Blessing Darlings!
As I mentioned in the last blog post - while our income is finally up and stabilized, we still need to be frugal/cheap. One way we're doing this is to keep our clothes wearable as long as possible. This means, amongst other things, that we .... okay, *I* need to do clothes repairs.
Therefore one of the purchases I've already made this year was material to use to patch clothes with. The least expensive way I've found to be sure that I have a variety of colors of material for this is to buy pre-packaged 1/2 yard swatches of material at Walmart. The brand is Waverly. Solid colors are 97 cents before tax. Since most repairs don't take a lot of material, one package per color lasts me at least a year, except for the black one. I use a LOT of that to repair my work clothes.
So for $2 of material, and maybe $1 of thread, and I can save at least $10 that I'd have spent on new work clothes every year. I probably save even more than that - repair one pair of pants and I save $15. The shirts are 'only' $3 each, but if I only have to replace two instead of 5 a year, I save another $9. By repairing 3 shirts the other night at work, I more than paid back the investment I made in material.
Yes, I repaired my work shirts at work. It very was a slow night. It was, arguably, work related. My boss and the supervisor on duty were aware of what I was doing. They may or may not be as hands-off if I repair other clothes at work.
By doing these repairs, I also reduce the amount of garbage I create, and, since most of my clothes are cheap cotton - reducing buying more of them reduces the amount of pesticides used and saves a lot of water use (growing cotton uses a HUGE amount of pesticides and a large amount of water.)
Oh - I don't buy the material in either white or tan. THOSE colors of cotton I have plenty of, from saving salvageable parts of my husbands tan/khaki pants, and use them to repair his NEWER pants that need patches. And those pants are way more $$$ than my cheap pants.
Reduce, repair, re-use, recycle!
Frondly, Fern
Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugal. Show all posts
Monday, January 7, 2019
Friday, January 4, 2019
It's a New Year!
Blessings Darlings!
Yup, a new year. New chances. Mostly the same old bills.
Here there has been a change - after months of complications, the Chubby Hubby is now getting Social Security benefits. He's in his 70's - so since starting it after turning 70 he's getting a monthly deposit that looks HUGE in our eyes. Between that and my job all of our 'normal' monthly bills will be able to be paid without panic ... for the first time since 1991 (when he left his job with regular paychecks to start his own business.)
How do I know that we'll be able to pay all regular bills? Because I made a budget, of course. We all know that we should know what our monthly regular bills are, but making budgets out of those figures can be scary. It can show what we're doing wrong (we, for example, are spending WAY too much of our income on rent so CH has space for his business.)
So, yeah, go forth and see what you spend on stuff last year, so you know at least what minimums you'll be spending this year.
I'm sure that we'll be tweaking this budget. It doesn't have 'correct' amounts for things like health insurance/meds in it since Bob will be switching to Medicare and paying for that and some of the additional plans for that, and our higher income has me no longer eligible for Medicaid so I'll be paying health insurance and higher medicine and doctor visit copays.
Still, it's a start.
The current budget doesn't have room for savings, tho', and we need to get that in order. At one point last month our savings account had only $38 in it! Remember - that's the account that would also be bail money for some of you who read this regularly, so some of y'all have a vested interest in us having cash in that account!
So our cheapness .... uh ... frugality is going to continue, along with refining what we really spend.
And, seriously - why is propane still so expensive now that oil prices have dropped? We finally we able to get the propane tank filled today, and it's going to cost around $950! What's up with that?
At any rate, this is what we're starting our year with.
Frondly, Fern.
Yup, a new year. New chances. Mostly the same old bills.
Here there has been a change - after months of complications, the Chubby Hubby is now getting Social Security benefits. He's in his 70's - so since starting it after turning 70 he's getting a monthly deposit that looks HUGE in our eyes. Between that and my job all of our 'normal' monthly bills will be able to be paid without panic ... for the first time since 1991 (when he left his job with regular paychecks to start his own business.)
How do I know that we'll be able to pay all regular bills? Because I made a budget, of course. We all know that we should know what our monthly regular bills are, but making budgets out of those figures can be scary. It can show what we're doing wrong (we, for example, are spending WAY too much of our income on rent so CH has space for his business.)
So, yeah, go forth and see what you spend on stuff last year, so you know at least what minimums you'll be spending this year.
I'm sure that we'll be tweaking this budget. It doesn't have 'correct' amounts for things like health insurance/meds in it since Bob will be switching to Medicare and paying for that and some of the additional plans for that, and our higher income has me no longer eligible for Medicaid so I'll be paying health insurance and higher medicine and doctor visit copays.
Still, it's a start.
The current budget doesn't have room for savings, tho', and we need to get that in order. At one point last month our savings account had only $38 in it! Remember - that's the account that would also be bail money for some of you who read this regularly, so some of y'all have a vested interest in us having cash in that account!
So our cheapness .... uh ... frugality is going to continue, along with refining what we really spend.
And, seriously - why is propane still so expensive now that oil prices have dropped? We finally we able to get the propane tank filled today, and it's going to cost around $950! What's up with that?
At any rate, this is what we're starting our year with.
Frondly, Fern.
Tuesday, May 3, 2016
Fruit costs, Part 2
Blessings, Darlings!
It occurred to me - while shopping - that I left out some fruits yesterday. They are fruits I rarely buy, and then only at local fruit stands or directly from farmers when in season. They are peaches and nectarines.
I can't afford them in stores.
But ... seconds from local farmers, or getting a full bushel at once for canning, I CAN kinda afford. Huge, if blemished, peaches are about a dollar a pound. One peach is at least two servings. So they come to around 50 cents a serving.
This price lasts about a month. Which is why I can them.
Frondly, Fern
It occurred to me - while shopping - that I left out some fruits yesterday. They are fruits I rarely buy, and then only at local fruit stands or directly from farmers when in season. They are peaches and nectarines.
I can't afford them in stores.
But ... seconds from local farmers, or getting a full bushel at once for canning, I CAN kinda afford. Huge, if blemished, peaches are about a dollar a pound. One peach is at least two servings. So they come to around 50 cents a serving.
This price lasts about a month. Which is why I can them.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, March 4, 2016
Restaurant scrounging, addenum
Blessings Darlings!
The place I work at has added a new product - bone in broasted chicken. But Corporate keeps auto-shipping us WAY more than we sell. Okay, we cook the extra chicken (it's fresh, and has a short use-by date) unseasoned/breaded, then take the meat off the bones to use in pot pies and soup and such.
I boned 4 pans of chicken yesterday.
As I looked at the pans of chicken, and the lovely drippings in the pans, I realized that I was set up to throw out the ingredients for a really wonderful chicken stock. So I didn't throw the stuff out. I brought the 3 quarts of gelatinous drippings and many of the bones home. Once home, the bones went into the oven for an hour, then into two stock pots, with the drippings and more water, to simmer over night.
I now have two quarts of 'stock base'. I may choose to reduce the liquid, but I'll worry about that tonight, after it's cooled and I've skimmed it and tasted it.
