It is time, once again, for some frugal talk.

In my first article you can find my thoughts on our move from a 900+ square foot home to a ~250 square foot home. Check out:

Our Move Off-Grid and Small Space Living

I share a recipe for a super easy, warm up the house with the oven meal in…

Oven-Baked Shredded Chicken (or turkey) Tacos

Finally, I share my favorite winter vegetables for seasonal eating in…

Eight Winter Vegetables You Should Be Eating Right Now

As usual I love to hear your thoughts in the comments of these articles.

This past week I shared various thoughts on frugality, simple living, and real food.

First I shared my musings on finding freedom from monthly bills at:

Our Move Off-Grid and Reconsidering Those Monthly Bills

Then I continued my You Can series with my tips for making a frugal meal better than restaurant quality in:

You Can: Make the Best, Most Inexpensive Soup at Home

Finally, a cookie treat we made for Hanukkah:

Spicy Spelt Molasses Cookies

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts, tips, and musings in the comments.

Hi Friends! It is good to be back with just enough solar power to pop in with a quick post. So much is happening on the homestead and I can’t wait to share it with y’all, but today I’d like to share some recent frugal talk articles with you.

At Saving Money Plan you’ll find…

• Five Foods That Are a Waste of Your Money and
• Saving on Energy Costs This Winter

At Saving Cooking I wrote about…

• Making Eating From the Pantry Healthy and Enjoyable this Winter and
• You Can Bake Bread!

And at Saving Naturally I shared…

• Whole Foods Breakdown: Traditional Fats and
• Whole Foods Breakdown: Grains

As usual these articles stem from my own experience and research so I would love to hear your insights in the comments.

Last week I was seemingly all over the board in my articles on frugality. First I talked about something our family has been thinking about recently with the cost of everything going up in…

Mitigating the Effects of Inflation

Next up I shared a recipe for one of our family’s most recent favorite ways to start the day in…

Breakfast Tacos

Finally, I started a new series in which I break down the cost and nutrition of all sorts of categories of whole foods. This week I started with…

Whole Foods Breakdown: Sweeteners

As usual, I would love to see your thoughts in the comments of these articles!

Last week I talked about some of my favorite topics in my frugal living articles – using time instead of money, leftovers, and going gluten-free on the cheap.

First I shared more ideas for ways we can avoid the need for more money by doing a bunch of things ourselves in…

Saving at Home: More Ways to Exchange Your Time for Money

This might be a little late, but I also shared a whole bunch of recipes and ideas for using up all of those Thanksgiving leftovers in…

Make the Most of Your Turkey Day Leftovers With These Ideas

Finally, I shared a few tips on how to go gluten-free on the cheap in…

Going Gluten-Free While Not Spending A Fortune

As usual, I would love to see your thoughts in the comments of these articles!

This past week I touched on a few ideas in my articles at saving money plan and saving naturally.

First I continued my series on saving money at home with:

Saving at Home: Scratch Cooking from a little to a lot

Then I shared our philosophy on how to eat well and save money at breakfast with:

Five Breakfast Rules We Live By

Finally, I rounded the week out with an article about the very few supplements that I believe are actually worth spending money on in:

Finding Supplements That are Actually Worth Your Money

As always I would love to hear your thoughts on these topics in the comment sections of each article. Thanks for reading!

This past week I started up I delved into a variety of topics in my articles at Saving Money Plan and Saving Naturally.

I continued our Saving at Home series with a post about the frugal and natural cleaners I have used over the past few years:

Saving at Home: Cleaning Products

Then I delved into the grocery budget world with this confession:

We spent years dreaming of this time. We wanted to grow our own real food and live off the grid and off the land. We saw visions of fresh chicken eggs, a possible milking animal, fresh pork from our own pigs, and of course all of the free vegetables and fruits we could eat from our own lush garden and orchard.

Back in reality… we buy almost all of our food from the grocery store one month after arriving to our land.

So I shared our family’s basic grocery budgeting priorities in…

Prioritizing the Real Food Budget

Finally, I rounded out the variety of topics by sharing some basic information on what has worked for us in…

Getting Started with Herbal Medicine

Feel free to join the conversations and lend your thoughts or knowledge. Thanks for reading!

This past week I started a new series at Saving Money Plan that follows simple ideas to stay frugal while doing those every day at home tasks like laundry, cleaning, and cooking. I started the series out with this week’s post:

Saving At Home: Five Ways to Save on Laundry

I then headed over to Saving Naturally to share some age-old wisdom from one of our favorite books:

Seven Principles From Ma Ingalls on Saving Money

Finally, here is a meal we are eating frequently around these parts as part of our new off-grid repertoire:

Easy Cheap Nourishing: Homemade Bean Tostadas

I’d love to hear from y’all on your frugal thoughts on these topics.

