Ever since I finally posted that blog about repugnant ideas that make economic sense, I started thinking about some of my repugnant ways. Since I'm finally blogging now, I've decided to jump in with both feet and start making a few confessions...
This first one is about leftovers. I just confessed this one to Whatever this week, so I might as well share it with the rest of anyone who reads this blog. Unless refrigerator leftovers smell funny, taste funny, feel funny or look funny, I'll probably eat it. PLEASE NOTE: If you come to my house for dinner, all the food will be fresh. I only feed suspicious leftovers to myself. Not to you, not to Husband, not to anyone else in the family.
I've convinced myself that I have an iron stomach. It probably has more to do with the fact that I tend to eat stuff relatively soon after it's been made, otherwise it gets pushed to the back of the fridge and I forget about it until it smells, tastes, feels or looks funny.
It is likely that I will one day give myself food poisoning. I figure it won't be anything fatal, simply unpleasant. Until that time, I will continue to pretend that expiration dates and rules of thumb about when to throw something away don't apply to me.
Eat on, friend.
___________
Pre-run breakfast: toast and orange marmalade 28 cents
Post-run breakfast: Fancy McD's coffee $2.72?
Lunch: Chili and a mozzarella roly-poly (a melted cheese wrap thingy) 48 cents + 30 cents
Snack: Girl Scout Cookies 36 cents
Dinner: Yum, Yum, Yum: Pasta with mushrooms, asparagus and red peppers in a spicy smoked sardine-tomato sauce topped with mozzarella and a piece of toast to sop up the leftover sauce. $1.05ish
Total: $5.19
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Mmm, Mmm Good
I love soup. It doesn't matter what kind of soup. I'll drink a cup of chicken broth--just because I think it is delicious. No matter what you call it: stew, soup, chili, bisque. Just give me a spoon.
Here is my elastic soup equation and a recipe for the Beans, Greens and Sausage Soup I made last night:
Beans, Pasta or Rice: I used one cup of dried beans that I cooked overnight in the slow cooker. 35 cents
Something Meaty: I used 1/4 pound sausage and 1/3 package of Boca meatless crumbles. $1.75
Something Veggie: I used a 10 oz package of frozen spinach. I would have added some sauteed onion or other veg but Husband doesn't like onion and I didn't have any other veg I thought would work. 99 cents
Something Soupy: I used about 4-5 cups of chicken broth (one can and the rest homemade). 50 cents
Something Spicy: I used garlic powder, onion powder, Tabasco, Worcestershire, a tiny bit of Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, Pepper and a tiny bit of sugar. I'm guessing about 20 cents.
Cook what needs to be cooked and let it all simmer together.
Total: My soup made 8 cups. 47 cents for a cup.
There is nothin' like a steaming bowl of soup for lunch or dinner on a cold winter day and, believe me, we've had plenty of those lately.
And (bonus) there's nothin' like some hot oatmeal for breakfast. I used to think the only way that oatmeal was edible was those Quaker instant oatmeal packages. Apples and cinnamon was my favorite. But (very recently) I've grown up and appreciate the control you have over your own breakfast oatmeal with just a box (or bag) of your favorite oats and whatever junk you have in your house to dress them up.
My favorite combination of oatmeal is 1/2 banana and 1-2 spoons of peanut butter. Because I'm always running late in the morning, I mix up all the ingredients and put them in a microwave container with a tight-fitting lid. The first thing I do when I get to work is cook up some breakfast.
Here are all the things in my house that I would combine or use to make my own special flavors of oatmeal. In my freezer: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, nuts, powdered milk. In my fridge: apple butter, butter, milk, coffee mate, flax seed, wheat germ, apple cider, orange marmalade, applesauce, orange juice, grape jelly, chocolate icing. In my pantry: peanut butter, honey, pancake syrup, rice syrup, sugar, brown sugar, hot chocolate mix, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, sweetened flaked coconuts, dried cranberries. In the spice rack: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.
