FROM RAGS TO RUGS

Posted on September 4, 2011 by rtgemina

Rag Rug

Say your room echos because you have little furniture and bare floors?  You can make a handsome rug from scraps of old clothes.  Your local Goodwill or Salvation Army store may have a rag bin where you can get volumes of old clothes for next to nothing.  If they don’t have a rag bin, don’t be afraid to ask if they have old clothes that aren’t good enough to sell.  If they don’t, they’ll be sure to get some–ask them to save them for you, and give them a number where they can reach you when they have a huge stash.  You can ask for t-shirts, or woolen shirts, or bedspreads, or any kind of fabric.  If your community has a free paper, you can even advertise for old clothes and fabric scraps!

Rag rug--woven--from old jeans

'Quilted' rag rug--a hooked rug made from old t-shirts

Perhaps the most durable rag rugs are made from denim–old jeans and jean jackets.  But old t-shirts work, too, and you can combine all different types of old clothes, even mixing jeans and t-shirts together.  

Labelled "hand sewing needles, assorted"

You’ll need a set of odd-shaped needles, sometimes labelled as ‘assorted,’ which you can buy for less than $5 at any craft or fabric store–and two or three spools of heavy-duty or coat thread(thicker & stronger than regular sewing thread).  Most odd-shaped needle sets include two needles shaped like the letter C.  (These are most often used to repair fabric coverings on furniture without having to

Curved sewing needles

remove the fabric first.)  You can use a regular heavy-duty needle, but you may find a curved needle easier and faster.

The only limit on the old clothes will be, you want them to be long enough to braid.  Baby clothes and children’s clothes aren’t long enough as a rule, although older kids’ pants may be.  Anything as long as, say, a woman’s adult-size t-shirt will be long enough, but the longer the better!  Old bedspreads with holes and tears, sheets, blankets–perfect.

More narrow strips make a more finely detailed rug

Cut all the scraps into pieces about 2 inches wide.  This is not a hard and fast rule–in Scandinavia they make really skinny strips and never fold them, and their rugs are quite fine and delicate-looking.  Even so, they wear very well.  You can cut out huge tears and holes, but if they’re not as big as your width, it’s okay to leave them.  You might want to keep two bags handy while you’re watching TV–toss your good strips in one and your waste in the other.  Don’t feel you have to do it all at once.

Think how much less you’ll eat, giving your hands something pretty mindless to do while

Chowin' down

you’re watching your favorite shows!  You may save a bit of money just by not snacking.  (Snack foods are really expensive.)

 Many people don’t bother to fold their strips at all.  Also, if some of your fabrics are already much thicker than others, if you don’t fold the thick ones the result will be more even-looking.

You can start braiding anytime you have a bunch of strips.  Fold each strip vertically as you braid–it doesn’t have to be perfect by any means, don’t fret if the edges don’t exactly match up inch by inch–you just want to have the cut sides facing the middle of the braid, and the folds facing the outside edges, because cut edges will fray and get ratty-looking quickly. If they’re kept to the middle or inside of the braid, they’ll be better protected.  When you start, briefly sew the first three pieces together at the top, or clip them together to sew later.

If you don’t know how to braid, have a friend show you– it’s simply a matter of folding three strips into each other, taking one at a time from the outside and turning it into the middle, over and over again.  Or follow this example:

Follow the braid!

Rolled strips of wool to be braided

Whenever you need to add another strip, just make sure to start it with the top end facing down, so all starts and ends face what will be the underside of the rug.  Even if you screw this up, however, you can twist the braid later to make it right.  (It’ll make the finished rug a bit untidy, but it’ll be just as useful.)

Balls of fabric strips, ready to braid

As you braid, you can begin to roll the braid up, or put it into something so it won’t get dirty.  Keep braiding!  When your bin or bag is full or your ball of braid becomes unwieldy, get out your curved needle.  I use the bigger of the two.  You can shape your rug into any shape you want, whether a circle, oval, square, or rectangle.  You can make small sizes to piece together later, for a quilted look.  You’re only limited by your imagination, here.

Somebody's first rag rug--an achievement to be proud of

When you begin sewing the braid into a shape, you’ll want to do just a bit at a time–your thread should be no longer than the extension of your arm after doubling it, or it’ll tangle & knot,  very frustrating (been there trying to do things fast, only slowed me down).  A simple whip stitch will do.  Here’s what it looks like:

Hand-sewing: the whip stitch

Hand-sewing: the whip stitch

A close-up shot of a braided rug, showing details

You can sew the braiding together flat, which shows the detailing of the braid–or you can sew the braiding on edge.  On edge, the braiding doesn’t show at all, and the rug will of course be a lot thicker.  Play with it, and choose whatever you prefer.  Most people show the braid, and that’s the traditional way to do it.

Rag braids

Braided rug, partially sewn

After the rug is done to the shape and size you want, you may–but you don’t have to– back it with canvas or muslin.  Lay it out over the fabric of your choice, draw around it on the cloth, leaving about an inch extra all the way around.  Whip stitch it to the underside of the rug, folding that extra inch under like ham in a sandwich between the rug and the cloth, and you’ll have a rug that will last a long time.

A rag rug stair-runner!

