Homemade Almond Milk

My sister just recently posted that Almond Milk is one of the number one healthiest milks.  Lucky for her, I just perfected it.  I have to be honest here, this recipe was a bit of a plague to me.  I tried this one time and I liked it ok but to be honest, it tasted like extremely skim milk with too much of an almond taste. This began my many months of testing and research to find the right recipe.  My recipe needed to do 3 things: Save me money, taste thick like milk, and not taste like I am eating straight almonds. Luckily, I finally found all three.  After much trial and error, I have finally found the right recipe!

 I am going to begin by giving the basic recipe then below I will give tips to remember.

Basic Recipe

½ cup Almonds

4 cups Water

1 tbsp Maple Syrup

¾ tsp Vanilla Extract

½ tsp Guar Gum

• Soak almonds in water for at least 4-6 hour. (Update: The longer you let them sit, the creamier they are. I soak mine in the fridge for a couple days if I can.)

• Drain and put in blender with water and process until smooth.

• Put in strainer and strain out almond pulp.

• Mix milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract, and guar gum together in a jar.  Immediately shake it up and it’s ready to serve.

• Shake before serving each time.

Total cost is around 95 cents to make a quart.  I purchased the guar gum at the local health food store or it can be ordered online.  I purchased the rest of the ingredients at Walmart, Aldis, and Sam’s Club.

Tips to Remember:

IMPORTANT: I can’t stress this one enough!  Freeze your almonds that you do not use in almond milk.  I tested and tested this recipe and finally found that the bitter taste was my almonds.  They had went sour and did not taste good at all in my milk!  So, I keep my bag in the freezer. 

Use Whole Natural Almonds.  Do not use roasted or anything like that.  When soaking them, you will know once they are ready because they will be double in size.  I prefer to soak mine overnight. 

To drain them:  if you have cheesecloth, a lot of recipes recommend using this.  I already had 2 strainers so that is what I use.  I first strain it through the big strainer and then through the little strainer.

When adding the ingredients, add the guar gum last.  I let it sit once for about 10 minutes and it became a thick ball.

How is my recipe different than all the other recipes on the internet?  

 I use less almonds (others call for ¾ to 1 cup) plus I use Guar Gum.  I have yet to find a recipe that includes this.  Guar Gum is an all natural thickening agent that has 8 times the thickening power as cornstarch.

Customize it to your taste:

• If you like a more almond taste, use ¾ cup almonds. 
• If you want your drink to taste thicker, then use ¾ tsp guar gum. 
• If you want your milk to taste more like skim milk, use ¼ tsp guar gum.

What do I do with all the leftover almond pulp?

Use it! I add it to my oatmeal or my pancake recipe or you put it in with a cookie recipe.  These are all great ways to use it so you don't have to throw it away.

Pancake Recipe:

1 cup flour
1 cup almond milk
2 eggs
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Whatever almond pulp you have leftover.

Mix all of these together and start cooking!  These pancakes freeze really good so you can throw on in the microwave and head out the door.  When I make almond milk for this, I don't even add the guar gum, extract, or syrup.  I use just the straight almond milk since I am just cooking with it.

Stingily Yours,

The Stingy Sister

The Grocery List - Meal Planning

I have been there, standing in the middle of Walmart with fifteen hundred other people swarming around you while you try to figure out what in the world are you going to feed your family for the next week.  It is how I always grocery shopped.  I had maybe 5 things on my list and I ended up with an entire cart full of what I thought I needed.  Luckily, I began meal planning before I had kids.  I can’t imagine adding in that as well when trying to grocery shop. 
 
Lucky for me, my sister asked me one time, “Why don’t you create a meal plan before you go shopping?”  My response was simple, “Too much work”.  Well, once I had to get ready to pay for a baby and had daycare to pay for, she didn’t seem quite so silly.  So, I thought I would give it a try.  First time I shopped, I remember thinking how quick I was able to shop.  Honestly, I was bored waiting on her to finish up her shopping.  It dawned on me then, it took me an extra 15 minutes to create the meal and list; however, it saved me so much time when I was in the store.  I can go through 2 grocery stores in around 50 minutes and that includes me buying for 2 weeks’ worth of groceries.
 
This solves the question, “What’s for dinner?”  I keep the menu on the board and my husband knows to go there to see what I will be making.  If that night, we don’t feel like what I have set, then we trade it with another day.
 
