Have you checked out the Home & Kitchen section of Amazon.com lately? I’m seeing deep discounts all over the place!
Cuisinart CPB-300 SmartPower 15-Piece Compact Portable Blending/Chopping System
Was $130
Today: $53.99 + Free Shipping!
My sister has the Cuisinart system above and I’ve been wanting it. At this price, now I can buy it. 
She showed me you can make smoothies in a snap right in their to-go cups. Cool!
Black & Decker FP1600B 8-Cup Food Processor, Black
Was $49.99
Today: $28.98 + Free Shipping
Cuisinart ICE-21 Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker
Was $110
Today: $48.99 + Free Shipping!
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Let us know what other hot deals you find on Amazon!
As someone who literally shopped for 3 weeks and went through five Blu-ray players to find the right one, I know this is an awesome deal. Amazon has this ultra thin Blu-ray player for only $65.62 and that includes shipping. You can even hook your internet up to it and get Netflix, CinemaNow and Vudu!
My 3-year-old daughter is a huge Veggie Tales fan. So, when we first started talking about making plans for her birthday party, it didn’t take long for the names “Bob” and “Larry” to come up. I started looking online and found lots of examples of Veggie Tales cakes that moms had made for their children. While I love to bake, I had some concerns about being able to pull off Bob and Larry. One of the concerns was food coloring. My husband and I did not want to use any of the chemicals, artificial substances that are found in conventional food coloring. Before long, I found that there are many ways to color food without using the toxic elements. So, what would I use to color the frosting for my daughter’s birthday cake?
FOOD! What I found was refreshing and fun. I could use food that is healthy and even organic to add to my homemade cream cheese frosting to get the desired effect without the artificial colors.
Here is what I used to get the colors I needed for our Veggie Tales birthday cake.
For Bob (Red), I pureed blackberries and a few strawberries and mixed them in with some pureed baked beet. I prepped my daughter beforehand by talking about the very real possibility of a “dark pink” Bob. But, at least he’d be one we would feel great about eating. Incidentally, she didn’t care that Bob wasn’t red. She was thrilled about the character on the cake as it was.
For Larry, I put a little bit of spinach in a saucepan with just a little bit of water. Brought it to a boil and cooked for about 3-4 minutes. When it cooled, I pureed the spinach until it reached the texture of a paste.
In both cases, I added the “color” to the cream cheese frosting until I got a shade that would work. Incidentally, you can’t taste the spinach and there’s only a hint of berry in the “red” frosting. Both green and red on chocolate cake were a big hit with the family.
There are so many fun, inexpensive and healthy ways to make food coloring. Have you tried making food coloring at home? What other colors have you made at home?
Do you have furbabies? According to the ASPCA, the annual cost for a small dog is almost $600! Yes, the annual cost for a baby is much more (around $12,000), but we all like to save money any way we can right? Here are some tips for your animal lovers out there.
1. Don’t buy from a breeder, get your animal from the shelter.
Some specific breeds of animals can cost thousands of dollars. You can skip the designer pets and save your money by rescuing an animal. Want a puppy? A lot of shelters even have them. A lot of shelters are even able to tell the breed of animal just in case you are looking for something specific. There is usually a small adoption fee that is around $50. Sounds a lot better than a thousand right?
2. Spay or neuter for free or really cheap.
In our town, there was a local organization that would do it for free as long as you signed up well ahead of time. They took donations and we were more than happy to make one. They saved us hundreds of dollars.
3. Use coupons.
There are always good printable coupons out there for animal food and treats. Why not save a few bucks when you are purchasing their goodies?
4. Order your pet’s medicine online or at least compare the cost.
Do you have an animal that’s on regular medicine? There are several places online that have pet medicine and definitely worth comparing to your vet’s prices. Even flea medicine can be order on Amazon.com!
5. Skip the expensive toys.
Your dog, cat, fish etc…doesn’t really care about the toy you give them. Your dog may be happy with an old knotted t-shirt or a child’s toy from a second hand store. Just make sure it’s safe for them. Your vet would be more than happy to let you know.
6. Shop around for vets and groomers.
There probably isn’t just one vet in your town or groomer. Keep it simple and call around asking for prices. It can easily gave you a little money.
What are your tips for saving money on pet expenses? Share in the comments!
I LOVE photo art. People might think I’m obsessed with my family when they see my home, but it’s so fun to take beloved pictures and add them into everyday life.
This is a great offer so you can do the same! 6 Free Items from VistaPrint
You do have to pay shipping, but the prices aren’t too bad.
Shipping Starting Prices:
Calendar- $5.67
T-Shirt- $4.86
Magnet- $4.52
Mouse Pad- $4.41
Mug- $5.67
Photo Book- $5.83
As someone who cooks and cooks A LOT. This is the one kitchen appliance I know I couldn’t live without. It’s the best investment I ever made 
Here’s an AWESOME DEAL on one from Amazon. Only $13.64!
Need a photo book? How about two? Use the code MEMORIES at Picaboo through 2/26 and buy 1 get 1 photo book free
Get started on your book HERE.
Remember the freezer meal party we did a couple of weekends ago? A huge aggravation was that the sink kept getting clogged and it was definitely slowing progress. One of the girls there owns a cleaning business and she let us know her thrifty tricks to a lot of things. One of them were slow drains.
This method would have saved us tons of money, maybe several hundred dollars on our brand new house we bought. For some reason we had clogs ALL THE TIME and were spending over $100 a month in Drano. That stuff is expensive!
So here’s your alternative and my friend’s recipe when she encounters a clog. Instead of breaking out the drano, she finds this stuff
All you need is probably in your kitchen.
1/2 box baking soda
1/2 c. white vinegar
1 qt. boiling water
1 washcloth
Dump the baking soda down the drain, then pour in the vinegar. Then plug the drain with the washcloth.
Let sit for 30 minutes. Once your time is up, dump the boiling water down the drain and watch your clog go away.
The baking soda method is MUCH cheaper than using any of the other chemicals and our way is MUCH more natural
Have you ever used this method?
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