The place I work at has added a new product - bone in broasted chicken. But Corporate keeps auto-shipping us WAY more than we sell. Okay, we cook the extra chicken (it's fresh, and has a short use-by date) unseasoned/breaded, then take the meat off the bones to use in pot pies and soup and such.
I boned 4 pans of chicken yesterday.
As I looked at the pans of chicken, and the lovely drippings in the pans, I realized that I was set up to throw out the ingredients for a really wonderful chicken stock. So I didn't throw the stuff out. I brought the 3 quarts of gelatinous drippings and many of the bones home. Once home, the bones went into the oven for an hour, then into two stock pots, with the drippings and more water, to simmer over night.
I now have two quarts of 'stock base'. I may choose to reduce the liquid, but I'll worry about that tonight, after it's cooled and I've skimmed it and tasted it.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Restaurant scrounging, Part 2
Blessings Darlings!
More ethical ways food is available to those who work in restaurants.
We cut off the heels of whole loaves of bread before slicing the bread for things like French Toast. Those heels often come home with me - they are great for stuffing, for croutons, for bread pudding. The heels of the sweet breads (like banana bread) are cut off before we slice it for serving, too - those can be taken home as a sweet, or even made into ice cream sandwiches!
Menus often change in restaurants like the one I work in (a national chain of family restaurants) pull some items from the menu every quarter or so. Restaurants can find themselves saddled with products in dry stock that they are no longer using. In the past year, our chain has stopped using a multigrain pancake mix, a dry mix for French toast, a dry cheese sauce mix for a cassarole, etc. The unused mixes were given to workers who wanted them.
Have a garden, and need mulch/compost ingredients? A prep cook has the nasty outer leaves of leaf lettuce, and the stems, to contribute. I can take home the rinds of melons after I've diced the good stuff. Maybe the stems of broccoli that was cut and portioned for cooking. Servers are going to have access to used coffee grounds. The nitrogen level of those coffee grounds are amazing when added to a compost pile!
Some of my previous coworkers took home the peels/top/bottom of pineapples. They'd throw them in a pot with water, add sweet spices like cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some sweetener, and make a tea (if served hot) or pineapple ade if served cold. Very high in potassium, they found that it was a tonic for legs after having spent an 8 hour shift standing.
We serve pot roast. Out of a container in a steamer. When the container is empty of pot roast, it often has a cup or more of a fat/au jus mix left. I chill that, peel off the heavy layer of fat, and bring the au jus home to use as soup stock, or to cook barley/rice/whatever in, or use as a base for the stew mentioned above.
All these are ways I get a 'second use' out of good foods that would just get thrown out at work.
OTOH, the restaurant gives left over rolls/biscuits/some pies/etc to feed those in ... uh ... more need than its workers. Since those items are NOT being thrown away, not going into the waste stream, those I don't mess with.
Frondly, Fern
More ethical ways food is available to those who work in restaurants.
We cut off the heels of whole loaves of bread before slicing the bread for things like French Toast. Those heels often come home with me - they are great for stuffing, for croutons, for bread pudding. The heels of the sweet breads (like banana bread) are cut off before we slice it for serving, too - those can be taken home as a sweet, or even made into ice cream sandwiches!
Menus often change in restaurants like the one I work in (a national chain of family restaurants) pull some items from the menu every quarter or so. Restaurants can find themselves saddled with products in dry stock that they are no longer using. In the past year, our chain has stopped using a multigrain pancake mix, a dry mix for French toast, a dry cheese sauce mix for a cassarole, etc. The unused mixes were given to workers who wanted them.
Have a garden, and need mulch/compost ingredients? A prep cook has the nasty outer leaves of leaf lettuce, and the stems, to contribute. I can take home the rinds of melons after I've diced the good stuff. Maybe the stems of broccoli that was cut and portioned for cooking. Servers are going to have access to used coffee grounds. The nitrogen level of those coffee grounds are amazing when added to a compost pile!
Some of my previous coworkers took home the peels/top/bottom of pineapples. They'd throw them in a pot with water, add sweet spices like cardamon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and some sweetener, and make a tea (if served hot) or pineapple ade if served cold. Very high in potassium, they found that it was a tonic for legs after having spent an 8 hour shift standing.
We serve pot roast. Out of a container in a steamer. When the container is empty of pot roast, it often has a cup or more of a fat/au jus mix left. I chill that, peel off the heavy layer of fat, and bring the au jus home to use as soup stock, or to cook barley/rice/whatever in, or use as a base for the stew mentioned above.
All these are ways I get a 'second use' out of good foods that would just get thrown out at work.
OTOH, the restaurant gives left over rolls/biscuits/some pies/etc to feed those in ... uh ... more need than its workers. Since those items are NOT being thrown away, not going into the waste stream, those I don't mess with.
Frondly, Fern
Monday, January 18, 2016
Restaurant Scrounging, Part 1
Blessings, Darlings!
RESTAURANT SCROUNGING
Those of us with lower end incomes - in my case, my second job isworking at a dead end restaurant job - don't have the income to get a real 'retreat' where we'll prepare for what will come in a future collapse. We're too busy living too close to a personal la vida collapse now.
However, that doesn't mean that we can't glean things from the not-yet collapsed world out there.
My mother in law, who worked as a waitress for years and years, is often quoted as having said that "A hungry waitress is a stupid waitress'. She wasn't talking about being hungry making you stupid - tho' that can certainly happen. Nor was she talking about either stealing stuff from work, or about eating what customers left on their plates (yuk!), but about maximizing opportunities.
And restaurant work gives you a lot of opportunities.
Let's start with one of the basic necessities of life - coffee. I work closing shift at a restaurant, as a prep cook. I've trained the servers to let me know when they are going to dump the leftover coffee, so I can fill a container and bring some home for my morning coffee. No, it's not fresh Starbucks coffee, but it will give me my morning caffeine the next day.
Many days I'm the person who chops scallions to top soup and salads with. The green onions we use are the same green onions that grow into regular old white bulb onions. I chop off the ends with the roots, and bring those home to plant, using them as onion sets. Free onions, for very little effort. You have to plant those ends very shallowly, or they won't form bulbs, just so you know - I had to learn that the hard way. OTOH, I found a lot of recipes that use green onions as a major ingredient with those first batch of 'failures'. By the way, onions were vital in England during WWII, both because there weren't many other things to flavor food with and because they add a lot of vitamin C and such to the diet. They are easy to grow here ... if you have sets.
Often I'm the person who slices the lemons so folks can use them in their tea/water/add them to their lemonade. The ends are cut off of the lemon first, so customers get more of the 'good stuff'. I take those ends home, zest them, and have lemon zest for cooking. Adding the zest to cakes, some cookies, and even to pancake batter is a wonderful thing. And, again, free. Zest might not be useful for bartering after a full collapse, when just getting calories is going to be an issue, but right now it means one less things I have to buy in a store for the home-cooking that we live on. Work in a bar? Many of them just use the peels of lemons in their drinks. A friend's uncle who works in a bar takes the peel-free lemons home. Lemonade! Lemon juice! Marinades! A good source of vitamin C that you don't have to go out and forage
Sometimes restaurants over order things. I noted that three gallons of milk were at their 'sell by' date yesterday. Restaurant policy is that they don't serve things after that date. I'm going to see if the manager will let me take one of those gallons home tonight, rather than just dumping it. (Update - she did!)
