The Great Raw Milk Debate

Clearly I read too much.

So many different ideas and opinions can be found in your local library!

I'm smack in the middle of reading Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. Some very interesting facts in there, about how high cholesterol is a fairly recent malady, and our ancestors didn't really deal with heart disease and cancer. Her main philosophy is that "industrial food" is slowly killing us.

I'm down with that.

So, we're already eating way more organic than we did, and I expect to wean out the rest of the processed foods over time (I'm way too cheap to throw away food!). I drive out into the country and buy our milk and eggs from an old order Amish farm, which almost certainly doesn't use growth hormones or antibiotics on their cows. The milk is very lightly processed, still having that beautiful cream line in it. Look at that and tell me you don't want some!

Yes, this is better than the white stuff they try to pass off as milk in the dairy aisle of the grocery store. But it's not raw.

Raw is what our forefathers drank every summer and fall. Then they supplemented their winter calcium needs with preserved milk. Cheese.

There was no low fat or skim milk. Our bodies needed (and still need) the fats and proteins and bacteria found in milk.

But wow, finding raw milk, not so easy. I contacted a local farmer about purchasing raw milk, and was told you have to be a shareholder (called a herdshare) in the cow. So you pay a monthly maintenance fee to feed/house/medicate/etc. the cow, and in return you get a share of the profits. It's expensive, too. $75 one-time contract fee, $36 monthly upkeep fee. All for a gallon of milk a week. Yowza...

I desperately want the benefits of raw milk. Planck even mentions in her book that it can help with asthma and allergies, both of which I'm really suffering with right now. But I can't justify it at that expense.

So we'll keep trekking out to the country (which I love) for our milk. We'll keep shaking up that gallon jug so we distribute the cream into the milk. And we'll hope that someday we'll be able to afford to take on a herdshare. Or to buy our own mini-farm and have a family cow.

If you're gonna dream, dream BIG!

How Gourmet Can Be Frugal!

Most people probably wouldn't look at Penzey's Spices and think "hey, that's a frugal gal's best friend!"

I'm here to change their minds.

I love Penzey's. They make cooking at home an adventure, and at the same time still save me money. Here's how:

MYO Vanilla Extract:
This is pretty cut-and-dried, pun completely intended. Grab a 3-pack of Madagascar Vanilla Beans from Penzey's (currently $7.25). Buy a bottle of the cheapest vodka Walmart has on sale. Split the beans and put into a glass jar. Cover with vodka, let sit for about 6 weeks. You have just made your own vanilla extract! And the real beauty here? When you get down to about half the liquid, refill with vodka again. You can get away with doing this quite a few times before you'd need to start over again. With the prices of vanilla extract in the stores right now being what they are, this is definitely a money saver.


MYO Croutons:
Ahhh, salty, garlicky croutons. Yum, yum, yum! But, the way my family goes through them, we could spend a pretty chunk of change at the grocery store on those hard, dried-out little nuggets. How to remedy that? Keep your bread heels in the freezer. When you've got three or four, dice them into about 3/4 inch cubes. Put in a frying pan over medium heat. Add some evoo (and please be generous!), a tablespoon of Sandwich Sprinkle, and stir them until they become golden brown. Transfer to a plate to cool (they will harden just a bit) and store in a closed container. Your salads will never be the same, and your guests will look at you in awe!

MYO Salad Dressings:

We eat lots of salads in our house. At the same time, it's hard to buy expensive bottled salad dressings when you read the lists of unreadables in the ingredients. My DH is completely stuck on Penzey's Greek dressing. A frugal option, and a super healthy one, too!

The Freebie in Each Mail Order Catalog:

(was going to post a picture, but my paper got lost during our move)

There's a coupon for a free spice on *every* catalog they mail you (hint: you can request a catalog here)(or, if you mail order, you can google "Penzeys free spice code" and some generous blogger will have it posted somewhere). I have walked into the Penzey's store in Columbus and just got my free spice, but only once. I'm not really fond of the staff there (it's in a wealthy area and they don't seem too impressed with my yoga-pants-and-hoodie idea of couture), and the shipping rates aren't oppressive, so I prefer the mail-order option.


The Freebie in Each Shipment:

Yes! It's like a little bit of Christmas every time you open their box! A different sample spice from them, something unexpected to try. It's a great marketing tool, too. One I use with my cheesecakes...

And Penzey's as a Gift:

Something I really love about Penzey's is their gift boxes. They tend to be a little pricey, yes. But I love how they use spices as their packing material. Cinnamon sticks as spacers, bay leaves instead of bubble wrap. So environmentally conscious! My go-to wedding gift is the Wedding Gift Crate. The spices are a wonderful gift, but what I especially love are the wedding charms - the lore attached to the whole nutmeg in your cupboard to keep your marriage whole, the few sprigs of rosemary for love, I adore how they package these things in the crate. And the crate itself is pretty eye-catching. The last time this was our gift to a newly-married couple, I just slapped a pretty ribbon around it (being careful to cover the Penzey's logo) and stuck it on the gift table. Everyone was curious what was in the wooden box! We didn't stay to see the newlyweds open it, but they came back with nothing but praise for their gift. It was worth the extra money we spent to have something to offer them that would be put to good use.

