50% off @ ECOlunchboxes.com After Completing a Bolder Challenge

If you haven't heard of Bolder yet, you might want to get on over to their website and check it out. On the Bolder site, you can take challenges and get rewards, which range from discounts and coupons to trees being planted or donations made to good causes.

For example, right now you can complete the challenge posted by ECOlunchboxes and earn a 50% discount on your next purchase of one of their reusable, eco-friendly lunch bags, containers or sets.

Here is how it works:
Go to the ECOlunchboxes challenge posted on Bolder.
Complete the challenge, which is to pack a snack without using plastic.
Post a message about how you completed the challenge.
You will then be given a discount code for 50% off, which is good at the ECOlunchboxes website.
You will also receive an email with the code, so you don't have to use it immediately.

While you are at the Bolder website, check out some of the other challenges currently available. While I was there today, I completed a challenge to have a tree planted and one where the challenge poster will eat vegan for one day for each action completed.

Sabra Hummus Deal at Albertsons - Through Tuesday, June 28

Here is a breakdown of the Sabra hummus deal at Albertsons (that I mentioned on Twitter).

Regular Price: $4.99
Sale Price: $3.99 (with store card)
Use $1.00 off one Sabra product from Sunday (6/26/2011) Smart Source insert
Use one Albertsons Twice the Value coupon (also from Sunday paper)

Final Price: $1.99

This deal is good through Tuesday, June 28.

Occasionally, Fred Meyer will do a sale on the Sabra hummus for two for $5.00. This makes them $2.50 each (since Freddy's doesn't make you buy two to get the two-for price). If you use a $1.00 manufacturer coupon with that sale, you can actually get a better deal by getting them for $1.50 each. However, I don't know if Fred Meyer will be doing that sale before these coupons expire.

And - of course - it is even cheaper to make your own hummus, which also allows you to avoid the plastic packaging.

Vegan Extreme Couponing: Example and Intro

A few folks have been contacting me to ask more about vegan couponing and exactly how it works. Of course, there is always the common way of simply using a coupon to save a bit of money the next time you go to the grocery store. But there is a better way to use vegan coupons that can save you even more.

It appears that the recent increase in interest regarding couponing is tied to the popularity of the TLC show, Extreme Couponing. So I think it’s important to get a couple of misconceptions out of the way before I talk much about how you can partake in some vegan-style extreme couponing.

For starters, a lot of long-time couponers absolutely hate this show, noting that it gives couponers a bad name and makes us look like a bunch of shelf-clearing hoarders. On the other hand, there are also plenty of folks who are happy to see a wider audience of consumers becoming aware of the potential for significant savings with couponing done right.

Read the rest of this post over at my new blog at www.CheapVeganChick.com. 

Patio Gardening: Loving My Grow Bag!

My thumbs are not as green as I would like them to be, but my patio garden is almost convincing me otherwise this year. While I would like to take all the credit for making my plants happy, I’m pretty sure it has more to do with some changes I’ve made in their living arrangements.

For one, I bought an Oregon Breather Grow Bag to try out with a tomato plant. I only purchased one grow bag, since I didn’t really want to make much of an investment in them before I tested it out. I was intrigued by the idea of grow bags providing better drainage, being healthier for roots and working as an eco-friendlier option for container gardening. I chose this particular grow bag because it is made in the USA from recycled materials, shipped from just a few hours from where I live and can be reused each year.

Now that I have been using it for about a month, I’m totally crushing on it and am planning to order more. The handles (which you can't really see in the pic - sorry) make it easy to move around whenever I decide I need to redesign my patio garden, and I actually really like the simple, clean look of it.

Also - I can’t believe how much the tomato plant has grown and how happy it is – which may not seem very impressive to all of you expert urban gardeners, but this is a definite win for me.

The other change I made this year was getting a tiny greenhouse, which I will write about in a separate post.

Side note: I am not at all affiliated with House of Green – the makers of this grow bag – and they have no idea I am writing this. If you are interested in checking out their grow bags, you can visit their website here. If you look locally, you might also be able to find a company that makes similar bags in your area.

Save $1.00 on Florida Crystals Organic Agave Nectar

I don’t generally use cane sugar when I bake, but I have used Florida Crystals organic sugar and was very pleased with the results. I also like that Florida Crystals is certified carbon free, their organic sugars are certified organic and they use no animal by-products in the production of their organic and natural sugars.

They have now introduced a new product that I am excited to try: organic agave nectar. And to make things even sweeter, they are currently offering a coupon for $1.00 off any Florida Crystals organic agave nectar product.

To get this printable vegan coupon, visit the Florida Crystals website. Look towards the bottom right of the home page to see where to click to print out your $1.00 off coupon.

I have been carrying around my coupon in my coupon binder and hoping for a chance to use it, but I have not yet found a store selling this product in my area. So if anyone knows where they sell Florida Crystals organic agave nectar in the Seattle-Tacoma area, please let me know!

Make Your Own Natural, Vegan Toothpaste - Easy DIY Tips and Recipes

I've always admired those women and men who make all of their own soap and toiletries, grow and can their own food, live off of the grid with their DIY solar panels and whatnot, and just generally live in an almost completely self-sustaining manner.

