"Cool" Ways to save Money or other wise called Organizing Your Fridge

Tawra just called the bad news is she isn't going to be on Good Morning America tomorrow. The good news is they aren't doing it because they want to do an even bigger spread on her than the one they had planned so will wait until she gets back from vacation so they can spend more time on it. YES! YES YES! Doing the dance of joy! :):):) We'll keep you guys informed on when, where and what as soon as we know more.

As exciting as that all is life must go on and I still have to run out to Tawra's to water her garden this morning. She had a good idea for helping with the watering to save on water or help those who have to water for you. Take a gallon plastic milk carton, cut the bottom off, turn it upside down and ram the pour spout into the ground. Then when I go over there to water I just fill the jug up and leave it. I don't have to stand there wonder have I watered it enough or did I waste a bunch of water watering it too much. I love it when my children make my life easier.

I have been working on a new e course about saving money on groceries (that's real original huh? HA! HA!) some of the things I talk about may seem unimportant but it really is all those smaller things added together and building up that make a difference. All the savings also doesn't always happen at the grocery store. As a matter of fact I save more on the things that I do before and after the store than at the store it's self sometimes so please don't take these simple things lightly. Anyway I thought everyone might enjoy reading the section I was working on yesterday. Plus I will be leaving in a few days for my vacation and won't be back until close to the 4th so thought I would give you some new recipes over the next couple of days to use for then even though it is a little early.

Organize your fridge.

There is a difference between cleaning and organizing. When you clean you get rid of the "nasties" and wipe down the shelves. When you organize you place things in a certain order.

For example I always keep my milk in the same spot in the fridge, my cheese and lunch meats in their own spots. The eggs go on one side and the fruits in the fruit bin and veggies in the veggie bin. If I have room I try to keep all the leftovers on the same shelf or in the same area.

Why is any of this important? Because we can save huge amounts on the food that is wasted. It's wasted because we didn't know we had it so it spoiled or we didn't know we had it so we bought more of it and then it spoiled.

By having things organized I can at a glance see if I need milk or cheese. If some one comes home for a quick lunch and I'm not there, they can look on the leftover shelf and know they can use any of those leftovers for lunch instead of having to paw through the fridge to find something to eat. It also helps me to know ifI need to have an extra "leftover" dinner that week because leftovers are piling up.

Of course all of these same principles apply to your freezer plus label, label and label.

This all looks good on paper but what do you do when you have 4 kids and a husband pawing through the fridge all the time. Once a fridge is cleaned most families try to keep it that way. What happens is that when something gets moved out of place it is usually so obvious and most people automatically put it back where it belongs. But if that doesn't happen then have a small bank by the fridge and start fining everyone if something isn't put back. Trust me if money is involved people change their habits quickly and will learn fast. You could also instead of fines have the person do a chore or something extra for mom as a "fine".

Things will get messy no matter how careful you are but that is why you need to straighten it each week before you go get groceries. I also automatically straighten it through out the week when I get in the fridge. It takes maybe 5 seconds to do this.

Think on the positive side. Is there a "cooler" way to spend you summer!! HA! HA!

To hot to bake? Drag out the good old rice krispy treats for the fourth but try adding a new twist. Add red or blue food coloring to the melted marshmallows and then using a large star cookie cutter cut them into stars to pile high on a plate.

Don't forget to get out some of those red paper plates you bought on sale at Christmas or Valentines to use on the fourth to serve them on.

Another twist to the rice krispy favorites is to add 1/3 cup peanut butter to the melted marshmallows plus substitute frosted flakes for the rice krispies at the same time. You now have Tony the Tiger Treats.

Really the sky is the limit. You can pretty much melt the margarine and mellows and throw anything in; use up odds and ends of left over cereals, nuts, candies, sprinkles etc.

If you have a special way of doing yours let me know.

Basic Rice Krispy Treats

1/4 cup margarine

4 1/2 cups (10 1/2 oz pkg.) marshmallows

6 cups rice krispies

Melt margarine and mellows in large pan. Add cereal and pour into a well greased 9x13 pan.

You can microwave. Put margarine and mellows in glass bowl and zap for 45 secs. on hi until mellows melt. Add cereal and pour in greased pan.

Have a Great day everyone. Jill