Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Kitchen Tip NEEDED


Okay, I have a confession to make...

I hate beans. Well, maybe I don't hate them. I just have a very strong dislike for them. I like green beans, but I prefer them young & tender with more pod and not much bean.

It's not so much a taste thing, as it is a texture thing for me. I've never liked beans. Somehow in my extremely-picky-eater-childhood we never had beans very much (maybe because I was so picky?), as an adult I've never cooked them and so I've never developed a taste for them - and yes I believe it must be a developed taste.

For most of my life this bean hating thing has not been a problem because - I just didn't eat them. I learned to cook partly so that I could cook (and eat) what I like! Over the years as chief-cook I have sought out recipes for foods that were not my favorite and have learned to eat many things that I did not eat in my picky-eater-childhood.

However, beans have never been one of them.

Until Now.

As a grown-up I have learned that beans are quite healthy and they are much less expensive than meat (which I soooo love).

So now in my journey to being more frugal, I am asking for help. I am looking for good bean recipes. So, all you great cooks out there... Please send me bean recipes. For me, bean recipes that do not have the "mealy texture" my brain associates with beans, would be helpful. But really, any delicious bean recipe would be appreciated.

Thank you.

For real kitchen tips (not just requests) please visit Tammy at her wonderful site.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Maryland Monday - Sugar


Maryland Monday is a new series on grocery prices in the Maryland area. Each Monday I'll post the price of a common grocery item from a variety of Maryland grocery stores. I hope this helps you to find the best prices in your area and keep your grocery bill as low as possible.


This week's grocery item is sugar. The prices listed below are the best price per pound at that store for the store brand unless noted otherwise:
  • BJ's (Westminster): $5.29 (10 lbs) = $0.53/lb (Domino's)
  • BJ's (Westminster): $12.49 (25 lbs) = $0.49/lb (Dominio's)
  • Food Lion (Eldersburg): $4.59 (10 lbs) = $0.46/lb
  • Giant Food (Westminster): $2.79 (5 lbs) = $0.56/lb
  • Martin's (Eldersburg): $14.29 (25 lbs) = $0.57/lb
  • Safeway (Eldersburg): $5.35 (10 lbs) = $0.54/lb
  • Shopper's (Eldersburg): $4.69 (10 lbs) = $0.47/lb
  • SuperFresh (Westminster): $4.99 (10 lbs) = $0.49/lb
  • Wal-Mart (Eldersburg):$4.28 (10 lbs) = $0.43/lb
  • Weiss (Westminster): $5.69 (10 lbs) = $0.57/lb
*There have been coupons out for Domino Sugar recently which sometimes brings that price down to less than the Wal-Mart store-brand price, especially when matched with a good sale. However, I encourage you to be careful. Just because a store advertises an item on sale does not mean you are getting the best price. If you find a better price at your local store, please post it in the comments.

See more of Maryland Monday here.

Next Week's grocery comparison will be flour.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Walgreens - $5/$20 Coupon & Double Dipping Days

There are some great deals to be had at Walgreens today & tomorrow.

First, there is a $5/$20 coupon out here. The coupon is only good Fri & Sat Sept 26, 27.
Second, these are double dipping days - overlapping sales from September & October.

This means you can combine the $5/$20 coupon, Free after Rebate items, Easy saver sales - from both September & October, and manufacturers coupons to get some really great deals. The $5/$20 coupon has to be used after EasySaver coupons. There are conflicting reports about whether this has to be before or after manufacturer's coupons. Either way it is a good way to get the Free After Rebate items and anything on Register Reward this week.

There are several good deal scenarios to help you organize your shopping trip at MoneySavingMom & CommonSensewithMoney.

Frugal Smart & Frugal Dumb

So, last Tuesday, I started the day extremely well. I'd read here about a great deal on granola bars at Safeway. (More details on my purchase here.) I bought over 10 boxes of granola bars, paid $7.00 out-of-pocket for all of them and got back a $3.50 catalina for my next purchase. For the record, that's $0.70 for a box of 12 granola bars or $0.06/bar!) Then, I left town ... with 120 VERY inexpensive granola bars in my car. Frugal Smart!