One more thing - may I also tell you how I love to use their Cake Spice? It's probably my favorite thing, we buy it in the larger bags. Great with french toast, pancakes, oatmeal. But my favorite? When we make banana bread, we sub cake spice for cinnamon. A tip from my friend Shari - grease the loaf pans with butter-flavored shortening, make cinnamon sugar (again, using the cake spice), and use that to "flour" the pan. Pour in the batter, sprinkle cake spice sugar on top of bread, and bake. Oh, heavenly!

If you're fortunate enough to have a Penzey's in your area, I recommend that you visit (but you may want to dress up for it!). It's a wonderful place, all the spices are in jars - you can see them, smell them. What a heady experience, you'll leave there inspired to get out your pans and cook up a storm.

(no, I wasn't compensated in any way for this endorsement. But Penzey's, if you wish, I'd love to be...with spices!)

Yesterday In Pictures, and a Prayer Request

Impossibly creamy, yummy, homemade yogurt. You can find the method here, I used the gelatin, added nonfat powdered dry milk, and the crock pot became an incubator.
Yes! The flat sheet we've been using to cover the front window? Gone. I made curtains! Those rudimentary sewing skills came in handy (finally). They need some work, they're pretty sheer when the sun's out. But I'm still dang proud of my work!
And, while the sewing machine was already out, I made a draft-catcher for the bottom of our front door (there's a quarter inch gap there!). Do you recognize the fabric? Here, again, showing off my new frugal chops. In the past I would have been headed to JoAnn's for some new fabric. This time? Hmmm, what have I got laying around the house.... It's filled with deer corn, which we'd been using to make microwavable hot pads early last year. And it stops the creeping cold nicely.
And, my pride and joy. Leila finally has a place to call her own. It's hard to capture on camera, it's in the hallway right outside our bedroom. I made it out of a cast-off shelf, a few cans of spray paint to cover the original navy blue-lighthouse motif. Then my wonderful friend Tricia cut the letters for me (she's just started her own business and is about 12 months pregnant). It turned out beautifully, and the thing I love the most about it is how many of you had a hand it in. Lea, with her angel wings. Katy and her memorial plaque. The talented photographers at Rory's Garden for the beautiful pink flower with Leila's name on it. Christine, for the baby book and the shelf. Anita, for the baby on the cloud and her photography skills. The Peace Bear project. Jessica for her collage (not pictured here, but next to my bed with Leila's ashes. Andrew, for the cross he bought Leila for Christmas. Thank you all, from my heart.

Saving the most important for last. Kelly is a BLM who never really joined our community. She caught pregnant again, and just gave birth to little Dillon Blake, 3 months premature. Please, please send her some love and encouragement, and lift her and her family up in prayer.

Bookcase Makeover

Yesterday's Project...

From this:

To this:

It's hard to see how pathetic the original was, but trust me when I tell you it's true. Andrew tested out his art chops on it when he was a baby (and as long ago as a few weeks ago when he was mad at me).

The transformation probably cost more than I expected, about $40 in materials from Hobby Lobby. But the good news is I have enough of the patterned fabric left to cover the horrible cushion on my hope chest. Yay!

This is my first dip into Shabby Chic, and I think I'm hooked. My next project? Talking Yasar into helping me make this for our new place. He's not sold on it yet, but if nothing else I am the Master Manipulator and Chief Button-Pusher! :)

New Grocery Strategy

I'm still a novice when it comes to grocery shopping using coupons, but (with the help of my girl Brenda) I'm learning quickly. It goes against everything I've ever read about the "How To's" of shopping with coupons, but it seems to be working better, and it definitely employs a more thrilling result.

My first upgrade was my coupon box. Gone is the index card file of old - those are for novices. I went out and bought one of those dollar plastic shoe boxes. And some of those giant index cards, and little Post-It tabs for the dividers. I spent last night setting this up with the different categories, and moved all my coupons into their hip new pad.

Next, it's important to have people. We're so lucky to have a pizza driver at our store who also delivers the newspaper. And who still enjoys pizza. So we hook him up with food, he hooks us up with multiple inserts. Can you say free coupons? Yes! Also, I highly recommend subscribing to the All You magazine, published by Walmart. just glance through one next time you're on a shopping trip and you'll see why - they have loads of great coupons tucked into their pages, easily bypassing the cost of the subscription. It's a great investment!

Brenda's far more hard-core into this than I am, so I'm trying to understand the finer details of how many coupons you can use, watching the bar codes on the coupons, etc. She's teaching me, but I seem to be a slower learner on this front.

So last Sunday, armed with my Meijer insert and my coupon box, I made a game plan. Whatever I bought had to be both on special and have a coupon. Yes, I got some goodies I wouldn't have normally bought, but I also have some friends who eat different types of diets and love to trade with each other. So even if those pizza rolls are likely never going to hit my kid's stomach, I'm sure one of my friends will be happy to trade for something they've got.