__________________
Breakfast: oatmeal, banana, peanut butter 21 cents
Lunch: Beans, greens & sausage soup 47 cents
Snack: Orange and chips 42 cents
Dinner: My dinner out for the week-McDonald's Dollar Menu $3.24
Total: $4.34
Here is my elastic soup equation and a recipe for the Beans, Greens and Sausage Soup I made last night:
Beans, Pasta or Rice: I used one cup of dried beans that I cooked overnight in the slow cooker. 35 cents
Something Meaty: I used 1/4 pound sausage and 1/3 package of Boca meatless crumbles. $1.75
Something Veggie: I used a 10 oz package of frozen spinach. I would have added some sauteed onion or other veg but Husband doesn't like onion and I didn't have any other veg I thought would work. 99 cents
Something Soupy: I used about 4-5 cups of chicken broth (one can and the rest homemade). 50 cents
Something Spicy: I used garlic powder, onion powder, Tabasco, Worcestershire, a tiny bit of Apple Cider Vinegar, Salt, Pepper and a tiny bit of sugar. I'm guessing about 20 cents.
Cook what needs to be cooked and let it all simmer together.
Total: My soup made 8 cups. 47 cents for a cup.
There is nothin' like a steaming bowl of soup for lunch or dinner on a cold winter day and, believe me, we've had plenty of those lately.
And (bonus) there's nothin' like some hot oatmeal for breakfast. I used to think the only way that oatmeal was edible was those Quaker instant oatmeal packages. Apples and cinnamon was my favorite. But (very recently) I've grown up and appreciate the control you have over your own breakfast oatmeal with just a box (or bag) of your favorite oats and whatever junk you have in your house to dress them up.
My favorite combination of oatmeal is 1/2 banana and 1-2 spoons of peanut butter. Because I'm always running late in the morning, I mix up all the ingredients and put them in a microwave container with a tight-fitting lid. The first thing I do when I get to work is cook up some breakfast.
Here are all the things in my house that I would combine or use to make my own special flavors of oatmeal. In my freezer: bananas, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, nuts, powdered milk. In my fridge: apple butter, butter, milk, coffee mate, flax seed, wheat germ, apple cider, orange marmalade, applesauce, orange juice, grape jelly, chocolate icing. In my pantry: peanut butter, honey, pancake syrup, rice syrup, sugar, brown sugar, hot chocolate mix, cocoa powder, chocolate chips, sweetened flaked coconuts, dried cranberries. In the spice rack: cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice.
__________________
Breakfast: oatmeal, banana, peanut butter 21 cents
Lunch: Beans, greens & sausage soup 47 cents
Snack: Orange and chips 42 cents
Dinner: My dinner out for the week-McDonald's Dollar Menu $3.24
Total: $4.34
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Me and the Electric Company
We're conspiring together to make Husband more frugal, Electric Company and I. He got a call from Mother-In-Law today that shook his whole world-view to the core and caused him to call me at work. "Mom and Dad's electric bill went up $20 for the month and Aunt's went up $30." Weird, because there wasn't a rate hike and our bill didn't go up too much. What was going on?
Upon closer inspection of our bill, Husband noticed that Electric Company was re-figuring everyone's "spread it out evenly over the year" bills. We pay roughly the same amount throughout the year, no matter how much electricity we use. Electric Company guesstimates and evens out your bills--except they must not be too good at guesstimating. Our bill will go up next month--about $45. Ouch!
On the other hand, I'm pleased to report that there may be some changes around here--changes I fully support but never believed I'd be able to talk Husband into. Not only are almost all our lightbulbs either LED or CFL, but they're not on as much as they were yesterday. I'm a fan of the "one person, one bulb (or at the very least, one fixture)" rule whereas Husband seems to like to keep all the switches in the "on" position. Also? We're not leaving things plugged in anymore. Yay! He's changing all his power strip settings to be able to cut electricity-suckers (like the Xbox) off the power source completely when they aren't in use.
And here's the thing I never saw coming...Husband advocating using the drying rack instead of the dryer. Wha? I used to do this ALL THE TIME. I mean, to the point where I would use every chair in my apartment as a drying rack if I was doing multiple loads of laundry. Now, everything goes in the dryer--even if I don't want it too. (I'm lucky, I guess. He washes clothes.) I mean, one of my favorite things in the world is a clothesline. I may not be very conservative or liberal, politically speaking, but I'm a huge supporter of the right to have a clothesline in spite of what your covenants say. (I call my parent's covenants "comunants." Hmm, that doesn't look as good written out as it sounds. Ok, say it to yourself.) Husband generally ignored me outright every time I mentioned putting up a clothesline. He also never understood why I put anything on the drying rack at all.
