Cheap Chow Now

Are You On to Groupon?

2012-03-02T14:45:00.000-05:00

Groupon and its ilk are nothing new. But they are only in cities an hour's drive from where I live so it's not a huge leap to imagine there are a few other people in my predicament. If these savings sites are in your city and you don't know a thing about them, or they're coming soon and you want the details on how they work, listen in.

For the sake of not naming ONLY Groupon, though they were the first in the business, I'm calling these companies "social networking coupon companies" or SNCCs for short. SNCCs basically operate by soliciting thrifty consumers like you to sign up for their free email list. You'll receive a daily email with a deal. Here's where it gets interesting. Some of these deals are for 50 to 90% off a restaurant entree (and other experiences/products). Or buy-one-get-one deals at a cafe. That's a hefty discount!

But, here's the catch: you have to have a certain number of people to sign up for the deal or no one gets it. That is how the business gets word of mouth advertising to work in their favor. You'll be so whooped up over the deal, you'll blog and text and email and post on your wall all about this fabulous deal to get all your friends to sign up, too. You have only 24 or 36 or 48 hours to get enough people! GO! GO! GO!

Once enough people do, their credit cards are charged for the deal and they receive a link to print a voucher. Some deals let you show your email on your smart phone to the cashier or greeter to let you score your deal.

If too few people sign up, the deal is off and no one is charged.

So why do restaurants and other businesses do this? Traffic. They want you to get in the door and to come back, too. Here are a few tips on using SNCCs:

Read all the fine print on the deal before you sign up for it. It may have blocked out times and days, usually the precise ones you'd want to use.
Don't buy a deal because it's cheap; buy it because you'll really use it. Some have expiration dates and if you only drive into The City every few months, you could lose your deal.
Verify the number in the party. You may get 50% off the entire check or just one entree.
If you use your SNCC deal immediately after buying, you may have a loooong wait for dinner because guess what? The 99 other people who bought one are excited, too.
Tip your waitstaff on the full bill, not your discounted amount. Don't be a stingy gut. Tips are part of the waitstaff's salary and reflects the service you received, not just a percentage of the bill. Just because you have a deal doesn't mean you shortchange the waitstaff.
Get an even better deal by seeing if you can buy a gift card for that restaurant on ebay. If the ebay gift card cost you 90% of the face value and you're paying only 50% for the voucher, you're scoring a terrific deal.
Don't buy lots of extras or you undo all the bargain-scoring you've done. For instance, if it's a BOGO deal for entrees, forgo the appetizer, pricey drinks, and dessert or else you have no deal. That's part of the reason the restaurant can give you a half-off meal: they make up for it with extra ordering.
Get enough SNCC deals for the whole family to use. Many of these sites let you buy two or three or more deals yourself so get enough to go around.

Best. Brownies. Ever. Really!

2012-03-01T14:15:00.000-05:00

Good brownies = soft, fudgy brownies in my opinion. I can't stand cake brownies. If I wanted cake, I'd bake one!

Making thick, rich, fudgy brownies is not just the right recipe (which I've developed) but also involves using the right techniques.

Best Brownies Ever - Serves 12

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla flavoring
1 cup flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts or macadamia nuts (optional)

Don't use an electric mixer. Use a glass or metal bowl, not plastic. Beat eggs gently and stir in sugar and oil. Do NOT over beat. In a separate bowl, mix the rest of the ingredients until the flour and cocoa are well mixed. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do NOT over beat. Stir about 45 stirs or until the dry ingredients are blended in. If you over beat, they will be fluffy and ickily cake-like.

Spread in a greased 8 x 8-inch pan. Gently tap the pan on the counter top to release air bubbles and help the batter settle. Allow the batter to stand for 15 minutes or so. I like to get these brownies mixed up before I start baking supper, allow them to stand while I fix the meal, and then pop them in the oven before we sit down to eat. By the time everyone's done, the brownies are, too and have a few minutes to cool before I cut them and top them with ice cream.

