A Napa Valley Peach Harvest

Biting into a ripe, juicy peach - the kind where the juice runs down your hand and drips off your elbow - means summer has officially arrived.

This year, that moment occurred for our family in early July when we arrived home from vacation to find our peach tree so laden with fruit that branches were laying on the ground. After four years, our tree had finally decided it was going to bear fruit. And bear fruit it did. Bushels and bushels of it.

It would be a conservative estimate to say we picked 100 peaches over the course of the next two weeks (nonwithstanding the countless number that fell to the ground). We ate peaches for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We gave them to friends. I think our 18-month old son lived on peaches alone for days on end (to his glee, I might add). And yet this barely made a dent in the pile of fresh fruit blanketing our patio table.

It was time to get to work.

As a child I spent a lot of time in Ohio, visiting my grandparents' farm. I always loved peeking into their root cellar to see canned fruits and vegetables neatly lined up along the shelves. The colorful rainbow that the jars made - red tomatoes, green beans, pink rhubarb, orange peaches - captured the essence of summer.

While our idea of preserving food is much different that my grandmother's - she canned/froze to feed a family of nine and we do so for three - when I'm in the kitchen in the heat of a summer afternoon with a big pot of water boiling on the stovetop, freshly sanitized jars on the counter and something delicious and bubbling ready to fill them (say, peach salsa), I like to think that she would be proud.

In preserving this year's peach harvest we canned, froze, dehydrated and baked. Have your own bushel of peaches? I hope you find some inspiration below.

Peach Salsa

Courtesy of the Ball Book of Complete Home Preserving

Note: If you haven't canned before, I highly recommend taking the Ball Book of Complete Home Preserving out from the library to read about the process, or visit their website for more information. When canning, it is extremely important for food safety to follow the recipe to a tee as you want an appropriate balance of acid, salt and sugar.

Makes about eight 8-ounce jars

1/2 cup white vinegar
6 cups chopped, pitted and peeled peaches 
1 1/4 cups chopped red onion
4 jalepeno peppers, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1/2 cup loosely packed finely chopped cilantro
2 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Prepare canner, jars and lids.
2. In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine vinegar and peaches (to prevent the peaches from browning, put the vinegar into the pot first and as you cut the peaches, add them to the vinegar and stir). Add onion, jalapeno, red pepper, cilantro, honey, garlic, cumin and cayenne. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch (1 cm) headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot salsa. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.
4. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process for 15 minutes. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 minutes, then remove jars, cool and store.

Spiced Peach Jam

Courtesy of Preserving the Harvest, by Carol W. Costenbader

Makes five 1/2 pints

4 pounds (about 8 large) peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped
5 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Place all ingredients in a heavy 8-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, to dissolve the sugar.
2. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil until the mixture reaches 220 F on a cooking thermometer.
3. Ladle into sterile jars, allowing 1/4 inch of headspace. Cap and seal.
4. Process for 15 minutes in a boiling water bath canner.

Fruit Leather

Pit your peaches and place them in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. If using a dehydrator, follow the manufacturer's instructions. If using your oven, pour the puree onto a rimmed cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap or freezer paper. The puree should be about 1/8 - 1/4 of an inch think (the thinner the fruit leather, the less time it will take to dry). Place in a 135 degree oven for 8-10 hours. Set the door ajar with a spoon handle to maintain the low temperature and allow for moisture to escape.

Peach Cobbler

This summer I discovered a recipe for the best, easiest, you-probably-already-have-the-ingredients-on-hand peach cobbler. Per the usual, it came from one of my favorite blogs: Dinner, a love story. I made this cobbler at least four times with our fresh peaches and every time it came out perfect.  

Frozen Peaches

Peaches should be wet packed, meaning they should be frozen in liquid. This year I froze our peaches in a 'honey pack,' a syrup made of 1 cup mild honey and 4 cups water. You can also use a 'sugar pack' - just substitute the sugar for the honey.

