Frugal Divorced Liz

I've been sick!

2010-10-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

It's been about 3 weeks since I last blogged, because about 3 weeks ago, I got really sick! Unfortunately, I have a chronic health problem that flares up with a vengeance. Luckily, I'm finally recovering, so my blogging should be back to normal soon! I've got some awesome recipes and frugal ideas for cold weather just waiting to be written!

My Dog Was Attacked!

2010-09-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

I had to take my dog, Amber, to the vet this week, because she was attacked by another dog and hurt! Luckily, she wasn't hurt very bad, but she needed stitches, pain killers, and antiseptic cream. Unfortunately, she keeps licking off the antiseptic, so I don't know how much it's helping!

I hope she feels better soon. The other dog came into my yard to attack her, so now I'm scared to let her outside. I think the painkillers are making her sleepy, because she seems a lot more tired than usual. She has all of these missing tufts of hair, and she keeps licking her cuts and whining. At least she's current on her rabies vaccines!

Frugal School Lunches

2010-09-02T06:19:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of people ask me how to make school lunches frugal. I've been packing school lunches for 4 years now, so I've learned a few things about making them affordable! Here is what I've figured out along the way:

DON'T BUY INDIVIDUAL ANYTHING

Individual bags of chips, packages of cookies, packages of crackers, packages of baby carrots, etc... may look appealing and convenient, but they are real budget busters, not to mention wasteful and bad for the environment. Instead of buying individual packages of baby carrots (for example), just buy a regular sized bag and send one serving every day. You don't even have to put baby carrots in a plastic bag. I wrap them up in a paper towel, and they keep just fine. If you want to send yogurt or applesauce, get a small Tupperware container and portion some out from a regular sized carton, or jar. I have sent applesauce many times this way.

MAKE THINGS A LITTLE LESS CONVENIENT, BUT A LOT MORE FRUGAL!

If you want to send cookies to school with your child, make some yourself! If you're not a big baker, buy a bag of cookie mix or brownie mix and go to town! I even buy mixes sometimes, when they are on sale. With sales and coupons, you can get all kinds of mixes for really cheap. Buy some cake mix and make cupcakes! Even if you pay full price for the mix, it is SO much more economical to make your own semi homemade, rather than just buying a package of cookies, muffins, or brownies. Also, the other kids and teachers will think you're mother of the year!:P It literally takes like 20 minutes to whip up a batch of cookies or muffins, whether you're using a mix or not. Just try it and see how happy your child is!

NEVER, EVER BUY "LUNCHABLES"!

Not only do lunchables contain enough sodium to cause an elephant to have a stroke, they are also a HUGE waste of money and resources. If you want to pack your child some crackers with toppings, just go out and buy some crackers, a few toppings, and call it a day. Better yet, send your child to school with a sandwich on some whole wheat bread! People are always telling me that their child won't eat whole wheat bread, or won't eat fruit, or won't eat vegetables. They WILL eat it if that's what they are offered. Parents have to set the example by eating it first (with enthusiasm!) and then your kids are sure to follow.

SAMPLE LUNCHES
Here are my basic lunch plans

Lunch I
Peanut butter sandwich on homemade flax bread (You can buy bread, I just like to make my own!)
An apple, plum, or banana
Blueberries, blackberries, or baby carrots
1 or 2 homemade cookies (depending on the size)
A thermos of juice or soymilk (sometimes I send juice boxes if they were on sale)

Lunch II
Two homemade whole grain muffins, such as zucchini or banana nut
An apple, banana or plum
Berries or baby carrots
1 or 2 homemade cookies
Soymilk or juice

Lunch III
Homemade whole grain pita bread
a small container of homemade hummus
Grape tomatoes, sliced cucumbers and baby carrots in a baggie
1 or 2 homemade cookies
Soymilk or juice

I pretty much always send one of those three lunches to school with my kids, and in 4 years, they have never complained. They especially love the muffin version. Sometimes I will send leftover pumpkin or sweet potato pie if I have any, instead of the cookies.

Sweet bread recipe!

2010-08-31T10:11:00.000-07:00

I got this awesome recipe from Kristen, who writes The Frugal Girl blog! I often make these bears for my kids when we have Family Home Evening. One time my friend Corey came over and ate like half of one bear all by himself! Once the bread is baked, it tastes great hot from the oven, slathered with butter and honey.

Sweet Bear Bread

4 1/2tsp yeast
2C milk
1/2C sugar
8Tbsp butter
2tsp salt
2 eggs
about 6 1/2C flour

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water. Heat milk, sugar, butter, and salt until warm, but not hot. Add to dissolved yeast along with eggs and 3 cups of flour. Beat for 3 minutes on medium speed (or stir thoroughly by hand). Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.

Knead dough for an additional 5 minutes on medium speed, or by hand on a floured surface.

Punch dough down and divide into fourths. Shape 2 fourths into balls and place on two greased baking sheets to serve as the body of the bear. Divide 1 fourth in half, shape each piece into a ball, and place above the body piece to serve as the head. Divide remaining fourth into 14 pieces, and shape each piece into a ball. Use 4 balls for the paws, 2 balls for the ears, and 1 ball for the nose of each bear.

Cover the bears with a towel and let them rise in a warm place for 30 minutes, or until doubled. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 25-30 minutes, or until browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Reader Questions Post!

2010-08-30T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here is another post where I answer reader questions!

Dear Liz,
Do you really think that making your own cleaning products and laundry detergent is a good use of your time? I can get a lot of that stuff practically for free by combining sales with coupons.

I don't make my own soaps and cleaning products just to be frugal. I also do it to avoid having harmful chemicals in my house! I actually started making my own laundry detergent as a way of reducing my allergies. After that, it just made sense to see what else I could make! And let's face it, making your own laundry soap and bathroom cleaner is fun!

Dear Liz,
Don't you worry that your homemade cleaning products aren't getting things clean? Maybe you should buy lysol or something, just for your toilet and kitchen sink!

This is a tough one, because I don't really know if there are tons of harmful bacteria living in my house. I guess if they are, they aren't doing anything. I've been making my own cleaning products for like 3 years, and we hardly ever get sick. I think the key is to just not let the microbes build up in the first place. I scour my kitchen every day, and my bathroom at least every week. Also, I don't prepare any meat anymore, so salmonella and other harmful diseases probably don't get a chance to multiply on my counters and sink.

Dear Liz,
I'm trying to be more frugal, but it seems like I'm always backsliding! How do you stay on track and stick to your budget?

Okay, first of all, everyone backslides! In fact, I backslid just this month! I don't even know where all of my money went. All I do know, is my budgeted cash ran out like 4 days ago. I had to go to the bank and take money out of savings to cover the deficit. The important thing is to make sure you have some savings, so that if you do overspend, you won't have to rely on credit cards, or just do without essentials. My plan next month is to try to be stricter with my budgeted money to hopefully make up what I overspent.
That being said, I do have a budget plan that I normally stick too. I stay within my budget by taking out a specific amount of cash every week and then dividing it up into different envelopes. I put $50 in the grocery envelope, $40 in the gas envelope, $10 in my babysitter envelope, $25 in my lawn care envelope, and $30 in my miscellaneous envelope. Once the money is gone, it's gone. Sticking to the cash system can be difficult, especially since I don't have a ton of cash to work with, but it's helped me to stay within my budget and not run through my savings, or go into debt during these lean times.

$19 per week for lunch??

2010-08-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter, Alia, recently started pre-kindergarten at a private preschool. It's free, because it's part of the Georgia pre-kindergarten program, but the school isn't the same as a public school. I was really bummed that she didn't get into her zoned school! Anyway, one crazy difference, is the private school has this CRAZY rule that you have to pay $19 per week for your 4 year old to eat lunch! I mean that they actually have a rule where you can't pack your child's lunch and you have to pay almost $4 per day for the school lunch! For a 4 year old!!

Luckily, my child is on a special diet, so I was able to get a WAIVER to pack her lunch. I actually had to produce a doctor's note to be eligible for this special privilege. Unbelievable!

Frugal After School Snacks!

2010-08-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

In my experience, kids always come home from school hungry. This can be a real budget and health buster if you rely on packaged junk food as snacks. Here are some ideas for snacks that are both healthy AND frugal!

EASY MUFFINS!
My friend Shannon gave me this awesome recipe!

4C flour (3C whole wheat, 1C white)
1C brown sugar
2Tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
3 eggs
2C milk
2/3C oil
2C fresh or frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or any combination.

Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix briefly. Add berries and mix until just combined. Spoon into muffin tins lined with paper liners. Bake @400 degrees for about 15 minutes! This recipe makes 24 muffins.

GRANOLA BARS
I got this recipe from The Frugal Girl!

2C quick cooking rolled oats
1C flour
1/2C wheat germ (optional)
1/4C brown sugar
1tsp salt
1/2C oil
1/2C maple syrup or honey
1 egg
1/2C chocolate chips

Mix together the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whip together the wet ingredients with the egg, and then pour over the dry ingredients. Stir together until combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir again. Spread evenly in a greased, rimmed baking sheet. It will seem like this dough will never spread out! I use the back of a big spoon that I've dipped in water. Actually, I often just give up after a while and leave some unevenness. It all still turns out delicious! Bake @35-0 degrees for 15-18 minutes. Cut into bars and enjoy! I try not to make these too often, because I will just sit around eating them!:P

Some other frugal after school snacks are: smoothies, celery with peanut butter, almond "milkshakes," homemade bread with peanut butter, fresh fruit in season, carrot sticks...etc

One year since I became single

2010-08-16T09:59:00.000-07:00

This month marks the one year anniversary of my ex-husband and I splitting up. There have been a lot of tough times during this first year, but all in all, I think the kids and I have come out better on the other side. I decided to list the top three ways that our lives have improved since the divorce, so here they are!

FREEDOM, FREEDOM, FREEDOM
When my husband lived with us, the family only had one car. He pretty much had the car all of the time, so the kids and I were constantly just stuck in the house! I mean, we could walk around the neighborhood, but that was about it. He also never wanted any of us to have any friends, or to go anywhere without him. Since he left, the kids and I go to events at their school, to movies we want to see, we've joined a church and made lots of friends, we eat what we want for dinner, we can go visit my parents in Florida, we can have friends over for dinner...etc. It's wonderful, not having to deal with a huge fight everytime I want to go somewhere or make a friend.

SELF CONFIDENCE
It really builds my confidence in myself that I've gotten through this first year, and even improved a few things! There have been a few hitches, but I definitely see an overall trend of improvement. The kids and I spend more time playing games together, we cook dinner together, and I think we're all happier together in general. My ex was not an easy man to live with, so him being gone means less day to day stress. The kids miss their dad in some ways, but my oldest daughter especially acts much less tense and nervous when he's not here. She told me the other day that I smile a lot more than I used to.

A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
My ex was a REAL downer, because he's a very negative person. He never wanted the kids and I to decorate for holidays, or plant a garden, or go to the zoo, or do anything. Whenever we DID do something he didn't like, he would become very critical. Now the kids and I do all sorts of fun things, and everything is so much more enjoyable without his constant complaining! I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving this year, because my mom is making all of us Fall themed dresses and I plan to decorate my whole house and cook a spectacular feast!

Almond pulp face scrub!

2010-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

My face is REALLY sensitive. I use soap that is specially made for people with sensitive skin, and my face STILL peels from dryness. I also suffer from embarrassing breakouts. Recently, I was looking for a way to use up the pulp that is left when I strain almond milk, and I decided to use it on my face! I am so glad I did! The almond oil moisturizes and the slight roughness exfoliates! It's only been three days and my skin already feels a lot better. Here's how to get your own almond pulp:

4C water
1C raw almonds

Blend on high for 1-2 minutes. Strain through a clean dishtowel into a bowl. Gather up the edges of the dishtowel to make a bag. Squeeze the remaining milk out of the almond pulp. Reserve the milk for smoothies! The pulp will keep in the fridge in a covered container for at least a week. To use as a face scrub, wet face, gather up a small handful of pulp and smear it on your face. Gently rub all over to exfoliate. Rinse off with cool water and revel in your glowing skin!

Grocery and menu plan!

2010-08-14T12:59:00.000-07:00

It's been a while, but I've finally written a menu for this week!

SUNDAY
Mashed potatoes
Mushroom gravy
Tomato cucumber salad
Tofu sausage

MONDAY
Roasted vegetable hummus wraps
Corn chips
Avocado salad

TUESDAY
Mango smoothie!
Grapes

WEDNESDAY
Black bean chili
corn chips

THURSDAY
Asian stir fry
Rice

FRIDAY
Bean burritos
Corn chips
Colorful beet salad

SATURDAY
Carrot ginger soup
Baked egg rolls

Beets!

2010-08-13T08:41:00.000-07:00

Beets aren't in season yet, but they will be next month! I like having things to look forward to.:P Beets and dates are what help me get over the end of mango season.
In my opinion, beets are a really underrated vegetable. I meet so many people who don't eat them, just because they don't ever think of it! How they could not be thinking about beets nonstop during Fall and Winter is beyond me. Beets are like a diamond in a lump of coal. They are packaged in a fairly dull looking skin, but once they are peeled and you slice one in half...A beautiful, ruby red jewel is revealed. In my opinion, no fruit or vegetable is as visually stunning as the beet. I add them to all kinds of foods, just so they will make the dish look pretty! Luckily, beets taste great and are great for you as well. Beets are loaded with vitamins A, B, and C. They also contain calcium, iron, folic acid, potassium and fiber. Here is how I like to eat them:

Ruby Smoothie I
1C almond milk
a handful of fresh or frozen strawberries
1 slice of a small beet, peeled
1 banana
1 Tbsp maple syrup

Ruby Smoothie II
1C cucumber water (juice)
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 slice from a small beet, peeled
a handful of strawberries
1-2Tbsp maple syrup

Blend until smooth and enjoy! Another cool thing to do is to juice a few oranges and then juice 1/4 of a small beet. It turns the orange juice bright red! I tell my kids they are drinking Kool aid.:P

Roasted Beets!
1 beet, peeled and sliced into fairly thin matchsticks
2C carrot matchsticks
2C small potato chunks
Toss vegetables with about 2-3Tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Roast at 500 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, shaking and stirring the pan every 10 minutes or so. Serve with crusty bread with honey butter and a big green salad! We ate this yesterday and my kids begged for me to make some more after it was all gone. How could I say no!

Reader Questions Post!

2010-08-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

I usually just answer reader questions via e-mail, but I thought this time I would make a post out of it! I've noticed that lots of other blogs do this, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon.:P

Dear Liz,
How can you afford to eat so many expensive ingredients, and eat so much fresh food on your $50 a week grocery budget? I budget $300 per month for my family of 4, and I could never afford to buy the things you buy, like maple syrup and tons of fresh fruit.

Well, one way I'm able to afford a lot of expensive ingredients, is my family doesn't eat meat or dairy products anymore. One day I realized that meat is really expensive, and my kids don't even like it! After I stopped buying meat, cheese, sour cream, and yogurt, I suddenly had a lot more money for fruits and vegetables. Another way I save is I buy a lot of staple items in bulk when I get some extra money. Every three months I get a few hundred dollars back in Pell Grant money, and I often will use it to buy rice, rolled oats, dried fruit, flour, beans, lentils, cereal on sale, almonds, pasta, yeast, and corn chips. With those staple items already bought, I have a lot more money to spend on perishables and extras, like maple syrup. I also make all of my own cleaning products, which helps me stay on track with my budget. I would advise you to look at what you buy from the store with a critical eye. Are you buying individual servings of chips? Soda? frozen meals? expensive breakfast cereals? All of those things can be real budget busters. I hope this helps!

Dear Liz,
Why don't you post your menu plan for the week anymore?

That is just sheer disorganization on my part! Sadly, I'm pretty much hopelessly scatterbrained.:P

Dear Liz,
I was wondering where you get the clothes that you wear in your profile pictures. Do you make them?

Actually, my mom makes them! She started sewing a while back and since then, my wardrobe has gotten really huge. She's making me a dress with witches and bats for Fall.:P

Hummus recipe amendment!

2010-07-29T10:21:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, I discovered a delicious and unexpected addition to my hummus...Cauliflower! I had some steamed cauliflower left over from yesterday's cauliflower sandwich experiment, so I just threw it in the blender when I was making some hummus. The result was as delicious as it is unusual. The cauliflower doesn't add an assertive flavor. It mostly adds depth and complexity. Cauliflower basically takes a fairly one dimensional hummus and gives it three dimensions. Here's the updated recipe!

Liz's Red and White Hummus spread
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 ripe tomato
1C steamed cauliflower
3Tbsp tahini
1/4C lemon juice
1-2 cloves garlic
salt to taste
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth. I ate this with a cucumber tomato sandwich and corn chips. So refreshing!

Cauliflower sandwich!

2010-07-28T16:58:00.000-07:00

In my quest to eat less meat, I discovered this tasty sandwich filling! Cauliflower isn't extremely frugal, but it's definitely less expensive than sandwich meat, or cheese. Cauliflower is also rich in vitamin C, fiber, and calcium. Here's the recipe!

1 cauliflower, cored, chopped and steamed until tender
1/4-1/2C mayonnaise
seasoned salt
2 tsp lemon juice

Mash the cauliflower in a large bowl. Add the mayonnaise, lemon juice and salt, mixing until well combined. Serve on a toasted sandwich with tomato, or on pita bread! I ate this sandwich with a simple cucumber tomato salad.

I know cauliflower might seem like a strange thing to eat in a sandwich, but it really turns out great! I am so glad I decided to try this, because it has become my favorite sandwich. A mashed cauliflower has a pleasing "meatiness" to it without being heavy. The tang of the lemon juice marries well with the slight sweetness of the mayonnaise, the earthiness of the cauliflower itself, and the smokiness of the seasoned salt. Pair that myriad of flavors with a hearty grain bread and a simple salad for deliciously deceptive frugal dining!

Vegan Dinner Party!

2010-07-27T06:26:00.000-07:00

Ever since my stomach condition has forced me to become a vegan, I have been worrying that I wouldn't be able to have friends over for dinner! All of my "company" recipes require meat and dairy products! Yesterday, though, I really wanted to have my friends Brittany and Michael and their daughter over, so I spent some time attempting to invent a frugal, vegan menu that they would actually want to eat! After some trial and error, here's the menu I came up with:

VEGAN VEGETABLE PIE!
(I guess it's not technically vegan, because it uses butter, but I figure it's close enough!)
Double recipe shortening pie crust.(I use the shortening that doesn't contain trans fat.)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, minced
3C peeled potatoes
2C carrots (I used baby carrots)
3C broccoli florets (save the stems)
2C corn, cut from the cobb
1/2 tsp dried thyme or savory
sprinkling of seasoned salt
4Tbsp flour
2C cashew cream (recipe will follow!)
1 stick of butter

To make a shortening pie crust:
2 1/4C flour
14Tbsp shortening
1/2tsp salt
Ice water

In a food processor, pulse the shortening, flour and salt 4 or 5 times. Add the water 1Tbsp at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough comes together in a shaggy ball. Remove from food processor and knead briefly to form a dough ball. Wrap the ball tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

To make the filling:
Steam the potatoes and carrots in a vegetable steamer until fairly soft. Steam the broccoli for 5 minutes. I had to do this in batches, so it was kind of a hassle! Melt 1/4C butter in a large, heavy kettle. Cook the onion and celery until the onion is translucent. Add the potatoes and carrots and cook, stirring frequently for about 10 minutes. Make sure you stir a lot, because the potatoes will stick! Add the broccoli, reduce heat to low, and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the corn, thyme or savory, and seasoned salt. Remove from heat and let cool for about 30 minutes while you prepare the cream sauce.