Where does the money savings come in?  First, since you are creating your grocery list from the meal plan, then you don’t have nearly the waste.  Second, since you are not buying stuff you don’t need, then you won’t have extras that are going to waste.
 
Creating the Meal Plan

•  I keep a notebook on hand at all times.  I write down grocery ideas and anything I want to add to my grocery list throughout the week.
• I only create a meal plan for dinner.  Breakfast is always smoothies, eggs or cereal and lunch is leftovers.
• I make leftovers on the nights I am busy.  I am on the go Thursday nights so I always do leftovers on that night.
• If you think of it, give yourself a variety of dinner ideas:
• Ex: Mexican, Italian, a family favorite (Like Hamburger Rollup)  Basically, just don’t do Pizza every single night or you will get tired of it
• I always make a few meals that make enough leftovers for the next entire day so I don’t have to cook for 2 days. (Ex: Spaghetti, Tuna Noodle Casserole, Chicken Salad Sandwiches.
• Once every couple months, challenge yourself and make a meal plan strictly from extras that you have lying around the house.  This is how I cleanup anything that I don’t want to go bad. (Ex: Frozen Chicken, a stove top mix)

 

Sample of a Meal Plan for us:
 
Monday: Broccoli & Cheese Soup
Tuesday: Grilled Ham & Cheese
Wednesday: Spaghetti
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Lemon Pepper Chicken
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Anything leftover from week
 
Monday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Tuna Noodle Casserole
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Baked Chicken Sandwiches
Saturday: Hamburger Rollup
Sunday: Anything leftover from week.

 

The Grocery List - The Budget

The Grocery List – The Budget

 Everyone asks out of all the stingy things I do, what is the biggest money saver?  It’s my grocery list.  Anytime that I am needing to save an extra few bucks, I turn to my grocery list.  With a few simple tricks, I can turn a 200 dollar grocery bill into a 100 dollar grocery bill.  I am going to be honest here, the first time I went grocery shopping, I hated it when I left because it was so different than how I used to shop.  I was used to having 5 things on my grocery list and leaving with 200 bucks worth of groceries from just one store.  Now, I wouldn’t even think about shopping any other way.  This is going to be a lot of information so I am going to break my blogs down into just one section per blog.

The Budget

Why is a budget so important? To simply put it, impulse buying.  I am one of the biggest impulse buyers.  The minute I walk into Walmart.  I suddenly see 10 things I don’t think I can live without! Plus every week when I write out my bills, I know automatically that I am going to set aside 100 for groceries which makes budgeting my bills easier.  Setting a budget will make you more aware of what you are spending and help you save money. 

How do I determine my budget?  This is the next big question and is completely up to you.  I work off of a budget of 100 dollars per week for a family of 4.  That includes diapers, formula, shampoo, and food.  My family goes out to eat about once a week so that 100 dollars has to take care of us everyday with no going out to eat except for the one day we go out for a treat.  Remember, that is my budget though, not yours.  If you want a budget of 200 dollars then go for it! Just set an amount!

What should all be included in it?  I include everything, diapers, formula, socks, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, deodorant, dog food, and anything like that.  Basically if it’s a day to day item, I include it in my total budget.  You will need to determine what all is included. 

How do I handle sale items?  Easy, budget for some extra cash to allow yourself that.  I try to budget an extra 20 bucks when I go grocery shopping for any good deals.   

How often do I go grocery shopping?  I myself go shopping every 2 weeks and love it!  It gives me a break every other week from having to go into the store and fight the madness!  This does require a little bit more organization but is worth it in the end.  I have had questions about this so I will answer those below:

                How do I remember everything I need?  I have a dry erase board that my husband and I write down something the minute we run out so we won’t forget.   

                What if I run out of something I need?  You have 2 ways to handle this.  Deal without it until the next grocery shopping day or if your budget is 100 dollars per week then buy a 100 dollar gift card.  When the gift card runs out then you can’t buy anymore!  I always seem to run out of something I need before my grocery day so I keep a gift card and use that.  Then when I go to the store for my grocery shopping, I can only use what is left on the gift card. 

                How do I handle fresh fruit?  Fresh fruit won’t keep for weeks so I got crafty with that.  We make smoothies in our house and banana icecream.  These two options allow us to freeze fresh fruit and buy extras when it goes on sale. 

