What Can You Get at the Farmers Market for Under $20?

I am a huge Farmer's Market fanatic. It started long ago, when as a teenager, my sister Kristi and I both worked at the Virginia Beach Farmers Market.  The summers were filled with trailers of Silver Queen corn, watermelons, snow cones and cotton candy and the fall was pumpkin patches and hay bales.  Combine that with my mother's love of any vegetable, and now as an adult, it is hard to go a week without a trip to the market.

This morning my sweet neighbor, Val, went with me to get a basket of goodies.  Each of us went with just $20 and we came back with bags of food & money left over!  Check out what I got for just $17!

• 10 Plums $2
• 2 Avocados $1
• 4 Beef Stake Tomatoes $2
• 12 Pickling Cucumber (this variety is tender and yummy for slicing with red onions & red wine vinegar) $1.50
• 4 Red Peppers $2
• 2 Yellow Peppers $1
• 3lb bag of Cooking Onions $1
• 1lb bag of Carrots $.75
• 1lb of Asparagus $1
• 1 large Red Onion $.75
• 2 Spaghetti Squash $2
• 5 small Bok Choy $1
• 1 Celery $1

You cannot beat the deals!  There is no other way to provide healthy foods for your family at a reasonable cost.  There are a few things that you may want to keep in mind when going to the market for the first time. 

• Don't buy the first thing you see.  Take your time and check prices because competing vendors may have better prices or better quality.  If you have never been to the market, take a walk around first, making note of prices as you go. 
• Ask the vendors what is in season right now.  Those items will be at the lowest prices.  Other items may be available, but remember, if it is not in season, you may pay more and there may be a loss of quality because it is not the time of year for premium production (for instance, oranges will not be as flavorful in the summer as they are in the winter)
• Bring a cart, wagon, stroller, etc. because you are sure to fill it up!  Don't forget your reuseable bags too!

Once you are a regular at the market, the vendors get to know you and often times are willing to give you a bit of a deal now and then. A trip to your local market may be out of your normal routine, but check with your county agriculture center to find one near you.

Going to the market reminds me of the woman in Proverbs 31:14 "She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar." Taking care of my family is the highest calling!

Welcome the The Brick House!

Make yourself at home here!
For those who have not had a chance to come in and make yourself comfortable, I urge you to grab a cup of coffee and let's get to know each other!

At The Brick House, we will learn from each other about taking care of our families while we grow in the Light of Christ.  Some of the areas that we will talk about are faith, families, childrearing, cooking, strategic shopping (on a shoestring), crafts, housekeeping, friendships and many more!  If I come acrossed a great deal or a something new, you will be the next to know!  A passion for all thing home and family has led me to this great world of blogging and now to you! Will you join me?  Find us on Facebook and you will never miss a post!

God Bless you!
Tasha Brickhouse
thebrickhousebunch.blogspot.com
altacompanyphotographygallery.blogspot.com



What's On The Stove?

This weather makes me want to break out the chopping block and
Cook Away! 

Today's recipe is one of my simple & healthy favorites!

Lentil Soup

For starters, the basic 4:

• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, smashed with flat side of the knife and coursely chopped
• 2 celery stalk, chopped (I include the leaves for flavor)
• 2 carrots, sliced

Get these things sauteing over med-high heat with a drizzle of olive oil.

While that is going, rinse your dry lentils and make sure there is no debris. After about 3-4 minutes, slowly add:

• 1 carton of beef or chicken stock
• 2 cups of water
• lentels

Allow this to simmer (covered) on medium or just below for about 45 minutes or until the lentils are tender.

Lentils are the best vegetable source of iron and are high in fiber and protein and are on the low glycemic load index. Not to mention, easy on the wallet! There are so many things that can be done with lentils: in soups, salads and as a meat replacement in many meals.

I just tried something new! I went here to find out the nutritional data for this recipe! Pretty cool!



Homemade Pizza Dough

Since I've been in "Ultimate Cheapskate Mode", I've been on the hunt for pizza dough that I can freeze. At the grocery store you can normally buy it for about $2, but I was hoping to make a large quantity for under $1 each.  I think that is easily done with the following recipe.  This not only looks super easy, but it can be played with a bit to incorporate some whole wheat flour and such as you get the hang of it. Check it out!

Compliments of MoneySavingMom

 Pizza Crust:

 

• 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 1/2 cups flour

 

Dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the rest of the ingredients in and mix (I have a KitchenAide with a dough hook).

 

Dump onto a floured surface .

 

Knead into a smooth dough (five minutes or so).

 

Roll out and press down onto a greased pizza pan.

 

Add toppings. (Have fun and be creative with this! Our favorite variety is
salsa or barbecue sauce, diced cooked chicken, and cheese.)

 

Bake at 450 degrees F. for around 12-15 minutes until the crust looks crispy and lightly browned.

