FREE Italian Ice at Rita's – on 03/20

Italian Ice Fans: Mark your calendars!

On Tuesday, March 20, from noon to 9:00 p.m., all open Rita's locations will be celebrating their annual First Day of Spring by giving away 10-oz. cups of Italian Ice – one per guest!

No coupon needed! Just show up!

You can check the website for a Rita's location near you. And while you're at it, join the Birthday Club, too!

Cloth-Diapering through Hard Water Issues

We’ve been using cloth diapers (as full-time as travel and follow-up recovery have allowed) on our Little Man for one year now. What do I think? I love ‘em! I love the way they fit! And we’ve experienced very few leaks – and certainly fewer and far less dramatic than with disposables!

There have been challenges, of course, with the biggest to date being the “hard water” issues we encountered last summer (winter, really!)  while living in South America for three months.

Besides the steps I took while still living with hard water, once I was back in the Upstate with my regular washer and set-up, I subjected the diapers to multiple hot rinses. (We don’t have an HE machine, so “hot” for us means about 120 degrees.)

I was amazed at how “cloudy” the water looked when I first started:

This was the first hot rinse – I hadn't added any detergent.

After each rinse cycle, the following “drum-full” of water looked clearer than its predecessor had. A half dozen or so rinse cycles later, I was finally satisfied that the diapers had been thoroughly rinsed. (I actually ran wash cycles – with no detergent – followed by rinse cycles.)

 

The end result was that the diapers were much softer and fresher-smelling – leading me to conclude that our theory was correct: The hard water had caused detergent build-up. And I’m very thankful that hot water rinses provided a relatively easy and inexpensive fix!

Eight O'Clock Coffee: Amazon Deal!

My DH loves dark coffee! And the darker, the better!

Right now you can get an amazing deal from Amazon.com:

Eight O'Clock Coffee: Dark Italian Roast, Whole Bean (11.5 oz bags (Pack of 4) – $3.48 each

• The 4-pack is on sale for $16.37 and qualifies for FREE Super Saver Shipping!
• Select the Subscribe & Save option for an additional 15% off.
  (Remember that Subscribe & Save is flexible! Per Amazon.com, you can change your order status – and even cancel your enrollment – at any time!)
• Pay only $13.91 (i.e. $3.48 each bag)

Thanks, Jungle Deals & Steals!

Still bargain-shopping...

Though our life of constant travel doesn't lend itself to my posting on this blog nearly as often as I used to do, I still am very much interested in finding good bargains!

Free or almost-free deals at drugstores (especially CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid) are always exciting! And though I no longer post very many specifics on those, there's a lot you can learn if you're new to "CVS-ing" (or bargain-shopping in general) by clicking on my hyperlinks (or labels on the right-hand side of this blog).

Online sales through ebates and Shop at Home are also highlights. For example, I still can't get over how easy it can be to "dress for less" – especially when it comes to children's clothes.

If you live in the Upstate, you may want to check out the "Here We Grow Again!" consignment sale. The dates for the Spring & Summer Sale will be February 29 through March 3. (You can read details on the HWGA blog.)

Cloth diapering (or "CDing" to avid readers of diapering blogs!) has become another great interest of mine, and I plan to continue journaling on that topic. Using cloth may be the single greatest mode of savings for our family – even though our current life of travel isn't always conducive to CDing. (And that's why diaper deals, especially at CVS and Walgreens and Target, are still of great interest to me!)

We've been using cloth diapers for almost exactly one year now, and I'm planning to post another update soon...

Other random deals that excite our family include birthday deals – especially freebies! In fact, we're right now cashing in on some of those...

So, happy bargain-shopping!

Amazing Deals at Publix – 09/14 thru 09/20

Yes, I know. I haven’t posted deals from specific stores in a great while. And I probably won’t do so for another while. That said, I’m especially excited about some deals this week – and I’m posting today for family and friends who will probably be interested...

Here are the deals:

V-8 V.Fusion Vegetable & Fruit Juice (100% Juice) – B1G1 for $3.99 (i.e. $1.99 each)

Use $1.00/2 printable coupon (Find the link here.)

$1.49 each

Cascadian Farms Organic Granola Bars – $2.99 each

Use $1.00/1 printable coupon

Stack with $1.00/1 coupon in Yellow Advantage Flier (available in store at the Customer Service Desk)

$0.99 each

Chocolate Chips aren’t “health food” – but they sure are “comfort food!” (Note the clip on one bag. Ahem!) You can take advantage of the following “Buy Theirs, Get Ours Free” Deal this week:

Buy two Nestle’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels (12 oz) – $2.83 each

Get two Publix Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (12 oz) – FREE

Use $1.00/2 printable coupon (for Nestle’s)

OR use $0.50/2 printable coupon (for Nestle’s)

(Remember that Publix “doubles” coupons $0.50 and under.)

