Better Uses for Excessive Phone Books

A blog I follow, Afraid of Failing, had a recent post about an abundance of phone books. Now, I only get two at a time, but I still have a hard time throwing out my old phone books once I receive a new one. So I went to look in my cupboard where I keep my phone books. LOL! I have 9! Recycling is always an option, but I decided to find alternative uses for the extra and expired books that can help us save money.

• Tear the pages out and use them for packing when mailing packages.
• Papier mache'
• It could make some interesting, but cheap, gift wrap for Christmas. (might take a little work to piece it together on the bigger gifts)
• Recycle in a blender to make homemade paper.
• Cut out the ads in the Yellow Pages that you use frequently and paste into a notebook for reference.
• The thicker ones do make great "last-minute" booster seats.
• If you stamp, use the pages to stamp you project on to catch the over-stamp, tear out and throw away.
• Makes a decent cutting board for craft projects - not the best, but it works.
• Makes great templates for sewing. Instead of using tissue paper for your patterns.
• Would probably make a neat "altered book"

and don't forget:

• It can always be used to level out the chair or table with the uneven leg.

Do you have more ideas?

Dehydrators

I love dehydrators! I have had one for a long time and it finally gave out on me. . . in the middle of harvest . . . at the start of apple season.

Arrgh!

So I purchased a new one, Magic Chef, off of Ebay and my mother is getting me a Ronco - so now I will have two. Woohoo! I got mine in the mail today and already have some peppers in it. Once I have had both of them running for a little, I will give my review of how each is performing.

Dehydrating is a wonderful thing.

What I love:

• Once the food is dried, I can put it in jars or use a Food Saver to seal it and it will keep for quite a while.
• It takes up less space.
• I don't have to worry about losing food in the winter when the power goes out and everything in my freezer starts to dehydrate.
• I don't have to worry about freezer burn.
• If I have fruits that are starting to over-ripen before they get eaten, I can toss them in the dehydrator and add to cereal or granola or cake mix later.
• It is also great if you save seeds to plant in your garden for next year - wash the seeds and toss in the dehydrator, then store for next season.

You can use your oven to dehydrate food, but I like to use the machine itself because it keeps my oven free for supper and it is more economical.

Two of my favorite things to dry: bananas - yummm, banana chips dipped in chocolate; and apples. When I dry the apples I cut, peel, and core each apple. Then let them soak in a bowl of salt water for a minute or two, dry them off just a bit and place them in the dehydrator. I plan to use the dried apples to make old fashioned fried apple pies.

Remember, when drying food it will remove most of the water content and the food will shrink quite a bit. But you can store so much more in the same amount of space.

A few interesting reads:
http://www.budget101.com/dehydrated_foods.htm
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2003-06-01/Choosing-a-Food-Dehydrator.aspx
http://www.seasonalchef.com/appledehyd.htm

Christmas is Around the Corner!

I know, I know . . . I hear the groans over the internet. But seriously, Christmas is only 3 months and 1 day away!

So, on the subject of Christmas and Thrift-worthiness . . . I am giving homemade gifts this year. Money is tight, prices are high, and gas is . . . well . . . unspeakable.

So what am I doing for gifts? I am giving scarves to my female family members and food baskets for family gifts. I am still thinking of what to give the male family members. Each gift will come from us as a family and for most of the gifts, we will all have helped in some way in the creation of the gifts.

The scarves - well, I know how to crochet and basic knit/purl. But my dd is still learning so it was slow going. Until!!! I found this wonderful little "tool" in the craft department of the "store of no name." It is made by ProvoCraft - wonderful company, btw - and is affordable and easy to use. What is it, you ask? Well, it is none other than . . . the KniftyKnitter! There are actually several of these, I happened to pick up the purple one for $7.84 http://www.provocraft.com/products/detail.php?cl=knifty%20knitter&scl=&item=21-0105
but if you go here: http://www.provocraft.com/search/index.php?cl=search&actn=makitso&prd_name=All%20Products&search=nxtbck
You will see the others that are available. I love this tool so much that I have raved about it and shown it off to several people. They have liked it so much, they bought it too. My neighbor purchased the 4-pack loom set and is busy knitting away.