The cooked carrots on the grill line steam table ... well, at the end of the day they are often nasty. OTOH, the back up ones I occassional have in the prep hot-box are going to be in good shape. But mine, too, will be dumped at the end of the day, unless I bring them home and add them to some leftover beef from a previous roast I made, add some potatoes, and call it stew.
Or - we start dinner shift with 5 or 6 pot pies made and ready to go. They can't be saved and served the next day. That is, they can't be served to paying customers. OTOH, they are fine leftovers for my family. Since they will be thrown out anyway, the managers don't mind me bringing ones left at the end of the day home.
More to come ...
Frondly, Fern
RESTAURANT SCROUNGING
Those of us with lower end incomes - in my case, my second job isworking at a dead end restaurant job - don't have the income to get a real 'retreat' where we'll prepare for what will come in a future collapse. We're too busy living too close to a personal la vida collapse now.
However, that doesn't mean that we can't glean things from the not-yet collapsed world out there.
My mother in law, who worked as a waitress for years and years, is often quoted as having said that "A hungry waitress is a stupid waitress'. She wasn't talking about being hungry making you stupid - tho' that can certainly happen. Nor was she talking about either stealing stuff from work, or about eating what customers left on their plates (yuk!), but about maximizing opportunities.
And restaurant work gives you a lot of opportunities.
Let's start with one of the basic necessities of life - coffee. I work closing shift at a restaurant, as a prep cook. I've trained the servers to let me know when they are going to dump the leftover coffee, so I can fill a container and bring some home for my morning coffee. No, it's not fresh Starbucks coffee, but it will give me my morning caffeine the next day.
Many days I'm the person who chops scallions to top soup and salads with. The green onions we use are the same green onions that grow into regular old white bulb onions. I chop off the ends with the roots, and bring those home to plant, using them as onion sets. Free onions, for very little effort. You have to plant those ends very shallowly, or they won't form bulbs, just so you know - I had to learn that the hard way. OTOH, I found a lot of recipes that use green onions as a major ingredient with those first batch of 'failures'. By the way, onions were vital in England during WWII, both because there weren't many other things to flavor food with and because they add a lot of vitamin C and such to the diet. They are easy to grow here ... if you have sets.
Often I'm the person who slices the lemons so folks can use them in their tea/water/add them to their lemonade. The ends are cut off of the lemon first, so customers get more of the 'good stuff'. I take those ends home, zest them, and have lemon zest for cooking. Adding the zest to cakes, some cookies, and even to pancake batter is a wonderful thing. And, again, free. Zest might not be useful for bartering after a full collapse, when just getting calories is going to be an issue, but right now it means one less things I have to buy in a store for the home-cooking that we live on. Work in a bar? Many of them just use the peels of lemons in their drinks. A friend's uncle who works in a bar takes the peel-free lemons home. Lemonade! Lemon juice! Marinades! A good source of vitamin C that you don't have to go out and forage
Sometimes restaurants over order things. I noted that three gallons of milk were at their 'sell by' date yesterday. Restaurant policy is that they don't serve things after that date. I'm going to see if the manager will let me take one of those gallons home tonight, rather than just dumping it. (Update - she did!)
The cooked carrots on the grill line steam table ... well, at the end of the day they are often nasty. OTOH, the back up ones I occassional have in the prep hot-box are going to be in good shape. But mine, too, will be dumped at the end of the day, unless I bring them home and add them to some leftover beef from a previous roast I made, add some potatoes, and call it stew.
Or - we start dinner shift with 5 or 6 pot pies made and ready to go. They can't be saved and served the next day. That is, they can't be served to paying customers. OTOH, they are fine leftovers for my family. Since they will be thrown out anyway, the managers don't mind me bringing ones left at the end of the day home.
More to come ...
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Eating on the Wild Side
Blessings, Darlings!
So, as some of y'all already know that my husband neglected to read some of his e-mail ... so didn't send in something that our health insurance needed ... so auto payment of health insurance emptied our checking account of not just our expected $245 payment but an additional almost $2000. The $2000 for rent, utilities, food, etc.
We scrambled to cover the bills this weekend, and we will EVENTUALLY get the $ back, but it will take 2 to 4 months. So we are in financial pain just when we thought things would be calmer.
So, as some of y'all already know that my husband neglected to read some of his e-mail ... so didn't send in something that our health insurance needed ... so auto payment of health insurance emptied our checking account of not just our expected $245 payment but an additional almost $2000. The $2000 for rent, utilities, food, etc.
We scrambled to cover the bills this weekend, and we will EVENTUALLY get the $ back, but it will take 2 to 4 months. So we are in financial pain just when we thought things would be calmer.
So ... let's talk about eating weeds again. It's something that *I*
can do, but my husband can't. Wild greens have more flavor, or as my
husband puts it "are too bitter". My husband is a super taster.
Now, he's right that most of the current round of wild greens available ARE bitter. The weather is getting hot, which contributes. The younger wild mustards and shepherd purses were tame. Early (pre-blooming) dandelions weren't TOO bad. But wild green things now are flavored to repel leaf munching insects, and apparently the plants see humans as bigger insects.
Therefore, in keeping score so far this week - Narrow Leaf Plantain: bitter, but added to soup and hot sauce added was fine. Miner's Lettuce: bitterness lessened by soaking in a few changes of water, was fine added to a tomato based spaghetti sauce to top pasta.
Today's adventure will be bind weed. Which apparently I'll have to mix with some other greens because "too much can have a laxative effect'.
Tomorrow I'll be finding out if thistle leaves, lightly steamed, really do taste like asparagus.
Frondly, Fern
Now, he's right that most of the current round of wild greens available ARE bitter. The weather is getting hot, which contributes. The younger wild mustards and shepherd purses were tame. Early (pre-blooming) dandelions weren't TOO bad. But wild green things now are flavored to repel leaf munching insects, and apparently the plants see humans as bigger insects.
Therefore, in keeping score so far this week - Narrow Leaf Plantain: bitter, but added to soup and hot sauce added was fine. Miner's Lettuce: bitterness lessened by soaking in a few changes of water, was fine added to a tomato based spaghetti sauce to top pasta.
Today's adventure will be bind weed. Which apparently I'll have to mix with some other greens because "too much can have a laxative effect'.
Tomorrow I'll be finding out if thistle leaves, lightly steamed, really do taste like asparagus.
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Ham R Us.
Blessings Darlings!
We're not a particularly ham loving family. I grew up Jewish and wasn't raised on it. My husband likes it on occassion. My son doesn't like it.
That said ...