 

By the way, you can make up a double or triple batch of the pizza crust
dough and freeze the extras if you don't need it. This speeds up the
preparation even more as all you have to do is pull out a bag of dough
and a bag of chopped cooked chicken in the morning and then put the
pizza together right before you're ready to eat. You can also freeze
the pizzas already cooked but I doubt it would ever stay uneaten long
enough to make it to the freezer around here!

 

A Few Shortcuts...

Your maiden voyage to the grocery store with your passel of coupons can be a little nerve-wracking if you are not sure if you planned it out completely.  Just remember, any money saved is worth the time invested.  Your first trip, you may discover that there are items that you misapply the coupons to, or perhaps, didn't apply enough coupons to, but count it all as a part of the learning process and shortly you will become a coupon pro!

Take a look at the previous posts which contain my shopping lists for this week.  Be sure to gather your coupons and your list before you leave for the store.  Here is my little hint: I use a clear page protector to put my list in as well as any applicable coupons, rewards bucks, etc. so that when I get to the register I am not fishing for my coupons from my pocket, purse or what-have-you.  I carry a coupon binder/file into the store with a page protector for each store (Winn Dixie, Publix, CVS, Walgreens, etc.).  Everything has a place and I can put my hands on everything quickly.

What is your favorite method of organizing your coupons when you go to the store?

Couponing Your Way to a Healthy Diet!

Fresh Express Artisanal $1off Coupon

Play game for a chance to win an IPAD + Get a $.50 or $1.00 coupon for Fresh Express!

 

$1.00 off Fresh Express Coupon

$1off Hidden Valley Salad Kit at the bottom of the blog (Zip 32738)

$.75 Crunchmaster Coupon at the bottom of the blog (Zip 32738)

See, you can stay on track while you are saving some cha-ching, bada-bing! 

Don't forget about the $1 off Produce at Target from yesterday's post!

You can do this too!

Couponing is work.  It's a job that I can do (for the most part) in the comfort of my home while I am with my children.  It is a reverse job, so to speak. I don't exactly get paid per hour, but I 'save' per hour.   Everyone buys groceries.  Everyone uses products in their homes for cleaning, toiletries, etc.  We all try to save money wherever we can buy catching a sale, but many times we have to buy a product because we absolutely have to have it, regardless of the cost.  Using the method of Coupon-Shopping, you can stock up on items at it's lowest price.  When you combine with store promotions and/or competitor coupons, the deals can be enormous!

If I wasn't checking sales and combining with coupons, my total for all these items would have been $98.67. Instead I paid a whopping $15.30!   All of these products came from Walgreens, Publix & Food Lion, all of which are less than a 6 mile radius of my home.  A little planning and time at the store can go a long way. I am so thankful to those who have shown me this way of contributing to our family.  I would love to share with you also!

Tasha

Wisdom in the Multitude of Counselors!

Proverbs 11:14 says:
Where no counsel [is], the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors [there is] safety.

Why do we sometimes find it difficult to take advice from others? Pride? Naivety? Whatever the case may be, we may miss out on valuable information and instruction if we do not know how to learn from others!  When I look around and think of how many people are part of my 'multitude of counselors', I am astounded at the amount time invested by these individuals and know that there is no way for me to repay them except to find someone else to invest in, thus, I write to you!

This weekend, my friend Darcy and I attended a coupon class by Couponmamacita.  She did a wonderful job of giving us some new tips on saving $$$ by using coupons for shopping for our family.  If you have a chance, take a look at her site.  Good info that you will want to put to use right away.

My kids and I wrapped up the weekend with wonderful church services yesterday.  In a day and hour when there are so many uncertainties, being able to stand firmly on the Rock of My Salvation is extremely important.  Pastor Glenn Hires from The Pentecostals of Deland always provides strong wisdom that is applicable for our day.  He invited Rev. Eli Hernandez all the way from California to be here to wrap up our 40 Days of Fire revival.  Rev. Hernandez's level of faith challenged us to take God out of our box and let Him do what He does best without being hindered by our preconceived ideas of what He can do. 

Who is on your 'Multitude of Counselors' List?

Whatsoever your hand…{Part 2}

The second thing that I’ve gotten my hands into lately is couponing. Before you completely shut down this blog, give me just a few minutes to demystify some of the wildly popular misconceptions about couponing. Also, let me just add that I am not one to be able to spout off what coupons that I have right off the top of my head and be on the lookout for sales to use them at. That is what I leave to the experts! Can I also tell you, I HATE TO SHOP! –But I love to find a great deal! The deals are what keep me going.


Strategic shopping seems much more impressive than ‘couponing’. Strategy is exactly what makes coupons work for you! If you like games, this is definitely up your alley… (Did I mention that I hate games…But I love to find a great deal!) What I hope to accomplish is to point you in the direction of some great resources and get you on the road to cutting your grocery bill! If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Sometimes there is a learning curve to matching coupons and scoring the best deals. Give yourself a good month of regularly strategic shopping and you will be pleasantly surprised.


First step, get to know the types of coupons that are out there.


