Hi everyone! I have been running the website now for over two and half years and it has started to be difficult to do it all. That is why I brought on someone to help me out around here.  I am so happy to have her here.  Not only is she a great bargain hunter but also a great crafter and baker. Plus she is super sweet. We actually became friends due to our love of high end kids clothing at bargain prices!

You can see which of us a post is from just by looking at the byline above the post.  She has already written an amazing  Easy and Frugal Artisan Bread Recipe  post.  Be sure to read it and pin it to share with your friends.

I also love that she has boys. I have never been all that great on finding deals on boy toys or clothing so she is going to be a huge asset here. Be sure to check out her gift guides over on the holiday bargain page.  (Coming later today!)

Plus she is crafty crafty crafty! Be on the look out for lots of great craft posts from her too!

Here is a little introduction from her.

Hi, I’m Heidi. I’m an avid crafter, cook and bargain shopper. I worked in high-tech Marketing and in Real Estate for several years and left working full-time to have children. I am now a busy mother of three young children.

I started cooking and entertaining for friends in my twenties. I shared an apartment with girlfriends and we liked to have friends over for appetizers, drinks and desserts. I also started scrapbooking and crafting about the same time. From there, it evolved to crafting and baking for wedding showers, baby showers,
birthday parties and for my children when they were babies. I love trying new recipes and making great-tasting food for my family. I often bake for school events and for the holidays.

As for crafting, I have both a Cricut and a Silhouette machine and I enjoy making invitations and cards, doing papercrafts and scrapbooking. I also dabble in other types of crafts like sewing, making jewelry and cake decorating. I am one of those people that is always saying, “I can make that myself”.

My husband teases me that I am always shopping, but it’s true that I enjoy buying high-end clothing, toys and electronics for my family. In order to afford nice things, I have to find them at bargain prices. I am very picky when it comes to choosing items for my family and I prefer buying quality things that will
last a long time.

I hope you will all give her a great big welcome. I think she is going to be a great addition to the Bargain Shopper Mom website and community!

Halloween Candy by JefferyTurner, on Flickr

Is there too much candy over at your home after Halloween? I give some tips on what you can do with it over on the Savings.com Blog today. I also started a Use up Your Halloween candy Pinterest board with some recipes that use Halloween candy. For my local Metro Detroit  and Michigan readers, Noodles and Company has Candy Coma in all MI restaurants from November 2nd-4th. Kids 12 and under bring in a bag of candy and get a FREE bowl of noodles.

I try to feed my kids freshly prepared food each night for dinner. However sometimes in the crazy busyness of soccer, dance, gymnastics and school, we just don’t have much time for dinner.

That is why is was excited to try out Kidfresh frozen meals. These meals are a twist on children’s favorite foods, rich in vegetables and without a single drop of anything artificial. All the meals contain no artificial ingredients, flavors, colors or preservatives. Even the  packaging meets the highest safety standards with no BPA, no Phthalates nor other potentially harmful chemicals. They even use recycled paper, carbon-neutral printing and recyclable containers.

My kids are very picky too and sometimes it is hard to get them to eat enough veggies.  These meals include lots of veggies, (up to one half cup of vegetables per meal). For example, the  Spaghetti Loops Bolognese and  the Totally Twisted Pasta with Meatballs both provide one half cup of vegetables – which is about 33% of the daily recommendation for children between 4 and 8 years old. On top of that, both of these meals provide a variety of veggies like tomatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes, celery and onions. I noticed that the Mac & Cheese has hidden carrots in the sauce. Love that!

Before I headed to the store, I printed a $1 off Kidfresh coupon. You can get one yourself at facebook. These meals are fairly new so you will want to check if they carry them at your local grocery store.

Kidfresh meals are available in six flavor options Wagon Wheels Mac + Cheese, Spaghetti Loops Bolognese, Muy Cheesy Quesadillas, Easy Cheesy Ravioli, Rainbow Rice + Chicken and Totally Twisted Pasta + Meatballs. My store carried four of the six.

I  bought the  Wagon Wheels Mac + Cheese, Spaghetti Loops Bolognese, and Muy Cheesy Quesadillas. I loved when I looked at the ingredient lists at the store that there were no artificial additives and colors.

The Kidfresh meals were on sale for 5/$11 at my local Kroger store.  As I teach in my Grocery Savings Classes, this does not mean you have to buy 5 to get this price. This is one of the ways that grocery stores try to get you to buy more than you need. What 5/$11 really means is 1/ $2.20!  Since I have a coupon for $1 off my price was actually just $1.20 per box!!!

The regular price is just $2.99 which is a great price too. With the coupon, each box would be just $1.99.  I plan to keep a few of these on hand for crazy nights so I am not tempted to go through the drive through. These meals are not only more healthy but cheaper too!