I walked into Aldi's to pick up a few groceries yesterday. They had a few hams, all at $5 each, since today is the 'sell by' date. I picked up the largest one that was left. And extra eggs, and a package of English muffins, and a package of sliced American cheese. I now have 6 'egg McMuffins' in the freezer, Navy bean soup is on the stove, split pea soup is going to be made, as will a ham and scalloped potato casserole. AND I'll still have ham left over that I'll freeze to cook with later.
I'm glad I had a few extra dollars available!
Frondly, Fern
We're not a particularly ham loving family. I grew up Jewish and wasn't raised on it. My husband likes it on occassion. My son doesn't like it.
That said ...
I walked into Aldi's to pick up a few groceries yesterday. They had a few hams, all at $5 each, since today is the 'sell by' date. I picked up the largest one that was left. And extra eggs, and a package of English muffins, and a package of sliced American cheese. I now have 6 'egg McMuffins' in the freezer, Navy bean soup is on the stove, split pea soup is going to be made, as will a ham and scalloped potato casserole. AND I'll still have ham left over that I'll freeze to cook with later.
I'm glad I had a few extra dollars available!
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, January 29, 2015
Fern's Failure - Drill Press Edition
Blessings Darlings!
Today in being frugal, I figured I'd make a sprinkling can out of a used one-gallon milk jug. Should be easy, right? Just drill a bunch of small holes in the screw-on top to the jug.
So, I washed out the jug and headed down to the lab with the lid. Couldn't find the chuck for the drill press, but chucks are pretty much universal so the chuck for the hand drill tightened the drill bit in place. Find an extension cord, plug it in, and ... just an electrical hum. No movement.
Opened the drill press up and found that the belt, sometime in the rather long while since we last used it, had ... disintegrated. There was goo that used to be plastic, and there were some strands of whatever they had used to reinforce the plastic.
Instead of being creative, I just got the metal wires or whatever out of the goo, and will use goo-gne or such on it, outside, sometime when the weather is nicer. And we'll have to find the manual, find out what brand it is, and order a new belt.
So, I'll wait. It's 33 degrees out, anyway, so I don't need a sprinkling can for outside plants immediately, anyway.
OTOH, I had HOPED to use this inside, to rinse hand-washed dishes using less water. THAT I could have used starting right now.
Dang.
Frondly, Fern
Today in being frugal, I figured I'd make a sprinkling can out of a used one-gallon milk jug. Should be easy, right? Just drill a bunch of small holes in the screw-on top to the jug.
So, I washed out the jug and headed down to the lab with the lid. Couldn't find the chuck for the drill press, but chucks are pretty much universal so the chuck for the hand drill tightened the drill bit in place. Find an extension cord, plug it in, and ... just an electrical hum. No movement.
Opened the drill press up and found that the belt, sometime in the rather long while since we last used it, had ... disintegrated. There was goo that used to be plastic, and there were some strands of whatever they had used to reinforce the plastic.
Instead of being creative, I just got the metal wires or whatever out of the goo, and will use goo-gne or such on it, outside, sometime when the weather is nicer. And we'll have to find the manual, find out what brand it is, and order a new belt.
So, I'll wait. It's 33 degrees out, anyway, so I don't need a sprinkling can for outside plants immediately, anyway.
OTOH, I had HOPED to use this inside, to rinse hand-washed dishes using less water. THAT I could have used starting right now.
Dang.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, June 27, 2014
It Happened Again
Blessings Darlings!
As y'all already know, I make a lot of things from scratch, or almost-scratch. Like - my husband LOVES having Kahlua in his coffee in the evening. He does this three or so times a week. Kahlua is a pricy bitch, so I make my own.
And when we moved I lost my usual recipe.
No problem, go online and find another (the original was pulled from being online, because it was shared from a book without the author's permission, and the author or publisher said "Oh, HELL no!")
Since I've made stuff several times, it wasn't hard finding a recipe that I could tell had about the right proportions of coffee to sugar. But in looking over the recipe, I could tell that the person who POSTED it (to Wikihow, which my protection software identified as a 'malicious' site) clearly had never made it.
The first clue was that s/he said it would make about a quart of Kahlua-substitute. Well, yes, the recipe called for 4 cups of liquid. But the 4 1/2 cups of solids added, which dissolved into the liquids, DO TAKE UP SPACE. Not one cup of space per cup of sugar/instant coffee, but enough space that the recipe made 6 cups, not 'about a quart'.
The second clue was that, since the mix was 50% higher in volume that was presented, the proof (alcohol content) of the finished product was going to be WAY too low given the relative volume of alcohol the recipe called form.
To get around these problems, I used nice high-proof Everclear instead of most of the rum that was called for, and used brown sugar instead of white sugar to replace some of the flavor the rum would have brought to the recipe. I could wing it, because I have experience and mad math skillz.
This isn't only a problem in online recipes, BTW.
And, for you Pagans/witches/wiccans out there - it's not only a problem in cooking.
But more on THAT in a future post!
Frondly, Fern
As y'all already know, I make a lot of things from scratch, or almost-scratch. Like - my husband LOVES having Kahlua in his coffee in the evening. He does this three or so times a week. Kahlua is a pricy bitch, so I make my own.
And when we moved I lost my usual recipe.
No problem, go online and find another (the original was pulled from being online, because it was shared from a book without the author's permission, and the author or publisher said "Oh, HELL no!")
Since I've made stuff several times, it wasn't hard finding a recipe that I could tell had about the right proportions of coffee to sugar. But in looking over the recipe, I could tell that the person who POSTED it (to Wikihow, which my protection software identified as a 'malicious' site) clearly had never made it.
The first clue was that s/he said it would make about a quart of Kahlua-substitute. Well, yes, the recipe called for 4 cups of liquid. But the 4 1/2 cups of solids added, which dissolved into the liquids, DO TAKE UP SPACE. Not one cup of space per cup of sugar/instant coffee, but enough space that the recipe made 6 cups, not 'about a quart'.
The second clue was that, since the mix was 50% higher in volume that was presented, the proof (alcohol content) of the finished product was going to be WAY too low given the relative volume of alcohol the recipe called form.
To get around these problems, I used nice high-proof Everclear instead of most of the rum that was called for, and used brown sugar instead of white sugar to replace some of the flavor the rum would have brought to the recipe. I could wing it, because I have experience and mad math skillz.
This isn't only a problem in online recipes, BTW.
And, for you Pagans/witches/wiccans out there - it's not only a problem in cooking.
But more on THAT in a future post!
Frondly, Fern
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Meh Ravioli
Blessings Darlings!
Tonight I made our fortnightly Vegetarian Dinner. I decided to try Spinach and Ricotta ravioli, with the budget substitutions of plantain weed leaves for spinach and cottage cheese for ricotta. Once again I found that wild greens suck up a lot of flavor and recipes have to be adjusted for that - had to double the salt, black pepper, nutmeg and add basil and garlic in order for the filling to have flavor.
