Keeping the Castle

July 5th, 2008

Home Magazine Round-up (July 2008)

Over the past months, I subscribed to quite a few magazines. Some of them still have to start arriving. I don’t know if I’ll eventually regret the subscriptions. If simply become clutter, I will. But my rationale is that I’m looking for one (or two) good house and home magazines. And the only way I can truly evaluate them is by trying out a subscription. Anyway, I can always cancel my subscription next year.

I took advantage of the sale on home magazines on Amazon.com to order the following:

* Better Homes and Gardens

* Domino

* FamilyFun

While I’m waiting for these new magazines, here are the contents of a couple I already have:

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July 3rd, 2008

Fourth of July Picnic Menu

Tomorrow, the U.S. is celebrating Independence Day.

I made a trip to the grocery tonight, and the hotdogs and sausages were nowhere in sight! So we can all pretty much guess what’s going to be on a lot of menus tomorrow.

My family and I are heading out to a local park, with some of our extended family. In addition to hotdogs and buns, our menu will be:

barbecue
Spring Mix salad, with Zesty Italian Dressing
Texas caviar, with tortilla chips
Filipino style chicken chopsuey
fresh fruits like watermelon, grapes and strawberries

Everyone’s chipping in with something or other, so we can all have a nice picnic without anyone having to prepare everything.

I hope you have a happy 4th of July!

Creative Commons image by Benimoto on Flickr

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July 1st, 2008

Saving Money at CVS

I’ve been a CVS customer for a long time. I occasionally take advantage of their sales and receive “Extra Care Bucks” (ECB) in my receipts. However, I never realized that significant savings can be had at CVS, with some simple planning. I discovered whole blogs dedicated to saving money at CVS. One of these blogs, the Money Saving Mom, has written up a primer on CVS 101.

This week, I decided to see whether I can cut on my grocery budget with serious CVS savings.

Here’s my CVS transaction for today:

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June 29th, 2008

Online Sales this Week (6-29-08)

In the run-up to the summer and July 4, many online merchants have sales and promotions. Here are just some this week at two of my favorite stores:

Macy’s

Summer Choice Sale. Choose from Incredible Savings at Macys.com! Valid 30-June-08 through 1-July-08.

July 4th Sale. Free Shipping with $100 purchase at Macys.com! Valid 2-July-08 through 6-July-08. Exclusions Apply.

Linens N’ Things

New! Gigantic Pillow 2 pack, $9.99 until 07.31.08.

Interiors 440 thread count 6 piece sheet set starting at $49.99 until 07.31.08.

affiliate links

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June 29th, 2008

Quick Barbecue Tips

Summer is the time for barbecues. Here are two quick tips to make this warm season ritual even easier:

* Use cardboard egg cartons and charcoal briquettes to start up the grill. Place the briquettes in the sections of the carton. Close it and place in the bottom of the grill. Light it up. The cardboard will burn up first, allowing the charcoal to catch. Spread out the briquettes once the cardboard falls apart. This utilizes the egg cartons instead of them ending up in the trash.

* If you use foil to wrap food for grilling, save the foil for clean-up later. Crumple the foil up and use it to scrape off the residues after grilling.

via Times and Transcript; Creative Commons image by mccun934 on Flickr

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By Maricar -- 1 comment

June 27th, 2008

Rice Cooker Meals

I know about crockpot cooking and pressure cooking. But it’s the first time I’ve heard about cooking entire meals in a rice cooker. Sure, I have a rice cooker (can’t live without it!). But I use it for one thing and one thing only: cooking plain (aka steamed) rice.

I didn’t even realize that a rice cooker can function like a slow cooker, only it’s faster. Neal Bertrand shares his recipes for “60 quick, easy meals you can make in a rice cooker”, in his cookbook Rice Cooker Meals: Fast Home Cooking for Busy People. Cooking meals in a rice cooker are a great alternative for college students, campers and those who want to cook at home but don’t have the space or equipment for it.

The cookbook includes recipes for jambalayas, casseroles, seafood, pastas, yams, soups, potatoes, cabbage and rice side dishes. Two sample recipes (pdf files) are provided at RiceCookerMeals.com: Black-eyed pea and sausage jambalaya, and Chicken and Pasta.

I’ll have to rethink the way I use my rice cooker.

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June 26th, 2008

Cribs Recalled Due to Entrapment Hazard

Two manufacturers of baby cribs put out a recall this week for some of their products, due to entrapment and strangulation hazards.

* Jardine Enterprises announced a voluntary recall of more than 25 models of their cribs. The crib slats and spindles on these models can break, leaving gaps which pose strangulation and entrapment dangers for infants and young children. Forty-two reports of the slats and spindles breaking have been reported. Four children have become trapped as a result.

The photo above is just an example of the cribs that are being recalled by Jardine. The CPSC has the model numbers, descriptions and dates when the cribs were first sold, as well as information on what to do if you have one of these recalled cribs.

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June 25th, 2008

Frugal Links (6-25-08)

* 7 easy ways to lower your summer cooling bill (via USNews)

* Coupon crazy: Shoppers finding steals and deals online (via Statesman)

* Festival of Frugality #131 - Summer Savings Edition (via Broke Grad Student)

* Thirteen ways to save money on your grocery shopping (via Frugal Fridays)

* Tips to offset gasoline expenditures (via AZ Central)

* Food bill getting fat? Slim it down: Frugal mom feeds family of five on $300 a month. Here’s her coupon-free plan (via Ohio)

In addition to these articles, I thought you might be interested in browsing the following sites, all of which are dedicated to saving money!

* Money Saving Mom

* Mommy Saves Big

* Thrifty Mommy

* The Frugal Family’s Kitchen

* Free Stuff Times

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June 24th, 2008

Grocery Shopping on a Budget

Everything is more expensive these days. It is harder and harder to stretch a budget and still check off every item on the grocery list. There are ways to cut down on food bills, and still have healthy food for the family.

Today’s food editor Phil Lempert has listed ideas to “fill your grocery cart without busting your budget”. He has suggestions that can be applied to just about anything from the grocery. In addition, he also talks about 10 staple items that you can save money on. These items are milk, eggs, pasta, bread, cereal, rice, produce, fish, meat and beans. I specially like his tip for saving on pasta sauce by making your own from canned crushed tomatoes, herbs and olive oil.

These 10 items are really all you need for good nutrition and you can save money on them by following Phil’s tips. You can find his suggestions at MSNBC.

Creative Commons image by ralphbijker on Flickr

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June 23rd, 2008

Homemade Granola Recipe

I love granola, but I don’t buy it often because of the nuts that are commonly included. I was therefore motivated to try out a recipe for homemade granola that I found at Slashfood.

Here’s my first try, a simple combination of easy-to-find ingredients. Nut-free, dairy-free and completely healthy and delicious!

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