CASHEW CREAM!
Cashew cream is non-dairy, so it is much easier to digest than traditional cream. I am lactose intolerant, so that's why I use it. Heavy whipping cream can be used instead, if you don't want to make the cashew cream.
1/2C cashews
1 1/2C water
Blend on high for 1-2 minutes, or until a smooth, thick cream forms. Use as you would heavy cream.

To make the cream sauce:
Melt the remaining 1/4C butter in a medium saucepan. Add the 4Tbsp flour and whisk constantly until smooth. Slowly add the cream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Continue whisking constantly until the cream sauce thickens. It is ready when it's thickened to the consistency of runny pancake batter.
Pour the cream sauce over the vegetable mixture and stir to mix well. At first, it might look like too much cream sauce, but the mixture will thicken an absorb the liquid upon standing. Allow the mixture to cool for another 30 minutes. If you add it to the crust when it's really hot, the crust will melt!

To assemble and bake the pie:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Remove the dough from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Cut the ball in half, and shape each half into a disk. Roll out one half to make the bottom crust. Carefully transfer the bottom crust into a deep dish pie pan. Carefully cut away the excess dough so that there is only about 1 inch of overhang. Spoon the cooled filling into the pie pan, spreading it around so that it is pretty even. Roll out the other disk to make the top crust. Carefully lift the dough over the filling. Trim the top crust so that there is about one inch of overhang. Seal the top and bottom crusts together and fold them under, so that the edge of the crust is even with the edge of the pie pan. Cut some steam vents in the top.
Bake the pie for 5 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake the pie for another 35-40 minutes. After the pie is baked, remove it to a rack to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into it. Enjoy!

ASIAN BROCCOLI!
4-5 broccoli stalks
1Tbsp oil
1Tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1Tbsp lemon juice
Peel the broccoli stalks and cut them into slices. Heat oil in a medium skillet. Add the broccoli and cook until crisp tender. Add the soy sauce and lemon juice and toss to combine. Remove from heat. This recipe is an awesome way to use up broccoli stalks.

TOMATO CUCUMBER SALAD WITH WALNUT DRESSING
2 ripe tomatoes
1 large cucumber, peeled and seeded
2Tbsp walnut or olive oil
1-2Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
Dice up the tomatoes and cucumber and place in a large bowl. Add the oil first and toss to combine. Add the vinegar and salt and toss again. Enjoy! Walnut oil makes this salad especially delicious, but walnut oil is also especially expensive! Olive oil works great, there just won't be a walnut flavor.

Pink Hummus!

2010-07-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

Today I was experimenting, and I came up with this tasty recipe!

PINK HUMMUS!
2 cans garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4C tahini
1/3C lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1 tomato, cut up
salt to taste

Place beans, tahini, salt, garlic and lemon juice in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Add the tomato and blend again until smooth. We ate this with corn chips and minced orange bell pepper!

Frugal water!

2010-07-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

Whether you're frugal or not, water is definitely what you should be drinking. 70% of our bodies are made of water, and even a slight amount of dehydration can have serious consequences. Most people (me included!) don't drink enough water during the day. The ironic thing is that other types of drinks, like soda and coffee, actually make you need to drink MORE water, but we drink them INSTEAD of water! Luckily, water is practically free, so drinking more of it will also improve our budgets, as well as how we feel. Here are three awesome ways I've started preparing water to make it more appealing:

OF COURSE, THE OLD STANDBY LEMON!
I know that water with lemon is really common, but how many of us bother to do it at home? I started doing it recently, and you know, I drink a whole pitcher (10C of water!) in one day! Something about having "special" water waiting in the fridge makes me want to drink it. All I do to prepare it is I slice up a lemon and toss it into an iced tea pitcher. Then I add water and ice and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour. After that I start hydrating my body! I re-use the lemon for one more pitcher of water, but after that, it starts to lose it's flavor.

CUCUMBER!
I read that some people flavor their water with cucumber, so I thought I'd give it a try. Man am I glad I did! Cucumber water tastes really clean and refreshing. I just took two small slices of cucumber and added them to a glass of water. The cucumber flavor is subtle and crisp. It made me feel like I was at a fancy gourmet restaurant.:P I re-used the same cucumber all day with no loss of flavor. Talk about frugal!

JUICE ICE CUBES IN AWESOME SHAPES!
Sometimes I need a lot of motivation to hydrate my body like I should. When those days strike I break out the big guns, which are ice cubes made out of juice, frozen into novelty shapes. I bought the ice cube trays on sale at Walmart last Summer to get my kids to drink more water, but then I thought, why should they have all of the fun?:P All I do is take any flavor juice (I prefer watermelon!), freeze it in the ice cube trays, and then pop out a couple juice cubes when I get some water. Even after a year, this treat hasn't lost it's extreme appeal.

I don't want to get on a soap box or sound preachy, but I do want to take a moment to detail why soda and "juice drinks" are something we should never drink ourselves OR give to our kids. "Juice drinks" are sugar water, chemical dyes, and harmful preservatives. Some examples are: Hawaiian punch, which contains corn syrup as the SECOND ingredient, red dye, blue dye, two different preservatives, sucralose, and something called, "glycerol ester of wood rosin." Sunny Delight contains only 2% juice along with corn syrup, preservatives and yellow dye 5 AND 6. These drinks are not just some harmless thing to give your kids on a hot day! Red, blue and yellow dye have been linked to behavior problems, allergies, hyperactivity, brain tumors and cancer! Corn syrup has been linked to type 2 diabetes, metabolic disorders and obesity. Sucralose was originally discovered by scientists who were trying to develop an ant killing insecticide. These are not substances that ANYONE should be consuming!
Soda is even worse than a "fruit drink." Pepsi contains: corn syrup, sugar, phosphoric acid, caffeine and colorings. Diet Pepsi is even worse, because it contains aspartame. Aspartame causes fibromyalgia symptoms, headaches, nervousness, depression, anxiety, and of course, cancer. Phosphoric acid is commonly used as a rust remover. It also causes low bone density and kidney stones.

You don't have to believe me, read these facts for yourself!

In my experience, most kids prefer juice and milk to sugary "juice drinks" and soda. Also, if you don't have harmful beverages in the house, they won't drink them! Instead of giving your child bone destroying phosphoric acid, why not offer bone building milk? Instead of giving them obesity causing corn syrup, why not give them a glass of slimming water with colorful juice ice cubes? Instead of giving them a dye that causes cancer and hyperactivity, why not offer a glass of vitamin filled 100% juice? Or better yet, a smoothie! You and your kids deserve to be healthy and happy!
And before you think that it's too expensive, remember that my grocery budget is $50 per week for 4 people. If I can afford it, anyone can!

Mangoes!

2010-07-22T06:15:00.000-07:00

The mangoes I love are FINALLY in season! I know that mangoes are always around, but not all of them are created equal. There's the commonly available yellow and red skinned ones with the pale orange, stringy flesh, and then there's the dark green and red skinned ones with the dark orange, deliciously smooth flesh! As you can see, I love the latter kind. Unfortunately, they are only available July through September, so I have to gorge myself while I can!:P Mangoes are not only the best tasting food ever, they are also one of the most nutritious foods ever! Just one mango has 2 vitamin C servings, two yellow fruit servings and a ton of other vitamins and minerals, including folate!

Mangoes really are the perfect food. They are sweet and rich enough to be tastier than most baked desserts, they add richness and smoothness to every blended drink, AND if you are fortunate enough to get a lot of them, they make a fantastic pudding! Here are my favorite ways to eat these luscious fruits!

JUST RAW!
Pretty much nothing is more delicious than a sliced, raw mango. (Remember, though, you want the big mangoes with the dark green and red skin!) I often times will cut up like 4 mangoes to take with us to the bookstore, or to the movies. My kids will sit there quietly, as long as they are tasting that sweet mango nectar!:P

IN A SMOOTHIE
I drink smoothies pretty much constantly, and I can say hands down mangoes are the best smoothie ingredient ever. A strawberry banana smoothie is wonderful, but add a mango to it and you have a treat so sinfully delicious, you may never want to eat anything else again! A mango adds thickness and a smooth texture to smoothies that is just addictive. And the taste! I've tried on many occasions to imagine something else on Earth that tastes like a mango, but so far, I've never found anything. My kids beg me for mango banana strawberry smoothies every day. Here is my recipe:

(For 4 people)
4C almond milk
2 frozen bananas
2 peeled and diced mangoes
16 strawberries
2Tbsp maple syrup (I'm also addicted to maple syrup, so I add it to pretty much everything!)
Place all ingredients in the blender and blend on high until smooth. Sometimes I add a handful of baby carrots to the mix!

MANGO PUDDING
This pudding sounds strange, but it's actually really delicious! Mango pudding is a sensuous delight of taste and texture that I've never had replicated in any other food. Best of all, it's so fabulously good for your body, you can enjoy these delights every day! I know I do!

2 avocados, peeled and pitted (chilled)
2 ripe green skinned mangoes, peeled and pitted (chilled)
1/2C-1C maple syrup (chilled) (try the smaller amount and then add more if you want)
1/4C soaked and drained almonds (optional)
Blend until light and fluffy!

Carrot Ginger Milkshake?!

2010-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

I was experimenting today with my vitamix and I came up with this tasty treat to ward off my nausea. I get nauseated a lot, because I suffer from IBS. Luckily, you'll want to drink this even if you're feeling great. I sure felt great after I drank it!

Carrot Ginger Milkshake
1C almond milk
1 1/2C baby carrots, or 1C carrot juice
1Tbsp maple syrup
1/2 inch piece fresh peeled ginger
1 frozen banana

Place carrots, ginger and almond milk in a blender and blend on high until smooth (about a minute). Add the maple syrup and banana and blend for another 30 seconds or so. If you are using a fresh banana, I would recommend adding ice and blending again until smooth.
This shake really tastes great and has a nice thick texture. Almond milk is really easy to make (1C almonds and 4C water blended on high for 1 1/2 minutes when using a vitamix!), but you can buy it as well. This shake would probably taste great with cow milk or soymilk as well. By the way, my kids LOVE this shake! I tell them it's dessert.:P

Tomato Hornworm

2010-07-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

The leaves were gone this morning
Eaten
Devoured with roiling ecstasy.
The smooth bodied green
Clings
to the underside
Of the last full leafed branch.
The smooth bodied green
Undulates
A fat belly dancer
All the time in the world
Nothing prods, no sense of time
No poisonous burning
The green belly alive and
Churning
Stretching to reach
Every leaf, every stem
Every spiked yellow bud.

Giant Flying Cockroaches!

2010-06-21T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you live in the South, you know what I'm talking about when I say, "Giant Flying Cockroaches...Oh my!" If you live up north or out west, just be grateful for yourt ignorance.:P Unfortunately, I not only live in Georgia, I have a flying cockroach phobia! Much of my time in the Summer is spent trying to make sure I never have to see those creepy, gigantic nemises of mine. Here are the ways I try to combat them without poisoning myself, my kids, or my dog. As an added bonus, these methods are also frugal!

CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN
Being clean won't keep ALL of the roaches out, but it will certainly make it harder for them to hide and survive if they do choose to move in. Never ever leave food out, or dishes in the sink overnight. Don't leave food in the garbage disposal, or beverages (ESPECIALLY BEER) around. For some reason, beer attracts pretty much every bug and slug on the planet. Soda will also attract them, so beware. Sweep up all crumbs every night and wipe the counters. I never let my kids eat anywhere but the kitchen or the dining room. I figure containing the mess makes it a lot less likely that I'll overlook a pile of tasty crumbs and then walk in on a palmetto bug dinner party some night.
Don't let clutter accumulate around the house. Piles of papers, toys, and dirty laundry make excellent places for bugs to hide. Nothing is worse than picking up a pile of dirty clothes and then seeing a bug so huge you think it might actually be TWO buge that have somehow morphed together skittering away.
Keep your bathrooms clean and clutter free. Bugs really like to hang out in the bathroom, so the cleaner it is, the less likely it is that you won't see them and kill them. If they escape, they will go forth and multiply, and by multiply, I mean laying 26 eggs every eight days.

BUY SOME BORIC ACID
Boric acid is great, because you can use it to make laundry detergent, clean your house, and kill roaches! You can find it in the laundry section under the brand name, "Borax." To use it to kill roaches, just spread a thin layer along base boards, under appliances, in cabinets, and anywhere else you think a roach might like to hang out. Boric acid is not toxic to humans or pets, but it is very toxic to bugs. From what I've read, they walk on it, it gets on their hairy little legs, they groom themselves, eat the boric acid, and then die from an exploded stomach.

IF YOU DO SEE ONE, HERE'S HOW TO KILL IT
When I see a baby roach, I just spray it with soapy water to kill it. Soapy water won't kill the adult ones, though. For the adult ones, I spray them with a LOT of soapy water to soak their wings so they can't fly. I've also read that hairspray works. Then I chase them down and smash them several times with something heavy. I say several times, because they can take quite a pounding and not even seem injured. Then I pick up the roach with a big wad of toilet paper and flush it down the toilet. I don't use commercial bug sprays, because they are horribly poisonous to humans and pets as well as bugs. When you spray something like Raid, you breathe it in too.

Well that is my non-toxic and frugal method for preventing and killing bugs!

Taking a Greyhound Bus to Florida!

2010-06-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

The kids and I are going to Florida in 5 days to visit my parents. Unfortunately, my car overheats if I run the AC, so we're taking a greyhound! It's going to be an extremely lengthy trip from 3:30pm-8:30am. I'm trying to come up with a plan to keep the kids happy so that I don't descend into total madness on the way. Here are my ideas so far.

PACK LOTS OF FOOD!
One thing I've learned as a parent, is to ALWAYS pack a lot of food. I plan to pack sandwiches, trail mix, cookies, granola bars, juice boxes, water, apples, and yogurt covered raisins for a treat. Luckily, my kids are pretty easy to entertain. Even my four year old will sit quietly and read, or listen to music if she has a snack. All three of my kids especially like little sandwich bags full of trail mix.

PACK ACTIVITIES FOR US TO DO
I already bought 3 activity books and some glow in the dark bracelets from the dollar store. I also plan to bring a deck of cards, a few books, and the mp3 player and walkman. The mp3 player is mainly for me. (My sister got it for me as a birthday gift and I have to say that it is AWESOME! I just clip it onto my dress and listen to music while I clean the bathroom, make dinner, do the dishes, fold laundry...etc. It makes my chores so much more enjoyable.) I have a walkman that I'm going to bring for the kids.

BRING EMERGENCY ACTIVITIES AND SNACKS TO STAVE OFF WHINING AND SCREAMING TANTRUMS
My kids aren't too prone to whining and screaming, but then, they've never ridden on a bus for 18 hours! I plan to bring candy and a surprise activity for if they start freaking out. I wouldn't normally reward my kids for whining and throwing tantrums, but I figure the greyhound is an extenuating circumstance!

I think this trip will be pretty fun, at least in the beginning.:P I always have to be careful on long trips, because I get sick a lot. I have to eat really light, or I'll spend the entire trip with nausea and cramps. I'm hoping we can sleep since we'll be on the bus all night! Has anyone else taken a long bus trip with (or without) kids?

Food budget increase!

2010-06-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

I have decided to increase my weekly food budget money from $40 to $50 per week. $40 just isn't enough money for me to buy all of the fresh, wholesome foods I want my kids and I to eat. I have also decided to start preparing a lot more meatless meals. My kids don't really even like meat all that much. Here is a dish I recently adapted to be frugal and meat free!

MEXICAN LASAGNA
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
3 carrots, shredded
1 can enchilada sauce
1 can tomato sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 can corn, drained, or 1C fresh or frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2C cottage cheese
2 eggs
12 corn tortillas
8 oz cheddar or colby cheese, shredded

Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large sauce pan. Add the onion, carrots and bell peppers. Cook, stirring frequently until softened. Add the enchilada sauce, tomato sauce, spices, corn, and black beans. Simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavors.
In a medium bowl, combine the cottage cheese and eggs. Beat until combined.
Spray a 13X9 inch pan with cooking spray. Lay 6 tortillas on the bottom (they will overlap). Spoon 1/2 of the sauce mixture over the tortillas. Spoon the cottage cheese over the sauce. Place the remaining tortillas over the cottage cheese and cover with the remaining sauce. Bake @ 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Take lasagna out of the oven and sprinkle cheese over the top. Bake for a further 10 minutes. Enjoy! This recipe makes a lot. My kids and I ate this for dinner two nights in a row. We ate it with sour cream and corn chips.

My new favorite milkshake!

2010-05-26T16:45:00.000-07:00

Right now I have a HUGE amount of soymilk to use up. Luckily, I have hit upon a most delicious way of making sure the plethora of milk won't go to waste! Here is my recipe:

Chocolate banana peanut butter milkshake!

2C milk
1 1/2-2 frozen bananas
1Tbsp cocoa powder
1Tbsp peanut butter

Blend on high until smooth and creamy. This milkshake has an awesome texture! Best of all, it's actually pretty good for you, and it's definitely frugal! I made this for dinner yesterday AND today. This recipe can easily be doubled, or halved. Yet another reason I am so glad I bought my wonderful vitamix...:P

Avocado season!

2010-05-24T11:54:00.000-07:00

Avocado season is finally here! When Spring arrives, avocados go from being really expensive to being sort of frugal.:P I say they are sort of frugal, because the cheapest I've ever gotten them for is $.75 each. They are well worth the cost, however in taste and nutritional benefits.

There are several different varieties of avocado, but the one I most commonly see is the haas variety. Haas avocados are about the size and shape of a pear. They have a dark colored, bumpy skin that hides a beautiful green interior. Avocados have a mild taste and a smooth, creamy texture. As if all that wasn't enough reason to go out and eat one, they are awesome for your body as well! I read that if a person plans to only ever eat one fruit, that avocados should be the one they pick.

Avocados have been proven to actually search out and destroy cancer cells, but leave healthy cells untouched. Avocados also kill bad cholesterol, so they reduce heart attack and stroke risk. Just one avocado contains 23% of the recommended folate a person is supposed to eat in a day. The vitamin E in avocados will smooth wrinkles and help the collagen in your skin stay youthful and elastic. Best of all, avocados promote weight loss! Mashed avocado was the first baby food I gave all of my three children. They love it!

Here are some of the ways I use avocado in my everyday diet:

Diced up in a salad
Avocado adds bulk and delicious flavor to any salad. You can also mash it up and add diced cucumbers, tomatoes, and some salt to create a delicious dip for corn chips.

In a smoothie
If you have an avocado hater on your hands, just throw 1/4 of a haas avocado in a smoothie and watch them gulp it down. You can also create tasty raw soups with avocado. Just blend up 1C of carrot ginger juice with 1 tomato, one peeled cucumber, 1/2 a red bell pepper and one avocado. I like to garnish it with minced red pepper, cucumber and tomato. So tasty and so good for you!

Weekly Menu Plan!

2010-05-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

This week I mostly shopped at Sams club, because I was almost completely out of fresh food! I'm happy to say, that I bought a lot of delicious fruits and vegetables, so we are no longer reduced to eating bean stew.:P Here's my menu for the week!

SUNDAY
Turkey sausage
Eggs
Grits

MONDAY
Roasted vegetables
Corn
Rice

TUESDAY
Spaghetti with meatballs
Pull apart garlic bread

WEDNESDAY
Corn
Avocado salad
Pita bread
Hummus

THURSDAY
Chicken casserole
Rice

FRIDAY
Mexican lasagna
Corn chips

SATURDAY
Roasted vegetables
Rice pilaf
Corn

My Garden!