• Manufacturer Coupons
• Store Coupons
• Rewards Bucks(CVS)/Register Rewards (Walgreens)
• Mail In Rebates


Here are how these measure up. Manufacture coupons are put out by the product manufacturers to give you an incentive to buy their products. Store Coupons are provided by the Store for specific item or brand. These come in flyers placed in the stores, in your newspaper or in the mail. In general, those coupons are meant to be used at that particular store, however, in our area, Publix takes all competitors coupons. This is a golden opportunity. Rewards Bucks and Register Rewards are offered by the store after you have purchased a certain product during their promotional dates. These rewards are good for your next purchase at that store. They are meant to be used only at that store, however, Publix does accept them. Mail-In-Rebates are offered by Manufacturers as a bonus for buying their product.


Next step that I suggest is to watch the Southernsavers.com tutorials http://www.southernsavers.com/tutorials/  
Get familiar with the southernsavers.com website. It is a comprehensive resource for any of the stores in our area. This website will help build your shopping lists based on what is on sale, what you should have coupons for (or can get them by printing them off of the internet) as well as any additional mail in rebates. They do all of the homework for you. I have no idea how they compile their database, but they have it going on! Once you have been clipping coupons for a while, you will see that you probably have the coupons for items that go on sale!


As you are preparing to plunge into strategic shopping, make note of these coupon tricks:


• Purchase 2 Sunday newspapers. Many products go on sale ‘buy 1 get 1’ regularly. The stores allow you to use a coupon for each of those items, essentially doubling your coupon value! You can easily make up the cost of your newspaper by catching 1 b1g1 sale.


• Clip coupons that you would possibly buy if the price was just pocket change (because inevitably you will find the product on sale or clearance and kick yourself for not clipping it!


• Coupons that say Buy 1 Get 1 free are GOLDEN! If you stash that coupon until you see a Buy 1 Get 1 free sale, you will get BOTH ITEMS FREE! The coupon covers the item that you are supposed to pay for (within the monetary limit that the coupon states).


• Publix allows for the combination of a store coupon (even if it is not their own) and a manufacturer’s coupon. I do not know of another store around this area that does this. What this means is, If you catch Kelloggs cereal on sale b1g1, you can use a manufacturer’s coupon for each box of cereal and a store coupon for each box.


Another great video tutorial is couponmom.com. She has tons of youtube videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/CouponMom .


http://www.iheartpublix.com is another must have resource. Southersavers.com does a good job reviewing the Publix ads but I have found additional coupons and resources on iheartpublix, especially the page http://www.iheartpublix.com/index.php/weekly-ad and click on the mega deals link.


So now that you have all of these coupons, what do you do with them all? Well, I started out with a little accordion file, and then I realized that I was out growing that system so I switched over to a very primitive envelope style. Today, I officially moved up to a coupon binder. Many coupon sites show people building coupon binders and using baseball card protector sheets to hold the coupons. Being the frugalista that I am, I was determined to find something that I already had that could work. In my homeschool stash, I had tons of CD binder sleeves, so I went to work making a binder using this pretty little layout http://thekrazycouponlady.com/kclcouponbinder.pdf by http://thekrazycouponlady.com . I love her tagline :-).

The internet has a wealth of information that I have yet to conquer, and by no means do I feel like I have the supreme knowledge on the topic of couponing, but I love to share great opportunities with other and hope that you may have great success with your Strategic Shopping.


I leave you with a picture of my mega deal of the week…this keeps me couponing!

You've got it!  I paid $.92 for all this! Just peanuts (pardon the pun) :-)

Whatsoever your hand...{Part 1}

Whatsoever your hand…{Part 1}



It is interesting how challenges can bring about a clear opportunity for strategizing on levels that you may have never thought of before. The current economic recession (and some have dubbed depression) can have us scrambling to create resources that we hadn’t even discovered before. My mother used to say, necessity is the mother of invention. She sure was right. That woman could make a full meal using 3 ingredients and make you feel like you were eating a feast. When Cindy cooked, it was divine. She knew how to use the most basic thing and make it a treat, always putting plenty of color on the plate. As a child, I craved her creativity and as an adult, I realize that my memory of her teaches me every day, resulting in the birth of a couple creative ways to contribute to my household while raising my children. Let me tell you about them!

Especially since I have become a mother, photographs have become a very important part of documenting the lives of my children. Not just any photographs, but those that capture the essence and emotion of their individual personalities. Those photos bring me right back to the time and day that they were taken. The more that I took photos, the more that I became aware of the elements of a good picture verses a bad picture. Pretty soon I realized that this was something that I would like to do to help others capture the wonderful memories of their family as it grows. So, little by little, I would photo this one and that one until early this year, at the encouragement of my sister, I stepped into the photography business. It has been amazing to have the wonderful opportunities to connect with families and catch that first smile or even a bit of a sad face. God has been good and He gifts us all individually, and it is up to us to be sure that whatsoever we put our hand to, do it with all of our might (Eccl 9:10).
If you haven’t already, check out how I am writing history through photography at altacompanyphotographygallery.blogspot.com

Stay tuned for {Part 2} of Whatsoever Your Hand…