One of the things I like about Erin’s recipes is the fact they are pretty varied and healthy, so even vegetarians can get some great recipes. Although we’re not sure exactly what recipes will end up in the book,you can pre-order now.

Congrats to Erin for the book deal, and congrats on the new baby!

        

You just order from Amazon and it’s free after th

        

This is great if your little ones love PBJs or other types of jam-friendly foods. Not only can you save a substantial amount of money, it’s fun, easy and healthy. Plus you can store them for future use. Happy jam-making and thanks Pick Your Own!

        

Jen over at Frugal Upstate shares an easy homemade pretzel recipe for families who’s kids are always enticed by the pricey (yet yummy) pretzels they see around town.

Since the average price of the “retail” pretzels can hover around $3 or more, the amount of money you can save, while keeping the kiddies happy, is apparent. Plus, as Jen points out, it’s fun for them to help make. Thanks Jen!

Get the recipe

        

If you sign up to be a Facebook fan of iTunes, you will get 20 free downloads.

Go there now and enjoy your free music.

        

The remedies, offered by Fitness Magazine, include tea for shiny hair, berries for great skin, and cornmeal for smooth feet, among other natural, and in many cases edible, things.

Thanks to Tip Hero and Fitness magazine!

        

Over the past 2 days, I spent a little under $200 on enough storable groceries to last us 6-8 months. Among the purchases is a 6 month supply of rice, beans, pasta, spices, flour and 3-4 months frozen goods.

But now it seems my obsession with storing healthy food has created a new dilemma, a blessed lack of refrigerator freezer space. So even though it was something I considered in the past, I am now planning on buying a deep freezer.

I’ve always cooked 99.9% of meals at home, so cooking in bulk is a natural progression. Besides freezing loaves of homemade bread, I love making stews and soups in the crockpot and freezing the leftovers, as well as stocking up on fruit in season and freezing for out-of-season eating. I’ve gotten pretty good at bulk buying store-able groceries, however I still make twice-weekly visits to the grocery or farmers market for fresh produce and other perishables, so being able to bulk purchase, and freeze these items would save gas money and time.

In my quest to see whether a deep freezer purchase really made sense for a newly single vegetarian mom of one vegetarian son, I started doing some research. After all, I always thought a deep freezer was for storing sides of beef, legs of lamb, and heads of deer.

Thankfully, I found this great article, which did most of the math for me, and another one which echoed my own lifestyle. And yes $230 for a chest freezer, plus the estimated $50-60 a year to operate it, is thrifty, for me. Not only will it save money, by supporting, and accommodating my expanding bulk buying/cooking habits, it will also save incalculable hours of my time, which is, quite frankly, priceless.

        

Frugal blender recipes

I love, love , love my blender. It saves me a ton of money and helps me make super healthy food such as homemade pasta sauces, syrups, shakes, spreads, fruit smoothies, organic applesauce, and all kinds of purees for economic, tasty soups.

Buying a good blender is a must. Since most of us are looking for multi-functionality, it makes sense to invest in a quality blender that will last and perform tasks such as ice crushing, or even coffee grinding. It may be pricier at first, but it will pay for itself over and over by allowing you to process low-cost foods that you can freeze for future use.

If you’re looking to purchase, or replace a blender, do your research on the best one for your particular needs. Then find as many recipes as you can and feel free to share your faves.

        

This vegetarian dish gives you a healthy mix of aforementioned lentils and rice, along with the homey, delicious addition of macaroni (or any pasta of your choosing), onions and more.

Rice and pasta together, automatically one thinks “too much carbs,” but whoda thunk it could be so good?

The price comes out to a mere $3.48 (that’s if the carrots are free) and it’s really tasty. Not bad for guilt-free comfort food.

Get the ingredients below and mosey over to Erin’s for the rest of the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup elbow noodles ($.50)
1 cup brown rice ($.40)
1.5 cups green lentils ($.50) Any other kind will work!
1 green pepper, diced ($.79)
1 15 oz can organic tomato sauce ($.24)
1 6 oz can tomato sauce ($.25)
1 Tbsp brown sugar ($.05)
1 tsp garlic powder ($.05)
2 Tbsp ground cumin ($.25)
Salt/Pepper, about 1 tsp each
1 onion ($.40)
2 Tbsp canola oil ($.05)
Couple carrot sticks (Free!)

        

Why I wasted time searching high and low is anybody’s guess, because after all the Internet trekking I just ended up on my goto recipe site, Allrecipes.com, and found this brilliant gem.

This bread tastes, in my opinion, better than most cinnamon-raisin breads you can buy, and for the price of one loaf of bread from the store you can make approx. 6 loaves at home.

If you try it, let the rest of us know how you like it. Enjoy!