Stanky Breath!

If you don't want teeth like funky dude (even though I secretly want to be his friend) up there then check this out!!!!

I have found this AWESOME coconut oil toothpaste recipe! My hubby says that it makes my breath smell good which is really saying something!  I'm not a fan of baking soda toothpastes but I got used to the flavor and I like it now. 

I have pretty sensitive teeth and  I've been using this for about a month and I haven't felt anymore sensitivity than I do while consistently using toothpaste for sensitivity.  When I use normal store bought toothpaste that isn't for sensitivity, my teeth are really sensitive.  Something to think about and I'm going to talk to my dentist about it also!

Next, I want to try the first one from passionatehomemaking.com since I can pump it out of a soap dispenser. 

Great way to save money, not buy so much stuff and get natural!

Mrs. Baird's Bargain Blow-Out!!!!!

Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlets are incredible!!! I resisted going for awhile because we don't eat a ton of sliced bread and I just thought it didn't have anything to offer me....WRONG!!!! They have a wide assortment of things, tons of different kinds of sandwich bread from Rye to wheat to white, snacky things, cookies, Bob's Red Mill, a few condiments, and my favorite....BOBOLI.  Now if you don't know the wonder of Boboli you my friend are missing out.  It's this amazing pizza crust that I hadn't eaten in about 15 years because they cost about $5 a piece and it just wasn't something I was going to spend that much money on. 

At Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlet they have what's left over from grocery stores and they need to get rid of to make room for the new shipments.  They aren't bad, they aren't expired, just things that need a new home for REALLY CHEAP!!!  As you can imagine, it depends on what the stores have extra of that dictates what Mrs. Baird's have and I think it must also depend on amount because prices vary too. 

Back to Boboli...I have found it for varying prices but it is anywhere from $0.79 to $1.50 each.  Also, for every $6 you spend you get one free thing, again depends on what they have.  And, for every dollar you spend they give you a stamp on your Mrs. Baird's card and every $30 you spend you get a free loaf of bread and one free snack. 

I bought 4 loaves of bread, 1 Boboli and a 3 pack of Boboli marinara sauce for $6.

Every time I go I leave feeling so proud of myself and like I've hit the jackpot! Check out this link to find the Mrs. Baird's Bakery Outlet closest to you!

Cheap Veggies

This isn't anything rocket science, just a cool thing that I did today.  Tito and I went to HEB to grab a couple of things this morning and asparagus was something like $1.47/lb.  It's usually well over $2 if not $3.  I bought 3 bunches!  I chopped off the bottom inch or so and then just broke them in half, washed them, layed them out and let them dry out on a paper towel.  Then I just put them back in the produce bags from the store and put a clip on the and popped them in the freezer...I know, I know I'm a genius....



Asparagus, trimmed, snapped in half and some in the bag



Bagged and clipped, ready for the freezer!

So, take advantage of sales, buy more than you need and freeze!!!  My husband is just going to love when I tell him that I need a deep freezer for the garage.  MUHAHAHAHA (evil laugh)

Bulk Spices

Do you love buying spices like me and want to buy them but sometimes hold back because of the price?  OR Do you have to buy spices and get the ones you have to but with an angry grudge because of the price? Either way....I'm on your side! 

On my days off, it's hard to get me out of the kitchen, I love to cook and just play in the kitchen, it's my mad scientist laboratory.  I like to try new spices and have TONS in my cabinet.  I had read about buying spices in bulk and that it's quite a bit cheaper but I didn't know where I could get them and sure as heck didn't think they would have them at my HEB (local grocery store). 

Before I start this story I'm going to give you a little bit back info on the fam.....

Here's Mama, Reggie and I and here's the truth of me and my Mama.  I am not my mother, I am my mother's sister.  My mom HATES shopping and while I some what agree with her on clothes shopping I DO NOT agree about grocery shopping.  HEB is my favorite place to be...I love, love, love it!  When I go, it's a wonderful, leisurely stroll through all of the samples and new items and old items and pretty much anything and everything that catches my eye.  My mom on the other hand can buy two weeks worth of groceries in about 8.7 minutes and that is when the lines are long! So when we go together it's a a bit of a combination of the both, I'm rushing myself and my mom does a pretty good job at not being impatient with me.  Ok, on to bulk spices...