If it's glass, bake in a 325-degree pre-heated oven. If it's metal, go with a 350 pre-heated oven. Bake for 30 minutes. But check at 25 minutes. Test with a toothpick inserted in the middle. If it comes out clean, you're all set. If not, bake for two more minutes and check again.Cool before you cut (which only makes sense because you just took them out of the oven, silly!).

Homemade Cookies ANYTIME

2012-03-01T13:39:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love homemade cookies? But who has the time to constantly bake? When faced with this cookie conundrum, I figured out a way to cheaply have that fresh from the oven taste without buying doughboy tubes or gourmet cookies from the store.

Mix up a quadruple batch of your favorite cookies. This is the time to break out the stand mixer if you have one or enlist the kids as stirring assistants. They'll be happy to help since cookies are involved.
If they are cookies made with baking powder, divide the batter into four portions and freeze three portions in freezer safe containers. Bake the other portion.
If they are cookies made with baking SODA, don't freeze the batter because it will get all weird on you in the freezer. Instead, bake the entire batch in a marathon baking session and allow them to cool.
Once cool, (and I mean totally cool without any warmth at all in them), package in freezer safe containers.
Don't let the baked cookies get stale or nearly stale before you freeze them. Freeze them the SAME DAY you bake them. They won't improve in the freezer!
If you froze the batter, defrost it in the fridge before you bake. Don't microwave it. It's not pretty. Not that I would know anything about that.
If you froze the baked cookies, defrost as few or as many as you want anytime you want cookies. They will taste fresh!
Frozen cookies or batter is good for about a month or two for optimal flavor.

Top Ten Shopping Tips

2012-02-16T16:13:00.000-05:00

Shopping for groceries is one expensive date. Where else can you and your beloved spend $50 or more in an hour and not have a wonderful experience to remember? Here are my top ten tips for saving on groceries:

Don't shop hungry. Everything will look delicious and end up in your cart (well, except maybe tripe and pig's feet. I mean, ew, people!)
Make a list of what you really need and stick to it.
Shop your house first. Chances are, you already have lots of things to make meals from and you just need perishables.
Plan your week's menu in advance. Don't go to the store every night to buy something for supper.
Even if you don't receive a Sunday paper (which, by the way, is a great source of coupons), you can look up your store's sales online. That way, you can stock up when prices cycle to their lowest price point. And you can comparison shop.
Be sure to look through the bargain bin at the store.
Shop by the unit price, not the item price. Most stores have a tag that shows a big price in bold and then a small price by the pound, serving, or what have you. The smaller sized font is the one you want to pay attention to because of the different sizes of packaging.
Don't run all over town to save $.03 on a can of beans or $.09 on a bag of potatoes. Stick with one or two stores in close proximity and consider the cost of gas for zigzagging around.
Use coupons on sale items for maximum savings. Don't just use them the week they come in the paper. Usually, the lowest price point is a few weeks after they appear in the paper so you'll have to save them for a bit.
See if your store will match advertised sales from other stores. Ya never know!

How to Save Money with Coupons You Never Use

2012-02-15T15:11:00.000-05:00

Intriguing title, dontcha think? But it's true. If you have food coupons or restaurant coupons from your Sunday paper or other sources that you can't use, you can get value from them. For example, I often receive coupons for restaurants too fancy for a family with young children or too far away from us to warrant driving there. But someone else could use them. Here's how you can make use of them:

Swap coupons with someone who could use them and who has coupons you want. The diaper coupons in the Sunday paper have use to me, but not to a professional couple without children. They'd likely enjoy the coupons to a city-based restaurant too far from us. Coupon swapping sites or Craigslist.com are good ways to connect with coupon swappers.
Start a swap box at your church, club or workplace. (A leave-one-to-take-one policy is a big help in keeping it fair.)
Sell your coupon clipping skills on ebay, Craigslist or other site. Bundle coupon lots of similar types of eateries together or similar foods together, such as fast food coupons or children's food coupons. You won't receive NEARLY the face value, but you'll receive more than if you throw the coupons out.