Do you think I'll be able to argue that keeping the fan on all night is a waste of electricity? Will this new-found electricity conservation ethic hold until the summer when it's time to turn on the air conditioner? Only time will tell. But just in case I start to lose these battles, Electric Company hopes to hike rates some more.
__________________
Breakfast: Toast, peanut butter, apple butter 27 cents
Snack: orange 17 cents
Lunch: polenta and green beans 50 cents
Snack: pudding cup 36 cents
Dinner: chili and crackers with cheese and salami 48 cents + 44 cents
I forgot I ate some Thin Mints too! 31 cents
Total: $2.53
Total: Blerg. I don't feel like adding this all up today. It's cheap. I'll figure it up tomorrow and update this post.
Upon closer inspection of our bill, Husband noticed that Electric Company was re-figuring everyone's "spread it out evenly over the year" bills. We pay roughly the same amount throughout the year, no matter how much electricity we use. Electric Company guesstimates and evens out your bills--except they must not be too good at guesstimating. Our bill will go up next month--about $45. Ouch!
On the other hand, I'm pleased to report that there may be some changes around here--changes I fully support but never believed I'd be able to talk Husband into. Not only are almost all our lightbulbs either LED or CFL, but they're not on as much as they were yesterday. I'm a fan of the "one person, one bulb (or at the very least, one fixture)" rule whereas Husband seems to like to keep all the switches in the "on" position. Also? We're not leaving things plugged in anymore. Yay! He's changing all his power strip settings to be able to cut electricity-suckers (like the Xbox) off the power source completely when they aren't in use.
And here's the thing I never saw coming...Husband advocating using the drying rack instead of the dryer. Wha? I used to do this ALL THE TIME. I mean, to the point where I would use every chair in my apartment as a drying rack if I was doing multiple loads of laundry. Now, everything goes in the dryer--even if I don't want it too. (I'm lucky, I guess. He washes clothes.) I mean, one of my favorite things in the world is a clothesline. I may not be very conservative or liberal, politically speaking, but I'm a huge supporter of the right to have a clothesline in spite of what your covenants say. (I call my parent's covenants "comunants." Hmm, that doesn't look as good written out as it sounds. Ok, say it to yourself.) Husband generally ignored me outright every time I mentioned putting up a clothesline. He also never understood why I put anything on the drying rack at all.
Do you think I'll be able to argue that keeping the fan on all night is a waste of electricity? Will this new-found electricity conservation ethic hold until the summer when it's time to turn on the air conditioner? Only time will tell. But just in case I start to lose these battles, Electric Company hopes to hike rates some more.
__________________
Breakfast: Toast, peanut butter, apple butter 27 cents
Snack: orange 17 cents
Lunch: polenta and green beans 50 cents
Snack: pudding cup 36 cents
Dinner: chili and crackers with cheese and salami 48 cents + 44 cents
I forgot I ate some Thin Mints too! 31 cents
Total: $2.53
Total: Blerg. I don't feel like adding this all up today. It's cheap. I'll figure it up tomorrow and update this post.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Best Granola Bars You Will Ever Make
Guess who's not watching the State of the Union address? That's right, me. I figured I'd learn about as much tending to the state of this blog. I'll catch the highlights during my interminable commute tomorrow morning.
I've been making these for awhile but it's hard to figure out the cost. That's why I resisted posting this for so long. The recipe is so elastic--lots of options to make these how you want them.
These are Smitten Kitchen granola bars. The original recipe is here, although it is an adaptation of a King Arthur Flour recipe. I've made some other granola bars before, but these are better, easier and have the potential to be cheaper. Some of the ingredients in the Smitten Kitchen recipe are more specific if you want to check that out. I loosened it up.
The Best Granola Bars
1 2/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar or less
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
spices: any combination of the pumpkin pie spice family. Anywhere between none and 2 teaspoons, maybe?