$1.17 each after (doubled) coupons and two FREE packs

I also took advantage of a “rain check” on an amazing deal from last week. This one isn’t valid this week unless you, too, got a “rain check” – but it’s the kind of deal that helps to illustrate why Publix is my all-time favorite grocery store!

Honey Nut Cheerios (21.6 oz HUGE box) – $2.99 each

Used $0.75/1 coupon (from in-home mailer)

Stacked with a $2.00/1 coupon in Yellow Advantage Flier

$1.62 each

You can find more deals (with coupon match-ups) at FiddledeedeeMom. A big “Thank-you!” to Sarah for the weekly coupon match-ups!

Dress for LESS!

Dress for less by shopping at consignment sales – and by consigning clothes, too!

Upstate Readers: Don't miss the semi-annual Here We Grow Again Consignment Sale, starting tomorrow, September 7 through Saturday, September 10.

We love this sale! We've had great success dressing our children – in quality clothes – for great prices. When you consider how well name-brand clothes tend to wear, and wash (and resist stains!), and keep so that you can re-sell them, the savings are really multiplied!

Cloth-Diaper Laundering Update

Whether it was the effects of hard water, detergent build-up, or ammonia that were causing our cloth diapers to smell, hot rinses and very hot washes (with minimal detergent) seemed to significantly reduce the smell.

Diapers drying in the breeze – a favorite scene!

Here's what we did:

We hauled very hot water from the shower to the washer, heated more water on the stove, and dumped the boiling (or almost boiling) water into the washer. We started with at least one cold rinse, followed by a very hot wash and two cold rinses, followed by another very hot rinse. We also reduced the amount of detergent (Charlie's Soap) to only 1 teaspoon per large load.

The smell has been significantly reduced.

A very BIG "Thank-you!" to Andrea and Julie for the advice given.

We're now back home with our own washer, so there are no longer the same hot water challenges. And we've been using disposable diapers while we recover from travel, re-acclimate, etc.

Now I'm wondering...

Do I need to do some kind of treating to remove any residue from the "hard water" the diapers were subjected to for almost three months?

FREE Medications at Publix!

Upon returning from three months in South America, we learned that our Little Man had developed a sinus infection. We were awaiting new insurance cards, so I hesitated to fill the prescription for antibiotics. I really wanted to avoid the hassle of paying out of pocket and then trying to file, etc.

And then I remembered: Publix offers some medications FREE!

Yet another reason to love 'em!

Check out the details!

Home-Made Baby Food

During our three-month stay in Uruguay, we made our own baby food. Why? There aren't coupons there or even very many sales as we know them. And "everyone else" makes their own baby food there. And it's better for baby that way!

Since we tend to use very little salt in our own food, I simply used vegetables and even meat from the big pots of meat and vegetable stew I'd made for the family.

We used our KidCo Food Mill to puree the foods.

You can get a similar one from Amazon. You can also get one that includes a carrying case:

My eager, little assistant cook enjoyed seeing the little containers with a variety of colors of food all lined up in the freezer!

This picture includes vegetable broth, chicken, spinach, carrots, green squash, and sweet potatoes.

I used the (2 oz) Fresh N Freeze Reusable Baby Food Containers from One Step Ahead, but Rubbermaid Food Storage Containers also work well for freezing.

And, of course, regular ice cube trays are the most frugal option. Just pop the "ice cubes" of baby food out of the trays and store them in larger freezer-proof containers or zippered food storage bags.

Recipe for Chocolate Oatmeal No-Bake Cookies

These quick cookies bring back favorite childhood memories of cooking with Mommy. My modified recipe uses a good bit less sugar than most.

Due to issues with the oven where we were staying during the past three months, we were limited in our baking choices. These became an even greater favorite!

Made with grated semi-sweet chocolate, these taste more like
“healthful” bonbons!

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter (100 grams)
¼ cup milk
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (OR 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate, coarsely grated)
2½ to 2¾ cups quick cooking oats (200 grams)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

In a saucepan over medium heat, mix together sugar, butter, and milk. Bring to a rolling boil, and boil for one minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and mix in chocolate, oatmeal, and vanilla.

(If the mix starts to get crumbly, stir in a teaspoon or two of hot water; the cookies should then set up fine.)

Drop by spoonfuls onto cookie sheets. (I often use plates.) You can refrigerate these so they get firm faster.

Enjoy!