I drove an hour away to my dad's to help him at his house. After I arrived and had spent about an hour working on various tasks, I realized I forgot to bring lunch with me. So I opted to go to the 7-11 down the street and get a drink and a small snack to tide me over. (You know what's coming don't you?) Well, I'm wandering around the store wondering what to get, when I spotted granola bars - "Hey, I like granola bars, granola bars are healthy!" So, I grabbed a pack of 2 granola bars, a bottle of soda and went to the register.

Yep. You guessed it. I bought that pack of 2 granola bars at 7-11. In fact, I paid a whopping $0.40/each for those 2 granola bars. It didn't occur to me that this was a ridiculous thing to do until I got back in my car and spotted the 10 boxes sitting happily on my car seat. Unfortunately, I'd already bitten into one of the granola bars.

DUH!! Frugal DUMB!

I cannot begin to tell you how completely dumb I felt at that moment. I am an intelligent, usually-money-conscious, college educated woman. But, I threw all that out the window for a few moments and paid $.80 for 2 granola bars.

For better ideas on frugal living visit Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Blogging...

I will not blog today. I will not blog today. I will not blog today.

Blogging is too much fun.

There is laundry to do.
There are bills to pay.
The checkbook must be balanced.
There are peaches to use before they go rotten.

Blogging is too much fun.

I will not blog today. I will not blog today. I will not blog today.

I will probably visit Works for Me Wednesday; but I will not blog.

I will be back on Friday; maybe on Thursday. Definitely on Friday.

I will not blog today.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Whole Wheat Peach Muffins

This recipe took me a while to figure out. I tried two different recipes, made several bad attempts and several bad revisions before finally getting it right with this recipe. My husband and I love them.

This recipe makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/2 cup + 2 Tblsp sugar
1 1/2 cup peeled, pitted, chopped peaches (3-4 med.)

Directions:
1. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix with large whisk.
2. In small bowl mix milk, oil, egg and sugar.
3. Mix together dry and wet ingredients. Do not stir too much; batter should be lumpy.
4. Fold 1 + 1/4 cup peaches into batter, reserving 1/4 cup for tops.
5. Heat oven to 375. Grease muffin tin very well.
6. Fill muffin cups approx. 2/3 full (about 1/3 cup)
7. Sprinkle reserved peaches over tops of each muffin cup.
8. Place in oven. Raise temperature to 400. Bake approx. 20 minutes.
10. Cool for 10 minutes before turning out onto dishcloth. Keep inverted while cooling.

Note: Be sure to grease the tin VERY WELL as they have a tendency to stick.

For more kitchen tips go to Tammy's Recipes.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Maryland Monday - Loaf Bread


Maryland Monday is a series on grocery prices in the Maryland area. On Monday I'll post the price of a common grocery item from a variety of Maryland grocery stores. Of course, these prices will vary from store to store and change without notice. I hope this comparison helps you to find the best prices in your area and keep your grocery bill as low as possible.

My apologies. Two weeks ago I said I'd post on whole wheat bread, and then "stuff happened" and I didn't get it posted last week. So, here it is for this week - both wheat and white bread.

This week's grocery item is
1 loaf of bread:

Whole Wheat

* Food Lion (Eldersburg): Food Lion brand: $1.17 (23 oz) = $0.051/oz
* Giant Food (Westminster): Giant brand: $1.99 (18 oz) = $0.11/oz
* Martin's (Eldersburg): Martin's brand: $1.59 (16 oz) = $0.10/oz
* Safeway (Eldersburg): Ovenjoy brand: $1.19 (20 oz) = $0.059/oz
* Shopper's (Eldersburg): Shopper's 100% whole wheat: $1.69 (16 oz) = $0.11/oz
*
Shopper's (Eldersburg): Shopper's split top wheat $1.89 (20 oz) = $0.09/oz
* Superfresh (Westminster): Amer. Choice split top wheat: $1.99 (22 oz) = $0.09/oz
* Wal-Mart (Eldersburg): Great Value: $1.42 (24 oz) = $0.06/oz