You can get fancy with this, noting how the different strips look together, mixing colors, designs, patterns, or limiting colors to blocks of color here and there–or using only denim, or only t-shirts, for example.  Again, the possibilities are endless.  For an entrance mat, try using plastic bags!  I’ve seen some really pretty braided rugs fashioned from plastic bags.  You do still have to cut them into strips.  Here are instructions for a plastic bag rug:  http://www.homesteadweaver.com/plastic_instructions.htm

What if braiding is simply not your thing?  Here’s an inspiration:

Rug, hooked-- out of old jeans & calico!

Hooked rag rug, shag on left, 'smooth' underside on right

You can buy lattice-like plastic ‘cloth’ as a base and just ‘push’ strips about two or three inches long around the lattice, making a hooked rug–even with plastic bags!  (A hook will be needed for this.  You can buy both hook and base cloth at any crafts store.)  This will make a shag rug, which you can cut down like you’d mow grass if it’s too high, or even cut textured designs into your rug.  More inspiration:

Rag rug 'grand' piano

So long as you’re not one of those who have to change stations every two minutes, you can do it all while watching TV–and spend not a whole lot more than that time!

Rag rug from old jeans--for a donation of a few dollars

 

 

 

Rag rug from wool sweaters

Rag rug by designer Marjorie B.

 

 

You can see many more beautiful rag rugs at: http://www.meanderingsinthread.com/?tag=rag-rugs

And check out awesome ‘rag’ rugs made entirely from plastic bags at:  http://www.homesteadweaver.com/plasticbagrugs.htm

Have fun with it.  “Use it up, wear it out, make it do–or do without.”

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Posted in old clothes, fabrics, Rag rugs, Recycling | Leave a comment

BEG, BUY, OR BORROW THIS BOOK!

Posted on September 4, 2011 by rtgemina

Clark Howard’s newest volume, Living Large in Lean Times, has just become the New York Times #1 best-seller of the week, and for good reason.  Jam-packed with more than 25o easily do-able tips for spending less and saving more, Mr. Howard is once again doing a great public service by helping us to help ourselves.

You may have seen Clark Howard on TV–he has a regular show on HLN and elsewhere. You couldn’t do better than to follow his ideas–he earned enough to retire at 31!  You can learn much more from him, free of charge, at: http://www.clarkhoward.com/

Here we have to note:  sweetdealsandsteals.com is not affiliated with Clark Howard in any way.  We’re not making any money by recommending him to you.  We’ve simply been fans for years, having received great information from his TV shows and other books, and we think anybody who wants to survive tough times should be paying attention to his advice.

It’s also time to get involved in your government.  Some people want you to believe Washington politics is the problem, but the problem is really us–we elect our government  (except when Al Gore actually won but the Supreme Court gave the election to George Bush).  Washington is who we are, polarized and uncompromising.  This comes from many years of only 24% of voters actually voting in primaries, guaranteeing that only the fringes on either side get a say in who gets to run for elections.

85% regularly vote in the rest of the world where people can vote–while we can only muster 55% for a presidential election!  Our ancestors fought and died for our rights, and every day we give them away by: 1) not caring enough, and 2) not searching for information beyond 30-second TV spots now guaranteed to be paid for by Big Business, whose interests are not YOUR interests, no matter who tries to tell you corporations are people!

Corporations cannot die.  Corporations don’t have children.  Their lobbyists now write all the laws, which favor–corporations!  It’s time for all of us to educate ourselves about what’s real, not what’s on TV.  Whatever side you’re on, find out what the truth is and use your vote!  Don’t let anybody tell you Washington should be small or irrelevant to your life.  We are 310 million people–the notion of a small government is ridiculous.  Nor would there be a debt crisis if everybody was working and paying taxes–ask Prof. Richard Reich, professor of economics at U.C. Berkeley!  Are you aware that over 140 Obama appointments have been blocked by Republicans, whose only Constitutional duty is to advise and CONSENT to presidential appointments?  Never before in our history have such appointments been routinely blocked.  The most recent one was an expert in economics who won a Nobel Prize!

Nor would we have any debt crisis if we weren’t trying to police the world, with three wars– two lasting longer than a decade each–longer than Viet Nam or any other war America’s ever fought.  (War is good for business, bad for living.)

The fact is, we need a strong central government to rebuild our infrastructure and put people back to work. We need a strong central government to ensure our water and food supplies are safe.  We need government to get us going toward sustainable living and clean energies to ensure we even have a future.  We cannot stay on the path of lightbulbs used in 1903, or gasoline developed for engines made in 1905 (Ford’s Model T).  We need government to protect us from corporations–Abraham Lincoln was the first to say so, when he had to use the railroads belonging to corporations to move the Army in the Civil War.  Eisenhower again warned us of “the military-industrial complex” in the 1950s, and we haven’t paid much attention yet!

Right now there are more people living on earth than have ever lived in all of history combined, and the human population is doubling every twenty to thirty years.  The very thing that allowed us to win out over the neanderthals, our ability to make babies, may be our undoing if we don’t start right now to update and make our living sustainable for everybody.

In the last three months, 29,000 children–just the children!– died of starvation in Africa. Maybe you’ve been hearing about that every few years all your life.  Maybe that’s how mom made you eat your peas.

I’m only paraphrasing here, but a famous playwright named Bertold Brecht wrote of the Nazis in WWII:

When they came for the Jews I didn’t care, because I wasn’t a Jew. When they came for the blacks and ethnic minorities I didn’t care, because I wasn’t one of them. When they came for the Catholics I didn’t care because I wasn’t Catholic.  When they came for me, there was nobody left to save me.