You can see more pictures from my grocery shopping trip here. I bought lots of fresh fruit to round out the frozen meals.

I made the Wagon Wheels Mac & cheese for my youngest daughter and also gave her some strawberries. As you can see from the picture, she enjoyed it.  I enjoyed that I could feed her something more healthy in under 5 minutes at a great price point.

Disclosure: “I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Kidfresh  #CBias #SocialFabric #KFHealthyKids”.  All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Summer is in full force and if you are like you me you are on the look out for fun and frugal activities for the kids.  One of my favorites is our public library summer reading program.  Not only does it promote reading which is so important but they hand out prizes each week which helps make reading fun.

The prize at our reading program this week was small yogurt cones from TCBY.  We went and used them after our trip to the library to get new books for the week. As you can see from the picture, my girls enjoyed them. Can you believe those are small cones? We also got coupons for a free taco and churro at Del Taco.

This outing cost up zero dollars and was super fun.  So be sure to check out your local library.

Do you participate in your library’s summer reading program?  What sort of prizes do they have at your library?

Michigan in the summer is a great place.  Even though most of Oakland county is suburbs and cities, there is still plenty of great wildlife and outdoor activities. With the cost of gas, having a Staycation sounds like a wonderful idea. I have lots of great fun and frugal activity ideas here in Oakland county. (The links at the beginning of each section will take you to more detail on all these activities.)

Do you live elsewhere in the country and are looking for fun and frugal activities? Check out this list of activities at over 40 cities across the United States.

Metro Parks - Did you know that there are 13 different Metro parks in Oakland county or right nearby. They have tons activities including everything from hiking and biking to swimming and geocaching. The Huron-Clinton Metropark Annual Motor Vehicle permit gives you unlimited access to all 13 Huron-Clinton Metroparks in the five-county Southeastern Michigan region throughout the year for just $25.00!

Heritage Park Splash Pad –  I have heard great things about this splash park and community park. With its rolling hills, winding nature trails, amphitheater, splash pad, playground and picnic facilities, Heritage Park offers activities for every season. This 211-acre park is home to the Vagnozzi Visitors Center in the historic Spicer House, Nature Center Day Camp, the Heritage & History Center in Farmington Hills and the Longacre House, a community center. The large picnic shelter is open on a first-come, first-served basis, but it may be reserved for a small fee.

Park It Family Fun Night – Park It evenings consist of an Outdoor Concert, kid’s activities, sponsor giveaways, followed by a family-rated movie under the Stars on our giant LED Video Screen! Check out the schedule of where they will be this summer.

A great source for more information is Destination Oakland.  They list all kinds of fun family activities throughout the county. Last year we went to  Red Oaks Water Park and had a great time.  Unfortunately, they no longer offer discounted tickets but $10 for residents is still a great price.  Waterford Oaks does still offer discounted tickets.  We may try it this year. It looks great too!

Free Summer Concerts -The Oakland County Parks and Recreation Commission provides FREE concerts at Addison Oaks and Groveland Oaks county parks. Check out the schedule here.

Detroit Zoo – You can’t have a Staycation and not visit the zoo. You will want to check out the new baby camel that was just born this spring.  One of my favorite summer zoo activities though is the The Zoo’s Wild Summer Nights concert series.  Performances will take place at the Main Picnic Grove to give concert goers plenty of space to spread out with their blankets, lawn chairs and picnic baskets. A wide variety of food – including burgers, pizza, hot dogs, ice cream, beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages – will be available to Wild Summer Nights patrons. All performances begin at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 8 p.m., the Zoo’s closing time. The Candy band is always popular and Verve Pipe will perform too!

A friend told me that a stop at Taste Love Cupcakes in Royal Oak is a special treat.  You  can grab some after your trip to the zoo or bring some in your picnic for the Wild Summer Nights concert.  Taste Love Cupcakes won the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars.

Biking and Hiking Trails – There are bunches of biking and hiking trails in Oakland county.  My favorite is Paint Creek Trail. We usually start our ride at Rochester Municipal Park which is has a nice playground, spot  for picnics and a friend has even fished here with her kids… catch and release of course.

Another way to get stay-cation activities frugally is to watch the daily deal sites. Groupon, Living Social, CBS Local Offers and Deal Chicken 0ften have local activities at 50% off or more. I have seen daily deals for laser tag, bounce play areas,mini golf,  tours and more.

Lots of the activities I mentioned are great if you bring a picnic lunch.  Since it a stay-cation you may want to buy treats your normally wouldn’t from the grocery store to make things special.  You can usually grab some great deals on junk food and convenience foods with coupons.

I also love Nino Salvaggio for wonderfully prepared food perfect for a picnic. Your kids probably will be more happy with a picnic lunch then heading to a restaurant too!

Hope you use some of this information to enjoy all the great activities in Oakland county. What are your favorite things to do in Oakland county?