Tipster Tuesday

I have been wanted to join in on Kitchen Tip Tuesday's for a while now. I love all the tips I have gained from everyone over the last few weeks. So...my tip for this week. BUY IN BULK and buy a freezer.

We are a member of a local food cooperative. We just LOVE it. I can purchase almost everything we need in bulk from our food coop and it is usually a ton cheaper than buying the same items in the store. We also buy all organic products and by buying these items in bulk I can usually get these items for the same price I would buy that same item but non-organic at the store. I bake a lot of our own food so I buy the following items in bulk:

Flour (usually WW Bread & Pastry)
Rolled Oats (I make oatmeal, granola, etc.)
Sunflower Butter
Oils (Olive, Canola, Sun & Safflower)
All of our bathroom products (toothpaste, shampoo, etc.)
Cleaning products (dish soap, liquid, cleaners, etc....although trying to learn to make some of these myself to make it even cheaper)
BAKING SODA!!! (I use this for everything from diapers to dishes and just got an AWESOME dish washer tip from Passionate Homemaker this week!)

There are a ton of other things I buy in bulk also. Check around in your area to see if you can find a food coop or start one of your own. You don't need to buy much to be able to buy at these wholesale prices.

And a freezer is a must for saving money also. I have a wonderful organic farm down the road a bit and at their little farm stand they sell their produce for cheaper than you can buy traditional produce at the store. Things that I can't seem to grow that well like peppers, onions, carrots. I also go to a pick your own strawberry & blueberry farm in the summer & fall. With my freezer I am able to store all of this lovely produce through the winter and still have blueberry muffins & pancakes and strawberry smoothies all winter long. It is also a lot cheaper as I can purchase a quart of organic wild Maine blueberries for only $1.50 and you can't even get a pint of traditional berries at the store that cheaply! We also raise our own Turkey's & Chickens and buy Beef & Goat meat from friends that raise them naturally (not organic certified but they are grass fed and are not give any hormones, etc.).

We also LOVE bananas. We use them in everything! And they always put the ones that are starting to get soft on sale at the grocery store...usually for at least 1/2 off, if not more. So, I buy these up and when I get home I peel them and throw them in the freezer. Once they are frozen solid I seal them in seal & save bags. We use them in smoothies, muffins, bread, etc.

And lastly I am trying to do more baking 1-2 days per week and freezing items so it is easier to prepare meals. A large freeze makes this all so much easier. I hardly buy anything at the grocery store any more!

I have gained TONS of great ideas from all the other ladies that share their tips so I thought I would share some of my favorite tips I have gained over the last few weeks of browsing.

I love this idea to make play dough for your kids so they can "cook" while you are cooking also. Homemade play dough in pretty jars also makes a great gift for the children in your life and is SO easy to make. I just ordered a pound of cream of tartar from my food coop to make lots of play dough with!

Making a recipe binder is definitely something I am going to work on. Right now I
have cards and paper everywhere with recipes on them.

And I also definitely need to make a kitchen spring cleaning list!

These Make Ahead Burritos sound yummy!

And simplifying is my favorite word lately. We are cutting down majorly to try and simplify our lives so this great list of ways to simplify in your kitchen is definitely a great starting point for me!

And what a great idea for storing muffins in your freezer!!

I am in the midst of kitchen organizing and I LOVE this idea for storing measuring spoons and I think I will use the idea for my measuring cups also (I asked for new stainless steel measuring cups & spoons for my birthday).

And this is something I definitely need to do to declutter my own kitchen! I have way to many kitchen gadgets!

I have absolutely got to try these pizza pockets! They look so yummy and are a very easy make ahead and freeze type meal. And you could cook enough for the family in the toaster oven making it a great warm weather, don't want to heat up the stove type recipe. You could even make them on a grill I bet! Can't wait to try!

Great recipe for Taco seasoning!

And what a great tip for using up the leftover bread, flour & eggs used for making breaded chicken. Sounds yummy!

Lots of great ideas out there. Thanks to everyone posting their tips. They have come in very handy or hopefully will soon!