Links to a couple old posts.

Here are links to a couple old posts that are appropriate for this time of year. The first is about Halloween candy, the second a quote on gratitude.

Beach, Soccer, Etc. Bag

Bought a great "mommy" bag recently at LL Bean. I chose the extra-large bag and it is REALLY, REALLY big. I use it for soccer balls, at the beach, etc. I thought it was a decent price for how large it is and LL Bean is featuring free shipping through December 20th.

Here's the link if you're interested.

Outdoor Furniture

This post might be a little late to help this year, but just wanted to remind everyone that outdoor furniture is often highly discounted from the end of summer to early fall. I really love the bench above. I saw it at Lowe's for $300.00 last spring. I waited and recently paid $50.00. There were also some fun retro chairs normally $40 that we picked up for $10. I've found outdoor furniture will often go down to 75% off or more this time of year.

Artisan Bread

A friend gave me this recipe and I was so glad. This bread tastes just like you're at a fancy restaurant and it couldn't use more basic ingredients. You REALLY, REALLY should try it. You will impress yourself!

Here's the link to the video on how to do it. Mark Bittman, who I really like, introduces this bread from a NY bakery to us. Here are the instructions written out.

They tell you to do this fold thing, but I didn't and it turned out fine. Also, at the end when you brown the bread, make sure you watch it because I needed to take mine out early.

A List of Inexpensive, Healthy Foods

In my quest to find cheap, healthy, quick food my children will actually eat, I've started a list of healthy, inexpensive foods. Thought I'd share. If anyone has any other ideas, please let me know!

apples

bananas

beans-lentils, black, pinto, white, garbanzo (cook yourself and freeze with a little liquid)

broccoli

brown rice (takes about 45 min. to cook, so make in bulk and freeze-then just "nuke")

canned tuna

chicken on sale, freeze

corn tortillas

eggs-even organic are still a good deal for a protein

frozen veggies

fruits & veggies in season

homemade bread, tortillas & pizza

hummus (cook own garbanzo beans-about 2 cups of beans equals 1 can)

jar of spaghetti sauce, use coupons

low fat milk

oatmeal

oatmeal cookies

popcorn for snack (buy popcorn and pop yourself on stove or air pop)

potatoes-baked w/ skin

spinach

tofu

whole grain pasta