Best painless "stretching things" budget tips?

[D&DDisney]

When you say you freeze them individually first, do you wrap them up to keep them from getting "frostbite"?

Nope. Just line them up individually on a greesed cookie sheet (or use parchment paper). I only leave them in the freezer long enough to freeze (2-3 hrs) Then I transfer them to freezer bags.
I suppose you could add a piece of wax paper or parchment paper on top if you wanted extra protection. So far it has worked fine for me w/o it.

 

[goofyboyzmom]

Thank you. I always put wax paper between them and they always still stick together

 

[Lauree]

We have used vinegar for years. My 6yo has very bad eczema and we have never used fabric softener since her birth. We also vinegar and baking soda for most all of our cleaning around the house and I assure you the house doesn't smell of vinegar. You can't even believe how much you will save on cleaning supplies by switching to a big jug of white vinegar and a big box of baking soda to replace eerything.

I am really interested in more info. about this. I spend wayyy too much money on cleaning products, but haven't a clue how to use vinegar and baking soda. Thanks for any extra information.

 

[mama4]

I put my dishsoap in a pump type bottle (I use an old liquid hand soap container) and mix it with water. Most of my dishes go in the dishwasher, but for handwashing my coffee pot and misc other stuff, I just use a squirt of the soap/water mix. I find that the dishsoap is way too concentrated and just gets wasted if I don't mix it with water.

I also water down the handsoap in the bathroom. My kids use wayyyy too much soap otherwise. I also water down the kids shampoo and my husbands shampoo. They seem to "need" a great big handful whether it is watered down or not. I don't water mine down but I only use a small amount.

I water down the kids juice to make it stretch. Hmmm... now that I think about it, I water down just about everything, LOL!

I do all of these too! In the bathroom I have an old Kandoo foam hand soap dispenser...I bought it probably two years ago. If you mix about 1/4 hand soap and fill the rest with water and it makes the foam. You can't put too much soap or it won't work. This was my dsis's discovery by the way

 

[Tinka_Belle]

Happy to help...if you have medium to large dogs, like me...I would suggest setting them to cool somewhere high. My dog can't seem to resist the smell and goes "counter surfing."

Luckily both of my doggies are little and can't even jump high enough to see the top of the couter.

I am really interested in more info. about this. I spend wayyy too much money on cleaning products, but haven't a clue how to use vinegar and baking soda. Thanks for any extra information.

Here is a great website all about Vinegar. http://www.vinegartips.com/ I used to hate the thought of using vinegar for anything, because I hate the smell. I am a true believer of vinegar now. I need an I heart vinegar bumper sticker.

 

[Lauree]

Thanks so much Tinka Belle! I have printed out 5 pages of information already!

 

[happycampers]

I need an I heart vinegar bumper sticker.

Or how about, "Honk if you love vingegar"

 

[Tinka_Belle]

Or how about, "Honk if you love vingegar"

I call dibbs on the royalties!!!

 

[mama4]

Since there are six of us I do something like this too. When I make meat for tacos, we'd normally need 2 lbs of beef, but I use 1 lb and a can of black beans, rinsed. I add them when I add the seasoning mix to the browned beef.

Oh THANK YOU for this! I haven't thought of this one. We eats tacos at least once every 2 weeks sometimes more. I usually make 2 lb grnd beef AND a can of black beans because I LOVE black beans. The kids will also eat the beans sometimes. This will be an easy way for me to cut out 1 lb of ground beef. Btw, do you use 1 or 2 packets of seasoning???
Now I wish there was a way to stretch the chicken breasts we eat so often....

 

[MELSMICE]

Oh THANK YOU for this! I haven't thought of this one. We eats tacos at least once every 2 weeks sometimes more. I usually make 2 lb grnd beef AND a can of black beans because I LOVE black beans. The kids will also eat the beans sometimes. This will be an easy way for me to cut out 1 lb of ground beef. Btw, do you use 1 or 2 packets of seasoning???
Now I wish there was a way to stretch the chicken breasts we eat so often....

I split those large boneless, skinless breasts in half so they are thinner. The main reason I started doing it was because they were just too thick to cook & seemed to get dried out.

Now, I make them thin because that's the way we enjoy them & because we can then use them for sandwiches - whether it be that evening for the meal or during the week for lunches.

I'm not sure if it will actually cut down on what you have to make (for some reason it did for me) but we enjoy them more this way!

 

[SnowWhite607]

I split those large boneless, skinless breasts in half so they are thinner. The main reason I started doing it was because they were just too thick to cook & seemed to get dried out.

Now, I make them thin because that's the way we enjoy them & because we can then use them for sandwiches - whether it be that evening for the meal or during the week for lunches.

I'm not sure if it will actually cut down on what you have to make (for some reason it did for me) but we enjoy them more this way!

Yep I do that too. Kind of like you are going to butterfly them and then cut right thru. I bought a pack of 9 breasts which would normally be 3 meals for the 3 of us. I split them long ways and made 18 breasts, therefore making 6 meals. I dont think anyone in the family has really noticed that the chicken is thinner. And it cuts down on cooking time. And I found it better for grilling cause sometimes I would grill some that were so thick in the middle that it would be almost impossible to get them done all the way thru.

 

[Chicklogic]

Yep I do that too. Kind of like you are going to butterfly them and then cut right thru. I bought a pack of 9 breasts which would normally be 3 meals for the 3 of us. I split them long ways and made 18 breasts, therefore making 6 meals. I dont think anyone in the family has really noticed that the chicken is thinner. And it cuts down on cooking time. And I found it better for grilling cause sometimes I would grill some that were so thick in the middle that it would be almost impossible to get them done all the way thru.

