Stephanie Langford’s (Keeper of the Home) eBook, “Plan It, Don’t Panic” is on sale 25% off with the code CHALLENGE25, making it only $3.74. Or you can just go for a bundle of all 3 of her books at 50% off (that’s only $19!) with the code BUNDLE50!

Tropical Traditions

Tropical Traditions is having a very rare sale over Memorial Day weekend: 10% off your entire purchase (minimum purchase $16 required)! Use the code: 12283. This code expires midnight Monday, May 28.

See the rest of Tropical Traditions specials here.

Amazon.com

• Stretch Island Fruit Leather 30pk $10.88 w/ Subscribe and Save – only $0.36 each (unbeatable price)
• Sunbutter 6pk 160z jars $21.76 w/ Subscribe and Save – only $3.62 each! (AWESOME price!)
• HAPPYBABY organic baby food Fresh Mango 16 pouches $13.60 w/ Subscribe & Save – less than $1 each

Vitacost

Vitacost’s Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil 16oz is on sale for $8.49! Get it while you can, because quantities are limited.

(If this is your first time ordering through Vitacost, you can save $10 by clicking on my link!)

Sprouted flour is  10 % off through June 4 at Cultures for Health with code: FLOUR. 

Printable Coupons

Coupons.com

• $0.55 off Florida Crystals sugar (new)
• $1.50 off Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• $1.50 on 2 Kashi Steam Meals
• $1 off Alexia products
• $1 off Star Olive Oil
• $1.50 off 2 Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers
• $0.50 off Hormel Natural Choice lunchmeat or chicken
• $1 off Nature’s Bounty supplement
• $1 off 2 Greenworks
• $1 off Sundown Naturals supplement
• $0.55 off So Delicious almond or other non-dairy milk
• $2 off Florastor probiotic
• $1 off 2 Wolfgang Puck products
• $1 off McCann’s Oatmeal
• and more

Get premium coupons now in the Coupons.com Savings Club

• NEW:85¢ off when you buy any FOUR GERBER® Organic Pouches
• $1.25 off when you buy any ONE Barbara’s® Cereal
• $1.50 off AVENT BPA-Free Toddler Cup
• $1.10 off Nature’s Bounty® Vitamins or Supplements
• $1.10 off when you buy any ONE Sundown Naturals® product
• $1.00 off THREE 24.5 oz Jars of DOLE® All Natural Fruit
• and more

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

So in the picture above, you see what I threw away this week:

1. half a carton of buttermilk (Expired May 2! Oops.)
2. a few pieces of leftover coconut cream fudge that were, um, a couple weeks old (at least)

This is unfortunately only part of the story. I was gone all last week because my dad had open heart surgery (amazing how the body can heal from such a thing!) and the guys were left to fend for themselves. (Not entirely true: I made most of their food ahead of time, or otherwise planned easy-to-fix meals.) Since I am generally the one who manages the food inventory, nobody else paid attention to the various and sundry containers lying around the refrigerator. When I got home, I did have to throw away a few things that had escaped everyone else’s notice.

One thing I managed to salvage was the remainder of a bag of mixed greens I had bought at the farmers’ market a week before I left. The greens were just starting to wilt; they weren’t yellowing or getting slimy, so they were still in decent shape. I picked out enough of the best leaves to make myself a delicious salad for lunch, and I stuck the rest in the freezer to throw into a future pot of broth. 

So if you find yourself with an excess of greens – any kind, from arugula to spinach! – don’t dump them down the garbage disposal. Instead, inspect them briefly, and if they are only wilted (no slime or browned leaves), consider using them in any of the following ways:

• steamed or sauteed (If you like that sort of thing. Me? No, thank you!)
• chopped up and added to scrambled eggs, omelets, or frittatas
• as toppings on a pizza
• added to soup 
• used in broth
• dehydrated (it doesn’t take long in a dehydrator, a couple hours at most) and crumbled into soups like you would herbs

Those who plan menus generally tend to waste less food. Not into menu planning? You might want to read Stephanie Langford’s eBook, “Plan It, Don’t Panic” for inspiration. Right now, it’s on sale 25% off with the code CHALLENGE25, making it only $3.74. Or you can just go for a bundle of all 3 of her books at 50% off (that’s only $19!) with the code BUNDLE50!