To make your syrup, heat the sweetener and water to a boil in a large stockpot. Let the syrup cool completely. Add 1-2 tablespoons of lemon juice to your syrup to keep your peaches from darkening.

You can freeze peaches with or without the skins, either in slices or halves. As this was our first year freezing peaches I tried freezing them every which way so that next year I'll know what works best.

Add your sliced/halved peaches to your freezer container of choice (you can use plastic containers or glass canning jars). Use the syrup to cover the peaches, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace in pint size containers and 1 inch of headspace for quarts.

Place in the freezer and add to your freezer list.

You might also like...

1. Winter Squash-a-Paloooza
2. Eating Well on the Cheap: Keeping a stocked freezer
3. How my slow cooker got her groove back

Meal Planning: How we eat well on a $75 weekly budget

As a total foodie and someone who loves planning (the word spontaneous is not in my vocabulary, much to my husband's chagrin) I'm not sure what took me so long to put two and two together, but suffice it to say that when I discovered the concept of meal planning my life was forever changed.

Yes, seriously. And whether or not you are also a type A personality, I bet it will change your life - or at least the way you eat - too.

It wasn't until our son was born and we slashed our grocery budget to $75 a week ($300 a month) that the thought of planning our family's meals even occurred to me. Until then I thought that it was normal to go to the grocery store and ask the aisles for inspiration. Or to find new tasty recipes and buy every "necessary" ingredient. Or to not have a monthly grocery budget at all (though that's a topic for another post).

In all honesty, this was not a lightning bolt idea that hit me one day. It was inspired by reading the cookbook Dinner: A love story (one of my all-time favorite books). The author writes of keeping a diary of her family's meals to get organized for each week and to remember favorite recipes. I immediately knew I had to start my own dinner diary and upped the ante - planning our meals to make the most of each ingredient and cut our expenses.

Let me tell you, it works. Not only are we able to stick to our grocery budget, but it's so nice to come home from work and know what I'm making for dinner that night. It also helps me maximize resources - our food, our money, and perhaps most importantly, our time together at dinner as a family.

Here are some tips on how to get started with your own meal planning.

1. Create a record: Buy a small notebook to keep track of your meals. On each line, write the date and what you had (or will have) for dinner that night. So simple to do and so nice to revisit to get inspiration for future meal plans.

2. Plan: Set aside 20 minutes each week (I do this on Saturdays) to brainstorm meals for the week. I pull out my favorite cookbooks, my binder of recipes from magazines, and my computer so that I can look up recipes online. Start by making note of any nights that you will not need to make dinner (going out, off to a friend's house, etc.), and then fill in the blanks based on the tips below.

3. Shop first from your pantry, fridge, garden and freezer: The first thing you want to know is what you already have on hand. I begin by going through the fridge to see what is leftover from the previous week - especially perishable items -  that can still be used. For example, left over sausage and spinach can be transformed into a delicious pizza. Do the same for your garden (what is fresh that needs to be picked?), freezer and pantry. I find this especially helpful when, sometimes at the end of the month, we need to stretch our budget and keep grocery shopping to a minimum.

4. Pick one protein: Meat is expensive and, though my husband and I are a far cry from vegetarians, we try to limit it in our diet from both a health and a cost-conscious perspective. On a typical week we pick one protein - for example, chicken - and cook with that ingredient throughout the week. Night one might be a roast chicken, night two is an Asian chicken salad (with leftovers), night three is chicken and arugula pitas (again with leftovers), and night four is a butternut squash soup made with chicken broth from the carcass. 

5. Pick recipes that reuse ingredients: As with protein, make the most of everything you buy by finding recipes that reuse leftover food throughout the week. If you're buying arugula for chicken pitas, plan an arugula salad the following night or make an arugula pesto pasta.