The pasta part was pretty typical, except I've never made ravioli before. OTOH I've made more than a few recipes of Chinese dumplings and egg rolls! I did run into a problem with them sticking to the parchment paper and tearing, because using cottage cheese instead of ricotta make the filling more moist. I'll be making steamed dumplings (instead of boiled ones) out of those tomorrow.
Chubby Hubby asked for a pink sauce for these, instead of a red sauce. So I added a cup of cream to a red sauce and he was happy. Spawn and I weren't that impressed, it didn't 'sparkle', but it was adequate.
It all tasted fine, but it was not Restaurant or Company Quality.
I'm sure I'll do better if I make it again soon, but I probably won't make it again until next summer - the plantain plants are going to seed.
Frondly, Fern
Tonight I made our fortnightly Vegetarian Dinner. I decided to try Spinach and Ricotta ravioli, with the budget substitutions of plantain weed leaves for spinach and cottage cheese for ricotta. Once again I found that wild greens suck up a lot of flavor and recipes have to be adjusted for that - had to double the salt, black pepper, nutmeg and add basil and garlic in order for the filling to have flavor.
The pasta part was pretty typical, except I've never made ravioli before. OTOH I've made more than a few recipes of Chinese dumplings and egg rolls! I did run into a problem with them sticking to the parchment paper and tearing, because using cottage cheese instead of ricotta make the filling more moist. I'll be making steamed dumplings (instead of boiled ones) out of those tomorrow.
Chubby Hubby asked for a pink sauce for these, instead of a red sauce. So I added a cup of cream to a red sauce and he was happy. Spawn and I weren't that impressed, it didn't 'sparkle', but it was adequate.
It all tasted fine, but it was not Restaurant or Company Quality.
I'm sure I'll do better if I make it again soon, but I probably won't make it again until next summer - the plantain plants are going to seed.
Frondly, Fern
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Fern Makes Pot Stickers
Blessings Darlings!
In our household, we like food. Which explains part of our weight problems, but that's not what I'm writing about today. We like food, and we want it to be tasty and have great texture ... and we need it to be inexpensive, because we're limiting our food budget to what we'd get if we were on the maximum amount of food stamps - that's roughly $410 a month for 3 adults here.
Which means I cook a lot of stuff from scratch. While I don't make hamburger buns or most pasta from scratch (the later because it's hard to get the right flour at all around here, let alone at a good price), I make make most of the rest of our breads. Yeah, most of you have been reading long enough to know all this.
Last night I took out the Sacred Book of Chinese Recipes, and I made Pot Stickers - the dumplings that have the crispy bottom. They are one of our Oh My Gods! recipes, amazingly good. And not expensive, especially compared with getting them in restaurants, where they are often not even as good as the ones I make.
I DID cheat a bit, as I chose to NOT make the wrappers from scratch. I've done it before, and I'll do it again, but that will be some day when I'm not working in the garden much of the day ... and yesterday I spent lots of time in the garden.
The entire batch of potstickers had an ingredient cost of about $10.50. It made 96 dumplings. That would have been 12 orders of potstickers in many restaurants. And it would have cost $96 just for the pot stickers - never mind the drinks we'd have ordered, and the tip.
Now, we did not eat all those last night, even tho' we did them as our main course ... hell, it was our only course. We DID eat half of them. I'm going to wrap and freeze the rest tonight and we'll have them some other time, when I don't want to cook.
Cheap never tasted so good.
Oh - and I did NOT use any zucchini in them.
Frondly, Fern
In our household, we like food. Which explains part of our weight problems, but that's not what I'm writing about today. We like food, and we want it to be tasty and have great texture ... and we need it to be inexpensive, because we're limiting our food budget to what we'd get if we were on the maximum amount of food stamps - that's roughly $410 a month for 3 adults here.
Which means I cook a lot of stuff from scratch. While I don't make hamburger buns or most pasta from scratch (the later because it's hard to get the right flour at all around here, let alone at a good price), I make make most of the rest of our breads. Yeah, most of you have been reading long enough to know all this.
Last night I took out the Sacred Book of Chinese Recipes, and I made Pot Stickers - the dumplings that have the crispy bottom. They are one of our Oh My Gods! recipes, amazingly good. And not expensive, especially compared with getting them in restaurants, where they are often not even as good as the ones I make.
I DID cheat a bit, as I chose to NOT make the wrappers from scratch. I've done it before, and I'll do it again, but that will be some day when I'm not working in the garden much of the day ... and yesterday I spent lots of time in the garden.
The entire batch of potstickers had an ingredient cost of about $10.50. It made 96 dumplings. That would have been 12 orders of potstickers in many restaurants. And it would have cost $96 just for the pot stickers - never mind the drinks we'd have ordered, and the tip.
Now, we did not eat all those last night, even tho' we did them as our main course ... hell, it was our only course. We DID eat half of them. I'm going to wrap and freeze the rest tonight and we'll have them some other time, when I don't want to cook.
Cheap never tasted so good.
Oh - and I did NOT use any zucchini in them.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, April 26, 2013
End Of Month Eats
Blessings Darlings!
In a recent discussion in a Facebook group, the issue of getting thru' the end of the month on pasta or ramen came up. And how boring living on those noodles are.
Well.
First of all, you KNOW my view of pasta vs ramen, right? That pasta costs WAY less per serving, so go for that if you can? But, onward to making noodles flavorful (and more nutritious) when broke!
First, of course, your herb/spice rack is your friend. A shot of Sriracha sauce will kick up noodles. So will garlic and onion - use the powdered form if that's what you have.
Canned or frozen veggies can be added. Don't have any? Well, now that it's well into spring you can harvest what's growing wild. Today, for instance, I'm adding the greens from wild garlic, for vitamins C, A, fiber, and flavor. Here's a shot of wild garlic:
I'm also adding wild yellow dock. This is more of a problem to add - it can be bitter, and the Chubby Hubby is a supertaster of bitter and HATES HATES HATES it. So after I harvested it I chopped it, threw it in a bowl, and poured boiling water over it to blanch it. I drained it after it soaked for a few minutes and had CH taste it - it met his approval. For your viewing pleasure, a shot of yellow/curly dock:
There are plenty of other plants growing right now that you can add. Dandelions (again, bitter - you may have to soak/drain several times), plantain is coming up, creeping Charlie (nice peppery flavor), Corn creeper (boring flavor, but very nutritious), chickweed, etc. Even the young leaves of clover can be used.
And let's not forget to use those pasta, as well as ramen, in soup. Just add cheap cubes of boullion, and more wild greens (or canned veggies if you have them). Leftovers, in broth, with noodles, is a grand meal.
So - eat well!
Frondly, Fern
In a recent discussion in a Facebook group, the issue of getting thru' the end of the month on pasta or ramen came up. And how boring living on those noodles are.
Well.
First of all, you KNOW my view of pasta vs ramen, right? That pasta costs WAY less per serving, so go for that if you can? But, onward to making noodles flavorful (and more nutritious) when broke!
First, of course, your herb/spice rack is your friend. A shot of Sriracha sauce will kick up noodles. So will garlic and onion - use the powdered form if that's what you have.
