Thrifty Living

This morning's breakfast was a bit of a concept meal, something I'd thought about for a while and was very eager to try to see if it would produce as delicious a result as I thought it would. Basically, I'd bought some beautiful large field mushrooms and thought "hmmm, wouldn't it be awesome if I cook bake an egg in the middle and eat it for breakfast?" Then I thought "Wait, why can't I?" and hence this was born. It really is as delicious as it looks and I do plan on putting it in heavy rotation for weekday breakfasts (It takes about 5 minutes of prep and then just bakes in the oven until you're ready to eat it).

Thought it might be enjoyed here since it's a very wholesome and cheap light meal for one, great for breakfast or a light lunch with salad. You could easily serve it with some hearty bread to make it a bit more filling for dinner or supper if need be but either way, it's rather delicious :)



Easy recipe at my blog here

I learned this 'recipe' (trick, really) from a former boyfriend. We parted amicably, and this is one of the things I've kept from the relationship. Good, simple and way cheap- what's not to love?

Mix:

- some EV olive oil
- some good balsamic vinegar
- kosher salt or sea salt and fresh ground pepper
- a dab of your favorite mustard

Voila.

What is your tried and true homemade salad dressing recipe?

Fashion magazines make me so angry these days.

Honestly, I've been over them for some time now; I've never bought into them entirely. They're mainly mind candy. But just as I no longer enjoy junk food made of low quality ingredients, my tolerance for mental junk is considerably lower than it used to be. Even magazines like Marie Claire, which is smarter and has more substance than most, just pisses me off now. I have a subscription which I got by saving Coke bottle tops (seriously; you enter these codes, and you can get free stuff. Most of it is junk, but if it saves me paying for a subscription, I'm all for it). When it runs out, I won't renew, and I'll be looking for a new way to entertain myself on flights.

It's not really news that these things are intended to make you buy stuff. Sure, it's packaged as advice and information relevant to your life, but most of it is just cleverly presented advertisements for stuff that is hideously overpriced --- and they try to make it seem like it's normal. Like if you were really hip, really with it, really current, your closet would be full of designer duds and you'd buy new cocktail glasses every time you had a party. It's ridiculous. Now, of course, they are trying to put cute tags on the idea of saving money. We're not poor, we're recessionistas! There, it's so much easier to scrimp when you have a cute name for it. But their idea of saving money is laughable. Marie Claire is patting itself on the back for coming up with a spread of fashion in which everything is under $250! Wow, what a bargain. Note that the whole outfit isn't under $250. If you put together a single outfit from their suggestions, you'd be shelling out $2500 --- hardly revolutionary, hardly a bargain. Get with the real world. I bet most of us here could put several outfits together for a total of $250, without shopping at thrift stores.

What I am into these days is repurposing items from my closet. It's a challenge; I am a clotheshorse and I like to have a lot of variety from which to choose. Since I've been losing weight, I haven't been doing a lot of shopping, but I have been giving away most of my clothes that are too big. As a result, my wardrobe is a bit skimpy just now. And sadly, sewing is a skill which eludes me, in all but its most basic forms.

However, playing with what you have can be a lot of fun. Here's where repurposing comes in. I love long, flowy, ankle-grazing skirts, even though they don't look that good on me. I'm too short. I look best in an A-line that hits just above the knee or at the knee. But the few long skirts I have left, all of which are too big anyway, look GREAT as dresses! I belt them, put a little cardigan over them or wear them as strapless sundresses, and I can dress them up or down. One pleated, tailored black skirt makes a great little black dress for evenings, and paired with a fitted jacket works as a suit. The colorful bohemian skirt can be toned down with a black cardigan, or I can embrace the summer in hippie style by wearing it belted, with a bunch of necklaces. I'm thinking about raiding my husband's side of the closet as well; he's got a lot of old shirts that are too small but I bet they'd fit me. Menswear is in right now. I'm thinking a shirt, unbuttoned down to there over a cami, with a vest, slouchy jeans, and some cool necklaces. Or tied at the waist over a cami and paired with shorts for a casual, cool summer look.

Hmm. What else can be repurposed, I wonder?

