One Frugal Thing -- When Life Hands You Flat Bread Dough . . .
It's been at least a month since I baked a loaf of no-knead overnight bread, so I mixed up a batch before heading to bed. (I use this recipe from Frugal Fit Mom, although they're all pretty much the same.) It's a super easy recipe, calling for nothing more than 3 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of yeast and 1-½ cups of warm water. You give it a short stir and wake up to dough that's ready to form into an "artisan" loaf that tastes like it came straight from the bakery.
Easy, cheap, delicious.
However, I woke up to dough that had hardly risen and didn't have that nice risen yeasty smell. I moved it to a sunny spot in the house and even onto the sunny front porch without success.
So I decided to pivot and turn my barely risen dough into focaccia. I didn't follow any recipe and instead just spread the dough into a pan greased with olive oil and let it rise for a bit while the oven preheated.
I then poked my fingers into the dough and sprinkled it flakey sea salt, chopped rosemary and cranberries. (I bought a 50¢ bag of cranberries after Thanksgiving and look for opportunities to work them into recipes.) Of course I also drizzled it more olive oil to complete her transformation.
I wish I'd grabbed more, as they freeze perfectly!
Here's the result:
Is it exactly a proper focaccia? Not exactly, but it was delicious and something I'd actually be happy to serve to guests. My husband and I enjoyed it with our dinner and both snuck back into the kitchen to help ourselves to another "little slice."
I've made focaccia in the past, although it fell off the rotation for some reason. This variation was so delicious and it's definitely reentered our lives.
I'm weirdly proud that I was able to salvage the situation and save myself from wasting an entire batch of bread. Sometimes necessity really is the mother of invention!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy, your link to Frugal Fit Mom no-knead overnight bread doesn’t go anywhere.
Nice save on the focaccia! Looks good enough to eat! (Oops, another teacher pun. Sorry.)
My FFTs:
1. Called Discover Card and redeemed my points toward paying my bill.
2. I got an envelope in the mail from my former insurer. Threw it away unopened. Then I thought maybe I should look and see what's inside, as they sometimes enclose freebies. So I fished it out of the wastepaper basket. No advertising bling, but something better: a check! Apparently I'd switched insurance companies before my term was up and they refunded some of the premium I'd already paid.
3. The box fan fell over and a piece of the plastic blade broke off. I fished the piece out of the boxed-in part and the fan is now good to go again.
4. Took some more stuff to Goodwill. Asked for my coupon. They have changed their coupons. Now, you only get ONE donated item for 20% off with the coupon; it used to be everything you bought that day. Since it was Tuesday and Senior Citizen Day, I asked the cashier if I only get one item discounted on a Tuesday. She said no, everything I buy on Tuesdays will get the Senior Discount. So from now on, I will shop Goodwill on Tuesdays....unless I'm going in there for only one item. (I have coupons for that.)
5. I needed to store more of my shoes so I rearranged things. I put a chest of drawers in the closet hall against the window, and nailed up a pocket shoe holder. I also got an under the bed storage box that had been designed for rolls of wrapping paper. I put all our giftwrap in an antique dresser bc the dresser drawers are too narrow for anything else; therefore, I didn't need the box. It now holds out-of-season or seldom-used shoes. I also had a shoe rack that fits on top of the chest of drawers and gives me more shoe storage in m closet hall.
(My closet hall is a little hallway off from the master bedroom; it has bifold door closets on either side. I also have a coat rack and a dirty clothes hamper in there. I use it as a dressing room/clothes storage area. There is no door to this hallway, so I put up a curtain rod and have it partitioned off with a floor length curtain -- the exact same thing you've done with your daughter's closet, Katy. It not only hides the clutter but also keeps the air conditioned or heated air in the main part of the bedroom; I don't need my clothes to live in air conditioned comfort so I shut off that vent. The floor length curtain keeps the bedroom more comfortable. However, I recently changed out the curtain for a quilted twin-sized bedspread that matches the one on my bed, and also matches the window curtains. It works even better than the curtain because it is thicker. )
You’re lucky you get coupons for donating. My local Goodwill has never done that. I’ve donated for years. Not only that, they offer no senior discount day. All they have is color of the week discount (50% off, .99 cents Sunday) but only on clothing. 🙁
I’ve been on a focaccia kick lately, mainly because I’m not at my own home, and there’s no Dutch oven here, but there’s a great stoneware focaccia pan which makes the edges nice and crispy!