Affordable books

Kyle and I love to read books but as this can be an expensive hobby, we have cut back on the amount of books we purchase. About a year ago we discovered a large bookstore in Anchorage that will buy back your old books for credit. They normally don't buy back all the books that we bring in, and as long as I purchase used books I haven't had to pay out of pocket yet. We made a quick stop today because I was looking for something new. Here is what I picked up.
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Cost for the three books was $16.98 but since I was using my existing store credit, we ended up with 3 books for free, I love free! And I can return the books within 2 weeks time for a full refund.
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My receipt showing that I still have $35 in credit. I have almost accumulated another box of books to turn in for credit, with this method I won't have to pay for books for quite a while.
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Once a Month Cooking

I was browsing some blogs over the weekend and came across an article by Erin over at Jane4Girls $800 Annual Budget. I normally prepare a week's worth of meals in advance but have never considered doing a month in advance. It is a smart way to use up products that you purchase during great deals, not to mention the free time you will have during the week.

Erin has posted on this method for waffles, and 3 ways to do potatoes. After cooking, you allow the food to quick freeze, then package in portion sizes and re-freeze until needed. I love the waffles idea as you can toss them into the toaster to re-heat, super easy!

I typically cook 4 cups of medium grain rice a week and portion out and freeze until needed. If you are going to freeze rice, make sure to portion up and freeze while it is still warm so that it has moisture in the bag for re-heating. I also like to do this with chicken breasts, season and bake in the oven until done. Then slice some if it up for salads, but I mostly dice up the chicken to use in soups, quesadillas, and fajitas. Make sure to slice/dice it up before freezing as it freezes faster and is ready to go when you need it. You could also cook up crumbled hamburger in a pyrex container, I find that cooking hamburger this way I can avoid adding fat/oil. Once cooked it is great for re-heating for lasagna, pasta with meat sauce, Velveeta & burger chip dip, tacos, sloppy joes, soups, and we even sprinkle cooked hamburger on mac-n cheese!

Make sure to stop by Jane4girls $800 Annual Budget for instructions on how she does this as well as some great pictures on how the products look.

Have a great week everyone!

Did you know?!?

My sister Chris sent me an email with some interesting food and non-food facts, did you know...

Peel a banana from the bottom and you won't have to pick the little 'stringy things' off of it. That's how the primates do it. Take your bananas apart when you get home from the store. If you leave them connected at the stem, they ripen faster.

Store your opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil. It will stay fresh much longer and not mold!

Peppers with 3 bumps on the bottom are sweeter and better for eating. Peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom are firmer and better for cooking.

Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. It will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking.

To really make scrambled eggs or omelets rich add a couple of spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese, or heavy cream in and then beat them up.

Add garlic immediately to a recipe if you want a light taste of garlic and at the end of the recipe if your want a stronger taste of garlic. *Make sure not to burn garlic!*

Expanding Frosting; When you buy a container of cake frosting from the store, whip it with your mixer for a few minutes. You can double it in size. You get to frost more cake/cupcakes with the same amount. You also eat less sugar and calories per serving.

Before you pour sticky substances into a measuring cup, fill with hot water. Dump out the hot water, but don't dry cup. Next, add your ingredient, such as peanut butter, and watch how easily it comes right out.

Leftover snickers bars from Halloween make a delicious dessert. Simply chop them up with the food chopper. Peel, core and slice a few apples. Place them in a baking dish and sprinkle the chopped candy bars over the apples. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes!!! Serve alone or with vanilla ice cream.

For a cool brownie treat, make brownies as directed . Melt Andes mints in double boiler and pour over warm brownies. Let set for a wonderful minty frosting.

To warm biscuits, pancakes, or muffins that were refrigerated, place them in a microwave with a cup of water. The increased moisture will keep the food moist and help it reheat faster.

Newspaper weeds away; Start putting in your plants, work the nutrients in your soil. Wet newspapers, put layers around the plants overlapping as you go cover with mulch and forget about weeds. Weeds will get through some gardening plastic, but they will not get through wet newspapers.

For broken glass, use a wet cotton ball or Q-tip to pick up the small shards of glass you can't see easily.

No More Mosquitoes! Place a dryer sheet in your pocket. It will keep the mosquitoes away.

To get rid of pesky fruit flies, take a small glass, fill it 1/2' with Apple Cider Vinegar and 2 drops of dish washing liquid, mix well. You will find those flies drawn to the cup and gone forever!

To keep squirrels from eating your plants, sprinkle your plants with cayenne pepper. The cayenne pepper doesn't hurt the plant and the squirrels won't come near it.

Pin a small safety pin in the seam of your slip and you will not have a clingy skirt or dress. Same thing works with slacks that cling when wearing panty hose. Place pin in seam of slacks and ... ta da! ... static is gone! (WOW, I will have to try this!)

Buy a chalkboard eraser and keep it in the glove box of your car. When the windows fog, rub with the eraser. Works better than a cloth!

Use your hair conditioner to shave your legs. It's cheaper than shaving cream and leaves your legs really smooth. It's also a great way to use up the conditioner you bought but didn't like when you tried it in your hair.

Put small piles of cornmeal where you see ants. They eat it, take it 'home,' can't digest it so it kills them. It may take a week or so, especially if it rains, but it works and you don't have the worry about pets or small children being harmed!

Dust mice/rat areas with baby powder to get rid of them. They ingest the powder when grooming themselves and it causes there blood to coagulate.

The best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take the filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. It makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long. The buildup from using dryer sheets causes a film on the filter and results in poor air circulation forcing your dryer to work harder and could also cause a fire, yikes!