I know, I haven’t done this for a while (sorry!) but I have one for today, so I’m sharing it.

Fermented Foods

yep, I’m talking about making your own yogurt, kefir and breads.

With our family’s mega budget crunch that is happening lately I took a step back to see what we are spending more cash on at the grocery store. Our milk is already delivered, which saves on the gas & all of the temptations that the grocer has to offer, but what about the other stuff we use a lot of? We have been drinking smoothies about 3 times per week for breakfast, and those can get a little bit pricey.

Solution: culture your own yogurt and kefir for the smoothies!

It’s really not that hard – kind of a no-brainer really. Put the kefir grains into a jar of milk and let it sit on the counter for 12-48 hours, strain it and put the grains back into the jar with more milk and let the grains do their thing on and on into eternity.

I have an old milk jug that we use to keep the kefir in, and to that I add some raw honey and occasionally dried fruit. Put it into the fridge, and it’s ready to use for the next smoothie!

As for yogurt, I have a starter culture for that too – just put a Tablespoon into a jar with some milk or half-and-half and let it sit in the oven for a day or so (depends on the culture you get, but mine takes a cooler temp). Fresh, yummy yogurt! Again, I add some honey to this – plain yogurt is not my personal fav.

The other huge money waster is bread. THe girls take a sandwich to school every day, and Eric often does as well. That is 6 slices per day, then you add in toast for breakfast, and you are up to 9-10 slices each day. EACH DAY. That’s like half of a loaf!

Costco sells a 50lb bag of bread flour for $16, and I can get about 8-10 loaves out of a 10 lb. bag. That’s 40 loaves for 40 cents each. I call that markup! The loaves at the store are averaging $4.50 these days, and my loaves are from a longer bread pan. Yes, I am making sourdough bread, so the ingredients are water, flour and salt. One batch makes 2 loaves, and I make them about every 5-6 days.

Bread baking has this aura of mystery surrounding it “I could never do that!” “Baking bread is so hard!” To that I simply say Pish-Posh! The only thing hard about it is waiting for the loaf to cool down before slicing into it! Yes, there is a time issue, but bread really is much more forgiving than most baker will let on. The sourdough sponge that I make sits for 24 hours, then you add the rest of the flour, water and salt and knead it for 5 minutes. Let it sit again for 2 hours (give or take) and form it into loaves. Let those sit while the oven warms up and bake them. Wow, that’s hard. I get so tired of bakes who make it sound like it’s an intensive thing – IT’S NOT!

OK, off my soap box now.

That’s my tip for this Thrifty Thursday – see what foods you consume regularly that you can make at home for a fraction of the cost – you just might be surprised!

This week I would like to talk about kids clothes…

Our kids seem to be growing right before our eyes some days! I think my daughter gained another 4 inches over the Summer. I do know that all of the jeans that were a little long on her last year are trying to be capris this year!

How do we keep these growing kids dressed?

Consignment shops. That’s my secret. We took a big bin of clothes down the week before school started and we were able to get both girls 3 outfits each… and I still have some store credit leftover. M also got herself a pair of cute shoes for school.

I had the girls go through their clothes over the course of a week -trying things on to see if they really still fit, or if they were just hoping that they would! Out of their drawers we cleaned out a large bin & a kitchen trash bag full. Well, that also counted the things I had been pulling out over the Summer. The consignment shop was a little picky (I left with about half of it) but they still gave me a $60 credit. Very cool.

So, what did we do with those clothes that were turned down? Well, lots of them were “too Summery” for the shop, so we took them to one that doesn’t care about seasonal stuff… and got another in-store credit.

This is a lifesaver for moms! We can get rid of the clothes that no longer fit our kids, and get “new” clothes for them that will… usually without spending a thing.

There are lots of online consignment shops as well… and I have gotten some really cute things through them too.

Another place that we often take outgrown clothing is Goodwill. It is hit or miss, but you can find some very cute outfits there for just a few dollars. A bonus is that they also carry things like bikes… another high dollar item at the store!

The best tip I can offer for getting really great deals – shop at consignment shops in high dollar neighborhoods. The one that we go to is in an upper middle class neighborhood with lots of Microsoft employees living nearby. Good clothes – some with the original tag still attached – for under $8.

With the money I saved, I figure that the gas that I used to drive down there was worth it!

As of today, I have joined the Thrifty Green Thursday carnival. What is this, you ask? It is a blog carnival started over at the Green Baby Guide, with many bloggers linking together to give their fav. green tips each Thursday!

While I do realize that I posted a few of them the other day (the gas post!) I thought I would highlight one or two of them just a bit better today for those looking to be both thrifty and green!

So, my first thrifty green tip is… find a CSA farm!

What is a CSA farm? CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture, and that is pretty much what it is! A CSA farm is fully supported by the community that it exists within. The members pay a flat fee each year and get their fresh picked (usually organic) produce each week throughout the Summer months, and into fall.

One of the best places to find a CSA farm in your area is through Local Harvest. Local Harvest is (among other things) a listing of farms across the country, and you can search by zip code and state to find farms near you!

We have been members of 2 different CSA’s thus far (we moved, remember?) and we have loved both of them! A big box or bags filled with produce each week, all freshly picked the day before we got it, and all organic.

That’s the green part. So what’s the thrifty part?

How much did you spend last time you went to the store and purchased a list like the one below?

1-2 lb potatoes
1 bunch beets or carrots
2-3 onions
1 bunch kale or turnip greens
1-2 round tomatoes
1-4 Roma tomatoes
2 bags mixed greens
1 bag spinach
1 green zucchini or 2-3 patty pan squash
1 cucumber
2-4 ears corn
1 bunch basil, dill or parsley
1 head lettuce, collard greens or cabbage

That is just an example of one of the weeks we have had thus far this Summer. what does all of this wonderfully fresh, tasty and organic produce cost you ask?

Our subscription was $475. It started in mid-May, and lasts through mid-October. That is just one week, and we get it each week for 5 months.

Last time I bought ONLY produce at Safeway – and not even that much – it cost me over $100 for about 2 plastic grocery bags full. That lasted about 1 week. So, at that rate, I would be spending over $500 each month to get the same amount of produce each month that I get through the CSA farm… and a lot of it would have been shipped from another country to get to my table.

So, now do you see the thrifty side of it? 5 months worth for less than my grocery store would charge for ONE month, and the quality is better, the produce fresher.

Here’s a green smoothie lifted up in a toast to CSA farms! Filled with fresh organic fruit and mixed greens, of course!