2010-05-12T06:33:00.000-07:00

This year I am growing a wonderful garden. I had always wanted to grow one, but my husband was so against it. This year it has finally happened! I'm growing corn, pumpkins, cucumbers, canteloupe, watermelons, bell peppers, tomatoes, sunflowers, zucchinni, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, basil, and peas. So far it's going great! The zuccinni and cucumbers are starting to fruit, the bell peppers, pumpkins, and canteloupes are flowering, and everything else is getting pretty big. The corn is already two feet high! Next year I plan to grow some more herbs. I didn't end up using all of the space I have available this year, so next year I plan to plant even more. I'm thinking I'll add some more herbs, some more corn, and maybe even some flowers.

Gardening is not only great fun, it can be economical too. My kids and I love to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, but as we all know, fresh food is really expensive. I always feel bad when we can't eat as much as we want, or when it's the end of my grocery cycle and the only fresh food I have left is onions and a few stray apples. Frozen fruits and vegetables are a good option, nutritionally, and I never let myself run out of those, but fresh usually taste so much better! I'm hoping that my garden will not only allow us to eat as much fresh produce as we want, but that I will save money while we're doing it! I think this first year will not be as big of a harvest, but as I get better at gardening, I'm hoping to have bigger and bigger returns. My goal is to someday have enough to freeze and can for later in the year.

I think the thing I love most about my garden (aside from my plants!) is the fact that it makes me feel proactive. It can be really discouraging when I think about the next few years, and how small my budget will be during that time. Growing some of my own food to save money makes me feel like I'm taking action and not just being satisfied with an unsatisfactory state of affairs. Even if I only have a very small harvest and only save a few dollars, it's a step in the right direction.

I wish I had a digital camera so I could share some pictures of my garden. Maybe if I save a lot of grocery money this Summer, I'll be able to buy one!:P

Vitamix!

2010-05-06T08:02:00.000-07:00

As some of you may have guessed from my lack of blogging recently, I've been really busy! I'm taking 3 classes this quarter, and one of them is really tough. I've been having to study all of the time, because we have a really hard test pretty much every week. Then I have to find time to do the work for my other two classes! For anyone who's interested, I'm taking anatomy and physiology, biology, and a healthcare terms class. The anatomy class is the really hard one.

I did, however, want to write a blog about my new vitamix! For any of you who don't know, a vitamix is an AWESOME all purpose sort of kitchen appliance. It can be used to make anything blended, like a cream soup or a smoothie, ice cream, hot soup (the friction of the blades will make whatever you're blending get hot after about 4-5 minutes), juice (the high powered blending will liquefy fruits and vegetables after about 1 minute), and it can also be used as a food processor!

The only downside, is it costs between $400-$500. Luckily, I got mine on sale for $400, but that's still a lot of money. I had to save up for almost a year. I really wanted to buy a vitamix, because it makes it so easy for us to eat healthy! I've been making awesome smoothies, almond milkshakes, raw soups, healthy ice creams, and using the food processor feature to chop up vegetables really small to hide them in soups and sauces. Here are some of the recipes I've been making, so I can illustrate how easy it is!

ALMOND MILKSHAKE
(I always have made these, but in a regular blender it was a lengthy process to say the least.)
2C almond milk (To make almond milk take 2C water and 1/2C raw almonds and blend in the vitamix for about 90 seconds. Add ice and blend again if you're just going to drink it without making a milkshake. I also like to add maple syrup!)

2C cut up fruit of your choice. (I like to use strawberries, mangos, peaches, apples, alone or in any combination.)

2 frozen banannas (The banannas really should be frozen, or it won't have the delicious milkshake consistency!)

1-2Tbsp maple syrup
Place all ingredients in the vitamix and blend on high for 30-60 seconds. Enjoy!

FRUIT/VEGETABLE LONG LIFE JUICE

1-2C grapes
1-2 peeled carrots
1C pineapple
1C strawberries
1/2 peeled cucumber
2C ice
Place all ingredients in the vitamix and blend on high for 60 seconds. Enjoy! I make this juice for my kids and I almost every day now as a snack before dinner. We love it!

SKINNY ICE CREAM
1C soy milk, almond milk, or cow milk
3C frozen fruit of your choice
Place ingredients in the vitamix, milk first and blend on high for about 30 seconds, or until you see 4 mounds appear on top. If you blend too long, it will turn into a smoothie!

SOUP!
1 carrot, peeled
1 stalk celery
1/2 red or yellow bell pepper
a generous handful of spinach
1 large tomato, quartered
2C chicken or vegetable broth
salt to taste

Optional ingredients
1/2C corn
1/2C black beans
1C cooked, diced chicken
Corn chips

Place all ingredients except optional ingredients in the vitamix and blend on high for 5 minutes. Turn vitamix down to option one and add the optional ingredients. Pour into bowls and serve! This soup is really good for you, because it hasn't been boiled. All of the ingredients are fresh and brimming with vitamins!

So my $25 menu is going to have to be a $35 menu

2010-04-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

I have tried and tried, but I just can't make $25 work! I could actually do it for my family, because we can shop at the commissary, but no other store around here even comes close to matching commissary prices. I've decided to make it a $35 emergency menu instead. I probably could make the $25 work, if I included a lot of ramen noodles and other junk food, but it's really important to me to create an actual viable meal, that won't cause harm. So now I have more to work with and I think the $35 menu plan should be up soon!:P This project has really turned out to be harder than I thought it would.

Recently I had a reader e-mail me with the question, "Liz, what is your favorite, frugal way to use up vegetable odds and ends in the fridge, so they don't get wasted? Just this week, I had 3 zuchinni, 1 leftover baked potato, a lone carrot, 1/2 of a cucumber, and half a pint of grape tomatoes go bad!" I have two words for her: ROASTED VEGETABLES! Roasting vegetables is so easy! Here is my favorite way to do it:

FRUGAL VEGETABLE ROAST!
Zuchinni cut into big chunks
carrots, peeled and julienned
bell peppers, cut into big chunks
potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
any other vegetables you want! Leave quick cooking vegetables in big pieces and slower cooking vegetables should be cut up small, so that everything finishes cooking at the same time.
seasoned salt
olive oil

Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Place all vegetables in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle with seasoned salt and drizzle with olive oil. Stir to mix well. Roast on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and nicely crisped and browned. Enjoy! Sometimes I like to eat the roasted vegetables with some raw tomato and cucumber, diced up small and sprinkled on top.

I like to serve these vegetables with rice or pasta!

The power of coupons...

2010-04-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

Every Wednesday, Publix changes their sales, so I always check out their weekly ads to see if I want to buy anything. This week I scored big! Now the stuff I bought isn't exactly healthy, or necessary, so luckily, it was really cheap when I combined sales with coupons! Here's what I bought:

Betty Crocker brownie mix, 2 boxes
Total spent: $.90
The brownie mix was buy one get one free, and then I had two $.40 coupons which doubled to $.80 each, for a total of $1.60 in coupons! The brownie mix is usually $2.50 per box at Publix, so I saved a total of $4.10 by using sales and coupons together! That brownie mix will definitely be a big help when I am the "snack mom" at the preschool, or when I have people coming over and no time to cook!

Immaculate Baking Company cookie dough, 2 packages
Total Spent: $1.09
These were buy one get one free and I had two $1 coupons! Usually, each package of this cookie dough is $3.09, so I saved a total of $5.09 by using sales combined with coupons! I like this cookie dough, because it has no dyes, or additives, and the company uses all natural ingredients. Normally, I just make my own cookies, but I seriously can't make them from scratch as cheap as I bought the dough. Also, sometimes you're in a time crunch, so it's good to have a few backup plans!

Ragu pasta sauce, 2 jars
Total spent: $2.19
I didn't have a coupon for this pasta sauce, but it was also a buy one get one free sale, so I thought it was worth buying. I saved a total of $1.09, so it wasn't too bad of a buy! Normally I make my own sauce, but sometimes I'm just really tired, so it's good to have a few easier options. There have been many times where I was prevented from getting takeout, because I had some pasta and sauce in the pantry.

Cantaloupes, 2
Total spent: $4
These were on sale for two for $4. I saved $1.98 total. I bought these, because we really love cantaloupe, and we haven't eaten any since August at least. In fact, we were so happy to get them, that my kids and I ate cantaloupe, with cucumber tomato avocado salad for dinner!

I know using coupons and watching sales can be a hassle, but sometimes, it's definitely time well spent. If I hadn't used coupons and sales, I would've spent $22.02 today. Instead I spent $8.60.

Weekly grocery and menu plan!

2010-04-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I did one of these...This is because I've once again been lax about planning my menus! I went to Sams club for my shopping trip, and I spent $85 for two weeks. This is unfortunately $5 over budget.:( It's okay, though, because I bought lots of fruits and vegetables for juicing! Here's what we're eating for dinner this week:

THURSDAY
Carrot apple cucumber juice
Cottage cheese plate with pineapple, tomatoes, and cucumbers
Garlic bread rolls

FRIDAY
Chili
Homemade corn chips
Carrot sticks

SATURDAY
Orange carrot juice
Chicken salad sandwiches
Cucumber salad

SUNDAY
Apple celery juice
Roasted potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers
Rice

MONDAY
Spaghetti with meatballs
Garlic bread rolls
Cucumber salad

TUESDAY
Orange carrot juice
Chicken salad sandwiches on homemade rolls
Oven fries
Apple slices

WEDNESDAY
Chicken and vegetable soup with barley
Bran rolls

For breakfast and lunch, we will be having cereal, leftovers, eggs, grits, homemade bread, and smoothies!

I'm still working on that $25 menu.:P Someday it will be done to my satisfaction. I'm taking so much time on it, because my hope is that it could actually be a valuable tool to help a family in trouble.

I haven't been writing as many blogs recently, because I've been doing a lot of gardening! I'm really excited about growing a garden this year. I've planted zucchini, corn, tomatoes, pumpkins, watermelons, cantaloupes, peas, and cucumbers. If any of my readers are successful gardeners in the South, please post your best gardening tips here!

Pineapple upside down cake!

2010-03-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Recently, canned pineapple went on sale at Publix. It was a BOGO sale, so I bought up a bunch to use in various recipes. Canned pineapple is great, because it tastes almost as good as fresh, it can be used in a lot of recipes, and it's really good for you! Pineapple is loaded with vitamin C, has fiber, and best of all, it's fat free and low calorie! Here is our favorite canned pineapple recipe.

Pineapple upsidedown cake!
3-4Tbsp butter
7 slices pineapple, drained on paper towels
3/4C brown sugar
1C flour
1Tbsp baking powder
8Tbsp buttermilk, divided
6Tbsp butter, softened
1/2C granulated sugar
2 eggs
1tsp vanilla extract

Place butter in an 8-10 inch cast iron skillet, and put the skillet in the oven while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. After the butter melts, remove the skillet and add the brown sugar, spreading it evenly over the butter. Place the pineapple slices over the sugar.
Place the butter and sugar in a stand mixer and beat until fluffy. Mix the flour and baking powder together with a pinch of salt and add them to the mixer. Add 6Tbsp of the buttermilk. Beat on medium for exactly 1 1/2 minutes. Combine the eggs and the remaining 2 Tbsp of buttermilk and the vanilla. Add to the batter and beat for 30 seconds longer. Scrape the batter over the pineapple and spread it around so that it is even. Bake for 40 minutes, or until cake is done. Let sit in the skillet for 10-15 minutes and then invert onto a plate. Enjoy! Sometimes I use whole wheat flour in this cake. It turns out heavier, but still pretty good! This is an easy dessert to make if you are pressed for time and have people coming over.

Juice!

2010-03-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm still working on the $25 menu post, but it's taking me a lot longer to finish it than I thought it would! I'm hoping to finish it soon. I decided to do a different post in the interim about making juice!

Making juice requires some startup costs. The biggest cost is of course, the actual juicer. My juicer is a Champion Juicer, and it cost me $200 about 7 years ago. It's a great juicer, though. It can juice ANYTHING, make nut butters, and it can also be used to make awesome sorbet! There are other, cheaper juicers out there, but I would really go for better quality when buying a juicer. A lot of the cheaper models are very difficult to clean, and they don't juice softer fruits like strawberries and peaches.

Juicing is a lot of fun! I've tried a lot of different combinations of fruits and vegetables together, and I've never had anything turn out bad! Juicing also has a lot of health benefits. Fresh juice has a lot more vitamins than bottled and pasteurized juice. Also, you can control what fruits and vegetables go in the mix, so YOU can make your juice as healthy as you want! I like to have a big pitcher of juice in the fridge, especially in the Summer months. Nothing is more refreshing than a glass of fresh, ice cold pineapple strawberry juice, or watermelon juice in the Summer! Here are some of our favorite juice combinations by season! It's always better to juice seasonal produce, because juicing requires a LOT of it.

WINTER
The only winter produce that's really good for juicing is citrus. Luckily, carrots are always inexpensive, so there are awesome juice combinations to be had! My favorites are:
Carrot orange: Take 8 peeled oranges and 5 peeled carrots and run them through the juicer. Place the juice in a pitcher and add about 10 ice cubes. Stir well before drinking and enjoy!

Carrot tangerine: Even more delicious than carrot orange! Juice 10 peeled tangerines and 5 carrots. Pour juice into a pitcher and add 10 ice cubes. Pour a tall glass and enjoy! Stir the juice in the pitcher before drinking.

Orange tangerine: Just juice half oranges and half tangerines! Add some carrots if you want.

SPRING
Carrot orange strawberry: Take 5 carrots, 6 oranges and 10 strawberries and run them through the juicer. Delicious!

SUMMER
Watermelon juice: Just peel a watermelon, cut it into chunks, and run them through the juicer! One medium watermelon makes a TON of juice, so you might just want to juice half. Watermelon juice makes great Popsicles!

Cantaloupe honeydew: Just cut the melons into chunks and juice away! This juice turns into a very pretty color.

Strawberry mango peach: This juice is best blended with a banana into a smoothie. So delicious!

Pineapple strawberry: Just take 1 pineapple and about 20 strawberries and run them through the juicer. Tropical Heaven!

FALL
Apple carrot juice: Take 4 apples and 4 carrots and run them through the juicer. So good for you!

Apple celery: This neon green juice is crisp and refreshing. Use 1 part celery to 4 parts apples. If you use too much celery, it will be overpowering.

Carrot apple grape: It sounds unusual, but it turns out sublime! I just do the recipe for apple carrot juice and then add a handful of grapes to the mix.

These are just a few ideas for juice combinations. Definitely come up with your own and then e-mail them to me so I can try them! All juice should be consumed within 2 days, because it goes bad really fast.

What to do in a food money crisis situation

2010-03-21T16:27:00.000-07:00

I've gotten a few e-mails from readers where they say they have run out of food and only have $20-$30 to buy groceries for their families for the next week, or even TWO weeks until payday. For the purposes of this post, I'm going to focus on the worst situation a reader asked me about, that I felt I could actually offer a viable solution to.. The reader lives in a family of four and she had only $25 to buy groceries for the next week. All of the food in her pantry was gone, except for some condiments in the fridge, two boxes of spaghetti noodles, and oddly enough, a can of sardines. Here is my advice to her, or anyone else in this situation:

CALL A FOOD BANK
There are many, many churches who will donate food to the needy. You will probably have to listen to some religious doctrine before you get the food, but they WILL eventually send you home with a decent amount of it.When you call the food bank, make sure to say that it is an EMERGENCY, meaning that your food supply is already gone, and that you have kids.

SIGN UP FOR WIC
This won't work for everyone, but if you are pregnant and/or have children under 5 years old, you could be eligible for this program. The only problem with WIC, is that it can take a long time to get an appointment. Once you start getting the vouchers, expect to get: eggs, milk, cheese, peanut butter or beans, bread, or rice, or whole grain tortillas, juice, $6 per month in fruits and vegetables, and 36 oz of cereal.

APPLY FOR FOOD STAMPS
This option is harder to get than WIC, and unfortunately, can take up to three months to actually take effect. Once you get them, though, food stamps are great! I don't personally receive this benefit, but I have a friend who does. She gets $525 per month for her family of four. Seriously, with that much money for food, you can feast on steak every night! I know it is embarrassing to apply for welfare, but just try to remember that extraordinary circumstances have probably driven you to that option. Anyone can have a run of bad luck. It doesn't make someone less of a person if they need to ask for help for a while. What's bad is to not get the help when you need it!

HAVE A YARD SALE
Everyone has stuff in their house that they don't really want anymore, but that doesn't mean that someone else wouldn't want it! Maybe you have baby items, or baby clothes, books, movies, decorative items you're tired of, kitchen appliances you never use, an old TV that's just gathering dust somewhere. A yard sale won't make you rich, but it can certainly net you enough money to go food shopping!

AS SOON AS YOU CAN, START A FOOD BANK ACCOUNT
I cannot stress enough the importance of having a constant reserve of food. Even just a supply of rice, beans, rolled oats, flour, yeast, dry milk and sugar can make it so you never have to actually go hungry. Add some canned fruits and vegetables, some dried fruits, and some canned meat to that and you have the makings of a feast! Never let it get to the point where you have no money and no food left again. No one should ever have to go hungry, not in a country with as much surplus food as the United States.

My next post will be about how to go shopping for a family of four for 2 weeks with only $25.

Barley: Better than rice, cheaper than pasta!

2010-03-18T09:13:00.000-07:00

Barley is a great ingredient to add to soups and stews. It adds fiber and bulk, without adding a lot of calories or expense! I spend about $.65 for a pound of barley, which will make 4 big pots of soup. So far, soup is the only meal I use it in, but I'm going to start experimenting with other meals. I know some people make bread with it, and my friend Corey makes TEA out of it! Here is my recipe for barley soup.

BEEF OR CHICKEN WITH BARLEY SOUP
1 1/2C chicken or beef, cut up. The meat can be cooked, or raw. If it is raw, brown the meat in a skillet before adding it to the soup.
2 carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
4C chicken, or vegetable broth
1/2C uncooked barley

Heat 1Tbsp oil or butter in a heavy bottomed soup pan. Add the onion and cook until softened. Add the carrots and celery and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the broth, chicken and barley and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables and barley are tender. Enjoy! I like to serve this with homemade bread! My kids literally go crazy over this soup.

This soup can also be made with leftover turkey, or pork, or even diced ham. Sometimes I will substitute leeks for the onions, or add a zucchini in the Summer. Adding a diced tomato is also good in the Summer! Corn makes this soup even more spectacular.

A meal of soup and bread is very frugal and satisfying. It's a way to get vegetables and whole grains into my kids, the soup is low fat, so it doesn't add any unwanted pudge to me, and best of all, it's really easy to make! Having a homemade soup and bread night once or twice a week is one of my most valuable tools for staying within my grocery budget.

My dinner party!

2010-03-14T19:15:00.000-07:00

My friends from church came over this weekend for dinner, and it was a great success! It was socially awesome, and secretly frugal. Here's what I made!

PITA BREAD
Homemade pita bread is not only delicious, it is also very frugal! It takes a little time to make, but the results are well worth it. Here's my recipe!

Pita bread recipe
1 1/4C water
2Tbsp oil
2tsp yeast
1 1/2C white flour
1 1/2C whole wheat flour
2tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 475
Place the ingredients in the order given in a bread machine and set it to the dough cycle. Add more flour if the dough seems too wet. When the cycle is finished, remove the dough to a floured counter and punch it down. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape them into balls. Place the dough balls on a greased baking sheet and cover them with damp paper towels. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes. Grease a second baking sheet and set it aside. Working with one dough ball at a time and keeping the rest covered, gently stretch each ball into a flat round about 6 inches across. Place 4 on each baking sheet. Bake one sheet at a time on the bottom oven rack for 4 minutes. These pitas are best consumed right after baking.

HUMMUS
Hummus is also easy and frugal to make. We like to spread it on the pita bread.

Delicious Hummus recipe
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained.
1/4C tahini (sesame seed paste)
juice from 1 lemon
3Tbsp water
salt to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Serve with pita bread!

