Volume Five, Number 203, October 23, 2006
http://www.ThriftyFun.com
Hello,
I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
Just a quick note about submitting tips and recipes. Please don't copy and paste tips or recipes from other sites and submit them as your own. Please share tips in your own words and if you quote something from another site, provide the link to we can refer to the source when we post it.
With recipes, if you share a recipe from another site, please provide the url where you got it from so we can contact them for permission to publish the recipe. We want to make sure that we don't infringe on anyone's copyrights.
Now on to the newsletter... If you aren't a subscriber to ThriftyFun News and you are looking for Halloween party ideas, you will want to check out last Friday's issue. You can read it here:
ThriftyFun News - Halloween Issue
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf55577904.tip.html
We have a new poll today about flat panel TVs...
Do you own a flat panel TV?
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf53281482.tip.html
Here are the contest winners for the week before last. Thanks for all the great submissions and congratulations to the winners!
Tip Contest Winners
Christmas In October
By Debra from Colorado Springs, CO
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf46772148.tip.html
Baked Potato Night
By Diane from Salisbury, NY
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf80574790.tip.html
Photo Contest Winners
Sparky - Miniature American Eskimo
By Betty from Cowichan Bay, BC
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf37833061.tip.html
Thanks for reading,
Susan
Today's newsletter contains:
Today's Photos:
Today's Tips:
New Requests:
More Reading:
| Today's Sponsors
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More Information:
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Today's Photos
| Princess (Seal Point Siamese)
Princess is a 2 year old Seal Point Siamese cat. I have had Princess for 5 months. She was given to me by a friend of my sister.
She loves to "help" while I'm on the computer especially while I'm reading Thriftyfun!
By sparklingbrowneyes from Lincoln, NE
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Hot Dog Fingers
By Stella Rivet
The kids really loved this one. What can I say? Kids love hot dogs even if they look like dismembered fingers!
Ingredients
- Hot dogs (pre cooked)
- String cheese
- Ketchup
- Cream cheese (optional)
Directions
Cut the hot dog in half. Slice the string cheese thinly into rounds for the finger nails. Cut off part of the hot dog towards the rounded off end to create a flat place for the cheese to sit.
Add a little cream cheese to the bottom of the cheese to make it stick if desired.
Wedge out lines to create the knuckles, a few under the finger nail and a few at the end of the hot dog.
Use the ketchup to lay over the ends of the cut fingers to make it look like blood!
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Skeleton Cupcakes
By Stella Rivet
Skeleton Cupcakes
These cupcakes were the most popular at my nephew's birthday party last weekend!
Ingredients
- Favorite Cake mix
- Dark Frosting (chocolate or black)
- White icing to pipe on
- Black icing
- Mini Marshmallows
Directions
Make Cupcakes according to mix directions. Let cool.
Frost the tops of each cupcake with the chocolate or some other dark frosting.
Take one mini marshmallow and add two eyes with the black icing and and one drop on the back to help it stick to the cupcake. Place Marshmallow on the cupcake.
With the white icing, pipe on the body of the skeleton, a straight or slightly curved line that comes down from the head (marshmallow). Two lines near the head for arms two lines in the middle for the chest and two at the bottom for the legs.
Remember when doing the arms and legs that we have joints, play around with the positions you put the skeletons into.
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| Cookie and Tigger (Cats)
Cookie and Tigger are 1 year old mixed breed cats. They were from a litter of kitens that my mother's cat had. We got them for my son for his 4th birthday.
Tigger likes to sit on me, any time and any where. She likes to visit me in the morning when I am waking up for pets and snuggles. Cookie likes blankets. She will spend hours with a blanket purring, sniffing and sleeping.
They both LOVE treats. I shake the treat cannister and they immediately run to the homemade carpeted kitty tree we made them. It's also a great way to find them if I need to know where they are. They also love my yarn. I can't say how many times I have woken up or come home to yarn strewn all over the house.
By Celeste from Florida
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| Miss Lady WillowBee (Papillion)
Miss Lady WillowBee, she was named after the Willow tree as it was my Mother's favorite tree and I got stung the day I picked her up to start our lives together. She just celebrated her 3rd birthday on Oct. 3rd, 06. Willow is a purebred papillon, otherwise known as "butterfly dogs" as papillon is french for butterfly.
After searching for several years for a reputable breeder and for exactly what I wanted, a runt, female, sable and white papillon, I finally found my best friend!