6. Substitute in recipes: Have a recipe that calls for parsley or basil but all you have is cilantro? Use the cilantro. Need sour cream for your tacos? How about the plain yogurt already in the fridge. You'd be surprised just how much you can chop your shopping list by thinking ahead and substituting ingredients and trust me - your dinner will be just as delicious.

7. Stay away from prepared/processed foods: We've all heard the old adage to shop the perimeter of the grocery store - produce, proteins, and dairy - and stay away from the aisles upon aisles of processed foods in the middle. This practice is good for your waistline and your pocketbook. The average number of items in a supermarket now tops 50,000 (90% of them, I bet, made from corn). Wow. Something tells me that the goal isn't to offer you more selection, but to get you to buy more stuff.

8. Make your shopping list: I start my shopping list as I begin the planning process so I can see what ingredients I'll need to work into multiple meals.  

9. Do a final check: Go through your list and double-check to make sure you don't already have ingredients on hand. 

10. Shop around: Especially when it comes to staples, it pays to find the stores in your town with the best deal. For example, we buy our oats from Target, almonds from Trader Joe's, and coconut oil from Whole Foods (yep, they have the best price). Though it takes extra time, check weekly sales flyers for specials - this is a great way to get inspiration for your weekly meal plan.

11. Stick to the list and don't shop mid-week: When you go to the store only buy items on your list. Obvious? Yes. Hard? Oh my, yes. But at this point you don't want to sabotage your hard work by putting that frozen pizza they're sampling at Trader Joe's in your cart. Also, if you find mid-week that you need to run to the store, first ask yourself if you really need that ingredient. Is your soup begging for bread or would a quesadilla made with items you already have suffice? More often that not, you'll find you can make due.

To get you started, below is one of our recent meal plans. When putting this together I took stock of what was already in our fridge/pantry/freezer, which allowed me to keep within our $75 a week grocery budget.

Saturday: Yogurt Marinated Grilled Chicken & Salad
Sunday: Chicken BLTs
Monday: Pesto (from the freezer) Pasta  & Salad
Tuesday: Chicken, Apple and Black Bean Salad
Wednesday: Sweet Potato & Black Bean Burritos
Thursday: Spiced Red Lentils with Onions and Spinach & Brussel Sprouts
Friday: Homemade Margarita Pizza & Brussel Sprouts

In the spirit of sharing meal plan inspiration with fellow frugal mamas (and dads), every few weeks I will post one up to the blog.

How do you organize your family's meals - do you have any favorite tips/meal plans/recipes? Please share in the comments!

Cheers,

Julie

You might also like...

1. How my slow cooker got her groove back 
2. Eating Well on the Cheap: Keeping a stocked freezer 
3. Cutting Back - Part Two (aka. my ode to Mint.com)

Have a fun & frugal Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there - including my incredible husband!

In celebrating holidays, our family has found that we don't need to spend a lot of money on gifts to communicate how much we care for one another. In fact, I've discovered that the less money we spend, the more creative and thoughtful we are in our gift giving.

This year for Father's Day, Will and I did a little "I love Dad" photo shoot in our backyard with some sidewalk chalk. (If there are any procrastinators out there, this idea is both frugal and a good last-minute gift idea.) It doesn't need to be perfect - just have fun!

On Father's Day we're going to let Dad sleep in, have a lazy breakfast with Eggs Benedict (Dad's favorite), present him with our gifts and let him put his feet up for the rest of the day. Unless, of course, he'd rather spend his "day off" working in the garden - we frugal folk aren't good at sitting still for long.

What are some of your favorite frugal Father's Day crafts or gifts?

Cheers to dads!

Julie

Better than Belgian: Restaurant-style waffles at home

I am a sucker for waffles. If there is a Belgian waffle on a breakfast menu, my order is a foregone conclusion. While I've tried to imitate restaurants' crisp, buttery waffles at home, my attempts have always fallen short.

That is, until I discovered the secret ingredient - yeast. Now, if you're like me, the mere mention of 'yeast' may have you backing away from the computer. Lord knows I've cursed many a hockey puck roll. Well this recipe, my friend, is easy as pie. Make that way easier than pie.