I know this can seem like a lot to take in and people will say that it doesn’t seem worth it.  As I said above, I wouldn’t dream of shopping any other way.  I can do my shopping twice as fast and save so much more money!  If you are looking to save money then just try this for a couple weeks.  See if it works for you.  You will be surprised by the amount of money that you are able to save just from setting a budget.  Will blog later about AdMatching and Couponing! 

Stingily Yours,

Michelle

DIY Febreeze

So I haven’t blogged in awhile.  I have been busy testing lots and lots of DIY projects like homemade deodorant, almond milk, liquid handsoap, and a liquid laundry soap.  I like to test my projects for a little bit before I post anything about them.  I want to make sure they actually work in the long run and see if they even save money.  So I had stumbled on this recipe a couple months ago and have been testing it for about a month now. 

So, to begin with, when trying to save money, Febreeze was one of the first things I ditched.  I couldn’t see paying 5 bucks a bottle for my house to smell good.  I saw this recipe and, to be honest, for the price it would cost me to make a bottle, I didn’t really figure it would actually work.  Well, after a day of my daughter spilling her soy formula bottle everywhere, I got sick of it.  I proceeded to whip a batch of this up. I liked it so much, I proceeded to spray the entire bottle on everything in my house!  Below are the main reasons I like this recipe: 

Smell – I can pick and choose what fragrance I want in it.  Right now, I am using Downy Ultra concentrated

Convenience  - I can whip this up anytime and I don’t have to run to the store.

Price – I can make 32 ounces for so cheap! A bottle of Febreeze costs 5 bucks per bottle these days.  I can whip up a bottle of my own for myself for under 20 cents! To get this price, I bought a bottle of Downy (51 oz) for 4 bucks and a box of Baking Soda (it has 107 tablespoons in it) for 2.24. 

Here is what you need and how to make it: 

 

2 Tablespoons Fabric Softener

2 Tablespoons Baking Soda

32 oz Hot Water

A Bottle to Spray with 

Directions:

1.       Mix fabric softener and baking soda in the bottle and shake them up. 

2.       Fill HOT water the rest of the way up and shake until mixed up. 

3.       Shake each time before use.

One main question I have heard is that will it stain.  I sprayed my daughters pack n play every single day for a week until it was soaked and have not seen any staining at all. 

So, I hope you enjoy!  This is one of my favorite recipes because of how cheap it is!

Stain Fighter/ Miracle Cleaner

We have had what seems like the plague the last few weeks and I have done more laundry and cleaned up more messes than normal.  I was changing my bed yet again and realized my daughter had spilled red koolaid a couple weeks ago in our bed and it had stained my mattress cover.......which is white, by the way!  I really like this stain cleaner but thought, "There is no way this is gonna pull a red koolaid stain that has set for 2 weeks out of a white mattress cover".........I was wrong!  It pulled the stain completely out where I cannot even tell where the stain was even at.

If that doesn't convince you, I have been doing cloth diapering for around 2 years and needless to say, I have 2 years worth of stains on my diapers.  I sprayed my diapers and let them sit for 10 minutes.  This pulled a lot of the stains out of them and brightened them a lot. 

I have been using this for over 3 months and can't ever imagine going back to buying regular stain fighters.  This brightens and cleans better than anything I have ever used and it is super cheap.  I can make around 8 ounces for 50 cents.

Stain Fighter/Miracle Cleaner

What you need:

1 part Dawn Dishsoap
2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide
Measuring cup
Whisk
Spray Bottle

Step 1: Add One Part Dawn. I added 1/3 cup of Dawn.

Step 2: Add 2 parts Hydrogen Peroxide and whisk together.  I added 2/3 cup.

Step 3: Mix together and pour in a spray bottle.  (Have you ever noticed peroxide is always in a dark bottle?  Since it comes in a dark bottle, I just bought a bottle a hydrogen peroxide bottle and use that bottle for my cleaner.)

Spray the stain and let sit for 10 minutes.  Wash like normal in wash machine.


Common Questions:

What kind of Dawn should I use?
I personally use Original Non-Concentrated Dawn because I have an HE washer and do not want to cause too many suds because I am too lazy to rinse it out before I put it in the wash machine.  I have seen blogs where they use either so I don't think it makes much difference.

Do you have to let it sit?
I think that just depends on what you are cleaning.  My cloth diapers I let sit for the full 10 minutes.  When I cleaned my mattress pad, it sat for maybe 2 minutes?