Tea for Two...or Twenty

2012-02-13T08:14:00.000-05:00

When you're water weary, iced tea can provide a cheap way to enjoy a flavored beverage. Don't buy the bottled stuff. You can make fancy flavored iced tea at home for mere pennies a pitcher. Even better: bottle up a few servings to go.

Add five or six tea bags to a cup and a half of boiling water. Brew for a few minutes, occasionally swishing the bags around. Pour over a pitcher of ice cubes. (If you have Sweeten or flavor to taste. A splash of fruit juice of any sort can make a yummy Snapple-like beverage.

Veggie Hummus

2012-02-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

Hummus is yummy and can be an easy way to get more nutrients into your diet. Try this veggie hummus as a dip for veggie sticks or chips or to spread on crackers instead of ranch dressing or cheesy cracker toppings.

Veggie Hummus - Serves 6

1 15-oz. can of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), drained. Rinse to reduce the sodium content.
1 cup of minced green pepper and/or red pepper, and/or mild banana pepper and/or zucchini. Use whatever combination you want, as long as it equals one cup.
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 cup dried parsley flakes OR cilantro (cilantro lends a nice smokey taste)
1/4 cup dried basil flakes
1/2 tsp. salt
dash black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil or canola oil
1 tsp. lemon juice

Put it all in blender and blend until smooth. Tip: if you froze zucchini or peppers from last summer, you can defrost, drain and use them. Substituting a bit of jalapeno for the green veggies adds a nice kick.

Cheap Stir Fry

2012-02-02T09:00:00.002-05:00

Bags of frozen mixed stir-fry veggies are convenient, but if it's cheaper you can mix your own. Sometimes the premixed stuff is on sale, but if not, here are a few tips:

Try to make the veggies similar in size so they cook evenly.
Use veggies in the same state or add them in an order that allows for sufficient cooking time. For example, add frozen broccoli florets before leftover raw green pepper strips.
Break out those leftovers! An array of textures, flavors and colors make a more interesting stir fry.
Use the same amount of each vegetable so it's balanced.
It's okay to fudge a little. Corn kernels can stand in for baby corn, peas can take the place of snow peas, etc. But don't get weird and try things like squash or potatoes. Well, I guess if your family has to eat it and not mine, by all means, get weird.

Share and save! But don't be a cheat.

2012-02-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Despite my general thrifty (aka "tightwad") tendencies, I do eat out. But I try to eat out without overspending. Sharing can be an easy way to do so. Most restaurants give HUGE portions. If you're a light eater or have small children, most of the time splitting an entree and dessert is the best way to save. Here are a couple exceptions to that rule:

Don't share a plate at an all-you-can-eat buffet. That's cheating! Unless you have a wee baby who's barely eating solid foods, you're ripping off the restaurant. Most buffets offer a children's price or say that kids five and younger eat free, so don't be shy about asking!
Don't share a beverage from a soda fountain. While I think it's fine to share a non-refillable drink (like bottled milk or a carton of juice), draining the fountain dry among your family is also cheating. I bring along a sippy cup for my younger child to avoid table tsunamis and I'm sure the restaurant staff is totally fine with that. Then I give her water (free) or divide a packaged beverage with her since she can't possibly drink an 8-oz. carton of milk.

What's Your LBD?