Step one is having yeast readily available, and I don't mean in tiny packets collecting dust at the back of your cabinet. Due to my husband’s recent interest in baking as a hobby (one that, needless to say, I do everything in my power to encourage), we discovered that you can buy one pound bags of yeast on Amazon for around $8. That beats the pants off the $4 you pay in the grocery store for just three ¼ oz packets. When stored in the freezer in a Ziploc bag, your pound of yeast will stay fresh for a few years meaning that a) you can whip up tasty baked goods at a moment’s notice and b) you can no longer blame failed recipes on old yeast. Darn. 

Step two is deciding you want waffles for breakfast on Friday night vs. Saturday morning. With this recipe, you start the mix before you go to bed, and when you wake up the next morning the batter is bubbly and nearly ready to go on the waffle iron. Bonus? Fewer dishes to clean up after your tasty breakfast.

Enjoy!

Overnight Waffles
Courtesy of Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled (I use less - about 4-5 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Canola or other neutral oil for brushing the waffle iron
2 eggs

Before going to bed, combine the dry ingredients and stir in the milk, then the butter and vanilla. The mixture will be loose. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight at room temperature.

Brush the waffle iron lightly with oil and preheat it. Separate the eggs and stir the yolks into the batter. Beat the whites until they hold soft peaks. Stir them gently into the batter.

Spread a ladleful or so of batter onto the waffle iron and bake until the waffle is done, usually 3-5 minutes, depending upon your iron. Serve immediately or keep warm for a few minutes in a low oven. 

Frugal eats in Napa

Whether you live in the Napa Valley or are planning a visit, it is possible to enjoy some of the best eats that Napa has to offer on a budget. My fellow frugal-minded folk will know I'm not talking about stretching your dollar at The French Laundry (though read on for an affordable way that even a penny pincher like me can enjoy Thomas Keller's food). I'm talking about family and budget-friendly restaurants that will excite your tastebuds and your wallet.

In my recent post about how to spend $50 or less a month on restaurants, I write about how to make the most of your money while eating out. For locals and visitors, here I write about where. Below are some of our favorite spots to dine out in and around Napa.

Breakfast/Lunch

Buttercream Bakery

(707) 255-6700

2297 Jefferson St  Napa, CA

Table Service

Corkage: N/A

www.buttercreambakery.com   

From it's pink and white striped exterior to its tasty cakes and I-can-die-now-that-I've-inhaled-this chicken fried steak, it's not hard to see why this local favorite has stood the test of time. Buttercream Bakery opened in Napa in 1948 and has been whipping up baked goods and delicious classic diner breakfasts ever since. 

Biscuits
(707) 265-8209
1502 Main St, Napa, CA 
Counter Service
Corkage: N/A
Opened just last year, the restaurant's namesake - flaky, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits that transport you straight to the heart of America's South - have quickly won this spot a place in the local community's heart. While we typically always get water when we eat out to stretch our budget, the lemonade and sweet tea here are worth the splurge. Try anything on the menu - I love the Big Mama and the BLT.

Model Bakery
(707) 259-1128
644 1st St, Napa, CA
Counter Service
Corkage: N/A
www.themodelbakery.com
We're on a mission to steal the secrets of the Model Bakery bakers. While certainly not the cheapest place in town to buy your bread, there are two great deals at Model that make it deserving of a place on this list: 1) each day the bakery has a 'Bread of the Day' for 50% off and 2) you can buy day-old pizza, breads and croissants for 50% off while they last.

Fremont Diner 
(707) 938-7370
2660 Fremont Dr, Sonoma, CA
Table Service
Corkage: N/A
http://www.thefremontdiner.com  
Though a little bit outside of town and the most pricey of these three breakfast options (you'll be in good shape if you spend about $40-$50 with tip on breakfast for two), Fremont Diner is on this list because it is just so darn good. Period. The chefs source most ingredients from the restaurant's farm and do cool things like make their own sausage.

