Mealgarden supports bloggers

I know that fellow bloggers spend tons of time thinking of, writing, and spreading their content. Their blogs are their hobbies or sometimes even full time jobs that they constantly are working on. They want their content to be protected and the credit to be given to them if it is shared by others. Food bloggers spend even more time because they need to work on and alter recipes, photograph food, and perfect their recipes before they even start writing the post.

I am an avid user of mealgarden. I am one of their most active bootcampers. I was recently asked by my bootcamp advisor why I and other users are not sending in recipes by email, because it is one of her favorite parts of the app. I told her that I didn’t know if the blogger was getting credit for their recipes people sent in. She said that other users share this view. She assured me that on the bottom of the page on every recipe is the source of the recipe and it lists the blog it came from on every single post that comes from a blog. So rest assured bloggers will be getting the credit due to them.

I think this is actually a great way to spread word for food blogs and recipes. It will have your link on the bottom of the page and they have a great recipe finder and it provides nutrtional information as well. It is a great way to get nutitional information added to blog recipes without doing a ton of extra work. I hope other bloggers will start using this tool and getting the attention they deserve with this app. They truly appreciate all of their users and even train them of how to use their app with the bootcamp they offer. I hope to see other bloggers on the app and in the bootcamp soon. The bootcamp sign up link is at MealGarden.

Nicole

Try, instead of can’t.

For years my husband has been telling me to try things harder. I didn’t believe in myself so I didn’t try as hard as I should. Things like I can’t clean the girls room with a two year old in the same room, or I can’t cook a huge meal when I am tired.

I also have been saying can’t about not being able to drive, because I have my permit but have been so scared to learn how to drive. I couldn’t really stay out of the ditches for the longest time but now that I am getting better intersections really confuse me and now they scare me. What if I go at the wrong time. I also don’t quite know where to turn switching lanes sometimes. It is all really stressful to me.

But lately my four year old as been saying she can’t do things. My lack of confidence is leading to her not believing in myself. So last night I finally got ticked off and said there is no more can’t in my house. I mean it I am not going to say I can’t do anything anymore and will be trying harder than ever. Hopefully my four year old will follow me in this.

When I get into the car instead of having hubby drive I will try to drive more often. I will not chicken out because he will be there to save me if I am unsure. Also I need to just think of what I know and use the knowledge I already have and stop doubting myself. I am really bad at that I always doubt myself when important decisions come up but no more I need to start believing in myself more. If not for me than for my little girls.

I also went completely crazy and actually started cleaning my daughters’ room this morning right away with my two year old helping me. I didn’t even have my coffee right away first. I did however drink it after cleaning for about an hour. A shocking thing happened. It went really well and my two year old actually helped me and after some of it was clean she actually played on her own with a newly discovered toy she really likes her train set. So I am actually ahead on chores today instead of behind and it is all because I tried something new and different in the way I cleaned.

What is something that you think you can’t do. Why don’t you give it a try anyways and see what happens? It could have a really good outcome like me and my daughters’ bedroom!

Nicole

 

How to save money while meal planning

I love to save money as much as I can and I think I live a pretty frugal lifestyle. I want to provide you with some ways to save money while meal planning today, because we all need to save money where we can.

I usually stick with basic ingredients that are in a variety of recipes. I really like using spices they are very versatile and can go into lots of things. I also love cooking with fruits and veggies for this reason as well. They can go into many different meals and sometimes depending on what it is you can just eat it on its own. This will drastically save your budget if you don’t go for fancy ingredients that you can use in one or two recipes if you are lucky.

I stock up on meats when they are on sale. I get a lot of my pork at around $1.25 a pound this way. I get my chicken at around $1.50 a pound. Beef is more expensive at around $3 a pound when it is on sale. I stock my freezer up when it is on sale and I don’t really repurchase until it is on sale again. I also stock up on lots of other things when they are on sale like noodles, canned veggies, cheese, and mostly everything I buy.

I also love to coupon sometimes I stick a coupon on top of a sale and get the item almost free. I love doing this and couponing if a major hobby of mine. I collect coupons both out of the Sunday paper and on the internet. There are also websites out there that will give you coupon match-ups for the current week so you can really save money.

Another thing I do is that I make a lot of things homemade instead of buying them. I love baking cookies, and bread. I also make my own granola, trail mix, lemonade, and spice mixes. Pretty much if you can make it on your own instead of buy it I do it.

Now I am going to post some things of how to save money when you use the mealgarden app.

The first thing is to make sure you are carrying your leftovers over and not just listing the recipe twice when you are going to use leftovers. This will help you not buy extra ingredients you don’t really need.

The next thing is to make sure you have the actual amount of people eating checked when it asks again it is so you are not overbuying food.

Try to plan meals with only one of two different meats for the whole week, and use one meat up before using the next. It will help keep waste down if you use up one kind of meat before starting the next.

I hope you enjoyed reading my money saving tips on meal planning. I also hope you are able to save some money the next time you set your meal plans.

Nicole