On a recent camping trip/fishing excursion with some guys from our church, my husband came home with this tip that he picked up from one of the guys when they were frying their fish. (Thanks, Jeff!)

When you are cooking and have excess grease to remove, use a slice or two of bread to absorb it and then just toss the bread into the trash. This works best with small amounts of grease and is a much neater and easier alternative to the “balance the pot and lid while draining into a small can method” that I still use for large amounts of grease.

FYI, this is just one of the many additional uses for heels of bread that I could have included in my “Five Ways to Stretch Bread” post.

How do you handle the nasty grease situation in your kitchen?

Janna, over at Feed Your Pig is hosting an online auction with proceeds going to benefit Haiti relief. She has lots of items up for bid including Rubbermaid food containers (I own the style she has pictured and love them!) Also available are gift cards to Crocs, Amazon and EcoStore. I’m also liking the Hot Chocolate school supplies by Carolina Pad. Make sure you scroll down all the way and check her posts thoroughly because she has ALOT of items up for bid.

For more info, also check out her post: FAQ For Haiti Solace Auction.

The auction ends soon, so you’ll want to check it out  before it ends.

You might remember my blogging buddy Karen, from Saving the Family Money from her recent guest post here on 17 Ways to Save Your Family Money. She has posted one my articles on her site, entitled Frugality as a Lifestyle – It’s more than a price tag.

I hope you will check it out. While you are there, you might want to get comfortable and explore her site. Karen posts numerous bargains, freebies and lots of great ideas.

If you are a frugal-minded mom like me, sometimes we have to resort to a few tricks and secrets when it comes to feeding our family and watching the grocery budget. I’m also a big believer that every little bit adds up.

When we have an odd amount of cereal remaining that is not enough for a full bowl, I like to combine it with another cereal that would complement it well. For example, if your children love Chocolate Krispies, combine with the plain Rice Krispies. The round chocolate puffed cereal would go perfectly with a half a bowl of Kix. If your children love Frosted Flakes, add a few plain corn flakes.

Not only does this stretch the last bit cereal, it is healthier. Sometimes, I will serve the mixed cereal solely to keep sugar consumption lower.

Mommy Secret: Put the full sugar version in the bottom of the bowl so the children will have to eat their way through the healthier cereal for a sweet surprise.

“This is in the top three.”

That was my husband’s unsolicited reaction to this hearty soup. It’s one of his favorite top three dishes that I’ve made. I like to fix a hearty soup or chili whenever our area receives a good snowfall and this recipe has earned a place in my collection of family favorites.

Hamburger Barley Soup

adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 onion, minced

4 carrots, diced

3 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1/2 cup barley (add a tad more if you like thicker soup)

1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

2 cups water

3 (10 ounce) cans beef broth OR 30 ounces of water and 2 Tablespoons beef granules (preferred due to stronger flavor)

1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup

1 bay leaf

1 Tablespoon parsley

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a large pot, brown the ground beef. Drain.

2. Stir in onion, celery, carrots, and barley. Add tomatoes, water, broth (or water and granules), and tomato soup. Season with the bay leaf, parsley, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring often.

3. Remove bay leaf and serve.

This soup would be excellent alongside cornbread or biscuits.

Enjoy!

Edit: It looks like this coupon is now unavailable.

Children’s Place is one of my favorite children’s clothing stores. They seemed to have nailed the trifecta for price, style and quality. They have good prices anyway, but I love it when they sweeten the deal with coupons.

They are introducing a new dressy collection, just in time for Spring and Easter. (Hard to imagine if your area is covered by snow, but I promise, Spring really is on its way.)

The coupon expires February 18, 2010, so if your kids need new Spring clothes, I would use this one asap.

When I think of Valentine’s Day, I can’t say taxes have ever come to mind. In fact, taxes are anything but sweet and H&R Block must realize that because they are giving their customers a special Valentine deal.

Starting on Friday, February 12th -  Sunday, February 14th, taxpayers are invited to register to use any H&R Block At Home online product for only $14.00. That is a 50% discount off H&R Block At Home Deluxe and 70% off H&R Block At Home Premium.

If you register February 12th – 14th, you will receive the full menu of advanced features that H&R Block At Home Basic, Deluxe and Premium offer, such as:

-       Audit support from a live tax professional
-       Import last year’s tax data from TurboTax or TaxCut
-       Automatic import of data from your employer and financial provider
-       Tailored guidance for your personal situation or occupation
-       Easy-to-use tax calculator

If you usually prepare your taxes at home, this means you can do your Federal taxes at a ridiculously cheap price. (This offer does not include State.) To take advantage of this offer, register here before February 14: http://www.hrblock.com/valentine

I have not personally used this service, but it sounds like a bargain.

With Valentine’s Day just a couple of days away, here are some last minute ideas to make the day a little more fun for you and your children.

Free and Frugal Valentine Ideas – I love this post! It’s one I wrote as a brand new blogger last year and has lots of fun ideas that my kids enjoyed when they were younger.

Free E-Book with Valentine Desserts – Easy Valentine’s Day Dessert Recipes

Valentines Day Music Sampler – If you like Karaoke, (it amazes me how many brave souls do!) then you can download free Karaoke Valentine music from Amazon.

Cute and Inexpensive Valentine Ideas – Jenn at Frugal Upstate has a fun list of Valentine crafts and ideas.

Printable Valentine Crafts and Activities – geared mainly toward young children

If you are snowed in or want to save money by eating at home this weekend, check out this free eCookbook that contains 27 Secret Restaurant Copycat Recipes.

A little creativity goes a long way!

Have fun,

I like schedules, sort of. They are a necessary evil and most events and scenarios in a family require adhering to a specific plan. However, meals are my place to rebel. My need for variety and sometimes even living on a whim is why I do not use the typical menu plan.

Instead of listing what meal will be served for each day of the week, I make an inventory of all the possible meals that we have in our pantry and freezer. I do not assign a day to the meal, but rather, I have a simple master list. This list is especially helpful on the weeks that I want to spend less at the grocery store and make use of what we have on hand.

As the week wears on, I will use the list to see which meal works into the allotted time we have available each day and what I’m in the mood to cook. For me, this works much better than having to stick to a daily schedule and I can ensure our food is used before it goes bad. I mark the meal off my list and at a glance, it is easy to see my remaining meal options.

Do you plan your menus? Do you find them tedious or difficult to work around? I have found what works for my family, but I’d love to hear what works for yours.