2012-01-27T14:15:00.000-05:00

No, not a Little Black Dress. I mean your Little Basic Dish: your go-to meal when you're crunched for time or have almost nothing on hand but leftovers that aren't enough to go around on their own. It doesn't have to be boring. Here are a few ideas:

Omelets. If you have eggs, start cooking them flat in a frying pan well lubed with non-stick cooking spray and toss in whatever other cooked ingredients you have like most leftover meat, grated cheese, diced black olives, minced green peppers, minced onion (better if they're sauteed), lunch meat, sliced mushrooms. Anything good as a pizza topping is good in an omelet. Fold it, salt and pepper it and you have an omelet and a LBD.
Pasta & tomato sauce. You can get creative with meat other than beef. Try cut-up chicken, pork or sausage. Add some veggies like grated zucchini, cubed eggplant or summer squash, diced green pepper, or chopped black olives. Tip: use cooked veggies or saute them so the texture won't freak out your family. Use different shapes like ziti or elbows so your family won't say, "This is weird spaghetti" (some are squeamish that way). Pasta is a wonderfully versatile LBD.
Beef vegetable soup. Soup doesn't have to come from a can. Fire up the stove. Bring to boil a few cups of water in a pot. Toss in one bullion cube for each cup. Add a splash of tomato sauce or chili sauce or leftover tomato soup. Add a glug of grape juice. These additions give it body. Add some leftover vegetables and beef. Once it's boiling, add instance rice or some noodles. Cook til tender. Serve with bread or crackers.
Jambalaya soup. This can get really interesting and really different each time you serve it. Combine equal parts of chicken stock or chicken soup and a tomato sauce or tomato soup. Give it cumin and cayenne pepper to taste or use hot sauce. Use leftover or instant rice or small sized pasta. (I've chopped up spaghetti noodles and tossed it in, sauce and all!). Use any leftover meat like ground beef (seasoned for Mexican food is fine, just dial back the cumin), salad shrimp, cooked cut-up chicken or whatever. Add some oregano or Italian seasoning. Serve with bread or crackers.

Peanut butter cup smoothie

2012-01-26T14:26:00.000-05:00

Whether you drink smoothies as a quick meal replacement or as a weight loss aid, this recipe is delicious. Don't forget that with my smoothie recipes you need to assemble all the items FIRST, put them in the blender in order and immediately blend. If you make too much, freeze the leftovers by filling ice cube trays half full. Once frozen, empty into a freezer bag to save for blending up later.

Peanut butter Cup Smoothie - Serves 1

1 raw carrot, scrubbed, peeled and diced
2 tbs. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup small ice cubes
1/2 cup fat-free vanilla yogurt (to reduce calories, use plain non-fat yogurt + 1 tsp. vanilla flavoring)
1/3 cup skim milk
2 tbs. honey (for 128 fewer calories, substitute stevia to taste)
2 tbs. peanut butter

Without doing the substitutions, this is 440 calories or so, making it a decent meal replacement. It provides a vegetable, protein from dairy and a legume, and a few carbs if you use honey.

If you want to lose weight, use the substitutions to lower the calorie count to under 300.

Spoil Your Kids (Their Appetites at Least)

2012-01-06T15:58:00.000-05:00

I don't know what there is about it but once the car seats are buckled, my children go into famine mode. Despite the fact that they just ate 20 minutes ago, all of a sudden they're STARVING. Especially if they see a gleaming, giant "M" sign.

That's why I take along snacks to spoil their appetites. Shelf-stable favorites include dry cereal, crackers, and dried fruit. It also helps to time shopping expeditions to fall between meals. (Bonus: fed kids are less crabby in the store and also don't want to buy every yummy thing they see.)

If the trip is taking longer than I had anticipated, I whip out the snacks. (For very small children, it's better to pull over so you can help a choking child.)

If I'm in the store, I swing by the deli or bakery to see if they're offering free samples before I offer my own snacks. Most stores overlook if you quietly offer non-messy snacks. It's better than hearing a howling, hungry child. Just uses common sense and offer them in a non-spill container.

Cheap Can Be Nutritous

2011-12-10T10:36:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest criticisms of cheap chow is that it's nutritionally void gut fill. Examples include non-fortified breakfast cereal, chips, fruit snacks and the like. But many cheap food are nutrition gems. Plan your menus around these for a healthful AND cheap diet. Here are a few examples.