I made sure Yasar would be caring for Andrew. It's a big no-no to take kids along. They're like little funnel clouds digging into your wallet, and they totally destroy the mojo.

Take your mp3 player and a bottle of water. Yes, turn it into a pleasure trip. Listen to some great tunes. Stay hydrated. You'll begin to look forward to yor shopping trips.

Use the self checkout. ALL grocery stores screw up prices, and the only way you're going to notice is by taking the time and doing it yourself. Those darn cashiers are just too fast for you to pay attention. Sure, it'll probably be a hassle with your fistful of coupons, but you'll likely encounter less ambivalence from your fellow shoppers, too. Win-win!

In the end, being the novice who's only been cutting coupons for about a month, I still saved close to 50% on my final bill. I bought only one thing without a coupon/discount. I stocked up on a few more boxes of cereal than we can use, so what I can't trade with friends will be heading to the food pantry. Ditto with the toothpaste and extra shampoo. My pantry and freezers are full, and that makes me feel so rich.

What are your tips and hints for saving dough at the store?

Have You Thought About Christmas 2009 Yet?

A good friend mentioned on Facebook yesterday how she was bummed out because she was watching the nightly news. I feel her pain...sometimes I dread checking in on my blogroll, since so much of it seems to be bad news right now. So, instead of moping about the economy and rolling our eyes at the $900 billion that Obama is committing our great-great grandchildren to shoulder, I started doing something about our personal economy.

I'm starting a movement in our family. For Christmas next year, instead of buying gifts for each other, I'm asking everyone to explore their passions and create Christmas gifts. We have so many different talents in our family, from cooking and sewing to photography and crafting, that this year we're going to exploit them and see what we can come up with. I'm so totally stoked about this!

Yesterday my good friend Brenda came over and we worked on stage 1 of the Homemade Christmas. It was a fun time for us to talk, we were working together, and making gifts for both our families. I wish I could tell you more about it, but the recipients check into Mumblings from time to time. But I will say, we're considering making extras to sell and recoup our very small investment.

Which brings me to the only stipulation to Homemade Christmas - the maximum spending limit per person is $5. Just enough to get those creative juices flowing, huh?

What about you? Have you thought about how to handle Christmas next year? Will you be doing anything different than last year? Do you have any great suggestions for homemade gifts that you'd like to share?

Wonder Cabbage

As the temps stay low and the grocery budget tightens, I find myself turning to the humble cabbage for a cheap and uber-healthy cooking staple. To me, this is the ultimate in comfort food. The cruciferous family of vegetables may make your kitchen stink, but they're humble heroes in my book. Here's a few of my favorite recipes featuring cabbage.

Simple Middle Eastern Salad

1/2 large head of cabbage, cored and shredded
2 large tomatoes, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 English cucumber, diced (optional)
1/2 cup bottled lemon juice
1/4 cup EVOO
Salt, pepper, cayenne to taste
2 tbsp crushed dried mint

Basically, put everything in a large bowl and toss. Great paired with rice & lentils, or served next to broiled chicken legs or a good salmon fillet.

Quick Pierogie Dinner

1 pack Mrs. T's pierogies (your choice of flavor)
1 pack Hebrew National franks, sliced on the bias
1/2 head cabbage, cored and shredded
2 tbsp butter, divided

In a large pot of boiling water, cook pierogies according to directions, drain. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a large skillet, add cabbage and cover until wilted. Move to a large platter and keep warm. Melt 1 tbsp butter in skillet, add pierogies and franks. Cook until browned. Serve over cabbage.

Halushki

1 head cabbage
8 oz. package egg noodles
1 large onion, chopped
4 tbsp butter
Salt & pepper to taste

Shred cabbage and boil in a little water for about 6 minutes. Cook noodles until soft. Drain. Brown onion in 4 tablespoons butter. Mix all ingredients together. Season with salt and pepper.

Cabbage is also a wonderful addition to beef vegetable soup. At $0.50/lb, it's a bargain that can't be beat!

Have you hugged your cabbage today?

Great Food for All - Is It Worth It?

Great Food for All. Sounds hopeful, right? I thought so, too. An anonymous tipster commented on my Angel Food post, saying I should give this a try. Hey, I'm game for anything that'll save me some $$$...

We brought our first box home Saturday. Breaded chicken patties, pounds of fish, ham (both steaks and lunchmeat), beef chili, baked beans, onion rings, "angry" creamed corn, and even a "slightly imperfect" cherry pie. I unloaded the box with a big smile on my face. The food looks to be a much higher quality than AFM, Yay!

So far, Andrew's eaten the cherry pie and declared it "scrumptious". While I'm not wild about processed breaded chicken, these patties actually look appetizing. The fish is seasoned, but not breaded (score!). The items that can be frozen in flattened Ziploc-type bags are frozen that way, making it much easier to fit into the freezer (convenient). The only head-scratcher, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with 2 lbs of creamed corn, but surely we'll work something out.

