A Royal Meal Without the Royal Price

We here at the palace love our Mexican food! Here is our "royal secret" to our Mexican night success:

One pound cooked ground turkey (found at grocery store in the frozen section for about a pound)

One can black beans (don't drain- use the juice instead of water to mix with Taco Seasoning

One can pinto beans (don't drain - use the juice instead of water for mixxing with Taco Seasoning)

Taco Seasoning (of your choice - prepare according to seasoning directions only substituting bean juice for water - we here at the Palace buy our Taco Seasoning for about 1/20 of the price in a big container at a wholesale warehouse)

Voila!!!! Delicious Taco Meat for your tacos, enchilada, or burritos!

Enjoy!

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!
The Princess-i-fied Palace

POPCORN!

We here at the palace enjoy a popcorn snack at least once a week. We can eat microwave popcorn if we have to - but we prefer popcorn cooked the old fashion way (perhaps maybe not over a campfire) but traditional in the modern appliance sense. Traditional popcorn kernals in grocery and superstores are several pounds for small containers of popcorn. We have found a more frugal way to purchase popcorn is at the local health food store. Popcorn is on average at least 2 pounds less than at grocery and convenience stores - not to mention that this Health food store price is often for ORGANIC popcorn. So... the next time you or your family want(s) a popcorn treat instead of heading to the grocery store why not try your nearest health food store.

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!

The Princess-i-fied Palace

PPF Homemade Floam Recipe

We here at the Palace have recently discovered a royal fondness for "Floam." Floam is much less messy than playdough, so it helps to keep the palace clean, but it also is a lot of royal fun every time we pull it out! Bought "FLOAM" can be expensive, but the palace has made it for mere pounds which is of course the frugal way.

Here is our royal "FLOAM" recipe.

Ingredients: 1 Tsp. Borax ( found in your grocery store's laundry aisle)

3/4 cup H2O (water - straight from the tap is fine)

1/4 cup Glue (white school, Elmers or off brand - all will work)

1 (1 Quart) zip locking bag

Food coloring (COMPLETELY optional - but the floam will discolor from hand oils eventually - so why not make it some fun color)

Approximately 6 oz. of styrofoam beads

A few royal shakes of glitter

Royal Floam Directions: 1. Dissolve Borax into 1/2 c Water in a small cup

2. In the bag, mix 1/4 cup of H2O (water) and 1/4 cup of

white glue. This is where you can add the royal food

coloring and a few royal shakes of glitter to give it that regal look if desired.

3. Add the Borax and water solution to your bag with the

water and glue solution.

4. Add the styrofoam beads

5. Seal the bag and knead the mixture until it is

thoroughly mixxed.

6. Take floam out and play.

7. Enjoy lots of royal fun!

*** TO keep your royal floam play-worthy - it should be stored in an airtight container or a zip bag!*****

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!
The Princess-i-fied Palace

Coconuts, Vinegar, and Other

The Palace recently read somewhere about another use for vinegar. Now, a while back a dear Palace friend, Jodie (from http://jodiemalodie.blogspot.com/) posted about using vinegar in one's washing machine to prevent static. We here at the palace have tried that - but for some reason perhaps, since we live in the specific palace that we do, we still seem to find our royal wear with a slight static feel - BUT... that being said the royal washers still keep trying this method in part because the royal washers love the sizzle that happens when the vinegar hits the detergent - it seems to just shout CLEAN- and we here at the palace are all about CLEAN!

The Royal Queen went on a hunt one day and came across another use for vinegar most people in the royal kingdom might not know about. Vinegar - as previously stated is a wonderful cleaner. This time the Palace put vinegar in the royal dishwasher paired with a little baking soda. AGAIN, there was an instant SIZZLE which of course, denotes CLEAN. So the royal dishwasher washed those palace dishes with vinegar and baking soda - and LET IT BE KNOWN THROUGH ALL THE KINGDOM... the palace dishes came out clean! The royal cleaners used a one to one ratio of vinegar and baking soda.

The Palace has been doing a little research on the benefits of coconuts and coconut oil. Did you know that coconuts have many wonderful health qualities for your body? The Palace had been adding more olive oil into the palace diet over the last year, but did you know that while Olive oil is GREAT for your heart ,it also actually continues to reside in your body as fat? That's right and NOBODY in the palace is interested in pure fat, so this was a major revelation to the Palace. Coconut oil does not stay within the body as fat and the benefits are wonderful. We just recently have begun our coconut oil venture here at the Palace - but already a difference is noted in cooking, taste, and how our bodies feel! The Royal Family has been using coconut oil in just about everything from - popcorn to hot tea. The Palace began our journey to understanding the benefits of Coconut here: http://www.thenourishinggourmet.com/ -

it is one of the Palace's favorite new sites. Feel free to check it out! Then we went here: http://www.coconut-connections.com/ and http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html. We will continue to update you on the Palace's personal waltz through this coconut exploration!

If you don't purchase an Entertainment book for your area - you should. The Palace highly recommends the Entertainment and Gold C books as a way to save money on many of your favorite royal places.