Breakfast
Oatmeal - fiber, said to lower cholesterol, a good source of whole grain
Bananas - low calorie, source of potassium
Skim milk - fortified with vitamin D, source of calcium
Frozen juice - the freezing process does very little to diminish the nutrients in juice such as vitamin C

Lunch
Dry beans (to use in chili or soup) - source of fiber, protein. Cook a huge batch and freeze in small portions ready to use.
Canned tomato products (to use in chili, soup) - antioxidant properties aren't harmed by the canning process
Peanut butter - source of protein and heart-healthy fat
Whole grain bread - though more expensive than white or wheat, you eat less of it and it has much more fiber
"Healthy Choice" type of soups - most cost the same as the fat-filled, sodium laden versions! Use your coupons to score better deals.

Dinner
Whole chicken - an inexpensive way to buy this lean source of protein
Brown rice - a bit more expensive than white, but it has more fiber
Frozen vegetables - more nutritious and flavorful than canned yet cheaper than fresh. Some frozen vegetables in fact have more nutrition than fresh because they are preserved at the peak of freshness and not transported for weeks before they reach you.
Romaine and other dark leaf lettuces - they cost more than iceberg, but store much longer and offer many more nutrients.

Snacks
Popcorn - low in calories, high in fiber. The cheapest way to make it is to buy a popcorn bowl and loose kernels and add your own topping like olive oil and salt.
Oranges and apples - buy by the bag and dig into all the vitamins and fiber they offer.

Don't You Carrot All?

2011-11-17T16:30:00.001-05:00

The carrot is a goldmine of nutrition many children don't wish to mine. But you can slip Bugs Bunny's fave snack into your family's food to boost nutrition and not spend more on extra fortified foods. Puree peeled, cooked carrots and freeze in ice cubetrays so they're handy. Then use them in:

Berry smoothies. Trust me, they won't taste three or four carrot cubes in a full blender. But if you make a mildly flavored smoothie, the flavor will come through. So avoid flavors like banana, melon, etc.
Tomato sauces. Think spaghetti sauce, enchiladas, sloppy Joes, tomato soup, chili and so on.
Hearty cookies, cakes, breads and muffins. Varieties such as oatmeal raisin cookies, zucchini bread and oatmeal pancakes already have "stuff" in them, so pureed carrot will slip right in unnoticed. Defrost first and stir in with the wet ingredients.
Vegetable-based soups and stews. Give them an extra boost with more carrot power!

Bin There, Done That

2011-11-14T16:11:00.001-05:00

I LOVE bargain bins of all sorts. But the bin (or shelf) of clearance items at your grocery store or even dollar store can be a great source of cheap chow. Follow these tips for scoring great deals.

Shop the bargain bin first every time to avoid paying full price unnecessarily.
Check the packaging for tears, dents or damage. If it's just cosmetic, go for it. But be wary of tears that could indicate the food will be stale or its safety compromised. Badly dented cans can make the food inside not as wholesome to eat. Food safety rules!
Always check the expiration date. Don't assume the store is keeping close tabs on bargain bin foods. Most foods that are a day or so over date are fine. Just eat it up right away.
Another option is freezing it. Leaving bread in its original bag will keep it decent for a couple weeks. I always replace plastic tab closures with twisty ties and make sure all the air has been pushed out of the bread bag. That keeps baked good fresher. If you want to store bread for more than a couple weeks, use a freezer bag since it's heavier ply. Most types of cheese (especially hard cheese) can be frozen, as can yogurt, cottage cheese and cream cheese. Milk can be frozen, too, if you pour out some of the milk so there's room in the jug for expansion. Wash and blanch any fresh veggies before freezing. Freeze overripe bananas in their peels for making banana bread or muffins later.
Don't buy anything just because it's cheap. Make sure you can actually use it or give it to someone else or you've wasted money.