Now, I really don't have much of an excuse for not doing that myself. I know how to make soap, I know how to can food and I reckon I could figure out how to install a solar panel (or better yet, delegate it to my partner). So, really my only excuse would be coming up with the upfront cash to buy the land and set up housekeeping in a manner that befits this lifestyle.

So, while we work out that little kink, my partner and I are always looking for new ways to go one step further and incorporate eco-friendly, natural, cost-effective (and, of course, vegan) products and habits into our life. We grow some of our own food in a patio garden, make about half of our personal care products, buy organic when we can and so forth.

Making our own toothpaste is one of those little steps and, really, I had no idea it was so easy to make my own toothpaste, or I would have been doing it a long time ago. Starting from a baking soda base, you can easily (and cheaply) make your own vegan, natural, eco-friendly, inexpensive toothpaste that the whole family will love.

I researched a ton of articles online to find little tidbits of info and recipe ideas in order to determine what would work best for us. So, I thought I would share that info with you just in case you are also thinking of easy, cheap ways to go green and improve your family's health and wellness.

Making your own toothpaste really is an easy and cost-effective way to take control of the products you use, save money and lower your impact on the environment. You probably already have everything you need and it will take you about five minutes to mix up your first batch. Plus, when you make your own stuff you know for sure that it doesn't have any animal products and that it hasn't been tested on animals.

For tips and recipes, check out this article: How to Make Your Own Toothpaste


**I apologize for making you click a link to get to my article on how to make toothpaste. When I wrote the article, I sold it (with exclusive rights) to the site that it now lives on, so I am not allowed to publish it separately on the blog -- I can only link to it.

Vegan Coupons: Printable Pacific Natural Foods Coupons

Pacific Natural Foods has six printable coupons available on their site right now.

Here are the vegan coupons they have available:

$1.00 off one Pacific Natural Foods Soup or Broth

$1.00 off one Pacific Natural Foods 17.6 oz Hearty or 12 oz Condensed Soup

$1.00 off one Pacific Natural Foods Non-Dairy Beverage

$1.50 off one Pacific Natural Foods Original, Vanilla or Chocolate Hemp Milk

They also have two additional coupons (one for frozen pot pies and one for frozen pizzas), but I don't think there are vegan options for those products.

To get these printable vegan coupons, visit the Pacific Natural Foods website and input your name and email address. You will then be taken to a page where you can select which coupons you would like to print.

**A note to Albertson's shoppers: You might want to hold on to these to see if Twice the Value coupons will be coming out this Sunday (available in the Sunday paper or at the customer service desk). Each Twice the Value coupon is good for doubling one manufacturer's coupon of up to $1.00 in value.

This means, for example, if you print out the $1.00 off one Pacific Natural Foods Soup or Broth coupon and combine it with a Twice the Value coupon, you can save a total of $2.00 when purchasing one Pacific Natural Foods soup or broth at Albertson's between the Sunday that they come out and the following Tuesday.

So Delicious Vegan Coupons - Save .55 on Dairy-Free So Delicious Products

**This printable vegan coupon is currently unavailable (as of July 17), and the website says that the campaign has reached it's print limit. I will leave this post up -- the link is still live and this is an easy way to check to see when they reset so that we can print more vegan coupons for So Delicious products. Thanks!**

So Delicious Non-Dairy Coconut Milk Creamer (in Hazelnut) is always in our refrigerator, so I'm excited about this new .55 off coupon for one So Delicious frozen dessert or refrigerated item.

To get this vegan coupon, simply visit the So Delicious website and enter your name, email and zip code. You will then be taken to a page where there is a printable So Delicious coupon for .55 off one Purely Decadent or So Delicious product.

You can also mark a box to let them know that you would like to receive emails when they post new vegan coupons on the site (which is how I found out about this coupon).

**Don't forget to hit the back button after you print your first copy. This type of printable vegan coupon can be printed twice per computer, which means twice the savings!**

Save Money and Get Schooled at Nasoya's Tofu U

Do you love Nasoya tofu?

If so, you can earn a $1 off coupon by pledging to cook tofu once a week for one month.

All you need to do is visit the Nasoya Tofu U website and take the pledge, which requires your full name and email address. After you take the pledge, you will be able to print a vegan coupon for $1 off a Nasoya tofu product.

Nasoya will send you a new coupon each week during your pledge month, so you can save even more money!

**This type of printable coupon can be printed twice, so don't forget to hit the back button to get your two copies of this vegan coupon.**

Vegan Coupon for Silk Soy Milk, Almond Milk or Coconut Milk!

Vegan coupons can be a bit hard to come by, but it is always nice to save a little money while eating healthier. While they might be a little more difficult to find, there are vegan coupons out there, so I've decided it might be helpful if I start posting links to the vegan coupons I find online.

For starters, you can save .75 now with a printable vegan coupon available on the Silk website.

All you need to do is visit Silk and register for their newsletter. (You will see the button to sign up and get your coupon on the bottom left of the home page).

Remember -- if you save your coupon and use it when your favorite grocery store is having a sale on Silk products, you can get an even better deal!