Wednesday 15 May 2013

Sneaking in Healthy Food and Money Saving Tips

We all have little tricks we use to make things go further in order to save money (or because we're going to run out of an item) or slip healthy food to our kids.

While I was making and canning applesauce this fall, I saved and canned the water the apples were cooked in and called it apple juice. It does taste like apple juice and I figured why not. The thing is, not everyone likes it. So here I am now with my jars of homemade "apple juice" that not everyone will drink and I need juice. I have found that if I mix one can of store bought juice and one jar of my "apple juice" no one know the difference. This stretches my store bought juice and ensures that my homemade stuff is used and not wasted.

I also made banana muffins today. Except that I only pulled two bananas out of the freezer and they did not make 1 cup of mashed banana. Out comes the jar of peach sauce (like applesauce) that no one likes. I added that to the mashed banana to equal one cup. The result? Yummy. The peach sauce cut the sweetness of the overripe bananas a bit and made the muffins feel more silky in my mouth. How does silky feel in your mouth? I have no idea how to explain it, but it's a good thing. Even better, the kids have no idea.

Want to know how to make healthy chocolate muffins that taste sinfully rich? Add pureed carrots and pureed avocado. Not only do the carrots and avocado add nutrition, but the avocado provides the richness. See my Healthy Eating post for the recipe. Plan ahead by cooking and pureeing your carrots ahead of time and freeze them in 1/2 cup portions; same thing for the avocado except you don't cook it.

As far as money saving goes, there are a myriad of things that can be done. I'll do a more extensive post on this later, but for now here are just a few ideas.
  • Pour half a bottle of fabric softener into another container; add water to both. You'll never notice the difference.
  • Make your own laundry detergent. (More on that next time.)
  • Hang your laundry out to line dry. The fresh smell is amazing.
  • Make your own baby wipes/handy wipes using a good roll of paper towels, water, baby shampoo and oil.
  • Find out how many of the tv shows you watch can be streamed on-line; you may be able to cancel your satellite/cable and not miss it. 
Most everyone I know has dipped into their creative side when in a pinch. I would love to hear your little tricks!

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