Overpopulation, climate change, and pollution, are coming for us–all of us.

While we would all love to believe America is Number One, we’re the only First World country without nationalized healthcare.  We’re 28th in education, 17th in clean energy.  All the gains made by your parents and grandparents, who risked their lives so you could have a 40-hour work week, lunchtime and breaks, overtime pay, a pension, healthcare–all those benefits are being stripped away from us.  But instead of insisting on those benefits for everybody, we’re targeting the few who still have them and trying to take benefits away from them, too!  We can never be Number One again if we refuse to act on our Pledge of Allegiance as:

“…one nation…indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

In 1858 Abraham Lincoln said, in a speech known all over the world:

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.”  

It’s still true, and that’s exactly what we are now: a nation divided against itself.

Frankly, if corporate greed wins out, we all die.

Clark Howard’s not political at all, or if he is he keeps it to himself–his ideas are strictly about making do, now.  Go find his book, and remember:

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do–or do without.”

Our grandparents lived by these words–it’s time for us to learn them, as well.  Let’s practice ingenuity!

 

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Posted in Your Money | Leave a comment

Fundraising? Skip the Bake Sale, Get into Garbage!

Posted on August 11, 2011 by rtgemina

An Old-Time Bake Sale--not what they used to be!

Much as we may all crave our sweets, not too many of us are: 1) going to make something from scratch worth buying at a bake sale–as a contribution, or 2) willing to re-buy store-bought cookies or salivate over the out-of-a-box type baked goods pathetically sold at bake sale fundraisers these days.  Let’s face it, there’s just not much money to be made out of a bake sale fundraiser anymore, nobody has time to bake and they’ve been done to death. And our community organizations and even public schools are really desperate for more money!

What to do, if you’re the one, or part of the committee, assigned to come up with the next great, new, fundraising idea?  Well, don’t give up the ship, there’s hope!  We’ve seen a couple of ideas in our own community that have been an astonishing success.

What’s the biggest concern for your household finances?

Here's a Clue

 What’s in your home that you can’t get rid of at a garage sale, for instance?  What do you have that needs to be secure and just can’t go in the trash, either?  There are two answers here, and both provide answers for would-be fundraisers, too.  You can have a fundraiser people will swarm to–and provide a genuine community service at the same time.

First, we all have an excess of paper we can’t simply toss out, because these are the documents that say who we are, what our credit card numbers are, our taxes, and otherwise give out the stories of our lives.  Even folks with $200 shredders have more paper than they can handle.  Home shredders overheat after about fifteen minutes!  And most of us keep our tax returns for decades, although seven years is ample according to the federal government.

Junk Mail--all of it with Your Name & Address

Every household with children in high school probably has enough of these documents to fill half a pick-up truck.

Check out this website: http://www.shredding-solutions.com/shredtips.php  This company is all over the nation–and there are other companies just like it–that will happily come out to a pre-arranged location for 4 or 5 hours at a time to accept secure documents, CDs, old floppy discs, et al, to be shredded.

Here’s what you do.

Shredding is Security Protection

First, contact your City Parks and Recreation Department to reserve a place with truck accessibility.  Set up a date and time with them.  It’s preferable to have two separate dates, for four or five hours each,  two or three weeks apart; that way, if folks miss you the first time, they have another chance.  Both dates can be at the same location, or you can arrange to have two separate locations. You can have them on the same day of the week, at the same times, or on different days of the week at different times, to allow the maximum numbers of people to take advantage of your service.

Then contact the shredding company.  This particular company usually comes out with 90-gallon bins, which are weighed when the process is complete–which determines pricing.  The shredding process can be witnessed via monitors.

Make flyers up after you schedule the dates and location(s) of your shredding service with the company that’ll do the work.  Decide on the the fees you’ll charge.  You’ll have to take into consideration your costs for the park location rental, what the shredding company will charge you, and how much money you need to make for your fundraiser.

Your flyer should list your price, and whether it’s a set fee or a donation (to be tax-deductible for you and your buyers, it may need to be labeled a donation.  Consult somebody’s mom or dad in your group who’s an attorney, or call the IRS to get free information to nail this down to your comfort level.)  Post your flyers all over the neighborhood!  Ask stores if you can post them in their windows.  Do the same at doctors’ and dental offices, real estate company storefronts, supermarkets, gas stations, 7-11, etc. Your fundraiser’s success depends on getting out publicity for this event(s).

Your flyers should also post the following info from the shredding company, so folks’ll be properly prepared:

Helpful Tips 
Keep all carbon paper, garbage, & plastics out of your paper.Magnetic media, dvds, cds, floppy discs, or any other plastics must be kept separate from paper, to insure the recycling  of “clean” paper.Plastics will be  shredded together on a different day from the paper.Paper clips, staples, need not be removed.

You’ll need a few guys at the event(s) to help pick up/move bags and maybe to sort stuff–some people will not have followed the tips!

If you’re organized, you can offer/sell refreshments–maybe cold beverages and small noshes such as your Girl Scout cookies or trail mix your group made, or even big, baked pretzels.  That, you can figure out on your own.  And there you have it–the document/paper shredding fundraiser.

Recycle e-Waste!

