Going to a potluck, need something quick how about making meatballs in your crockpot. Make your meatballs with your favorite meats or combination of meats (hamburger, ground sausage, chorizo or ground venison), spices (a little salt, pepper, garlic - fresh, minced or dried) (Did you make the onion soup mix? how about seasoning your meatballs with it) & diced onion, what else can you think of to add? Brown your meatballs in a skillet, drain the fat and put your meatballs in your slow cooker with either homemade or a jar of your favorite pasta sauce. If you have several hours before heading to your potluck cook your meatballs on low, or high if you only have a few hours. Enjoy!
I know stocking up on items that are on sale may be saving money, but not it you don't use the items or they expire before you can use them them. So if you see a great deal on an item either plan your meals for the month or next couple of months to make sure the item is used and doesn't expire. If you see an item at a great price but it is not something you normally serve, then don't waste your hard earned money or pantry space by buying more a couple to see if it is something you will really use.
How about making your mixes for cakes pancakes.... here's an all-purpose mix and a few recipes to use it with as well as a few other common mixes we use in the kitchen.
Another site to check out for some information on achieving financial success and security as well as some free practical tools including personal budgeting and finance worksheets, templates, forms and action plans...is Your Money and Finance.
On the news a while back there was a good money saving tip. The tip was to keep a notebook with the prices of every day items that you buy (of course you would include the name of the store). This is so you can compare prices when you are out & about at other stores, and see if you really are getting the lowest price. Have a great day!
Brown chicken on all sides in skillet with vegetable oil. Put potatoes, garlic & onion in crockpot, add browned chicken. In bowl mix together honey, lemon juice, rosemary, cornstarch, salt & pepper. Pour over chicken & potatoes. Cover and cook in your crockpot for about 8 hours. Enjoy!
Jun 4, 2009, A simple, quick and easy dinner for the crockpot.
A simple, quick and easy dinner. Last night I cleaned and soaked my baby lima beans in a bowl of water with a dash of baking soda. Pulled out my vacuumed packed boneless pork ribs to thaw out over night. This morning all I had to do was rinse well the beans and put them in the crockpot and cover them with fresh water just to where the water covered them (about 1/2 inch higher). I then added a small diced yellow onion and the thawed out meat to the crockpot (if you want you can brown your meat in a skillet 1st, I opted not to, I had other stuff to take care of this morning), along with a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, pepper & a tsp of minced garlic (optional). I'll add salt later this evening when I taste it to see if it needs any. Put the lid on, put the crockpot on low and that's it. Took a couple of minutes to clean up the kitchen. Dinner will be ready when we get home in about 8 - 10 hours. But since we take a little time to relax first we just turn the crockpot to warm until we are ready to eat. It's so nice to get home after a long day of work and not have to worry about what's for dinner or ordering delivery because we don't feel like cooking. Remember eating at home saves money and Saving Money Makes Cents!!! For more recipes check out the Cook at Home pages. Have a great day!
Have you ever wanted to cook something you've had in a restaraunt at home. Check out the "As Seen On Tv - Official Secret Restaurant Recipes". These are copycat restaurant recipes so they are created to taste close to and/or the same as the food served in restaurants, but they may not be the exact recipes used by the restaurants in all instances. So how about cooking a restaurant meal at home, save money, skip those long lines especially on Holidays - You Get the Step by Step Instructions for Making America's Most Wanted Recipes in Your Own Kitchen...This offer is for instant access to the downloadable version (.PDF format) of these cookbooks. Once you place your order, the physical version of America's Secret Recipes Volume 1 & 2 can be sent to you for a small additional shipping charge.
The nice thing is this is downloadable, no extra books collecting dust, plus check out the additional free bonuses up to 7 of them. So Click Here! to check this offer out. Have a great day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
May 31, 2009, Thinking about Father's Day
Father's Day is not that far away, are you like me you like to find non-typical or unusual gifts. If so here are a few websites that have fun gifts for dads. So if you are planning on ordering a gift, now or within the next couple of weeks is the time so that you are not paying for express shipping and the gift gets here on time. Check some of these sites out.