Bigger is Better

2011-11-14T13:31:00.000-05:00

Let's talk turkey. Thanksgiving turkey, to be specific. Since you're going through the effort to cook a bird, why not make it a big bird? (Not the yellow guy on Sesame Street; a big turkey!) Cooking the biggest bird you can will make sure everyone has plenty to eat, you will have tons of leftovers to freeze for later and it's a savings on electricity, too, since you'll already have the oven heated up. An extra 30 minutes or so to cook a few extra pounds is better than cooking meat on two different occasions.

So when you're picking out Mr. Tom Turkey, go big this year and enjoy the savings and convenience of pre-cooked turkey for the weeks ahead.

Menu Planning Saves Money

2011-11-11T23:08:00.000-05:00

I like to plan out a weeks' Monday through Friday dinners in advance so I don't go crazy after a busy day wondering what to make and so I can save money. I've known people who decide what to make for dinner by what looks good at the grocery store on their way home. Bad idea!

First, you're pressed for time. You'll grab whatever's expensive and easy. Second, you're probably hungry. Stores prey on us by wafting those delicious deli and bakery smells to us so we overspend. They're not dumb. Third, you won't have meals that springboard into other meals. I'll explain that in a moment. Here's a sample meal plan:

Monday: Spaghetti with meatballs, salad, crusty bread (I prepare 250% extra bread, sauce, meatballs, and salad and reserve the extra. I cook 2x as many noodles as what I need and reserve them.)
Tuesday: Broiled chicken with BBQ sauce, pork & beans, raw veggies (I broil a couple extra pieces of chicken, reserve 30% extra beans and reserve one green pepper cut in strips from the raw veggies tray.)
Wednesday: Sloppy Joes (I mince and sautee all the reserved green pepper strips but use only half, combine with part of the extra spaghetti sauce and meatballs, break apart meatballs, add reserved pork & beans and add a dash of chili powder. Then I heat it through and serve on crusty bread.)
Thursday: Beef tacos. (I use remaining salad and make 25% extra meat)
Friday: Jambalaya Soup (I chop up the extra noodles to shorter lengths, add the last of the reserved tomato sauce, remaining sauteed green pepper strips, and stir in chicken broth, a bay leaf, extra chicken and taco meat. If needed, add a dash of salsa for more heat.)

By making purposeful leftovers that can go into future meals, I save prep time later in the week. For items like the leftover chicken, I pop them in the freezer and put them in the fridge the night before I plan to make that meal so they're ready to go.

If your family tends to snack on leftovers, either adjust accordingly how much you make or label the purposeful leftovers as off limits.

Cheap Eats on the Go

2011-10-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

At times, even I grab a quick bite while out. But even hitting a drive-through window can be really spendy these days. Try these tips for keeping expenses down.

Use coupons! I shouldn't have to tell you this, but keeping restaurant and fast food coupons in the car, even if you don't plan on eating out, can save you bucks if you do happen to need them.
Ask if they have a senior discount if you're old enough.
Some fast food places give a free meal to the bus driver so if you're behind the wheel of a bus, ask about it.
At a fast food place, order tap water instead of soda pop and limit yourself to two dollar menu items.
If you do order a drink, get a fountain drink, not a bottled one, because you can order it without ice and get more and also (if you go inside), top it off before you leave to get more value from the drink order. Most places don't charge for refills on fountain drinks or coffee.
Consider ordering one big food item to split among a few people in your group.
If you're at a place where you order meal deals, they usually give you way too many fries or overly large salads, so you could order one meal plus a free standing sandwich (from the dollar menu of course) and split the fries or salad (unless you're feeding teen boys, of course) to feed two people. The lid off the salad can serve as one person's plate. Don't forget to get an extra fork!
Don't be afraid to order an item from the children's menu. Most places will let you even if you don't have children with you and the children's menu has smaller items (and prices!).
Consider stopping at a grocery store deli. Sometimes their sandwiches, wraps and single pizza slices are a steal and are served very quickly. Plus, you can buy a larger-sized, better-priced beverage from elsewhere in the store and pour a serving into your own travel container in the car. Many stores sell two-liters of soda pop pre-chilled.
While you're swinging through the store, snag any free food samples available to dull your appetite.
Some stores have a small cafe area near the deli. You can also buy other stuff from the store and eat it there.

