Goin' Bananas!

We were recently given a huge bag full of very ripe bananas! They were perfect for baking, but there wasn't time in my schedule to make up a huge batch of banana bread in one sitting. So, I made several batches of banana puree to freeze and use as needed instead.

I started by peeling and cutting the bananas and putting them in the blender. (Ten to twelve medium bananas fit at one time.)

I used our Euro-Pro Ninja Master Prep Blender and Food Processor. Because it has double blades, I didn't have to add any liquid to help the blending, although I did add one tablespoon of lime juice per batch (to keep the bananas from turning brown).

We love our Ninja Blender and Food Processor!

It's a great tool for healthy eating and saving!

Using a measuring cup, I divided the banana puree into one-cup and one-and-a-half cup containers. I also froze some puree for snacks for our Little (banana-loving!) Man.

Now I can thaw the puree in exact amounts for two of our favorite recipes: Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Banana Split Bread!

"Here We Grow Again!" Consignment Sale

We dress our little people for (a lot!) less by shopping at consignment sales – and by consigning clothes, too!

Upstate Readers:

Stop by the semi-annual "Here We Grow Again" Consignment Sale, starting next week: Wednesday, February 29 through Saturday, March 3.

We love this sale! We've had great success dressing our children – in quality clothes – for great prices. When you consider how well name-brand clothes tend to wear, and wash (and resist stains!), and keep so that you can re-sell them, the savings are really multiplied!

Check the website ("Here We Grow Again" Consignment Sale) for all the details...

Starbucks Coffee: Target Deal!

There's a great deal on Starbucks Coffee at Target this week!
(Thanks, My Frugal Adventures!)

Buy two bags of Starbucks coffee (11 to 12 oz) – $7.99 each
Get a $5.00 Target gift card
Pay $5.49 per bag (after gift card)

Make the deal even sweeter:
Use two $1.00/1 Starbucks coupon (expires 03/05)

(These were distributed when Starbucks promoted their new Blonde and Medium Roasts and are reportedly still available at some Starbucks locations.)
Pay $4.49 per bag (after gift card and coupons)

You can also "roll" this deal:

Use the gift card from the first transaction to purchase two more bags of coffee – and you'll get another $5.00 gift card!

The Amazon deal on Eight O'Clock Coffee is also still on!

FREE Italian Ice at Rita's – on 03/20

Italian Ice Fans: Mark your calendars!

On Tuesday, March 20, from noon to 9:00 p.m., all open Rita's locations will be celebrating their annual First Day of Spring by giving away 10-oz. cups of Italian Ice – one per guest!

No coupon needed! Just show up!

You can check the website for a Rita's location near you. And while you're at it, join the Birthday Club, too!

Cloth-Diapering through Hard Water Issues

We’ve been using cloth diapers (as full-time as travel and follow-up recovery have allowed) on our Little Man for one year now. What do I think? I love ‘em! I love the way they fit! And we’ve experienced very few leaks – and certainly fewer and far less dramatic than with disposables!

There have been challenges, of course, with the biggest to date being the “hard water” issues we encountered last summer (winter, really!)  while living in South America for three months.

Besides the steps I took while still living with hard water, once I was back in the Upstate with my regular washer and set-up, I subjected the diapers to multiple hot rinses. (We don’t have an HE machine, so “hot” for us means about 120 degrees.)

I was amazed at how “cloudy” the water looked when I first started:

This was the first hot rinse – I hadn't added any detergent.

After each rinse cycle, the following “drum-full” of water looked clearer than its predecessor had. A half dozen or so rinse cycles later, I was finally satisfied that the diapers had been thoroughly rinsed. (I actually ran wash cycles – with no detergent – followed by rinse cycles.)

The end result was that the diapers were much softer and fresher-smelling – leading me to conclude that our theory was correct: The hard water had caused detergent build-up. And I’m very thankful that hot water rinses provided a relatively easy and inexpensive fix!

Eight O'Clock Coffee: Amazon Deal!

My DH loves dark coffee! And the darker, the better!

Right now you can get an amazing deal from Amazon.com:

Eight O'Clock Coffee: Dark Italian Roast, Whole Bean (11.5 oz bags (Pack of 4) – $3.48 each

• The 4-pack is on sale for $16.37 and qualifies for FREE Super Saver Shipping!
• Select the Subscribe & Save option for an additional 15% off.
  (Remember that Subscribe & Save is flexible! Per Amazon.com, you can change your order status – and even cancel your enrollment – at any time!)
• Pay only $13.91 (i.e. $3.48 each bag)

Thanks, Jungle Deals & Steals!