2-3 cups of jazziness: dried fruit, nuts, coconut, ground flax seed, wheat germ, I've even used some stale Cheerios and a chopped up Larabar. This is where it could get expensive. I generally use 1 cup dried raisins or cranberries. Once I dried apples in the oven for granola bars. I use 1 cup nuts (peanuts and something else) and coconut and somewhere close to 1/2 cup of flax seed and wheat germ.
1 teaspoon vanilla or a little more
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup liquid sweetener: honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, I even use pancake syrup.
2 tablespoons of something else sweet: more honey or syrup. I often use this grape jelly that someone made and gave me that didn't quite set up right.
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup peanut butter or canned pumpkin puree if you want. This is optional. I've done it with both and they are both really good.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a square pan with parchment or foil (one sheet down the middle and over the sides--it shouldn't cover the whole pan. You're just using it to pull out the hunk of granola bar when it's done). Spray the paper/foil and pan with something Pam-ish.
Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin if you're using it. Mix dry and wet (add peanut butter now if you're using it). Press into the pan. Bake 30-40 minutes.
Cool completely. You may need to chill them in the fridge for 30 minutes if they are too crumbly to cut. Lift out and cut into bars.
These usually equal out to about 20-25 cents per bar. They probably aren't a lot cheaper than buying the sale ones in the store but I'm bossy so I like to decide to have pumpkin in my granola bars if I want it. Plus they're fun to make and they taste a lot better than store bars. Also? less packaging = less trash. These are almost cookies--great substitute for the vending machine candy bar. If you're all gluten-free or think HFCS is the devil--this recipe is the way to go. Just don't include the pancake syrup.
___________________________
Breakfast: oatmeal, peanut butter & banana 21 cents
Lunch: Hamburger Helper and an orange 60 cents
Snack: turkey wrap 56 cents
Dinner: chili, corn muffin and crackers 77 cents
Total: $2.14
I've been making these for awhile but it's hard to figure out the cost. That's why I resisted posting this for so long. The recipe is so elastic--lots of options to make these how you want them.
These are Smitten Kitchen granola bars. The original recipe is here, although it is an adaptation of a King Arthur Flour recipe. I've made some other granola bars before, but these are better, easier and have the potential to be cheaper. Some of the ingredients in the Smitten Kitchen recipe are more specific if you want to check that out. I loosened it up.
The Best Granola Bars
1 2/3 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar or less
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
spices: any combination of the pumpkin pie spice family. Anywhere between none and 2 teaspoons, maybe?
2-3 cups of jazziness: dried fruit, nuts, coconut, ground flax seed, wheat germ, I've even used some stale Cheerios and a chopped up Larabar. This is where it could get expensive. I generally use 1 cup dried raisins or cranberries. Once I dried apples in the oven for granola bars. I use 1 cup nuts (peanuts and something else) and coconut and somewhere close to 1/2 cup of flax seed and wheat germ.
1 teaspoon vanilla or a little more
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup liquid sweetener: honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, brown rice syrup, I even use pancake syrup.
2 tablespoons of something else sweet: more honey or syrup. I often use this grape jelly that someone made and gave me that didn't quite set up right.
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup peanut butter or canned pumpkin puree if you want. This is optional. I've done it with both and they are both really good.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a square pan with parchment or foil (one sheet down the middle and over the sides--it shouldn't cover the whole pan. You're just using it to pull out the hunk of granola bar when it's done). Spray the paper/foil and pan with something Pam-ish.
Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together wet ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin if you're using it. Mix dry and wet (add peanut butter now if you're using it). Press into the pan. Bake 30-40 minutes.
Cool completely. You may need to chill them in the fridge for 30 minutes if they are too crumbly to cut. Lift out and cut into bars.
These usually equal out to about 20-25 cents per bar. They probably aren't a lot cheaper than buying the sale ones in the store but I'm bossy so I like to decide to have pumpkin in my granola bars if I want it. Plus they're fun to make and they taste a lot better than store bars. Also? less packaging = less trash. These are almost cookies--great substitute for the vending machine candy bar. If you're all gluten-free or think HFCS is the devil--this recipe is the way to go. Just don't include the pancake syrup.
