Thrifty Foodies

I just discovered this new site.

If you own a blog you should go over there and get listed.

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iPad Mini Giveaway Event!

Sponsored by: BuyVia.com

Organized by: GoPromoCodes.com & WithASideofThriftiness

Prize: iPad Mini 16GB

Event Dates: May 27 – June 18, 2013

This event is free for bloggers to join. Click here to join this giveaway

event and for more details.

Times are tough for many in this country and all over the world. Many simply cannot find it in their budgets to give, no matter how thrifty their living style maybe.

There are many ways to give and this is one I don’t think anyone can say no to.

“The Real Food Deficit is the gap between our vision for healthy communities and reality. From neighborhoods that don’t have access to fresh produce to kids growing up without nutrition education, it’s a complex problem that many of us face.

This video from the Kashi REAL Project educates people about ways to combat this issue and how nonprofit organizations, like HealthCorps, are empowering the next generation to take on the real food deficit and shape healthier communities.

HealthCorps is leading a nationwide movement to shape a new generation of healthy young people.

So far, HealthCorps has taught the basics on nutrition, fitness, and mental strength to over 142,000 high school students and more than 285,000 community members.

We believe in the work HealthCorps is doing. That’s why Kashi will donate $2 every time someone watches the video!*

We want to raise $125,000 for HealthCorps, and we are counting on people like you to help by inviting your friends to watch the video. Please share this video far and wide, because empowering the next generation to lead healthier lives is something we can all support.”

Let’s get real.

Watch the video and Kashi will donate $2 to HealthCorps!

Welcome to $500 Visa or Amazon Gift Card Giveaway!

With summer just around the corner, we gathered some treats for our beloved fans and avid readers!

Duration: This giveaway will run from May 21, 2013 until June 11, 2013 at 11:59 PM EST. Please feel free to complete the entries at your own pace. Remember, you can always come back to enter daily entries. The more entries you submit, the better chances of winning!

Eligibility: Giveaway is open to everyone WORLDWIDE (as long as he/she has a blog and a Paypal account)! (Please use full name, aliases are fine but not initials.)

One winner will be chosen at random from all valid entries via Rafflecopter within 14 days of giveaway end date. Winner will be contacted via email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. Once the winner has been confirmed, they will be announced on this page. No purchase necessary. Participant must be 18 years or older to enter.

To join please use the Rafflecopter form below! Have fun!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: THRIFTY FOODIES is not responsible for the prize fulfillment. Organizers’ opinion may be different from yours. Void where prohibited. Giveaway is not associated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. The host and the sponsors of this giveaway reserves the right to change or cancel the giveaway without prior notice.

A few weeks ago when I discovered Ellie.com I decided that I had to become a  Fit Fashionista Club and I placed my first order and save more than 50 percent, actually more like 150 percent plus I got free shipping.

Today I got this email and I wanted to share it with anyone who has thought about being a Fit Fashionista Club but put it off for one reason or another.

Thank you so much for being a supporter of Ellie and helping us bring a fashion spin to the fitness world. We wanted to let you know that starting June 1st, we will begin charging for shipping so that we continue to provide our customers with top quality, amazingly designed products.

That said, any current Fit Fashionista Club members that have purchased before June 1st will continue to receive free shipping. Click Here to start shopping now.

Going forward, return shipping will still be free and any purchase over $100 will also receive free shipping.

We appreciate your support!

So put it off no longer. Use my link and get 20 percent off PLUS secure that free shipping by becoming a member of the Fit Fashionista Club before June 1, 2013.

This is just a quickie because I wanted to share this while it was still free.

FREE!!!! Well, it was as of just now when I got it for free.

I just bought: ‘Easy Almond Flour Recipes – A Decadent Gluten-Free, Low-Carb Alternative To Wheat… via @amazonkindle

— Thrifty Foodies (@thriftyfoodies) May 14, 2013

Go get your copy or tell a friend who is trying to live gluten-free and thinks that means suffering without anything decadent.

Growing up in the Midwest, St. Louis to be exact, you get exposed to many ethnic cuisines. Let us not forget that wagon trains and railway tracks went through St. Louis as the country expanded West and some immigrants just had enough travel and stopped there.

Let’s just say that St. Louis is ethnically very diverse, or at least it was when I lived there from the early 1960s to the late 1980s. In those days “The Hill” was called Dago Hill and no one got upset about it (at least I never heard anyone get upset about it). It was the home of authentic Italian restaurants and bakeries. Some of them are still there after many decades, and generations, in business.

My maternal grandmother was born in St. Louis but raised in Chicago, so Summer vacations with her to visit family and friends meant an obligatory trip to Chinatown there.

Then there’s the area known as Dogtown in St. Louis which is the Irish neighborhood. The German area where Anheuser Busch is located is South City. For those who want to know more about the ethnic history of St. Louis, this is quite interesting (at least it was to me). Peopling of St. Louis

The point is I grew up eating very ethnically diverse cuisine so when I met my mate 24 years ago it seemed logical for me to learn how to make his ethnic cuisine which is Jewish Moroccan food.

