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

Free Kale Therapy

Let me tell you something. Nothing feels better to me after a long day of being pissed at my boss and wondering how he makes (probably) 3 times what I make when he is so incredibly incompetent than coming home to accidentally stumble into a tasty dinner made for pennies. It's my own silent revenge.

It also helps that--despite having to deal with some tremendous bullshit--I got some pretty great validation at work. It is the kind of "attagirl" that no one else will ever know about but it is real and important and extremely gratifying to me.

You know what else helps? Wine.

So here is what I'm eating, as I write this post:

Classy Ramen & Greens: Dinner today and lunch tomorrow
Ingredients (Sorry, I don't have my prices up-to-date. I quit keeping track around the time that I quit blogging regularly.)
1 package of Ramen noodles sans seasoning (I'm fairly positive that I bought this when it was on special. So something already known for its cheapness, but cheaper.)
3 slices of bacon (It's from Aldi. After I got married, I quit going to Aldi, although I wasn't a frequent shopper at Aldi before I got married. While he doesn't like to go to the grocery store, husband never complains about going to Aldi. I tend to buy stuff there that I wouldn't buy at the regular grocery store very often--like bacon.)
Kale (From my garden. That counts as free for me. Some kale wintered over so it's practically free x 2. Also, I love me some greens.)
Onion (From the CSA, I split with my friend, Aspiring Maven. It's not bargain basement cheap, but it is a good value and I like the idea of it. Plus, I get to try things I normally wouldn't buy. It keeps the carnivores in us happy all summer long since there is always something meaty included every time I pick up.)
Red Pepper (Also CSA. This particular pepper was close to going bad. So really, I salvaged money I otherwise would have thrown in the trash. Almost the same thing as making money, right?)
Cherry tomatoes (Also from the garden. One plant I bought but the other was a gift. They were close to going bad too. It's like I earned money on that one.)
Feta (I've discovered that one splurge goes a long way in a dish. Not that this feta was break-the-bank, but it was a dash of something unexpected. It helped make even ramen feel special.)
Splash of wine (Free. This is what happens when you are the chauffeur to a bachelorette party. You get good karma.)

Pour a glass of wine to drink. Fry up the bacon. Drain on paper towels and pour off any excess bacon grease. Fry up the onion and red pepper. Slice up the kale and throw it in the pan and cook for a bit. Refill your wine glass. Crumble the bacon and toss it in. Add the feta, cherry tomatoes and a splash of wine. Turn the heat to low. Cook your ramen. Drain most of the water and add the noodles and a bit of the water to the pan. Turn the heat up and let the water cook off while mixing up the noodles and kale mixture. Eat half now and save half for later. Drink more wine. Sigh deeply and enjoy the lingering aroma of bacon. Yum.

Hair-raising experiment

You know how sometimes people who are afraid of heights decide they are going to go sky-diving to get over it? Over Memorial Day weekend, I decided I wasn't going to wash my hair.

I have this thing about washing my hair ever day. I'm so self-conscious if I don't wash it every day. I think it itches and is visibly greasy. So from the Friday morning before Labor Day to the Tuesday morning after, I decided I wasn't going to wash my hair. Here's what happened.

Friday, the usual.

Saturday, got up to help Aspiring Maven move. I DIY dry-shampooed my hair by using cornstarch from my pantry to soak up some of the perceived greasies. Which was dumb because I was just going to help moved boxes out of one house and into another, but I felt a little better about it. Cornstarch Pro: It works, Cornstarch Con: I imagine that it bring out the white in my graying hair. Post-move, I was hot and sweaty, I came home and showered but didn't get my hair wet. I cornstarched again. Not bad but maybe my hair smelled a little like I hadn't washed it. Not dirty hippie stinky, just not Suave Coconutty. And you had to stick your nose in my hair to be able to tell.

Sunday, I cornstarched my hair again and used a bit of baking soda to absorb the unwashed scent. That worked, too. I spent most of the day painting the kitchen wall. So again, I didn't have to look presentable and I was doing actual move-about, you-may-sweat work. By the end of the day, I dug out some old cheap off-brand dry shampoo, just to take the edge off. Con: Again with the white hair.

Monday, I woke up with beautiful, bouncy, full-of-body, Pantene commercial hair. However, by mid-day my hair started to hurt. Have you even gotten your hair done or just worn it up for a very long time and your roots felt like they were angry at you for making them stay in such an unnatural position for so long? Just me? Well, that's how my hair felt by Monday afternoon. So I washed my hair with vinegar. I had never tried vinegar before and it was really weird-amazing. It worked really well and my hair felt pretty soft without using conditioner.

Since then, I've mostly gone back to my old daily-shampoo ways. Except the day I mowed the lawn and washed my hair in the evening and then didn't wash it in the morning and WENT TO WORK! That was a big step for me. And once I just used the vinegar again.