White Bread

* Food Lion (Eldersburg): Food Lion brand white: $1.27 (20 oz) = $0.064/oz
* Giant Food (Westminster): Giant brand white: $1.25 (20 oz) = $0.063/oz
* Giant Food (Westminster): Giant sandwich white: $1.39 (22 oz) = $0.063/oz
* Martin's (Eldersburg): Martin's brand white: $0.99 (20 oz) = $0.049/oz
* Safeway (Eldersburg): Ovenjoy brand: $1.19 (20 oz) = $0.059/oz
* Shopper's (Eldersburg): Shopper's brand white: $0.79 (20 oz) = $0.039/oz
* Shopper's (Eldersburg): Shopper's sandwich white: $1.09 (20 oz) = $0.055/oz
* Superfresh (Westminster): America's Choice jumbo white: $1.59 (20 oz) = $0.079/oz
* Wal-Mart (Eldersburg): Great Value white: $1.24 (20 oz) = $0.062/oz

These prices were gathered between 9/18/08 - 9/22/08 and are regularly marked prices, not sales. Somehow I forgot to check bread prices in Weiss this week.

Doing this study of prices has intrigued me. Notice how much the prices vary from store to store, and even within the same store, on similar items. Of course, we don't use bread by the ounce, we use it by the slice, which makes this an imperfect comparison. But, I think it still serves to show how important it is to compare prices as you shop. I've been buying Safeway's Ovenjoy wheat for years, thinking I couldn't find it cheaper elsewhere. Now, I'm wondering how many slices are in the Food Lion's 23 oz loaf vs the Safeway 20 oz loaf. I think I'll have to buy one of each to find out!

If you find a better price at your local store, please post it in the comments.

Next Week's grocery comparison will be a Sugar.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Super Cheap Granola Bars


As I was browsing this week, I came across this post at MommyMakingMoney, about Safeway sales. Safeway has Nature Valley Granola bars on sale 2/$5.00. I rarely shop at Safeway, because I generally find their prices to be significantly higher than my other local stores. But, occasionally they do have a good sale. This sale wasn't fantastic by itself, but as MMM explains, it gets significantly better if you buy in groups of 5.

Here's how it worked:

Transaction #1 (on Tuesday)
Bought 10 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars @$2.50/box = $25.00
(an okay sale, not terrific, but wait...)
Extra $5.00 off for each set of 5 boxes (-$10.00)
Used 6 $0.50/1 manuf. coupons from 08/10 Gen. Mills insert (-$3.00)
My Safeway doubles coupons up to $1.00 (-$3.00)
Used 2 $1.00/1 printable here or here (-$2.00)

Total Out of Pocket $7.00 PLUS it generated a $3.50 off next purchase catalina
(Not sure why it didn't print 2 of the catalina coupons since I bought the required # of boxes, but it was still a great deal, so I'm not arguing.)

Transaction #2 (on Thursday)
Bought 5 boxes Nature Valley Granola Bars @$2.50/box = $12.50
Extra $5.00 off for each set of 5 boxes (-$5.00)
Used 5 $0.50/1 manuf. coupons from 09/07 Gen. Mills insert (-$2.50)
My Safeway doubles coupons up to $1.00 (-$2.50)

Total Out of Pocket $2.50, but it gets even better...
My understanding was this second transaction should have generated a $3.50 catalina; the printer jammed and the catalina didn't print. So, today I called Catalina Marketing, explained what happened and they are mailing my $3.50 coupon So, on this second transaction I will have MADE $1.00 for my family. I LOVE FREE MONEY!

The Safeway sale ends Sept. 30 and the Catalina deal ends Oct 5.
To get this deal you need to make your purchases before Sept. 30.
There are more items on this $5.00 off 5 Safeway list, the complete list is at MommyMakingMoney.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Elder Care - Ideas Needed


Today is Works for Me Wednesday over at Rocks in my Dryer, and I'm posting a "Backwards" edition because I really need your help.

I need ideas...
My elderly father is recovering from major surgery (several months ago). He lives alone and I go over to his house once a week to help out. Over the past few weeks I've begun to notice a decline in his eating habits. He used to eat fairly healthily, but as his energy is extremely low he's reverted to a lot of processed foods high in salt and simple carbs. He needs to be eating more vegetables and he needs more protein - I believe these will both give him more energy than the food he currently eats.

