Tightwad Tuesday: St. Patrick’s Day Edition

First off, Happy St. Patrick’s Day! We hope you remembered to wear something green today – if you didn’t, here’s a “virtual pinch” from the Sac Foodies.

On Friday, we posted a list of some of the events and activities going on around the Sacramento area in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, and there are many more that didn’t make the list. But let’s face it: a night out on the town isn’t cheap, especially on a holiday. So for this week’s Tightwad Tuesday, let’s take a look at how you can celebrate St. Paddy’s Day at home without breaking the bank.

Corned beef and cabbage is a staple of Irish celebrations around this time of year. Raley’s has corned beef brisket flats on sale for just $2.47 per pound, through today. Check out the weekly ad for a coupon for free cabbage with the purchase of beef. (Thanks to the Sacramento Bee’s bargain queen Pam Dinsmore for this tip.) Pam also features some easy recipes to make your St. Patrick’s Day special and (most importantly) simple, including one from SeasonalRecipes.com for Corned Beef and Cabbage in Guinness Stout. It doesn’t get much more Irish than that!

Believe it or not, you don’t have to travel to your local Irish pub to enjoy a green beer tonight. It’s easy to create your own at home using green food coloring from the grocery store. Head over to the DIY Life website for the step-by-step process. According to the green beer experts, you can use either blue or green food coloring, but we like the deep green color that can only be achieved when you use green. Just make sure you use enough drops of coloring. Make a statement! No one likes a slight green tinge to their beer.

The Sac Foodies wish you the best of luck in bringing home a slice of Dublin this St. Patrick’s Day!