She loves playing with our 5 cats, chasing my 3 yr old grandson, and entertaining the elderly people and children around my neighborhood. She gets and gives much love to so many and they love just putting her on their laps and petting her, especially the senior citizens who are so lonely and starved for attention. She also LOVES chasing falling leaves so I would have to say Autumn is definitely her favorite season! She loves going camping too, as long as she gets to sleep inside the sleeping bag with me. She has been truly a gift from God to me and has brought me such joy!
Willow has brought so much joy to my life. She is by my side every minute of every day and goes with me everywhere I go, even if it is just to the store. She loves to curl up next to my neck at night and will scratch at the blankets when she wants to get underneath them with me. Her favorite treat is "pupcorn" which she must flip, and throw and chase around before she finally eats it, which in itself is really amusing to watch. She is exactly what I prayed for in a papillon and is truly my best friend.
By Liz Muller from Binghamton NY
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| Contests!
The above contests are weekly. We pick 2 tip winners and 1 photo winner at the end of each week. Each winner will win $25!
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Today's Tips
| Labelling When Canning
I enjoy trying new recipes to preserve the harvest of different vegetables and fruits. You never know when you will have an over abundance of an item. But often after canning, I forget the name of the recipe used or where to find it again. Now I write out the name and date of the product as well as the source of the recipe on the label. This way I can try two versions of a recipe and be able to tell which of the versions I like better. Or which I don't want to try again!
By Circlelady from Baltimore, MD
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| Turkey For Frugal Meals
It's coming up on Turkey season, and so I'm saving back whatever I can from the grocery budget to get ready. Turkey is great for Thanksgiving or Christmas, but we eat at our daughter's. A whole turkey is a very good way to get poultry into our diets for very little or for free. Lots of grocery stores will give you a free turkey if you buy a certain amount of groceries. Go for the heaviest turkey you can find, because the proportion of meat to bone is much better. Then thaw the bird out and start cutting.
Breast meat cut about 3/8 inch thick can be pounded between two sheets of wax paper with the flat side of a mallet. Then dip them in milk and flour and gently fry them. Use the pan juices to make gravy. Don't spend hard-earned money on jars of gravy. To the fat and pan juices, stir in 1 tablespoon of flour for each tablespoon of juices and fat. Stir it in well. Add a teaspoon of salt for each tablespoon of flour. Stir like crazy. Pour in three cups of milk and stir and let it bubble for 2-3 minutes. Taste for seasoning. You might like pepper in yours. You could also broil slices of breast. Dip it in a mixture of 6 Tsps. lemon juice, 1 Tsps. paprika and 1 tsp. fine herbs, if you have them. Baste once or twice during broiling.
The thighs are really nice for roasting. One thigh will make a turkey salad for two or more. Chop roasted meat into small pieces. Do the same with a couple of stalks of celery. You can add mustard, pickles of all kinds, or olives. Pineapple tidbits are nice. Then add mayonnaise or half mayo and half plain yogurt to taste. Serve on a lettuce leaf if you have one handy. The salad is good with cooked, cooled pasta too. Bone out some turkey for stir-fries. Use leftover cooked turkey to make jambalaya.
I can usually freeze about 20 packages for later meals. It doesn't have to be stuffed and roasted. It can be all kinds of different foods, especially if you freeze it raw instead of cooked. Use it like chicken. Barbecue it, or mix it into chili in place of beef. It cooks quickly and takes on the taste of whatever you fix it with. Now take the bones and bits of meat clinging to them. Put them in a big pan with enough water to cover, a peeled carrot, two stalks of celery and an onion. Add 1 teaspoon of salt and a tablespoon or two of vinegar. Simmer nice and slow for a few hours. When it's cooked down a bit, start tasting to see if it has the rich flavor you want. when it's right, strain out everything but broth. Cook veggies, turkey bits and some pasta or white beans in it for a wonderful, nourishing soup on a wintry day!
By Coreen from Rupert, ID
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| Pumpkin Candleholders
Carve a small hole, one inch deep, in miniature pumpkins for use as taper candle holders.
By Nancy from Madison, WI
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| Remedies for Cold Sores
Tips and ideas for treating cold sores.
I have found a very good remedy for cold sores. I use a vitamin E capsule. Sterilize a needle or pin and poke the capsule. Squeeze out some of the oil and apply to the sore.
By Louanne Threehouse from Bay City, Michigan
Post your ideas below.
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| Storing Flutes or Recorders
Do your children have recorders to learn music on - or do you have ethnic flutes you want to store? Save any long clear plastic tubes from packaging and use them for flute cases!