The second idea is bigger, and therefore capable of raising more money.  It’s also more work!  Dell charges $30 to intake old PCs for recycling.  Every home I know has a pile of old laptops in the garage–nobody knows what to do with them because you can’t remove what’s stored on them by simply taking out the motherboard–there’s no access to it.

motherboard

motherboard

Families often have several old cell phones they don’t know what to do with, too.  We have a teenager who seems to be electrically supercharged–since age 10, she’s blown out an average cell phone per year.  She never drops them or breaks them–the cell phone company’s regularly amazed and always says they’ve never seen anything like it.  Go figure.

First, call around to Best Buy and other, similar stores selling PCs and fixing them.  To determine pricing, you’ll have to know what they charge to recycle these products.

Then, call your city’s sanitation department or private garbage disposal company, and find out what they charge to recycle the same products.  Ask whether they’ll come to your location to pick up, say, a truckload, and what that would cost. Subtract what they charge, which will be your cost, from what the PC stores charge, and you’ll have a general price range for what you’ll charge.

Then start the process outlined above, at the point where you call the city Parks and Rec folks to get a location.  Or, you can set up to have your event at somebody’s house, sort of a reverse garage sale where people will come to you with their junk!

Recycling Truck

Again, flyers.  Again, publicity is key.  Find out, when you call the sanitation company, what they do to ensure no information is taken from these computers and cell phones, and publish those safeguards in your flyer, so people will feel safe doing this.  Again, you may want more than one date.

Junk Cell Phones

This time, you’ll need quite a few guys, during or after, if you have to take the load to the garbage disposal company. If so, you’ll also need those guys to have a few pick-up trucks! Hopefully, though, the company will come out to you–in which case, you’ll only need guys to stack up the ewaste in somebody’s garage or backyard until pick-up day/time.  They may be needed again later to help load up the company’s truck.

Junk Computers

So, ditch the bake sale–get into garbage.  It’s so much more profitable, you’ll be doing your community a real service–and nobody will gain weight!

Remember: without you, it’s all just trash.  Trash nobody can throw away.  Trash full of heavy metals to pollute our agricultural soils and our drinking water, working its way into our bodies.  And–thanks, for your very real, very valuable service!

Picture Your Hands Here

 

 

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Posted in Fundraising, recycling e-waste, recycling paper/docs | Leave a comment

Grocery Shopping

Posted on August 3, 2011 by rtgemina

First and Foremost–Two Key Rules

There’re smart ways to shop that save time in the grocery store and cut down on food bills.

I’ve learned–and you may think this is silly,

Relax, Enjoy a Full Meal First

but– eat before you go! If you’re hungry,

trust me, you will buy stuff you really don’t need.  (Like those potato chips I see right up top there, where you used to put the kids when they were smaller.  I know!)

Make a grocery list before even attempting to go to the store. That way, you’ll know what’s needed and–since you just ate– you’ll tend to stay away from spontaneous purchases.

Think making a list is too much work?  Well, you’re already online, so Google ‘grocery list’ and you’ll find plenty of templates where you just check off items or fill in some blanks–and you’re good to go.  Or just click here to download and print one: http://www.practicalspreadsheets.com/Grocery-List-Template.html

Stock Up on Staples            

Spices ease digestion, lower cholesterol--and reduce arthritis pain!

You want to have your pantry stocked with dry goods and spices (replace spices/herbs every Thanksgiving, so they don’t lose their flavor).

Whole Grains in Glass Canisters

Dry goods are food staples such as: whole grains, brown rice, and different kinds of dried beans.  Don’t be afraid to shop exotic/ethnic grocery stores that sell lentils like chana dal (India’s favorite lentil) or my fave, mansoor dal, bright orange– cooks in 15 minutes!

Mansoor Dal Lentils

Indian food stores carry many varieties of beans and lentils–and spices costing much less than the kinds we buy in jars and little tins!  Usually mom and pop stores, storeowners and cashiers there will gladly share advice and cooking tips if you’re clueless.  Open your mind to new things and explore different cooking techniques.

Cook Your Own!

The single most expensive thing about groceries is: people don’t cook anymore!  So a lot of food is purchased and eventually tossed in the trash.  In the USA, what we throw away could feed everybody dying of starvation in Somalia–if your mother told you that to make you eat your veggies–she was right!  You are NOT obliged to eat everything on your plate, as mama dictated.  But if you want to save $$$ on food, cook.  Buy a crockpot–an excellent investment for folks who want to reduce grocery bills.

Thai Peanut Sauce, for example

It’s a good idea, too, to have condiments on hand to make simple foods taste grand. We’re NOT talking mayo and ketchup here.   A Thai peanut sauce, for instance, can make cooked grains an entree.  Nobody needs to eat red meat every day.  Our typical U.S. diet contributes to high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, diverticulosis, colon cancer, and more.  Half your plate should be fruit and veggies–combine them, if you dislike veggies!  Try kale cooked al dente (still a little crisp) with peaches, if you like those.  Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar and a couple of drops of chili oil, maybe some chopped raw almonds or toasted sesame seeds, and voilà!  Fruit it up, spice it–and veggies become something wonderful.

A quarter of your plate should be whole grains.  Try mixing cold cooked grains into a salad with a dressing you love, as an entire meal–especially when it’s too hot to cook or eat much.  The grains can be prepared the day before.  If you must, you can buy a salad, if it’s just you– or you & hubby at home– and just toss in the grains you made the previous day.  Lovely.

A Grain Salad to Beat the Heat

A quarter of your plate should be meat or legumes–beans or lentils, for example.  Throw some rinsed, canned garbanzos in that salad with grains, and you’ve made a satisfying meal with complete proteins for very little effort or money.  Or try black beans, and kick in some fresh cilantro.