I love that GFFA offers different types of food bundles. For example, next month they offer a breakfast box, a kid's box, a grill box, a dessert box, and even a Lent box! Much more of a selection than AFM. However, they don't offer any fresh foods. No produce, no shelf stable milk, no eggs. Which is a good thing, the foods GFFA offers in lieu of AFM's fresh food makes GFFA a better buy (both GFFA and AFM are $30 for budget box).

The only inconvenience with GFFA is that I have to drive about 30 miles into western Dayton to pay/pick up the food. But many times that's not such a problem, we can always combine that stop with a trip to the Middle Eastern store or Sam's Club. I'm also sad that GFFA is only offered in Ohio/western PA/Michigan/Ky/Mo, I can't wait for it to become national.

Oh, and GFFA accepts credit cards. Not that we charge food, but for those that do, it's more convenient than AFM's cash/check policy.

So I'm loving Great Food for All. This is what I wished Angel Food would be! This will be a huge help in keeping our food budget in check. Thanks to my anonymous friend for recommending GFFA!

Day 5, No Relief (What To Do in Yucky Weather on a Budget)

School was closed Wednesday due to snow. Closed Thursday and Friday due to subzero temps. Off the weekend, and closed tomorrow for MLK Day. My son is starting to drive me nuts. Seriously, I can't find his OFF switch. Help?

What do we do when there's no school, no money, and the weather keeps us inside?

Games - we've gotten very good at scoping out the local thrift shops for age-appropriate board games for Andrew. Yesterday we picked up Don't Break the Ice for $1.99, and he's dying to open it and play. Memory is also a big hit with him, as is the SNES with all his "new" cool games. He loves Jenga, which his nanny and pop pop bought him new for his birthday (dual purpose, he uses the blocks to build "garages" for his Matchbox cars).

Cooking - as a 5-year-old, he's finally come into this "I want to help" phase. And he's endlessly fascinated with what goes on in the kitchen. He's just entranced with watching the cinnamon rolls go from doughy mess to warm, puffy goodness. Watching the oven window as if it were a TV? Priceless!

Library - yup, the old stand-by. But it just can't be beat. Especially when it's snowing a little, and there are other kids in the Children's Section for Andrew to socialize with. For some reason, he's just wild about the felt boards they have available for the kids. Picking out DVD's and books to bring home, it's one of his favorite things to do. Me, too.

Cleaning - when I was young, my sister, brother, and I would clean the kitchen by playing "I Spy". If you couldn't guess within so many turns, you had to pick up so many items and put them away. Sure, it took all day to clean off the table, but the point is it made it FUN. Andrew and I do something similar, sometimes using colors, letters (starting with), even smells and textures. It's fun, and very time consuming!

Snuggling - with a movie and some popcorn. Sometimes it's just the best thing to do. I hope he never gets too old for that!

That's what we do when it's yucky outside. What're your secrets?

Ahhh, (cooking at) 34 Feels Good!

Yesterday I celebrated 33 full years on earth. I love my birthday - we try to keep it low-key, but still special. And Meijer offered the perfect means to a wonderful dinner. They had tiny red potatoes on the produce clearance rack for $0.65/lb. So, rather than eating out, we roasted baby potatoes with rosemary and coarse salt, cooked up some chopped steaks, and made homemade French dressing to go with our broccolini. Also on the clearance rack were some bruised and dented granny smith apples,destined to be tossed with some sugar, apple pie spice, and craisins, put into a pie crust and topped with crumb topping. We had the perfect end to the perfect meal.

Yasar thinks I'm nuts, cooking on the day he really wanted to take me out for lunch, but I truly prefer eating at home. I'm not sure if anyone else experiences this, but when I eat out, I usually end up feeling sick and bloated. I can eat the exact same food, cooked in my kitchen, and feel fine. Psychosomatic? Probably. But frugal? Fer sure!

Also, quality ingredients inspire me. I saw those red potatoes, and all my dreams of eating out disappeared. My brother made potatoes like that this past summer on the grill, and I've wanted to try it since. From there it was, "what accompanies potatoes well?". Duh, steak! I even went as far as to put 2 expensive steaks in my cart. Then I saw the lowly chopped steaks. Half the price. Yasar doesn't do bloody steaks, so filet is really wasted on him.

It's a joy to put together a great meal. It's a gift to cook, knowing the outcome will be healthy and fabulous. To see that admiration in my family's eyes is a present I get to enjoy all year long.

Happy birthday to me!

One more thing. The more I ponder birthdays, the more convinced I am that it's a day to say "thank you". Mommy, thank you for going through pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Daddy, thank you for parenting, financing, and encouraging. God, thank you for dreaming me up, and making me a reality.

Thank you. :)

I Need a Few New Recipes...Can You Help?

I'm trying to find some different, lowfat, frugal recipes to incorporate into our diets. This week I'm hoping to try Pepper's lentils and cabbage - it looks so tasty! So, if you've got any suggestions, I'd be indebted.

