For this coming new year I would like to incorporate more healthy snacks into our diet.
I have been searching around for ways to make cheap, affordable snacks that I think the kids would eat.
Here is a list of recipes I have so far:
EAST FRUIT ROLL UPS
-1 jar any flavor applesauce (used as the base of the fruit roll)
-powdered flavored gelatin (sugar free would be healthier for you)
-You can get creative and sprinkle coconut or nuts on top of applesauce
Spray a fruit roll sheet (lightly) with any type of cooking spray. Place several tablespoons of applesauce on a fruit roll sheet, to make small roll-ups. Spread to 1/4 thickness, so they’re about 4" in diameter. You can fit 6-8 on a fruit roll sheet, depending on how large you make them. Place in tray of dehydrator. Dehydrate at 140° for approximately 5-7 hours or until top of fruit roll is tacky. Remove, roll-up and place in a zip-lock bag.
NOTE: Entire fruit roll sheet may be covered with applesauce mixture and then dehydrated. Cut into individual serving sizes.
Making canned fruit purée
Canned fruit, including baby food without tapioca, is suitable for fruit leather. Drain whole fruit and purée in a blender, using the appropriate speed, or grind in a food mill, using the finest blade.
---------------------------------------------
AIR POPPED POPCORN
----------------
SUGAR-FREE JELL-O
----------------
SUGAR-FREE POPSICLES
----------------
PARFAIT: low fat yogurt layered with 1/4 cup whole grain cereal and 1/2 cup fruit.
----------------
1/2 cup sugar-free white chocolate pudding (w/skim milk) and 3/4 cup mixed berries (blueberries, rasberries, blackberries or strawberries). It's really filling and less than 150 calories for the whole thing! I make the pudding by shaking the pudding mix and milk in a quart jar for ~1 minute and then pour it into 4 bowl-sized covered pyrex dishes. Then I just take one out, put fruit on it and voila! I buy the frozen berry mix at TJ's and either add half-frozen berries or use fresh if I have on hand. Fresh peaches and blackberries are also an amazing combination.
---------------
TURKEY OR DEER JERKY
---------------
FROZEN YOGURT POPS
---------------
APPLES AND CREAM CHEESE DIP
* 5 medium apples; cored and sliced
* ½ cup orange juice
* 1 8-oz. package of cream cheese; at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Preparation:
Directly after coring apples, place them in a large bowl and pour orange juice on them. Stir so that the apples are coated. This will keep them from getting brown.
Using a mixer in a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, brown sugar and vanilla. Place into four individual dipping bowls.
-----------------------------
mix jello and any flavor yogurt to make this easy snack for kids.
Prep Time: 2 hours
Ingredients:
* 2 small boxes of Jello
* 8 ounce yogurt in complimentary flavor
Preparation:
Add 2 cups boiling water to Jello, stir until dissolved. Add in yogurt.
Refrigerate like any other Jello.
To make it into Jigglers add in 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatine to Jello and boiling water and pour into pan.
-----------------------
APPLE SLICES WITH PEANUT BUTTER
# 2 apples
# 3-4 Tbsp. peanut butter
* 2 Tbsp. granola
Preparation:
1. Wash and core apples. Slice crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.
2. Spread peanut butter over apple slices.
3. Sprinkle granola over top.
------------------------
NUTTELLA WAFFLE SANDWICHES
* 4 frozen whole grain waffles
* 1/4 cup Nutella
* 1/2 cup sliced fresh strawberries (optional)
Preparation:
1. Toast waffles according to package directions.
2. Spread Nutella on one side of each waffle.
3. Top two of the waffles with sliced strawberries. Place remaining waffles, Nutella side down, on top of the strawberries. Cut in half and serve.
----------------------------
SALSA WITH WHEAT CRACKERS OR TORTILLA CHIPS
EASY MILD SALSA
* 1 1/2 c Tomatoes; chopped; peeling -optional
* 1/2 c Onion red; minced
* 1/2 c Bell pepper red; minced
* 1/2 c Bell pepper green; minced
* 3 tb Cilantro; minced (optional)
* 3 tb Olive oil
2.5 to 3 cups
----------------------------
MAKE YOUR OWN BREAD- BREAD MACHINE
OATMEAL BREAD
Ingredients
* 1/2 cup lukewarm apple juice (or applesauce)
* 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon margarine
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
* 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions
1. Place ingredients into the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select White Bread or Basic cycle, and Start.
WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
Ingredients
* 3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 1 tablespoon powdered egg substitute (optional)
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons sugar (can use Splenda substitute)
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup bread flour
* 1 cup whole wheat flour
* 1 teaspoon rapid rise yeast
Directions
1. Dissolve egg substitute in warm water. Place all ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select Whole Wheat cycle and Regular bake time; press Start.
2. After 5 minutes, check how the dough is kneading, it may need either 1 tablespoon of flour or 1 tablespoon of water, depending on the consistency. Once the bread is done, allow it time to cool on a wire rack before cutting.
-------------------------------
Use these recipes below as ways to sneak in fruits and vegetable and other healthy things into a kids diet when they refuse to eat them alone. If you don't
have a blender to puree fruits and vegetables try using baby food.
BANANA BANANA BREAD
***Try replacing the all purpose flour with wheat flour for a healthier bread :0)
Splenda makes a brown sugar blend which is half the calories of regular
brown sugar. According to their website you would use 1/2 the amount
of Splenda brown sugar than what the recipe calls for.
This recipe below calls for 3/4 cup. You would only need to use about 1/3 cup
plus about a Tablespoon of the Splenda brown sugar.
Ingredients
* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup butter
* 3/4 cup brown sugar
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 2 1/3 cups mashed overripe bananas
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Let bread cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack.
--------------------------------
-SPAGHETTI SAUCE
Whether making your own or using store bought sauce
puree some spinach, carrots, peas or broccoli and add to the sauce.
-When making mashed potatoes puree some cauliflower and add to it.
-Puree vegetables and add them to meats when making things
like meatloaf, hamburgers or meatballs.
-Add carrots or zucchini to breads, cakes, cookies and muffins.
-POPSICLES AND MILKSHAKES
Mix healthy yogurt and pureed fruits to make a frozen snack or drink.
-Dice up vegetables into really small pieces when adding to casseroles, soups
or other dishes.
-Use a juicer to make your own drinks. Make your own V-8 Smoothies with
fruits, vegetables or a combination of both.
Monday, December 28, 2009
12-28-09
WAYS OF SAVING MONEY ON CELL PHONE BILLS
Me and hubby used to have one pay as you go cell phone.
Phone cards would run $10 to $20 for around 40 to 60 minutes.
So we were averaging that much a month to have one cell phone.
Hubby would carry it and call me throughout the day on the home phone.
Phone calls were short like 1-2 minutes and he would keep watch as to how
many minutes were used every time he called. Another pain
was the phone minutes would be rounded up to the next minute
so if you talk for 2 minutes 1 second, that one second was rounded
up as another minute.
We are now combined altogether on my mother's Sprint plan.
She and my step-dad have
700 shared minutes
Free weekends to call anyone
and free evenings after 7pm to call anyone.
They could call anyone with a Sprint phone for free at anytime.
They received a free phone from Sprint and passed it along to my
husband.
Then I was able to get a FREE Sprint cell phone off FREECYCLE.ORG
It included the cell phone, booklet, 2 batteries,
wall charger and house charger.
It records short videos and takes pictures, not that I have any need for that.
It was an older phone. I don't need anything fancy!
I just want to be able to call out and receive calls, that's it!
To add 2 more lines to their phone plan is $20 a month. ($10 per phone)
That was what we were paying for one pay as you go phone with about 1 hour talk time.
Only now we have 2 phones
and can call one another for as long as we want without using any minutes.
So if you have family that is willing to add you to their cell phone plan
I would suggest doing it. You don't have to live at the same address to do so.
It is a lot cheaper than a Pay As You Go Phone!!!
--------------------------------------------------------
It's 3pm Monday and I just now retrieved the Sunday paper off the porch, lol.
I had a chair in front of the front door to make room in the living room for Christmas.
Well I got about a quarter of the living room cleaned and vacuumed.
Got the Christmas tree taken apart and ready to go in the basement til
next year. And got a load of dishes going in the dishwasher. And
that's about as far as I've gotten today with things.
--------------------------------------------------------
Tonight's Supper
Still using up ham leftovers!
Baked Potatoes with Topping
1 -8 ounce cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
about 2 cups cubed ham
2 Tablespoons milk
grated Italian seasoning
broccoli (didn't have any but it sounded good)
Combine all of the above in a medium pot over medium heat til cream
cheese is melted.
Microwave potatoes.
Split open and mash. Add butter. Spoon topping over potatoes.
Sprinkle shredded cheese over topping.
I used a McCormick Italian Seasoning grinder and sprinkled seasoning on top.
