Farmers Markets can be an effective way to cut your food costs, and as a bonus it’s free entertainment for kids. My son loves the Farmers Market – there are usually lots of other kids, sometimes free music, and a wide array of cool stuff to see.

When you go make sure you maximize your savings by doing the following…

Choose one market you love and stick to it. This saves you cash in a couple of ways. One, you better know what to expect which can help you plan what you’ll be spending money on, and two regulars tend to forge …read more

I blog about ice pops a lot because I heart their greenness and value. Then I recently realized we’re mid-way into summer and I’ve yet to utter a single word about them here at Thrifty Mommy. Bad me!
Our fave ice pop molds!
Why ice pops are essential for thrifty families:
You get to use up all the leftovers: I’ll freeze darn near anything – chocolate milk, old smashed berries, carrots that will go bed soon, older yogurt, bottom of the jar blackberry jam with water, and more. Seriously, if it can be blended in the blender, I’ll do it and freeze …read more

There was an article in my local paper, The Cecil Whig, today that discussed Freezer Soup. This woman’s frugal grandma would freeze her leftovers, even if it was just a tablespoon of leftover green beans, throughout the week and then would toss everything into a pot on Friday to make a big pot of soup for dinner. I remember a lot of casseroles and soups to use up a single ham bone growing up, but I don’t remember Freezer Soup.
I guess you’d have to plan your menu pretty carefully during the week to avoid a gross Friday meal…Let’s …read more

As winter approaches, our gardens are producing a last burst of fruit and veggies. I’ve got raspberries and tomatoes coming out my ears, tons of annual herbs that need to be dried and the last of the potatoes and carrots getting enormous in the ground. I’m tired of canning, but I can’t waste these last delicious, organic foods. So, what to do?
I stayed up til midnight last night and hopefully solved most of my produce dilemma. I built a solar dehydrator using cardboard boxes, plastic wrap and other stuff around the house. If it works, I’ll tell you all about …read more

We always seem to have bits and pieces of produce left over. Since we hate to be wasteful, we’ve started making don’t waste it smoothies. The grossest combinations can taste good, as long as one type of produce doesn’t overpower the rest. Today, we had grapes, a peach, a nectarine, a small tomato, a carrot, applesauce, blueberries and about 1/4 cup of iced tea that were starting to go to waste. I also added a few pieces of spinach and two ice cubes. We blended it up, added low fat whipped cream and enjoyed getting a serving of fruit and …read more

The last time I bought maple syrup was in 2000, or so. It’s been a REALLY long time. Back when I got into being extra thrifty, over my already thrifty self, I looked up a bunch of homemade alternatives to store bought items. Most of the time homemade items do end up costing less than prepackaged store bought.
I found countless recipes for maple syrup – some complicated, some more expensive than they should be, some good, and some pretty darn wacky. I eventually settled on a favorite thrifty recipe. It’s from a book called Miserly Moms – a book most …read more

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good cup of Pike Place Roast in the morning, as much as the next gal. However, the economy is crappy, gas is pricey and stops for gourmet coffee are not an option. Does that mean that you cannot have your gourmet coffee, at all? Nope! You can have all of the gourmet, right in the comfort of your own home, while saving money.
Buy whole coffee beans. You get more for your money and the taste is a world of difference, compared to already ground coffee. Buy a cheap grinder, if you do not own one. It will …read more

The basic ice cube tray:
Seriously, it’s like you can’t have too many. Ice cube trays are inexpensive and you can use them for everything. I have some normal sized trays and some of those mini ice cube trays as well.
 

What can you do with an ice cube tray?

Make ice – sooooo obvious, but true, and cheaper than store bought ice.
Freeze berries in non-stick single layers before transferring to bowl for storage – use the mini trays for this.
Mix paint; especially good for kids to mix water colors. If you have a little one who is not into paint yet, you …read more

One of my favorite cuts of beef is the boneless chuck roast. It is relatively inexpensive, easy to make and is so versatile! I stick the roast in a crock pot with some garlic, salt and pepper. I put it on the lowest setting before I head to bed and cook the roast overnight. The next morning, I have a tender, juicy roast. The only other prep work, is shredding the beef. Here are some of my favorite ways to use this yummy main ingredient:

Roast beef hoagies: Saute red bell pepper, onion and then mix in with the beef. Line …read more

I’m forever talking about homemade ice pops. Mainly I got interested in homemade pops to cut down on garbage. I hate tossing all that plastic away. That said, I had a problem with homemade ice pops for the last few years – I didn’t have the best molds. I had those kinds that are attached to each other. You know, the type of molds where you have to take them all out of the freezer.
Luckily I did some research and found some single serve ice pop options a while back.
I ordered three sets of Tovolo molds – you can read …read more