You guys are the greatest!

What Does 2009 Hold For Your Finances?

All indicators point to 2009 being a record dismal year. Higher prices, layoffs, businesses closing their doors, it ain't gonna be pretty, folks. So what are you doing to prepare?

We've sketched out some rough goals for our family:

1.) Keep grocery spending below $150/month.

How do we plan to accomplish this? Well, thanks to an anonymous tipster on my "Angel Food" post, we're now trying Great Food For All this month. I'm pretty excited about this. It looks to be a more healthy variety than AFM, without all the mystery meats (a long story, but suffice it to say we will no longer order AFM), and the boxes come packaged - no more lugging a laundry basket with you. True, I have to drive further for pickup, but I can easily combine the commute with another errand or two.

We also make good use of bread outlets, clearance racks at Meijer, and dried beans. We should be okay.

2.) Limit restaurant outings to once a month, and then only with BOGO coupon.

This one's going to be a little harder on us. We've slacked off a bit at the end of this year, spending far more money eating out than previously. It was hard enough arranging Christmas dinner (it took days of prep), and cooking a dinner on top of that was just too much to ask. Hopefully we've gotten it out of our systems for awhile!

3.) Trying sourdough.

Yup, I'm thinking of introducing a new pet to our home, as S. John puts it. Wonder if I can teach Yasar to eat sourdough instead of pita. Either way, little sourdough loaves are great little serving bowls for...

4.) Lots of soups.

Yasar's somewhere rolling his eyes right now. A soup fan, he's not. For me, it's the ultimate comfort food. Nothing beats a steaming bowl of chicken corn noodle soup from the local fire companies back home. It's one of the few soups I've not tried to replicate here. But anything else is fair game: soups, stews, Ray Ray's infamous "stoups", goulashes, chilis, gazpachos, vichy-whatevers, name it - nothing would be ashamed to be seen in a petite sourdough bowl. It might even dress up whatever so Yasar will eat without complaint. :)

5.) Smarter gardening.

We're infamous for seeding our bounty for the next year, only to plant the seeds too late. My goal this year is to start the seedlings in egg cartons earlier in the year, so we're not stuck running to the local garden center when our seeds don't germinate.

6.) Sell the house.

(sniff, sniff). Yeah, not too happy about that one. Too choked up to talk about it.

What about you? Are you taking any precautions against an unsure future? Do you think my fears are groundless?

Saving $$$ Eating Out with Andrew

Instead of buying a "kid's meal" for Andrew when we go out to eat, we've been road-testing sharing our meals with him. We just ask for another plate, and divy up the choicest goodies from our plates for him.

The upside to this is threefold - we're saving money, introducing him to different tastes, and providing healthier fare for his (rapidly) growing body. Think about this - you go out to your local diner. Under kid's meals, they have what? Hot dog/hamburger/the ubiquitous chicken nugget/spaghetti or tacos if you're in an ethnic restaurant. And you're likely paying $3 to $4 a pop for something that's overprocessed and probably fried (because they all come with fries, right?).

When we split our meal with Andrew, he's being exposed to different types of food. While visiting PA this past week, my parents, Andrew, and I went to a small diner. My mom, ever the maverick of the group, ordered liver and onions. She asked Andrew if he'd like a bite. He tried it, even swallowed it, before refusing seconds. I held my tongue through this whole minidrama so he wouldn't be swayed by my gagging noises. Gotta say I was pretty proud of him!

The downside? Andrew's five now. The age of independence. He's getting harder to compromise with when it comes to menu selection. While at another restaurant this past week, he was adamant that he wanted a hot dog. We asked the price of *just a hot dog*, and the answer was $3.50. Gulp! He was most unhappy about it, but was required to share my turkey and gravy. He also got the pick of everyone else's plates. I know I looked like the mean mommy to my family and friends, but his healthy eating is very important to me. And our financial future is, too.

Oh, and we're teaching him about drinking water at restaurants. I half-jokingly told my sister I was going to start carrying those individual drink mix packets for just this situation, especially after seeing the bill and realizing that we paid almost $2 for each kid's drink!

What do you do to tame the bill while eating out with kids? And, do you think carrying those drink mixes is ethical?

More Kitchen Hints

Getting dinner to the table. Isn't that the struggle moms go through daily? Add the stress of time contraints to financial woes, and it's almost enought to make you throw up your hands and head to the closest drive thru. But wait! A little prep can make life so much easier! Here, let me share some of my favorite kitchen tips...

Grab a heavy-bottomed skillet. You know that nifty defroster plate they show on infomercials at 2am? You don't need it. Nothing thaws meat out quicker than that massive frying pan you have tucked under the counter. Basically the same thing they're hawking to the insomniacs. Just put your frozen products in the bottom, wait a half hour to an hour, and you should be good to go (depending on the size of your frozen item, of course).