I don't live close enough to take food to him every day, nor do my siblings. So, I've been thinking about fixing food at my house, freezing it and taking it to him once/week -- things he could just thaw and reheat either on the stove or in the microwave. Even if I'm only able to fix 2-3 meals I think this would help him tremendously. The problem is I've never done much of the "cook-freeze-thaw-reheat" kind of cooking.

So, I'm looking for ideas. I need menu ideas (and maybe recipes) for dinner foods that are heart-healthy, and that I can cook at home, freeze, and take to him.

Any ideas you have would be greatly appreciated.

For what works for others visit Rocks In My Dryer.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Cheap Shake N Bake


Today I'm posting the recipe I recently came up with for a homemade "Shake 'N Bake" chicken coating. I was inspired by a recipe found in "The Tightwad Gazette" but, have changed it sufficiently, that I feel I can claim it as my own.

  • 1 cup homemade bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup unbleached flour
  • 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ (can be left out to be even cheaper)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 T paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 2 T vegetable oil

Mix well. Use just like you would "Shake 'N Bake". Store indefinitely in the refrigerator in a covered container.

This version is a whole lot cheaper than the store-bought variety.

For more Kitchen Tips go to Tammy's Recipes.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Martin's - 9/14 - 9/20



Martin's Food Markets are limited to Maryland and are affiliated with Giant Food Stores. Sometimes their sales are the same; sometimes they are not. Martin's Coupon Policy: Double Manufacturer's coupons up to no more than $1.00. For example, a coupon for $0.50 will be doubled to $1.00 and a 'doubled' $0.75 coupon will equal $1.00. They will not generally double a $1.00 coupon, but occasionally will issue "$1.00 Coupon Doubler Coupons" in their weekly ad.

Martin's Food Markets Sales for the Week of 9/14 - 9/20
These are the deals I've spotted at Martin's so far. If you find another one, please post it in the comments:

My Martin's ad had a $5.00/$20 meat purchase coupon.
Meats on good sales this week:
Boneless, skinless chicken breast are $1.99
Eye Round Roast are BOGO
Hatfield Boneless Center Cut Pork Roast are BOGO


Green Seedless grapes
are $1.29 (not the best, but an okay price)

Gala Apples are $0.99

Broccoli bunches are BOGO

Scottties Facial Tissues are 10/$10.00 (coupon on 9/14 insert $1.00/5)

Rice-a-Roni or Pasta Roni are 10/$10.00

Turkey Hill Ice Cream are 4/$10.00

Giant brand Pasta
are $0.89

Campbell's Chunky Soup are 4/$6.00 (coupons in 9/14 insert)

Pillsbury Cake Mix are 10/$10.00 (excludes reduced sugar mixes)

DelGrosso Pasta Sauce is 10/$10.00

My ad also contained a coupon for a Free Reusable Shopping Bag with purchase of 3 Hormel canned meat products:
Hormel Chili with Beans (10/$10.00)
Dinty Moore Beef Stew
Spam Singles
Hormel Corned Beef Hash
Hormel Chunk Breast of Chicken
Hormel Chunk Ham
Hormel Chili No Beans
Spam Luncheon Meat

This week save $5.00 on next purchase when you purchase 8 of these listed below:
(Please check the in store ad for specific sizes)
Kellogg's Pop-tarts (recent coupon)
Sierra Mist, Mountain Dew, Schweppes 2 Liter
Dannon DanActive Yogurt
SoBe Life Water
Mott's Apple Juice (recent coupon)
Mott's Applesauce (recent coupon)
Daisy Sour Cream (recent coupon)
Marie Callender's Dinner
Kellogg's Special K Cereal
Kellogg's Fruit Shapes
utz Potato Chips
Kellogg's Special K Bars
Perdue Flavor Bites (recent coupon)
T Marzetti Veggie Dip
Nabisco Oreo Cookies
Doritos Tortilla Chips
Kraft Mac & Cheese 5 Pack
New England Coffee
Banquet Boneless Chicken
Tyson Fully Cooked Entrees
Gatorade 8 pack
Scott 8 Roll Paper Towels (recent coupon)
Scott 20 Roll Bath Tissue (recent coupon)
Cottonelle 12 Double Roll Bath Tissue (recent coupon)
Maxwell House Ground Coffee
Tide 2X Liquid Laundry Detergent
Downey Fabric Softener Sheets
Red Bull Energy Drink

Friday, September 12, 2008

Why do with Less from OwlHaven

As a part of her Frugal Friday post today, Crystal referred us to Owlhaven. The post is a wonderful reminder of how truly blessed we are materially. If you're struggling with keeping your finances and possessions in God's perspective it is worth every second of the 4 minutes to read it.