Fathers day gifts ideas
Shop at Fox TV Store
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Get 10% off at the CBS Store! Enter code AFFDA upon checkout.
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"Discovery Channel Store"
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Funny Pranks and Gags
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Or you could make your own Father's day gift. Does the father in your life like to barbecue? How about making a spice rub gift jar. Check out the gift jars page for some free recipes to make. How about making a trio of different spice jars and add a couple BBQ utensils. What a fun gift. Have a great day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
May 26, 2009, Stocking the Pantry for Crockpot Cooking
Stocking the Pantry... Save money by cooking at home ..make it quick and easy with your crockpot
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May 26, 2009, Crockpot Recipe - Pulled Pork & Beans
How about another simple recipe for your crockpot.
This recipe you cook your side dish (beans) with your pork all in one pot. What you'll need: beans your choice, pinto or great northern beans, white or yellow onion, bacon (2 or 3 slices), apple cider, brown sugar, molasses (optional), mustard, can of chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, salt & pepper. If using fresh beans, don't forget to soak them overnight with a pinch of baking soda. Rinse well the next morning, & put into your crockpot. Chop up 1 small onion, and fry the onion with the bacon until bacon is crispy, drain grease and add to crockpot. Place your pork roast on top of beans and onion mixture. In a bowl mix together 1/4 cup brown sugar (or 1/3 cup if not using molasses), 1/3 cup molasses (optional), 1 tsp regular or dry mustard, 1 cup apple cider, diced tomatoes 1 can or fresh (approx 10 oz), bay leaf, salt & pepper to taste. Pour mixture over pork and beans. Cover and cook on low for 10 or more hours. Carefully remove the pork from the beans and shred on cutting board using 2 forks. Remove the bay leaf from the beans and drain the beans if desired. Save a little bit of the juice from the beans to pour over your shredded pork. Check out other recipes through the Cook at Home page. Enjoy!
Money Saving Tip
A food vacuum packer is a great saving essential your your kitchen. We have a small foodsaver vacuum packer and of course buy our bags when they are on sale. Now is the time to buy a little extra fresh vegetables while they are cheap and plentiful, or if you grow your own, and vacuum pack them to use for the winter months. We love fresh corn, but refuse to pay the high prices during the off season. So now while we can get several ears for little or nothing, we then clean them & vacuum pack them for later use. Have a great day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
Cooking.com
May 26, 2009, Saving Money Makes Cents Resources
Saving Money Makes Cents Resources
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May 25, 2009, Dessert in Your Crockpot
I do like trying new recipes in the crockpot. I tried a dessert recipe in the crockpot, which was pretty interesting. It turned out ok & was good, but I'll modify the recipe next time and follow the instructions more carefully when I make it, so that it is more traditional. For the dessert recipe & pictures of what happened check out the Crockpot Recipes - Other page.
To save even more money on your groceries, start you a garden. If you don't have room for an in ground garden, how about a patio garden. Some of the easiest vegetables to grow are tomatoes, zucchini, radishes, spinach & peppers. Not only do you save money by growing your own vegetable, you know your vegetables are fresh and organic. Gardening is also therapeutic and provides a great way to exercise. Have a great day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
DirectGardening.com - Offers quality plants at great prices, come see what we mean!
May 25, 2009, Crockpot Recipes
Your crockpot not just for beans and soups... Crockpot recipes
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May 22, 2009, Vacation Time
Well summer is upon us which means vacation time. Hopefully you've been saving for your vacation. Remember to check around for the best deals to save money when traveling locally or far, here are some of my favorite sites to compare prices and save money.
Travelocity Saves You on Flights, Hotels, Car Rentals, Cruises and More.
Hotels.com
Lowered Booking fees on priceline Hotels!
Also don't forget to check out these sites for coupons to use while vacationing to save even more. The entertainment book is great for this since it is used all over the states. Just check out where you are planing on vacationing & see what coupons the book may have, the $15 you spend for the book may save you several times or more what you paid for it.
All Entertainment Books are now just $15 with free shipping, plus each additional book is only $10!
You know you'll probably eat out while on vacation so another great place to check for money saving coupons is Restaurant.com.