Here’s an article from the L.A. Times to acquaint you with the family of whole grains, their characteristics, basic cooking techniques– and some recipes for wonderful whole grain salads that’ll make your mouth water.  He starts by confessing he used to think he didn’t like whole grains–hah! Me, too.  Don’t we all naturally resist what’s “good for you?”

I didn’t know quinoa (KEEN’-wah) had to be rinsed first because of a soapy-tasting, insect-repellent the plant makes, for example.  I always thought I detested quinoa!  But no, I just didn’t know what I was doing.  With thanks to columnist Russ Parsons:

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcook-20110804,0,3072059.story

Follow these simple steps, and you’ll have saved a lot of money already!  Your newspaper’s food section will give you great ideas for using whole grains.  Then, too, you can go online and find tons of recipes. You only need a feel for it to get started.  After that, you’ll be full of ideas!  So here’s an idea your mom would have a fit over–PLAY WITH YOUR FOOD.  Have fun, and keep it up!

You Don’t Have to Give Up Anything to Eat Well & Save Money!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies with Toasted Walnuts/Pecans--see end of article for recipe*

Include among your staples: a sweetener, whether it’s sugar, or Splenda, or liquid agave sweetener– you choose.  And flour.  I gave up on white flour and white sugar–nothing else–and lost 60 pounds in 8 months.  I feel healthier, my cholesterol is down, and I don’t have diverticulosis anymore.  I was on the verge of having diabetes but that’s gone, too.  And I can’t exercise because I’m disabled.

So in our house, we use wholewheat flour and other whole grain flours, which are stored in the fridge because they have natural oils that can go rancid. We still make Toll House chocolate chip cookies, we still love our carbs, but even our teenagers no longer crave white flour or white sugar.  Who woulda thought?  We always have semi-sweet chocolate chips, varieties of raw whole or halved* nuts, and real vanilla extract on hand, too.  We buy those at big box stores, in quantity, for less $$$.  *(Whole nuts keep better.  We refrigerate ours, although they never last long enough to really need it.)

Buy Produce at Your Local Farmer’s Market or at Day’s End

––Several Times a Week 

On both coasts, fresh foods may be available at Farmer’s Markets held a couple of days a week.  In-between, you may be able to buy from farmers’ markets, or even in rural areas. Buying local foods as much as you can saves twice–because shipping costs are lower for locally grown food, your prices will be lower.  And food that doesn’t travel far to its market destination saves gas, carbon costs, and pollution for the whole planet.

Patio Planter--on Casters, from gardeners.com

Consider planting a veggie garden, if farmers’ markets don’t exist where you live and buying local won’t work, either.  Gardener’s Supply, an online store at www.gardeners.com, supplies all you need, even if you only have a patio or windows

Waterproof Grow Bags Go Anywhere

available.  They have window boxes, and waterproof non-woven fiber bags to grow your produce.  They even have waist-high planters, if you can’t bend down to the ground (I can’t, either).  Whatever problem you think you have with gardening, they have an answer for it!  In WWII, people planted veggies and fruits in community gardens and wherever they could, to eat for less.  And it’s healthier.  We can do that, too.

If all else fails, shop your supermarket at end of day.  Inside the store, go to the produce section and locate the door where the produce guys take in and sort the produce at the back.  Holler if you don’t see anybody and when you do, ask them what’s available that’s getting thrown away tonight– or on sale because it’s getting overripe.  If they sort their produce at some other time of day, ask them when.  You may even get produce for free!  Every day/night in supers all over the country, good food is being thrown away because it may not look great.  But that’s cosmetic.  Cut out the bruise, and the food’s fine.

If the fruit you get for less really is overripe, try making homemade ketchups–not the Heinz kind, but Oriental kinds made with peaches or figs, pineapple, and the like. You need overripe fruit for that.  You bake the fruit for 30 minutes to make it drier, then cook it with cider vinegar and a bit of sweetener–no tomatoes involved.  It’s fantastic. Find recipes online.  It’s good on those veggies you don’t like, and great for basting or sautéing chicken.  Thanks to L.A.’s famous chef Sang Yoon for this article on making ketchups without tomatoes, and his included recipes: 

http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-masterclass-sang-yoon-20110805,0,932564.htmlstory

Cider vinegar, btw, is a staple you should always have.  You can even clean kitchen counters with it–vinegar is antiseptic, and cider vinegar smells good, too.

Ask the meat department when they take markdowns.  Shop the same stores for the same items and get to know the supervisors– a friendly attitude will help get you keyed in to the good deals!  There’s a rack, usually at the back of the store, for day old breads and such–pass it by, there’s nothing there but white flour/white sugar/transfats & saturated fats–useless calories to make you fat and sick.  I’m not being judgmental here–just the facts, ma’am. Or sir.

