Try Products is another free sampling program that I’ve used over the last year or so.
Sign up to try hundreds of wonderful products from brands who want to provide consumers with cleaner, greener, more natural, better-for-you choices, that you can feel good about putting in your body & home!
It’s 100% Free. No credit card is required EVER!
Here are a few of the products available to sample now:
I’m so tired of it being so humid. Last week we were inside a lot between the heat/humidity and the rain from Tropical Storm Kay. We ate a lot of fruit last week, and the CSA box came yesterday, so we’re going to do it again!
I hit up the grocery store on Sunday. Again this week but we’re eating out of the pantry and our Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, which was delivered yesterday afternoon. With the increased cost of groceries, I’m really leaning on cooking meals from our pantry stables and using fresh produce.
I did a bunch of meal prep yesterday afternoon to cut down on cooking time:
I’ll make a fruit salad later in the week when the stone fruit (peaches, plums, nectarines) ripen.
We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. I picked up 5 new products to try this week at Sprouts last night using my Social Nature coupons!
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind.
Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. These snacks make up most of the kid’s lunches during the school week. School lunches are still free, but on most days, they prefer to bring their lunches from home.
Dinner: Now that school is in session and our weekday schedule is cemented, I’m using one weekend morning to do some baking/side dish meal prep, and Monday afternoons after school/work to prep the CSA box goodies. As the price of groceries goes up, I find myself buying less meat, relying more on sale/clearance prices, and repurposing leftovers.
Monday: Home-Made Pizza, Fruit
Tuesday: Mac n’ Cheese, Roasted Veggies
Wednesday: Loaded Smashed Potatoes (Recipe coming this week), Salad
Thursday: Grilled Cheese or Quesadillas, Soup, & Salad
Looking for some pizza for the next NFL game? Every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday in September when you spend $20 or more at Little Caesar’s you can score a FREE Large Classic Pizza with Coupon Code CLASSICPLAY6 at checkout in the Little Caesar’s App!
For those of you looking for pizza on a budget, this is a great deal. The boy kid loves pizza, and Little Caesar’s is usually requested.
Sample Tuesday is Coming on 9/20/2022- Mark your calendars, and set an alarm on your phone!
Don’t have any idea what I am talking about? PinchMe! Join PINCHme and receive free samples that you can provide feedback on.
PinchMe is awesome! Once you are signed up, they will email you reminders when new samples are about to drop, and remind you when it’s time to leave feedback.
Answer a series of questions about your household and shopping habits in the Member Profile. PinchMe learns what you like and offer samples just for you.
Once you’ve had a chance to try the samples, complete a short feedback survey to tell PinchMe what you think of the samples.
I get PinchMe samples every month. Here is what arrived at the end of June for the June 2021 boxes. The One Bar was really good.
What are you waiting for? Sign up here and get on the free sample bandwagon! I’ve gotten all kinds of awesome sample/trial size items, as well as full-sized items to try out from PinchMe!
This past weekend was hot. And humid. We spent most of the weekend indoors, playing games, watching videos, and eating strawberries.
I hit up the grocery store Friday to pick up a few things, but we’re mostly living off the pantry and our Yasukochi Family Farms CSA box, which was delivered this afternoon.
I did a bunch of meal prep this evening:
We’ve been trying a lot of new foods lately, thanks to the really great freebies from Social Nature lately too. It’s fun to try new foods. I received a few more coupons over the weekend, so I’ll visit Sprouts sometime this week to pick up the new foods. I’m focusing on snacks and treats from Social Nature.
For those of you that are new to meal planning, I’ve got an easy 101 style post here with super easy tips and steps. After you get that down, here is info about batch or freezer cooking.
I’ve gotten a pretty good inventory of the pantry, freezer, and fridge done (I try to update it after every shopping trip), so I’m able to plan meals and use up what we’ve got with little waste.
I only post our dinner plans for the week, because our other meals are usually the same each day.
Breakfast: Coffee with 1/2 and 1/2 for me, and pancakes or something along those lines for the kids. They are also into fruit and bagels for breakfast. Lately, the big kid has been digging protein shakes in the morning. This is his favorite kind.
Lunch: I have a plastic tote in the cupboard full of self-serve snacks. I buy treats and snacks in bulk and fill up snack-sized zip-top bags. This is really helpful for the summer when for some reason, kids are starving all the time.
Dinner: I’ve got a couple casseroles/freezer meals this week, and other than that we’re eating easy and quick stuff so I can spend time playing, coloring, building legos, and swimming, which is the plan for the week.
