Sunday, February 17, 2013

Food Co-Ops and Food Ministries

     For a long time, I had been referring friends to places like Angel Food Ministries and Treasure Box.  These programs bought food at wholesale prices from distributors and created food boxes that people could buy at a substantial discount. For around $35 you could order $60-70 worth of food, and it was enough to feed a family of four for a week.  

    Sadly, both of these programs have closed, and there aren't as many programs like it that serve as wide of an area. Here is a list of similar programs I have found across the country. If you know of any others, please leave a comment.
  



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Smart Choice Food - Smart Choice Food is a national food distributor dedicated to providing grocery relief to families across America. Host site locations appear to be in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Michigan, Northern Arkansas.

Bountiful Baskets - Fruit and Vegetable baskets, available in regular or organic choices. Locations in: AZ, CO, GA, IA, ID, IS, KY, LA, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA.


Gaballi - A faith based movement to save 30 - 70 % off your groceries. (Products of USA - Locally grown). This one serves a lot of areas around the country, including parts of CA, but again is concentrated in the Great Lakes, Florida, and East Coast areas. Check their host site locator to see if they have a host site near you.

Zaycon Foods - This one is a little bit different. They primarily provide large bulk orders of meat, available for purchase by the case.  Typically offered in 40lb amounts, the meat is often freshly packaged in bulk so you have to be prepared to portion it out and freeze it yourself. Check and see if they have any planned events near you. A friend of mine has bought chicken through them and was very pleased with the quality and price.

Share Food Program -
Serving PA, DE, NJ, Metro NY, & MD Eastern Shore, the SHARE Food Package is a program where people get a break on their grocery bills by exchanging volunteer time for the opportunity to buy affordable food. For each package of food purchased, they ask for two(2) hours of “good deed” time, whether at SHARE, other institutions in your community, or your own neighborhood. In exchange for your volunteer hours, you can receive approximately $35 to $45 worth of quality frozen meats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and shelf stable items at approximately 50% savings.

Mid-America Foods -
Mid America Foods was designed to bring hope and peace of mind to those who want to stretch their food dollars. Mid America Foods offers restaurant quality food at discounted prices.  This food co-op serves: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas.


Prairie Land Food - The Prairie Pak includes a wide assortment of frozen meats, and a variety of seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables – just like you see in major grocery stores. And at a savings of up to 50% off retail prices! Additional packages, including meat packages and specialty packages are also available. Prairie Land Food partners with churches, schools, and community organizations to create "host sites" to make picking up your purchases as convenient as possible, throughout Kansas and Nebraska.

Golden Share Foods - Serving Southern California communites in San Diego, Riverside, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Irvine, and San Clemente, this is Southern California's largest local Community Food Cooperative. Save up to 50% on your monthly food budget. This program welcomes everyone.

Jolin Food Box - This program is designed to provide families with nationally branded food products at wholesale prices. The products in this food box include a balanced variety of breakfast, lunch and dinner items prepackaged in our temperature controlled warehouse.  They offer these boxes at wholesale prices thus enabling folks to save money without compromising quality of life. Approximately $100.00 worth of food for only $38.00. Up to 50% in savings in your pocket! Locations all over New Jersey, as well as in Brooklyn and Long Island City NY, and in Dover DE.


Family Table Food Ministries - This is a faith based organization that delivers quality food at a deeply discounted rate while giving back to your local churches and community. Based in NY State with one location in PA as well.

Western Eagle Foundation (Temecula Food Bank) - For those in the Temecula, CA area, this company is dedicated to helping families who may not qualify for government assistance. However, anyone is welcome to make use of their program and there are no forms or income requirements. For $25, you can get a supply of food that will feed a family of four, 2 meals a day each, for an entire week.
One Harvest Food MinistriesOneHarvest is a non-profit, non-denominational, faith based organization that is committed to helping American families. They offer affordable, pre-packaged, high quality food boxes. OneHarvest is currently distributing in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas (Dallas/Fort Worth) and Virginia.

HIS Food Ministries -  HIS food ministry is an evangelistic outreach designed to help the local churches and other organizations minister to their communities through meal plans. Host churches are located in WV, NC, GA, SC, and VA, MD, DE, OH, PA, Eastern WV panhandle and Northern parts of VA.


Gospel Food Ministries - Gospel Food Ministries is a non-denominational faith based organization that has a passion and a calling to reach out to our communities and their families with high quality foods. Locations throughout Florida.

Supreme Outreach -
The Supreme Outreach program is specifically designed to support any business, civic, or church group to provide to their communities with first quality food at prices 30% – 50% below retail grocery store chains.  Serving: Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina

F
ood Boxes: Faith Church of the Valley -
Faith Church of the Valley is a community distribution site for United Food Bank’s food purchase program called Help Yourself! This program offers households the ability to stretch their food dollars by taking advantage of the food bank’s buying power through the purchase of pre-assembles fresh food boxes. Chandler, AZ.

Friday, August 3, 2012

The Manicured Slayer: The Manicured Slayer First Blogiversary AND GIVEAW...

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Saturday, June 2, 2012

Saturday Six (meme)



I'm participating in this meme, Saturday Six, from Patrick's Place.

1. What is the first movie you remember watching in a theater?
2. Was the first phone you ever used a rotary or push-button style phone?
3. Was the first car you owned new or used?
4. When did you first think you knew for certain what you wanted to do when you grew up?
5. How old were you the first time you set foot on an airplane?
6. What’s the first book that you read and really enjoyed?