Baking a Batch

Finally, our family recipe for

*OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces unsalted butter (NOT margarine, but Land’O'Lakes 50/50 will do, if you must )
  • 2 cups raw pecans, halves (or any combination of raw nuts, with skins, except hazelnuts–which you should buy skinned– or toast them, then rub hard in a kitchen towel to remove the skin.  This is hard work, and the towel will never be the same, but it’s cheaper than buying pre-skinned.  The best store for skinned hazelnuts, also called filberts, is Trader Joe’s, if you’re lucky enough to live near one.)
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour  (also called spring wheat)
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick-cooking)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (We prefer dark, but some don’t)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract (NOT imitation–you want inexpensive, not CHEAP)
  • 2 large eggs  (try free-range with 250 mgs. Omega-3s)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips  (Chocoholics add another 1/2 cup)
  • OPTIONAL: a handful of flax seeds  (ups the crunch factor)

Preparation:

Put pecans in a dry frying pan in a single layer, or in a toaster oven pan.  Cook over medium heat, stirring, or toast in toaster oven–being sure to turn ‘em over once or twice–until lightly browned and aromatic. (Don’t skip this!  Your whole house will smell like heaven and it makes all the difference in flavor.)  For even better taste, you can add the butter with the nuts, in which event keep the heat mid-low and don’t let the butter burn. Browned butter has amazing flavor–burnt butter, not so much.  Separate the nuts from the butter.  Set aside and let cool completely.  Chop the nuts.

In a mixing bowl, add the butter at room temperature and both sugars and beat until well blended.  Beat hard & long at this point but not after the eggs are in–this ‘melts’ the sugar granules so you can’t feel them on the tongue.  Beating hard after the eggs are in, however, makes the cookies tough.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth and well blended–but not long.  Slowly beat in the flour, baking soda, and salt until blended, then stir in the chocolate chips and toasted nuts.  If the dough’s too moist, add a bit of flour.  If too dry, add a tablespoon or two of milk.  Wholewheat flour absorbs moisture from the air, so minor adjustments may be needed, no biggie.

Results!

Scoop tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet. (Use the wrapper that was on the butter to grease the sheets). Bake for 9 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. If you prefer crisp to chewy, you can bake a few minutes more. Our family likes them different ways, so we bake some less, for the chewy people, and some more, for the crispy people– sigh. Remove to a rack to cool completely.

Makes about 3 dozen, depending on size.  The trick to keeping costs low here is buy

The Grand Finale

your vanilla in quarts, your chips in big box 5 lbs. size,and your nuts in big box 3 lbs. bags or on sale in bulk from your local health foods store–and don’t eat too many at once!  That last is the trickiest part, though.

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This website is just getting underway today, August 9, 2011.  Welcome!

Tell us what you need, tell us what you want, drop us a line or simply share your thoughts: help@sweetdealsandsteals.com

 

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Saving Money on Grocery Shopping

Posted on August 3, 2011 by rtgemina

21310589675_womansmilingatfood.jpg* All grocery stores have to get rid of certain items by the end of the day so if you plan to buy things like a whole cooked chicken (Chicken specifically gets marked down 3 hrs after cooking), go at the end of the trading day and you will find your chicken marked down, usually by less than even half-price. You can get a similar benefit from going early morning.
Find out when your specific store does mark-downs – Usually 3pm and 5pm.
Note, some grocers do their mark-downs first thing in the morning (opening time)
If your grocer is open late, try between 9pm and midnight for mark downs.
** Fruit is cheapest at the end of the week, so go Friday and Saturday.
While I can’t verify this, some people say Wednesday mornings are good days for mark-downs as some grocers do mark-downs on Wed in preparation for the end of the week shipments.

Another day known to be the cheapest is Sunday evening.  The best advice I would give here, would be to get friendly with someone at your local grocer and find out when they do most of their mark-downs.

More grocery shopping saving tips:
Beware of marketing strategies – Super markets know how to catch your attention to try to sell you.

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Money Saving Tips For Online Grocery Shopping

There are many ways to save money when you are getting your groceries from an online grocery store.  You will be able to save more money by shopping online and following a few tips that will come in handy. Shopping at online grocery stores will enable you the convenience that you require while allowing you more time to do other things in your life that was formerly taken up with grocery shopping.

Clean your fridge one shelf at a time

Clean the refrigerator out before shopping. Look closely at the food you already have. If the fresh produce is past using in a salad, plan a meal using it in a cooking recipe. Ninety-five percent of wilted produce can be used in stock, stews or a sauce. Don’t waste it, use it

Don't write one--Download a printable grocery list--items listed shelf by shelf! Easy peasy

 

 

 

 

10 Tips For Saving Money When Food Shopping

 

MAKE a grocery list and stick to it. This will decrease your chances of purchasing more than what is needed.  Download this list which prints items shelf by shelf or alphabetically, your preference!  http://www.sun-prairie-wisconsin.com/grocery%20list%20Copps%20Sun%20Prairie.pdf

Saving Money on Groceries Using Coupons

No matter how frugal you may be, you are always going to have to buy groceries- we just can’t live without food!  Unless you are a farmer and raise all of your own livestock and grow your own fruits and veggies, you are going to have to buy some food.  If you are aware of these ploys, you can avoid them.

  1. Check products below or above eye-level- This is one of those marketing strategies mentioned above. Manufacturers pay grocers for premium eye-level

    Look above and below eye-level, especially towards the floor

    product placing. You are the one that ends up paying for this premium placing!