Cucumber Raita
This is a condiment/salad that goes great with pita bread and hummus. It works best with whole milk yogurt.

Cucumber raita recipe
1C whole milk yogurt
1/2 English cucumber peeled, seeded, and cut into small dice
1/4tsp cumin
pinch of salt
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Serve right away.

Cucumber/tomato salad
This salad is very frugal and simple, especially if you buy tomatoes and cucumbers in bulk.

Cooling cucumber salad
1 English cucumber, peeled and diced
1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
salt to taste
2Tbsp olive oil
1-2Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Place cucumbers and tomatoes in a large bowl. Add the salt, oil and vinegar and mix well together. Serve with pita bread and delicious hummus for an awesome dinner!

JAM BUNDT CAKE
This cake was especially frugal, because I used jam that I had made and canned last Summer.
1 1/2C butter, softened
1 1/2C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3C flour
1Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2C plain yogurt (whole milk)
2/3C preserves
1/2C walnuts
Preheat oven to 350
In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Add 1C of the flour and the baking powder and mix for 1 minute. Add 1C yogurt and mix again. 1C flour and the salt and mix for one minute. Add remaining 1/2C yogurt and mix again. Add remaining cup of flour and mix well until Incorporated, scraping the bowl if needed.
Stir together nuts and preserves. Grease a bundt pan. Spread 1/3 of the batter in the prepared bundt pan. Spoon 1/2 of the nut mixture over the batter, dropping it in dollops from a spoon. Spread another 1/3 of the batter over the dollops of nut mixture. Spoon remaining nut mixture over the batter. Spread remaining batter over the top. Bake for 60 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then invert onto a large plate. Drizzle glaze over the top (recipe follows) and let cool completely.

GLAZE
1/3C preserves
1 1/2C powdered sugar
1Tbsp water
Mix ingredients together until the mixture reaches drizzling consistency. Add more water, 1 tsp at a time if too thick.

In case anyone wants to know, I was in The Augusta Chronicle today! There was an article that talked about my frugal blog.:P If you go to The Augusta Chronicle website and click on Life, the article about me comes right up! There's even a picture of me. I'm the woman wearing the blue dress, cooking. My awesome friend, Corey, took the picture. He's the photojournalist who introduced me to my new church. The reporter, Lisa Kaylor, has also been very awesome. She interviewed me at Panera, where I had bought a decidedly un-frugal tea!

Busy Liz!

2010-03-09T05:26:00.001-08:00

Sorry about my lax blogging this past week! It's getting down to crunch time in my classes, so I've been having to do a lot of last minute work and studying. Also, I've been trying to get my Spring cleaning done, so I won't have to spend Spring break doing it! After today, though, I should have some more time, so I'm hoping to get my blogging back on track. My next article is going to be about a (semi)frugal dinner party I had this past weekend!

My goals update

2010-03-02T05:11:00.001-08:00

I made several New Years resolutions this year, so I thought I'd do an update post. Here's how I've been doing!

EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE GOAL
I'm sorry to report that so far, this one is a dismal failure. I wish I could afford a gym membership, because if I actually had somewhere to go, I think I'd be a lot more motivated. Oh well, I just need to get on the ball and START. I think starting an exercise program is the hardest part, because once I get into a routine, I'm usually pretty good about sticking with it...At least, for a while.:P

SAVE UP FOR A VACATION
I've decided to just visit my parents this Summer, because my sister is going to visit them at that time, and I haven't seen her in almost a year. Luckily, I don't need to save up nearly as much to go and see my parents, so I'm actually doing pretty good on that goal. I figure I'll need about $400, including gas, spending money, and paying for someone to watch my dog. So far, I've saved up $200, so I'm halfway there!

FINE TUNE MY FRUGAL GROCERY SHOPPING
I've been doing pretty well with this one. One thing that has helped, is I've been really trying to stick with my menu plan. I have a tendency to make one, and then decide I don't want to make the meals I planned! Another thing I've been working on is trying not to waste so many leftovers. This requires me to make some unusual concoctions, but I think it really cuts down on my grocery spending. The average household wasts 12% of the food they buy...12%! I'm trying to stop being a member of that statistic.

TRY TO MAKE SOME FRIENDS
I'm happy to report that this one is going well, too! My kids and I recently started going to a church, and the people there seem very friendly and nice. It's really difficult for me to reach out to people, because of bad experiences that I've had, so I'm hoping that this time I'm finally making the right decision.

GET BETTER ORGANIZED
Unfortunately, I haven't made much headway on this one. This weekend, though, I'm determined to at least organize my kitchen cabinets. Sadly, this has been my goal for the past 4 weekends!:P

Whole Wheat Recipes!

2010-03-01T04:37:00.000-08:00

I've been experimenting with recipes this week, and I'm glad to say I've found some really delicious whole wheat treats! Here are some of the recipes we've enjoyed.

ORANGE BISCUITS
1C whole wheat flour
1/3C white flour
2 1/2tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2/3C wheat germ
5Tbsp cold butter
1/2C orange juice concentrate, plus enough water to make it 2/3C
1Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 425

Mix together the flour, wheat germ, baking powder and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add the butter and process until the butter is the size of small peas. Add the juice concentrate mixture and sugar and pulse a few times, until a rough dough has formed. Add more water if the dough is dry and not holding together. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead a few times. Roll or pat the dough out 1 inch thick. Cut out biscuits and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-13 minutes, or until golden brown.
These biscuits will not turn out as light and fluffy as other biscuits, but we still found them to be delicious! I served these with lentil soup.

FLAX BREAD
3C all purpose flour
1 1/2C whole wheat flour
1/2C ground flax seed
1 1/4tsp yeast
2Tbsp honey or sugar
1 3/4C warm water
2tsp salt
In a large bowl, stir together the water, honey, flax seed and yeast. Add the flours and salt, stirring until all the flour is moistened. Knead in the bowl until the dough comes together. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and knead for 10 minutes, adding some more flour to prevent sticking, if needed.
Place the dough in a large bowl, cover and let rise for 1 hour. Turn the dough onto a floured counter and punch down. Shape into a loaf and transfer to a greased loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 45 minutes. Bake @375 for40-50 minutes. Remove from the oven and unmold bread onto a wire rack. Allow to cool before cutting. We like to eat this bread with peanut butter and blackberry preserves. It also makes a fair sandwich bread. I say fair, because it's hard to slice it thin enough to make really good sandwiches.

WHOLE WHEAT PITA BREAD
Pita bread recipe
1 1/4C water
2Tbsp oil
2tsp yeast
1 1/2C white flour
1 1/2C whole wheat flour
2tsp salt
Preheat the oven to 475
Place the dry ingredients, except for the yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix briefly with the dough hook. Add the yeast and mix again. Add the water and oil, and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Add more flour if the dough seems too wet. Remove the dough to a floured counter and punch it down. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 pieces and shape them into balls. Place the dough balls on a greased baking sheet and cover them with damp paper towels. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes. Grease a second baking sheet and set it aside. Working with one dough ball at a time and keeping the rest covered, gently stretch each ball into a flat round about 6 inches across. Place 4 on each baking sheet. Bake one sheet at a time on the bottom oven rack for 4 minutes. These pitas are best consumed right after baking. Serve the pita bread with hummus for an even bigger fiber punch!

DELICIOUS HUMMUS RECIPE
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained.
1/4C tahini (sesame seed paste)
juice from 1 lemon
3Tbsp water
salt to taste
1 clove garlic, minced
Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Serve with pita bread!

New Diet!

2010-02-23T04:42:00.000-08:00

My daughter, Alia, was very sick this weekend. In fact, I ended up taking her to the hospital, because she was having agonizing abdominal pain, she was extremely pale and lethargic, and she was very thirsty. It was very scary, because the doctors all thought she had appendicitis. Her pain was so severe, she had to have morphine...TWICE. My 4 year old! The only good part was that my ex-husband actually came through this time. He was there at the hospital the whole time, and he stayed with my other kids, so that I could be there when Alia had her extremely frightening and invasive tests. I think it really comforted her to have both of us there. When the tests came back negative, the doctors released her with a diagnosis of, "Non-specific gastritis/colitis."

Personally, I think her problem was that she was constipated. She has had a lot of problems with it in the past, and I thought it was a lot better, but I must've been wrong. I already talked to her, and I told her that from now on she has to follow a very high fiber diet with nothing in it that will clog her up. This is going to mean some real changes for her, because she can't have any dairy products, red meat, chicken, bananas, or refined grains. I used to put wheat germ in her yogurt to make it more healthful, but that was the wrong thing to put in there. I should have sprinkled the BRAN in there. Anyway, here's what I'm going to do.

START BAKING ONLY WHOLE GRAIN BREADS AND TREATS
This is of course, good for everyone, but I think it's going to take some getting used to! I'm going to have to amp mine up with flax and extra bran as well, which I'm sure will affect the taste and texture of what I make. I'm going to have to experiment a lot with different ratios of different grains. I'm sure we will all get used to it, though, and I'm hoping eating whole grains will positively impact the whole family.

STOP FEEDING HER YOGURT
I was letting her eat a LOT of yogurt, because a lot of times, she'd refuse to eat anything else! I thought it was healthy, but I think it really contributed to clogging her up so bad. I went to Publix yesterday, and luckily, they are having a BOGO sale on shredded wheat! I got 4 boxes for free (WIC) and last night, she ate shredded wheat with soymilk for dinner. I told her that from now on, if she doesn't want to eat dinner, she can have high fiber cereal, high fiber bread, dried fruit, or regular fruit instead, but NO YOGURT. She really took it better than I thought she would.

TALK TO HER DOCTOR ABOUT FIBER SUPPLEMENTS
There are fiber "candies" that you can eat to supplement your diet, but I don't know if it's good to give them to small children who are already on a high fiber diet.

INCORPORATE MORE BEANS AND LENTILS INTO HER DIET
Beans and lentils have a lot of protein and fiber. Best of all, they are also frugal! There are a lot of recipes that use legumes instead of meat. I actually have a Middle Eastern cookbook that has a lot of awesome bean and lentil based recipes. I just need to start trying them! A lot of vegan cookbooks have good recipes featuring legumes as well.

START LOOKING FOR WAYS TO EAT MORE FISH
Fish isn't generally constipating, unlike beef and chicken. The only bad part, is that fish is usually a lot more expensive! There are ways around the expense, though. Canned salmon is a great bet nutritionally, and it tastes pretty good! It's definitely not as tasty as fresh, but it definitely works in casseroles and on sandwiches. Canned tuna is also a good option. I'll post any good recipes I find!

It might be a little tough at first, but I think this new diet will be a positive change in the long run. For one thing, legumes are a lot more frugal, and less fattening than meat. Fish has great health benefits, along with not being constipating. I'm hoping this new diet will improve all of our health, especially poor Alia's.

Weekly Menu Plan

2010-02-21T05:47:00.000-08:00

This week I bought a lot of seafood at sams club, so it will be prominently featured in my menus.

SUNDAY
Shepherds pie
Leftover Garlic bread
Leftover crisp

MONDAY
Baked fish
Crock pot baked potatoes
Roasted corn

TUESDAY
Seafood gumbo
Wheat germ rolls
Apple, mango, blueberry crisp

WEDNESDAY
Creamy chicken and rice casserole
Roasted carrots
Wheat germ rolls

THURSDAY
Leftovers!

FRIDAY
(We're going to my kids' school for an event, so I'm packing a picnic!)
Zucchini muffins
Apple slices with peanut butter
Juice boxes
Homemade rolls with butter

SATURDAY
Shrimp stir fry
Rice

Crock Pot Baked Potatoes!

2010-02-17T15:36:00.000-08:00

I had never cooked baked potatoes in the crock pot until today, now I sure do wish I had. It was so easy, and the potatoes turned out really good! My kids and I had them as a frugal main course for dinner last night. Here's how I baked them:

FRUGAL CROCK POT BAKED POTATOES
8 medium sized baking potatoes, scrubbed and pricked lightly with a fork
1tsp garlic salt, or just plain salt
1Tbsp oil

Place the potatoes on end in the crock pot. Sprinkle the salt over the tops, and then drizzle on the oil. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Enjoy with your favorite toppings!

It really is that easy...I can't believe I ever bothered with the oven! Potatoes are great, because they are filling, versatile, and best of all...CHEAP. I bought a 10 pound bag of potatoes from sams club for $2.05 this past week. That means each pound of potatoes cost me about $.20. Here are a few of the ways I like to use baked potatoes:

PLAIN WITH TOPPINGS!
One of my favorite meals is a humble baked potato with butter, sour cream, and salt, a cucumber tomato salad, and some roasted carrots. You can use whatever toppings you want, like cheese, bacon bits, green onion, avocado, bits of leftover vegetables...The possibilities are pretty much endless. I love this meal, because it is filling without being heavy, low fat, and really very delicious!

IN A SOUP
There are so very many ways to use leftover baked potatoes in a soup! You can mash them up to thicken the soup, dice them up to add bulk, shred them to add texture without being too noticeable, etc. I like to add mashed potatoes to soup instead of using a more traditional flour/butter thickener. Potatoes have WAY less calories, they are more convenient (if already cooked, anyway), and they thicken soups and stews very effectively and with a great texture. Using potatoes as a thickener is also much healthier than using butter, or eggs.

POTATO BREAD AND PASTA
There are a ton of awesome potato breads to be made with leftover baked potatoes. Potato breads are heavier than a lot of other breads, but they make up for it by being so delicious! Potato pasta is also really good, and a lot easier to make than regular semolina pasta. I will post recipes for potato bread and pasta soon.

Leftover potatoes can also be used in potato salad, shepherds pie, potato pancakes, fried potato cakes and even in crab cakes! Nothing will add frugal nutrition to your diet like potatoes.

So break out that crock pot and your vegetable brush and get cooking!

Valentines Day

2010-02-17T04:53:00.000-08:00

I admit, I'm posting this kind of late.:P

Our Valentines Day was great this year! I thought it might not be, because my ex-husband claimed to be "working" and wouldn't come see his three little girls...And they really wanted to see him. I took them out to Panera for breakfast to cheer them up. My parents had sent me a $30 panera gift card, so we were able to get an awesome feast. After that, we went to Target to see if there was any holiday merchandise on sale (there wasn't), and then we went home and took a walk to see the last of the snow!

Later that afternoon we went to see, "The Princess and the Frog" at the $1.99 theatre. After that came the best part of the day! We went to the gourmet Chinese buffet in town! It was great fun, because we hadn't gone out for dinner in months. I'm sorry to say, I think I ate about three times my weight.:P

That night, we were so stuffed, we just kind of laid around and watched, "Little Women." I had bought it at Goodwill earlier in the week. The girls loved it. That was the end of our Valentines Day. The kids only asked about their dad a few times. It's sad, but a good thing that they have been asking for him less and less. It wasn't the future I imagined when I first got married and started having kids, but in the immortal words of Mick Jagger, "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find, you get what you need."

SNOW!

2010-02-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

I live in Georgia, which is why I consider snow to be amazing! Yesterday afternoon, it started snowing at around 2:00. By about 6:00 there were about 5 inches of snow on the ground! The trees, houses, bushes, yards...Everything is just covered in a white blanket of snow. I swear my neighborhood looks like a New England winter photograph right now! My kids have been so excited. They had never seen snow on the ground before. We went outside and played in it all day yesterday, came inside to warm up and eat dinner, and then we went back out to play in it at night! I was very tired by about 9:00, from carrying firewood and chasing after my kids.:P

The amazing snowfall is still here this morning, so I think we're in for another long day of playing in it! The bad part is, the roads are all covered in ice, so no one can drive on them! We're pretty much stuck in the house until the snow and ice melt. I'm so glad my "Food Bank Account" is stocked up, because I don't know how long it will be until we can go to the store! Luckily, I bought two new movies at Goodwill, and a 20Lb bag of popping corn at Sams Club. One of the movies I got is called, "The Day After Tomorrow." I think it's about an ice age...Which seems pretty appropriate!

Apple Mango Cranberry Crisp Recipe!

2010-02-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

One of my readers asked me to post my fruit crisp recipe, so here it is!

FRUIT CRISP MASTER RECIPE
(Filling)
6C fruit, cut into bite sized pieces
1Tbsp corn starch
1Tbsp lemon juice
1/3C sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to combine. Make sure all traces of cornstarch have disappeared.

(Topping)
1 1/2C flour
1C rolled oats
1/4C granulated sugar
1/4C brown sugar
8Tbsp butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Place all ingredients except butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 2 or 3 times. Add the butter and pulse until butter is Incorporated and the mixture is crumbly. Place the fruit mixture in a greased 9X13 pan. Sprinkle half of the topping over the fruit mixture. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle on the remaining topping. Return the crisp to the oven and bake for another 25-30 minutes, or until the filling is juicy and bubbly, and the topping is browned. Remove from the oven and let sit for about 10-15 minutes. ENJOY.

NOTE
Baking half of the topping before adding the rest, makes it so the entire topping is crisp. A lot of times there is a gooey layer of topping near the fruit, if you try to bake all of the topping at the same time.

HERE ARE MY FAVORITE FRUIT CRISP COMBINATIONS!
1. 3C apples, 2C mangoes, 1C cranberries. I like to use maple sugar in this one, but maple sugar is SUPER expensive. I only have it, because my parents bought me some as a Christmas present! When I don't have maple sugar, white, or brown sugar works great!
2. 6C apples! All apples makes a delicious Fall crisp! For this one, I add 1tsp cinnamon to the filling, and 1/2tsp to the topping. I also like to add 1/2C ground walnuts to the topping, if I have them. Brown sugar works sinfully well in this apple filling!
3. 4C peaches, 2C apples. Peaches and apples together make a great crisp. If you have a lot of peaches (Like in the Summer!) just use 6C of peaches and omit the apples!
4. 2C blueberries, 1C strawberries, 1C mango, 2C blackberries. This is one of my very favorite Summer crisps. I make it in July and August, when the berries are about as cheap as they will ever get. Sometimes, I splurge on frozen berries, just so I can make this! Mango adds a delicious tropical sweetness. It's better to just use white, granulated sugar in this filling.

Weekly menu plan!

2010-02-07T13:12:00.000-08:00

This week I had extra money to spend on groceries, so there will be some extra food in my menu plan!

SUNDAY
Tuna salad sandwiches
Oven fries
Avocado, tomato, cucumber salad

MONDAY
Bean soup with turkey bacon
Beer bread
Chocolate chip cookies

TUESDAY
Leftover bean soup
Leftover bread
Tomato, cucumber, avocado salad

WEDNESDAY
Lentil chili
Homemade corn chips
Guacamole

THURSDAY
Grits
Turkey bacon
Eggs

FRIDAY
Lasagna
Garlic bread
Cucumber, tomato salad
Apple, Mango, Cranberry crisp

SATURDAY
Leftovers!

Most of the extra food I bought was: Yogurt, chocolate chips, turkey bacon, and granola bars! I usually make my own granola bars, but I had 7 $1 off coupons, and the bars were on sale! I ended up only paying $.35 per box. I had 5 $1 off yogurt coupons that let me get 40 containers of Yoplait for $15. $15 is a lot of money to spend on yogurt, but those 40 yogurt containers will last us all month! I also bought 4 mangos and an 8 pound bag of oranges.

