Five Frugal Things — So Much Free Food!
1) Portland, Oregon is heading into her rainy season, so every sunny day is to be cherished. Perfect for a walk to the library. I’d put a trio of coffee table books on hold, which meant the walk home included an upper body workout.
That bottom book was especially hefty!
Please enjoy that I’m using my Summer Reading Challenge tote bag — I worked hard for that prize!
2) I came across this box of free parsley and what look to be heirloom tomatoes on my way home. Don’t mind if I do!
3) I also passed a free pile that initially looked unappealing, but quickly realized that the rectangular box on the left held an artificial Christmas tree. We’ve been using the same garbage picked tree from 2015, but it’s enormous and I couldn’t find the motivation to put it up last year. It takes hours to assemble and is a scratchier experience than I could handle at the time.
For reference, we have ten-foot ceilings.
This one looks simpler and it’ll be nice to have the choice.
4) A neighbor put out this comically large zucchini in front of their house, so I knocked on their door to confirm it was indeed free and lugged it home.
I’ve been procrastinating a grocery trip and can now put it off for a few more days.
I cut thin slices from the zucchini and layered them in a pie pan with sautéed red onion, dollops of pesto and the last from a jar of spaghetti sauce.
For extra flavor I added a scoop of pumpkin puree to the sauce, as well as extra paprika, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, basil, oregano, seasoned salt, steak seasoning and water. Baked it up in the oven and sprinkled parmesan on top. Think of it as a cousin to ratatouille.
It might look gloppy, but it was fantastic! I may or may not have helped myself to seconds and then thirds. I’ll be repeating this dish as it only used around 1/5 of the entire zucchini.
5) The apple tree around the corner is once again dropping her fruit onto the sidewalk. Sure they get bruised and buggy, but I there’s least 3/4 of unblemished apple on each one.
Perfect to slice up and top with the leftover apple crisp topping that’s been sitting in my freezer for months. The Frugal Girl’s freezer challenge is proving to be quite the creative spark!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Love all the free food you found!
Picked dry beans I grew. Thinking on where to grow more of them. Dug up onions. I’ll plant the little bulbs in a pot that I had a geranium. Ornamentals are a luxury and I don’t have the space or water for many of them. Particularly in a pot (uses more water).
Donated glasses to Lions club drop box.
Mailed off another 19 swimsuits to J. Crew for recycling. Now have $245 credit with them. Can only be used in $20 increments, but there’s no minimum order amount. If I’m strategic, I can get quite a few $20 things.
Gave away an IKEA chair and plastic drawers to 2 young Coast Guard stationed nearby. My son has been stationed far away and I’ve appreciated every kindness shown to him. One time during training, someone paid for dinner for the whole group my son was with. The locals can spot the trainees. I literally cried at the kindness.
Listed a cake dome (top only). Dd had given me the whole cake stand to pass along somehow. The base of it had a terrible tilt, she had received a refund but didn’t want to throw it away. I threw away the base, no one should pay money for a tilted cake stand. But someone is supposedly coming to buy the dome this afternoon. I checked that they had read the listing and knew it was only the top and she said it was exactly what she was looking for. Hopefully she shows up!
I love the swimsuit recycling. The North Face is doing the same – about $10 per item for all North Face items. My daughter and son-in-law have been taking advantage of that. You are paid in gift cards I think. I also love your donation to the coast guard person. It takes a village sometimes even after they’re grown.
Yesssss, I knew a freezer challenge would be right up your alley! Utterly and completely on-brand for you. 🙂
It’ll be awhile before it starts to look better though.
Guaranteed blog content!
I did a deep dive into my freezer this morning. It’s only a top of the fridge freezer, but I still lose track. I unearthed some sausage patties and salmon patties. Also biscuits to go with the sausage patties. I already knew I had hamburger buns that will make nice sandwiches with the salmon patties.
In my veggie basket, in the freezer, there were some yellow pepper slices, chopped red onion, and spinach, which I used in an omelet, along with some of the Swiss cheese I’m trying to use up.