  2. Make a list and stick to it. – If you go out with a list and only buy what’s on the list you will spend less than if you go to the store and buy what you think you need for the week.
  3.  Try plain brands or store brands, they are almost always as good as more expensive labelled brands and are even better sometimes.
  4. Coupons, Rebates, and Frequent Shopper Programs – I’m not a coupon user and probably never will be but it’s a fact that added up over a year using these can end up saving you hundreds of dollars. A recent study showed on average a 10% saving over a year.  You can print coupons from some of our sponsors, to your right.  Many retailers offer printable coupons online.  Your newspaper will usually have coupon sections available one day a week–ours is Tuesday–what’s yours?  It will probably include coupons from your regular supermarket.
  5. Check Sunday papers, contact manufacturers directly and ask them if they have coupons they could send you and ask to be placed on their mailing list, check store displays as they often have more coupons and go online where you can often find printable coupons not available by conventional means.  Here’s an online coupon company that let’s you print out your local stores’ coupons:  http://sundaypaper.com/
  6. Trying shopping like a European – If money is really tight, a technique mentioned to us by a subscriber is this: Shop like a European – This means you buy the stuff you need for dinner each day. This helps in 2 ways: One, you don’t have to spend one big lump sum of $$$ for a week or two’s worth of groceries. Two, it lets you decide your meal based on what is on special. Some people (especially singles or couples with no children find this can be very economical).  Try not to spend most of every day driving all over town, like someone I know who lived in Belgium for many years–but now lives in a sprawling city out west in the USA!
  7. Eat differently- Dinner doesn’t have to be steak with vegetables. There is

    Invest in an inexpensive crockpot

    nothing wrong with a simple (and CHEAP) pasta dish or a sandwich for dinner! You may not be used to it but another cheap way of eating is with stews or curries. It doesn’t matter what goes into it, call it ‘Gumbo’! The beauty of it is you can let the price of ingredients dictate what goes into it. Buy all the cheapest stuff and throw it all together in a huge pot, cook for an hour or two and portion it out for the next few days. Do you often make soup? If you want to save money, soup is great! Not only do you eat less if you start out with soup first, soup is cheap!

  8. Ethnic Grocers – Try Asian or Indian grocers! You will often find many items cheaper in these stores but you may find a whole new range of ideas which are cheaper than the way you do it now!
  9. Don’t shop on an empty stomach-

    Well--you catch my drift!

    Science boffins have proved that if you go shopping when you are hungry you spend more money than if you go after a meal. The reason, you’re subconsciously buying more because your hunger is making you feel you need more.

  10. *** Shop at markets at the end of the trading day. If you can, shop at farmer’s markets for the best quality and the cheapest price. In my area (West End in Australia’s Queensland) there is a small market with a huge range of foods and if we arrive just when the stall owners are just about to pack up you wouldn’t believe how cheap we get our groceries. Doing this we get our groceries done 4 times as cheap as if we did all our shopping at Wal-Mart! Example; ONE dollar for a big bunch of bananas that would be $6 at a big-name grocery store.

We hope this has given you a few ideas and will save you money.

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Fragrance Shop

Posted on August 3, 2011 by rtgemina

f_21310590337_7d3bcf54.jpgShopping From The Online Fragrance Shop Is The Latest Trend Followed Shopping is definitely fun, especially for women who are fond of doing a lot of shopping, but at times it gets monotonous and hectic especially when one has to travel long way to reach the place of shop.This usually happens when you are staying out of the city limits or in a small town. In this case it not only gets tiresome but also expensive paying for the gas. But with the introduction of online store things have become much easy for such people. Whether they want to shop clothes, accessories or even perfume of the latest trend, they can easily rely on the online store for better access as well as better deal.
How To Reach The Best Fragrance Shop
The search for the fragrance shop can start with a little research on the internet which can be a perfect guide through for reaching the best perfume of your choice and cost.

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The Many Uses of Fragrance

The numbers of fragrances available on the market today are numerous. People from all over the world are taking advantage of bringing their favorite fragrance. Today perfume becomes the day-to-day fashion and all men and women are using the many types of fragrance product. Fragrance is great for use in unscented body products such as lotions, soaps, scent, body gels and more. Discount Designer Fragrances Buying Guide

When comparing prices, note down the size of the bottle and exactly what you’re buying. Don’t confuse perfume (the most expensive) with the weaker eau de toilette, as you may just find it’s a false economy. Amazon often offers 90% and better reductions, yet it directs people to other areas, sending them to higher profit margin products instead. There are some speciality website for Ladies Fragrances i.e. BRANDEX www.brandexclothing.co.uk known for quality ladies fragrance prices down to 70% lowe Great Fragrances By Calvin Klein

Known for being a fashion label that embodies the meaning of class and style Calvin Klein perfumes also follow in these footsteps with fragrances that are classic, fresh and chic. Calvin Klein products are contemporary are made with the highest standards in mind. The Allure of Fragrance – Perfume and Cologne

Throughout history men and women alike have used a variety of beauty products to make themselves feel and appear more attractive. One of the most popular beauty products through the ages is perfume, a fragrance created by mixing fragrant oils and aroma compounds and is meant to give a person a pleasant scent.Whether you are looking for a branded perfume or a cheap perfume, you need to search for the fragrance shop accordingly. Though there are many fragrance shops that can be found online, one needs to look out for the best cost and brand that a particular online fragrance store can provide to their customer along with good service which is again very important factor that cannot be neglected. There may be shops that offer good discount and have wide range of perfumes, but what if they fail to meet the timely shipment or incase the shipment gets damaged by the time it reaches you? This can cost you inconvenience as well as loss of time and value. Therefore check out for such minute details while looking for your perfect fragrance shop and go for the one which can give you the best of bests in terms of products, cost and service. Cost is an important factor to be checked out The cost of the same brand or product varies from shop to shop whether it is an online shop or even an offline shop. We would definitely go to a shop that can give us good offer or discount on perfumes, isn’t it? Therefore check out the best of online stores for perfume as you can avail much better discounts online when compared to the offline market. Since most of the shops online get the product directly from the manufacturer, it reduces their costing and thus they can easily afford to sell it at a discounted price. Their offers are definitely worth going for especially with a free shipment service to our door.

