Go homemade: It costs less to cook from scratch AND you get the added benefit of less food wasted. Whenever anyone I know buys one of those precooked holiday meals there’s a ton leftovers because those precooked meals just don’t taste that great. Why buy food if you’re going to toss it? It is more time consuming to cook homemade, but if you gather everyone together to help it makes it faster (and more fun).

Buy frozen holiday food: Normally I say go fresh and organic, however with the sheer bulk of holiday food that most families buy, frozen foods are almost just as healthy and costs less. Go fresh with your salad fixings but buy side veggies like broccoli and corn frozen. Fresh fruit is expensive this time of year, so look for frozen strawberries, raspberries, and other fruits in frozen form for tarts, cookies, pies, and sauces. Most frozen fruits and veggies are available in organic too.

Think cans: On the same note as the above canned fruits for pies can save you cash. I never suggest canned veggies because I think they taste terrible PLUS unless you want a side of BPA for the holidays it’s safer to skip the canned veggies.

Know when to go cheap and when to splurge: You should splurge on an organic turkey and fresh veggies for a raw veggie tray, but empty calorie foods like chips, soda, and so on taste pretty much the same if you buy name brand or store brand. Going cheap on the less meaningful food saves you cash to splurge on nicer foods – i.e. fruit and cheese.

Stretch and compost leftovers: If you bought too much food, the best thing is to make yummy leftovers with it. We have some great holiday leftover ideas here at Thrifty Mommy. You can also compost which is a great way to get an early start on healthy soil for spring.

What are some other ways to save money on Christmas dinner?

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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 relationships with sellers and can sometimes score friendly deals.
• Be flexible. Don’t try to totally plan what you need to buy. There’s not always berries but you may find some killer eggplant on sale. If your taste buds and menu are open and flexible you’ll save more cash.
• Take a trade. If you make homemade candles or other crafty projects consider taking some for a trade. Many sellers are open to this option.
• Buy a lot at once. You can often score a better deal by offering to take ALL the blueberries off a sellers hands. Consider what you can do to make the most of a bulk purchase. Berries freeze well for example or you can jar up a lot of tomato sauce at once.
• Go early for best selection (if say you REALLY want that organic squash) but go late to save money. it’s more up in the air that you’ll find everything you need, but sellers like to leave with zero load so come the end of the day they often lower prices.

Find a Farmers Market near you.

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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 it, and there’s a 95% chance my son Cedar will eat it without thinking twice. Don’t believe me? I once made a huge list of things to freeze, and still it’s just the tip of the iceberg, or the ice pop as the case may be – 32 Unique Homemade Popsicle Recipes & Ideas

It’s so cheap compared to store bought: EVEN if you don’t use up the leftovers to make them, your homemade pops will cost far less than store bought. Get yourself some long lasting quality molds plus one blender and you’re in ice pop business for years to come (see some molds I like).

It saves on the garbage bill: Even if you don’t care a snot about the environment, I bet you do care about the garbage bill. In summer this can go way up. The kids are home, the garbage is full of ice pop trash – what a mess and an extra cost! Reusable ice pop molds end this issue.

It’s cheap entertainment: Now, maybe my son just likes the simple things, but going through the fridge, choosing ingredients, and concocting fun blender messes to freeze does keep him entertained for a good hour.

Personally, I’m hard pressed to find a better year round value, let alone summer value than homemade ice pops. What do you think? Let me know what your best summer money saver is in the comments.

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I guess you’d have to plan your menu pretty carefully during the week to avoid a gross Friday meal…Let’s see – 1 slice of pizza, a spoonful of leftover shrimp fried rice…

One thing I do to avoid wasting leftovers is to plate up an extra meal and pop it right in the freezer if it looks like we have too much food that night. Then, when someone’s in a rush and needs a lunch or dinner on the go, he or she can heat up the DIY frozen meal and chow down.

Leftover Veggie Stir Fry

My brother has a thrifty leftover dish that we really enjoy, though. When I mention that some of the veggies need to be cooked ASAP, he puts together a stir fry using all the veggies that need to be used up (carrots, broccoli, etc.) and whatever meat we have left over in the fridge. Just a spoonful of olive oil, a tablespoon of garlic, salt and pepper and it tastes delicious. He’ll also toss in a few eggs and a bit of chicken broth if there is no meat.

Do you have a favorite way to use up leftovers so they don’t go to waste?

Photo by Sophie/Stock Exchange

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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 it. (Yes, I could have gone to the store and purchased an electronic dehydrator, but that’s not as thrifty. Plus, building your own solar equipment makes a super science lesson for homeschoolers.)

Have you tried dehydrating your excess produce? Are you strictly a canner? Maybe you prefer to give it away to your local food bank. Share your ideas. And for an added incentive…

This is a Blogtoberfest Sponsored Post. If you would like to enter for a chance to win the surprise gift behind this blog post, please leave a comment. Prize and Winner will be announced within a week. Check back to see if you’re the lucky winner and what you’ve won!

