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Hello,
Our contest for "Elegantly Frugal Costumes: The Poor Man's Do-It-Yourself Costume Maker's Guide" ended yesterday. The winner is Danielle. Congratulations to Danielle and thank you to everyone that submitted tips.
Our new contest is for "How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt & Live Prosperously" by Jerrold Mundis. To enter the contest go to:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/contest.ldml
Category Spotlight!
We have hundreds of categories on ThriftyFun so I have decided to highlight categories that I like from time to time. The "Recycled" category in the "Crafts" sections is really starting to fill up with some good articles and information. To view this category visit:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/Crafts/Recycled_cracat.html
If you have have any tips for making crafts with recycled items or a recycled craft request be sure to send it in.
Thanks for reading and have a nice weekend,
Susan
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Today's Tips
Always get a raincheck! If the store has run out of an item on special, it is well worth it to go to the service desk and request a raincheck. This will enable you to get the item at the sale price after the sale has ended. Be careful -- some rainchecks have an expiration date.
By Becki Harris
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Take any inexpensive shampoo and into the bottle drop between 6-10 aspirins, depending on the size of the bottle. That's it the aspirins will eventually dissolve (overnight) and you will have an extremely cheap dandruff shampoo!
By Deborah
Editor's Note: I am always hesitant to recommend re-purposing medication. Is anyone else familiar with this?
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Do you have just a few carrots, potatoes, string beans, onions, etc. but not enough to make a batch of each one individually? Using a steamer place the heavier veggies in first (i.e., potatoes) steam them for about 5 minutes remembering to fill the pan underneath the steamer with water and then add the remainder of the veggies. Continue cooking for about 5 more minutes. I check a veggies to make sure it's cooked enough. Serve with lemon butter. Oh, so delicious. Happy eating.
By joesgirl
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Pure Maple Syrup on Strawberries
For a different flavor when using fresh strawberries try drizzling pure maple syrup over them. Yum, yum. Happy strawberry day to you.
By joesgirl
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This is my first tip submit so I am excited! Anyhow, when you have a broken umbrella because one of the branches that open it break, don't throw it away... use it in the garden. It works great for tomato plants and even the cucumbers that need something to "grab" on to to have the vine to grow. It works great!
By Laura Lange
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Save Your Empty Containers for the Food Bank
Save your empty plastic and glass containers for your food bank or soup kitchen. In my city, the food bank often gets huge containers of peanut butter, oil, laundry soap, raisins, etc from restaurants--like 25 pounds or gallons in a single plastic bucket. We use people's donated empties to separate them out into one-family portion sizes from 8-oz to 2 quarts. Include empty water bottles and grocery sacks too.
By coolchinchilla
Editor's Note: One thing I like about this tip is it illustrates that charity doesn't always have to require spending money. Food banks and animal shelters often have a list of items that they need to be donated: food, old towels, your time, etc...
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Using a Shoe Caddy to Organize the Bathroom
The other day I found a very nice, large canvas shoe caddy on the clearance rack at Wal-mart for $5. The package was missing is why it was on there. I have five kids and there isn't enough room in the bathroom for all of their things. I hung the shoe caddy on my kids' bathroom wall behind the door for them to organize their hair brushes, toothpaste, toothbrushes, lotions, etc. The older kids' things are up top out of the 3 year olds reach and he gets his own spot down below. By Tawnda
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Featured Feedback: RE: Bug party suggestions
My son is having a bug theme party. I am making a caterpillar cake out of cupcakes and green icing with dyed green coconut. For a craft to keep them occupied we are making caterpillars and ants out of egg cartons that they decorate themselves. I found bug masks, a grasshopper and a butterfly that I am copying and making up to hand out to kids as they enter.
My invitations were made by finding 3D bug stickers and I placed them on blank invitations and wrote:
"Bug out with, (son's name), on his 3rd birthday"
and inside it read
"Bee there:---(date)"
"Fly on over to:---(address)"
"Infestation time:----(time)"
"Buzzzz me at:----(phone number)"
"Thank you for joining my swarm!!!!"
I have a recipe for a punch where you take green sherbert, pour ginger ale on top and add spiders made out of little marshmallows and black licorice whips. For party favors, my son and I are painting rocks as ladybugs for magnets or paper weights, throwing in some plastic bugs, and gummy worms and buggy pencils and stickers. I went to a dollar store and found some big plastic bugs that I am decorating the table with I hope this helps! Have fun!!
By April in Washington
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Featured Feedback: RE: Cat Pee! Aaaaargh!
Try a product called Feliway. It comes in a plug-in dispenser (sorta like a plug-in air freshener) and a spray bottle. It is a pheromone that calms and reassures cats, and only cats (not humans ) can smell it. It has a 95% success rate. Petsmart sells it but you can find it cheaper online at KV Vet Supplies and other pet & vet supply companies. I've been using it with my "problem" cat and it seems to be working so far.
There are also MANY online articles about cat spraying and marking that you can read. I read up extensively on this subject and found that changes in the household, too many cats, not enough litter boxes, litter that the cat doesn't like, and other factors can aggravate marking behavior. This is not an uncommon problem, so a little research will yield lots of results.
Good luck, and have patience with your kitty!