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Online Shopping Tips

Posted on August 2, 2011 by rtgemina

21311024143_ladderofsuccess.jpgShopping Online is an easy and convenient way to shop for busy people, it is safe

& secure providing you follow a few guidelines. In this article I have collected few tips that make online shopping secure and fun.

Do business with companies you already know. If the company is unfamiliar, do your research before buying their products. Learn about the comments and ratings from other shoppers to crosscheck the authenticity of the shopping site.

Before buying check the information about online companies from news sources, directories, and rating services.

Make sure the site is VeriSign and make sure the online store uses Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which encrypts sensitive information.

Avoid putting to much personal information on any of online shopping site.

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Shop Laptops Online

Buying a good laptop at affordable price is a big challenge. There are a lot of various types of laptop computers available in the market, each one catering to a specific segment of consumers. A wide range of mainstream laptops are available for normal people to use, business laptops for business people, laptops for students, gaming and multimedia models with a lot of gaming options for gamers and many others. These different types of laptops come with different price tags. Usually one gets a st Mobile Shops

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Christmas gift shopping Online

Posted on August 2, 2011 by rtgemina

21310589531_shoppingcetres999.jpgChristmas gift shopping Online
Buying Christmas Gifts for girlfriends can send most men into a mild panic as we picture crowded shopping centres and malls, nightmare parking, traffic and shops in complete disarray. Although it’s hard to believe, some people enjoy this chaotic experience and relish in it as it is what Christmas and Christmas gift shopping is all about to them. They enjoy the commotion and flurry of the Christmas season and they would never consider avoiding any of the experience

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Online Shopping For Birthday Gifts – A1 Jaipur Flowers

Posted on August 2, 2011 by rtgemina

11311111228_shopping.jpgA1 Jaipur Flowers – Birthday is very special day of any one’s life. It is the day when you come in this world and celebrate every year as birthday. You make planning for this day from one month. How will I celebrate this day? How many friends will I invite? What will I do more on this day? Fresh flowers have always been a source of enlightenment. The reason behind this being that the natural creation that they are, they simple exude those vibes which make a person go around the world. The best thing that they do is of course put a smile on the recipient’s face.
Your near ones are always expecting something special from you. At times, they are disappointed by the gift given to them and yet conceal that sense of being let down. You might have to strive very hard to gauge their taste and often become incredulous.

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Birthday Flowers

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Grocery Shopping Strategies for Safe Shopping

Posted on August 2, 2011 by rtgemina

01310589680_dsc02564.jpgProtecting yourself and those that share your household from food-borne illness begins with careful grocery shopping. The U.S. government urges consumers to take these precautions:
• Shop only in stores that look and smell clean.
• Shop for items that are not refrigerated or frozen first. Put perishables and frozen foods into your cart last.
• Before putting cans and jars into your cart, inspect them. If a can is dented, bulging, or rusty, don’t buy it. If a jar has a loose or bulging lid, don’t buy it. A bulging lid on a car or jar may mean the food was under-processed and is contaminated.
• Don’t buy any product if it looks like the seal was tampered with or damaged.
•  Inspect carefully when selecting frozen items. Packages should not be open, torn, or crushed around the edges. Don’t buy packages that are above the frost line in the store’s freezer.  If the package cover is transparent, look for signs of frost or ice crystals.

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Saving More on Family Grocery Shopping

In todays economic weather, spending less money on anything is a benefit. However, one norm that is hard to spend less on is groceries. Budgeting less on groceries takes practice and planning. One way to waste less on groceries is to shop the sales for the necessary items. Grocery Shopping List – Training Kids to Be Frugal

Looking for simple ways to teach your kids the value of hard-earned cash? A grocery shopping list is the effective common thread that can run through your frugal training. Reward Shopping For Strategies For Hectic Moms

As a mother, it’s anticipated from us to organize gifts for our little ones. No issue how occupied we are with our career and taking good care of our houses in the exact same time, Christmas Shopping Strategies For Occupied Moms

Like a mother, it is expected from us to organize gifts for our children. No matter how occupied we’re with our career and caring for our houses on the same time,These are indications that the food has either been stored for a long time or thawed and then refrozen.
• Before putting a carton of eggs in your basket, open it and make sure there are no broken or cracked eggs in the batch.
• Whether you do self check-out or have a store employee bagging your groceries, be sure that raw meat, poultry, and seafood are bagged separately from other items so that possible  drippings from them do not contaminate other foods, especially those to be eaten uncooked.
• If any of your groceries need refrigeration or freezing, get them home fast. Food safety experts stress the “2-hour rule” because harmful bacteria can multiply in the “danger zone” (between 40°F – 140°F).
Modify that rule to 1 hour when temperatures are above 90°F., as they often are when cars are parked in the sun.
• If it will take more than an hour to get groceries home, it’s a good idea to put perishables in an ice chest. Also, when it’s hot enough to use your car’s air conditioner, put groceries in the passenger section of your car, not in the trunk.
 
Source(s):
FoodSafety.gov “Start at the Store: 7 Ways to Prevent Foodborne Illness”

http://foodsafety.gov/blog/7ways_1.html

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