This post is also a reminder of how easily an "entitlement" attitude can creep into our lives.

For me it was an encouragement as we daily live with less than many of our neighbors. And, that's okay. We don't miss not having cable. We don't need all the bells and whistles on our cell phones - just the basics. Dining out is really a luxury, certainly not a necessity (not eating out is usually healthier - physically and financially!) Borrowing books & movies from the library is every bit as fun as purchasing them, and saves us a bunch of money. The kids don't need rooms full of new toys - just lots of opportunities to be creative. That can happen with a few simple toys and everyday items around the house.

The majority of the world lives on so much less than we do. Why do we think we deserve the luxuries we have???

More Walgreens Deals

I posted earlier this week about a deal I made at Walgreens. Well, now there's even more reason to shop at Walgreens this week. There's a new $10/$40 coupon out. The coupon is only good Friday and Saturday Sept. 12 & 13. There are lots of good deals to combine with manufacturer and Walgreens coupons.

To get more ideas go to MoneySavingMom.

To get the coupon go here.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Yard Sale Finds



It's Yard Sale Season again!

If you live in my neck of the country the big yard sale seasons are May and September. And, yeahh!! September is here and it's time for Yard Sales again!. SO, I decided I would share with you one of my recent yard sale finds.

First is this...



Now, guess how much I paid for all 5 dress shirts...

Okay, guess again...

Ready? $1.00! Yep. You read that correctly; 5 very nice, name brand dress shirts for only $1.00. They started out at $0.25/each, but I talked him down to 5/$1.00. It's a great feeling to walk away from a sale like this feeling triumphant. I love that feeling! This is definitely one of my better finds. These shirts are all in very good condition - no stains, no worn elbows; and now my hubby (who recently lost 30 lbs!) has a variety of dress shirts for the winter and it didn't break our budget! I could get addicted to this.

And now, if you'd like to see more of my frugal living methods go here.

And, if you want even more ideas for living frugally, go to BiblicalWomanhood.

You can add your own comments and ideas for living frugally here or at BiblicalWomanhood.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Free Robitussin & Dimetapp


This is a great week to stock up on cough medicines for cold & flu season.

Walgreens has Robitussin & Dimetapp on sale this week - $3.99 each. If you buy 3 you get $10.00 Register Rewards (RR) back for your next purchase. Plus you can print coupons ($3.00/1 for Robitussin and $2.00/1 for Dimetapp) here.

So, if you buy three you get more money back than you spent!

I went to my Walgreens today and here's how the deal worked:

Transaction #1
Bought 3 Robitussin DM @ $3.99 = $11.97

Paid with 3 $3.00/1 = $9.00
Total Out of Pocket $2.97 and $10.00 RR back!

Transaction #2
Bought 3 Robitussin DM @ $3.99
1 White Rain Shampoo $1.00
Total: $12.97

Paid with 3 $2.00/1 = -$6.00
Total Out of Pocket $6.97 and $10.00 RR back!

This worked great for me and now I have plenty of cough/cold meds for the season. I have 3 more of each coupon so I may go back and do the deal again with a different kind of each brand.

If this is your first time doing a deal at Walgreens here are a few tips:
First, you must buy 3 of EXACTLY the same kind of Robitussin or Dimetapp; you cannot mix it up and buy 2 of 1 and 1 of another kind - you'll only get $5.00 RR back if you do.
Second, don't try to use the RRs from the Robitussin purchase to buy the Dimetapp - because these are both made by the same company the RRs won't work as payment on the second transaction.
Last, to make this deal pay you back, you'll need to print the coupons. When you go to the site, click on the coupon you want, fill out the short form and then print the coupon. You can print the coupon as many times as you want and you don't need to worry about junk email or snail mail.

Anyone else have a good trip to Walgreens this week?