Our move off-grid has brought a plethora of life-changes for our family. Just about everything looks different for us, from our geography to what our days entail to who is home when.

One of these changes comes in the form of me taking on a few more writing assignments. When Claire asked if I would be willing to become a new contributor at her sites Saving Naturally and Saving Money Plan I naturally said yes. But since our life doesn’t exactly look all that average I had to make sure I could put our own little spin on the concepts.

She said yes, so now you can find me writing about saving money with a do-it-yourself approach a few times per week. I hope to share these articles here with you every week as well.

This Week’s Articles

This past week I shared a taste of my money-saving philosophy along with, of course, some kitchen talk.

• Introducing Home-Based Productivity As a Means of Saving Naturally
• Five Ways You Can Maximize Your Whole Foods to Squeeze Every Nutrient (and penny) Out of Them
• Diminishing Our Needs Is Our Ultimate Saving Money Plan

I don’t claim to be a money-saving expert, but I do like to talk about practical and free methods of living that can minimize our need for a paycheck. So for us, saving money is like a means to an end.

I would be so grateful to see you in the comments of these articles and hear your thoughts on pinching pennies naturally.

This article was originally published in October of 2010.

Yesterday I told you why I made the switch to loose leaf teas and what equipment I use for brewing them. I am finding that some teas can be enjoyed on a daily basis for their added nutrients and antioxidants, while others can be used to address specific health issues.

Many of you asked where I source my tea and herbs. Most teas and herbs are difficult to come by locally so I almost exclusively purchase from Mountain Rose Herbs. They have very high growing and freshness standards and they are reasonably priced. I order teas, herbs, spices, and coconut oil from them a few times per year and have never been disappointed. For that reason I link to them as an affiliate.

Our Daily Tea – Green, Black, and Herbal

I like to keep loose green and black teas on hand. Organic and fair-trade are important as conventional teas may contain harmful chemicals and fair-trade ensures that farmers get a fair price for their products.

I keep an English Breakfast and Gunpowder Green tea on hand, which more often than not make it into a cup of spiced chai. While I am still developing my bulk recipe, I thought I’d share how I make our spiced chai, my husband’s favorite, a few times per week.

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:: On the Fly Spiced Chai

1. In a tea strainer place 1 heaping teaspoon black or green tea.
2. In a mortar and pestle combine 4-5 cardamom pods (green), a teaspoon of cinnamon chips, two whole cloves, two black peppercorns, and 1/2 teaspoon dried chopped ginger. Pound until cardamom is broken up and other spices have been bruised or broken, about a minute. If you do not have a mortar and pestle, just crush the cardamom pods underneath a heavy jar. Add to tea in infuser. (this is just a starting point, change up spices as desired)
3. Pour two cups of boiling water over mixture and steep for about five minutes for black tea and three minutes for green. Strain, add honey, stevia, cream, milk, and vanilla to taste.

:: For Every Day Health

These are the two teas that we use to brew up a big pot for the family. On their own or in combination with flavored herbs they are great health boosters.

• Tulsi or Holy Basil (caffeine free) – helps strengthen immune system, which Kimi wrote a great article about.
• Roobios (caffeine free) – super high in antioxidants. Also comes in green and vanilla.

:: For Balancing Women’s Hormones

I have mentioned before that I am working on balancing my hormones. I drink at least two cups of Women’s Freedom every day. It is not only delicious, but over time I have noticed an increased "evenness" in my hormone-related symptoms.

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Herbal Teas For What Ails You

When someone in our family has an ailment or general health concern I throw together one or more herbs or roots and brew up some tea. Some work in acute situations, but many herbs are best used over time. I recommend doing some research before taking my word for it – even plants have recommended usages.

With that in mind, here is a peek at my herbal tea collection and their usage.

For congestion or cough:

• thyme leaf – for chest congestion
• sage leaf – for cough
• slippery elm – for sore throats

To settle tummies:

• peppermint
• ginger

To relax or unwind:

• chamomile
• catnip

To detox or cleanse:

• dandelion root
• burdock root
• milk thistle

For Fever or Infection

• Echinacea
• Catnip

To Build the Blood/Anemia

• Nettles
• Yellow Dock

During Pregnancy

• Nettles
• Red Raspberry Leaf

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General Brewing Instructions

:: For Leaves – Use 1-2 teaspoons per cup of boiling water. Steep for 10 minutes, covered, and strain.

:: For Roots and Barks – Use 1-2 teaspoons per cup of water. Add herbs to water, bring to a boil and steep at least 10 minutes. Strain.

This is just a peek into my personal tea cabinet. I am not a medical professional and I do not claim that any of the above will heal or cure a disease. I do, however, keep these herbs on hand for a reason – they work for us.

So tell me… what do you keep in your tea cabinet?

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