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

I am so grateful for each and every one of you, my readers, and I am excited to have another chance to share my appreciation with you. Some friends and I put our heads together and came up with an eBook for you, and you’re going to love this one!

The weather is just starting to get hotter, as we’re heading into summer in the next month or so. Oatmeal -so warming and welcoming in the cold of winter – just doesn’t cut it anymore in the hot weather of the summer months. Smoothies are the way to go instead! Nourishing, refreshing, and fast, they’ll fill you up with everything you need to start your day… without heating up the kitchen. 

They also make great snacks, and even desserts! Best of all, each smoothie from Spring Into Smoothies  is made with only the healthiest ingredients, so you don’t have to feel the least guilty about enjoying one… even if it reminds you of a Reese’s peanut butter cup. Or apple pie. Or a creamsicle.

Thankfully, you can get your hands on these recipes simply by subscribing to my blog! If you subscribe already, you will see the link to download the free eBook at the very bottom of the email. For new subscribers, you will need to complete the subscription process; then, when you receive the first regularly scheduled post (they usually arrive around 8:00 am Monday through Saturday), you will find the link at the very bottom of the email. If you have questions about the process, feel free to ask.

Many thanks to the following ladies who participated in Spring Into Smoothies:

Nikki @ Christian Mommy Blogger (She did all the formatting and technical stuff, by the way!)

Jami @ Young Wife’s Guide (She designed the cover!)

Erin @ The Humbled Homemaker

Rachel @ Day2Day Joys

Mindy @ The Purposed Heart 

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

Rachel of Day2Day Joys and I are so excited to be joining you once again.

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

Today I’m participating in the Ultimate Blog Swap. You’ll find me posting over at Adventures in Life, Love, Librarianship about building your digital cookbook library for FREE, and I’m excited to welcome Kate from Modern Alternative Mama to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy:

A few weeks ago, I was looking at my grocery budget in despair.  The amount I’d decided on a year ago and the method of working with what I bought were just not making it anymore.  My kids are bigger now and I have another eater (and man, can that baby eat!).  My husband’s starving all the time because he goes to the gym five days a week, which he didn’t a year ago.  Something had to be done.

Money concerns aside, one thing I decided I needed to do was to get more out of what I was already buying.  There has to be use for all those things I’m throwing away, right?

And in many cases, there is!  Here are five “kitchen scraps” and how you can put them to good use:

Bones, Gristle, and Skin

I always buy bone-in, skin-on meat (or almost always).  When we finish a meal, the scraps go into the Crockpot or a stock pot to make stock.  It doesn’t matter if it’s only a pound of bones or less, I still use it.  It might make a quart of stock, but who cares?

If I cut up a steak to marinate for stir-fry, I roast that small amount of bones and use those too.  I pretty much always have a pot or two of stock going in my kitchen!  I strain it every day or two and add any new bones and re-fill the pot.  It might keep going like this for a week before I actually throw the bones out.  That’s several quarts of stock I wouldn’t have had otherwise.  (And I use my stock to make gravies or sauces to stretch the meat further.  Once I managed to use a single pound of ground beef to feed all five of us for breakfast and lunch!)

Citrus Peels

It always seems like such a waste to throw out those beautiful peels!  Luckily there are a couple ways to use them.  If you’re baking or cooking something that features citrus, use the zest in the dish along with the juice, even if it doesn’t call for it.  The zest adds a depth and richness of flavor.

If you don’t need it for this, you can use a vegetable peeler to pull the zest off in strips and dry it an oven on low or in a dehydrator.  You can also choose to keep the pith (the white part) with the zest and just chop it up and dry the whole thing.  The dried peels can be used to make tea, herbal medicines, or potpourri.

Root Veggie Scraps

If you cook as much as I do, you constantly have carrot peels, onion ends, and celery ends around your kitchen.  Right?  Don’t throw them away!  If you make stock constantly like I do (see above), toss them straight into the pot.  I’ve been known to peel my carrots directly over my stock pots.  If you make stock less often, save them in a bag and tuck them in the fridge or freezer until you’re ready to do it.  I never use whole carrots, onions, or celery in stock anymore unless they’re on the verge of going bad anyway.  Floppy, pale celery gets tossed into the pot too, rather than thrown out!

