Frugal Ideas for Bananas and Yogurt

Bananas were only $0.39 a pound at Kroger last week and you can always find a deal on yogurt between sales, manufacture coupons, online coupons, and coupons you can load onto your Kroger card. If you are wanting to stock up on some of these items but don't want them to go bad before they get eaten, here is a simple way they can be used.

Make a Banana Smoothie

I like to slice up the bananas as soon as I get them and stick them in the freezer. Then, when I am ready to make the smoothie all I do it throw in some yogurt and the frozen banana slices and blend it all up in the blender. It's that easy! And healthy too.

You might want to add sugar, vanilla, other fruits, or even peanut butter. If you have any left over, pour it into an ice tray with toothpicks and now you have frozen yogurt pops for later!

What to do with Stale Bread

If you have some stale bread sitting around, don't throw it out yet! OR, buy bread on the day old shelf at the store - it's usually nicely discounted. Try a couple of these things:

Make croutons. First, cut the bread into cubes. Spray with vegetable oil and then sprinkle with Italian or other seasonings. Be sure and package them in an airtight container.


-OR-

Sprinkle the bread with water or milk and wrap it in aluminum foil. Bake it at 350 degrees for about 7-9 minutes to soften it up. French or Italian bread should be baked for 3-5 minutes more, with the foil open for the last few minutes.


Enjoy!

Mmmm.. Garbage Soup

Here is a great frugal recipe that has been previously experimented on by my husband and has proved to be quite tasty.

You know all that leftover food that either a) doesn't get eaten in a couple of days or b) there are just a few green beans (or other food) left that's not worth saving for another meal. Get a bowl and put those extras in that bowl - and then freeze it. Each time you have those leftovers (veggies preferably) pull that bowl out of the freezer and add to it.

What's next?

• Thaw out that bowl of vegetables and boil it in broth with a couple of bouillon cubes.
• Add any leftover meat.
• Pasta and/or beans are good fillers.
• Throw in some oregano, basil, garlic, and chili powder.
• Pull it out together with either tomato sauce or ketchup and a couple of teaspoons of butter.

And there you have it - Tasty Garbage Soup

A Frugal Drink

This can be a simple, inexpensive recipe for an Orange Julius. More than likely, you have most, if not all of these ingredients in your kitchen already. My husband really likes ordering these from Dairy Queen, but you can make these right in your own home for a fraction of the price.

First, check out these dirt cheap ingredients (Rice Cooker not needed).

1 Cup of Milk
1 Cup of Water
1/4 cup of sugar
1 Tsp of Vanilla
6 oz. Frozen Juice Concentrate
12 ice cubes

I actually doubled this recipe so we could have more for later.

Then blend it all up.



And presto a tasty and unique drink!