By Ness
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Today's Recipe: Pineapple Season
By Jennifer A. Wickes
History / Geography
There is evidence to support that pineapples were consumed in pre- Inca times, thus indicating that pineapples are native to Central and South America.
In 1535, pineapples were brought to Spain by way of the Spanish explorers that went to America. By the 17th century, pineapples were considered to be a food of the aristocrats of the general French public. Even Louis XIV had hothouses producing pineapples!
Puerto Rico began shipping pineapples to the United States in 1860 to begin growing them in Florida. This led to pineapples being canned in the 1880's.
By 1939, a machine called a ginaca could process 50 pineapples a day for canning purposes.
Today, Hawaii is the world's top producers of this delectable fruit!
Varieties
Cayenne: longer, more cylindrical with a golden skin. It has sharp leaves sprouting from a single location.
Red Spanish: more compact with reddish brown skin. The leaves sprout from a variety of places in the actual fruit.
Sugar Loaf: this is a green variety that is extremely rare in the United States.
Season
March through July.
How to Select
There should be no sign of greening. If the pineapple shows signs of greening, do not buy this one. The pineapple must be picked ripe or the starches will not convert to sugar. The leaves should be crisp and green with no yellow or brown spots. The skin of the pineapple should give slightly to pressure, though soft or dark spots are indications of over-ripening. The average sized pineapple weighs 2-5 pounds.
Storage
Using a plastic wrap, store the pineapple in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Nutritional Qualities
Pineapple contains fair amounts of Vitamins A and C.
Trivia
Pineapples are a symbol of hospitality.
Wine Pairings
Zinfandel.
Equivalencies
1 medium pineapple = 3 lbs. = 2 1/2 - 3 cups cubed
Preparation
Removing Skin: Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Stand the pineapple upright and slice the skin off using a knife. Dig out any eyes left in the flesh with the tip of a vegetable peeler.
Coring: Remove the skin, then using a small circular cutter, stamp out the core.
Molokai Pie
Recipe By: TJ Hill - Appetites Catered
Yields: 8 servings
Pineapple Pilaf
Recipe By: The Rice Council
Yields: 6 servings
Chicken with Pineapple Salsa
Recipe By: The National Broiler Council
Make pineapple salsa by mixing together in small bowl cilantro, ginger, 1/8 teaspoon of the salt, tomato, pineapple, onion, chiles and lemon juice; set aside.
In a frying pan, place butter and melt over medium heat. Add chicken and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Saute turning about 6 minutes, or until light brown on all sides. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
Cook about 5 minutes or until fork can be inserted in chicken with ease. Arrange chicken on serving platter and spoon pineapple salsa over chicken. Garnish with cilantro sprigs.
Yields: 6 servings
Copyright 2002-2004 - Jennifer Wickes
This article was originally published at Suite 101. Jennifer Wickes is the editor at "Cookbook Reviews", "Foreign Films" and "Cooking With The Seasons", which has been voted to be one of the Top 100 Culinary Sites on the Internet! For more information about Jennifer Wickes or her columns, please go to: http://www.suite101.com/profile.cfm/CulinaryJen
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Tip Contest
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How to Get Out of Debt, Stay Out of Debt & Live Prosperously by Jerrold Mundis
A Simple, Proven, Effective Formula for Freeing Yourself from Debt and Staying That Way.
New Requests:
I recently bought a lot of wool fabric at auction on ebay, it was mentioned that the fabric was rescued from a wet basement, but i can't remember what method my grandmother used for removing this odor from wool. These are uncut pieces for sewing, can anyone help? Ebay Addict
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Looking for directions on how to make animals about drinking cans. Editor's Note: I am not sure if this poster is referring to aluminum cans or tin cans. Feel free to elaborate on this if this is your request.
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I want to use a homemade, non-toxic weed killer to kill off weeds in two large garden areas in my back yard. Spraying with a small spray bottle is not reasonable. Could someone give me a recipe or a conversion that would work in an Ortho bottle that I can connect to my garden hose? KJV from Wisconsin
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I have a huge problem: Every one of my shirts (which are cotton) are stained (usually with food stains, grease mostly) and the stains have been dried in. I have never used a spray like shout before now. I found one at the dollar store, and it worked on a stain that wasn't that old, but did not work on older stains. Does anyone have any ideas?
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What is the best way to take off old wallpaper from a bedroom wall. We want to repaint the walls after we are finished. Kelli from OH
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More Reading
Setting Your Financial Priorities
By Terry Rigg
Whether you know it or not, you are always setting your financial priorities. Some may decide that a new stereo system is more important than this month's electric bill. This may be a little off the wall but it is still setting your priorities.
View Full Article: Click Here
Summer Skin Care
By Natalie Katsman
Just as winter weather makes us pay special attention to our skin, summer with its sun and heat has its requirements too.
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Your Frugal Fridge!
By Cyndi Roberts
Now that it's summer, most of us start thinking about keeping our electric bill in bounds!
View Full Article: Click Here
GAS, CHARCOAL or BOTH: The Benefits of Grilling With Gas or Charcoal (Edit)
By The Reluctant Gourmet
One of my boyhood memories is of watching my Dad struggle on the weekends to start a charcoal fire with lighter fluid (gasoline when there was no lighter fluid around). Looking back, I don't think we ever used the grill except on weekends because of his work schedule.
View Full Article: Click Here
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Thanks
Susan
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