Halloween Decor

We have tons of Halloween tchotchkes. Proof:

These are mostly Husband's doing. He loves to purchase Halloween and Christmas decorations. And although no surface of our house is safe, he also delays decorating until just days before. He decorated for Halloween this year on Sunday.

Out of all that junk, this decoration is my favorite, by far:

Eyes, eyebrows and nostrils of computer and construction paper and teeth of leftover crepe paper. Literally pennies.

This decoration gets bonus points because no matter how old you are, walking through a crepe paper monster mouth is an easy way to brighten up any day.

Today's spending so far: $1005.12 for tolls, fragrance free shampoo, orthodontist, car insurance, credit card bills, candles, a Christmas gift, and canned air. (Yep, candles, canned air and Christmas gifts=non-necessities.)

Total since 10/29: $1042.72

Fried Eggplant and Baked Rigatoni

Reason: I had all the stuff to make some kind of baked pasta dish in the pantry/fridge/freezer: Rigatoni, pasta sauce, mozzarella cheese, cottage cheese, seasonings. Eggplant was on special at Aldi for 99 cents.

Inspiration: Easy Baked Ziti recipe that I tore out of the newspaper and Eggplant Parmesan Rigatoni recipe from an old Rachel Ray magazine.

Process:
1. Slice an eggplant to make rounds. Spread out and salt.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9x13 casserole dish.
3. Boil a pound of rigatoni. Cook 3 minutes less than the directions on the box. Drain and reserve some of the pasta water.
4. Mix a big carton of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella, jar of pasta sauce, and seasonings of your choice. Mix in cooked pasta. Add a bit of the hot pasta water until the mixture is creamy.
5. Pour pasta in casserole. Top with 1-2 cups of mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes.
6. Beat one egg. Stir in a little milk. Pour flour on a plate. Heat oil in a large pan for frying.
7. Pat eggplant dry. Dredge each slice in milk and flour. Fry in oil.
8. Slice fried eggplant into strips and serve with baked rigatoni.


Verdict: The recipe earned a "Keeper" rating from Step-Daughter and unprompted reheating and eating by Husband. (It was actually taken out of the refrigerator, scooped into a bowl and microwaved. That is a big endorsement.)

Servings: 10

Cost: Approximately $7.75 or $0.78 per serving
         Rigatoni $1.00
         Pasta Sauce $1.58
         Mozzarella Cheese $2.00
         Cottage Cheese $0.98
         Eggplant $0.99
         Egg $0.07
         Milk $0.15
         Flour $0.10
         Oil $0.75
         Salt $0.01
         Garlic Powder $0.03
         Pepper $0.01
         Crushed Red Pepper $0.04
         Italian Seasoning $0.04

Today's spending so far: $58.03 gas, tolls, ice skating party for S-D, pumpkins, and fragrance-free dryer sheets. (Yes, I know skating and pumpkins aren't a necessity!)
Total since 10/29: $37.63

Checking In

Hello, gentle readers:

Yep, still poor. In fact, we may be more poor than before. I'm just going to go ahead and take responsibility for that. I kept on telling (still-out-of-work) Husband that our financial position isn't great. Usually this "telling" came in the form of teary fights. But because he wasn't balancing the checkbook, he didn't realize what this meant. So one day, I gave him the check register and back statements. Things may have gotten worse once I did this. I use a credit card for day-to-day purchases (groceries, gas). I do this because I've paid it off every month (yes, sometimes dipping into savings to do so) and the cash-back bonus funds a good portion of our Christmas gifts. However, because Husband didn't see those daily purchases coming out of the account, he disregarded the amount of them and we couldn't pay off the balance last month (without dipping into savings more significantly this time).

So, starting today:

1) We are a debit card/cash only family. (Except for our 5% off purchases with the Target card. We'll still use that.)

2) We are on a wallet diet. We talked about it this morning and agreed that we won't be buying anything this month except necessities. This means every meal will be based on something that is in the pantry/freezer until we have nothing in the pantry/freezer. (Of course, supplemental food will be purchased to make a meal out of the stash.) This also means that we will only purchase toiletries and cleaning supplies when we've run out. (And maybe not even then. For instance, I can live without paper towels but I'm not sure I can convince Husband to try it.)

3) Other little things: The heater is set at 66. I'm only taking the toll road to commute 5 times per week.

Today's spending so far: $-20.30 commute tolls + return of unused items for Halloween costume