MYO! Do not be afraid to make your own wherever you can. About every other month, we make a huge batch of faux-Bisquick, at the cost of probably $1.50, and at least double the amount you'd buy in the boxes. Here's the recipe we use. Also, we no longer buy vanilla extract. It gets pricey, when you bake as much as we do. To make your own, buy some good quality beans (I wouldn't be doing grocery store beans here, you may want to order them - see "spice it up" section), split them down the middle, and sink them in a jar of cheap hootch - we use vodka. Wait 6 weeks, and viola! Homemade vanilla extract! And, the best part? As the liquid level decreases, you can simply add more alcohol...and you can get away with doing this for quite awhile before you'd be tempted to start a new batch.

Browning ASAP. When you buy your ground beef, brown it as soon as you get it home. Cook it up with a little onion, drain it well, and freeze it flat in a ziploc bag. As you need some, break off a piece and add it where needed.

Spice it up! I loooove Penzeys Spices. Maybe not the most frugal option in the world, but I think having a cabinet full of spices makes me less likely to go out and buy pricey ingredients at the grocery store. So everything I need, I order from them. Or, if you're fortunate enough to live close to one, go visit. Stop in and smelllllll. Be inspired.

Choose your appliances carefully. After a few years of homemade meals, you get a feel for what smaller appliances garner permanent counter space, which ones hang out in a cabinet, and which ones are vanquished to the back pantry. My toaster oven is always at the ready. What a versatile gadget this is! We make chicken nuggets, tater tots, grilled cheese, corn muffins, garlic bread, cookies, warm-ups, lots of things that, before, I'd have had to fire up the expensive full-sized oven for. Also on the counter is the hot air popcorn popper. We use it almost every night, and it's a great deterrant for snacking on potato chips. The crockpot, little deep fryer, and roaster are always at the ready under the counter (well, the roaster's in the basement, it's too big to fit under the cabinet). And the bread machine? No man's land (otherwise known as the back pantry).

Instant cookies. The next time you make cookie dough, make an extra batch and put it in a container in the fridge. Then, after a ho-hum dinner, delight your family with a few homemade cookies, preferrably baked in your toaster oven while you dined. Or, if it's easier for you, roll come cookie dough into balls and flash freeze. Then thaw on a cookie sheet and bake as usual. I often do this with my sister's favorite cookies, peanut butter cookie dough wrapped around a Rollo. We've always got a bag of them stashed in the chest freezer.

Cook ahead. Just had a chicken for dinner? Why not throw the carcass, some celery, onions, carrots, water and bay leaves into the crock pot and make some stock? Freeze in some Depression Tupperware (margarine tubs) with whatever meat you can pick off, and you have the makings for a very quick soup. Throw a few containers in a stock pot, add some veg, throw in some dumplings made from faux-Bisquick, and give me a call (I'll be right over, I swear!). Easy-peasy dinner, and the kids will think you slaved all day.

Eating Healthy on a Tightwad's Budget

It was 5am. Freezing outside. I couldn't sleep. I was thinking about the diet that has been recommended to me, going 30 days without sugar. I've seen the results - a beautiful girl at church went from a size 10 to a size 4 in a few months. So the dilemma is, how do you go sugar-free without busting the budget wide open?

My favorite method is hitting the local Meijer's produce clearance racks. It's baffling, the product that the produce department deems "undesirable", and sells for rock-bottom prices. I walked in there at 5:30 this morning and waltzed out with eggplant, cukes, zukes, bananas, grapefruit, 2 heads of lettuce, and legions of apples for probably 25% what they usually charge. Sure, it's unpredictable, the types of produce available. But it's a test of your frugality - call it a personal Iron Chef challenge. Can you take an unknown ingredient and make something healthful and delicious? I'm up for that.

My other secret weapon in the battle for cheap, healthy eating is dried beans. You can get lots and lots of 1 lb bags of these nutrition powerhouses for usually less than $1 each. And in the book Miserly Moms by Jonni McCoy, she points out how easy it is to make a complete protein with legumes - pairing them with vegetables, dairy, or whole grains will net you all the benefits of eating a hunk of meat, plus high fiber, low fat, and bulging wallet. And don't let the prep scare you. It's only a matter of soaking overnight, then about 1 1/2 to 2 hours of simmering. Sure, it's a little time consuming. But when you stack all these benefits together, it's clear that dried beans can be the frugalistas best friend.

What about you? What are your tips for maximizing your nutritional dollar?

Want to Save $$$? Check Your Heat!

You know, there's only so many ways to trim a household budget. We're worked very hard at saving on groceries, checked the entire house for energy vampires, and cut out as many optional expenses as possible. This is the time of year that we take a long, hard look at our thermostat.

A few years ago we got our first $400+ bill from Vectren for natural gas. Gulp! We vowed that would be the last of it's kind. So it was a hunt to find all the extra gas leaks.

First to get scrutinized was the thermostat. Did we really need a 68 degree room temp during the winter? How low could we go? I'm proud to say that we can manage as low as we feel safe that the pipes won't freeze. Our room temp is now 55 degrees. Yup, it's cold in here. But we layer our clothes like crazy. Blankets boast permanent residence in the living room, including an electric blanket for group snuggling. We drink lots of hot tea, and dine on soup fairly often. And we always, ALWAYS have slippers on.