Right before the holidays, Mama and I were buying our holiday stuff and the wonderful staff at HEB brought the bulk spice display out from hiding in the organic section!!!  WOOHOO!!!  So I start freaking out and running between the bulk spices with my phone calculator doing math faster than Einstein to compare the prices.  You can imagine what my  mom was doing, she just kept walking and I have no proof but I think she was rolling her eyes at me and laughing at the same time.  She loves me and does a great job at supporting me so I understand the laughs.  I don't have exact numbers on savings but it's SUBSTANTIAL!! Ever since I've been saving my old spice bottles and refilling them.  Pop them in the dishwasher and soak them in a little vinegar and water to get rid of the smell if you need to. 

Here's how it works:

1) Fill one of the supplied ziplocs with however much you want. 

2) Weigh it on the scale and and plug in the PLU# on the container and print out the sticker.

3) Slap that sticker on the bag.

4) Pay the few cents and walk out of there feeling very proud of yourself!!!

This is the oregano I bought today.

The bag is actually only about half full, the rest I put in the bottle and labeled it with my fancy-schmancy label maker that Mama got me for Christmas...she how she supportive she is of my insanity?!!?  So that bag is about the amount of two bottles that you buy on the spice aisle.  Judging by my calculations just from looking on websites, a bottle or oregano costs $2-$3.  Would you like to guess how much I spent on that bag that, remember, is equal to 2 bottles?????  $0.39......39 whoppin' cents!!!  WHAT?!?!?!?!  Can you even believe that?!  'Nuff said, yo!



Super Awesome Washing Soda

Yeah, yeah I know, I added awesome but I just call 'em like I see 'em.  This stuff seems to be almost as bodacious as Borax.  Here are the uses that I have found and on the box.

1) Laundry Detergent
2) Laundry booster for stains, ground-in dirt, greasy stains.
3) Sweat stains
4) Collar and Cuff Stains
5) Food stains (Mustard, chocolate, blueberry, cola, meat and grease splatters, olive oil)
6) Other stains (make-up, blood, grass, clay)
7) Other solutions

I've got to try some of these uses out myself!  The price is similar to Borax....3 lbs 7 oz for somewhere between $2.50 or $3.00. 

Bodacious Borax

Borax, also known as sodium borate, sodium tetraborate, or disodium tetraborate, is an important boron compound, a mineral, and a salt of boric acid. It is usually a white powder consisting of soft colorless crystals that dissolve easily in water. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borax)  Blah, blah blah....whatever the heck that all means but that's for all of those people out there that want to know what it really is.  Here's the (as my students say) fly part of it.

As you can see on the box it's been around since 1891.  I talked to a friend of mine who is about my parent's age and he was telling me how his mom was told that baby formula was better than breast milk.  As I began to really think about this (Don't freak, I'm not a deep-thinker, just mildly obsessesed with all of this craziness.) I realized that in the 60's-ish all of the convenient foods and products became really popular and frankly I can't blame them. They had to do so much stuff from scratch and in such a time-consuming manner that when the easy stuff came out I'm sure the popularity just sky-rocketed.  Now we all are going back to natural which isn't any new concept because as the Good Book says,

  "What has been will be again,
   what has been done will be done again;
   there is nothing new under the sun."  Ecclesiastes 1:9

The Big Man upstairs really is wise, don't ya think?  Ok, moving on...

You can read this all on the box you buy but I'm going to give them a little bit of free advertising here.  Check out all of these uses.
1) Make this awesome Laundry Detergent
2) Dishwasher Detergent
3) I accidentally discovered that it polishes my silver jewelry.
4) Wash baby clothes
5) Get stains out of clothes
6) Toilet bowl stains, we have an upstairs toilet we don't use much and we have really hard water.  There was a pretty nasty hard water ring basically growing in my toilet and I had no idea how to get it out.  I poured some Borax in and left it for about a week (oops!) and scrubbed the toilet bowl and up it came!! TA-DA!
7) You know how you get that funky smell in the garbage disposal and some people say to throw a half of a lemon down there?  Yeah, that idiots.  I'm sorry if you are one of those people and it works for you but I tried it and had the disposal on for like 4 minutes and it still didn't get ride of the whole thing so I just had this rotting lemon sitting in my disposal, which doesn't really help the stink much.  Pour about 1 Tbsp. of Borax down the drain, let it sit for about 15 minutes, run hot water and the disposal and WA-LA!! 
8) Washing delicates
9) Getting ride of hard water stains (see #6)
10) Getting rid of stains in carpet or rugs
11) Boost the cleaning power of your dishwasher
12) Laundry boosting aka improves cleaning power of detergent
13) Bathroom/Kitchen cleaning and deodorizing

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!  And the best part is that 4 lbs of this stuff costs about $3.50!!! WHAT?!?!?!  Yep, you heard me right......go getcha self some!!!