Thank you! I "used" to do this.....and forgot how great it was!

 

[mama4]

I split those large boneless, skinless breasts in half so they are thinner. The main reason I started doing it was because they were just too thick to cook & seemed to get dried out.

Now, I make them thin because that's the way we enjoy them & because we can then use them for sandwiches - whether it be that evening for the meal or during the week for lunches.

I'm not sure if it will actually cut down on what you have to make (for some reason it did for me) but we enjoy them more this way!

Yes that should work for us -Don't know why I haven't thought of it. I usually pound the heck out the things because I hate how thick they are but it would be much easier to slice in half. Thanks!

 

[MELSMICE]

Yes that should work for us -Don't know why I haven't thought of it. I usually pound the heck out the things because I hate how thick they are but it would be much easier to slice in half. Thanks!

Just a tip - they are easier to slice when they are semi frozen. I will split the package of breasts & lay them on a cookie sheet. When they are semi frozen then I split them in half then freeze them the remainder of the way.

Or I will defrost them overnight or in cold water & when they are semi thawed I'll them split then. They are firmer when you cut them & easier to work with!

 

[Leader of the Club]

This is SOOOOO true! When we bought our HE front loading machine, I was really worried about the expense of the special HE detergent. .

I get a giant bucket of HE soap powder at Sears and it costs $24.99. It lasts my family of 5 for 10 months.

 

[gracelrm]

I've read through about 12 pages of posts. Will have to read some more tomorrow. Thanks everyone for the great tips. Here's two things I can add. If you have a small area to paint and you're not too picky about the paint color check at Lowes for their returned paint. When people don't get the right color of custom paint and they return it - at our local store, they mark the returned paints for $5 for a gallon. I have a friend who goes to Lowe's just about weekly and she always stops in to see what paint colors are available. Also, I have a friend who recently invested in some rental property - they painted several rooms, closets, etc.... with the $5 paint.

Also, the bakery at WalMart (and possibly other places) have those huge 5 gallon tubs that their icing comes in and they will give those away. I'm sure you could use those in the same manner as the more expensive storage bins.

 

[Tinka_Belle]

I've read through about 12 pages of posts. Will have to read some more tomorrow. Thanks everyone for the great tips. Here's two things I can add. If you have a small area to paint and you're not too picky about the paint color check at Lowes for their returned paint. When people don't get the right color of custom paint and they return it - at our local store, they mark the returned paints for $5 for a gallon. I have a friend who goes to Lowe's just about weekly and she always stops in to see what paint colors are available. Also, I have a friend who recently invested in some rental property - they painted several rooms, closets, etc.... with the $5 paint.

Also, the bakery at WalMart (and possibly other places) have those huge 5 gallon tubs that their icing comes in and they will give those away. I'm sure you could use those in the same manner as the more expensive storage bins.

My aunt bought a bunch of that paint from Lowe's. We mixed the colors and came up with a very nice color to paint my grandparents dining room.

 

[pampam]

Yeah, we use cloth almost exclusively. Paper products are for short road trips only. I feel guilty even then. Also, we hang dry lots of things rather than use the electricity to dry them.

OP, I'd be worried about the high fructose corn syrup in that fake syrup. Why not find a Trader Joes and get your syrup cheaper to begin with? Their prices are marvelous!

That's a good idea, but I simply refuse to give up my toilet paper!

 

[pampam]

Instead of planting in the yard, try a container garden. You use much less water and don't have as many problems with pests. I had a salsa garden last year. I had 2 tomato plants and a pepper plant that did really, really well. I also had a shallow pot for lettuce(looseleaf variety-mesclun). The pot was filled with potting soil and I could just throw some lettuce seeds on the top and water. Within days, I had enough for a salad. This stuff was fast growing and prolific. One packet of seeds lasted the whole summer long. Unfortunately, I didn't have much luck with the onions and garlic.

I do raised bed gardening. There is no work to it. Since it is raised, it gets very little weeds- I spend about 1/2 hour total all summer weeding, and I don't even have to bend down to weed. Any weeds are from seeds blown it so they might be 1/2 inch tall when I have discovered them and have not developed a root system.

I order 18 2x4's from the lumber yard, and ask them to cut 6 of those in half. There is usually no charge for this service. I also get a pound or 2 of nails. I pound it together- it takes about an afternoon to build. Fill the bottom with lawn rakings leaves, branches, or whatever you like. Fill the top 8-10 inches with dirt, and plant. You do not need to make rows, since you will not be tilling or hoeing. Broadcast your seeds. Enjoy. No space is wasted on rows, so practically every inch is used. In the winter, the frost will heave it, tilling it. The veggies grow prolifically. This is a very good way to garden for someone elderly or disabled, since there is no work to it . My gardens are 4' by 8'. The first one I built was accessable from both sides, but I have since realized I don't need to do that. I can reach across from the front, but someone with reaching problems might have to have it accessable from both sides. I have 3, now. One has green beans, yellow beans and beets. The next one has carrots, spinach, radishes, and more beets. The last one has squash, that I grow vertically on trellisses to save space.

 

[pampam]

The microfiber towels were with the automotive and hardware supplies in the DT store near me. They are rolled up. Hope you can find them.

I may have to check out that Xpress sandwich thingie...it sounds interesting and yet another way to creatively use leftovers. Also, I LOVE corndogs and NEVER get them!

I went to the fabric store and bought a yard of the microfiber fabric, cut it into squares and made my own for a lot less than storebought.