They are so simple and easy to use, my dd picked up the directions and she was off! So we take turns working on the scarves. We use two strands of yarn for added thickness, but you can use one or a heavy yarn. The basic scarf pattern uses a simple figure 8 on the loom. The company even has several pattern books out to make many different types of scarves. These looms can also make hats, tassels, afghans, shawls, throw pillows, and even a stuffed Bear!! I am amazed that they will create that and plan to try it to give to my smallest nieces and nephews. How does the rest of my family help with this project? They help pick out the colors, do an occasional row, and wash dishes in the evening so I can work on the scarves.

So think about the cost for a moment: Depends on the yarn of course, but I buy the Jiffy yarn and use two skeins to make one scarf - so at $1.88 per skein, that equals just under $4 after tax for a beautiful, thick, warm, durable scarf. And I even have some yarn leftover, so I am hoping to make some matching hats to go with the scarf. If it works, then I will give a scarf and hat to them and only spend $4 oop.

Family gifts - I happened upon a wonderful bounty this year - blueberries! A woman had a field full of blueberry bushes and was too ill to pick them. She agreed to let me pick all I wanted as long as I split them with her. FREE!! just lots of time picking. So I turned most of them into jam and syrup, froze some and dehydrated some. I plan to put the jam and syrup into a basket with pancake mix, muffin mix, and hopefully some homemade candies. Any ideas for this basket? I am still in the planning stages on it, but the ideas are floating around.

The Male family members - I am debating on scarves for them too. I know several men who wear them, but others who refuse. lol. So I am a little stuck. I can't give them the food basket, because I prefer it to be a family gift. So what to give to them. Please, feel free to send some ideas my way on this matter.

Are you giving homemade/handmade gifts this year? Tell me about them or blog it and send me the link.

Once a Month Cooking

Have you ever heard of Once a Month Cooking (OAMC)? It means just what it says, and it is rather interesting. I checked into it many years ago and have been intrigued with it ever since. Unfortunately, I have not done anything about it :)

Essentially, it takes 2-3 days per month to do.

The first day is a planning day - figure out what you have on hand, what recipes you want to create, and what additional supplies you will need.
The second day is a shopping day - (although if you coupon hopefully you have most of the items on hand) - on shopping day, you will need to purchase the additional supplies that you don't already have on hand.
The third day is the actual cooking day - and if you are definitely cooking for the whole month, you will need the whole day. After you prepare each dish, you package them for freezing so that all you have to do is pull out a meal from the freezer and heat it up. Simple!

One great thing about this idea is you can do it with friends in different ways to share the work. Everyone knows work is faster and easier and more fun when it is done with friends. You can plan the cooking day to be at one person's home and everyone participating converges there to cook together and share the work. Or... if you and your friend like similar recipes, you can each split the recipes you both like and double what you would normally cook for the month. Then package it up and trade out. It is always easier to do assembly line when the item doesn't change.

You don't have to do it all Once a Month - you can do Twice a Month or even Once a Week Cooking. You can work it into your schedule to cook as often or as seldom as necessary.

I am doing more research on it, again, and there are some great websites and a Yahoo group out there, hopefully I can get started on it finally once I get my hectic schedule settled.

Here are some sites to get you started (and don't forget there are a few books out there about this subject, too):

http://www.once-a-month-cookingworld.com/
http://www.frugalmom.net/once_a_month_cooking.htm
http://www.cookofthemonth.com/
http://members.aol.com/OAMCLoop/
http://www.cookofthemonth.com/

I recommend this book:
Once-A-Month Cooking
by Mimi Wilson, Marilyn S. Wilson, Mary Beth Lagerborg

Have fun checking it out! Let me know what you think.

If you already do Once a Month Cooking, tell me about it? Pros and Cons?

This blog is not just about couponing. It is about anything Thrifty. I have been very busy lately but I hope to be back to posting regularly and more diversely.