Lunch/Dinner

Oxbow Public Market
644 1st St  Napa, CA
Corkage: Bring your own bottle and glasses - you can enjoy your own wine at any of the public tables.
www.oxbowpublicmarket.com
'The Oxbow,' as locals call it, is hands-down our favorite place to go for dinner in Napa. Set up like a public market, it is kid and budget friendly. Local purveyors include the Cheese & Wine Merchant, Ca' Momi Pizzeria (which, while not cheap - pizzas are $15 and up - is delicious), Three Twins Ice Cream (try the Cardemon), Kara's Cupcakes and, my personal favorite, C Casa, a unique taqueria that offers kick-ass tacos, nachos, and sides unlike any Mexican food you've ever had before.
  
Addendum
(707) 944-2487

6476 Washington Street, Yountville, CA

Counter Service

Corkage: None. Bring your own glasses and corkscrew.

http://www.adhocrestaurant.com/addendum/

You too can enjoy Thomas Keller's five-star food without mortgaging your house. Known primarily for his restaurant The French Laundry, Mr. Keller makes his crispy, juicy - dare I say perfect - buttermilk fried chicken available to all walks of life via Addendum, a small 'shack' in Yountville which offers fried chicken and BBQ lunches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday (which include three pieces of chicken or BBQ, cornbread and a side) for $16.50. While that may sound pricey, consider that dinner at The French Laundry for two, with wine and tip, will set you back nearly $1,000. Call ahead with your order. If it's a nice day, enjoy your tasty meal at the quiet picnic tables and garden.

Gott's Roadside Tray Gourmet
(707) 224-6900
644 1st St  Napa, CA
Counter Service
Corkage: None
www.gotts.com 
I have never been to Gott's (which is next to the Oxbow Public Market - they also have a location in St. Helena) and been disappointed. I have, however, been surprised by the bill (when did $8-$10 burgers become the norm?). When we go, it's almost always on Local's Night (Tuesdays) when cheeseburgers and pints are half price. For less than $20, you can get two burgers, two beers, and fries. That, in this town, is a steal.

Sushi Mambo
(707) 257-6604
1202 1st St  Napa, CA
Table Service
Corkage: No fee on the first bottle; $10 on each additional
www.sushimambonapa.com
Craving sushi? Sushi Mambo has an awesome happy hour - from 4-6pm sushi rolls (and beers) are buy one get one half off. Make sure you mention to your waiter that you're there for happy hour pricing. 

Bistro Sabor
(707) 252-0555
1126 1st St  Napa, CA
Counter Service
Corkage: None
www.bistrosabor.com 
Bistro Sabor makes 'contemporary expressions of Latin America's favorite street food and snacks.' Whatever it is, it's good, really good. The atmosphere is informal, the food is homestyle cooking. One of my favorite dishes is the hominy soup.

La Taquiza
(707) 224-2320
2007 Redwood Road, Napa, CA
Counter Service
Corkage: None
www.lataquizanapa.com
You haven't had fish tacos until you've been to LaTaquiza. My favorites are the shrimp tacos - the shrimp are plump and juicy and the sauce the perfect blend of spicy and sweet with a hint of lime. My husband loves the pulpo (octopus) tacos. It's the only place I've ever had pulpo and not only did I eat it, I liked it.

Firewood Cafe
(707) 224-9660
3824 Bel Aire Plaza  Napa, CA
Counter Service
Corkage: None
www.firewoodcafe.com
Tucked away in the Bel Aire shopping center next to Whole Foods, Firewood Cafe is one of those restaurants where meals are consistently good. The food is Italian inspired - pastas, salads and wood fired pizzas - and if you sign-up for their email list you'll receive coupons for deals like buy one pizza get one free.