Monday: Fruit Salad, Protein Shakes
Tuesday: Chef Salad (Using the green salad I made, plus bacon crumbles, hardboiled eggs, and cheese)
Wednesday: Crockpot Chili, cheese toast, fruit
Thursday: Spaghetti with red sauce and hot Italian sausage, roasted veggies
Make this Halloween happy for everyone with this Tryazon Featured Party opportunity, from Zolli Candy.
Featuring candy that CLEANS your teeth. Zolli Pops were born from the imagination of Teenpreneur Alina Morse. These delicious treats are supercharged with smile-friendly natural flavors and ingredients that are actually good for your teeth. Zolli Candy has zero sugar, no artificial colors, and is vegan, KETO, allergy-free, and gluten-free. Let everyone enjoy Halloween with Zolli Candy.
If you are into Organic/Natural/Healthy products, then Social Nature is right up your alley. Sign up and apply to sample products that you are interested in. I get probably 1-2 products to sample each month. And most of the time it’s full-size products, not just a tiny sample.
Social Nature has rounded up products that are available to try at a local grocery store or mass merchandiser near you. Apply to Try the products that interest you to see if you’re a match here.
Here are some of the new sampling opportunities:
And More!
And one of the things I love about Social Nature is that they don’t leave our friends with food allergies out.
There are sampling offers for Gluten-free, nut-free, meat-free foods frequently.
Canadian Friends- You are in luck, there are sampling opportunities for you too! So if you love trying new products, check out Social Nature!
Here is your monthly reminder! A new month means new printable and electronic coupons!
The printable coupon market is slowly coming to an end. Smartsource no longer offers printable coupons, and you may notice that there are fewer coupon inserts in your Sunday newspaper. This is in favor of more offers available on apps. But if you love printable coupons….
One of my favorite websites is the Sunday Coupon Review. It helps me plot out scenarios in advance and I can email friends to ask for coupons in advance. Remember if clipping coupons isn’t your thing, but saving money is, check out my list of Smartphone apps that can save you the big bucks! New offers are added on the Smartphone Savings Apps all the time!
Here are a few of my favorite printable coupons:
Save $1.00 on ONE (1) Splash Blast™ 16.9 oz. 6-pack, Any Flavor
Save $0.75 ONE (1) Sargento Balanced Breaks CHEESE & CRACKERS
Save $2.00 on ONE (1) Blue Diamond Almond Flour or Baking Mix
Save $3.00 on ONE (1) Sambucol product. Excludes 10ct Gummies and 10ct Immune Drink Powder.
September means Labor Day and Back to school! The traditional Back to School Sales will start. For most schools, classes begin the Tuesday after Labor Day. This is a great time to stock up on snacks that are healthy and shelf-stable.
For a complete list of types of foods and items that will be on sale, check out this post on the cycle of sales.
Woo! A new month means a reminder about all of the free food options there is here in San Diego County.
Keep in mind there are still supply chain issues, so there may not be a lot of food at some distributions, especially those that serve a large portion of the community.
I recommend showing up a little early with a bottle of water and a book and waiting in line. Time passes quickly in these lines, and it’s a great time to learn from others about community food options. Remember to socially distance and follow local masking regulations.
You can find resources here for Central and East County, and Here for North County.
Our friends at Faith Chapel are super ahead of the game and sent out information regarding their 2022 food distributions early on in the year.
If you are located outside San Diego County, call 211. If you are not familiar with 211, here is their website and it can point you in the right direction.
San Diego Food Bank Distributions for September 2022 can be found here. Enter your address (or just your zip code) and the map will show you all of the distributions in your area or closest to you. You can filter by the days of the week to find food when you are available. If there is an income requirement/limit to participate, each location/listing will say such. You can learn more here about the Feeding San Diego Together Tour.
Neighbor distributions are intermixed with the San Diego Food Bank Distributions, however, they have no income requirements, and you come as you are. These Distributions are primarily fruits & veg, however, some locations may also distribute canned goods, dairy, and bread.
If you know of other resources, please leave a comment! And feel free to share this post with anyone you may know in need.
Sprouts is hooking us up and helping us stay healthy! Every month on the Sprouts app in the Digital Coupon section, there are between 4-6 free items (they are marked “SAMPLING PROGRAM”).
Quantities are limited on the app, so if you are interested in any of these, I recommend that you add these coupons (by opening the Sprouts app, click on digital coupons, and click on each coupon in the lower corner where the little green circle is) to your app ASAP.
Not all Sprouts locations will have these freebies, so I suggest trying larger Sprouts locations in your area.
These are full-sized freebies- not small sample-sized products. they are located in the store with the other products of the same type.
Not all accounts will receive all the same products.
Hewes Family Fun 