Tiny Oranges – Fresh, fun blog for OC moms

When I got the title of this guest blog I just couldn’t resist!   Just typing the can-can line made me smile!  Sarah is a mommy of 3 little ones and  wrote a guest blog on the virtues of canning.   She writes…

 “Have you noticed how inexpensive apples are lately?  Fall fruit is getting ready to go into full swing!  Why not preserve this fall’s bounty with a little project at home?  Canning and freezing fall fruit is an easy way to teach your children about eating in season and allows your family to eat seasonally (and inexpensively) year round.  My five-year old knows that we when we run out of my canned applesauce, we don’t have more because it’s not apple season.  She will be the first one out into the orchard this fall.

If you are up for canning, I recommend the website PickYourOwn.org.  This gives detailed information about the tools you need, the ratios of fruit to jars, and basically everything you need to know about canning.  You could also pick up the Ball Blue Book of Preserving from any of your favorite booksellers.  These resources will have you canning like a pro in no time.  I buy organically grown pears from my CSA for around 80 cents a pound, can them in the lightest syrup possible, and end up with a nutritious product that is also a great deal.  We pick apples from a local orchard and I buy bushels of seconds, meant for baking.  I put my crock pot to use and make batches of applesauce; our family favorite recipe involves a little brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.  The main challenge is having enough to can and to eat.If you are more the freezer friendly type, you can easily preserve this fall’s bounty.  The best way, in my opinion, to freeze apples is in cobbler or crisp filling portions.  Prepare the fruit the way your favorite cobbler or crisp recipe recommends and then freeze in gallon bags, flattening out to remove all air bubbles and make for easy storage in your freezer.   Usually, when I am making one cobbler, I cut enough fruit for two and freeze one set.  It saves time and money.

Have fun preserving the best fruits the fall has to offer!”

P.S. Thanks Sarah for the great idea!  I had friends that were looking into going to Julian to pick apples.  Click here to see  the list of orchards.   What a fun family activity…

I love spreading the “blog love” when I find great blogs for OC families, so I have to introduce you to Daytrippingmom.com, the quintessential guide to living and playing in Southern California with children.  Aracely (a.k.a. Daytripping Mom) searches high and low for fun places to visit with your family here in sunny OC.   With the current state of the economy, she tries to find places that are fun and easy on your wallet.   Many of her posts involve “free” or “nearly free” outings, which I love, as who isn’t watching the family budget these days?   

This week she posted about a fun family event in Laguna Beach tomorrow, click here to check it out! 

Have a great weekend everyone!   There is STILL today to enter Monday’s giveaway of a 12 pack of darling Mother’s Day cards from GeTogethers.com!   Click here to see the details and email me before 5pm PST today.   Supposed to warm up this weekend, bring on the spring weather!!! I am so ready for it!  Jen

This awesome idea was sent to be one of our readers Sabrina. I thought it was brilliant!

She writes…

“We’ve started our “birthday season” today, it seems like every weekend for the next couple of months we have a party to go to. So I’ve been doing the usual and buying the reusable bags from Toys R Us to wrap my gifts.  But as I was watching the little birthday girl open her presents today I noticed that so many people had brought their gifts in the traditional gift bags. The majority of them we’re thrown into the trash along with the tissue paper and wrapping paper. Although these bags are great when reused, they rarely are.  I know personally that when I give them as gift bags the parents are more grateful than the children. They love using them as grocery bags or reusing them as gift bags. They are only $1.49 at Toys R Us and come in different designs. There are many places that sell reusable bags but I’ve found that Toys R Us has the cutest designs.”

Thanks so much Sabrina for the great idea!

Have a tip to share?  Email me at info@tinyoranges.com and if I use your guest blog, I will send you a Starbucks card for a coffee on me! 

  
I am going to make a confession.  My consumption of plastic water bottles was RIDICULOUS. We do recycle, but I looked at the bottles in the recycle bin one day and thought, this has to stop.  I went out the next day and bought a reusable Thermos Intak water bottle and I LOVE it!     

Let me highlight the things I love:

- No bad plastic or aluminum taste (it is BPA Free.)  I even use water filtered from our fridge and it tastes really good.  Plus, so much cheaper than buying bottled water. 
- Easy to clean.   There is a removable top with a wide mouth so you can clean it easily.  It is also dishwasher safe. 
- No spills.  The top closes and seals, and then there is a metal piece to lock it so if you throw it into your purse, it won’t leak.
- Measured markers on the side, so you can track your water consumption.

I bought mine for $9.99 at Target in the aisle where there are Thermos’ and coolers, kind of by the camping section.  Click here to buy online at Target or through the Thermos website.    

See you back Monday with another fabulous giveaway!  If you haven’t entered the Dream Dinners’ giveaway, you have until 5PM today PST to email me!   Check Monday’s post on entry instructions! Have a great weekend everyone! 

In this economy, I know all of us are probably trying to “tighten our budget belts” a bit and look at our spending more wisely.  This family is at least!  And, let me tell you, Starbucks is about the first thing cut from the discretionary budget!   I called on Sarah, a super money savvy mommy to offer a tip for these tough times.  She writes:

“Grande Caramel Macchiato is my favorite beverage from Starbucks. You are probably thinking, “Wait, this is supposed to be a blog about saving money. What is she talking about?” Specialty coffee stores are often the first extra spending experts point out as wasteful and having to be cut when they are delving into the budgets of families across the country. There is a way to have your Starbucks fix (at least occasionally) and not break the bank. You can participate in an on-line marketing program that allows you to order Starbucks gift cards, as well as gift cards to many other retailers, once you meet certain goals. The program with which I am most familiar is My Points (www.mypoints.com.) You register and begin receiving emails with solicitations and offers to take surveys. For each solicitation email you open, you receive points. Probably the best plan is to get a free email address just for this program and route the emails there. Then, once per week, you can spend a little time earning points. The points rack up even faster if you buy from retailers advertising on their site. When I order any product on-line, I check here (and a few other web sites that offer rewards, such as my mileage credit card and www.upromise.com) and see if they are offering points for shopping this merchant. It is as simple as a few clicks, but it adds up quickly. There are also points attached to coupon usage through this site. By starting at the site to print off manufacturer coupons accepted at many retailers, you earn points each time you use a coupon – earning points for saving money. Who would have thought it? If Starbucks (or Target, Black Angus, Old Navy) is what you love, consider subsidizing your “habit” with this system!”

Note from the peanut gallery:  I found this eHow site online about How to Make the Most Out of Your MyPoints Membership…so cool!   Thanks Sarah, I never even knew programs like this existed!