Small World Cafe
(707) 224-7743
932 Coombs Street, Napa, CA
Counter Service
www.worldcafenapa.com 

We recently discovered this gem when we were in the mood for some budget-friendly vegetarian food (though rest assured that Small World Cafe offers plenty of carnivore-inspired dishes as well). After feasting on the Falafel & Baba Ganoush platters, with a little and Baklava for desert (how could we not at only $1.40 a piece?), we were back within the week to introduce a friend to some of the best, freshest fare that we've found in the Napa Valley.

Did I miss your favorite "cheap eat" in Napa? We are always looking for new spots to try - please share your recommendations!

Cheers,

Julie

How we spend $50 or less each month at restaurants

For our family, living a frugal life means stretching each dollar as far as it can go. What it doesn't mean is sacrificing our quality of life. When it comes to eating out, we, like any family, sometimes need a break from the kitchen. Whether it be for a change of pace or to fulfill a craving - or simply to avoid doing dishes - going out to eat is a treat that we enjoy a few times a month.

Napa Valley, the place we call home, is the Garden of Eden when it comes to restaurants. From The French Laundry to Meadowood to La Toque to Morimoto's to countless others, there is no lack of amazing places to find your next meal. What can be difficult is finding an affordable meal, especially on a monthly restaurant budget of $50.

I am here to tell you that, even in one of the most expensive places in the world to dine, it can be done. In fact, we're typically able to stretch $50 into two or more meals over the course of a month. Are we eating at one of the Napa Valley's many Michelin star restaurants? Obviously not if we're paying. But we are enjoying incredible, budget-friendly meals and having fun as a family. Here's how we make it happen:

• Counter service: These days, plenty of non-fast food restaurants offer great menus without table service. Avoiding a 20% tip stretches your budget.
• Tip properly: When you do have table service, tip well - as I waitressed during college, it's a rare occasion when I tip less than 20%. However, don't forget to calculate your tip on the bill before tax. Here in California - where restaurant tax is nearly 10% - that makes a big difference. (For fellow Californians, an easy tip trick is to double the tax on your bill to tip 20%. Voila!) Even when you don't have table service, put a dollar or two in the tip jar - you'll feel good about paying it forward.
• Share your meal:  Portion sizes at restaurants are often so large that each person doesn't need their own meal. Sharing a dish with your partner or child will make the most of your night's budget.
• Drink water: You'll shave at least $10 or more off your night's bill if you forgo fancy beverages for Plain Jane water. Drinking water obviously applies to more than just eating out  - it's also a good way to cut your grocery bill, not to mention great for your health. Miss a glass of wine with your meal? Enjoy it as a nightcap when you get home. 
• BYOB: If you do want wine with dinner, bring your own. More and more restaurants these days have corkage fees, typically $10-$20 to open your bottle (there are quite a few in Napa that waive the fee completely). Before heading out for dinner, call the restaurant to find out if you can bring wine. At the end of the night, remember to tip your server as if you had purchased a bottle of wine off the menu - look at the wine list to find a bottle close to your budget and mentally add that amount to your bill (minus any corkage fees).
• Happy Hour pricing: As anyone with little kids knows, it's all about the early dinner! What's good for your little ones is also great for your checkbook as an early dinner helps you take advantage of deals like happy hour pricing. It's not all about the booze anymore (although two beers for the price of one is sure to make Mom & Dad happy!). Many restaurants have deals on appetizers or nightly specials - call ahead to find out what they offer and until what time.
• Nightly specials: To build up business local spots may offer specials on weeknights. Whether deals are on specific menu items or the entire meal, it pays to find out so you can get the most bang for your buck. Here in Napa one of our favorite places to eat, the Oxbow Public Market, has Local's Night on Tuesday. We rarely eat at the Oxbow on any other night as the Tuesday deals are too good to pass up. 
• Join a club: Does your favorite sandwich place offer you a free sandwich once you've purchased ten? Lots of restaurants have loyalty clubs - ask the next time you're there.
• Get on the email list/fan their Facebook page: Find out how your favorite places share deals with their customers and make sure you're in the know. For example, one of our favorite pizza spots in town, Firewood Cafe, offers two pizzas for the price of one a few times throughout the year. We get updates via email and plan a night out around the special.
• Coupons: While it can be difficult to find coupons for local restaurants, it's nice to have a few for the big chains in your back pocket in case you need them. For instance, we always clip the Subway coupons so that when we want to go for a picnic and don't have the fixins' at home we can get two subs for the price of one. Our bill always comes to less than $6 for the whole family to eat. Not too shabby.
• Go out for breakfast: One of my favorite discoveries since having a child is the joy of eating out for breakfast. I'm not sure why we never ventured out for breakfast before, but something tells me it's because we were, well, sleeping. Since there's not much of that going on anymore, we may as well get up and start the day with some delicious food! Besides scrumptious waffles and pancakes and sausage and bacon and chicken friend steak and biscuits and oh-so-many-wonderful treats, one of the best things about going out for breakfast is the price. Not to mention your child is running on a full tank of gas and on his/her best behavior. Ah yes, breakfast is the meal of champions. 