Having a Food Bank Account

2010-02-06T06:19:00.000-08:00

Counting every penny you spend can be a very daunting, depressing task. I know I have so few of those pennies, that I kind of obsess over money. Every time I have to unexpectedly spend some, my stress level winds up a notch higher. I know there are a lot of people in my position. Single parents, people who have been laid off, people with crazy mortgages, medical debt, or people who just were never able to stay ahead, for whatever reason. Here is one of the main things I do to try and quell my obsessive tendencies, and compulsive worry about money:

I HAVE A FOOD BANK ACCOUNT
What is a food bank account? It's a way for me to feel a small sense of security, even when my bank account balance has dwindled down farther than I ever thought possible. It's a partial antidote to the poisonous feelings of helplessness, and despair that a lack of money can cause. A food bank account is just a bunch of food that you've stocked up on! All you need to create your own food bank account is some storage space! My main pantry is in my laundry room. My dad set up some shelves for me in there, but really, you can store food pretty much anywhere you want. I know one woman who keeps non-perishables under her bed! Here is what I keep in my food bank account:

NON-PERISHABLES
I keep a lot of non-perishables in my food bank account. The main ones I keep are, flour (25Lbs), sugar (10Lbs), rolled oats (10Lbs), grits (15Lbs), shelf stable soymilk (We're lactose intolerant!), cornmeal (5Lbs), dry beans, dry lentils, yeast, sugar, salt, dry milk, canned fruit, canned tuna, canned chicken, cereal,a 25Lb bag of rice, many, many boxes of pasta, preserves I canned last Summer, peanut butter, canned tomatoes (sauce, diced, stewed, crushed), canned corn, canned pumpkin, raisins, and chocolate chips.
With those ingredients, I can make a lot of meals for my family for a long time. I chose those particular items, because we like them, but also because they are all good for us (Okay, except for the sugar and chocolate chips!:P) That food would last us a long time, and it's not like we'd be dining on ramen. I think the only thing anywhere near as stressful as being too broke to buy food, would be having to feed your kids junk, and knowing how it would affect their growth and development for life.

PERISHABLES
I also stock up on some refrigerated and frozen items. The main frozen ones are: Frozen vegetables (broccoli, green beans, peas, soybeans), Eggo's (for those EXTREMELY lazy days.:P) ground beef, roasts. The refrigerated items are: Eggs, yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, corn tortillas, avocados, apples, dates, celery, and carrots.

I buy other stuff too, but these are all of the foods I try to keep around in bulk. Stocking up can take some time. It takes a lot of planning for me to be able to afford everything I want to buy. I have to buy some items one week, and some the next, and then some the next. If I get an unexpected windfall, I'll often use some of it to buy extra food. I saved up $80 in gas money over Christmas break, and I used it to pad my normal grocery budget.

No one should ever have to be stressed out about having enough money to buy food. Unfortunately, many people are in that very predicament. A food bank account can really do a lot to ease stress during tight times. With a food bank account, at least you don't have to worry about being hungry.

Frugal Chicken Pie!

2010-02-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was REALLY in the mood for chicken pot pie, but I didn't want to use up half a pound of butter to make it! Luckily, I remembered an old shepherds pie recipe I used to make a lot, and I used it as a template to come up with something. Here's what I made:

FRUGAL CHICKEN PIE
FILLING
1 can (13 oz) white meat chicken
3 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 onion, peeled and chopped
ONE tsp dried minty herb, (like thyme, chervil, marjoram, savory)
1 bay leaf
1C sliced mushrooms, (optional)
1 can chicken broth
1/4C flour
TOPPING
4 or 5 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
3Tbsp butter
2Tbsp milk
1/2C shredded cheese (I like cheddar!)

Heat the chicken broth up to boiling. Add the chicken, carrots, and celery. Return to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer until vegetables are tender. Remove the chicken and vegetables with a slotted spoon and place in a large bowl. Reserve the broth in another bowl. Return the pan to the heat with 1Tbsp butter. Melt the butter, and then add the onions and optional mushrooms, the herbs, and 1/2tsp salt. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until onions are softened. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the reserved broth, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add onion mixture to chicken mixture and reserve. Wash out the saucepan.

Place the potatoes in the saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and boil gently until the potatoes are tender. Drain in a colander, reserving 1/2C cooking water. Return the potatoes to the pan, shaking until they look dry. Add the butter and a splash of cooking water. Mash with a potato masher until most of the lumps are gone. Add the milk, and 1/2tsp salt. Beat the potatoes with a wooden spoon, adding enough cooking water to achieve a smooth consistency.

Place the chicken/onion mixture in a greased, 2 quart baking pan. Spread the mashed potatoes evenly over the top. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the potatoes. Bake @425 for about 25 minutes.

I served this chicken pie with homemade wheat biscuits topped with mango preserves I canned last Summer. For dessert we ate an apple, mango, cranberry fruit crisp. YUM!

My Poem (again)

2010-02-04T19:11:00.000-08:00

Paul Part II

I walk towards you every day
In my mind I stop, I turn
Keep my awkward thoughts at bay
My blush becomes a trait unlearned

I'm unfettered in my heart
Reaching out to take your hand
And so we'll never be apart
No matter where our feet may stand

Now we always walk together
My mind can see it silver clear
Our hands are intertwined forever
Their former distance not revered

If only I could take that chance
And not be perpetually paralyzed
My real speech a neurotic dance
This dream a realm to be disguised

Weekly Menu Plan!

2010-01-31T05:47:00.000-08:00

I haven't gone grocery shopping yet, but I plan on getting it done tomorrow. I'm going top go in between my last class at the college, and picking up the baby from preschool. I'll actually be ALONE...A rare treat! I'll probably spend the whole time just wandering around the store, pretending I'm on vacation.:P Here is my menu plan!

SUNDAY
Black beans with rice
Tomatoes
Avocados

MONDAY
Oatmeal with walnuts and raisins

TUESDAY
Swedish meatballs
Roasted carrots w/maple syrup

WEDNESDAY
Chicken pot pie
Tomato/cucumber salad

THURSDAY
Mexican lasagna

FRIDAY
Leftovers!

SATURDAY
Pita bread
Hummus
Tomato/cucumber salad
(Bumped from last week)

New challenges

2010-01-29T04:53:00.000-08:00

I found out last week that my ex-husband is losing his job. He is currently in the Air Force, but they have decided to fire him. I'm hoping that I convinced his First Sergeant to wait until Summer, but even if I did, my ex-husband's bad conduct might force the First Sergeant's hand. This is a serious blow, because my children and I still rely on military benefits, and of course, child support. I'm anticipating that both benefits and child support will disappear the second my ex-husband is kicked out. At first, I kind of panicked about this, but really...I don't have the luxury of giving into panic, so I tried to pull myself together and come up with a plan. Here's what I've come up with:

SAVE UP $8000 TO GET ME THROUGH THE SUMMER
If the First Sergeant can delay the firing until June, I will (hopefully) finish up my pre-requesites by the end of Summer quarter and be able to get a job while I wait for my program to start. I would need $8000 to get me from June to November. I say November, because I might not get a job right away. The unemployment rate in Augusta is pretty high right now. I feel pretty confident I can come up with tthe $8000. My tax refund alone is almost $6000, I'm getting a Pell refund of $300, and I have my new babysitting job. The lady I babysit for is paying me $300 on February 5. That is $6600 right there! I will get one more Pell refund before June, which will bring me to $7000. I will get paid (hopefully) $750 from babysitting between now and June, and I plan to save $600 of it. That brings me to $7600! I'm sure I'll be able to save that last $400 somehow. *sigh* there are always a few places to cut corners, even in the strictest budget. If I can avoid tapping into my long term savings before I find a job, I'll have enough money to get me through school...No matter what my ex-husband does.

GET MORE EVENING AND WEEKEND BABYSITTING CLIENTS
The more extra money I make, the better, especially in the Summer. If I can get just one more child to watch, that would bring my income up to $500 a month. I wish I could watch kids during the day, but school is more important than money at this point.

FIND OUT HOW TO GET MORE GRANT, OR SCHOLARSHIP MONEY FOR SCHOOL.
Luckily there are a lot of federal and state programs out there to help single moms go to college. President Obama has promised to increase Pell grants and other assistance for school. I know a lot of people consider these programs to be "welfare" and "socialist," and maybe they are. The way I see it, though, is those same people are usually devout christians...Doesn't the Bible say to help each other, and that we're all children of God? Wasn't Jesus all about giving to the poor, and needy, no matter how they got that way? It doesn't seem to me that wanting poor people, especially poor CHILDREN to starve and die in the streets, is a very christian attitude.

Well there it is, my plan to (hopefully) avoid disaster.

My end of the grocery cycle improve meal!

2010-01-28T18:01:00.000-08:00

Today I just couldn't think of what to make for dinner. My fridge held 2 gallons of milk, 4 apples, 3 turnips, a pound of swiss cheese, some leftover spaghetti sauce, some leftover pasta, and 5 pounds of carrots. I did not feel inspired by these items. What I wanted to make was Greek meatballs, pita bread, hummus, and a salad, but I didn't have the right ingredients! I ran out of tomatoes a day too early, and I couldn't find a good meatball recipe. As I felt sorry for myself, I started a batch of granola bars.
I wish I could say that I was suddenly hit by awesome, frugal inspiration, but that's not what happened. In reality, I moped around, listened to the same song about 500 times ("Don't Come Around Here No More"), and then finally put something together. Here's what I came up with!

LIZ'S DEPRESSED DAY CASSEROLE
About 1/2 pound of cooked, short pasta
2 Tbsp butter
1 can of evaporated milk
1 can of tuna, drained
2Tbsp flour
1 bag 12-16oz frozen vegetables
1/3 pound of swiss cheese, shredded
1/2C breadcrumbs

Heat the oven to 350. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add frozen vegetables and cook until mostly heated through. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 30 seconds. Add the evaporated milk and cook, stirring constantly until almost boiling. Add the cheese and stir until just melted. Remove from the heat. Place the pasta in a greased 9x13 pan. Add the cheese mixture and stir to combine. Add the tuna and stir to combine. Mix the breadcrumbs with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle over the top of the casserole. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

The good news is, this casserole turned out really good! We had 4 pieces of garlic bread left, so we ate the casserole with garlic bread and drank the last of our sparkling cider with it. I will definitely be making a version of this in the future. I still have a ton of evaporated milk and pasta in my pantry.:P

Happy grocery shopping with kids!

2010-01-27T05:06:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm a single mom, I ALWAYS end up taking my three kids to the grocery store with me. Sometimes it is more fun than others, and sometimes it is definitely a chore. Here are some methods I have come up with to ease the potential pain!

I PACK A "TREAT BAG"
I pack a paper bag with "treats" for each of my kids. I say, "Treats," because really...it's usually just healthy snacks! A typical "treat" bag would probably include, juice, cereal or popcorn in a baggie, carrot sticks, and maybe a cookie if I had baked any. My kids go CRAZY over these. Having these snacks for them drastically cuts down on the fighting, whining, and screaming that seems to inevitebly occur at the most embarrassing moments. Sometimes I pack a "treat" bag for me, too!:P

I SAY WE CAN BUY ONE SPECIAL ITEM
This is exactly the same principle as the "treat" bags. I pick two items (that I want to buy anyway) and I let my kids pick the one they want. Last time we shopped, it was frozen ravioli on sale, the time before it was sparkling apple cider that has 100% juice. If they start misbehaving, I threaten to not buy the "extra" item.:P

I TRY TO TAKE THEM SHOPPING ON SATURDAY MORNING
This way, they aren't overly tired and the store isn't especially crowded. An even better time to shop is Sunday morning, but I always need to go shopping by Saturday. I obveously need to plan that better!:P

I'm lucky in that my kids actually enjoy grocery shopping. Packing treat bags turns it into kind of a fun, family outing. The kids just sit in the cart and munch away. Grocery shopping day is always my favorite day, because it means we're going to get some new food to eat. We never go hungry, but sometimes I just get so tired of the food we have in the house. I can't wait until the first week I get to spend $105, instead of $80! I plan to stock up and plan all kinds of awesome feasts. I'm sure that first week will have an interesting meal plan.:P

Weekly menu plan and an update

2010-01-24T18:03:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted a meal plan. That's because I stopped planning meals, much to my chagrin over the past few weeks. I've been really stressed out about a lot of things, but I'm finally trying to get back on track. That's the great thing about falling off the frugal wagon...You can always climb back on. Anyway, here's my meal plan for the week!

MONDAY
Egg salad sandwiches
Oven fries
Cucumber/tomato salad

TUESDAY
Spaghetti with crock pot meatballs and sauce
Peas

WEDNESDAY
Pasta E Fagoli
Beer bread rolls

THURSDAY
Pita bread
Hummus
Cucumber/tomato salad
Greek style meatballs

FRIDAY
Leftovers!

SATURDAY
Crab and corn chowder
Beer bread

SUNDAY
Ravioli with leftover tomato sauce
Green salad

I got a babysitting job recently that will pay me $250 per month. I'm hoping to use $50 of that to pad my grocery budget. $105 every two weeks instead of $80. I think it's going to make a HUGE difference! I'm going to use the other $200 to build up my savings. Every $2000 I save is another month where I won't lose my house, where I won't have to apply for welfare. Every $300 I save is grocery and gas money for a month. Every month that passes brings me closer to getting my degree, and starting a job that will save my children and I from poverty. I just have to get from here to there.

Frugal weight loss!

2010-01-23T06:57:00.000-08:00

I wouldn't normally do a blog post about weight loss, but this weight loss actually fits my overall frugal blog theme! 5 months ago, I was weighing between 145 pounds on a good day, and 148 pounds on a bad day! I'm only 5'2", so either one of those weights is WAY too heavy. This morning I got on the scale, and I weighed 131 pounds. That's a weight loss of about 16 pounds! I'm really pleased about this. I don't really know why I had gotten so overweight before, but at least it's finally going away. Now here's the part where my weight loss fits into my frugal blog theme.:P I lost all of that weight just by being frugal! Here's how:

I STOPPED GOING OUT TO EAT
I really think this is the #1 reason for my weight loss, because it's not like I have really been counting calories at home, or anything. The really strange thing is, it's not like I went out to eat all of the time before! When my husband lived with us, we went out for dinner maybe once or twice a week. Since he has left, I just haven't been able to afford dining out. I just can't believe the huge difference that eating at home has made...In my waistline AND my wallet!

I TRIED TO FOCUS ON MORE NUTRITIOUS FOODS
Nothing forces you to think about what you eat, like having a tiny grocery budget. I only have $80 to buy groceries to feed 4 people for 2 weeks. I have to really think about everything I want to buy. I want to make sure my kids get all of the vitamins they need. "Extras" like chips, soda, and pre-packaged meals, just don't fit into my food budget. I make all of our meals from scratch, because I really can only afford the basic ingredients. When we eat snacks, it's usually carrot/celery sticks, homemade granola bars, yogurt, fruit, cereal, eggs, or homemade corn chips with avocado salad. I actually kind of snack a lot. Maybe if I didn't snack so much, I'd lose even more weight!:P

I ATE SIMPLER MEALS AT HOME
When my husband lived with us, dinner was kind of a big, family event. I used to serve meat, at least two side dishes, bread and a dessert almost every day. Not only is that expensive, it's a lot of calories! Now I serve much simpler meals. Sometimes we'll still eat a grand feast, but more often we'll just eat soup, or chili, or a casserole, or breakfast for dinner. I find that my kids actually enjoy the simpler meals a lot more than the elaborate ones I used to make. Simpler meals also have the added bonus of making you lose weight!

I've tried to lose weight before, on Weight Watchers, or on some other diet plan. I would lose weight, but it always seemed so hard! This time, I wasn't really even trying to lose weight, I was trying to save money! I guess frugality was the answer all along, as it so often is.:P

Frugal artistic expression

2010-01-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

I used to be very artistic, before my ex-husband drained me of all my will and motivation. I'm starting to wake up again and now...It's like I'm actually turning back into Liz. I don't know how exactly to describe it, but it's like I've been living in a play, with a set character I was supposed to be. Now I'm trying to learn who I really am, and what I really like to do. I feel like I've been in a coma, where the world was filled with washed out pastels, everyone had the same face, and nothing interesting ever happened. Anyway, here are the ideas for frugal art that I've had to try and color in some of the new outlines I've made in my life!

WRITE A POEM
I really like to write, but I had stopped for a long time. Recently, I've become inspired again, and it's awesome! Writing a poem is like creating a painting, or a sculpture. It makes you really look at something, and then want to describe it so everyone else can see it like you did. You could write anything, poems, short stories, editorials, books, plays...I happen to prefer poems. I think it's because I'm too lazy to write anything that requires "filler" words.:P I like to write, because I really want to expand my mind and see everything of interest and beauty in the world. Best of all, writing is free! All it requires is time.

LEARN HOW TO MAKE SOMETHING UTILITARIAN, BUT BEAUTIFUL
I mean soap, candles, blankets, clothes, pottery, anything that has a purpose, but could still be creatively made. I've actually made soap before, and it is fun and pretty inexpensive. I mean, it depends on the kind of soap you're making.:P My goal is to make another batch of soap before Summer! I also like to crochet blankets, which is...Semi-frugal. Yarn can be pretty expensive, so you have to watch for sales and kind of stock up when you can. I really would like to learn how to sew. My mom can sew and she made me 2 beautiful aprons for Christmas. I feel all motherly when I wear them.:P Years and years ago I took a pottery class with my sister, and I really liked it. Someday, I would like to take another one. I have this dream of having all of these beautiful, handmade dishes and mixing bowls to use.:P

FIND ART IN EVERYDAY THINGS
Arranging food on a plate can be beautiful, and artistic. A jug of flowers, an afghan thrown over the couch, a mug tree with pretty mugs displayed. All of these things can add beauty for very little expense. My goal is to first clean, and organize, and de-clutter my house. Afterwards, I'm going to find pretty things I already have and figure out a way to display them. Then I plan to start a frugal, artistic project and FINISH it! (That is definitely one of my problems!).

It's easy to get caught up in the everyday grind and sort of forget than anything else exists. The constant stress of money, kids, work, and everything else can really take it's toll on us. I don't know about my readers, but I know I lived in that dark world with my husband for almost a decade. We only get the one life. I'm determined to enjoy the rest of mine!

My poem!

2010-01-13T19:22:00.000-08:00

TEA

The water, hot
Burning,
Surrounds the flower.
For a second, time stops.
Nothing happens.
Then, like a
Wing
The first leaf unfurls,
Languid
As the flower floats.

The second leaf
Sticks.
The flower swirls,
Struggling
In the water.
Spiraling like a bird, who
Tries towards the
Stratosphere.

Then a supernova!
The flower
Expands,
Exploding like a star.
Consuming the water,
Choking the mouth
Of the teapot,
Beating against
The glass walls
Of the
Cage.
Like a star that stretches
The fabric of space.

Wood Windfall!

2010-01-12T19:27:00.000-08:00

I have been encouraging my next door neighbors to start using their fireplace for over two years now. This past weekend, they finally decided to try it out, only to discover their chimney needs to be cleaned! The fireplace smokes terribly and can't be used at all. I felt kind of bad, because I'd been preaching about the wonders of wood burning for so long, and they had really gotten their hopes up.
After we realized that the fireplace really needs professional attention, they decided to just not bother, and they gave me all of the wood they had been planning to burn! It's great wood, already cut and well seasoned. I burned some yesterday and it lasted a long time, and burned very hot and bright. I still have enough for at least two more days! It's been so cold here, I'll take all the extra warmth I can get.

Liz is on facebook!

2010-01-12T04:40:00.000-08:00

Today I finally opened up a facebook account! My name on the account is, "Frugal Liz" and my e-mail is frugalliz@333.org. I hope all of us can become facebook friends, and I look foward to seeing everyone!

My non-frugal choices, and how I plan to improve!