You also have lots of chances to win great Blogtoberfest prizes! Today, October 8th, your chances (and prizes) are hiding at the following blogs: Blog Fabulous, Drinks After Dark, Mother Earths Garden, Offbeat Homes, Thrifty Mommy, Tree Hugging Family, Chocolate Bytes, Foodie Obsessed, Keeping the Castle and Our One Heart. Visit them all and leave a comment – you may win even more!

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Do you have a frugal way to use up left over produce?

Photo by Tanja Sund

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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 thrifty folks have likely heard of. The book has some points that bother me, but also some good money saving tips, and of course the syrup recipe.

This syrup recipe is easy, tastes good, and I swear I’ve been using this one bottle of maple extract for years to make it, so it’s super cost efficient.

All you do is bring 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water to a boil, stirring continually, until it seems kind of thick (it won’t be as thick as store bought). Allow it to cool and as it cools add 1 teaspoon maple extract and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. I use pure extracts – they go a long way and taste better so to me it’s worth the cost.

Store this in the fridge. I store mine in a small glass jar. You can warm it in the microwave, or if like me you have no microwave, place it in a pot of hot water for a bit.

If you want to read about saving money and see more cost efficient recipes, check out the book Miserly Moms.

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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 pay for itself after a few pots. Grind your beans. Buy the espresso beans. They cost the same and provide a richer flavor. For espresso based drinks, use less water than you would for a regular cup of coffee. Invest in some flavored syrup, found in the coffee aisle of the grocery store. It will last for a month or longer and costs pennies per pump. Buy whipping cream by the quart and use it for espresso drinks.

Brew up the espresso beans. Add a few shots to a mixture of half cream and half milk. Stir in the flavored syrup or make simple syrup (a combination of 2 parts sugar, 1 part water,) to your liking. You can also whip the cream yourself and add some sugar to make whipped cream. It can be kept in a Ziploc baggies for later use and tastes heavenly,

Making your own cup of gourmet coffee is a lot easier than you may think and saves a few “bucks” every day! Share your favorite coffee recipes in the comment section.

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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 can fill the cubes with water, add a dash of food coloring to a couple of the trays (use different colors), give your little a brush or medicine dropper and let her mix and match colors.
• Separate and freeze fresh herbs, or make herb ice cubes that you can later use for cooking.
• Create decorative dinner party ice – add flowers or berries to your ice. Cheap, yet adored by all.
• I was hard up one year come seed starting time, so I nailed holes in the bottom of one tray and started seeds in there. I don’t think I really needed to nail holes even though.
• Bead holder.
• Macaroni necklace holder.
• Place crayon shavings in the tray, leave out in the sun all day. Place in freezer for an hour, pop out new square crayons.
• Freeze homemade baby food in single serve sizes. Same with pumped breast milk.
• If you’re working with clay, say making small parts, you can use the tray to hold each small bit of clay as you work.
• Mold appetizer sized foods. I don’t eat meat, but know someone who made these tiny little meatloaf shapes and covered them with some sauce and served them at a party. I suppose you could make other tiny food items too.
• Store buttons, nails, screws, and any other little item that needs a space.
• Use as an inside desk tray – cheaper in most cases than those trays you buy at the office shop.
• Place in flower arrangement to one keep flowers cool at outside summer parties, and two, to liven up the arrangement. If you live you can add food coloring to the ice.

There are tons of other ice cube tray uses – making this one of the best, and least expensive kitchen tools you can own. What can you think of?

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1. Roast beef hoagies: Saute red bell pepper, onion and then mix in with the beef. Line hoagie rolls with provolone cheese and top with the beef mixture.
2. Good ol’ fashioned dinner: Use beef drippings to whip up some gravy. Add some steamed veggies and mashed potatoes. Viola! Sunday dinner at its finest.
3. Chile con carne: Mix beef with a can of green enchilada sauce. Serve with tortillas and Spanish rice and a salad.
4. Hearty pot pie: Use drippings to make gravy. Fill a premade pie crust with the beef, fresh veggies and top with the gravy. cover with the top crust. Bake and enjoy!
5. Broccoli beef: Heat oil in a wok or large pan. Add broccoli, onion and a bit of soy sauce. When broccoli is tender crisp, add beef and stir for an extra minute to blend. Put this over brown rice.
6. Beef stroganoff: Cook egg noddles. In a pan, combine mushrooms, white wine, heavy, cream, salt and garlic. Add cornstarch/water when almost done. Stir noodles, beef and sauce together.
7. Burritos supreme: Heat refried or black beans in a pan. Mix together beef, beans and a tablespoon of taco seasoning. Fill tortillas with mixture, add garnishes like salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, cheese and avocados.

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