School starts this week for us here in upstate New York. And along with school comes dance lessons, soccer practices, afterschool activities and, hopefully, the reinstating of my morning exercise routine. What does that mean for menu planning? Well-that I need to make sure I keep up on all the afternoon and evening activities to… Keep Reading
Menu Plan 8/30
I’ve been a bad, bad menu planner. For the last two weeks I have been completely flying by the seat of my pants. . . and you know what? It has resulted in more eating out than normal, more trips to the store for last minute ingredients and more evening stress. Why do I do… Keep Reading
Frugal Food Series: Ground Meat
Welcome to week four of the Frugal Food Series. So far we’ve talked about eggs, tuna and beans. This week we are highlighting Ground Meat! Ground meat is a kitchen staple in America (and I’m sure in many other countries). It is typically made of beef here in the US, and is usually the most… Keep Reading
Preparing Kids for Back to School.
Welcome to week 8 of the MVP Generation Go posts here on Frugal Upstate! As you know we’ve discussed Meal Planning, Kids and Youth Sports, Active Role Models, Discovering Your Community, Making Food Fun and Creative Recreation, and Time Management. This week we MVP Generation Go ambassadors are talking about preparing your kids for back… Keep Reading
August Grocery Benchmark Report
I’ve had this sort of crazy idea. You see, I’ve notice that prices sort of creep upwards on us-so slowly you don’t really notice it until one day you are standing at Aldi’s looking at the sugar and saying “What the heck-when did sugar get to be $2.69 for a 5lb bag!”. So I thought… Keep Reading
Reader’s Question: Freezing Brownies
Last week’s post “How to save money packing a school lunch” brought in some great Reader’s Questions! Dear Frugal Upstate, Love the brownies in the freezer idea you mentioned in your recent post on school lunches. I was wondering though, how do you package them? Do you just cut them up, put each in a… Keep Reading
Menu Plan 8/11
Yeah, I know, it’s Thursday. It’s just been that kind of week. However I did make a menu plan and have been following it–I just never got it online. So here we go! These are the factors coming into play this week: 1. Yankee Bill is out of town from Thursday-Sunday. 2. Buddy is having… Keep Reading
Menu Plan 8/2
This week just past I did not make a meal plan-and boy, did I feel it! It seemed like every night was a frantic rush to figure out how to feed everyone. Having a week like that every once in a while just reinforces how wonderful menu planning really is! As always I like to… Keep Reading
Reader’s Question: Picking and Canning Green Tomatoes
Hi Frugal Upstate! I have been canning tomatoes for years, but this year a friend of mine asked me to can green tomatoes and onions for him. I’m wondering first how soon I can pick the fruit; I live in Northeastern PA so my tomatoes are still relatively young, but a nice size. Secondly, do… Keep Reading
Frugal Summer Activities in Your Community
As you all know, I’m an MVP Generation Go Ambassador-and I’ve been talking each week about ideas to keep your family healthy and active! So far we’ve discussed Meal Planning, Kids and Youth Sports and active role models. This week the MVP Generation Go topic of the week is discovering your community! While I know… Keep Reading
