Penny Pinching Peach

For the semi crunchy, homeschool friendly and totally frugal!


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Penny Pinching Popsicles

Penny Pinching Popsicles

Penny Pinching Popsicles

Whose kiddos don’t enjoy an ice cold treat on a warm day? I haven’t met one yet! Here comes the quandary for the penny pinchers like me who also try to minimize their children’s intakes of artificial dyes and an overload of sugars on less-than-special occasions. The cheap popsicles are full of naughty dyes and sugars. The “healthy” versions are way out of our daily budget for the voracious appetites of our chilly chompers. My solution? Homemade on the cheap, of course!

My children have already started their popsicle trip for the summer, so I was planning to make some homemade popsicles to satisfy their cravings. Last year I’d already purchased a new set of popsicle makers on sale for a dollar, so I was prepared with the right tools. You can also get them on Amazon for less than five dollars: Ostart 8 Cell Frozen Ice Cream Pop Mold Popsicle Maker Lolly Mould Tray Pan Kitchen DIYA similar model to the one I have is: Easy Pack 8 pc Popsicle Maker

As I scanned the juice aisle, I spotted fruit punch marked way down to 50 cents for the real kind in the refrigerated section!! SCORE!!! It’s not the 100% fruit kind, but it is dye free and no corn syrup, so I’m good with that for a treat.

When I got time after I’d gotten everything put up, I poured a set of popsicles up, let Princess Pennypincher put the tops on them and popped them in the freezer to set up. I made a set of 8, but I can easily make a minimum of three more sets out of this one juice container. At this price, that’s less than two cents apiece, y’all!!! It didn’t take much longer than it normally does to fix two sippy cups full of their water splashed with juice, either, so it’s not at all time consuming. A trick for removing them from the freezer container more easily without getting all handle and no popsicle? Carefully twist the handle as you pull the popsicle out if it starts to stick on you. My children love the cold, sweet treats. I love that there is no guilt in allowing them to indulge- from a health or budget perspective. Win-win!!! 😉

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Safely Flavored Drinks for Pregnant Mommies

Decaf green tea

Decaf green tea

If you’re like me, you need to drink a lot of water even when you aren’t pregnant!

The amount of water I need to prevent dehydration during pregnancy feels like enough to float a boat on! Sometimes when I try just going with plain water all the time, I find myself dehydrated from forgetting to drink. I don’t want to drink a lot of unhealthy and/or fattening sodas, teas, fruit drinks and such, but flavoring my drinks periodically definitely helps me to drink more. I thought I’d share a few of my tricks for tasty sipping drinks for pregnancy while trying to stay safe. 🙂

Strongly flavored juices like cranberry grape juice, regular grape juice or any cranberry mixed real fruit juices make some terrific flavored waters! You can put about just a splash up to about 1/4, then filling your cup with juice, add a few cubes of ice, fill it up with water and you have a very refreshing drink to sip.

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Some herbal teas are safe during pregnancy, such as Earth Mama Angel Baby Organic Mama-To-Be Tea Sampler 16 bag, Celebration Herbals Organic Red Raspberry Leaf Tea Caffeine Free — 24 Herbal Tea Bags
and Twinings Pure Peppermint Herbal Tea, 1.41 Ounce Box, but it may be wise to consult your physician before drinking anything out of the ordinary. Personally, I’m on a peppermint tea kick, or sometimes Lipton Green Tea, Decaffeinated, 20 count, (Pack of 6). I like it warm with just a bit of honey, or I make it like iced tea with a little sugar. Either way, it’s very refreshing! The iced tea version is my favorite, because it’s a great alternative to that Southern sweet tea for this Georgia girl, and keeps me from giving in to the temptation to pour a tall glass of the traditional sweet tea I keep in the fridge for my hubby.

I love Barefut Essential Oils and the Kid Friendly line! They  run some amazing specials on top of the usual super affordable prices! https://barefut.com/product-category/kid-friendly/?afmc=Kg

Something I recently discovered is to let the frozen lemonade concentrate thaw and put it in a water bottle in the fridge!

I don’t like to keep a huge pitcher in the fridge, but love the lemony flavor it can add to my water when I start slowing down on my intake of H2O. I just shake the bottle, add it a little at a time to a glass of ice water and stir until it has the desired taste. You can mix it lightly so it tastes more like lemon water or more heavily if you want actual lemonade. I’m sure this would work with other juice concentrates, as well.

 

Blackberry Infused Water

Blackberry Infused Water

Infused waters are a perfect option for upping that water intake in a completely healthy way! I love them, and have tried lots of different fruits and even some veggies. Need some inspiration? Here is a link to a post I did about some of the flavors I’ve experimented with This and That Infused Water!

I have no medical training, obviously, but these are all things I’ve deemed safe for my own pregnancy after checking them out. What are some of your favorite pregnancy friendly drinks to sip?