By Pam from Los Angeles
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| Using Newspaper To Dispose Of Feminine Hygiene Products
This tip is for the women only. For that time of the month, wrap your used feminine hygiene products in newspaper instead of toilet paper. I grew up in a house with 4 sisters and this tip saved us A LOT of toilet paper! I'm also the daughter of a plumber and used hygiene product should NEVER be flushed. My father unclogged lots of toilets of people that didn't heed the warning.
By Cheryl from Peculiar, MO
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| Mayonaise for Water Marks
To get water marks off anything, use mayonaise! Put it on, rub in, clean off.
By Megan from Oregon
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| Be a Tourist in Your Own Town
I live in Kenosha, WI, a great area, almost right in between Milwaukee, WI (30 minutes away) and Chicago, IL (about an hour away). When I was a teenager, I remember complaining about there not being anything to do in town. But now that I'm older and a mom myself, I realize just what a wealth of things there are to do here in our area!
This past summer, there were so many free or low-cost activities going on that it was impossible NOT to find something to do. We have a great, almost brand-new, public museum that offers free family activities, a brand-new dinosaur museum, art galleries, and a trolley that runs by the lakefront (we are pretty much situated right on Lake Michigan). In addition to that, we had at least two free outdoor concert series going on every week, a civil war era reenactment camp, more church festivals than I can tell you about, many outdoor farmer's markets with crafters, etc., and special festivals and events such as Woofstock, which benefitted the local humane society, and special outdoor "movies under the stars".
Our lakefront is great too, with walking paths, playground areas, small animal-shaped statues that shoot out water for the kids to run through, and a few nice little coffee shops where I can get a treat of a coffee for myself and a cookie for my son for under $3. I could go on and on, but my main point in all of this is, look around your own town for free or low-cost things that your family can do. I was very surprised to find that, once I started looking around, there were literally dozens of things to do! The best part being, most were free or almost free! It's kind of neat to be "a tourist" in your own city, and makes you feel connected to your community.
By Lisa from Kenosha, WI
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View Active Topics!
New Requests
| Getting Rid of Gnats
How can I get rid of indoor gnats with a home remedy?
Suzy from Pigeon Forge, TN
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| Nu-Eyes Reviews (Non-Surgical Cataract Removal)
Product: Nu-Eyes
Manufacturer: Bionational
Request: Has anyone used this product? If so what, was the outcome? Did it work?
Louise
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| Permanent Marker Stains on Clothing
How does one remove red permanent ink stains from a load of washed clothes? The stains are on light dress shirts, pants, and blue jeans.
Vicki from Oconomowoc, WI
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| Sticker Residue on Clothing
How do I remove the sticky residue from a name tag on a shirt?
Pete from Waukesha, WI
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| Soap Scum on Tiles
I've just recently moved into an old apartment and the bathtub and tiles are pretty nasty with soap scum. Some of the tiles are really dull because of the build up but if I can get the scum off they will look really nice. Any suggestions on tackling this tough job?
Carole from Collingswood, New Jersey
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| Growing Catnip Indoors
Would it be possible for me to grow catnip inside in the winter, so I could have a fresh supply for my cats all year round? And if so, what would be the proper procedure. Thank you so much for your advice.
Hardiness Zone: 5a
Linda from Sigourney, Iowa
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| Brown Discoloration on a White Oven
I have a white electric range with a self cleaning oven. When I cleaned the oven it left a brown discoloration on the top of the oven door. Any ideas how I can make the area white again? Fantastic spray cleaner did not work.
Mary from washington, MO
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| Recipes Using Honey
I am trying to feed our family without using refined sugar. Does anyone have any good recipes using honey or an alternative to sugar? Thank you!
Samantha from Nova Scotia, Canada
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| Help Losing Weight
I recently purchased the bowflex extreme 2 and tried to follow the diet with no luck. I have about 40-50 pounds to lose and would like to know if anyone has any suggestions. I would also like to know if there is any diet pills that might help. I am 25 and would like to make a change in my life while I am still young.
Thank you,
Nailfanatic from Poteau, OK
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| Cleaning Linen Napkins
How do I launder linen napkins, yellowed with age?
Ro from Cape Canaveral, FL
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| Bourbon Pecan Pie Recipe
Does anyone have a recipe for bourbon pecan pie and the sauce that you drizzle over it? I ate one a few years back while in Point Clear, AL at a restaurant but haven't been able to find the recipe.
