Extra Tomatoes??? Salsa, baby!

What to do when your sweet neighbor gives you lots of tomatoes at the end of the summer! Make Salsa, baby!!!  This stuff is better than the canned name brand stuff with all the preservatives!  Salsa will never be the same for me....

 Garden Fresh Salsa

3-4 tomatoes

1/2 onion (more if you like)

1 green pepper

1 tbsp. lime juice (shhh.. the secret ingredient)

1 tsp. cilantro

salt, to taste

(add any pepper you like to make it hot)

I just chop all the ingredients, mix them in a bowl and serve it up!  It is better the 2nd day [the lime mixes in with everything and makes an awesome flavor]!

This is so easy to multiply the batches and share with neighbors or serve at a party.  [soooo sorry for all you "no nightshade" folks out there... one day there may be a no tomato salsa]

Saving Money with Coupons!

I admit it.  I'm a couponer.  I love saving money.  I love watching the cashier's eyeballs pop out of their head when they tell me how much I have saved.  It is a rush that is hard to describe.

However, I will be the first to admit that it is difficult to save money on a lot of the "special" foods we eat.  Rice and dried beans ... o.k., those are cheap.  But when you try to buy baking products or convenience foods.... wowzers!  Last night I ran into a store to buy some rice milk and my favorite brand had a coupon attached to the front.  Boy howdy, did I buy the rice and almond milk.  I came home with a boatload and my #3 child danced a jig in the kitchen when I unloaded them!  (He really likes his rice milk.)  I started thinking about coupons for other allergy-friendly food items.....

Today my mission was to locate healthfood type coupons.  Coupons that are not so common.  I actually found some sites that specialize in this sort of thing!

So, dearies... have fun looking, printing and saving....

Healthy Savers offers different coupons for different stores.  You can register for your location.
http://www.healthesavers.com/HealthESavers/Coupons.aspx?ViewAll=1

Mambo sprouts usually has a booklet in some healthfood chains.  You can also sign up for their email and have things mailed to you. (They have a Glutino coupon right now!)  Look around on their site because they mail samples and have contests and give-a-ways.
http://www.mambosprouts.com/sign-up.php

Hain is the parent company that carries several of the brands of GF products we use.  They have a free bi-weekly newletter that you have to sign up for.  You get the inside track recipes, special offers and promotionals.
http://register.myhaincelestial.com/sites/clientfiles/myhaincelestialregister/reg/submgmt_index.htm?sID=hp

Apple and Eve
http://www.appleandeve.com/coupon.php

Applegate Farm Coupon
http://www.applegatefarms.com/couponing/thankyou.aspx

Arrowhead Mills Promo... get free kitchen tools when you save the UPCs from their boxes.
http://www.arrowheadmills.com/whats_new/oxo/redemption_form.php

Sign up at Gluten Free choices and get a coupon...
http://www.glutenfreechoices.com/contact/family.html

$1.50 coupon at Eat Better, Live Better
https://secure.murgent.com/emopt/index.php?id=3586

Oooo... Barbara's Bakery stuff
http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/barbarasbakery/newsletter.d2w/report

Cherrybrook Farms sends out coupons too!
http://www.cherrybrookkitchen.com/talktous/newsletters/index.php

$1 off Dreamfield Pasta!
http://www.dreamfieldsfoods.com/dreamfields-newsletter-signup.html

Food Should Taste Good Coupon (ahhh... sweet potato fries!)
http://www.foodshouldtastegood.com/#/sweet_potato/

Laura's Lean Beef
http://www.laurasleanbeef.com/

This one is not all organic/healthfood, but you can scroll down through the list to pick and choose specific coupons.
http://www.couponsinc.com/corp/source/cp_clientlist.asp

This list isn't all that's out there.  You may actually have great luck by emailing your favorite company and they will send you coupons for the products you use.

Have fun and remember every dollar adds up!

Cornbread Girl

Let's talk saving time and money...

Just some random savings thoughts I had today while talking with a friend on the phone....

How do you save time in the kitchen??
How do you save money while saving that time in the kitchen??
How do you make it healthy in the process???

So, tonight while I had this mad dash in the kitchen I thought I'd share some things I do to make life easier...

1) Cook more than what you need.
        Tonight, I browned 2 pounds of ground beef even though I was only using one.  I just removed the extra browned beef to a separate bowl to cool and freeze back for another meal.  Really didn't take any extra effort since I was cooking the meat anyway.

        Of course, you can apply this to complete meals, like soup!  It's just as easy to make a whoppin' big pot as it is to make a small one.  Then you have another meal or bowls to take for lunch.

2) Beans are cheap.  Dried beans are really cheap!  Go ahead and put them in the crockpot at night before you go to bed.  Really!  Just put them in there with some water on low and tomorrow you will be glad you did!   I use them for whatever recipe that day and freeze back in family serving size bowls for other meals.

3) Buy things on sale.  A lot if you can.  I typically buy things when they are as close to 1/2 price as possible.  And I buy a LOT!  The freezer and a storage shelf in my pantry keep them handy.  One tip though.... don't buy a LOT of what you don't typically eat a LOT of.... trust me, I learned that the hard way.

What I did today:

Crock pot the pintos this morning (2 pounds of pintos!  That's a lot of BEANS!)
Lunchtime... rice and pintos... because they smelled soooooo divine at that point of the day. (I noticed my neighbors tend to come by more often when my crockpot has been on most of the day... hmmm...)
Dinnertime.... those same beans purreed (or just smooshed) in with beef and seasonings for soft tacos. 

I put back 1 pound of browned ground beef in the freezer for another meal.  I put back 2 more family size bowls for 2 more meals on the pintos!  Woohoo!  Half of 3 more meals already done!


Do you have any savings (time or money) tips????  I'd love to hear about them!