 50 Springtime Recipes.  I’m always looking for a new recipe to try and Maricar has given us a nice selection.

At Thrifty Mommy, we get a thrill out of saving money.  To help you do the same, we have 50 Helpful Thrifty Mommy Articles, 50+ Ways to Keep Us From Wasting Food, and 50 Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill.

Marcie at A Child Chosen gives a list of 50 adoption blogs.  Some are written by first time parents, those dealing with infertility, and others are written by parents who have experienced international and domestic adoption.  There is a such a wide variety in the list.

If you’re like me, you have a major weakness for chocolate.  I’m pleased to say that Chocolate Delights shares 50 easy chocolate snacks to make and 50 things you can do with chocolate.  Click on over to decide what your next treat will be.

This one’s for all you pet lovers.  The Food Bowl gives us 50 pink pets for breast cancer awareness and 50 ways to keep your pet warm.

Kerri from Marriage Actually has 50 encouraging bits.  These are words, phrases, or activities to share with your spouse or those you love.  I’m sure all of our relationships would be better if we took a few minutes this week to use some of these.

Noreen at Hankering for Yarn is an accomplished fiber artist and designer.  Noreen has a list of 50 books, leaflets, and magazines in which her work has been published.

Deb at Simply Thrifty also loves to save money.  I like to drop by often.  I think it’s great that Kelly, Deb, and I can all write about saving money, but have different perspectives and ideas. Deb’s lists are 50 things you can make from scratch and 50 things to do with ramen noodles.

Chloe at Tangled Thread tells us 50 reasons she likes to make things.  Some of these include ways to save money, reasons to make your own clothes, or just for the fun of sewing.

Do you have a list of 50 things on your website?  If so, feel free to leave your family-friendly link below.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I decided to surf around the archives and pull together some of our helpful articles.  Most of these articles are relevant to men and women, whether or not you’re married with children. 

I hope you will enjoy these articles.  Let us know which ones are your favorite or if there are some other Thrifty Mommy articles that should have been included.

Happy browsing! 

Housekeeping

25 Ways to Clean with Vinegar

4 Thrifty Stain Removers

More Help with Common Stains

10 Tips for Saving Money While Doing Laundry

Quick Cleaning Tips

10 Organizing and Decluttering Tips

A Frugal and Time Saving Dishwasher Detergent

25 Tips for Freezing Food

Recipes

Easy Cubed Steak

Tomato Casserole Recipe

My Favorite Slow Cook Recipes

Easy Scalloped Potatoes

You will need to click on “Read More” to see the rest of this article.

Mexican Casserole Recipe

Low Fat Strawberry Crunch Recipe

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Frito Pie

Automotive

10 Ways to Save Gas

How to Never Have a Car Loan

Get Educated and Save on Car Repairs

10 Ways to Reduce Your Car Insurance Rates

Is a Hybrid Worth the Money?

Shopping and Saving Money

50 Ways to Save Money on Your Grocery Bill

How to Play The Grocery Game

10 Tips for Using Coupons

Top 10 Best Frugal Tips

10 Ways to Save Money When Eating Out

How to Reduce Your Winter Heating Bill

75 Ways to Save Money

Use Your Dishwasher

Save Money by using Rechargeable Batteries

25 Ways to Reduce Your Water Bill

Utilizing Craft Store Coupons

Finances and Debt

Protect Your Money with Direct Deposit

Deciding Which Financial Records to Keep

How to Pay Cash for College

20 Ways to Pay Off Debt Faster

6 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom

30 Tips to Get Out of Debt

Children

10 Ways to Keep the Kids Busy While You’re Working

25 Ways to Save Money with a Baby

How to Buy Diapers on a Budget

Springtime Craft Idea

The Diaper Champ Wins My Vote

Health

Thrifty Remedy for Sinus Infections

Top 10 Thrifty Tips for Dealing with Eczema

10 Ways to Exercise for Free

10 Thrifty Sunburn Remedies

Other

10 Uses for Grocery Bags

10 Thrifty Ways to Honor Teachers

10 Thrifty Ways to Deal with Mosquitoes

Added later:  I cannot believe that I forgot to add 50+ Ideas to Keep Us from Wasting Food.  Sorry.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

 1.  Use over ripe bananas to make banana bread. 

 2.  Use apples, peaches, etc to make a pie or cobbler.  Umhmmm!

 3.  Leftover grilled chicken tastes great on top of a salad!

 4.  Have excess bread?  Make stuffing or croutons.

 5.  Use your excess hamburger to make a sloppy joe sandwich.

 6.  Save your beef or chicken broth and freeze it.  Use it later for soups. 

 7.  Save those last few pieces of bacon from breakfast and add them on a baked potato tonight.

 8.  Have left over rotisserie chicken?  Use it to make Rachael Ray’s chicken taco soup.

 9.  If you boiled too much chicken, use it to make chicken salad.

10.  Use leftover sausage in a breakfast casserole.

11.  Freeze it.  There are lots of foods that you can freeze.  Some of my favorites are lasagna, spaghetti sauce, chicken, and soups.