---------------------------------------------------------
We have decided against going to look at the 2004 Intrepid.
Tony called Good Year to see how much to replace a
timing tensioner and they said $1,200!
He told Goodyear about the kind of car he was interested in
buying hoping to get some feedback from them as
to whether or not it was worth getting.
Their exact words was ,"Oh my God!" so that didn't sound good at all, lol.
Then they proceeded to tell him that the 2. whatever motor that is in it
is BAD BAD BAD. Exactly as they put it.
--------------------------------------------------------
Ok I'm back to talking about cars, grrr.
My advice...and I have learned this over the years, don't believe anything
a used car salesman tells you! 99% of the time they are working off commission.
They are not making money unless they sell cars and will tell you pretty much
what you want to hear to get one sold. Now they can't give you false information
but they can leave out details.
I called a car lot today about a car we looked at when they were closed
yesterday. It was on their cash lot meaning they have a lot where they finance cars and a lot where they just sell cash deals that are cheaper.
My first question was "what is wrong with it." The car salesman fed me a line that
he was only a salesman and not a mechanic. Bull crap. He knew there was something wrong with it and it was up to me to figure out what, and I knew where this was going. So if you are looking for a nice salesman that would prevent a woman from taking 3 kids out in the freezing cold temps and snow, good luck finding one, as they don't care what your situation may be.
I went up there anyway as this vehicle was an Explorer, something we already own for 6 years, have actually owned 2 at once, and know what is expected to go wrong with them.
I being female have learned a lot over the years, thanks to my husband, about buying used cars either from a private owner or car lot. I was on my own today to look over this vehicle as hubby was at work. It was freezing cold out! Do you think the salesman got up out of his comfy chair and walked out of his warm and cozy office to go out to the Explorer with me? Heck no! He handed me keys and said come back in if you want to test drive it.
This salesman knew the problems with this Explorer I can tell you that!
And yes I figured them out on my own, woo hoo, made me feel good, lol.
Needed a muffler but for these type of vehicles the muffler is one piece up to the engine. So not a cheap fix. Next, it would idle fine then start stuttering possibly meaning a sensor somewhere might be going, maybe an oxygen sensor, which these vehicles have about 5 so guessing which one is like playing eenie meenie. The anti freeze tank was dry meaning it was leaking somewhere. And lastly, the power steering tank was empty meaning it was also leaking.
The keys were returned and no test drive was even thought about.
Sometimes you can find cars that need some repairs that are not major to fix and won't hurt the pocket book too bad. That's when you start pointing out flaws to the owner or dealer so you can start working that price down. It gives you leverage and the ball is in your field to start wheeling and dealing.
When buying a car off the lot don't go by the price on the windshield. That's usually the financing price. Ask what their cash, out the door price is. It should be lower than the price seen. If you only have $1500 to work with and the price is let's say $1800 try this...Say all I have is $1500 can you give it to me at that price out the door. Meaning this will include your tax, title and tags which could run you $100 to $150 so there is a savings. First you would have knocked $500 off the price then another $150 off for those triple "T" items (tax, title and tag)
If they say no, then start to walk away and say I can't do that. Sometimes if they want your business and are desperate then they will work with you. It works for us most of the time.
I use KBB.com Kelley Blue Book. This is where you can find out the value of the car you might be looking at and see if it is over priced. You can also read reviews from other people about that vehicle.
My other tip is that when researching a vehicle find out if it was the first or second year that this car came out. Let's say you were looking at an Explorer. It was a 91 or 92. Don't buy it! 1991 was the first year they started making them.
It was a totally new vehicle to Ford and kind of like an experiment. It takes a couple years for them to fix any flaws/bugs it might have. Buy a vehicle that's a couple years from the first time it came on the market. I'd be feel better with a 93 or later Explorer but not a 91 or 92. Hope you understand what I am trying to say here.
---------------------------
I'm not one who has time to sit down and watch movies. Last night amazingly
I was flipping through channels and ended up watching 2 of them. It was one
of those night where I couldn't sleep.
The first movie was Deep Cover.
I'm not one who likes what appears to be a guy movie but for some reason I was hooked into watching this one.
Here is more info about who stars in it and what it is about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Cover
The next movie was Family Sins with Kirstie Alley.
This movie was based upon a true story as I just read that it was
but did not know it at the time of watching it.
