Found My DIY Painted Speckled Eggs

March? What? Where did winter go? In the PNW, March is a month of erratic weather. We can have snow, hail, rain, sunshine, warmth, gloom, lightening, and white puffy clouds -- all in the same week. Despite the climate craziness, I try to send positive vibes out into the universe and think spring.

Sunday afternoon, I was getting out some spring decor pieces and found the egg carton filled with a dozen of my DIY painted and speckled eggs. Maybe you remember, I painted these a couple of years ago. I'm mentioning them again because a) it took me a couple of weeks to blow out enough eggs to do a dozen without cracking the shells, and b) this is a super frugal decor project. (I'd say super frugal is when you turn compost items into home decor, don't you think?) 

To get the clean eggs, I pricked both ends of each egg with a straight pin, making the hole in the flat end of the egg larger than the hole at the pointed end. To blow out the insides, I blew through the smaller hole. After blowing a batch of eggs for cooking, I washed the eggs in a bowl of warm soapy water, submerging the eggs and allowing water to seep inside. I then shook the soapy water around inside the eggs and blew out the soapy water as I had blown out the eggs originally. I placed the eggs on a heat register to thoroughly dry. Any warm spot will work, even an oven that is cooling from use in baking.

When I had a dozen cleaned and dried egg shells, I used a small dab of paintable caulk to seal the holes on both ends of each egg.  Once the caulk dried I hand-painted each egg a solid color with acrylic paints. Going for a natural look, I chose a pale green, pale blue, and tan for my set of eggs. I also think speckled eggs would be pretty in pastels, such as pink, yellow, lavender, and green.

After the base layer of acrylic paint had dried, I put all of the eggs into a cardboard box, then placed the box in the bottom of the bathtub for speckling. This part can get messy and might be a good project for outdoors, weather-permitting. But the bathtub worked and was easy to clean afterward. 

To speckle the eggs, I dipped an old toothbrush into dark brown acrylic paint and flicked it over the eggs, turning them over a couple of times to ensure they were covered on all sides with speckling.

Once dried, I used them in an arrangement, nested in with some moss.

If all of this seems like a lot of work for some spring decor, consider this -- I have saved and re-displayed these eggs several years in a row now. I keep the eggs in an egg carton from one year to the next. By being careful with handling them, I haven't lost a single egg yet.

Ah spring -- new life, painted eggs, crocuses blooming, birds chirping, and a bunny sighting. Spring stirs hope in my winter-weary spirit.

What says spring to you?

Making Budget Foods More User-Friendly: Scratch Substitute for Condensed Cream Soups

Scratch Cream of Celery Soup to Use in Casseroles

Back to my weekend version of this blog -- basic frugal foods made easy. 

A lot of folks weren't raised learning basic frugal cooking skills. Instead, in their family homes of origin, a lot of foods that they consumed were what we'd recognize as convenience foods, such as boxed meal helpers. There's nothing at all wrong with that scenario. However, they now find themselves (through no fault of their own) on a very limited budget, unemployed or forced into early retirement due to this pandemic, struggling financially right now and looking for help so that they can help themselves. Enter Basic Frugal Foods Made Easy, my weekend version of this blog that goes back to the basics to help others make very delicious foods while sticking to a tight budget. Remember, once you learn a piece of information or a new skill, you own that information to use over and over again. 

M'm! M'm! Good! 

M'm! M'm! Good!

Here's a substitute

that's M'm! M'm! Good!

I wanted to share another recipe to add to your budget cooking repertoire -- a canned "cream of whatever" soup substitute for using in casseroles. This soup is delicious in tuna casseroles, green bean casserole, chicken and rice casseroles, combined with chunks of chicken and vegetables served over toast or biscuits, or just pouring over some chicken breasts to cover with foil and bake. 

I love that you can make a casserole from just about any cooked meat, some veggies, a starch like rice, pasta, or shredded/cubed potatoes, and a binder like a cream soup. If the soup is flavorful enough, there's little need for added seasonings for the casserole.

The following recipe makes 16 ounces, or about 1 can of condensed soup plus 1/2 can of milk -- which is the amount called for in many of my recipes.

The soup itself is delicious as is. To serve as a soup, this may be diluted with about 1/4 cup of water or milk to thin as it's quite thick. It could be made with vegetables other than celery, such as broccoli or mushrooms. I make this with celery, as that's the most economical version for use in casseroles. 

As you might already know, a cream soup is simply a white sauce with added flavorings and a bit more richness. If you can make a white sauce, then in addition to making a substitute for canned soup in casseroles, you can make a cheese sauce (for homemade mac and cheese or Welsh rarebit) or a cream of whatever you can imagine soup. In early spring, I make cream of garden sorrel soup and cream of garden watercress soup with this recipe. I also make cream of asparagus soup with the peeled ends from fresh asparagus. And in late spring, I make cheesy cream of kale and carrot soup using this recipe as a backbone.