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Maryland Monday - eggs


Maryland Monday is a new series on grocery prices in the Maryland area. Each Monday I'll post the price of a common grocery item from a variety of Maryland grocery stores. I hope this helps you to find the best prices in your area and keep your grocery bill as low as possible.


This week's grocery item is
1 dozen large eggs:
  • Food Lion (Westminster): $1.49
  • Giant Food (Ellicott City): $1.99
  • Mars (Ellicott City): $1.89
  • Martin's (Eldersburg): $1.69
  • Safeway (Eldersburg): $1.99
  • Shopper's (Eldersburg): $1.39
  • SuperFresh (Westminster): $1.79
  • Wal-Mart (Eldersburg):$1.58
  • Weiss (Woodstock): $1.87
If you find a better price at your local store, please post it in the comments.

Next Week's grocery comparison will be a loaf of whole wheat bread.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Free PopTarts at Target!!


I am a very happy camper. And my son is even more so! He loves Pop Tarts; ever since he was two years old and could barely say "pppp trt". SO, when I read about the deal this week I made my plan.

I was very happy several weeks ago when there was a $1.00/2 coupon in the inserts for PopTarts. I clipped them from the three local papers and then I found even more on Coupons by Dede. I've forgotten how many coupons I had to begin with.

This week I found the Target deal at Refund Cents. They had Pop Tarts and several other snacks on sale - buy 4 and get a $5.00 gift card. The ad said "while supplies last" and the closest Target is 30 minutes away, so I wasn't sure I'd be able to do this. But, I was going to be near Target on Thursday, so determined to stop in with my coupons and at least give it a try. I ended up with 16 boxes of 12 PopTarts; paid $22.94 for everything (including 1 Instant Breakfast) and came home with $20.00 in Gift Cards. That's 192 PopTarts for $1.00! Whoo Hoo!

Here's how the deal went:
Transaction #1
8 12 count PopTarts for $2.25/each = $18.00
1 Carnation Instant Breakfast $2.94

Paid with 8 $0.50/1 Pop Tart Target coupouns ($4.00)
4 $1.00/2 Pop Tart Mnfr coupons ($4.00)
1 $1.00/1 Instant Breakfast coupon ($1.00)
Out of Pocket $11.94
Received $10.00 Gift Card

Transaction #2
8 12 count PopTarts for $2.25/each = $18.00

Paid with 8 $0.50/1 Pop Tart Target coupons ($4.00)
3 $1.00/2 Pop Tart Mnfr coupons ($3.00) (I was one coupon short.)
Out of Pocket $11.00
Received $10.00 Gift Card

This was a a super great deal I could not resist. The Pop-Tarts aren't the healthiest choice, but free is free. And my son has been warned he may only eat one per day and only on school days, so these should last a loooong time!

To view more Super Savings go to MoneySavingMom.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Freebies


Well, this wasn't the greatest week for freebies around here, but hey, who can argue with free toilet paper??

My favorite place to go for freebies is Walmart.com. Today you can get a sample of John Freida hair care, Gain laundry detergent, playtex tampon, kotex, cottonnelle wipe and benefiber. Most people I know use at least a few of these things. To get yours go here.

For more Freebies go to Freebie Friday.

And for more Frugal Ideas go to Frugal Friday at Biblical Womanhood.

Monday, September 1, 2008

Kitchen Tip Tuesday


Today's Kitchen Tip I originally got from an issue of Cook's Country and morphed into my own.

This is my method of keeping track of kitchen sponges: When I get out a new sponge it is used strictly for washing dishes. When it gets a bit stained/icky, I clip two corners and it gets demoted to the counters. When it gets even ickier, I clip the last two corners and it is demoted again - this time to the floor. When I started doing this, suddenly my husband was able to remember which sponge to use where - and that means my "dishes sponge" doesn't get used on an icky floor mess!

Another tip about sponges - did you know they can be washed/sterilized in your dishwasher?! This tip from a friend has lengthened the use of my sponges and saved me lots of money on sponges.

For more Kitchen tips go to Tammy's Recipes.

Maryland Monday

Maryland Monday is taking a vacation in honor of Labor Day this week. Please return for Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Frugal Friday, and Super Saving Saturday later in the week.


NEXT's grocery item is
1 dozen large eggs.