Fruit and Veggie Pulp

Do you juice foods?  Sometimes I make apple-carrot juice to use as a smoothie base.  When I’m not just using plain yogurt, anyway.  That leaves me with pulp, though.  I also use juiced lemons and limes a lot…more pulp.  There has to be a use for this, right?

Toss it in with your baked goods.  If it’s really moist, reduce the other liquids a bit.  It’ll give it a unique flavor (for something strong like lemon; less so for apple or carrot) and extra nutrition.  If you aren’t baking, toss it into a soup or tomato sauce, if it’s savory enough that you wouldn’t notice.  I “got rid” of a bunch of shredded zucchini and carrot pulp this way when no one wanted it.

Leftover Mashed Potatoes

Okay, this isn’t exactly a “scrap” like the others, but it’s something I seem to have around in my kitchen a lot.  I found recently that they make a great replacement for bread crumbs in meatballs or meatloaf.  It’s a great way to use up mashed potatoes when you have not quite enough for one serving (nowhere near enough for a meal!).  Plus, it’s completely grain- and gluten-free, so it’s a safe and frugal substitute for many on special diets.

If you’re not making meatballs anytime soon, you can also toss them into soups to thicken them, or use them to give baked goods a tender texture.

Using up all the little bits that you already have in your kitchen can save so much money over time, and it allows you to be really creative in using what you have.  Try it out – you might come up with a totally unique meal just by using up scraps!

What’s your favorite way to use “scraps” or leftovers in your kitchen?

Visit Life Your Way to see all of the Ultimate Blog Swap participants!

Linking up at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

• Oatmeal
• Smoothies
• Muesli
• Oat Muffins
• 1-2-3 Granola

Lunches

• Leftovers
• Ham Sandwiches (made with nitrate-free lunchmeat, and this allergen-friendly bread)

Dinners

• Crock Pot Chicken, Rice, Carrots, Fruit
• Chicken Leftovers, Pasta, Fruit
• Sausage, Home Fries, Melon
• Fish
• Spaghetti

Snacks

• Nuts, Raisins, Cranberries
• Happy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (made with a mixture of Oat, Buckwheat and Sorghum flours to be wheat-free)

In My Kitchen Today

• Oat Muffins

*My concept of “Eating Intentionally”, and the 10 principles we are working through this year, come from the book “Intuitive Eating” by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I highly recommend it – I don’t agree with everything in it, but it is a great read for anybody who has ever been on a diet and/or is considering going on a diet. 

This post contains affiliate links.

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

From Katie at Kitchen Stewardship: Friday, May 18th through Monday, My 21st, the Family Camping Handbook, 2nd Edition, will be on sale for 42% off – because once when we camped out, we emerged from the tent to a 42-degree day…in August. Luckily we had packed hats and mittens! The code will be 42DEGREES. Also, if you are interested in some new recipes for the summer party/travel/outdoor season, you may want to grab another KS ebook, particularly Healthy Snacks to Go or Smart Sweets, at the same time. You can get 15% off any other ebook while you’re grabbing the good deal on the camping book – because we had a 15-month-old with us when we had that 42-degree morning. She was a trooper! Therefore, that code will be TROOPER15.

Tropical Traditions

Tropical Traditions has a new size of coconut oil! And to introduce it, it’s on sale now: Buy One Get One Free! That’s two pints (16oz each) for $19.95, a great price.

See the rest of Tropical Traditions specials here.

Amazon.com

• Stretch Island Fruit Leather 30pk $10.88 w/ Subscribe and Save – only $0.36 each (unbeatable price)
• Sunbutter 6pk 160z jars $21.76 w/ Subscribe and Save – only $3.62 each! (AWESOME price!)
• HAPPYBABY organic baby food Fresh Mango 16 pouches $13.60 w/ Subscribe & Save – less than $1 each

Vitacost

Buy $25 worth of Vitacost brand products and get free shipping! Most of their products are supplements, so it’s a great time to stock up on those. But if you’re looking for grocery deals, here are some great prices I found:

• 54 oz Coconut Oil $20.99
• 16oz Organic Apple Cider Vinegar $2.00
• 16oz Chia Seeds $7.49
• 15oz Organic Cold Milled Flaxseed $3.99

(If this is your first time ordering through Vitacost, you can save $10 by clicking on my link!)