Today, for about $7, I purchased a 22 gallon kitchen trash can with lid and put it on my back porch to serve as a reclaimed water receptacle. In my kitchen sink I have a large bowl (which, at some point, I will trade for a plastic tub) over which I rinse things --- plates with food particles, my hands, the coffee pot --- which don't involve soap or anything really icky, and then I dump this bowl into the trash can just outside my back door. I intend to use this water for my potted plants --- normally I'd turn on the hose or bring a pitcher from the kitchen tap. It amazes me how much water I've already saved in just a couple of days of doing this.

The potted plants need a great deal of water in the summer, so I'm hoping I'll be able to take care of them completely from the reclaimed water. We have a sprinkler system, and I plan to turn that way down --- water for shorter periods less frequently, and pray for rain. I would like to get a rain barrel (we're kicking ourselves for leaving the one we had at the family farm when we sold the land and moved) but they are quite pricey, so I'll look into building one myself and placing it next to the garden. I don't see why a large garbage can wouldn't work. Seems you could easily cut a piece of screen to go over the top. Rainwater is best for plants, anyway. Has anyone made their own?

I made my own peanut butter today, and the results are so yummy as to be dangerous.

Spanish peanuts (conventional; I prefer to buy organic but alas, tweren't any) are preferable for making peanut butter, due to their higher oil content. And now that I belatedly checked To Buy or Not to Buy Organic, it turns out peanuts (and most nuts) are one of the things you really want to get organic, so curses!  If you are a dedicated DIYer, you can get peanuts raw in-shell and roast them yourself; you can even buy them, as I did, raw but with skins. However, I suggest that if you are looking to save time and effort, you buy raw, shelled, and skinned.

Shelling is labor-intensive, and so is skinning. It may be hard to find raw nuts that have been skinned, however; so my suggestion is to live with the skins. But if you want your nuts to be nekkid, here's how you do it:

Spread the nuts on a baking sheet and spray with a little canola oil; sprinkle with kosher salt. Bake at 300F for one hour, tossing them at intervals to ensure even roasting.

When they're done and have cooled a little, roll a handful at a time in a terrycloth towel. This will remove a lot of the skin. Deposit each handful in a salad spinner, and when you've finished rolling the batch in the towel, roll them in the spinner with your hand to remove more skins. Then put the lid on and spin the spinner --- it will move most of the skins to the outside of the colander. You won't get all the skins off unless you're really, really Monklike in your dedication; but you will get rid of a lot of them. Alas, this is a messy and time-consuming process.

Once you have your peanuts, grind them in a food processor with a little more salt to taste, and a couple of tablespoons of sweetener of your choice. Honey, agave syrup, or maple syrup work well; I used maple for the flavor. You'll also want to add a neutral-flavored oil. I used canola, but peanut or flaxseed would also be a good choice. Start with about two tablespoons to two cups of peanuts, and add more if needed. Keep grinding until it gets to the consistency you'd like.

Mine came out on the thick side, which is okay with me. I stored it in a plastic container in the fridge.  It may be a little hard to spread, but it tastes amazing.

Considering peanuts are about $2.29/pound, I think I saved money over the peanut butter I normally  buy. Also, you can play with the flavors, and mix different types of nuts and sweeteners.

It's interesting to see what staples we all buy. Apparently we like a lot of the same things! Now let's talk about favorite standby recipes. What do you find yourself turning to most frequently?

I usually make one or two "big dishes" a week. One is usually some sort of casserole or tofu "quiche" which has the same basic ingredients, but different flavors. For example, I'll make a tofu enchilada casserole or tofu lasagna, or a veggie quiche topped with a tofu mix. For the other dish, I'll usually make some kind of soup and some cornbread to go with it.

I also like to roast a lot of veggies (quick, easy, healthful, and SO GOOD) and make tofu cutlets, or crumble up some tempeh to use like ground beef, and have that on hand to make a variety of easy grab-and-go meals like wraps, salads, and pizzas.

I would like to add to the mix one "fancy" dish a week ... just trying something a little new and different, to see what we might like to add to the mix.

What are your best go-to meals?