Do you have about 15 minutes? The total time to make this soup is about 12-15 minutes, including chopping, measuring, cooking, and puréeing.

Cream of Celery Soup  (yield: 16 ounces of thick creamy soup)

2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup chopped onions
3/4 cup chopped celery
2  2/3 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup whole milk (I use part 2% milk and part heavy cream, but all milk --whole or 2% -- also works)
3/4 cup chicken stock (I use 1 teaspoon chicken soup base plus 3/4 cup water)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/16 teaspoon black pepper
dash nutmeg
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

In a medium-sized saucepan (about 2 quart capacity) -- over Medium heat, cook onions and celery with the butter until the vegetables are soft and translucent. about 5 to 6 minutes.

Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. 

Add the milk and stock while stirring and cook until thickened, about 3 minutes. 

Add garlic powder, black pepper and nutmeg. Remove from heat. Purée with immersion blender, food processor or pitcher blender until smooth.

Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, onion powder and Parmesan cheese. Adjust seasonings, adding the extra salt as desired for recipe. To use in a casserole, you want the soup to be more flavorful and less bland. At this point, you could add a hit of red pepper flakes, more nutmeg, or more onion or garlic powder, if that suits your taste.

The soup is ready for your casserole.

Perhaps you remember casseroles that were topped with potato chips. Here's a bonus recipe for a casserole topping made with butter, bread crumbs, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, a pinch of dried herbs, and Parmesan cheese.

Savory Bread Crumb Topping

I take 1 slice of bread (wide pan if commercial, otherwise a standard slice of homemade bread) and turn it into crumbs in the food processor. 

In a small skillet I melt 1 teaspoon of butter and toss in the bread crumbs. As the crumbs toast, I add 1/4 teaspoon salt, a dash each of pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and the dried herbs. (I've used thyme, here, but I sometimes use dried basil or oregano, depending on what type of casserole this is for.) Then at the end, I add 3 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese, stirring in between each spoon of cheese.

before baking

after baking

The crumbs should not be too toasty-looking just out of the pan, as they'll toast up on top of the casserole upon baking.

You might be able to buy a can of cream soup for less than or equal to the cost of this recipe. However, the value is not necessarily in the money spent for homemade compared to a store-bought can of soup. The value is in looking at your pantry and not knowing what to make from what you have, compared to ordering a pizza or other takeout.

With a batch of homemade cream soup, plus pasta, can of tuna, some peas, and a crumb topping, you can make a complete dinner in about the same amount of time as waiting for a pizza to arrive, saving substantially.

In addition, you get to control the ingredients. So, for example, perhaps you want a dairy-free version. You can make this with an alternative milk. Or perhaps you want to avoid extra sugars or reduce the sodium, that's all in your control.

My family will tell you that this soup tastes better than any commercial canned cream soup. Either I have especially un-picky eaters in my house, or this is a good soup recipe.

Do you have an immersion blender? I resisted buying one for many years. About 6 or 7 years ago I finally bought one like the above. This one has a plastic casing. If I were to choose over, I might spring for one with a metal casing by a company like Vitamix. But so far, I've been satisfied with what I have. The shield around the blade is plastic, and it has developed a tiny crack in it, but it still works. I always wash the attachment by hand under running water (not soaking) and never in the dishwasher -- avoiding corrosion in the interior blade and shaft area. I prefer puréeing soups and sauce with this blender over the a food processor or pitcher blender, as I have less to wash up after cooking.

So, that's my recipe for a canned condensed soup substitute. If you make this, let me know what you think and how you tweaked the recipe.

Tomato Seedlings Are Launched

Last weekend, I started our tomato plants for our vegetable garden in pots indoors. 

You may remember that late last winter I was concerned I might not be able to get out to a nursery to buy our tomato plants for our vegetable garden, so I chose to start our plants from a small amount of seeds I had leftover from a few years prior. On March 1, I planted enough for 6 plants (of which 5 survived), using up all of the seeds. 

Those plants were just a little on the small and young side when I set them out into the garden. My primary garden pest in early spring is the slug. If seedlings are on the small side, I think the slugs believe I planted them just for their enjoyment. So, I waited an extra week or two to plant out the tomato seedlings, which meant the actual fruit developed a couple of weeks later than I would have liked. 

Fast forward to 2021, I ordered tomato seeds in January so I could be sure to get a variety that I know works in our PNW conditions and not pay too much. I began this year's seeds about 9 days earlier in the season with hopes for slightly earlier fruit and bigger plants at transplant time.