With toast and one of the sausage patties, it was a really good breakfast.
I ran errands this morning, first to the library, where I returned a book and checked out a hold. Then to an auto rebuilder that was recommended for carpeting. I got an estimate and made an appointment for next month. It will be expensive, but I’m okay with that. I want to get it done right, as I plan to keep this car a long time.
Then I went to Goodwill, kicking myself a little, because I forgot my bag of donations. I did have the floor steamer, though. I found a few things to buy — a bowl that matches my set, a set of measuring spoons much better than what I have, a Wilton baking pan in good condition, a Hydroflask thermos, and a back scratcher. Yes, I’m always wishing I could scratch my back. I used my gift card from Fetch to pay, so no money out.
Now I’m home and contemplating another meal. I think I’ll go with cheese, crackers, and prunes on the side.
Just the words “free food” make my heart go pitapat.
1. Had a LOT of leftover pasta salad from a potluck and have been eating it for the past several (hundred) days. To finish it, I actually heated it up and added a generous handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese and some ground pepper to make it more palatable. The previous day, the gag reflex was starting.
2. Turned the heat on when overnight lows were in the 40s. I don’t know how anyone in Minnesota can make it until “no heat until trick or treat” Halloween, unless they have a fireplace. We have two but neither of them are functional; the attractively arranged firewood inside the hearth is all show.
3. To conserve water for handwashing some dishes, I waited until the dishwasher got started so that hot water came out of the tap immediately.
4. Received notice from the Minneapolis Star Tribune that my online subscription now includes a free New York Times online subscription for one year. Woot-woot! My library doesn’t offer an online NYT subscription. Will make sure to cancel the NYT subscription at the one-year mark.
5. Received two outdoor pillows from Buy Nothing to replace the ones we were using that were not made for outdoor use.
When it comes to the NYT subscription, play the cancellation game – I get such a good price for NYT I can’t afford to not keep subscribing, even for only a few recipes and some headlines a month. (sometimes I can’t stand the news out of the USA, though, so recipes it is). I phone the subscription office and ask for the best deal they can give me and usually pay around $4 a month
Nice urban gleaning!
Picked apples while horseback riding, in an abandoned orchard. Plan on taking them to the vfw home. I picked carrots and walnuts (from freezer) for carrot cupcakes. Invited a few friends for afternoon tea.
Sowed spinach and beets, transplanted romaine, broccoli and cauliflower.
Found a small pkg of meatballs buried in the freezer, making a batch of Italian wedding soup, will use chard and a quart of chicken stock also from the freezer. I have my herby focaccia bread dough resting.
Butter lettuce, grape tomatoes, sweet onion with a shallot, garlic chive vinaigrette.
Lovely free apples! I used to make apple pie filling — sliced apples, sugar, spices and cornstarch — to freeze back when we made trips to an orchard.
At long last today I cooked the last of a box of gluten-free spaghetti that my husband suddenly decided he did not like. Discovered it’s much better cooked in broth and added to a skillet of chicken, tomato sauce, and loads of veggies and herbs from the garden. In a pasta-forward dish, it’s not great but works very well as a minor ingredient.
Hand-washed several items and laid them on the garden bench to dry. Mended a stuffed toy mouse for my son’s cat. Read a free copy of a book for one of my book clubs.
1. My body is telling me I need to start strength training again (achy joints). So I did a working using AppleFitness+ this morning. I don’t pay for this as my dad got some sort of mega Apple bundle family plan years ago and added my brother and I. I also use free weights I purchased second hand.
2. Brought lunch today and resisted the urge to go out and buy something to snack on (was craving chips even though I had veggies, hummus, and watermelon in my lunchbox).
3. Planning on “bread and cheese” snacky dinner to use up a load of good sourdough that is on its last legs and clean out the cheese drawer a bit. Will eat some veggies with it that we got for free from our friend’s parents who are in town visiting and brought a bounty from their garden to share.
4. I made a plum torte on Sunday and brought some over for my friend and her parents to enjoy last night. I left with some homemade jalapeno poppers that they’d put together. We’ll have those with our bread and cheese dinner tonight.