Drinks on the go

2011-09-28T15:47:00.000-04:00

I really hate forking over $1, $2 and more for drinks from drive-through windows or gas stations. It bothers me that $.25 or less worth of beverage should cost so much just because it's in a convenient package and when and where I want it. So instead, I use these strategies to save money on drinks when out-and-about.

Bring along a water bottle. It's considered hip and "green" to carry a washable water bottle. I consider it cheap, not chic and laugh all the way to the bank (or wherever I'm going, water bottle in tow). To keep it cold, I fill 'er up with ice, top it off with cold water and slide my water bottle into a neoprene sleeve. Mine has a handy clip on the side so I can keep my H2O handy. As long as it's a closed container, most businesses don't fuss if you bring your drink with you. Museums are a different story, so mind the signs. Most restaurants don't mind if someone (meaning me!) brings in water. Maybe I have some medical condition (like cheapus humanus) that requires me to drink lots of water? Or I have to take pills with water? Who can say?
In your diaper bag or Mom Bag (the huge ~~purse~~ suitcase you carry to haul all your kids' junk in once they're all potty trained), bring a bottle, sippy or flip-top drink in the restaurants for the kids. Most restaurants would rather see you hydrate your darlings with a closed container familiar to them than to mop up a big, wet mess when their cups get dumped. And for the little ones, you may have something in that container that they don't offer like whole milk.
Ask for tap water at the restaurant. Eateries have become sneaky. If you ask for water, they'll bring you a bottle of water (cha-CHING), so outsmart them by asking for tap water. Some don't have good tasting tap water (at least to this girl raised on mineral laden well water) but this isn't very common.
At the fast food restaurant, ask for a small cup for water. Most have an iced tea dispenser among the soda pop varieties and if you flip a lever, you can get water instead of tea. Just ask if it comes to it. Hey, we're talking about a whole buck or more here!
If you do break down and buy a fountain drink, get the smallest size with no ice. If they have free refills, top 'er off before you go to get the biggest value for the price paid.

Cereal Powder, Chip Crumbs and Other Tiny Sources of Food

2011-09-26T12:08:00.009-04:00

You know that fine dust that's at the bottom of the cereal box's liner? Or the miniscule chips at the bottom of the bag? If no one in your house likes them, here's a way to get your family to eat them that won't involve duct tape and forced feeding. Freeze the little food for use later.

Cereal Powder

Stir into cookie dough or brownie batter
Add to pancake batter (nutritious cereals are good in batter, like raisin bran)
Top muffins, quick breads or sweet bread (add some cinnamon, too)
Sprinkle on buttered toast (works well with sweetened cereal)
Mix into French toast batter

Potato Chip Crumbs

Mix with Parmesan cheese and top a casserole
Use as breading for meat or fried cheese sticks
Puree and blend into a chip dip

Yogurt on the cheap

2011-09-21T11:26:00.000-04:00

Unless you find great sales and have coupons, buying plain generic yogurt in the huge tubs is the way to go. But most people prefer sweetened, flavored, fruity yogurt. If you fix it up yourself, you can not only save money but control the amount of sugar involved, too.

Plain Yogurt, Fixed Up - serves 4

1 32-oz. tub of plain yogurt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbs. honey OR maple syrup OR jam
Any berries or diced bananas or peaches you have on hand

Combine all thoroughly.