I've been surprised, and pleased, by how far we stretch $50 using these tips. Cheers to your next (frugal) meal out on the town and - do tell - how do you maximize your restaurant budget?

Julie

Tips for lowering your power bill

I pull back the curtains to reveal a beautiful and unseasonably warm February day here in Napa. Opening the back door, I can hear our chickens waking up to greet the day and breathe in the the fresh, crisp morning air that will soon heat up to over 70 degrees. There are many thoughts going through my head - including that I must add an unplanned stroll downtown to today's to do list - but chief among them is that it's time to get the laundry started because this gorgeous sunshine is about to lower my power bill.

Probably not what you were expecting but, well, no one has ever accused me of being impractical.

It was not until recently that I experienced what a big impact lifestyle choices can make on energy use. While I've always done little things to conserve gas and electricity, like turn off lights and keep the furnace set a reasonable temperature, there wasn't incentive to do much more as our usage was already very low.

Then we had a baby. And, as all parents know, with a baby comes laundry - mountains and mountains of it, especially if you're using cloth diapers like we are. What was once a one- or two-times-a-week-thing quickly became a daily occurrence - often snowballing into multiple loads. The dryer seemed like it was running constantly and, needless to say, the first bill we received from PG&E after our son was born was a painful one. Although I expected our costs to go up, my jaw hit the floor when I saw our electricity bill had increased by nearly 100%.

After recovering from the initial shock (I had NO idea the dryer used that much energy), it was time to figure out how to get things back within the budget. Enter into the equation much trial and error and a newfound passion for our PG&E SmartMeter and, I'm pleased to report, our energy use is back to, and some months even lower, than our pre-baby bills.

You know you're a little crazy when you do a dance of joy when your power bill arrives. Bonus? What's good for us is good for the environment.

It's been a bit of a long road getting here and along the way I discovered ways to conserve energy - some big, some small - that have made a big impact on our bottom line. Here are a few things that have worked for us.

Know your enemy: Identify the energy hogs in your home. For us they are the electric dryer, electric stove, and gas furnace. Now, everytime I use these I mentally see dollar signs and think about how to conserve energy. Another potential culprit? Your hot water heater - we replaced our old electric one with an on-demand gas hot water heater a few years ago and the $1500 price tag has already been paid for. Yep, that was a good investment.

Become friends with your SmartMeter: I love this new contraption. I can log into my MyEnergy page online and see, virtually in real time, my energy use down to the hour. I even kept an energy log for a week and compared it to the online graphs to identify our above-stated energy hogs. I. Love.It. (No, I have not been paid for this endorsement - though that's not a bad idea...)

Be a master of the obvious and use your energy hogs less: I'm all about bang for the buck so I stared with the big guns. Here are some tips on reducing your use of the oven, dryer and furnace. (We do not have an air conditioner, so unfortunately I can't offer any good tips to that end except the obvious - don't use it. I know we're lucky to live in California where that is an option.)

