I often read a blog called The Nonconsumer Advocate.
While I'm not at all committed to "The Compact," I think it is an
admirable idea and I enjoy reading about Katie's journey. And while we
are trying to cut back and buy only necessities this month, I ran into a
challenge that Katie's motto, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or
do without." led me to a solution. These little jams make me question
exactly what is a "necessity." I'm sure there will be many more similar
situations as the month (or two?) wears on.
Our favorite pizza crust mix is Jiffy brand. It's the little blue and
white box that I most closely associate with cornbread mix.
Step-Daughter believes it to be the best homemade pizza crust. I like it
because its cheap and easy. We are out and I had it on my grocery list
the week before we decided to only buy necessities*. However, I couldn't
find any kind of pizza crust mix anywhere in Aldi.
So on to plan B, pizza crust is mostly just flour, water, and yeast,
right? I've made it from those ingredients before and can do it again,
no problem. Except, the only yeast I have is for the bread machine. I'm
sure there are recipes for pizza dough made in the bread machine but my
bread machine is at my mother-in-law's house.
So on to plan C. I asked the almighty Google about the yeast question. The website www.thefreshloaf.com says
that bread machine yeast is exactly the same as instant yeast and I
found a recipe for instant yeast pizza dough on that website.
Instant Yeast Pizza Dough
Makes 4 10-inch pizza crusts
5 cups all-purpose flour ($0.50)
1 tablespoon sugar ($0.02)
2 teaspoons salt ($0.01)
1 teaspoon yeast ($0.06)
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon oil ($0.06)
1 3/4 to 2 cups room temperature water
Mix all the ingredients except for the 1 tablespoon oil. Set dough to
rise for 5 minutes. Stir again 3-5 minutes. Add more flour/water if
needed. Divide into 4 balls. Oil 4 freezer bags with the remaining
tablespoon of oil. Put one dough in each bag and freeze.
To make the crust, thaw a dough in the refrigerator the evening before.
Remove from the refrigerator one hour prior to using. Preheat oven to
450. Spread out pizza dough and top. Bake until done, 8-10 minutes.
Price: I can usually find a Jiffy pizza dough mix for about 50
cents. The total for all the ingredients is 65 cents. Divide that by 4
and the cost of dough for one crust is about 16 cents. As far as time to
mix up the ingredients, it is about the same. The only difference is
that you have to plan ahead enough to take the dough out of the freezer
to thaw and bring it to room temperature.
What I spent today: $35.32 for tolls and gas
Total since Monday: $1078.04
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Halloween Decor
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
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
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
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
Monday, October 29, 2012
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
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
Thursday, September 6, 2012
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.
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.
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