I don't know if the movie lured me into watching as much
as what was taking place in the movie. I didn't see the whole movie,
only about half of it. I couldn't understand how a mother/foster mother
could be so cruel to her family. The movie goes on to show you how she
treated the kids and what she put them through. Terrible! It was hard to
watch Kirstie Alley play the part that she did as I am used to her being
the fun loving type in other movies.
About like Leonardo DiCaprio as the handsome
lady killer in Titanic then see him in another movie like Total Eclipse
kissing another man.
It throws off your perspective of each actor or actress.
Read more about it here:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117923352.html?categoryid=32&cs=1
---------------------
Here's one idea for a new year's resolution...
from now til next December, save all your comic strip sections
of the newspaper. Use them as a unique wrapping paper for all
those Christmas gifts. Recycle your old newspaper and give it a new use.
Lots cheaper than buying wrapping!
Plus it gives your kids something to read when they decide
to get up at 2-3 in the morning and wait for mom and dad to wake up!
Me and hubby used to have one pay as you go cell phone.
Phone cards would run $10 to $20 for around 40 to 60 minutes.
So we were averaging that much a month to have one cell phone.
Hubby would carry it and call me throughout the day on the home phone.
Phone calls were short like 1-2 minutes and he would keep watch as to how
many minutes were used every time he called. Another pain
was the phone minutes would be rounded up to the next minute
so if you talk for 2 minutes 1 second, that one second was rounded
up as another minute.
We are now combined altogether on my mother's Sprint plan.
She and my step-dad have
700 shared minutes
Free weekends to call anyone
and free evenings after 7pm to call anyone.
They could call anyone with a Sprint phone for free at anytime.
They received a free phone from Sprint and passed it along to my
husband.
Then I was able to get a FREE Sprint cell phone off FREECYCLE.ORG
It included the cell phone, booklet, 2 batteries,
wall charger and house charger.
It records short videos and takes pictures, not that I have any need for that.
It was an older phone. I don't need anything fancy!
I just want to be able to call out and receive calls, that's it!
To add 2 more lines to their phone plan is $20 a month. ($10 per phone)
That was what we were paying for one pay as you go phone with about 1 hour talk time.
Only now we have 2 phones
and can call one another for as long as we want without using any minutes.
So if you have family that is willing to add you to their cell phone plan
I would suggest doing it. You don't have to live at the same address to do so.
It is a lot cheaper than a Pay As You Go Phone!!!
--------------------------------------------------------
It's 3pm Monday and I just now retrieved the Sunday paper off the porch, lol.
I had a chair in front of the front door to make room in the living room for Christmas.
Well I got about a quarter of the living room cleaned and vacuumed.
Got the Christmas tree taken apart and ready to go in the basement til
next year. And got a load of dishes going in the dishwasher. And
that's about as far as I've gotten today with things.
--------------------------------------------------------
Tonight's Supper
Still using up ham leftovers!
Baked Potatoes with Topping
1 -8 ounce cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
about 2 cups cubed ham
2 Tablespoons milk
grated Italian seasoning
broccoli (didn't have any but it sounded good)
Combine all of the above in a medium pot over medium heat til cream
cheese is melted.
Microwave potatoes.
Split open and mash. Add butter. Spoon topping over potatoes.
Sprinkle shredded cheese over topping.
I used a McCormick Italian Seasoning grinder and sprinkled seasoning on top.
---------------------------------------------------------
We have decided against going to look at the 2004 Intrepid.
Tony called Good Year to see how much to replace a
timing tensioner and they said $1,200!
He told Goodyear about the kind of car he was interested in
buying hoping to get some feedback from them as
to whether or not it was worth getting.
Their exact words was ,"Oh my God!" so that didn't sound good at all, lol.
Then they proceeded to tell him that the 2. whatever motor that is in it
is BAD BAD BAD. Exactly as they put it.
--------------------------------------------------------
Ok I'm back to talking about cars, grrr.
My advice...and I have learned this over the years, don't believe anything
a used car salesman tells you! 99% of the time they are working off commission.
They are not making money unless they sell cars and will tell you pretty much
what you want to hear to get one sold. Now they can't give you false information
but they can leave out details.
I called a car lot today about a car we looked at when they were closed
yesterday. It was on their cash lot meaning they have a lot where they finance cars and a lot where they just sell cash deals that are cheaper.
My first question was "what is wrong with it." The car salesman fed me a line that
he was only a salesman and not a mechanic. Bull crap. He knew there was something wrong with it and it was up to me to figure out what, and I knew where this was going. So if you are looking for a nice salesman that would prevent a woman from taking 3 kids out in the freezing cold temps and snow, good luck finding one, as they don't care what your situation may be.