The Palace cleaning staff has recently started using cotton squares for quick clean ups in the royal bathroom. Just one swipe around the sink and faucet and the bathroom is tidy. Sometimes the cleaning staff will put a little cleaner on the cotton square, but mostly the palace uses the squares dry immediately after the queen puts on her makeup, the king shaves, or the royal couple brushes their teeth. The cotton square is just the right size for small simple messes.

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!

The Princess-i-fied Palace

Making it fun~ Without the Cost

One of the princesses recently started soccer. The King and Queen had bought the princess a soccer ball years ago - but alas, it was the wrong size for her new soccer criteria. So... what is a frugal palace to do - but head to a second hand shop and find a ball for merely a pound or two. Pump it up, if it doesn't hold air then a frugal king knows to put the tire slime in the ball and roll it around (thus sealing any small invisible holes). To add a bit of glitz, glam, or make it special for the princesses one can either decorate this recycled ball with stickers or one can use paint pens and make it an original piece of art! (Pictures will be posted soon!)

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!
The Princess-i-fied Palace

A Palace Favorite

Many years ago in the royal kingdom, way before there were any princesses or even a king in the midst of the castle, the queen found a treasure for the mere price of a pound . It looked intriguing to the queen so she bought this find of all finds thought that it might just be what the palace chefs would like as an addition for the royal kitchen. Over the years the palace chefs have made many recipes from this book. The royal kingdom thought we might share with you one of our favorite recipes from this book. The Palace searched for this book a variety of ways on line - but somehow this version doesn't seem to be around even on such frugal sites as ebay. The Palace did find a book which is under the same title which appears to be very similar by a Doctor Neal Barnard M.D. - unfortunately, as we here at the Palace have not seen this book - we cannot comment as to the helpfulness of Dr. Barnard's book! Here is the recommended Palace favorite recipe from Dr. Bohannan's book.

TUNA SANDWICH (pg. 313)

2 slices wheat bread

3 ounces tuna

1.5 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tomato

1/2 chopped romaine

Though we here at the palace have tried many versions of tuna - this is our absolute favorite. It really doesn't even need any seasoning!

We hope you enjoy this recipe.

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!

The Princess-i-fied Palace

It used to just be ebay, but now......

The Queen has known about ebay for years, but she really didn't get into shopping on it until last January. But members of the royal court, please don't be fooled by the ebay monopoly. The Queen wants you to know that there are other ways to find your desired item and sometimes, for less than any courtier would like to sell it to you on ebay. Now don't get us wrong here at PPF, we still love ebaying when appropriate, but we are just saying that it pays to shop around for that special palace item.

Palace Treasure found on Craigslist.

http://www.craigslist.org/ has many items. It breaks things down into categories. So if you want to find a special book for your child - you can peruse the books section for that specialty item. It was actually here that the palace picked up our beautiful new/old Emerson piano to grace the Palace and bring delightful music into our home. Many things are free on craigslist and there is a WANTED section to "shout out" a call for that specialty item that you want! We have picked up several needed items lately from Craigslist. The Palace is currently listed under a local WANTED section for a variety of broken and unwanted crayons. While some members of the craigslist court ask for unreasonable things - unfair barters etc. We here at The Palace believe that Craigslist can be a valuable tool for one's palace when it is used appropriately.

This item was recently purchased in its entirity from Goodwill and with all but a few items in their original packaging for LESS than 1/5 of the price of one bought new ( and that includes shipping right to the Palace Door).

Another wonderful online option for the frugal consumer is Goodwill. Were you members of the court aware that Goodwill has an auction website? To take a look - please go here http://www.shopgoodwill.com/. As a member and potential buyer, you will need to come up with a password and a name - similar to an ebay account. While, the Palace doesn't find it to be as well developed as ebay, the Palace has found that we royals can find good bargains on this site as well, as long as a we royalty are well informed of the price for the desired item and what the item sells for new, and on other sites like ebay. If you are looking for home goods, many can be found here for a fraction of the price. Are you looking for a wedding present - you just might find a good deal here. This is a site that the Palace has used on occasion for a few items. It has worked well and should at least be considered the next time your palace is in need of something!

This item was also recently purchased from Goodwill for just a few dollars. This is a perfect addition to the Princess bedroom at the Palace!

Especially for the younger and growing members of the Royal Family second hand shopping is a wonderful option to explore. Though is not an online option for the most part, The Royal shoppers can often find new - sometimes gently used items for pennies on the dollar. Many times tags may still be on clothing items. Other times name brand items may be purchased in an appropriate size and season for next to nothing. The royal children are excited to see their new items - they don't care where they came from! Dance items such as leotards can be found as well as items for school uniforms -etc. This is another wonderful resource to check out as time allows. The PALACE has figured out that it is best to shop these places without the royal children in tow - as it is easier to shop, scrutinize, and calculate!

Of course the summer is a wonderful time to shop around neighborhoods at all the wonderful palace sales, unfortunately we here at PPF - with three small princesses have not found this to be a very viable option at the moment. When the princesses are older , I am sure it will be an option enjoyed by the entire Palace - but for now it is not something that the Palace is able to do on a regular basis!

Until next time, may your palace be sparkling, may your family be well fed and in good health, and your resources be plentiful, all because you choose to be wise and frugal, for both your family and your palace!
The Princess-i-fied Palace