5. Someone in random FB group I’m in posted a “Fall Reset” they put together, and it is intentionally frugal. I’ve been having fun doing the recommended activity each day (I started on Sept 22 instead of the beginning of Sept): https://www.ravenredfeather.com/2026-fall-reset
That’s a nice size for a Christmas tree. We used to get (fresh) trees to fit our 10 foot ceiling, but find it more frugal to get a 6 foot tree and put it on a small table. This year, I’ve discovered a volunteer tree on the outskirts of our acreage, so I’ll use it. I have to have a real tree!
I’ve been overwhelmed with fruit, but it looks like it is slowing down. I have a NYT almond pear cake in the oven. It smells like a bear claw!
I had a scary moment at Winco, when I couldn’t find the almond flour. It wasn’t with the flour or the nuts, but rather in the granola area. Go figure. They’ve been cutting back on so many things* that I was afraid almond flour got eliminated!
* Things that have been cut back or eliminated at Winco: single serve bakery items, the big bags of kettle corn (used to be huge and made in house, and now they are small and made elsewhere), bagels (used to be made in house, and now they are brought in, frozen, from elsewhere), protein powder (used to be available in the bulk section, but too many people were ringing it up as flour or other cheaper bulk items). I hear that the doughnuts are going away soon!
Yes, free food season.
I didn’t have much in freezer clean-out. About 8 chicken nuggets, that I made for breakfast, and a half freezer burned pork roast. Which I put in the crock pot.
but the free food and garden stuff keeps coming. My island was totally covered in tomatoes, so made tomato soup, and sauce.
Have tons of lemon cukes, they make great refrigerator pickles.
Son brought home a huge watermelon from a job site, think we’ll dehydrate some.
By the weekend it will be rinse and repeat on the tomatoes.
Oh, I think some of your tomatoes are Cherokee purple. They are great!
I have the same problem with fruit and veggies everywhere. It is a good problem to have. I made a bunch of sauce and a double batch of chili with all of my tomatoes and peppers. Next week with be something new.
Just found out the my husband’s cousins are coming from Italy in the middle of October to stay with my 80+ year old in-laws for a week. Since hubby’s step mom can barely walk, we are expected to take them around Manhattan and Long Island while they are here. Only found out because his cousin reached out to say she can’t wait to see us all. Nobody thought to tell us. I quickly jumped on the the library website to snag a bunch of museum passes. I got the Intrepid, MOMA and 911 museum passes. We will take the free Staten Island Ferry for them to get close to the Statue of Liberty. We will walk the highline and do quick stops for pictures at the Vessel and Grand Central. I got Westbury Gardens passes and The Vanderbilt Planetarium passes too. We have a friend that works at the Vanderbilt so he can get us a few extra. There will be at least 5 of us, maybe more. The passes will cover me, Hubby, his cousin and her husband. Everyone else is on their own. If my son comes we will cover him. We will take the train in and do subways, buses and walking. Taxis cost too much. I will bring reusable water bottles and protein bars for us. Now to find some low cost places to eat. When we go to the museum’s on Long Island we can pack a cooler. Both places have picnic tables. We will do a day out east at the wineries and farms. I will pack food for those days. We will be footing the bill for his cousins because his dad is on a very fixed budget due to some poor choices over the years. It is expected to take care of your guests. Whenever my in-laws went to Italy to visit they never spent paid for things. They all think everyone here is rich so we get to do it. The cousins will be staying at my in-laws. Hubby is trying to take the Friday off. It is short notice so hopefully he can. They don’t speak English and I don’t speak Italian. We will not be paying for takeout every night so I will have to meal plan and use my crockpot wisely. Thank goodness I have my chest freezer. I was planning on doing a low October grocery budget but this may destroy that. We will be chauffeuring the cousins around so our gas usage will go way up. Good thing we have savings. Off to look for some free or low cost things to do while they are here.
The audacity! You’re a better person than I am lol I hope you have fun on your adventures regardless!