Shopping my own closet is something I've been doing for a while, since I've been on a weight loss journey and it seemed ridiculous to be buying lots of new things I'd only be able to wear a short time. I've also cut way back on my magazine consumption for several reasons: they're expensive, they promote ridiculous standards of beauty and of living to which few average citizens can aspire, and they exist to make you feel  inadequate so you'll buy stuff. I'm also staying out of stores except when absolutely necessary, avoiding even window shopping, and tossing out catalogues without looking at them ... most of the time.

Sometimes I just can't resist. And I have a few magazine subscriptions that I won't renew once they run out, but in the meantime ... well, now I just try to use them for inspiration.

I love Chico's, even though I find their clothing horribly overpriced. Sale items are usually good, though, especially sale jewelry (and I do love my bling). When the latest catalogue found its way to my door, I was inspired to try to recreate some of the looks with things I already own, and lo and behold, I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!  I cut out pics of looks I like and post them on a board in my closet; and then I play with what I have to try to duplicate the look. It's actually a lot of fun, and it shows me what basic items I might be missing.

I also love the website Who What Wear, which has a weekly video "article" about creating different looks based on celebrity style. It's hit or miss; and of course they show ridiculously expensive items, but many of the looks are worth trying.

What are your frugal fashion secrets?

I want to start a new thread for frugal dining, both at home and out. This will be a place to share your favorite inexpensive recipes, tips for cooking and shopping for food, dining out, etc.

There was an interesting article in one of my foodie magazines --- I'll look it up and reference when I get a chance--- about how many dishes which began as cuisines of poverty have turned into food of the elite, showing up on fancy menus in top restaurants. Lobster is one of the first examples that springs to mind. Once upon a time, it was a poor man's crustacean. Anything that crawled around on the ocean floor and scavenged for food wasn't fancy enough for the rich folks; now it's completely opposite and lobster is fancy food. The same can be said of many types of fish --- the so-called "Chilean sea bass" is so expensive and overfished because of the success in marketing what was previously a plentiful, cheap Patagonia fish.

"Poverty cuisine" is not limited to seafood. Many delicious Italian dishes are simple and inexpensive to make. Stews and soups can be very cheap. Every culture has its specialties and many come from the creativity of poor cooks.

Buying and cooking what's in season is one way to get the best quality at the lowest prices. It does require some knowledge of food and cooking, but to me, one of the great pleasures of the kitchen is experimentation. I try to stock my pantry and fridge with staples from which many interesting and easy meals can be made --- I'm not necessarily interested in complicated cooking, though I indulge several times a year for holiday meals --- but on a day-to-day basis, I'm interested in nutritious, delicious, and relatively simple food.

So let's get the ball rolling with a list of staples. What do you consider must-haves in the pantry and fridge? Here are a few things that are always on my shopping list:

FRESH
Cilantro
Lettuce
Onions
Mushrooms
Carrots
Celery
Apples
Bananas

CANNED OR FROZEN, JARS
Beans
Corn
Fire-roasted tomatoes
Canola and olive oil, both liquid and sprays
Agave or maple syrup

DRIED OR ROASTED
Cranberries
Nuts

DAIRY
Milk
Tofu

BAKING
Whole wheat pastry flour
Baking soda and powder
Cornmeal
Oats

From these basics, I can create a variety of meals any time. What do you consider pantry essentials?

I don't know how this will work out in the long term, but I'm playing a little bit of psychological footsie with myself.

Every time I'm out and "deny" myself something that a few months back I might have bought (iethose little treat goodies we buy ourselves on a bad day, clothes I like but don't actually need etc etc - the "nice but non-essential" items), I'm transferring that amount of money to my ING Orange "slush fund" account.  

If I find I need the money, I can easily transfer it back. If not, it can either sit there and bump up the slush fund, or I can take it out to put towards a "luxury" that we've put on hold due to financial uncertainty.  At the moment, it can sit there and save for some camera gear I need and want.  In any case, it makes me feel that my "sacrifice" is actually a gift to myself, just in a different way... and it keeps that money OUT of sight and out of hand, so it can't just be nickled-and-dimed away.

Like I say, I don't know if it will work, but so far it's sitting well with my psyche :)

I'm posting this here because I cannot seem to use the comment field:

LJ kept eating my comment, so here goes. I do a lot of the same things bellavoix does, although I do admit I am less domestic.

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