Canned or frozen veggies can be added. Don't have any? Well, now that it's well into spring you can harvest what's growing wild. Today, for instance, I'm adding the greens from wild garlic, for vitamins C, A, fiber, and flavor. Here's a shot of wild garlic:
I'm also adding wild yellow dock. This is more of a problem to add - it can be bitter, and the Chubby Hubby is a supertaster of bitter and HATES HATES HATES it. So after I harvested it I chopped it, threw it in a bowl, and poured boiling water over it to blanch it. I drained it after it soaked for a few minutes and had CH taste it - it met his approval. For your viewing pleasure, a shot of yellow/curly dock:
There are plenty of other plants growing right now that you can add. Dandelions (again, bitter - you may have to soak/drain several times), plantain is coming up, creeping Charlie (nice peppery flavor), Corn creeper (boring flavor, but very nutritious), chickweed, etc. Even the young leaves of clover can be used.
And let's not forget to use those pasta, as well as ramen, in soup. Just add cheap cubes of boullion, and more wild greens (or canned veggies if you have them). Leftovers, in broth, with noodles, is a grand meal.
So - eat well!
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Spring seeds
Blessings Darlings!
Yesterday I spent in the garden - today we have sleet and cold rain. Pretty typical!
In today's part of "Quest for Vegetable Seeds", I was able to get to two different 'Dollar Stores'. One I knew had seeds in (the Spawn had checked the day before, and reported 1 - they were in and 2 - they were 3 packets for a dollar) and one that I figured would have them as well. Checking store #2 first turned out to be a good idea, as the seeds there were 4 packets for a dollar. I got all the seeds they had that I wanted, then headed to the other store for anything else I could find.
So, for the sum of $6.50, I have two types of lettuce, three varieties of peppers, two types of summer squash, two types of hard/winter squash (sure wish any of 'em had had hubbard, but no), two types of radishes, two types of peas, cabbage, beets, turnips, cucumbers, beefsteak tomatoes, pole beans, and carrots.
I already have stevia, rosemary, oregano, thyme, ginger, turmeric, some green onions, one or two plants of Jerusalem artichokes, basil, purple sweet potatoes, lettuce, and turnips growing in the house for the winter.
I'll need some potatoes, some bulk beans, more onion sets, spinach seeds, etc. I'd love to find peppers to make my own Paprika - I'd even be willing to smoke them.
How's your garden planning going?
Frondly, Fern
Yesterday I spent in the garden - today we have sleet and cold rain. Pretty typical!
In today's part of "Quest for Vegetable Seeds", I was able to get to two different 'Dollar Stores'. One I knew had seeds in (the Spawn had checked the day before, and reported 1 - they were in and 2 - they were 3 packets for a dollar) and one that I figured would have them as well. Checking store #2 first turned out to be a good idea, as the seeds there were 4 packets for a dollar. I got all the seeds they had that I wanted, then headed to the other store for anything else I could find.
So, for the sum of $6.50, I have two types of lettuce, three varieties of peppers, two types of summer squash, two types of hard/winter squash (sure wish any of 'em had had hubbard, but no), two types of radishes, two types of peas, cabbage, beets, turnips, cucumbers, beefsteak tomatoes, pole beans, and carrots.
I already have stevia, rosemary, oregano, thyme, ginger, turmeric, some green onions, one or two plants of Jerusalem artichokes, basil, purple sweet potatoes, lettuce, and turnips growing in the house for the winter.
I'll need some potatoes, some bulk beans, more onion sets, spinach seeds, etc. I'd love to find peppers to make my own Paprika - I'd even be willing to smoke them.
How's your garden planning going?
Frondly, Fern
Thursday, February 21, 2013
EOM
Blessings Darlings!
Have you noticed that the 'end of money' EOM keeps coming earlier and earlier compared to the "end of month" EOM? Here, where we're supposed to get 2 paychecks a month, we've only gotten 2 1/3 since November 1. That's ONE THIRD of our usual/budgeted for income for the last 3 1/2 months. We're hurting. Our emergency fund is dry. We're running really really late in paying some bills. We've even taken withdrawals from the Chubby Hubby's IRA!
Normally, this would be mitigated at least as far as our grocery money by our son paying 1/4 of his income for buying groceries, but his hours have been cut drastically at work. Partly because they cut every one's hours, partly because the restaurant he works for has had a cut in customers due to Lent, partly because even before Lent the 'labor costs' at the restaurant were higher than they wanted. They can't cut cooks, they can't cut salaried management, servers get paid less than hosts so cutting them isn't as 'useful (tho' they HAVE sent them home as well), so the Host gets sent home and management seats customers and handles the cash register.
AND - our electric provider estimates our bill most months. The last bill was estimated, and we paid about half of it. But they estimated LOW, even by normal usage standards - and the month was COLD COLD COLD so our electric usage for heat was HIGH HIGH HIGH. We're going to get slapped by a particularly high electric bill next month, on top of what we already owe them.
So, here it's all about trying to stretch what we already have as far as we can. Car tires are a bit over-filled to increase MPG. My afternoons are spent sitting under blankets on the couch - not watching TV, but sewing patches on pants in a 60 degree house. The water supplies to the two toilets that run on have been shut off. My lunches have been featuring soup and small potatoes/sweet potatoes, leftover veggies, and small sprinkles of cheese, and the Chubby Hubby's lunches are the same soup plus half a sandwich of cheap lunch meat (on home-made bread). The only meat bought each month that isn't 'reduced for quick sale' is one 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters for $7.90 total.
One good thing - the Chubby Hubby has finally started to do some needed household repairs, which help make things more efficient around here. Like - the cold water filter into the washer is now fixed! I no longer have to carry buckets of cold water from the kitchen to the laundry room to wash clothes. Because you KNOW I'm not using hot water for my laundry and rinses! He also spliced a new plug on to the old iron, so it works for ALL of us. For the past few months I was the only one who could bend the cord 'just so', which allowed some broken wires ends to meet. He used a cord we had salvaged off something else, years ago, to replace the old plug, so it only cost him time/effort.
This next weekend we'll be working on the running-on toilets. I'm hoping we won't have to buy parts for them, just clean calcium and rust deposits off the inside of the tanks and flappers.
The Spawn has even stopped buying his occasional fast food, instead coming home and eating instead. I may have to keep some pizza dough half-baked baked, or make him some bagels, so he can whip up home-made pizza fast.
What things are you doing to keep from having to spend money? Share your ideas here or ....
Have I mentioned that I started a Frugal group on Facebook? You can join that and share your ideas there, too! It's at https://www.facebook.com/groups/457503407646133/?bookmark_t=group
Frondly, Fern
Have you noticed that the 'end of money' EOM keeps coming earlier and earlier compared to the "end of month" EOM? Here, where we're supposed to get 2 paychecks a month, we've only gotten 2 1/3 since November 1. That's ONE THIRD of our usual/budgeted for income for the last 3 1/2 months. We're hurting. Our emergency fund is dry. We're running really really late in paying some bills. We've even taken withdrawals from the Chubby Hubby's IRA!
