Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on July 20, 2024 · 28 comments
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We made “nacho bean dip” for dinner last night, which was a big hit with everyone. This involved cooking up black beans in her Instant Pot and then layering it with Trader Joe’s soy chorizo, sautéed onions and peppers, Tillamook cheddar cheese (my hostess gift) and then baking it all together. We then topped it with tomato, avocado and sour cream. Needless to say, there were tortilla chips for scooping.
My sister’s family used to make this meal on the regular when her kids were growing up, so it was very much a sentimental hit. This was super duper yummy, plus healthy and frugal! I suppose it could also serve it with warmed corn tortillas, but the crunch of the tortilla chips really make the meal.
Fun fact: My sister didn’t realize that her microwave was also a convection oven. Now she does.
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My sister just got a free convection oven!
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My sister needed more washcloths, so she’s crocheting them from yarn she already owns.
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We haven’t gone anywhere or done anything outside the house since our single day in Manhattan. I have walked her dog around the neighborhood which resulted in me finding a single penny. Frugal?
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No delayed Lear Jet flights.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
My husband has made something like this forever – calls it dip. He does something that might kick it up a notch – puts a thin layer of cream cheese on the bottom and makes it in a pie plate. Just a thought as you are in the land of cream cheese (and bagels lol)
One of my mom’s pals crocheted her a dishcloth as a gift and Mom used it for many years. I think her pal used some kind of cotton yarn. When my parents died, I moved into their house and used that dishcloth for another 20 years before it finally came too unraveled to use. I’d say that old dishcloth was the best one ever; it was strong, scrubbed the plates, etc., very well, and lasted an unbelievably long time!
1. Used our $10 united healthcare reward to pick up snacks for my
lunch at work
2. Invited DIL to dinner as son is out of town for work. Pull hamburger patties and buns out of the freezer. She’s bringing “bunlets”
3. Filled up sports bottle with filtered water from work
4. Joined library reading challenge
5. Rain today=no need to water lawn or plants
I conclude that the kitten in the photo is your sister’s? If so, has she been in touch with The Frugal Girl’s Chiquita re: (a) their strong resemblance and (b) methods of increasing blog traffic through feline cuteness?
I don’t think I have five things today, but here’s what I do have:
(1) I made the first ratatouille of 2024 today, from an overripe tomato I already had on hand; a $1 eggplant and a 50-cent zucchini I found at the Regional Market on Thursday; and homegrown basil, garlic, and shallots.
(2) Thanks to the coolth that we’ve been enjoying for the last two days, I’ve slept with the AC off and all the windows open, and have gotten the best two nights’ sleep I’ve had in weeks. I don’t think I realized how much the heat was interfering with my rest.
(3) While going through DH’s papers and photos for something else altogether, I found a photo of my favorite professor at my undergrad alma mater (this is the small school on the west coast of FL that has been systematically wrecked by evil forces), and I scanned it and sent it to him. Heaven bless my prof, he’s still hanging in there at age 94 in spite of everything, and I owe him more than I can ever express.
A. Marie, I am sorry to hear about your alma mater. This week I am actually in the process of moving back to Chicago from SWFL. I understand the evil forces! Wonderful about your 94yo prof.
I used to crochet double-thick potholders as gifts. Just a single crochet stitch done holding two strands of cotton yarn together.
Today I went to Dollar Tree to buy shelf-stable almond milk and this afternoon took a load of stuff from our ongoing garage re-organization to the Habitat ReStore. We also added to our neighborhood’s free pile culture by putting some shelving and an old potting table out on the curb. Picked, chopped and froze two quart bags of cherry tomatoes and Cubanale peppers from the container garden. We had some firewood and charcoal starter leftover from burning a stump a few years ago and took it to our neighbors who grill out and have a fire pit. They were pleased and will use it.
The party for 48 was cancelled (80-year-old birthday celebrant injured her back).. so my partner and I are trying to eat our way through 48 hard-boiled eggs that were going to be devilled eggs…..
1. Froze/kept froze that what I could (from purchasing the party food for 48) and was able to cancel the cake from BJs. This included cheese, cream cheese, all of the pulled chicken.
2. Celery was on sale by the bunch so I weighted the 2 that I purchased and ended up with 1 extra pound more than the 2 bunches that I first picked up. (I think this was a hack suggested by Katy!)
3. I bought 2 frozen pizzas off FlashFood app.
Frugal fail: new car that I had for 8 hours before hitting a deer is STILL in the shop, waiting for 1 hinge to be found (apparently, there are none in all of North America?). So, I will have to pay for rental car for 2 more weeks….
Betta, I’m sorry about your party cancellation (I hope your birthday girl is OK) and about your car part problem. This used to happen to DH and me way back when we owned used Volvos: After a few irritating episodes of the shop’s having to send to Sweden for parts, we switched to Hondas and Toyotas.
As for the hard-boiled eggs, channel the spirit of Paul Newman as Cool Hand Luke: “I can eat 50 eggs!”
George Kennedy as Dragline: “Nobody can eat 50 eggs. . . You ever eat 50 eggs?” Paul Newman: “Nobody eber ate 50 eggs.”
My husband and I are still laughing about these lines from one of our favorite movies, while eating breakfast of – what else – eggs! Thank you for the memory, A. Marie!
OMG – EGG SALAD SANDWICHES. Potato salad with hard boiled eggs. Salad with hard boiled eggs. Deviled eggs (made with NO MAYO). Lunch/snack of hard boiled eggs. I could think of an excess of worse things to eat.
Agreed! Nature’s perfect food.