How Cheap Is TOO Cheap? Part II

2011-09-08T11:47:00.001-04:00

Just when I thought I'd heard the cheapest of the cheap tactics (like Dumpster diving for perishable food), I've heard a few new Doozies:

Buying whole milk and adding water by a ratio of 1:3. While this does "lengthen" the milk, it's less nutritionally dense so to get the calcium, protein and vitamin D of a standard glass of milk, you'd have to drink more. So what have you really gained? Instead, buy powdered milk and reconstitute it if that's cheaper than fluid milk in your area. Use that for cooking and fluid milk for drinking. I'd only lengthen whole milk if my family were unconsciously chug-a-lugging milk and I could be sure they were getting enough calcium protein and vitamin D.
Adding an extra can of water to concentrated juice (see above).
Adding more water to condensed soup (again, see above). If you want to lengthen soup, add more noodles, rice, meat, vegetables or broth. (Broth is made by adding a bullion cube to one cup of boiling water, NOT by adding weak pan drippings to soup. If you cook drippings down til they're strong enough, that's different.)
Saving table scraps (not leftovers) to "recycle" into other meals for other people. Note, I think it's okay to save some for a day for the SAME person, but saving too long will result in the food breaking down because it's been exposed to saliva (this is especially true of babies, who are more slobbery) and feeding them to another person is just gross.
Going to cookware demonstrations at a fair or festival not to see how the pots and pans work but just to score a free lunch from the sample food they have cooked. While I'm not against snapping up samples at grocery stores for a quick snack (the goal is to have you taste their food), it's wrong to waste the demonstrator's time when you have no real interest in the cookware.

Remember: thrifty can still be tasty. Skinflint isn't tasty.

Smitten by Greek Yogurt

2011-09-02T11:57:00.001-04:00

There's a reason that last spring Chobani, a new yogurt company, catapulted itself to #1 in the nation past Dannon, Yoplait, and all other brands and varieties: Chobani makes Greek yogurt. And Greek yogurt is very, very good. It's very thick and has twice (!) the protein of standard yogurt.

What's there not to love? The price. It's roughly 1/3 more expensive than standard yogurt. What's a Cheap Chow Hound to do if she wants to try Greek yogurt? Make your own. It's a lot easier than buying a yogurt making kit (which you COULD do but would take a lot of time to use).

The difference between Greek yogurt and standard yogurt is that the former is strained at the end of production to get more of the liquid out. Chobani uses a centerfuge to do the trick. But if you don't happen to have one, just buy some regular yogurt, line a strainer with cheesecloth or a clean, loose-weave, non-fuzzy dishtowel, and plop some standart yogurt in there. Let it drain for a while (even overnight in the fridge) and you'll get an idea of what all the hoopla is about.

Free Parlsey Flakes

2011-09-01T11:53:00.000-04:00

Okay, I know parsley flakes aren't super spendy, but if you use them a lot and you'd like some for free, here's how.

1. Grow carrots or buy carrots with the tops still on them
2. Remove said carrot tops and wash them very well.
3. Cut up the carrot tops into small pieces.
3. Dry them spread out on a jelly roll pan in a 200-degree oven with the door adjar until they are dry and crumbly.
4. Store in an airtight container.

There you have it!

Zucchini Avalanche

2011-08-02T10:40:00.004-04:00

Zucchini continue to invade from the garden, row upon row of gleaming, green vegetables. Here are a few ways you can use them that go way beyond zucchini bread:

Cut like French fries and fry in oil
Slice, batter and fry.
Slice and fry with onion and summer squash slices.
Slice and use in stir-fry in place of snow peas.
Cut into matchsticks and toss in salads.
Peel, remove seeds (if it's a big one), slice into wedges and make mock apple pie.
Shred whole and use in: sloppy Joes, spaghetti, omelets, rice pilaf, sprinkled on pizza, and mixed into meatloaf.
Shred and freeze in freezer-safe bags to use in soups, stews and other savory dishes this winter.