2010-01-11T18:00:00.000-08:00

Recently, I haven't been as frugal as I should be. Between the Holidays and this persistent cold snap, I just seem to have lost my motivation! Here are some of my non-frugal guilty confessions, and how I plan to remedy the overspending!:P

BUYING BREAKFAST AT SCHOOL
For the past week, I've been buying breakfast every day at the student union on my way to class. I buy a bowl of grits and some hot coffee. It only costs $2, so I've been able to justify it...So far. I started thinking about it, though and I realized that $2 every school day is $8 a week! You may be thinking, "Why is she freaking out over $8? Lighten up, Liz!" I used to think that way too, but now I only have $500 A MONTH to pay for food, gasoline, and miscellaneous expenses for 4 people! That is $125 per week. $8 is roughly 6.5% of my total money for the week. $8 is a trip to the movies for the kids and I, it could be the difference between us feasting on pot roast, or beans on a given night.
So I plan to start bringing my own coffee to school in a thermos, and maybe even some grits too. I'll have to experiment and see if grits stay good in a thermos. If they don't, I could always bring a baggie of cereal and a thermos of cold soymilk. I could make some muffins and bring one, or I could make some bagels. I'm determined to get motivated again!

I'VE BEEN USING MY DRYER, INSTEAD OF MY CLOTHESLINE
The cold weather has made me EXTREMELY reluctant to use my clothesline. Who wants to go outside in the frigid arctic (or what seems like it anyway!) when there is a nice, warm dryer to be used? People who need to save money on electricity! It's not pleasant hanging wet clothes out in the cold, but I still need to get on the ball and do it. My electricity bill went up $30 this month, just from using the dryer!

I'VE BEEN WASTING FOOD
I just got tired of eating leftovers...But when you've only got $40 a week to spend on food, throwing leftovers away is definitely counter-productive! I need to start planning my meals again, and stop feeding my kids waffles and cereal for dinner.

It's hard to stay motivated sometimes, but I'm not someone who is frugal because I'm saving up for a vacation, or for a nicer car. I'm frugal because I have to be. There are a lot of days when I wish I could just turn up the damn heat, instead of trudging out to the woodshed, carrying a backbreaking, heavy load of wood to the house, picking up kindling from outside, and then finally starting a fire. There are days I just want to order pizza, or Chinese, when I want to go to the grocery store and buy whatever I want. On days like that, I go into the kitchen and try to find something special for dinner. I take my kids to a dollar movie, or to the library. After a while, I start to remember all of the good things about my new life, and I don't feel so discouraged.

Meal ideas for extremely tired and lazy days!

2010-01-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Today I was so tired by the evening, that I had almost convinced myself to just get take-out. I mean, one time couldn't hurt anything, right? Shouldn't EVERYONE take a break sometimes?! The only problem was, I only have $80 left to spend until January 15. I'm definitely going to have to buy some gas and groceries before then! Fortunately, after I wandered around in a daze for a while, I happened to remember some Eggo waffles I had bought from Sams Club about 5 months ago! Ten minutes later, those Eggos were toasted, slathered with peanut butter and homemade mango preserves, and being happily devoured by my three hungry kids! I ate my share, too.:P Afterwards, I started trying to think of other easy, lazy day meals. This is what I came up with!

COLD CEREAL WITH BANANAS AND DATES
I like to use corn flakes, or grape nuts, with bananas and dates sliced into the bowl. We eat our cereal with soymilk. It's a complete meal! The cereal provides whole grain, the bananas provide potassium, the dates provide iron, and the soymilk provides calcium and protein!

COTTAGE CHEESE WITH FRUIT
I just scoop out some cottage cheese onto a plate and add some canned pineapple, some salted grape tomatoes, and some canned oranges, or fresh grapes. My kids love this meal, and I love the lack of clean up. No pots and pans!

COLD OATMEAL
This is a lazy breakfast idea, although sometimes I start it in the early afternoon and serve it for dinner.:P Just take 2C rolled oats and 2C milk and stir them together in a large bowl. Add about 6 chopped dates, and a small handful of raisins, or craisins. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, or overnight. Enjoy!

These four meals (including the waffles!) are for when I'm feeling REALLY tired and lazy. I can't even count the number of times one of these three meals has saved me from getting take-out. The ironic part is, I think my kids like to eat these meals more than the ones I actually cook!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T17:44:00.000-08:00

With the New Year, comes the inevitable resolutions. This year, I am committed to actually following through on mine!:P

EXCERSISE, EXCERSISE, EXCERSISE!
Every year I plan to excersise more...And then I don't. This year I'm making a commitment to get a membership at the YMCA as soon as I can afford it. In the meantime, I'm going to try to do 50 crunches per day and walk at least 2 1/2 miles. That's twice around my neighborhood.

SAVE UP FOR A SMALL VACATION TO MYRTLE BEACH THIS SPRING
I'm not sure how much money I would need to save up, so I need to do some more research on it. I really want to go, though, because my neighbors tell me that Myrtle Beach rocks! I may not be able to afford it this Spring, but if not, maybe this Summer!

FINE TUNE MY FRUGAL GROCERY SHOPPING TECHNIQUES
I'm getting pretty good at frugal shopping, but there is always room for improvement! One thing I've started doing differently, is to shop for 2 weeks at a time, instead of one week. That way I have $80 to spend, instead of $40. Also, I've started going back to Sams Club again for certain items that we use a lot of. It's a real family outing...My kids LOVE Sam's club for some reason!

TRY TO MAKE SOME FRIENDS
I've always been a solitary type of person. I sort of wait for everyone to come to me, instead of being friendly and trying to make friends on my own. When my husband lived with us, I was just happy to be with him. It's hard for me to understand it now, but I really loved him and when he was with me...I didn't feel like anything else existed, or needed to exist. Now that I'm a single mom, I really need to make some friends. My problem is, I don't really relate to a lot of other people, and I have a tendancy to recoil at the first sign of imperfection.

GET BETTER ORGANIZED
I'm naturally a very disorganized person, but I want to be more organized. I think my life would seem less...Chaotic and difficult if I could just get into a routine. I want to take charge of my life and make things happen, instead of just letting things happen to me, or hoping that something will happen. My first project is to organize my kids' clothes!(aaacckkk!)

Those are my New Years resolutions. I will update peridically and detail my success!(Hopefully success, anyway.:P)

Liz is Back!

2009-12-27T05:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over and I finally have some time to start blogging again! It has definitely been a busy three weeks, but they were also frugal and fun. I had saved up $200 this year for Christmas, which was great! I had originally saved $100, but then I sold back my textbooks to the college and got $100 extra! That money went straight into my Christmas envelope. That extra $100 allowed my kids and I to really go all out this holiday. Here are some of the things we did!

DECORATED DECORATED DECORATED!
My ex-husband would never let us decorate for Christmas, so we had a lot of catching up to do. The kids and I went to Michaels art store and bought SO MANY decorations! I think we might have gone a little overboard, but it was so much fun, I don't even care! We bought a 6 foot Christmas tree on sale for: $29.99, 3 wreaths to decorate, one Christmas wreath ball, several Christmas baskets at 50% off, and about 20 Christmas cookie tins that were 70% off! Then we bought a bunch of plain ornaments to paint, and a TON of sparkly odds and ends to decorate the tree and wreaths with. Last of all, we got several different kinds of Christmas lights and put them all over inside and outside. My house looks like a Christmas store, or something!:P I admit that I did sort of cringe when I realised I had spent $80 of my budget, just on decorations. I have a lot to make up for where my kids are concerned, so I tried to put my frugal worries aside! I let their dad dictate to me for 9 years and ruin almost every holiday...I want every holiday now and in the future to be twice as wonderful, so my kids can remember that instead of what their dad used to say and do.

WE DECORATED COOKIES!
I made about 150 sugar cookies and the kids and I decorated all of them with icing, sprinkles, m&m's, gum drops and raisins! We had a lot of fun. My 3 year old especially made some interesting designs!

WE COOKED A GIANT FEAST
The feast really got crazy, since it was just for the 4 of us. I made: Turkey, mashed rutabagas, wild rice stuffing, sweet potato casserole, deviled eggs, cranberry sauce, buttered peas, pumpkin pie, and lemon blueberry bars. For the last two days, the kids and I have eaten SO MANY leftovers! I admit, it was a lot of fun, though! I've been bringing my neighbors extra cookies and bars in some of my many cookie tins as gifts, which has also been fun.

SHOPPED AT THE AFTER CHRISTMAS SALES!
After Christmas, my kids and I went to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Michaels to look for discounted holiday merchandise. I still had $27 in my Christmas envelope to burn! At Target we bought: A beautiful christmas table cloth for $7, a Santa Claus mug for $1, and some Lindor truffles that were 50% off! At Michaels we bought a candy pretzel making kit for 80% off. At Bed Bath and Beyond I bought a homemade root beer brewing kit for 50% off! We mixed up the root beer yesterday and it should be done in about 3-7 days!

What did all of you guys do for the holidays?

Update!

2009-12-21T06:43:00.000-08:00

Sorry my blogging has been so...Absent these past couple of weeks! First I had exams and final projects due for school, and then I had to start getting ready for my parents to visit! Unfortunately, I kind of let the house go when I stopped blogging.:P Anyway, I promise to start blogging regularly again after X-Mas. In the meantime, I hope all of my readers have a great, frugal holiday!

...And now my belated menu plan!

2009-12-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

I've been behind on my blog, because It's the end of the quarter at school and I've had a lot of assignments due! Now I just have a research paper due Thursday (almost done) and two more tests in Algebra before I'm through. I'm excited about the algebra, because I know I'm getting an "A." My other class is English Composition...And I'm not sure what I'll get in there! I'm hoping for an "A," but it depends on how the exam went (crosses fingers!). Next quarter I'm taking THREE classes, so hopefully they won't be too hard. Anyway, on to my menu plan!

MONDAY
Turkey noodle soup
corn chips
juice

TUESDAY
Turkey stroganoff
pasta
juice

WEDNESDAY
Turkey salad (seeing a theme?:P)
Whole grain beer bread rolls
Oven fries

THURSDAY
(My kids are going out with their dad. I'll just have leftovers)

FRIDAY
Pizza!

SATURDAY
Turkey shepherds pie

SUNDAY
Leftovers!

Weekly Grocery and Menu Plan

2009-12-04T16:23:00.000-08:00

I went to the store on Friday instead of Sunday this week, so I'm posting my menu plan early! I did something a little different this week. Instead of taking out $40 to shop for one week, I took out $80 and I shopped for two weeks! I was very pleased with the results. I spent just $50.16 total for two weeks! That's $29.84 under budget! Here's what I bought:

Two 16oz boxes 7 grain spaghetti: $2.60 ($1 off coupon, so only $1.60!)
Kashi heart to heart cereal: $3.03 ($1 off coupon, so only 2.03!)
Two boxes corn flakes: $5.36 ($2.50 in coupons, so only $2.86!)
Sun maid raisins, two large containers: $4.30 ($1 off coupon, so only $3.30!)
Hungry Jack pancake mix: $1.19 ($.50 off coupon, so only $.69!)
Fiber One pancake mix: $2.65 ($.60 off coupon, so only $2.05!)
Uncle Ben's wild rice mix: $1.52 ($.75 off coupon, so only $.77!)
2 cans pumpkin: $2.18
5 pounds all purpose flour: $1.50 ($.50 off coupon, so only $1!)
Tomato paste: $.49
Sweetened condensed milk: $1.69 ($.55 off coupon, so only $1.14!)
2 cans Goya black beans: $1.70
2 cans pineapple in syrup: $1.58
2 29oz cans crushed tomatoes: $2.00
Tabasco sauce: $1.14
Two boxes tissues: $1.98 (FREE after coupon!)
Twelve 6 oz containers Yoplait yogurt: $6 ($1 off coupon, so only $5!)
Sour cream: $1.39 ($50 off coupon, so only .89!)
2 packages refrigerated organic cookie dough: $3.98 ($1.50 in coupons, so only $2.48!)
Plain yogurt 32 oz: $2.08 ($1 in coupons, so only $1.08!)
One pound butter: $2.19
Frozen soybeans: $1.23
Two 16 oz packages frozen broccoli: $1.60 ($.70 in coupons, so only $.90!)
One 16 oz package frozen shrimp: $4.99 ($1 off coupon, so only $3.99!)
1 can frozen orange juice: $.99
Zucchini: $1.85
2 acorn squash: $2.13
Ginger root: $.18
Turnips: $1.09
1 pound mushrooms: $89
Green onions: $.50

I saved $16.03 in coupons and I had a $2.99 rebate! I'll do my menu plan in another post, because this one is getting pretty long!

Frugal Christmas Decorations!

2009-12-01T18:29:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my Williamsburg vacation on Sunday! It was a lot of fun...I really needed a vacation. The only downside is, I think I gained about 5 pounds, but the food in Williamsburg is just great!
Anyway, after I returned, I realised that it was time to start decorating for Christmas. My husband NEVER let the kids and I decorate, so I didn't actually have any decorations to put up. I decided it would be fun to make my own decorations and ornaments, so I headed to Michael's arts and crafts store! Luckily, Michael's was having a sale.:P I bought 3 plain wreaths for $3 each and one ball shaped wreath thing for $3. Then I bought a TON of sparkly flowers, holly berries, tiny pine cones and other sparkly shapes for 50% off! I also bought some Christmas ribbon for 30% off. All of these things were for decorating the plain wreaths and the ball shaped thing. I spent $42.65 total!
Yesterday, the kids and I sat in front of the fire(it was really cold) and made 2 beautiful wreaths and one beautiful ball thing. We're making the third wreath today! Next week we're looking for a christmas tree and some ornaments to paint. What do you guys do for Christmas decorations?

Weekly Grocery and Menu Plan

2009-11-22T08:18:00.000-08:00

I didn't buy any groceries this week, because I'm leaving for my vacation on Tuesday! I was tempted to buy some, because our meals have gotten admittedly stranger as I try to use up all of our perishable food. I've still got 2 dozen eggs to use up! Anyway, here is my menu plan for the next few days and what I plan to take with us on vacation.
Sunday
Leftover stir fry
Leftover rice
Monday
Quiche
Vacation food!
Apple walnut bread (This is to use up some bananas and sour cream I have!)
Date nut bread (This is to use up bananas, buttermilk, and of course, dates!)
Yogurt
PBJ sandwiches
Leftover brownies

For breakfast and lunch on Sunday and Monday, I plan to really try to eat up the eggs and some homemade bread I have. I know eggs are cholesterol bombs, but I just really hate to waste them! Hopefully my arteries won't get too clogged.
I hope everyone has an awesome Thanksgiving. I can't wait to buy turkeys on sale! I'm hoping to buy at least two, because I seriously love turkey. Turkey stew, turkey pot pie, turkey salad...I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!

Frugal Mishmash Post!

2009-11-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

Sorry I didn't post this week, but my Internet was down for 5 days! I finally got it fixed, though and then when I had the chance to sit down and blog...I got writers block! As an antidote to the dreaded block, I've decided to write a "Frugal mishmash post" about a few frugal things I like to do that aren't really enough individually for an entire blog article. Here goes!
Rolling change
Today I rolled up all of the change I'd been saving for the last 6 months. It amounted to $112! I'm taking it to the bank on Monday to exchange it for paper money. A lot of people don't bother saving change, but I've found it to be a great way to painlessly save money. I keep my silver change in a big, pink piggy bank. I keep pennies separate from the silver change in a big mason jar.
Brewing my own beer!
About a year ago, I bought a home beer brewing kit and it has been a great purchase! Home brewed beer costs about half of what you'd pay at the store and it's really fun to make! The only downside is that it takes about a month to finish fermenting and conditioning, so if you're a serious drinker, home brewing might not be the way you want to go. My favorite part of the process is cooking the wort. (Yes I did say, "Wort.") Before it ferments in the keg, immature beer is called wort! I like to say it as often as possible.:P
I'm willing to eat an odd dinner
Today my kids and I ate cereal with bananas, dates and soymilk for dinner. I REALLY didn't feel like cooking, in case you couldn't tell!:P The temptation to order pizza, or Chinese food was enormous, but then I looked on top of my fridge and I saw all of that raisin bran and all of those kix I bought on sale. Then I looked on the counter and saw a bunch of bananas that were edging into the "overripe" category. Luckily, my kids really like cereal! I'm so glad I didn't get takeout!
I took my kids on a walk
This afternoon my kids were, "Sooo bored!" My older two were starting to REALLY get on my nerves, so I finally just loaded the baby into her stroller (yard sale find, only $8!) and said we were going on a walk to get some exercise. We walked all over the neighborhood and what started out as a way to just get the kids to stop fighting for 5 minutes, really turned into a fun outing! We stopped and said hello to friends, we looked at what trees were changing color, we met a stray dog, and best of all...It didn't cost any money! I plan to do this a lot, while the weather is nice.

"Canned" Pies!

2009-11-14T05:27:00.000-08:00

Back when I was just "Frugal Liz," I would have DIED at the thought of using canned fruit or pumpkin in a pie. I NEVER would've used a frozen pie crust...Everything had to be made from scratch, or we weren't eating it. Now that I'm, "Frugal Divorced Liz," I have a lot less time to make pie crusts from scratch and a lot less money to but fresh fruits to be made into pie filling. One thing I've discovered is canned and frozen fruit make a pretty awesome pie, or crisp, or cobbler as well...And it usually costs a lot less! I can use coupons for canned or frozen fruit, but I have yet to find coupons for fresh. Here is a great peach pie recipe, made from canned peaches!
Peach pie
2 16oz cans of peaches in light syrup (drain the peaches and reserve 1/3C of the syrup)
1/2C sugar
2Tbsp flour
1/2tsp cinnamon
2Tbsp butter
1Tbsp lemon juice
1 double pie crust (I used a refrigerated one I got on sale and with a coupon!)
In a large sauce pan, combine reserved syrup, cinnamon, sugar, flour and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and cook until very thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter, stirring until butter is melted. Add the lemon juice and peaches and stir well to combine.
Roll out bottom crust and fit it into a pie plate. Add the peach mixture to the pie plate and smooth the top. Roll out the top crust and place over the peach mixture. Seal and flute the edges of the pie (fluting is optional, sealing is not! To seal, press the edges of the top and bottom crust together and then fold under, pressing it together again. To flute, press the sealed and folded edge with the tines of a fork all around to make a pretty design.) Cut 5 vent holes in the top of the pie. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for 40-45 minutes. Let the pie cool to room temperature before cutting! Enjoy with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some hot chocolate (or coffee!), for a truly decadent treat!
Desserts are truly one of my guilty pleasures, and the main reason for my ever expanding waistline! One of the hardest things about a tiny grocery budget is justifying desserts. When you hardly have the money to buy a healthy variety, it's hard to justify buying 3 pounds of peaches or apples(possibly out of season!) to turn into a pie. Berries are expensive even when they ARE in season! With coupons and sales, though, I can make a canned or frozen fruit dessert practically for free! I made a pumpkin pie two weeks ago with a can of pumpkin I got for $.49 (it was on sale for $.99 and I had a $.50 off coupon!), a frozen pie crust I got for $.75 ($1.50 for two!), and evaporated milk and eggs I got for free (from Wic!) So that pumpkin pie cost me $1.24 total! It was quick and easy and provided the kids and I with dessert for 3 nights after dinner. 3 days of dessert out of 7 isn't bad! This week I'm making the canned peach pie.

Weekly Grocery and Menu Plan

2009-11-13T08:47:00.000-08:00

I had a request from one of my readers that I post where I bought my groceries, what I bought and how much I paid for each item, so here goes!

Bi-Lo

1 watermelon that was on sale for $4 (I wouldn't normally buy out of season, but we love watermelon so much!)

1 bunch of bananas that were on sale for $.33 a pound!

Publix

Two 4 packs of Yo-Plus yogurt that were on sale for $1.25 each. Luckily, I had two $1 off coupons, so I actually got them for $.25 each!