I now have a bunch of tiny seedlings growing under a plant light in the laundry room. I'll use 5 or 6 plants with the extra ones for giving away in mid to late April. I know a couple of people who aren't normally gardeners but might like to try a tomato plant, especially if it's free to them. We'll see.

I'm currently thinking through what I want to grow this summer and which other seeds I'll need to buy. Spring comes in a hurry, so I'd better get busy with planning.

How about you? Will you be growing a vegetable garden this year? Do you start any of your seeds indoors or do you plant them all out into the ground?

Cheesecake Graham Cracker Snack

I was needing a little treat the other day, when I thought how delicious just a bite of cheesecake would taste. Not wanting to go through the trouble of making a cheesecake, I settled on this easy little snack -- plain graham crackers paired with a sweetened cream cheese spread that is topped with blueberry jam.

As commercial cookies go, graham crackers are a pretty good value. They're lower in sugar than many cookies and contain some whole grains. The once 16-oz boxes have now shrunk to 14.4 oz (or thereabouts), but for $1.70 to $2.00 (less when on sale) per box of store-brand wafers, that's not a bad price. 

My first thought was that I would just make a couple of tablespoons of some cheesecake spread. My second thought was the whole family might enjoy this. And I was right. The cheesecake spread on graham crackers got rave reviews.

The spread is a less-sweet version of cream cheese frosting, with butter, cream cheese, vanilla extract, and some powdered sugar to sweeten, but not enough to make the spread thick like frosting. Then I added a few generous spoonfuls of homemade blueberry jam (from last summer) to the top. Again, another way for me to use up some of those jams and jellies. The blueberry jam, by the way, was made with frozen blueberries and not fresh ones. Using commercial frozen berries made this jam more affordable for me, and it was just as good as jam from fresh berries.

Why am I telling you about our cheesecake snack? My daughter urged me to share this with you. You're welcome!

February Grocery Recap

(I needed something life-affirming this week. A potted tulip from WinCo was just the thing. I'll transplant these beauties into a pot on the deck later Thursday, so that they will slowly develop over the next month.)

Here we are, in the last week of February. Once again, it's time to wrap up my grocery spending for the month. I shopped twice this month: once, with a curbside pick-up at Walmart, spending $99.81; the second time, in-person at WinCo, spending $84.85, for a total of $184.66.

Here's what I bought, what it cost and where I bought it all:

2 boxes crackers, $1.78 & $1.68, Walmart

2 boxes graham crackers, $1.71 ea, WinCo

1 box animal cookies, $1.38, WinCo

80-ct corn tortillas, $2.18, WinCo

16-oz pretzels, $1.52, Walmart

9-oz bag oyster crackers, 80 cents, Walmart

12-oz bag oyster crackers, $1.18, WinCo

2 jars instant Folger's decaf, $6.32 ea, Walmart

2 jars instant Folger's decaf, $6.54 ea. WinCo

large jar Folger's reg, $8.65, WinCo

ketchup, 88 cents, WinCo

yellow mustard, 78 cents, WinCo

3 cans olives, $1.26 ea, Walmart

4 cans olives, 98 cents ea, WinCo

garlic powder, 98 cents, Walmart

1 package hot dog buns, 88 cents, Walmart

1 small bag mini powdered sugar donuts, 1 small bag chocolate donuts, $1 ea, Walmart

64 oz cranberry-black cherry juice cocktail, $1.78, Walmart

2-lb bag frozen broccoli cuts, $2 Walmart

2-lb bag frozen broccoli cuts, $2.30, WinCo

2 bags frozen mushrooms, $1.98 ea, Walmart

8 Roma tomatoes, 15 cents/lb, Walmart
1 head green cabbage, 58 cents/lb, Walmart

2 heads green cabbage, 78 cents/lb, WinCo
15 bananas, 42 cents/lb, Walmart and WinCo

3 heads iceberg lettuce, 25 cents ea, Walmart

5 avocados, 68 cents ea, Walmart

3 avocados, 58 cents ea, WinCo
6 lbs clementines, $5.96, Walmart
3 lbs fuji apples, $3.17, Walmart

two 3-lb bags fuji apples, $2.58 ea, WinCo
1 bundle organic celery, $1.26, Walmart

1 bundle celery, 98 cents, WinCo

2 green peppers, 73 cents ea, Walmart

3 green peppers, 38 cents ea, WinCo

2 lbs fresh carrots, $1.34, Walmart

5 lbs fresh carrots, $2.48, WinCo

6 oz dried apricots, $2.87, Walmart
24 oz dried cranberries, $4.94, Walmart

5 oz dried cherries, $2.98, Walmart

5 dozen eggs, $4.75, Walmart

2 dozen eggs, 98 cents ea, WinCo
7 gals 2% milk, 2 gal whole milk (for yogurt), $2.18 ea, Walmart and WinCo