Normally, this would be mitigated at least as far as our grocery money by our son paying 1/4 of his income for buying groceries, but his hours have been cut drastically at work. Partly because they cut every one's hours, partly because the restaurant he works for has had a cut in customers due to Lent, partly because even before Lent the 'labor costs' at the restaurant were higher than they wanted. They can't cut cooks, they can't cut salaried management, servers get paid less than hosts so cutting them isn't as 'useful (tho' they HAVE sent them home as well), so the Host gets sent home and management seats customers and handles the cash register.
AND - our electric provider estimates our bill most months. The last bill was estimated, and we paid about half of it. But they estimated LOW, even by normal usage standards - and the month was COLD COLD COLD so our electric usage for heat was HIGH HIGH HIGH. We're going to get slapped by a particularly high electric bill next month, on top of what we already owe them.
So, here it's all about trying to stretch what we already have as far as we can. Car tires are a bit over-filled to increase MPG. My afternoons are spent sitting under blankets on the couch - not watching TV, but sewing patches on pants in a 60 degree house. The water supplies to the two toilets that run on have been shut off. My lunches have been featuring soup and small potatoes/sweet potatoes, leftover veggies, and small sprinkles of cheese, and the Chubby Hubby's lunches are the same soup plus half a sandwich of cheap lunch meat (on home-made bread). The only meat bought each month that isn't 'reduced for quick sale' is one 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters for $7.90 total.
One good thing - the Chubby Hubby has finally started to do some needed household repairs, which help make things more efficient around here. Like - the cold water filter into the washer is now fixed! I no longer have to carry buckets of cold water from the kitchen to the laundry room to wash clothes. Because you KNOW I'm not using hot water for my laundry and rinses! He also spliced a new plug on to the old iron, so it works for ALL of us. For the past few months I was the only one who could bend the cord 'just so', which allowed some broken wires ends to meet. He used a cord we had salvaged off something else, years ago, to replace the old plug, so it only cost him time/effort.
This next weekend we'll be working on the running-on toilets. I'm hoping we won't have to buy parts for them, just clean calcium and rust deposits off the inside of the tanks and flappers.
The Spawn has even stopped buying his occasional fast food, instead coming home and eating instead. I may have to keep some pizza dough half-baked baked, or make him some bagels, so he can whip up home-made pizza fast.
What things are you doing to keep from having to spend money? Share your ideas here or ....
Have I mentioned that I started a Frugal group on Facebook? You can join that and share your ideas there, too! It's at https://www.facebook.com/groups/457503407646133/?bookmark_t=group
Frondly, Fern
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Healthy Eating
Blessings Darlings!
So it's noon, and so far I've eaten the way .... sigh .... the way I feel I should be eating all the time. Brunch was one small left over cubed baked potato, leftover home-canned green beans, diced onion and red pepper, all topped with a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, nuked to heat it/melt the cheese.
Cheap, filling, two servings of veggies. I dunno if I can count the tater as a veggie or not - it's certainly not a grain! So I'm on my way trying to get 9 servings of fruits/veggies for the day.
Rah.
Frondly, Fern
So it's noon, and so far I've eaten the way .... sigh .... the way I feel I should be eating all the time. Brunch was one small left over cubed baked potato, leftover home-canned green beans, diced onion and red pepper, all topped with a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella, nuked to heat it/melt the cheese.
Cheap, filling, two servings of veggies. I dunno if I can count the tater as a veggie or not - it's certainly not a grain! So I'm on my way trying to get 9 servings of fruits/veggies for the day.
Rah.
Frondly, Fern
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
A Cup of Tea
Blessings Darlings!
My Mother was one of eight children. Her parents, and about half of her siblings, were immigrants to the US. They did well, but let's face it - raising eight children takes a chunk of money, especially when 5 of them are hungry boys (trust me, the girls were taught to not take seconds unless the boys had eaten their fill).
Forward several decades. Friday night, Shabbos dinner, in the suburbs. One of Mom's sisters and 4 of her brothers (and their assorted still-living-at-home family members) are at our place for dinner. Everyone has eaten, the table cleared of dinner and now dessert plates, coffee/tea cups, and dessert have replaced the potatoes and brisket. A few people have coffee with their dessert, but most have tea.
How many tea bags get used?
Wait for it ... wait for it ....
At most, two tea bags are used. Usually just one.
Because everyone STILL barely dunks the tea bag in their hot water long enough to color the water, then passes it to someone else who wants tea.
Now, I love me some tea, and prefer it a bit on the strong side. But with money tight, strong tea is not something I get to have now. I need to make that package of 100 Earl Grey tea bags I got for Yule last a year. So I'm doing the barely dunking thing, and now using each bag for 3 cups of hot tea.
I'll be making up a batch of copycat Constant Comment tea soon, too, since I LOVE that for iced tea. OTOH, I drink that far more in summer than in winter.
Remember, tea is full of healthy flavonoids and such, so are almost health food.
Frondly, Fern
My Mother was one of eight children. Her parents, and about half of her siblings, were immigrants to the US. They did well, but let's face it - raising eight children takes a chunk of money, especially when 5 of them are hungry boys (trust me, the girls were taught to not take seconds unless the boys had eaten their fill).
Forward several decades. Friday night, Shabbos dinner, in the suburbs. One of Mom's sisters and 4 of her brothers (and their assorted still-living-at-home family members) are at our place for dinner. Everyone has eaten, the table cleared of dinner and now dessert plates, coffee/tea cups, and dessert have replaced the potatoes and brisket. A few people have coffee with their dessert, but most have tea.
How many tea bags get used?
Wait for it ... wait for it ....
At most, two tea bags are used. Usually just one.
Because everyone STILL barely dunks the tea bag in their hot water long enough to color the water, then passes it to someone else who wants tea.
Now, I love me some tea, and prefer it a bit on the strong side. But with money tight, strong tea is not something I get to have now. I need to make that package of 100 Earl Grey tea bags I got for Yule last a year. So I'm doing the barely dunking thing, and now using each bag for 3 cups of hot tea.
I'll be making up a batch of copycat Constant Comment tea soon, too, since I LOVE that for iced tea. OTOH, I drink that far more in summer than in winter.
Remember, tea is full of healthy flavonoids and such, so are almost health food.
Frondly, Fern
Monday, October 15, 2012
Pumpkin Spice Lattes
Blessings Darlings!
Starting last year, the fall hype about Pumpkin Spice Lattes got my attention. The hype is greater this year, and that 'rumor of unknown origin' that Starbucks 'is running out of' the stuff made my inner marketer smirk. Ah, ADDED urgency - not just the limited time it's available, but now limited amounts! Everyone to Starbucks, NOW!
Now, pumpkin spice lattes DO taste good. But why would I buy one? That has GOT to be one of the easiest things to make at home. So today I brewed a pot of it. On top of my usual dark grounds I added the spices. While it brewed I figured the costs, because I'm like that.