Judy from Leighton, AL
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| Refurbishing a Fiberglass Tub
I have a fiberglass tub and the floor of it is stained from being old. What is the best thing I can do to make it newer looking?
Marcia from Glade Park, CO
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| How do you remove iron on numbers on t-shirts?
How do you remove ironed on numbers on t-shirts (normally seen on the back of football t-shirts)?
Jeannette from Melbourne, Australia
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| Buying Golden Harvest Canning Jar
Where can I buy "golden harvest" canning jars wholesale?
Nanmamma
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| Winter Wedding Ideas
I'm having a winter wedding and I was wondering if anyone had any good ideas. I want to use lots of candles and snowflakes. My colors are baby blue, navy blue, white and silver. Can you help me?
Tawnya from Aberdeen, SD
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| Black Build Up In My Kitten's Ear
My kitten (5 months old) has a lot of black/brown build up in her ear and I don't know is this cats's version of ear wax. If so how, can I clean her ears at home without taking her to a vet.
Elaine from Atlanta, GA
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| Healthy Party Food Ideas
I have no idea what to serve at my party. It's my birthday and I can't have pizza or anything too fatty because my parents are weird like that. So what should I do?
Isabel from Everett, WA
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| Homemade Natural Soaps
I am looking for homemade cleaning recipes and tips on making your own natural soaps.
Samantha from Nova Scotia, Canada
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| How can you get tire marks off of vinyl floors?
How can you get tire marks off of vinyl floors?
Jan from Geneva, IL
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| Pumpkin Dump Cake
I am looking for a recipe using pumpkin in it. I was told it is a Pumpkin Dump Cake. It is delicious. I had this while staying with my mom in the hospital. Can anyone tell me how to make it?
Thanks and God Bless,
Angelheart from Clyde, TX
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| Fundraiser Ideas for Volunteer Work
Some of you may know that I have spent the past 6 months in Vietnam working in orphanages. I am now back in the states and am trying to fundraise to return to Vietnam to work at the orphanages and day center for kids with disabilities. I wanted to know if anybody has any ideas on how I can fundraise in the next two months?
Stella Rivet from Washington
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| Hand Mixers With Three Beaters
Does anyone have an opinion about the hand mixers with three beaters (all used at the same time)?
Thanks,
Holly from Richardson, TX
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| Supergirl Birthday Party Ideas
I am looking for supergirl birthday party games.
Mary from Salt Lake City, UT
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| Baked Beans Using Pinto Beans
I am looking for a recipe for baked beans using Pinto Beans.
Joanne from Bennington, VT
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| Homemade Christmas Presents for Adults
Any ideas for homemade Christmas presents? Our budget is tight. All my siblings' kids are grown, so we're talking presents for adults here.
ShellR from North Carolina
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| Canister for Vacuum Packaging
Has anyone used a canister from vacuum packaging (like Seal-A-Meal) for food storage? We have gone through so much expensive salad in a bag (my daughter likes it) before its time that I am seriously thinking about purchasing the larger canister just for bagged salad storage in the fridge. I already have the Seal-A-Meal machine. I have been using it to vacuum pack meats for the freezer with FoodSaver bags as those are the only ones available where I live. I like it. No complaints. Bought it at Target on sale some time ago. It's the VS 110 BCD.
Holly from Richardson, TX
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| Cleaning a Linen Couch
White linen fabric couch with various stains, purchased used, so stain types are unknown. The loose pieces washed great but now have couch components to clean.
Sam from Austin, TX
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| How can I get rid of lady bugs in my house?
How can I get rid of lady bugs in my house?
Pat from KY
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| Lap Dog Recommendations
I am between a pomeranian and chihuahua? I really want a lap dog that really loves me and is loyal. Please help me!
Beth from Saint Charles, IL
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| Dog Food Recipes for a Dog with Liver Problems
I need natural home-cooking recipes for 12 lb. yorkie with a liver problem.
Gloria from Montreal, Quebec, Canada
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Looking for a frugal solution to an everyday problem? Submit
your request here: Click Here
More Reading
Autumn Ladybug Invasions
By Ellen BrownLadybug beetles, also known as Asian Lady Beetles or Ladybird beetles, are a gardener's best friend in the spring and summer months. In the world of beneficial garden insects, you won't find a better predator when it comes to controlling soft-bodied pest like aphids and scale. By the time fall rolls around, however, these insect friends start wearing out their welcome when they begin to congregate on the sides of buildings and invading our indoor environments.
Read More: Click Here |
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