Commissary
2 boxes of twelve "Nature Valley" granola bars: $3.98 (However, I had $1.80 worth of coupons, so these ended up costing me $2.20 total)
2 boxes of "Rozini Smart Taste" macaroni noodles: $1.98 (However, I had 2 $1 coupons, so these ended up being free!)
2 boxes of "Uncle Ben's white and wild rice": $3.04 (I had $1.50 worth of coupons, so these only cost me $1.54 total!)
Welches black cherry and grape juice: $2.59 ($1 off coupon, so $1.59!)
Welches white grape and peach juice: $2.59 ($1 off coupon, so $1.59!)
2 boxes of Triscuit crackers: $3.58 (I had $1.50 worth of coupons, so this was only $2.08!)
Washing soda: $2.05 (sadly, no coupon)
6 Yoplait yogurts: $3.00 (I had a $.50 off coupon, so $2.50!)
Buttermilk: $1.33 (Sadly, no coupon!)
2 boxes of frozen Green Giant sugar snap peas: $1.98 ($.50 off coupon, so $1.48!)
2 pounds of lean ground turkey: $4.72 ($2.25 worth of coupons, so $2.47!)
Shredded lettuce: $1.25 (Sadly, no coupon)
5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes: $2.99 (Sadly, no coupon!)

Well, my grand total grocery spending for the week is: $32! That leaves $8 more for me to save for Williamsburg, so I'm pretty psyched! I hope this post was informative and not boring.:P Now for my menu plan!
Monday
Marinated steak
Green beans
Mashed potatoes (The parsnips were still too expensive!:()
Tuesday
Chicken salad sandwiches
Oven fries
Sugar snap peas
Wednesday
Ground turkey and rice skillet meal
Thursday
Leftovers!
Friday
Asian stir fry
Rice
Saturday
Leftovers!
Sunday
Anything that needs eating up before our trip!

You may notice I've planned to eat a lot of leftovers. This is because we leave for our vacation next week!

Parsnips!

2009-11-13T04:56:00.000-08:00

Fall is finally here and with it comes the season's bounty of delicious root vegetables, cabbages and winter squashes! What I'm excited about, though, is the parsnips. Parsnips look like big, white carrots. They have a complex, spicy, tangy flavor and a velvety texture that can't be beat! Best of all, parsnips are CHEAP!:P Today, I will post my favorite parsnip recipes.

Parsnip Pie!
(I swear this pie turns out absolutely delicious! So good...And good for you too!)
1 pie crust (I buy frozen ones on sale, but you could always make your own)
2 pounds parsnips, peeled, cored and cut into chunks (To core, just cut the parsnip in half and remove the woody center)
1 1/2C buttermilk (DON'T use powdered!!!)
2/3C brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2tsp salt
1/2tsp cinnamon
1/2tsp ginger
1/8tsp cloves
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the parsnips and cook until tender, 12-15 minutes. Drain the parsnips and let sit for 5 minutes. Return the parsnips to the cooking pot and mash with a potato masher. Measure out 2C of the parsnip mash and reserve the rest for another use. (I like to use parsnip mash to flavor soups and stews!) Puree the 2C parsnip mash and the buttermilk in a blender until smooth. Transfer the mash to a mixing bowl and beat in the sugar, eggs and spices, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake for 1 hour. A toothpick inserted into the center of the pie will come out clean. Cool on a wire rack for at least an hour. Serve cold or at room temperature. I prefer cold with whipped cream on top!
Parsnip and leek soup
2Tbsp butter
1 onion, diced
6C chicken or vegetable broth
2 leeks (White and light green parts only) trimmed, washed and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
1 pound parsnips, peeled, cored and diced
1 pound potatoes (I prefer yellow!) peeled and cut into dice
2tsp turmeric
Melt the butter in a large, heavy soup kettle. Add the onion with some salt and cook until the onion is soft. Add the broth, leeks, parsnips and potatoes and boil briskly for 5 minutes. Add the turmeric. Turn down the heat and simmer until the vegetables are very soft, about 15-20 minutes longer. Puree the soup in a blender and strain it through a medium sieve (It is not strictly necessary to strain it...I almost never do!) Add more broth if the soup is very thick. I can't wait to make this soup over the weekend! I like to drizzle a little buttermilk over the top, just before serving.
Mashed Parsnips!
2 pounds parsnips, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1/2C evaporated whole milk, or cream or even buttermilk
2Tbsp butter
1Tbsp lemon juice
1Tbsp fresh chives, or dill
Cook the parsnips in boiling water until tender. Drain the parsnips and let sit for 5 minutes. Return the parsnips to the cooking pot and mash with a potato masher. Add the lemon juice, milk, cream, or buttermilk and butter and whip the parsnips with a large wooden spoon. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle the herbs over the top. So good...Even tastier than potatoes! Mashed parsnips go really good with steak that has been marinated in a sugar bourbon marinade and then grilled. I have some steak in the freezer right now...I know what I'm defrosting over the weekend!:P

Williamsburg Update! and Frugal goals

2009-11-12T14:24:00.000-08:00

Today I checked my Williamsburg savings account and discovered I'm a little ahead of schedule in my savings goals! So far I've saved: $590 hotel money, and $140 spending money! I had $200 in spending money, but I had to use $60 of it to buy firewood.:( At least I still have 1 more week to save. I'm thinking I won't buy too many groceries this week, because we need to eat up what I already have! There's nothing worse than going on vacation with a bunch of food sitting in the fridge...Slowly decomposing.:P If I'm careful with my grocery spending and my miscellaneous spending, I'm hoping to have another $40 saved by the end of next week. $180 for my spending money isn't too bad! I'm really excited about this vacation. I love Williamsburg and this has been a bad few months for me and my kids, so we could really use some time off!

I've decided to start setting some frugal goals for myself, so maybe I'll get more excited about my new, single life and not pine so much for my old, married one. Here are the goals I've decided to try and reach!
Finish my afghan. I started crocheting an afghan like a year ago and I would really like to finish it! Crocheting is a fun and relatively frugal hobby. My mom is an AWESOME crocheter (is that even a word?). I'm an okay crocheter, but I still like it a lot. This frugal goal is really more about me getting back in the swing of things, than it is about frugality. It's been really hard for me to be motivated to do anything, since my husband left.
Start making my own yogurt again. I used to make yogurt a lot, but again...I stopped when my husband left. I get milk for free through WIC, though, so making yogurt would be an extremely frugal use of my time! I'm going to try to make a batch over the weekend in my crock pot.
Bake some freaking bread. When do you think I stopped baking my own bread...? I really like baking, is the ironic part! Baking my own bread is much healthier and more frugal than eating store bought. It's about motivation. Being depressed makes me tired, but I'm hoping that if I just start doing all of the things I like again, I won't feel so depressed anymore. I'm hoping to make some beer bread rolls this weekend, to enjoy with some leftover bean soup!

Those are all the frugal goals I can handle for now.:P I'll post next Thursday and tell how I did!

How a few pantry items can save the day!

2009-11-11T05:20:00.000-08:00

Being a single mom of three small children can be VERY exhausting. I have a million responsibilities and things that stress me out during the day. A lot of times, I just don't want to face making dinner and then dealing with a mountain of dishes and cleaning the kitchen and dining room afterwards. Getting take-out just isn't an option for me, however, so here is what I have done to prepare for those nights when I'd rather do ANYTHING but cook and do dishes!
I have stocked up on easy to prepare ingredients. Having just a few staples on hand at all times can make a HUGE difference. My pantry staples are: rice, pasta, canned tomatoes, various condiments, spices and herbs, canned chicken, canned "cream of" soups, evaporated milk and canned beans. My freezer staples are: Frozen vegetables, ground beef (portioned out into 1 pound increments) and 1 loaf of frozen french or garlic bread (whichever was on sale when I bought it!). My refrigerator staples are: Block cheese, onions and eggs. With these items on hand, I have a myriad of easy, fast meals I can prepare on short notice.
I also do a lot of prep work ahead of time. By prep work, I mean chopping up vegetables and putting them in ziplock bags, cooking extra rice, or pasta that can be heated up later, assembling and shaping a meatloaf for later, peeling and slicing up potatoes to be made into mashed potatoes or oven fries (store in cold water in the fridge so they don't turn brown!). Doing some work in advance not only makes me feel a lot better, it also ensures me a much less stressful evening, which makes my kids feel better! Even if my 8 year old has a meltdown, my 6 year old decides to give the dog a bath in the toilet and my 3 year old once again decides that toilet training isn't for her, dinner will only take a few minutes to prepare and it won't make a lot of dishes.
For nights that I'm just too tired to cook at all, I have some meals already cooked and frozen. I'm not saying these are GREAT meals, but they will get the job done! The frozen meals I have right now are: Bean soup, baked ziti, and chicken tenders with oven fries. Sometimes I cook a lasagna and freeze it, or I make extra pizza and freeze it. I always like to have two or three meals, just in case I get sick, or I really just don't have time to cook. Having a few dinners already prepared has really helped me out on several occasions. Another trick is to have partial meals already cooked. By partial meals, I mean cook and freeze the parts of a meal that are more time consuming and difficult to prepare. The "meal kits" I currently have on hand are: cooked, shredded beef to be made into enchiladas or quick beef stew, cooked beans to be made into chili or bean burritos and cooked, frozen rice to be tossed into soups and casseroles on the fly.

Eating Healthy on a Tiny Grocery Budget!

2009-11-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

Ever since my grocery budget plummeted to $40 a week for my family of 4, it's been a real challenge for me to make sure we eat healthy. Unhealthy, processed foods are often a lot cheaper than healthy foods. I know people always say that healthy foods are cheaper, but I have really not found that to be the case! Here are some of the ways I try to make sure we eat healthy on a tiny budget.
One way I ensure we eat healthy food, is I only buy seasonal produce. In Summer I buy a lot of tomatoes, zucchini, melons, mangoes and corn, in Fall I buy apples, pumpkins and cabbage, in Winter I buy citrus, root vegetables and winter squash and in Spring I buy lettuce, berries and peas! If I want other fruits and vegetables that aren't in season, I buy frozen (with a coupon of course!:P)
Another way to eat healthy for cheap, is to eat a lot of beans and lentils! Everyone needs protein, but meat is an expensive and fatty way to get it. Beans have no fat, lots of protein and fiber AND best of all, they cost less than a dollar a pound! Eggs are also a good source of inexpensive protein and they cost about $.79 per dozen. We eat a lot of eggs at chez Frugal Liz! Here is a great bean soup recipe:
1lb beans, rinsed and soaked for at least 4 hours
1 onion, diced
1Tbsp paprika
1Tbsp dried thyme
1Tbsp dried rosemary
1C diced ham (optional)
1tsp salt
Drain the soaking water from the beans in a colander. Meanwhile, saute the onion in some oil or butter, in a large soup kettle for about 5 minutes. Add the beans and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Add the herbs, but NOT the salt. Add the optional ham, if using. Bring the beans to a boil, reduce the heat to low and partially cover the pot. Let the beans simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding water as needed. Add the salt after the beans have cooked for an hour. Re-cover the pot and let the beans simmer for another hour. Dish the bean soup up into bowls and serve with hot bread, slathered with butter and honey! I like to serve bean soup with homemade beer bread rolls.
One way that I really try to ensure that all of my $40 a week are spent wisely, is I never buy soda or chips, or other totally empty junk. Junk food can be a real budget drainer and all it does is harm you! I'm not saying I never buy less than perfectly nutritious items, but I always make sure I have all of the real food FIRST. If I have any money left over, I might buy some fruit snacks, or brownie mix.(Always with a coupon!) I look on those foods as an extra treat, though, not as a guaranteed part of my shopping trip. At least the brownies contain chocolate, which is good for you...Right?:P

Weekly Grocery and Menu Plan

2009-11-08T15:11:00.000-08:00

This week I spent $41.38 on groceries, which is $1.38 over budget, but I'm not freaking out over it! I saved $14 this week with coupons and I stocked up on: juice, cereal and yogurt! Here is what we're eating this week.
Monday
Chicken tenders
Oven fries
Garlic green beans
Tuesday
Beef stew
Rice
Wednesday
Dinner at Applebees to celebrate my daughter, Bella's, piano recital!
Thursday
Waffles
Eggs
Friday
Chicken stir fry
Rice
Saturday
Frugal pizza!
Sunday
Leftovers!

For breakfast and lunch we will have: Granola bars, waffles, smoothies, leftovers and eggs. For dessert, I plan to make a batch of brownies that will hopefully last all week!

Investing in a Thermos!

2009-11-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

Now that the weather has turned cold, I'm tempted every day to buy coffee on my way to school. Now one cup of coffee might not seem like a big deal, but at $1.20 a day, it adds up to $6 a week, or $24 a month! To avoid this budget pitfall, I started making hot tea in my thermos and taking that to school instead of buying coffee every day. I make tea, because I don't have a coffee maker...Yet. Tea is relatively inexpensive and soothing on a cold morning. I drink it during my first class of the day and it fortifies me for my second class.:P
A thermos can be useful in other ways, as well. You could heat up some soup to take to work, or pack some chicken salad for a sandwich. A thermos could also be used to bring a refreshing cold drink to work, or school during the Summer.
I find that a thermos really helps me stay on track as far as going out for lunch, or coffee. I really just can't afford to spend money on those kinds of things, but if I were hungry or cold, it would be only too easy to rationalize making a pit stop at dunkin doughnuts!

How Not to be TOO Frugal

2009-11-04T04:34:00.000-08:00

Sometimes, I can cross over the line between frugal and the dreaded CHEAP. My budget is so tiny, that I get all panicked and think I can't afford things that I really can. One way I combat this, is I pay for all my weekly expenses in cash. Every Friday I go to the bank and I take out $150. That money breaks down into: $40 for gas, $40 for groceries, $40 for miscellaneous expenses and $30 for my sitter. When the money is gone...That's it, but if I manage to not spend it all, well that's a little extra in that envelope for next week. On the other hand, I can always spend all the money that's in an envelope.
Another way I stave off cheapness is to shop at Goodwill. If I try to shop for clothes or movies at a regular store, all around me is a sea of prices I can't afford. $10 for a kids shirt, $20 for a pair of jeans, $19.95 for a movie! It gets pretty discouraging, so I end up not getting anything...Even if I really should. Goodwill on the other hand, is filled with items that fall within my budget! I can buy really cute kids jeans for $3.75 and shirts for $2.75. Movies cost $1.01 for some and $4.04 for Disney movies that come in the plastic case. I can go into Goodwill with $20 and leave with complete outfits for each of my 3 kids! It's a great feeling to go into a store and know I can probably afford almost everything in there.
At the grocery store, it's easy to think about getting an item my kids would really like, but then not get it, because we don't really NEED it. When you only have $40 for groceries, it's hard NOT to be cheap! The way I beat that particular brand of cheapness: Coupons coupons coupons! I know I talk about coupons a lot, but it's because I really can't stress how useful they can be. Coupons allow me to get a lot of items I could never afford AND to stock up on items I CAN afford, so that I save some grocery money one week and have more to spend the next week! I use coupons to stock up on: Frozen vegetables, yogurt, dish soap, pasta, canned beans, frozen fries (Because they are free with the coupons!), sugar (for holiday baking!), canned tuna, canned tomatoes, canned "cream of" Campbell's condensed soups (for casseroles), juice, and ground turkey. Once I've stocked up on all of those staple items, it really frees up money in my budget to buy "extra" items, like refrigerated cookie dough, brownie mix and fruit snacks. In the past, I would've made my own cookie dough and brownies from scratch, but I get $1 off coupons for these items, so it's actually cheaper to buy them instead of making them myself! I make a batch of cookies or brownies on our pizza and movie night, so that's pretty much just a junk food day!:P We eat the fruit snacks at my daughter, Bella's piano lesson every week. It keeps my younger two quiet and I admit...I love fruit snacks too!
The last way that I ward off cheapness is: I try to remember that is IS only money. As long as I'm not going over budget or going into debt, if I have some extra money we SHOULD use it for something fun! My kids only get one childhood and I don't want them to remember it as a me constantly saying, "We can't afford it." My cheapness busting methods allow me to say, "Well we can't afford THAT, but how about we do THIS instead!" Maybe I'll even be able to teach them something about frugality and life along the way.

My Williamsburg Vacation!

2009-11-03T05:05:00.000-08:00

This Thanksgiving, my kids and I are going to Colonial Williamsburg with my parents! We went to Williamsburg last April and it was really fun. Luckily, Williamsburg is a relatively frugal place to go on vacation, but there still are some costs involved. Here is a breakdown of the vacation costs and my plan to save up enough money for the trip!
Unfortunately, I found out that the economical hotel we stayed at last time is CLOSED, so we'll have to stay at a more expensive one. My total hotel cost for 5 nights will be: $609. This is kind of a blow, because I was anticipating it would be more like, $400!
Since we're staying in the hotel for 5 nights, admission into Williamsburg is free! We're going to be there for 4 days, so the savings is pretty significant. There's a lot of expensive and very tempting souvenirs to buy, but I have a certain budget and I'm going to stick to it.
Here is the money I've saved so far for the trip!
Pell Grant refund: $440
Friend paying me back what I loaned her: $100
So that's $540 saved so far for the hotel. I've got about $200 saved up for spending money, so I think I'm okay there. I plan to bring a cooler and a LOT of food from home, to minimize the cost of dining out! Here is how I plan to come up with the rest of the hotel money! I still need $70.
I won't have to pay my sitter for Thanksgiving week: $30
I plan to try really hard to not spend for the next 2 weeks! If I can pull this off and save grocery AND gas money, I think I can come up with the last $40. I'll have to be pretty disciplined, but I've already saved $20 in grocery money and $2 in gas money! Here's hoping my friend is actually going to pay me back...

Triple Coupons!

2009-11-01T13:47:00.000-08:00

So I went to Food Lion to take advantage of the triple coupon week and I only spent $20 for a whole weeks groceries! This means I only spent half of my $40 a week budget, so I'm pretty thrilled. My total coupon savings added up to $42.63, which is just...Amazing. The best part was, I got a beautiful pot roast that was originally $13.77, but had been marked down to $5.48. I'm going to cook that pot roast in my crock pot tomorrow with some carrots, turnips and onions. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! Here is my menu plan for the week.

Monday
Pot roast with vegetables
mashed potatoes
chocolate chip cookies
Tuesday
The kids are eating dinner with their dad, so I'm just having cold cereal with dates cut up in it!
Wednesday
Bean soup with ham
French bread
Thursday
Waffles with peanut butter
Soymilk smoothies
Friday
Leftover pot roast
French fries
Saturday
Spaghetti with meat sauce
Peas
Sunday
Eggs
grits
turkey bacon

My Frugal Day!

2009-11-01T06:49:00.000-08:00

Today is November 1st, which means 1/2 priced Halloween merchandise! The kids and I are going to Target today with $20 I saved from last week. I plan to stock up on Halloween candy and decorations for next year. Three days from now, there will be 90% off Halloween clothes that I will look at for the kids.
This morning, I was once again able to get free Sunday paper coupons at Dunkin Doughnuts! Someone had bought a Sunday paper and then left all of the coupon inserts on the table when they left. Those coupons went straight into my purse.
Best of all, Food Lion is doing triple coupons up to $.99 until Tuesday! I clipped all possible coupons out of my free inserts and I plan to go there later today and cash in. There's a limit to how many coupons can be used per transaction, so I might have to leave and go back a few times. Luckily, the Food Lion is only 1/2 mile from my house!:P I will post later about what I was able to get and how much I saved!