Unfortunately it has been Hubby’s whole life. He is expected to drop everything yet his father never does. I do it for my husband.
Sounds like you’re navigating it very well and have a solid plan!
My family does the same sort of thing, poor communication, last minute plans, all that……..I can relate!
I needed to vent so this was a good place to do it. I knew some of you would understand.
Hi Marybeth from NY,
This past week on FB, I saw a post that the World Trade Center is free admission for ALL New York residents, on Sundays. It’s worth checking out as that’s a pricey ticket.
My heart breaks for all the lives lost. It is a wonderful memorial.
Thank you. We are going in on a Saturday because we already have plans for the Sunday and I’m not cancelling them.
I really envy your ability to walk so freely around your neighborhood including walks to the library. I grew up and lived in a city until I was 32. I miss the sidewalks that would take me anywhere. My friends’ houses, the library, stores, my grandmother’s house and the other relatives’ homes who lived nearby. I love my present home but we have no sidewalks. I enjoy reading about your walks and the food, free piles and other things you come across.
My neighborhood is pretty amazing.
This zucchini pasta recipe is really good: https://smittenkitchen.com/2021/06/zucchini-butter-spaghetti/
Ooh . . . thank you!
Oh how the procrastination gods have smiled upon you! I think I actually had that curb Christmas tree once upon a time, or maybe one of its cousins!
1. Toilet Tuesday, I cleaned our two bathrooms using our homemade Dawn and vinegar cleaner. Everything was still in pretty good shape, a testament to the weekly cleaning, so it was even quicker and easier this time!
2. I put two loaves of bread through the slicer and promptly into the freezer. I’m absolutely in love with the slicer. It’s saving so much time and it makes all the slices so beautifully even.
3. There was a single soft pretzel in the fridge so I had that for lunch with some other odds and ends when I got hungry later. My husband’s dairy free cheese sauce was happily used for dipping and it made a very nostalgic snack.
4. Since I had an extra bag of shredded chicken on hand I made cheater chicken enchiladas for dinner. Tuesdays are usually some kind of Taco Tuesday night with a very loose interpretation of taco. My husband and I had enchiladas with refried black beans while the kids had quesadillas with their beans. We also finished off the ‘cheese’ sauce for chips and cheese.
5. I had a lightbulb moment and realized that Canva probably has recipe card templates. I’ve been trying to get my recipes into digital and printable form for ages now. It took some fighting with the really cute printable versions and I settled on a much more basic style that I can type out a 4×6 recipe and (fingers crossed) will be able to print out without much trouble.
Shyla, good stuff! I’m interested in what bread slicer you have. And I’m going to look into Canva.
https://nutrichefkitchen.com/products/nugj801?_pos=1&_sid=1813f5081&_ss=r
It’s a NutriChef meat slicer. We were going to test out the meat slicing over the weekend but the ham we got in our pickup order was very expired and looked off. Thankfully we got a refund, but I really want to make my own lunch meat!
We’ve used Canva to make cute birthday invites too! It lets you drop in all kinds images and save it for printing or sharing on fb etc.
Thank you!
Is that an apple tree w/ the crimson leaves? It is beautiful. In Texas we do not get much fall foliage. It stays hot until October & the leaves are slow to change colors. (Your free apples reminded me to look at the pear tree in the neighborhood. The homeowner said I could have them last year.)
1. I found some men’s clothes outside a dumpster. They were in good condition. These were donated to the local psy hospital. I also had some odds & ends of women’s clothes so they went too.
2. I have a bag of unwanted items that will be donated to the local thrift store.
3. Husband found a large bag of dog kibble. We don’t have a dog but he can donate the food.
4. I need to put weed & feed on my lawn. Fertilizer has gone up, as we know. I found the cheapest price at Walmart.
5. I am putting a chx carcass in the crock pot to make broth. I think I will make chx & noodles once I defat the broth.
Not sure what the red tree/bush was, although I know it’s not apple. I just used it as a backdrop, as the contrast in colors looked cool.
Hooray for donating the dog food!
Thanks for another creative pesto use idea!!!