Although some dishes are similar between the Jews and non-Jews of Morocco many things are unique to the Jewish Moroccans or the technique and seasonings are different.

So for me the question begs to be answered, ” Can one be a thrifty foodie and create authentic (or at least close to it) ethnic dishes and maintain the thrift aspect?”

If one can, where does one find those authentic ingredients and the utensils and gadgets?

In truth, it is actually easier to do it in a thrifty manner than to eat it outside.  I’m beginning to think that creating traditional ethnic cuisines at home may be the thriftiest of all approaches to home cooking. I’ll give you an example.

Several months ago I had the Asian food bug (craving it not food poisoning). Never been a sushi eater, and fish is NOT my choice if I have a choice. I do NOT cook like the average American cooks.

Macaroni and Cheese is NOT a main dish in my house. It will NEVER be one! Am I a food snob?  YES.  But before you get your knickers in a twist let me clear up the confusion you may be feeling. My mother made, in my opinion, the MOST delicious macaroni and cheese I have EVER eaten and it is a perfect SIDE DISH when made from scratch.

As usual I digress, get used to it.

The next few posts from me will be sharing the stuff I have learned about shopping for those exotic ingredients and making Asian food at home. That means techniques like stir-fry, and chopping all those fancy veggies, and even rolling sushi and making Miso soup from scratch. This post is the first in my Homemade Carry Out Series

I grocery shop once a week and once a month I do the rotation to the area of Orlando where all the Asian food stores are. This is that week and why I’ll be doing my “How to Cook like your Asian, when you’re not” series of blog posts in addition to some reviews I’ve already mentioned are in the works.

Here are a couple of shots of  Asian dishes I’ve made at home. I let you decide if any of it looks like something you’d want to cook, serve, or eat.

 Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

Pan Fried Asian Noodles

Crab Rangoon (not an entirely authentic dish)

I mentioned SavingStar the other day, and wanted you to see some of the amazing deals you can get just by signing up for FREE!

Save Money on Groceries with SavingStar

You can save money on your groceries with nothing to do. SavingStar is the first national fully digital eCoupon service. Nothing to clip, nothing to print!

Sign up for a free account at SavingStar.com, then enter all your loyalty cards, activate the coupons you want then shop and SavingStar will track your savings.

For instance:

Valid through May 31, 2013 Save 50¢ when you buy ONE (1) PACKAGE any flavor 5 OZ. OR LARGER Green Giant Veggie Snack Chips

Valid May 8, 2013 to Jun 30, 2013 Save $5.00 when you spend $30.00 on any Charmin, Ivory and Gillette products

Head over there, sign up and save!

My next review will be for this product:

Woolzies, the all natural fabric softener.

Woolzies are pure handmade New Zealand wool dryer balls that soften your laundry naturally without any of the chemicals of conventional fabric softeners.

Unlike the plastic dryer balls, they are PVC free and won’t fall apart or melt on you.

Woolzies save time and energy by cutting down on drying time by an average of 25% per load. They also help reduce static and wrinkles.

Use Woolzies to snuggle up with naturally downy soft laundry that’s completely free of harmful chemicals. Woolzies are also hypo-allergenic and totally safe for people with wool sensitivities as they will not shed onto your laundry.

Unlike even natural dryer sheets and liquid fabric softeners, Woolzies last for hundreds and hundreds of loads and are therefore extremely eco friendly. So why risk your health and waste your money with regular fabric softeners when you can save time, energy and money with all natural pure Woolzies!

The good folks at Woolzies were kind enough to send me their product so I could review it here and share my experience with you.

I’ll be posting my review on Tuesday,  May 21, 2013, so be sure to come back and see if Woolzies makes it easy to be green and save green at the same time.

Woolzies

Calling all bloggers! Here’s a FREE HUGE GIVEAWAY EVENT for you to join!

Open to ALL SELF HOSTED BLOGS only. No wordpress.com, blogspot.com, tumblr and the likes.

You’re entitled to ONE FREE LINK to your social media network in exchange of:

1. Posting an announcement post. Grab the announcement post here.

2. Posting about the giveaway event. The HTML code will be provided.

3. Promoting the giveaway AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.

Sign-up closes on May 19, 2013. We are taking up to 50 bloggers only. SO SIGN UP EARLY!

Dates to remember:
Start: May 21, 2013 12:01 AM EST
End: June 11, 2013 11:59 PM EST

GIVEAWAY PRIZE: $500 Visa Gift Card or Amazon Gift Code (or Paypal Cash equivalent)
Eligibility: Open WORLDWIDE

BLOGGER REFERRAL PRIZES:

1 WINNER – $80 Paypal cash

2 WINNERS will host a follow page (of Rafflecopter code)

Big thanks to our generous sponsors:

| Financial Chaos | Finance Blog News | Total Tech Room | Tech Update |

| Business Times |Financial Update | The Bro Club | Earth Friendly Momma |

| Complete Personal Finance | Life and Leisure | Travelers’ Joint |

| Fab and Fit | Basic Health Tips | TechnoGrub | Bambie’s Turf |Che Wanders |

By signing up, you agree with the terms mentioned above.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!

Be sure to tell them Thrifty Foodies sent you!