In our neck of the woods, there are folk who feed the hungry and they often are asking for dozens of hard boiled eggs. just a thought?
You can pickle hard boiled eggs.
Oh yes, it can be very worth it to weigh per-item produce!
1. I made an easy lunch of pasta with sauce and sausage, all items we had on hand.
2. We attended an open house for our local assistance agency. It was good to see how they operate.
3. DH saved some items from the landfill on Bulk Trash Pick Up day. He brought home a bike that needed work. He got it working and we’ll donate it to a local organization that fixes and donates bikes to those in need. He brought home an electric snow thrower that seems to work. He also brought home a shoe rack.
4. I went to Costco and stuck to the list with the exception of adding oatmeal to the cart since it was on sale.
5. I was not impacted by the big outage on Friday. It helps to have a low profile.
I love that your husband is not only bringing things home, but he actually fixes them up in a timely manner.
1. I have a pound of pinto beans cooking in the crockpot. I have a pound of black beans soaking that I will cook in the crockpot tomorrow. Why so many beans? My youngest daughter came over the other day and we went through my chest freezer to see what was in there. There was 1 small container of beans left. So I got cooking.
2. YD asked if we could make her a GF zucchini pie. So we made her 1, a regular one for me and a dairy free one for hubby. While the oven was on I made a batch of banana muffins and I cooked 3 sweet potatoes, 4 white potatoes and 2 baked potatoes for the week.
3. Raspberries are done for the year but figs have started. I cut back all of the raspberry canes. I dug a few up that were in the wrong area in the yard and planted them where they belong. I pulled my peas and sugar snap peas. I cut up an old t-shirt to make tomato ties. I then used some of them to tie up the tomato plants. I dehydrated more parsley, basil and swiss chard. We had salad multiple times with garden lettuce. Water from washing vegetables goes into my potted plants. Sunflowers are opening up everywhere.
4. 2 friends and I went to Panera for dinner. We all used a code we all were sent for a free 1/2 entrée with a $5 purchase. I also had a $2 off coupon that I was allowed to use. I drank water. My 1 friend has the sip club for free so she drank that. We all used gift cards that we earn through reward apps. We caught up with each other and we didn’t break the bank. I brought herbs for both of them.
5. Hubby(mostly) and I are still working on the basement. We went to Restore 1st to see if they had what we needed. They had most of it. We then went to Lowes to get the rest. 2 pieces of wood at Restore was $5. 2 pieces of wood at Lowes would have been $30.
Wow, you and your friends are very financially savvy!
I am in my Swedish Death Cleaning mode. Have been sorting through files ruthlessly and shredding, shredding ruthlessly. I took a trunk load of stuff to donate when I did my weekly volunteer gig at a thrift shop including some sentimental things. I have a pile of books to donate to the library book sale.
Have been trying to use up produce as I am the lucky recipient of a friend’s CSA share while she is on vacation. And finally, the usual -making herbal iced tea at home, cooking at home, enjoying the library (my happy place), using coupons and trying to avoid the siren song of summer sales.
Whether it’s “death cleaning” or otherwise, it’s still so cathartic to declutter and shred!
Love the cotton dishrag! This week, the theme is MLWFM!
After curb picking plastic slide to add to elaborate “Goonies” fort I was hoping to build, I realized grandkids would be just as happy with a refrigerator box fort. I curb alerted it on Freecycle: Large plastic slide saved from landfill, and Much Less Work For Me (MLWFM!).
Freecycling many books and decor and kitchen utensils through Freecycle, decluttering my house, avoiding buying organizers for kitchen. MLWFM.
Realized right in the nick of time that painting kitchen walls a lighter color would not only require multiple coats, but also require a backsplash, as I am not the neatest cook. Went with one coat of existing darkish paint, which I already had, and which hides dirt, etc. Less waste and MLWFM!
Using backs of some curb picked posters for “Welcome” signs for visiting children and grandchildren, saving trip to store. Curb picked a lampshade to shade seedlings I would like to transplant: won’t require watering as often: MLWFM.
Continuing to cook from scratch (beans in crockpot on porch right now!) and incorporating fresh produce from a generous friend. Carpooled to a race: fun and gas-savings at the same time. I batch cooked a number of things: vegan taco meat (lentils) and MLWFM.
Q, I love your MLWFM theme. You had some very unique wins!
Thank you, MB! Today, a day later, I am feeling a wave of relief that I did not start the big kitchen or fort project! This column really helps me to make decisions, and reading fellow readers’ comments lets me know I am not alone and crazy in my thinking!
I love “MLWFM!” Doing favors for your future self!
And of course I love your porch crockpot!
Thank you, Katy! I use it quite a bit: it is easy, cheap and nutritious, and keeps the house that much cooler. It also keeps the delicious garlicky onion bean smells outside, which is great. (I love the smell of soup or food in the winter, but somehow in the summer humid heat, it can be overwhelming!)
Now, if I can just think of some more MLWFM!
On theme – my Sister, who is a very talented crocheter, gifted me 2 hand made potholders and a trivet on Saturday!
I saw in my AMC app that I had $5 in rewards that would expire next month, and a gift card on my account that I seem to have forgotten about – so , to get the most bang for my thrifty buck, went to the 25% off matinee showing yesterday of “Fly me to the Moon” for ZERO dollars. I took my own water bottle in 🙂
(My local AMC Theatre has most showings before 4pm as 25-30% off)
Brought my own coffee to work, ate the free work snacks & fruit.
Reading a book from the Little Free Library.
You really worked that $5 credit, well done!