Want to try making cheese?  Until May 21, you can get 10 % off Cheese-Making Kits at Cultures for Health. Prices start at $14.95.

Printable Coupons

Coupons.com

• $0.55 off Florida Crystals sugar (new)
• $1.50 off Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• $1.50 on 2 Kashi Steam Meals
• $1 off Alexia products
• $1 off Star Olive Oil
• $1.50 off 2 Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers
• $0.50 off Hormel Natural Choice lunchmeat or chicken
• $1 off Nature’s Bounty supplement
• $1 off 2 Greenworks
• $1 off Sundown Naturals supplement
• $0.55 off So Delicious almond or other non-dairy milk
• $2 off Florastor probiotic
• $1 off 2 Wolfgang Puck products
• $1 off McCann’s Oatmeal
• and more

Get premium coupons now in the Coupons.com Savings Club

• $1.25 off when you buy any ONE Barbara’s® Cereal
• $1.50 off AVENT BPA-Free Toddler Cup
• $1.10 off Nature’s Bounty® Vitamins or Supplements
• $1.10 off when you buy any ONE Sundown Naturals® product
• $1.00 off THREE 24.5 oz Jars of DOLE® All Natural Fruit
• and more

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

My personal opinion? Breastfeeding a child exclusively for the first 6 months, and then continuing thereafter for another 6 months at least is the best thing you can do for them nutritionally. After that, as long as you offer them real, whole foods, and avoid artificial and processed foods, they will be well on their way to a healthy lifestyle.

Sounds simple enough, right? And I think it can be. But if you’re still overwhelmed by all the options surrounding “real, whole foods”, and are seeking a little guidance, Modern Alternative Mama has written an e-book just for you.

Breast to Bib covers the issues from breastfeeding to first foods to toddler pickiness and gives ideas for each stage. It’s not a comprehensive encyclopedia of each of these issues, but it is full of common sense advice and recipes to boot.

I really like the simple approach to feeding babies and small children: not too soon, not too much, and nothing out of the ordinary. OK, well maybe the suggestion for raw liver is a little out of the ordinary (I have to admit I have my concerns about feeding anyone – adults or children – raw liver!), but most of her ideas and recipes will fit well into any family’s lifestyle. You might even find some suggestions easier; for example, she recommends foregoing the whole baby food process (even homemade) and just feeding baby little bits of whatever the rest of the family is eating (note that there is nothing wrong with baby food; it’s just another method of weaning a child to solids).

The baby food section contains all sorts of recipes for soft and easily digested foods that will give your little one valuable nutrients and calories for growth. You will also learn when and how to introduce different kinds of foods for the healthiest approach to weaning.

The toddler section of the book contains a guide that will instruct you when to feed certain questionable foods (like honey and allergenic foods). It also contains recipes that will show you how to healthify such kid-friendly favorites as chicken nuggets, pigs-in-a-blanket, barbecue and ranch sauces for dipping, quesadillas and more!

One of my lucky readers will win a copy of Breast to Bib! This giveaway will close at midnight on Tuesday, May 22, and is open to all readers everywhere. You will be notified by email if you win.

And that’s not all – everyone gets a discount on Breast to Bib! Use the code QUICK25 from now until May 25 to get 25% off the full price, making it only $6.75!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

Rachel of Day2Day Joys and I are so excited to be joining you again.

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!

I love turning trash into treasures. Egg containers, coffee cans, empty jars and bottles… none of them are safe from me! I love figuring out new ways to use them instead of just throwing them all away. Join me at Homemaker’s Challenge today where I show you how to turn an empty oatmeal canister into a toilet paper dispenser that will beautify your bathroom (really!).

Sharing at Frugal Days Sustainable Ways

Thank you for subscribing to Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy! Here's your free copy of Spring Into Smoothies All Summer Long. Enjoy!