I got this recipe from the blog below:
http://moderndaymoms.com/homemade-miracle-cleaner/

 

DIY Baby Wipes & Lysol Wipes

So lets get down to the real truth about wipes.  Wipes are something to clean your babies butt or wipe dirt!  So why do we spend so much money on it?  You are literally throwing away money with this!

I started trying the baby wipes simply because I was sick of spending money on something that I was throwing away in the trash.  I have been using these for a little over a month and love them!  Best part is that you can customize these to your child's needs.  Here's what I mean:  My daughter always had a little bit of a diaper rash.  Nothing serious, but always enough that I was using cornstarch.  After using these wipes, she has not had a diaper rash at all.  I could customize the type of baby wash and oil to fit her and it is super cheap!

A lot of people are concerned about quality.  I use the VIVA brand pick a size paper towels and have not had an issue at all with quality.  They work just as good as the regular wipes.  The size of the wipes are a little smaller but I never use the entire wipe so this was never an issue.

What do you have to lose? Most people have all of these ingredients around the house so you won't be losing anything by trying this.  Some people will even state that with wipes being so cheap, why make them?  As with all things stingy, every penny counts and this will definitely add up.


To make Baby Wipes

Cost is around 75 cents to make 77 wipes

Paper Towels - I use Viva Pick a Size
1 1/4 cups water
2 tsp. Baby Wash
2 tsp. Baby Oil

Here is how you make it:

1. Cut the paper towel roll in half.
          It should look like 2 rolls of toilet paper once cut in half

2. Put one of the rolls in a plastic container
          I used an old Lysol Wipe container

3. In a measuring cup, mix the water, baby wash, and baby oil.
          I make sure the water is warm and use a whisk to stir it all up.
          You can put more water in if you would like but I prefer it with less water.

4. Pour the mixture over the paper towel in the container.

5. Pull the cardboard center out and you're done.
         I prefer to let mine sit for a couple hours before I use so the water can evenly distribute to all    the wipes but you can start using right away

UPDATE:

Here is what I have found out, the less water, the better.  Everyone thinks you should saturate the wipes but DON'T.  For 2 reasons:

1. It will make the wipes shred and fall apart.

2. I noticed my baby wipes smelled after a couple weeks.  I work full time so I don't go through wipes quickly.  I have noticed when I add less water, they stay smelling fresh.

3. If you do not go through your wipes within a couple weeks, you will need to add lavendar or tea tree essential oil to use as a preservative to keep an bacteria from growing.

To make Lysol Wipes:

Follow everything exactly the same except use regular lysol or Mr. Clean in place of the water, baby wash, and baby oil.

DIY Nose Strips, Scrub, and Toner

Have you googled DIY Face Cleaner lately? There is a wide and I mean wide variety of cleaners out there. I stumbled on the Face Scrub and Toner last year and have been using them for awhile now which I still love.  However, I was still buying those Nose Strips which cost a small fortune so I stumbled across this and voila, I have a great DIY Nose Strips.

Nose Strips:

1 packet of Gelatin
1 tbsp of Milk

Mix together and microwave for 30 seconds then stir again and put all over your face.  Remember, too thin and it will crumble, too thick and it doesn't work.  I found it I could get the best layer if I dipped my fingers in the mixture and wiped it over my face. That seemed to be the perfect layer.  Let it dry for 15 minutes and peel it off

Note: It stinks. No really, it does but it works.  Also, don't put it over any hair because it will pull hair off.

Face Scrub:

½ cup Oatmeal

¼ cup Baking Powder

¼ cup Cornstarch

To make it: Process oats then add in baking powder and cornstarch.  Store in an airtight container.

To use: Scoop a small amount in your hand and then add water to the mixture until it is a paste.  Scrub your face. Rinse.

Face Toner:

 1/2 Cup Lemon Juice

2/3 cup Witch Hazel

2 tbsp. Rubbing Alcohol (only add if oily skin)

1 cup water

Mix everything together and use on your face twice a day.   

Total Cost: 60 cents for a little over 18 ounces.

Note: I added a couple drops of lavender essential oil as I saw that someone had stated it helps with inflammation.

I got the face toner recipe from the below website:

http://shwinandshwin.blogspot.com/2010/10/skin-brightening-toner.html

 this was an area that could use some improvement