Click here for Restaurant.com
Plan ahead and save money and have a great vacation. Have a great day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
May 20, 2009, A new Recipe
I don't remember if I shared this recipe already or not, so if I didn't here it is. This is another recipe from PS, along with her tip for the ground beef. Enjoy
Taco Soup
1 lbs ground beef
2 Tablespoons chopped dry onions or 1 small fresh chopped white onion
1 pkg ranch dressing
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can rotel tomatoes or any brand that has chili peppers in it
2 cans beans, 1 pinto beans (I cook my own beans) & 1 can ranch style beans
1 can corn undrained
Brown your ground beef and drain any excess oil, add onions (if using fresh onions cook them with the meat). Add the rest of the ingredients. Add water until you get your desired consistency for the soup. You can heat thoroughly in a saucepan or put all ingredients (make sure you cook your meat first) in your crockpot & cook on low or warm until ready to eat later in the day. Serve with corn chips or corn bread and cheese. Enjoy!
PS's tip: What I do is buy about 10 lbs of ground beef, fry it all up, drain the oil off it, let it cool and bag (or vacuum seal) it into 1 lbs bags and freeze it. This can make dinner real easy if we forgot to take any thing out for dinner. For more recipes check out the Cook at Home pages.
Have a great day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
Take 60% off every order of Dinner of the Month Club purchase. Use code TABLE, now thru 5/21/09.
May 18, 2009, Combine your Coupons with Rebates and Make Some Money!
Combine your coupons with rebates, not only will you save money but who knows you may just make some money. Yesterday while shopping I bought a few items that where free after a rebate (of course taxes still apply). But this was an even better deal not only where the items free with the online rebate, but 2 of the items had a $1 off coupon on them and one of the items I had a $4 off coupon in my coupon organizer, which means after coupons were taken off & the online rebates are submitted, I actually made about $6 (even after taxes). Now this doesn't happen often but when it does it sure is great.
When clipping coupons I clip coupons that are normally over $1 or more. I'll even clip coupons for items I don't normally use and just put back for cases like above, when an item winds up being free with a rebate or close to free and using my coupon either makes if free or makes me money. When a new product comes out on the market so does a coupon to get you to try the product. And drug stores like Rite Aid and Longs are great for offering these rebates. Walgreens, per their site, are no longer offering their easy rebate catalog but instead are offering register rewards for future purchases in their store, which is great if you shop there on a regular basis. So remember clip those coupons and use them with rebates and who knows you may be making money not just saving money!
Have a Great Day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
Great Deals under $50 at Cooking.com!
May 10, 2009, Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day! I hope all you mothers are getting a day off from cooking and are relaxing and enjoying your day!
Click here for Restaurant.com
May 9, 2009, Pork and Potato Casserole for the Slow Cooker
Here's another slow cooker recipe from PS. I am modifying it just a bit. You'll need a can of cream of chicken soup, pork chops (I like using boneless pork chops in the slow cooker, of course when I buy them on sale or we also buy a boneless pork loin on sale and make our own, by slicing the chops as thick as we like and vacuum packing them (see stocking the pantry), all for a fraction of the cost of pre cut chops)ok back to the recipe, you'll also need potatoes, onions and cabbage (optional). First in a bowl take your soup and add about 1/4 cup of water mix well. Put about 1/4 to 1/2 cup in the bottom of your crockpot. Brown your pork chops in a skillet and put them in the crockpot, then add a layer of sliced potatoes, a layer of sliced onion and a layer of cabbage (optional), if you want add a second layer of potatoes, onions and cabbage. Pour the rest of the soup mix over the top, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. Enjoy!
Want some ideas on how to save with coupons - check out this e-book on 101 Coupon Tips to save More at the Store Click Here! and with purchase of the ebook you get 9 bonuses of several e-cookbooks with one of them being a crockpot cookbook. And the nice thing about ebooks is you don't have to wait for your books to arrive in the mail, you just download them to your printer or print them out at your leisure.
Have a Great Day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
May 4, 2009, Mouth Watering Meat Loaf for the Slow Cooker
Ground beef is one of the cheapest cuts of meat to use in a recipe to feed your family and you can use it in so many recipes.