Then the water heater. For awhile I tried turning it off, then getting up early and starting it up in time to warm for the morning showers. This didn't seem to save a whole lot of cha-ching. We turned it down to 120 degrees. Sure, we could go lower, but it's a trade-off...when the house is cold, the last thing you'd want to do is step into a lukewarm shower. Brrrr!

And finally, the fireplace. Our home was built with a beautiful fireplace gracing the living room. It's so cool, it even has a remote starter! But one night, in the middle of our gas-reduction crisis, I noticed a little blue light under the fake logs. A-ha! A pilot light! How long had that been on? It was a duh moment for me. Now we light up the fireplace of special occasions, like when we're entertaining and on holidays.

And it's all been worth it. People (read: my mother) look at us like we're nuts, but our Vectren bill has more than halved itself. We're better equipped to handle the outside cold, because the temperature difference is not as drastic. And it binds us together as a family, working towards the common goal of lower utility bills. Win-win-win!

What are you doing to lower your bills this winter? Got any new tips for me?

$25 Challenge

Stumbled across an interesting blog earlier this month, The $25 Challenge. As a result of Hunger Action Month, a bunch of people made the attempt to live on a $25 weekly grocery budget, to prove a point. The average Illinois family on food stamps collects $25 a week, so they wanted to see if it was possible to simulate, and what would be the ramifications.


Not so different is our $100 grocery budget. We wouldn't be able to manage a weekly budget, since we do the Angel Food boxes ($30), but so far we've been relatively successful in keeping to our goals.

What The $25 Challenge found was that living on that dollar amount of food per month, especially with the recent hikes in grocery prices, is very difficult. And I'd agree, unless you're willing to put a lot of work and effort into feeding your family, you'd be hard-pressed to make it.

Not to disparage many food stamp recipients, but I've worked in the grocery industry before. Long, long ago I had the best job, working in a supermarket-owned convenience store. And, what I've seen concerning food stamps was disturbing. I have never seen anyone use food stamps in a responsible manner. Buying name-brand food, convenience food, swapping a paper dollar for a 25-cent pack of gum, then having your kids do it as well, until you have anough change to buy a pack of smokes (it was a long time ago, the debit card was just coming out, and smokes were around $1.75). It got hard to watch people using my tax dollars in such a careless way.

But I digress. I'm sure people today are more effective, buying less meat, hitting the discount bread store, using AFM. And, even using all these resources, we would not have been able to make our grocery goal without a well-stocked freezer and an unlimited supply of pizza. And some good friends doing our leftover exchange (future post).

The government is talking about all these different programs to help the public. But if they really want to help the public, maybe they should address the rising costs of food. With gas prices here being $2.39/gl yesterday, why are the groceries still not dropping? When will they? If they worked on that, maybe they wouldn't feel the need to increase food stamps (and, in turn, taxes).

But my guess is that might be too much effort for them. Far easier to pass a pork-laden bill.

IT'S CALLED A RHETORICAL QUESTION!

Okay, David, darling brother, when I asked if I'm that pathetic, I didn't expect you to answer me!!!

"OOOh -- pick me!

In the past 2 weeks, the topics have been (in descending order):

- Lack of fiber intake
- Sprained ankle
- Dumpster Diving
- Make your own dryer sheets
- Saltine-based snacks

(You know, I belong to the selective reading club, right?) :)

[By the way sis, keep living out loud!]"

Touche, David. Thanks for that little slice of sarcasm that I soooo look forward to. I was wonedring how long it would take to get flamed for the urban foraging experiment.

Now off to figure out if canned cat food can truly find a place on the food pyramid. :D

Adventures in Urban Foraging

Okay, so I'm attempting to dignify my nocturnal activities. It's Dumpster Diving, Baby! And, being the frugalista I (cl)aim to be, I can't exactly not explore all aspects of frugality, right? So I'm giving this a week, to see if it's at all beneficial to our budget and lifestyle. Dare to come along?

Day 1
Spent the day "researching" my intended targets. Meaning trolling different grocery stores to see how they dispose of their refuse. And, I'm sorry to say, most of the larger retailers no longer use dumpsters...they use these completely-enclosed, pass-it-down-the-chute-and-straight-into-the-garbage containers. Only three locations looked as if they had potential.

Day 1 Later
Okay, one of those locations (grocery store) is directly under a streetlight on a fairly heavily-trafficked street. And, as noble as my intentions, I'm still unable to get by the stigma of being a trash-picker, and I'm not really interested in being publicized. The second location (also grocery store) was great, even had a pretty great find of a perfectly intact bag of hamburger buns in the dumpster, but alas, I was ill-equipped. I couldn't reach the darn thing! Got to fashion a stick with a hook on the end! And the last location (fast food), well, the employees were still there pretty late, so I didn't even try.

Day 2
Couldn't drag my behind out of bed. Will try again tomorrow.

