February 12, 2009
When the girls were little, we tried to make something each Valentine’s Day. But it’s a challenge to not spend too much money, have something they can make, and have it be something everyone enjoys. We made airplanes out of chewing gum sticks one year (wrapped so the recipient could chew the gum!), various pretzel things, cookies, and so forth. But the favorite was red play dough hearts! You’ll want to double this for about 24 hearts.
Play Dough
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 cup water
food coloring
Put everything in a heavy saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until it forms a ball. Remove from heat. Put the dough onto a board and let it cool a few minutes, then knead for 5 minutes or so.
Roll the dough out and cut into heart shapes with cookie cutters, put them in sandwich bags, and either write directly on the sandwich bag or slip in a paper heart with the recipeient’s name.
Enjoy!
January 30, 2009
Since I got so many comments I decided to give away FIVE sets of my eBooks instead of just 1. The lucky winners are:
I’ll be emailing the winners with copies of the eBooks. Thanks to all who entered. I hope you’ll come back around as there are lots of good cheap recipes on here!
January 26, 2009
It must be karma. In December I got to give away some chocolates. Now I just won a budget oriented cookbook from Cook Something – Even If It’s Wrong.
I decided I should give something away too! So I’ll give my 4 eBook bundle away as part of the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival. Go check out the post there because there are LOTS of other blogs giving away cool stuff!
My ebook bundle, selling for $21 here, consists of:
- Getting Started with CheapCooking
- 29 Ways to Slash Your Food Bill
- CheapCooking with Chicken
- CheapCooking Side Dishes
So write a comment to enter the contest. I’ll draw a winner on Friday January 30.
They are in PDF format. They will be emailed to the winner. You can then print them for easy reference in your kitchen.
NOTE: Entries are closed. Winners are posted here.
December 20, 2008
We have two winners! Courtney and Ann. Please email your addresses to me at ellen at cheapcooking.com and I’ll have them sent out! Thanks for all the responses! I hope I can do another giveaway soon!
Ann, maybe you’ll share your chocolate pudding with us too!
December 19, 2008
It’s a bit last minute so I’ll have to make this short—but also very sweet! I’ve got two Ferrero Chocolate Christmas Tree gift boxes filled with Ferrero chocolates to give away. Add a comment below with something about chocolate, a favorite recipe or your favorite treat, by Saturday 5pm PST. I’ll use a random number generator to pick two winners!
Ferrero has donated these to bring awareness to the Share Our Strength program. They have donated $150,000 to Share Our Strength and are giving others a chance to add to that donation. Right now, if you log on to Share Something Sweet and use it to “send something sweet” (that is, a customizable e-card), Ferrero will donate another $1 per e-card sent, up to $10,000. And for every person that joins the Ferrero Facebook page, “Ferrero Lovers Unite,” Ferrero will donate another $1 to Share Our Strength (up to $1,000).
Check back on Sunday and I’ll announce the winners!
November 5, 2008
I haven’t seen the KFC ad about this but really liked this post on Grist. Nice cost breakdown of a meal duplicating the KFC dinner. Add a pound of greens and you could still get under $10.
October 15, 2008
A wise man I know once said “People can’t make good decisions on an empty stomach.” Alex runs Operation Dignity, a homeless shelter for veterans, run by veterans. Alex knows what it’s like to not have enough to eat, having been homeless himself in the past. He told me when he heard statistics on how many veterans are homeless, he said “Someone ought to do something about that!” His friend looked over at him and said “Why don’t you?” He started helping other homeless veterans by buying a few sleeping bags and inviting some of them back to his place. Since then, Operation Dignity, Inc. has grown to a full-fledged non-profit 501(c)(3) veteran run, service-enriched provider serving the homeless and displaced populations of Alameda County.
My blog usually focuses on food and it’s no different today. Other than I’m asking you to cook something cheap tonight, or this week, or this month, and donate the money you save to help someone else have enough to eat. I’ll be donating to Operation Dignity and hope any Bay Area locals will do the same. Otherwise, pick a local food pantry or homeless shelter. Or donate to Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest). Or any other charity of your choice. You can also donate thru Blog Action Day so they can track the impact or just email them and let them know as per the instructions on that page.
Here are a few of my favorite cheap recipes to help you save some money in the kitchen:
And a few of my articles that might help you out as well:
I’d love to hear back on how you cut your food bill and what you decided to do with the money. And if you don’t feel like you can help someone else out, use the money you save this week to start building up your own pantry. Here’s a quick start guide to saving money on food to give you some ideas.
October 10, 2008
Coins on the carpet
Mary at Owlhaven had a fun challenge. Go to your pictures directory and post the 6th photo in the 6th folder. I had to go one level deeper due to my love of nested directories, but here it is. I was hoping I might hit one of food and really hoping I didn’t hit an embarrassing one. At least it’s not embarrassing.
We used to have a coin jar for loose change. One or both of my girls made this masterpiece on the carpet one rainy day.
September 30, 2008
I’m not officially doing the food stamp challenge. But I loved this post with great ideas on making it work.
I’m on my own pantry challenge, which is why you might see a pretty economical menu this week, but only if you’d managed to shop the loss leaders. For example, I can buy a pork roast on sale and cook it up for dinner one night, then get 3-4 other meals out of it (given there are just 3 of us). I don’t necessarily eat pork 3 nights in a row though! I will freeze leftovers in portions suitable for a meal for my family, with maybe a lunch or two as well. I will often make use of cooked meat from the freezer, stuff I bought at a low price and cooked some/froze some or cooked all/froze leftovers. There are lots of good meals you can make this way including:
September 19, 2008
Go post a comment on this blog post on her site.
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