___________________________
Breakfast: oatmeal, peanut butter & banana 21 cents
Lunch: Hamburger Helper and an orange 60 cents
Snack: turkey wrap 56 cents
Dinner: chili, corn muffin and crackers 77 cents
Total: $2.14
Monday, January 24, 2011
I'm the Weirdo in the Car Next to You Talking to the Radio
There are few news stories that interest me so much that I talk to the radio. This was one of them. In case you don't want to read it, it was a story on the NPR show Marketplace that aired on December 28. Entitled, "It's Repugnant, But Hey, It's Efficient!" the story is based on the idea that economists are more likely than the general populace to embrace a repugnant idea if it is the most efficient idea. They illustrated this idea with a few stories from 2010 and I found myself thinking (let's face it, saying out loud) "Yes! Why not? That's the way it should be?"
So do these ideas make sense or are they repugnant and I should think about becoming an economist?
1. A new law in Israel, aimed at boosting the nation's low organ donor rates, gives priority to those on organ waiting lists if they've signed up as a donor. So if you are willing to donate your organs and then end up needing one, you're tops on the list. Golden Rule, bitches. That's not repugnant, right?
2. A councilman in Modesto CA has proposed to treat sewage waste water and pipe it to farmers who need water to water their crops. Um,what do they think happens to treated water from the water treatment plant? It's not shipped to the Nevada desert in double-walled stainless steel containers and buried alongside radioactive waste.
Yeah, I don't really get what's so repugnant about these ideas. I'm know there are some things out there that make economic sense on the personal level (money savers) that I find repugnant (like this and this) and I'm sure there are other ideas out there that may make economic sense but are repugnant ("SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!") but you're going to have to get a lot more repugnant to out-repugnant this non-economist.
_______________
I never thought I would be telling people what I ate in such close proximity to a Soylent Green reference.... That is repugnant.
Breakfast: Toast, peanut butter and marmalade 35 cents
Lunch: Chili and Crackers/Cheese/Salami/Cucumbers $1.72
Snack: Free chocolate and then I gorged myself on Girl Scout Cookies 60 cents
Dinner: Free Pizza. I don't count it because Husband bought it. Also? He didn't realize he bought Diet Dr. Pepper instead of regular Dr. Pepper until he was reading this blog. Also? If you feel bad about laughing at Husband jokes, don't. He reads them and laughs with you. Also? If you're not laughing at my jokes, maybe you shouldn't expect to find something serious when you Google "Poor Man Snacks."
Total: $2.67
So do these ideas make sense or are they repugnant and I should think about becoming an economist?
1. A new law in Israel, aimed at boosting the nation's low organ donor rates, gives priority to those on organ waiting lists if they've signed up as a donor. So if you are willing to donate your organs and then end up needing one, you're tops on the list. Golden Rule, bitches. That's not repugnant, right?
2. A councilman in Modesto CA has proposed to treat sewage waste water and pipe it to farmers who need water to water their crops. Um,what do they think happens to treated water from the water treatment plant? It's not shipped to the Nevada desert in double-walled stainless steel containers and buried alongside radioactive waste.
Yeah, I don't really get what's so repugnant about these ideas. I'm know there are some things out there that make economic sense on the personal level (money savers) that I find repugnant (like this and this) and I'm sure there are other ideas out there that may make economic sense but are repugnant ("SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!") but you're going to have to get a lot more repugnant to out-repugnant this non-economist.
_______________
I never thought I would be telling people what I ate in such close proximity to a Soylent Green reference.... That is repugnant.
Breakfast: Toast, peanut butter and marmalade 35 cents
Lunch: Chili and Crackers/Cheese/Salami/Cucumbers $1.72
Snack: Free chocolate and then I gorged myself on Girl Scout Cookies 60 cents
Dinner: Free Pizza. I don't count it because Husband bought it. Also? He didn't realize he bought Diet Dr. Pepper instead of regular Dr. Pepper until he was reading this blog. Also? If you feel bad about laughing at Husband jokes, don't. He reads them and laughs with you. Also? If you're not laughing at my jokes, maybe you shouldn't expect to find something serious when you Google "Poor Man Snacks."
Total: $2.67
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