Oven

• Use your slow cooker or toaster oven more often.
• Plan fewer meals each week that require the oven - for example salads, sandwiches, etc.
• When you do use the oven, take advantage of the cost to preheat and and piggy-back your dishes.

Dryer

• Line dry your clothes. Seriously. The first month you do it you will see a big impact. I guarantee it. If you don't want to put an ugly umbrella looking contraption in your back yard to do this, I'm right there with ya. Invest in a retractable clothesline for all of $10 and you'll be saving money in no time.
• Be strategic when you do use the dryer. Obviously the winter months make it difficult to harness the power of the sun so when you do need to use the dryer, be smart about it. For example, as we do a load of cloth diapers everyday, I wait to dry the diapers until I have another load of laundry that also needs to go on the dryer. If I dont have another load that needs to go into the dryer, they get put on the clothes rack in the garage to dry which leads me to...
• Line dry inside. You know that pop-up clothes rack you have for your delicates? It's also a great way to save money. Put things that you don't need to be dried immeately on the rack. Even if they don't dry completely, the dryer will not need to work as hard.
• Spin, spin, spin. Let the spin cycle on your washing machine get out as much water as possible.
• Pay attention to the temperature setting. I was using low heat and the temperature sensor to dry our clothes, but noticed that things were not getting dry and I needed to keep the dryer on longer - thus using more energy. I switched to medium heat and now do a 30 minute (or less) cycle to start. Often that does the job but if the clothes need more time, I add it in 10 minute increments.

Furnace

Over the last year I had some major 'ouch' moments with our gas bill as I figured out how to set the thermostat with a baby in the house. As a new mom, the last thing I wanted to do was make our home uncomfortable for our little boy. While it was easy to monitor his temperature when he was in our room either in a co-sleeper or our bed, after he moved to his crib and the cold winter months ensued I didn't know how to keep him warm - but not too warm - at night.

To make a long story short, after a few very high bills I called PG&E to see if they had any advice. I spoke with a sweet mother of five kids, and she told me, in not so many words, that I was over-thinking the situation (me? Never). Here are some tips I gleaned -

• Keep your heat set at 62 at night - if your child is too cold, he/she will let you know it.
• During the day set your thermostat at 67 or less when people are in the house, and have it turn off when no one is there. If you are cold - or worried about your child being cold - get out a sweatshirt.
• Things you can do to help keep your child warm at night are use a footed sleeper and/or a sleep sack, put socks on under the sleeper and, if need be, put a cap on your child.
• As SIDS has been linked to overheating at night, be careful not to put too many layers on your child. Err on the side of slightly cool rather than too warm.

So, that night I put our little guy in a sleeper and sleep sack and turned the thermostat down to 62 degrees and, wouldn't you know it, he slept through the whole night and we all woke up refreshed. Go figure. Problem solved.

Energy Tiers: Here in California we are on an energy tier system. The lowest electricity tier (for us, an average of 11 KW per day) is the cheapest, once you exceed that you get bumped into the second tier, once you exceed that it's into tier three, and so on. After I understood how the system works, it was easier to manage our energy costs and shoot for the 11 KW average that would keep us in the lowest tier (though I think it's just about impossible to live on 11 KW a day - even with our 1,000 square foot house that doesn't have AC). Call your utility company to find out how your plan is set up and see if there are other pricing plans you can try - for example, many power companies offer a 'time of use' plan that, as you might imagine, charges different electricity prices based on the time of day. The lowest prices are typically at night, so that is the best time to run the dryer, heat up the stove, etc. If you're religious about it, I hear the savings are significant - I'll be able to let you know soon as we're going to give it a go.

These tips have made a huge difference for us in trimming our power bill and I hope they are helpful for other frugal mamas out there. How do you conserve energy and keep your costs down? Please share your ideas in the comments section!