Weekly grocery and menu plan

2009-10-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

This week was very successful as far as me staying withing my $40 a week grocery budget. I had a lot of great coupons this week, so I only had to spend $25! I would've spent $37, but I had $12 in coupons! Even with coupons, $25 is still pretty exceptional for me. Another frugal success I had today was I got coupons from the Sunday paper for free! They were left on a table at a Dunkin Doughnuts, so I took the ones I wanted and didn't have to pay the $1.75 for the paper. Dunkin Doughnuts has this awesome deal where you take a survey online and get a free doughnut. I was in there cashing in my receipts to get 3 free doughnuts for my kids. All in all, it was definitely a frugal day! Now for my weekly menu plan.
For breakfast we will have: Oatmeal, eggs, grits, smoothies and cold cereal. For lunch we will have: Sandwiches, leftovers, cold cereal and apples. Now for my dinner menu!

Monday
Crock pot chili with rice and cheddar cheese
Oatmeal raisin cookies
Tuesday
Avocado tomato sandwiches with fries
Oatmeal raisin cookies
Wednesday
Chicken noodle soup
Homemade biscuits
Thursday
Bean and cheese burritos
Fries
Friday
Vegetable stir fry with Asian sauce
Rice
Saturday
Bean soup with ham
Homemade beer bread rolls
Sunday
Leftovers!

Coupons!

2009-10-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

Back when I was just Frugal Liz, I never used to bother with coupons. I had $150 a week in my grocery budget, so it just seemed like more trouble than it was worth! After I became Frugal Divorced Liz and my grocery budget became $40 a week, then I started looking into coupons. Honestly, coupons are the only way I can stay within my budget! When I saw how easy they are to use, though, I started to wish I'd used them before! Here is my best couponing advice to make using them as easy as possible.

Only clip coupons for things you will use A lot of times I see $1 or $2 coupons that are a GREAT deal. The only problem is, they are for things I wouldn't normally buy! This can be good and bad. Sometimes it's a coupon for something I can't normally afford, but then that $1 or $2 off means it drops down in price enough to be within my budget. A good example of this is yogurt. Dannon probiotic yogurt is a delicious luxury that at $1.68 for four, I can't afford to buy. Enter a cleverly clipped $1 off coupon and suddenly that yogurt becomes a fast, frugal snack! I also use $1.50 coupons to buy frozen fries. The coupon is $1.50 off if you buy two packages of a certain brand of the fries. The thing is, each individual package costs $1.50, so with the coupon it's like I get one for free! I also regularly clip $1 off juice coupons. The juice I like to buy is $2.68 per bottle and since I would buy it anyway, getting $1 off is a pretty sweet deal!

Look in more than one place for coupons The Sunday paper can be a great place to find coupons, but the Internet is an even better one! I regularly visit http://www.coupons.com/ to find awesome manufacturers coupons. Another good Internet resource is actual product websites. I often get great deals from juicy juice, welches and uncle ben's this way.

Pair coupons with sales for even more savings! If you wait for the lowest sale price of an item and then use a coupon, your savings can really be significant. This requires some advance planning, but I've really been able to save a lot of money or even get things for free this way.

Go to stores that double coupons Not every store will double coupons, but if there's one in your area, it can really be worth it to go there. Publix and Bi-lo are the stores around where I live that double coupons. Both of these stores are more expensive, so I only go there when items I want are on sale AND I have a coupon I can double.

Separate out the coupons you want to use on a given shopping trip! If you go into the store with a huge wad of random coupons, your chances of a successful, stress free shopping trip pretty much disappear. To avoid this problem, I first make a shopping list of all the items I need that week. Then I check my coupon stash to see what I have coupons for and I separate those into a different envelope. (I keep my coupons in envelopes!) After I find the useful coupons I already have, then I search the Internet for even more coupons to use. If I find any, I cut them out and put them in the separate envelope as well. This makes it so I go to the store armed with a list and the coupons I want to use ready to hand to the cashier. I take my other coupons with me too, in case there's an awesome sale and I have some extra money to take advantage of it.

I hope this coupon advice helps someone. If you're still thinking it's too big of a hassle, just try it for a week or two and see if your grocery bills go down!

Frugal Fun!

2009-10-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

Now that I live on $24,000 a year, I don't have a lot of money in my budget for fun. I mean really it can be kind of easy to forget that "Fun" even exists, when the bills are piling up and my stress level is through the roof. One thing I've learned since getting divorced, though, is that having fun is really important to fend off the inevitable depression and despair that happen if life is just one big drudgery. Here are the activities I've come up with that really cheer us up without emptying my purse!

The $1.99 movie theatre My kids and I love going to movies, but the regular theatre is $7 per person, even for a matinee! That would be $28 for us just to get in and that's not counting snacks. Instead we go to the $1.99 movie theatre and bring our own snacks. I know a lot of people can be really judgemental about people bringing their own food to a movie, but seriously, not everyone can afford a $4 drink and a $5 popcorn! I bring water for my kids and I, 2 mini candy bars for each of us (That I bought on sale after Halloween and Easter last year!) And maybe some crackers or something. Last night we went to see Harry Potter VI and it cost me under $8 total. Now that's a price I can afford!

The Library Here in Augusta, we finally have a great library. The library is a great place to get books and movies and to find out about community events. If the library doesn't have a certain book or movie that you want, they will often order it for you...For free! Our library has a wonderful playground and grassy field next to it. Now that the weather is nice, I've been taking my kids there on weekends to eat a picnic lunch. We pack a bag, spread out a blanket and eat on the grass, in the shade under a tree. Then the kids play on the playground for a while. It's a really nice way to spend an afternoon and best of all...It's free!

I have a pizza and movie night at home Once a week I make homemade pizza with whatever toppings we can come up with. The kids really like this, because they get to help. After our pizza, I pop some popcorn and we watch a movie together. I either rent the movies from the library, or I buy them for $1 at Goodwill. This week I bought "George of the Jungle" and we'll watch it on Saturday.

We play boardgames Boardgames are inexpensive and fun and best of all, they encourage us to spend time together as a family.

Those are a few of our favorite things to do, but even chores and other "un-fun" activities can be made fun. Saturday is usually our big chore day, which would seem pretty bleak and boring. I just put on some music, though and suddenly the chores get done a lot faster and we have some fun while we do them. Pouring some bubble bath into the tub makes bath time a lot more fun. The grocery store becomes fun, because the kids help me with the coupons...One thing about kids is they all seem to think coupons are awesome. Maybe just my kids.:P

(Almost) free cleaning supplies!

2009-10-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

I haven't bought laundry detergent or housecleaning products for over two years now. You might be thinking, "Egads!" Right now, but I promise I didn't stop buying them because I just stopped cleaning. I stopped buying commercial cleaning supplies because I started making my own! Making your own is not only cheaper, better for the environment and better for your health...It's fun too! Here are my favorites.

Earth Scrub
1C baking soda
1/4C liquid soap (I recommend dr. bronners liquid soap. It's kind of expensive, but it works great and it's completely non-toxic.)
1/4C water
2Tbsp vinegar
essential oil (optional)
Mix together the baking soda and liquid soap. Add the water and mix until combined. Add the vinegar LAST and mix until smooth. If you are using unscented soap, you might want to add a little essential oil just for fun! I like using about 10 drops of orange or lemon. This scrub works GREAT on bathrooms, kitchen sinks and anything else where you need an abrasive cleaner.

Window Washer
1 empty spray bottle
1/2 bottle water
1/2 bottle vinegar
essential oil (optional)
Take an empty bottle and fill it halfway with water and halfway with vinegar. Add about 15 drops of essential oil (if using). My favorites for this are: Peppermint or tea tree, but you can use whatever you want. Now start cleaning those windows! This spray also works great on mirrors and floors.

All purpose spray
1/4C liquid soap (again I recommend dr. bronners)
1tsp borax
2Tbsp vinegar
Essential oil (optional)

Place the borax in an empty spray bottle. Add the 2Tbsp vinegar and fill up the bottle 3/4 of the way with hot water. shake it well and then let it sit for a minute to dissolve the borax. Add the soap last. For this recipe, I like to add 15 drops of peppermint or lemon or tea tree essential oil.

Laundry soap!
4.25 oz bar of soap, grated. (I like to use dove unscented soap. I grate the soap in my food processor.)
1/2C washing soda (You can buy this in the laundry detergent aisle)
1/2C borax (Also in the laundry detergent aisle)

Place the grated soap in a large saucepan. Add 6C water and heat until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and borax and stir until dissolved. Remove from the heat. Pour 4C HOT water into a large, clean floor bucket. Add the soap mixture and stir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir again. Now put the bucket in an out of the way place and let it sit for about a day. Now your laundry soap is ready to use! I store it in a large Tupperware container with a lid. I use 1/2C per load of laundry coupled with 1/2 of borax for water softening and deodorizing.
Note: This laundry soap will not look like commercial detergent. It will be a watery gel, not a solid gel.

Fall is here!

2009-10-18T05:16:00.000-07:00

I usually love the fall. I love the crisp bite in the air, the scent of burning firewood and the breezy days. I also love the fact that here in Georgia, I don't usually have to use my air conditioner or my heater from about mid September to the first of November. That's not to say it doesn't start getting cold here, because it does. Right now it's down to 38 degrees outside! It's only October 18 and my house is only down to 66 degrees, so I haven't turned on my heater. I keep the house at a relatively chilly 65 degrees all winter long. Some people might read that last statement and think I'm insane and that 65 degrees is WAY too cold. I'm going to tell you about the ways we stay warm and keep our winter utilities at around $150 a month (gas and electric) in a 1750 square foot house.

The first thing I always do to stay warm, is I wear thick socks. I can't even describe the difference this makes. My mom got me two pairs of woolen slipper socks last winter and they really helped a lot. I even wore them to bed when it was especially cold. This may seem obvious, but I also wear a sweater in the house. A lot of people I know keep their thermostat set at 72 or even 74 degrees and then complain about $200 or $300 utility bills! These same people hang out wearing shorts and tee shirts all winter, while in the artificially tropical environment they've created and are now paying through the nose for. It's winter...It's supposed to be cold!

Another way I stay warm, is I use a heating pad when I start feeling tempted to turn up that thermostat. The heating pad is especially helpful at night, when I'm first trying to fall asleep and the sheets on my bed are still cold. I use a heating pad to warm up my kids' beds as well. Another way to keep your bed warm, is to use flannel sheets. I bought mine on sale in the spring, for like $15 a set.

I also drink hot beverages to stay warm. All winter my oldest daughter and I drink herbal tea and my younger two drink hot chocolate. One of our favorite winter activities is to pile on the couch together under a blanket and watch a movie, while sipping our hot drinks. On the same vein, I make a lot of hearty, warming meals. For breakfast I make oatmeal instead of cold cereal. For lunch I make soup instead of a cold sandwich. For dinner I might make a hearty stew or chili, or lasagna or pot roast, all served with hot, crusty bread.

I know not everyone has a fireplace, but if you do, it's a great way to cheaply heat up your house. I'm talking about a wood burning fireplace, not a gas one. Here in Georgia, I pay about $150 for a cord of wood to be delivered to my house and loaded into my wood shed. If you've never seen a cord of wood, know that it is a huge amount. I usually only have to burn one cord of wood for the entire winter. The cold weather here lasts for about five months and during that time, I burn a LOT of wood. If you live in an area where firewood is really expensive, this isn't a good option for you. Here in the South, hardwood happens to be all over the place!

Those are the ways that my family stays warm in the winter without busting our budget. It can be hard sometimes (especially when my parents visit from Florida and my dad walks around making comments like, "You could store meat in here!" and my mom just sits huddled in front of the fire, speechless and shivering:P) It's all worth it, though, when Spring comes and I haven't had to drain my savings, or go into debt.

My Successful Frugal Dinner!

2009-10-09T05:22:00.000-07:00

The other day, I experienced a nightmare for any frugal person living on $2,000 a month...My hot water heater died! It was leaking and not heating water, so I called my plumber and he told me that it had to be replaced. He also told me that most gas water heaters last for about 9 years and mine was 15 years old. Total cost of the replacement water heater: $839.65. Luckily, I have some savings, but it was still very stressful having to shell out that kind of cash.

After that whole plumbing fiasco, I was seriously ready to just order some takeout for dinner. It was 5:00, I was tired and stressed and my 3 year old had once again decided that being toilet trained is an optional life skill! As I got out my wallet and contemplated feeding the four of us on the $13.60 I found in there, I decided that maybe I'd better just look through my cabinets for something easy to make. Suddenly, like a message from the gods, I found a bag of lentils I'd forgotten about. Now my kids LOVE lentil soup...In fact, when times are tight, I make this kind of chili that has like 2oz of ground beef and about 1/2Lb of lentils in it. My kids go crazy for it, never knowing that the whole pot cost me maybe $1 to put together! I had no defrosted ground beef in the fridge, so I decided to take the lentils in a different direction. I sauteed 2 green onions with 2 stalks of celery and 6 diced baby carrots for a few minutes. I added 1tsp cumin and 1tsp turmeric and stirred it around. I added 6C of water and 1 1/2C dry lentils last with 1 chicken bullion cube for flavor. THEN I remembered that I had four plum tomatoes, so I diced them up and threw them into the mix.
After the soup had been simmering for about 30 minutes, I remembered the garlic bread I got for $.99 on Sunday. It had been sitting in my fridge and actually taking up an inconvenient amount of space. Lentil soup night seemed like a perfect opportunity to use it up, so I heated the oven to 350 and tossed it in there (not literally). By the time the soup was done simmering, the garlic bread had heated up to a crispy, buttery perfection. I called the kids to dinner and we enjoyed our frugal, impromtu feast.
Sometimes I feel sad, only having $40 a week to buy groceries for the four of us. My grocery shopping list is very planned out and I pretty much have to have a coupon for everything. Sometimes I'll see an item I want to try, or a treat I want to get for my kids and I have to pass it up, because I really just can't afford it. I was even heasitant to buy the garlic bread, because it was an "extra" that I hadn't budgeted for, so it meant something else had to be sacrificed.(I sacrificed buying 2 cans of cream of celery soup to use in casseroles) A night of feasting, even if it was on such simple fare, really lifted my spirits. Best of all, I still had 2 servings of soup and half the loaf of garlic bread left after we were done eating! Guess what I ate for lunch the next 2 days...:P
Tonight I plan to make some mushroom, green pepper pizza, because when you make it yourself, each pizza costs maybe $1.

Weekly grocery and menu plan

2009-10-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Every Sunday, I plan out the meals for the following week, so I know what to buy at the store. This prevents me from just arbitrarily putting whatever happens to catch my eye into my cart. I also make my grocery list keeping in mind what coupons I happen to have. For example, this week I had a coupon for $1.50 off of a package of frozen french fries. I wouldn't normally buy frozen fries, because they are junk food and not really included in my food budget. Since I had a coupon, though, the fries ended up only costing me like 19 cents and the bag is big enough for me to serve them as a side dish for 2 meals. Here is my menu plan for the week
Breakfast
My kids almost always have oatmeal for breakfast. They love it and it's filling and nutritious. I on the other hand drink coffee for breakfast...Which is decidedly less good for me!:P
Lunch
My older two kids get lunch at school and they are on the reduced lunch program, so it only costs me 80 cents per day for the both of them. My youngest and I will eat leftovers, fruit, granola bars (homemade) and cereal (grape nuts-I bought them for like $1.00 with a coupon!) with soymilk and dates (possibly my favorite meal ever!)
Dinner
Here is where I actually have to plan things out!
Sunday-tacos with beef, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and green onions
Monday-Lentil soup with garlic bread (I got this on the reduced bakery items shelf for 99 cents)
Tuesday-Macaroni and cheese with vegetables
Wednesday-Veggie quesadillas
Thursday-spaghetti with meatballs with leftover garlic bread
Friday-pizza
Saturday-Leftovers!

Saving on Groceries

2009-09-29T04:09:00.000-07:00

Every week I budget $40 for groceries. This is pretty hard for me, because I'm a real foodie and my grocery budget used to be $150 per week! I've had to be pretty careful and creative to make my new food budget work, without dooming us to rice and beans every night. Here are the methods that have worked for me.

Angel food ministries: If you've never heard of this organization, now is the time to look it up on the Internet! Basically, you pay $30 for a big box of food that would normally cost maybe $50-$60. I got the September box for the first time this month and I have to say, it's really helped me to save some money. What came in the September box was, about 8 pounds of chicken parts, 3 rib eye steaks, 4 turkey burger patties, 1 pound of ground beef, 1 pound of frozen green beans, 1 pound of frozen sweet potatoes, 12 eggs, 1 can of pears, 3 pounds of potatoes, 2 pounds of onions, 1 quart of milk, 1 frozen can of orange juice concentrate and a package of bake and serve oatmeal raisin cookies.

I used up those chicken parts like crazy! I made crock pot chicken, baked chicken, chicken pizza with leftover chicken, chicken broth with the bones and so on. If you're having trouble buying quality food, or you just want to spend less, give them a try and see if it doesn't save you some money!

Wic: This is the Women's infants and children nutrition program. If you have a child under 5 and don't make a lot of money, you will probably qualify to be on this program. My youngest is 3 1/2, so I can still be on Wic for about 16 months. Wic doesn't provide a TON of food, but it provides enough to really help out. My 3 1/2 year old gets 4 bottles of juice, 4 gallons of milk, 2 dozen eggs, 2 pounds of cheese, 24 oz of cereal and a jar of peanut butter every month. Every little bit helps, when you've got a tiny budget!

Coupons: I actually don't find that I save a TON of money by using coupons, but I usually save roughly 5-10% off of my total bill. That's pretty good for doing something that literally takes me about 20 minutes of effort while I watch t.v.!

Make a menu plan for the week and when you're figuring out your menus, plan to use groceries that are about to expire, or ways to use leftovers. This also helps when you go shopping, because you can make a list and stick to buying only what you need. If you need frugal recipes to get started, check out my other blog at: http://www.frugalliz.blogspot.com/

Plan little "extras" so things won't get depressing and bleak. Not having money really stresses me out and eating the same meals every day makes me really depressed. My best advice is for everyone to invest in a cookbook that specilizes in budget cooking. My favorite is called, "Cheap Fast Good!" and it was written by Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross. It has tons of awesome recipes that are easy AND frugal and it also has a ton of grocery saving tips! Best of all, it's a really big book and it only cost me like $13. The "extras" I plan are things like, a special dessert (Not expensive, but tasty.) Some of the ones my kids love are, cupcakes, homemade pudding and pretty much any cookie. I also used a coupon and got a lemon merangue pie for $2.95. I'm saving it in the freezer for a special day, like one where we go to the zoo or just cook a feast for no reason!:P

$24,000 a year

2009-09-28T12:47:00.000-07:00

So my husband dumped me and left me with 3 kids and child support income that adds up to $24,000 a year. This blog is going to be about how I stretch that income to support my family while I'm in school and also how I'm coping with being a single mom. So far I can say it's both harder and easier now that he's gone. It's easier, because he's not around constantly criticising me and making me feel like a huge burden. It's harder, because my kids are sad and I'm having to do everything myself and I have about 1/2 the money I used to have. Here is a list of my fixed expenses:
Mortgage: $878 per month
Electric: $131 per month (budget billing plan)
Gas: Between $30-$75 per month, depending how cold it is
Phone/Internet: $61 per month
Cable: $31 per month
Garbage: $30 per month
Car insurance: $22 per month
Childcare: $225 per month (Actually, I'm going to do before and after school care for my neighbor and she's going to pay me $200 per month, so this expense kind of evens out!)

After I pay all of my fixed bills, I have $193 per week to cover food, gas and anything else that might come up. So far, I've divided my unfixed expenses up like this:
Food: $50 per week
Gas: $40 per week
Miscellaneous expenses: $40 per week.

This leaves me $252 to cover anything else that might come up during the month, like a car repair, or whatever. I have to say that so far, this money goes FAST and I have to really make an effort to stretch those dollars to the max. I'm going to try to do a blog as often as I can about ways I learn to make the most of what money I have.