Day 3
Hooked stick in hand, I checked out second location. I guess they get their trash pickup on Sundays or Mondays. I'd still love to get into that dumpster, even tonight, there were a bunch of tomatoes and a watermelon in there, but that thing is so deep, if I jumped in I'd never get out! And, since I'm doing this O Solo Mio, I'm not looking to get into a jam I can't get out of (I can't think of a more embarrassing situation than calling 911 from inside a local dumpster, the Troy Daily News would have a HEYDAY!).

(sidenote: if you Google "Dumpster Diving Troy Ohio", you come up with a MeetUp website with a bunch of people here in Miami/Montgomery County who are interested in starting a meeting about this. Hmmmm, is there like a whole subterranean culture of people who do this?)

Location 3 was paydirt! It wasn't the goodies I was wishing for, but definitely some usable stuff. The fam will be eatin' good tomorrow!

Day 4
Another cop-out night. I'm just an early AM person, and it's hard to drag my albeit smaller fanny out of bed when DH gets home from work at 1am. Tomorrow's another day....

Day 5
I feel weird, shopping at a store during the day, then hitting their dumpster for freebies by night. And it's getting so that handing over cash for what I know will be gratis in a day or so feels wasteful. Could I be moving over to the dark side? Hmmmm.

Anyway, we'll save the psychoanalysis for later. Location 2 was a hit tonight! I probably walked away with 15 lbs of barely-unsellable green grapes, and a beautiful loaf of Italian bread. The grapes are currently soaking in a sink full of mild bleach solution, since they were open in the dumpster. Once we're done picking through and eating the best of the bunches, I'll be turning the rest into raisins. There were also some pretty sexy beef roasts in the bin, but there has to be limits to this experiement, and we don't want to be human Petri dishes.

Not hitting third location tonight - hopefully I'll be visiting with Mr. Sandman by the time that location is ripe. Maybe tomorrow....

Day 6
I know I said this was going to be a week-long experiment, but DH is going to be working very late the next few nights, way too late for me to get up and forage safely. So I'm calling it off now.

Conclusion?
You know, this wasn't as painful as I'd feared in the beginning of the trial. I found a grocery store with a very accessible dumpster, and a penchant for acting in true "wasteful American" fashion. On that note, I'd like to send out snaps to Meijer, who not only clearances their meat department, but also takes the time to do it in both their produce and dairy department. Truth be known, these clearance carts are always regular stops on my grocery journies, and I rarely walk away without buying. With the economy being where it is, surely second location could benefit by adopting this practice - but please don't, because then I won't benefit from your freebie dumpster fodder!

Another thing - dumpster diving inspires creativity. You can't walk into a dumpster knowing what's going to be awaiting you, but you have to be prepared to think outside the proverbial box to use what you get. The Great Grape dilemma last night taught me that. It was really an A-HA! moment when the raisin idea popped into my head, since my first thought was tossing then browning grapes into my own trash can.

Am I going to continue doing this? Absolutely! It's a very attractive source of food, it's free, and with a little forethought, the time investment isn't that great at all. The one thing that would make this soooo much better would be company. A little teamwork could go a long way, both in prosperity and safety. I'm debating starting a Yahoo Group about urban foraging - we'll see where that thinking takes us.

Now I just have to come clean with DH. He's been so patient, watching me venture out in my dark outfits with a flashlight, and really he's been in the dark, too. While he's getting more open to frugal ideas, I just wasn't sure how he'd react to this. So I told him to trust me, I wasn't doing anything illegal (I hope it's not, but that still needs to be checked out), and I'd explain it all at the end of the week. Wish me luck on that, LOL!

More Tips~n~Hints

I've had the pleasure of reading two of the Tightwad Gazette books this past week, and these are the tips that have been most intriguing:

The Perseids are coming! The night sky will be alight with shooting stars between August 10th and August 14th, peaking on the 12th. Free entertainment!

Check your local health department for free or low cost immunizations. This could easily be cheaper than paying even your copay.

For those with accordion-type radiators, put some foil-faced insulation between unit and the wall, foil-side facing into the room. This will reflect the heat into the room that would have been lost through the walls.

Instead of dryer sheets, invest in some cheap sponges and some Suavitel. Soak sponges in 50/50 Suavitel/water mix, squeeze out and toss into dryer with your laundry.

Instead of washing used Ziploc bags in the sink, turn them inside out and toss them in the wash with your whites. Just remember to fish them out before hitting the dryer.

Instead of car air fresheners, stash some whole cloves in your ashtray - they last a long time and smell wonderful.

To 1 cup laundry soap powder, add 40 to 50 drops food coloring. Add water by the teaspoon until powder becomes a liquid. Stir well, pack into an ice cube tray. Set in a sunny, dry place for 2 days. Pop out and give to your kid in the bath - you just made your own soap crayons!

Marinate beef cubes in leftover pickle juice for a few days for super-tender beef stew meat.

To combat airsickness, hold some of those plastic refreezable ice cubes in your hands during takeoff and landing.

Okay, I'm done. :)