Still bargain-shopping...

Though our life of constant travel doesn't lend itself to my posting on this blog nearly as often as I used to do, I still am very much interested in finding good bargains!

Free or almost-free deals at drugstores (especially CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid) are always exciting! And though I no longer post very many specifics on those, there's a lot you can learn if you're new to "CVS-ing" (or bargain-shopping in general) by clicking on my hyperlinks (or labels on the right-hand side of this blog).

Online sales through ebates and Shop at Home are also highlights. For example, I still can't get over how easy it can be to "dress for less" – especially when it comes to children's clothes.

If you live in the Upstate, you may want to check out the "Here We Grow Again!" consignment sale. The dates for the Spring & Summer Sale will be February 29 through March 3. (You can read details on the HWGA blog.)

Cloth diapering (or "CDing" to avid readers of diapering blogs!) has become another great interest of mine, and I plan to continue journaling on that topic. Using cloth may be the single greatest mode of savings for our family – even though our current life of travel isn't always conducive to CDing. (And that's why diaper deals, especially at CVS and Walgreens and Target, are still of great interest to me!)

We've been using cloth diapers for almost exactly one year now, and I'm planning to post another update soon...

Other random deals that excite our family include birthday deals – especially freebies! In fact, we're right now cashing in on some of those...

So, happy bargain-shopping!

Amazing Deals at Publix – 09/14 thru 09/20

Yes, I know. I haven’t posted deals from specific stores in a great while. And I probably won’t do so for another while. That said, I’m especially excited about some deals this week – and I’m posting today for family and friends who will probably be interested...

Here are the deals:

V-8 V.Fusion Vegetable & Fruit Juice (100% Juice) – B1G1 for $3.99 (i.e. $1.99 each)

Use $1.00/2 printable coupon (Find the link here.)

$1.49 each

Cascadian Farms Organic Granola Bars – $2.99 each

Use $1.00/1 printable coupon

Stack with $1.00/1 coupon in Yellow Advantage Flier (available in store at the Customer Service Desk)

$0.99 each

Chocolate Chips aren’t “health food” – but they sure are “comfort food!” (Note the clip on one bag. Ahem!) You can take advantage of the following “Buy Theirs, Get Ours Free” Deal this week:

Buy two Nestle’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (12 oz) – $2.83 each

Get two Publix Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (12 oz) – FREE

Use $1.00/2 printable coupon (for Nestle’s)

OR use $0.50/2 printable coupon (for Nestle’s)

(Remember that Publix “doubles” coupons $0.50 and under.)

$1.17 each after (doubled) coupons and two FREE packs

I also took advantage of a “rain check” on an amazing deal from last week. This one isn’t valid this week unless you, too, got a “rain check” – but it’s the kind of deal that helps to illustrate why Publix is my all-time favorite grocery store!

Honey Nut Cheerios (21.6 oz HUGE box) – $2.99 each

Used $0.75/1 coupon (from in-home mailer)

Stacked with a $2.00/1 coupon in Yellow Advantage Flier

$1.62 each

You can find more deals (with coupon match-ups) at FiddledeedeeMom. A big “Thank-you!” to Sarah for the weekly coupon match-ups!

Dress for LESS!

Dress for less by shopping at consignment sales – and by consigning clothes, too!

Upstate Readers: Don't miss the semi-annual Here We Grow Again Consignment Sale, starting tomorrow, September 7 through Saturday, September 10.

We love this sale! We've had great success dressing our children – in quality clothes – for great prices. When you consider how well name-brand clothes tend to wear, and wash (and resist stains!), and keep so that you can re-sell them, the savings are really multiplied!

Cloth-Diaper Laundering Update

Whether it was the effects of hard water, detergent build-up, or ammonia that were causing our cloth diapers to smell, hot rinses and very hot washes (with minimal detergent) seemed to significantly reduce the smell.

Diapers drying in the breeze – a favorite scene!

Here's what we did:

We hauled very hot water from the shower to the washer, heated more water on the stove, and dumped the boiling (or almost boiling) water into the washer. We started with at least one cold rinse, followed by a very hot wash and two cold rinses, followed by another very hot rinse. We also reduced the amount of detergent (Charlie's Soap) to only 1 teaspoon per large load.

The smell has been significantly reduced.

A very BIG "Thank-you!" to Andrea and Julie for the advice given.

We're now back home with our own washer, so there are no longer the same hot water challenges. And we've been using disposable diapers while we recover from travel, re-acclimate, etc.

Now I'm wondering...

Do I need to do some kind of treating to remove any residue from the "hard water" the diapers were subjected to for almost three months?