I went up there anyway as this vehicle was an Explorer, something we already own for 6 years, have actually owned 2 at once, and know what is expected to go wrong with them.
I being female have learned a lot over the years, thanks to my husband, about buying used cars either from a private owner or car lot. I was on my own today to look over this vehicle as hubby was at work. It was freezing cold out! Do you think the salesman got up out of his comfy chair and walked out of his warm and cozy office to go out to the Explorer with me? Heck no! He handed me keys and said come back in if you want to test drive it.
This salesman knew the problems with this Explorer I can tell you that!
And yes I figured them out on my own, woo hoo, made me feel good, lol.
Needed a muffler but for these type of vehicles the muffler is one piece up to the engine. So not a cheap fix. Next, it would idle fine then start stuttering possibly meaning a sensor somewhere might be going, maybe an oxygen sensor, which these vehicles have about 5 so guessing which one is like playing eenie meenie. The anti freeze tank was dry meaning it was leaking somewhere. And lastly, the power steering tank was empty meaning it was also leaking.
The keys were returned and no test drive was even thought about.
Sometimes you can find cars that need some repairs that are not major to fix and won't hurt the pocket book too bad. That's when you start pointing out flaws to the owner or dealer so you can start working that price down. It gives you leverage and the ball is in your field to start wheeling and dealing.
When buying a car off the lot don't go by the price on the windshield. That's usually the financing price. Ask what their cash, out the door price is. It should be lower than the price seen. If you only have $1500 to work with and the price is let's say $1800 try this...Say all I have is $1500 can you give it to me at that price out the door. Meaning this will include your tax, title and tags which could run you $100 to $150 so there is a savings. First you would have knocked $500 off the price then another $150 off for those triple "T" items (tax, title and tag)
If they say no, then start to walk away and say I can't do that. Sometimes if they want your business and are desperate then they will work with you. It works for us most of the time.
I use KBB.com Kelley Blue Book. This is where you can find out the value of the car you might be looking at and see if it is over priced. You can also read reviews from other people about that vehicle.
My other tip is that when researching a vehicle find out if it was the first or second year that this car came out. Let's say you were looking at an Explorer. It was a 91 or 92. Don't buy it! 1991 was the first year they started making them.
It was a totally new vehicle to Ford and kind of like an experiment. It takes a couple years for them to fix any flaws/bugs it might have. Buy a vehicle that's a couple years from the first time it came on the market. I'd be feel better with a 93 or later Explorer but not a 91 or 92. Hope you understand what I am trying to say here.
---------------------------
I'm not one who has time to sit down and watch movies. Last night amazingly
I was flipping through channels and ended up watching 2 of them. It was one
of those night where I couldn't sleep.
The first movie was Deep Cover.
I'm not one who likes what appears to be a guy movie but for some reason I was hooked into watching this one.
Here is more info about who stars in it and what it is about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Cover
The next movie was Family Sins with Kirstie Alley.
This movie was based upon a true story as I just read that it was
but did not know it at the time of watching it.
I don't know if the movie lured me into watching as much
as what was taking place in the movie. I didn't see the whole movie,
only about half of it. I couldn't understand how a mother/foster mother
could be so cruel to her family. The movie goes on to show you how she
treated the kids and what she put them through. Terrible! It was hard to
watch Kirstie Alley play the part that she did as I am used to her being
the fun loving type in other movies.
About like Leonardo DiCaprio as the handsome
lady killer in Titanic then see him in another movie like Total Eclipse
kissing another man.
It throws off your perspective of each actor or actress.
Read more about it here:
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117923352.html?categoryid=32&cs=1
---------------------
Here's one idea for a new year's resolution...
from now til next December, save all your comic strip sections
of the newspaper. Use them as a unique wrapping paper for all
those Christmas gifts. Recycle your old newspaper and give it a new use.
Lots cheaper than buying wrapping!
Plus it gives your kids something to read when they decide
to get up at 2-3 in the morning and wait for mom and dad to wake up!
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About Me
- Fast81TA
- My name is Sherry, 39yrs old, from Columbus, Ohio. I am married, a SAHM, and have 3 children ages 9, 10 and 20. I have been frugal/thrifty all my life. I would like to share on this blog how we get by day to day on one income with a family of 5 with a dog and a cat. You will also hear about my everyday gripes about daily life and the cost of living. Hubby says my favorite saying is, "and that is another thing that pisses me off!"