This recipe comes from PS and her comments were "well you know I don't like meat loaf but because of dad I tried this recipe and I have to say I liked this" recipe. Do you have a favorite money saving slow cooker recipe you'd like to share, go to the Contact Us page and share it there. You may see it in a future blog or on one of the recipe pages.
Mouth Watering Meat Loaf
3/4 cup milk
2/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
2 teaspoons dried minced onions (I used 2 Tablespoons minced onion)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
2 eggs
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
Topping
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
In a large bowl combine the 1st 6 ingredients, crumble ground beef into the mixture and mix well (mixture will be moist). Shape the meat mixture into a round loaf; place in a 5-qt slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5-6 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160. In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, brown sugar, mustard and Worcestershire sauce. Spoon this mixture over the cooked meat loaf and cook 15 minutes longer or until heated through. Let your meat loaf stand for 10 - 15 minutes before cutting.(recipe from PS) Enjoy! Have a Great Day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
www.collectiblestoday.com
May 2, 2009, April Savings
Last month using coupons, mail-in (actually online) rebates we saved a total of $88.02 -- the coupons total savings was $57.03 -- on rebates we saved $30.99 -- this last month there were no BOGO free savings. The money we saved by using the coupons & rebates will go into a Savings Accounts. Of course we save a lot more because we try to buy as much of what we need on sale also. So spend 30 minutes to plan your meals this week with what is on sale, use your coupons and see how much money you can save!!!
For more coupons , many 1/2 off or buy one get one free, check out the entertainment coupon book below for your area. The coupon book is only $15 right now with FREE Shipping, you can't get a better deal than this. This is a great coupon book for saving money and if you eat out a couple times a month (or even less), using the coupons in the book for just one month could easily save you the price of the book as well and more -- as saving you money for the rest of the year not only on eating out but on other purchases too. I purchased one of these books to see what all was in it and right off the bat it 2 coupons for a grocery store we shop at monthly for $5 (there were 4 of these coupons for different time periods). A couple pages more & there were coupons for saving on movie box office tickets as well as one for a free movie admission on your birthday (of course this was valid through 11/1 so if your birthday is in Nov or Dec you may need the next year's book). This book not only had coupons for eating out but for exercise places, entertainment places, golfing and much more. Go check out the book online to see what coupons they have in your area. Another great thing is you can order this book online to print out your coupons as you need them and they give you the choice for an additional cost to have access to all of the books across the states. This would be great if you are planning a vacation or too throughout the year, you can see what coupons are available to save you on your vacations.
Mother's Day is just around the corner. This book will make a great gift, a reasonably priced gift that saves you money (the book's on sale and FREE shipping) as well as the person you're giving it to. Have a Great Day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
Back by popular demand! This May, all Entertainment Books are only $15 with FREE shipping! Don't miss this great promotional price!
Apr 30, 2009, A Quick Muffin Mix
A great friend of mine sent me this recipe. Many years ago when our kids were small we spent alot of time trying out new recipes and cooking from scratch. I will be sharing some of those recipes as well as some new ones here.
Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix
(dry ingredients)
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
(wet ingredients)
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
Preheat your oven to 400. Combine the flour, corn meal, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl and mix well with whisk. Whisk in the vegetable oil, egg and milk and mix until the mixture is smooth and lumps are gone. Pour or spoon into a greased muffin pan and bake for 20 minutes.
Her Time saving Tip:
With this recipe she combine's all the dry ingredients and puts them into a ziplock bag, then puts into the freezer till ready to use, adding the wet ingredients when she's ready to cook. Great time saving idea making prep and cooking easy. (recipe from PS) Enjoy! Have a Great Day!
As always,
Saving Money Makes Cents
Mar 29, 2009, Fundraiser Savings
Fundraiser Savings.....help out our youth & seniors by supporting them & saving youself money as well......
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Feb 11, 2009, Coupon Savings Wallet
Check out our coupon savings wallet, a place to store your coupons & easily take with you.... coming soon
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Feb 10, 2009, aStore - Saving Money Makes Cents
Check out the aStore for Saving Money Makes Cents -- Find your coupon organizer and slow cooker recipe books as well as other personal finance and saving money books and much more here.
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