The 24 ounces of coffee, with another 4 oz of half and half added, would equal a 28 oz cuppa. Let's say that would be around $5 at FiveBucks. Cost to me to make it - 60 Cents. That includes coffee, half and half, and spices. I did not figure in coffee filter, water, electricity, or washing the pot costs. Five cents would be a SWAG estimate for those things. So - 65 cents vs $5. Maybe add a few more cents if I added whipped cream, but I didn't.
Not only does it cost less at home, but I can have this anytime, and without having to put on clothes or drive and use gasoline or incur any other car expenses.
Now, I did NOT measure what I put in, so I'm going to give you estimates here. For one 4 cup pot of coffee, add -
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp FRESHLY GROUND nutmeg - pre-ground nutmeg has zero flavor
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground ginger - I may have used a bit more of this, to be honest. I like ginger a lot.
As always, adjust to your tastes. You are not me. I am not you.
Frondly, Fern
Starting last year, the fall hype about Pumpkin Spice Lattes got my attention. The hype is greater this year, and that 'rumor of unknown origin' that Starbucks 'is running out of' the stuff made my inner marketer smirk. Ah, ADDED urgency - not just the limited time it's available, but now limited amounts! Everyone to Starbucks, NOW!
Now, pumpkin spice lattes DO taste good. But why would I buy one? That has GOT to be one of the easiest things to make at home. So today I brewed a pot of it. On top of my usual dark grounds I added the spices. While it brewed I figured the costs, because I'm like that.
The 24 ounces of coffee, with another 4 oz of half and half added, would equal a 28 oz cuppa. Let's say that would be around $5 at FiveBucks. Cost to me to make it - 60 Cents. That includes coffee, half and half, and spices. I did not figure in coffee filter, water, electricity, or washing the pot costs. Five cents would be a SWAG estimate for those things. So - 65 cents vs $5. Maybe add a few more cents if I added whipped cream, but I didn't.
Not only does it cost less at home, but I can have this anytime, and without having to put on clothes or drive and use gasoline or incur any other car expenses.
Now, I did NOT measure what I put in, so I'm going to give you estimates here. For one 4 cup pot of coffee, add -
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp FRESHLY GROUND nutmeg - pre-ground nutmeg has zero flavor
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground ginger - I may have used a bit more of this, to be honest. I like ginger a lot.
As always, adjust to your tastes. You are not me. I am not you.
Frondly, Fern
Friday, September 14, 2012
Poofiness
Blessings Darlings!
I've been making my own laundry soap since about the beginning of the year. It's a pretty simple recipe - grate a bar of soap, add a cup each of Washing Soda and Borax, mix well, use 2 tablespoons per load. It's easy to make, with grating the soap taking the longest time.
So today I opened a new package of Ivory Soap to make a new batch. It was ... dampish. I couldn't grate it. How can I dry it? I looked up 'nuking Ivory Soap' online, and found it was a COOL thing to do. The stuff .... blooms. It would have been a GREAT part of a lesson on foams while we homeschooled.
My family and I had a GREAT time playing with the blooming bar of soap. And much to my delight, the expanded foam, once cooled, was a breeze to crush into tiny soap flakes, better than anything I'd grated for laundry soap making. I am exceedingly pleased with the results. Well, the poofy flakes go rather more airborne and made me sneeze, but that's not a big deal.
Frondly, Fern
I've been making my own laundry soap since about the beginning of the year. It's a pretty simple recipe - grate a bar of soap, add a cup each of Washing Soda and Borax, mix well, use 2 tablespoons per load. It's easy to make, with grating the soap taking the longest time.
So today I opened a new package of Ivory Soap to make a new batch. It was ... dampish. I couldn't grate it. How can I dry it? I looked up 'nuking Ivory Soap' online, and found it was a COOL thing to do. The stuff .... blooms. It would have been a GREAT part of a lesson on foams while we homeschooled.
My family and I had a GREAT time playing with the blooming bar of soap. And much to my delight, the expanded foam, once cooled, was a breeze to crush into tiny soap flakes, better than anything I'd grated for laundry soap making. I am exceedingly pleased with the results. Well, the poofy flakes go rather more airborne and made me sneeze, but that's not a big deal.
Frondly, Fern
Monday, September 10, 2012
Fern's Cole Slaw Recipe
Blessings Darlings!
When your lunches tend to be soup and a salad, as our lunches often are (well, we also have popcorn a lot), having a lot of salad options is a good thing. Add that to the fact that cabbage is very healthy and usually cheaper than lettuce is, pound for pound .... cabbage based salads are something we eat a lot.
Cole Slaw is one of the most common cabbage based salads around. My standard recipe, the one I'm sharing here, isn't fancy or 'special'. It's just basic Good Eats. I've been making it once a week and we've been having it with lunch or dinner almost daily. I DO admit I use reduced fat mayo rather than regular mayo OR making my own. I might do it next with home-made, but let's face it - store bought mayo may not taste as good but it sure lasts longer in the fridge than home-made mayo does!
FERN'S BASIC COLE SLAW
4 Cups or so shredded green cabbage
1/3 or so cups of shredded red cabbage, if I happen to have any around
1 big or two small or so carrots, scraped and shredded.
juice of 1/4 lemon, or a splash from a bottle of lemon juice
mayonaise
Salt and pepper
Put the shredded veggies in a bowl. Add the lemon juice, and enough mayo so it looks dressed. My husband likes more, I like less. I make it to my taste. YMMV. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix. Eat.
There are sweet cole slaws, there are vinegar based cole slaws, etc - this is what the Chubby Hubby likes. Find a few you like. Make then often. Play.
Frondly, Fern
When your lunches tend to be soup and a salad, as our lunches often are (well, we also have popcorn a lot), having a lot of salad options is a good thing. Add that to the fact that cabbage is very healthy and usually cheaper than lettuce is, pound for pound .... cabbage based salads are something we eat a lot.
Cole Slaw is one of the most common cabbage based salads around. My standard recipe, the one I'm sharing here, isn't fancy or 'special'. It's just basic Good Eats. I've been making it once a week and we've been having it with lunch or dinner almost daily. I DO admit I use reduced fat mayo rather than regular mayo OR making my own. I might do it next with home-made, but let's face it - store bought mayo may not taste as good but it sure lasts longer in the fridge than home-made mayo does!
FERN'S BASIC COLE SLAW
4 Cups or so shredded green cabbage
1/3 or so cups of shredded red cabbage, if I happen to have any around
1 big or two small or so carrots, scraped and shredded.
juice of 1/4 lemon, or a splash from a bottle of lemon juice
mayonaise
Salt and pepper
Put the shredded veggies in a bowl. Add the lemon juice, and enough mayo so it looks dressed. My husband likes more, I like less. I make it to my taste. YMMV. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix. Eat.
There are sweet cole slaws, there are vinegar based cole slaws, etc - this is what the Chubby Hubby likes. Find a few you like. Make then often. Play.
Frondly, Fern
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