12.  Make baby food. 

13.  Dehydrate your fruits for a tasty snack.

14.  Have some meat that you absolutely have to use now?  Make beef jerky.

15.  Feed the birds.  Each day, I throw something out for the neighbor’s (illegal) chicken.  I’ve given him corn on the cob, bread, tortilla chips, etc.  The chicken is very appreciative.   

16.  Freeze your bread scraps until you have enough to take your child to feed the ducks at a pond.

17.  Use leftover chicken or beef to make quesadillas.

18.  Use extra tomatoes to make tomato sandwiches or BLTs.

19.  Freeze casseroles into lunch size portions.  This will keep you from going out to eat while working.

20.  Need to find a use for your extra tortilla chips?  Use them to make chilaquiles.

21.  If you have extra herbs from your garden, then dehydrate them to use during the off season.

22.  Sprinkle leftover coffee and tea grounds on your plants.  Most Starbucks shops even provide free bags for their customers.

23.  Use it to make compost or a worm bed.

24.  Use vegetables in a casserole or soup.

25.  Organize leftovers.  If leftovers are shoved here and there in your refrigerator, then you’ll forget about them or find them when they’re no good.  This past week I have eaten leftover salad, pizza, chicken taco salad, pork chops, and more.  I planned my lunches so that I had very little waste.

26.  Use your leftover fried chicken, pork chops, or steak to put on a biscuit. I used my leftover pork chops today for a biscuit.  Yummy!

27.  Use leftover diced potatoes, steak, etc to make breakfast burritos. 

28.  Cut up extra onions and bell peppers and put them in your freezer.  They won’t be as firm as fresh ones, but they’re still great in spaghetti, casseroles, and fajitas.

29.  Have leftover turkey during the holidays?  Who doesn’t?  Check out 20 Things to Do with Leftover Turkey.

30.  Those with a bountiful garden can tell you the benefits of canning vegetables.

31.  This may seem like a no brainer, but only cook what you need.

32.  Share with a friend!  It is a shame to waste food.  If you can’t find a use for it, or if you just want to help someone out, then pass your food along. My neighbor likes it when I have too much potato salad or pinto beans. 

33.  Use excess onions to make french onion soup.  Oh, I’m getting hungry now!

34.  Chop up your leftover roast, mix in some barbeque sauce, and have barbeque beef sandwiches.

35.  Vacu-Seal your food to keep it extend its shelf life.

36.  Throw your extra fruit into the blender to make a smoothie. 

37.  Use your leftover pinto beans to make refried beans.

38.  Make potato soup.

39.  Put your extra meat and veggies on a homemade pizza.

40. Top your cereal, oatmeal, or yogurt with sliced strawberries or bananas.

41.  If you have oatmeal that going out of date, use it to make oatmeal cookies or no bake cookies.

42. Freeze your milk before it spoils.  Some people say they can tell if milk has been frozen, so rather than drinking it, use it in casseroles or mashed potatoes.

43.  If you have cream cheese that’s getting ready to go out of date, make a cheesecake or stuffed jalapenos.  (I’ll be posting a recipe for stuffed jalapenos next week.)

44. Use milk, fruit, chocolate, peanut butter, etc to make homemade ice cream.

45.  Save your vegetable water for your plants.

46.  Boil your turkey or chicken carcas until it’s really tender and the meat falls off.  Use the meat and broth to make soup.

47.  Boil your noodles in your leftover chicken or beef broth.  It gives them a great flavor. 

48.  Make fruit preserves.

49.  If you have sour cream that is about to expire, you can mix it with some french onion soup mix and make dip.

50.  Use your corn muffin mix before it expires to make this delicious corn casserole.

51.  Freeze leftover wine into ice cube trays.  Use it later for casseroles or cooking.

52.  Make horchata with your rice.  Would you believe that Mexican restaurants charge $1.50-$2 for this drink? 

53.  If you have some eggs you need to use, then try making crepes.  They’re really easy to make and are good too.

54.  If you have fresh spinach that’s about to go bad, wilt it in a pan with butter and use it to put inside your crepe.  My husband made these last night and they were yummy!

Other helpful articles:
25 Tips for Freezing Food
What kinds of foods can you freeze?

Well, that’s only about 50 ways to keep from wasting food.  I know there are hundreds more.  What are your favorite ways?

Post from: Thrifty Mommy