1.) Look Who's Talking.   I clearly remember asking my mom what those squirmy things were and what they were doing, much to her embarrassment.

2.) Rotary.  I miss them. 

3.) Used. My first car was a 92' Hyundai Excel hatchback that was actually salvaged from a train wreck in Mexico. Classy ride.

4.) Probably around four. I remember telling people I wanted to have a red Ferrari and be a PI.  Sadly, I'm no Magnum.

5.) 8. My parents took me to Hawaii. That was one of two times I've been on a plane.

6.) I was addicted to the Dick and Jane series of books in Kindergarten and read EVERY SINGLE ONE. :)

Summer Bucket List - do you have one?

Do you have a summer bucket list? I am trying to come up with some good ideas for me and the kids to have fun with this summer.  Our schedule is quickly filling up with library events, day trips, museums, parks, beaches, theme parks, and more, but there will still be a lot of "down time" at home.  What's better than filling that time up with some fun crafts and stuff like that!

I've been busy pinning ideas that would be fun, like:

Homemade taffy!


Bracelets!
Source: saifou.com via Sarah on Pinterest





make our own bouncy balls!


homemade moonsand!


Maybe I should devote one day a week to trying out some ideas we have found on pinterest!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Back to blogging?

I keep thinking "Wow, I should write a blog post about this!" - and then it never happens.  It wasn't just having a sixth child that threw my world upside down though. Last summer, my 80 year old mother fell and fractured her spine. The injury amped up her dementia, so she is needing a lot more care and supervision.  With my already full schedule having to expand to accommodate taking care of mom, something had to go... and that something was blogging.  I think we have finally settled into a routine that will allow me some time to jot down my thoughts and ideas though, and it will feel good to have some place to express ME.  I also realized that one of the reasons why I was having so much trouble blogging was that I wasn't blogging with my true voice... I was trying to fit in a mold of perky religious politically-correct and demure bloggers, afraid that I would offend someone if I blogged like I really speak.  It makes it too hard to think of things to post when you are pretending to be something you're not.  I'm obnoxious, sarcastic, loud, agnostic, and can curse a blue-streak. So, if you're still on board, then hold on tight.... Summer is just around the corner, and I'll be posting.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Check out the triple"D" ;)

I wanted to invite my blog followers to come check out Diapers, Dogs, and Deployments:

http://diapersdogsanddeployments.blogspot.com

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

St Patrick's Day Pillow Cover



I did it!!!! :)
I started AND completed a holiday themed pillow, before the holiday was over.

I could have sworn I had found a design like this on Pinterest, but after I got home from the store with the burlap, I couldn't find it any where. I made this design using a fun Celtic font and a shamrock clip art, and stenciled it on to the fabric using the freezer paper stencil technique. It is an envelope back so I can easily remove the pillow cover after St Patrick's Day and change it to another themed pillow.

Go me!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Valentine's Sconces

Photobucket

Quick and simple, I added candy hearts to our new glass candle sconces. I'm going to have fun thinking up different things to add to the sconces for each holiday throughout the year.

Friday, February 25, 2011

So... where do you buy bows?

I've been buying hairbows for over 12 years. I've seen favorites come and go, and I occasionally force a WAHM out of retirement if she's the only one I know who can make a particular item (yes, Julia, I'm talking about you and your tooth-fairy knots!)



While I prefer to support WAHMs whenever possible, I will readily admit that my go-to for stash-building basics is Hetian-Lu/The Hairbow Club on eBay. Now, shipping from them takes awhile because they ship from Shanghai, but they are CHEAP and will happily make you pretty much any custom combination you'd like. When Sabrina started Kindergarten I had triple-layer bows made with navy blue on the top and bottom, different colors with polkadots in the middle (green, red, yellow, and pink - to match the common uniform polos), and a navy blue knot holding it all together. These bows are still going strong 7+ years later, though Ceci is the only one who will still wear them. ;) A lot of our basic, solid-color boutique style bows come from there.



http://www.thehairbowcompany.com/ This is where most of Catie's flowers, tiny bows, and crochet headbands are from. (the $1 flowers aren't "perfect", they're "seconds quality", but honestly I don't really care.. they're cheap, LOL) And I'd much rather pay 37c for a headband than $5 for the same thing in a local boutique.



I'll come back later and edit this to include all of the WAHMs that we get bows from, since Catie just woke up.


*__________________ WAHM BOWS __________________*

1.Em & M Bows : http://www.facebook.com/EMnMBows?ref=ts Most bows are around $5, over the top bows are $8, super fast shipping.
2.Sara's Scraps: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Saras-Scraps/142004972504936 Adorable clippies, cute bows with fun centers, and my favorite - the embroidered name bow (you've probably seen Catie's "Catie" bow in many pictures, I love that thing!)
WAHMs I haven't ordered from personally:

1.Five Blessed Bows: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Five-Blessed-Bows/90766502419
2.Bowdaciously Beautiful Bows: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bowdaciously-Beautiful-Bows/171666072867860
3.Katie Kinz: http://www.facebook.com/katiekinzha
4.Baby Boutique: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Baby-Boutique-Hair-Bows/154750921213099?ref=ts
5.Jennie's Bows: http://www.facebook.com/jenniesbows4u
6.Pretty Princess Hair Accessories: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pretty-Princess-Hair-Accessories/108907912506916?ref=ts
7.Nala Grace: http://www.nalagrace.com/

Tuesday, February 15, 2011