2-lb block of cheddar cheese, $5.51, WinCo

1-lb block sharp cheddar cheese, $3.36, Walmart

2-lb bag shredded mozzarella cheese, $6.28, WinCo
pint whipping cream, $1.98, Walmart

2 packages turkey kielbasa, $3.16 ea, Walmart

2 packages turkey smoked sausage, $2.48 ea, WinCo

36-ct, turkey breakfast sausage links, $4.48, WinCo

21-oz pack pepperoni, $6.32, Walmart

You may not realize this, but I post these grocery lists for myself as well as you, friends. I find interesting insights in my own grocery shopping, sometimes helping me shop smarter in the next month. WinCo doesn't list any prices online, so I only know the cost of each item when I'm actually in the store. Pricing between Walmart and WinCo is very competitive on many items. However, there are a few things where I could save a bit of money by buying them at one store over the other. I'll be keeping that in mind the next time I need to shop. 

I haven't bought much meat in a while. Neither Walmart nor WinCo are my favorite places for buying meat. Next month I'll shop specifically for meat, going to another store. 

So, maybe you're wondering why I went to WinCo for my second shopping this month. My last batch of whole milk yogurt only partially set. I don't know what went wrong, but one thought was Walmart's milk supplier has changed their process (using a higher temp for pasteurizing could be an issue). I wanted to try WinCo's milk for my next batch. I also wanted to shop at a store that wasn't part of a mega-chain. During this past year, there's been a huge shift of wealth toward corporations like Walmart, Amazon, Target, Home Depot, etc. I don't want to lose the smaller venues, so I'll be trying to shop at more of the stores that I especially don't want to lose, WinCo being one of them. (WinCo is a chain store in both the western and central US, but they are employee-owned, which is a good thing for economy diversity in supermarkets.)

Our Winter Fruit Supply: Italian Prunes

Our Italian Prune plum tree may still be in it's annual winter dormancy, but we are enjoying its fruit anyway.

Let me tell you a little about Italian Prune plums.

This tree begins ripening in early September in my yard. In our rented unit many years ago, the Italian Prune ripened in August. I think it's a partial shade thing in this yard that leads to later ripening. I spend most of September harvesting all of those delicious plums. 

A couple of years ago, I bought a claw and basket fruit-harvesting tool to screw onto one of our extension poles. With this tool, I was able to harvest all of the plums myself without climbing the tree or using a ladder this year. The claw slides in between the stem and the fruit. With a quick tug, the fruit falls into the basket just a few inches below the claw. This tool is designed for apples and pears, but as I discovered, it also works well on smaller fruit like plums.

I estimate that I harvested about 40 pounds of fruit this past season. I'm certain that we have recouped our original cost of about $30 (mail order) for this plum tree (bought 15 years ago). In checking prices today for the same tree, a bare root sells for between $38 and $50. Mine is grafted onto dwarfing root stock, so it will never overtake its spot in our yard or become too tall for me to harvest.

Italian Prune trees are self-fertile (meaning they don't need a pollinator to produce fruit), heavy-setting, hardy in zones 4 though 9, have a chill requirement that will work for all but Florida in the continental US, and while experts say they require full sun, our partially sunny (5 to 6 hours of direct sun) backyard has been okay for our tree (ripens a few weeks before first frost). Our tree began fruiting at 3 years, with full production at around 5 or 6 years. 

In my area of the PNW, nurseries are just now beginning to ship bare root trees. I believe I planted our plum tree in mid-March. 

The fruit ripens on the tree over about a 3-week period in late summer and will keep refrigerated for about 10 days. Due to this short keeping time, the fresh plums need preserving in some way. I preserve our plums as pitted halves canned in heavy syrup, pitted halves frozen to use in pies and cobblers, as jam or in chutney, and pitted and dried as prunes. Plums and other fruit can be dried on trays in a low oven, in full sun on racks and covered by cheesecloth, or in a dehydrator.

Other details -- Fresh plums have a whitish "bloom" on the skin. This isn't mold. When I dehydrate my plums, the 'bloom" remains on the skin. Again, this isn't mold. Italian Prune plums are free-stone, so they're easy to pit for preserving.

Our family's favorite way to use the dried prunes is stewed. Stewed prunes sounds like such an "old people" food, right? But really, these are delicious, especially when flavored!

This is how I make stewed prunes:

• I place about 1 cup of dried prunes in a stainless saucepan (enameled is good too), cover with water, then bring to a boil.

• Once boiling, I reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

• After 10 minutes, I turn the stove off and add a tablespoon or two of sugar or honey and allow to cool.

• A jar of stewed prunes keeps in the fridge for about 1 week.
• The prunes can be flavored by simmering with aromatics, such as a slice of fresh ginger (my favorite), a few strips of lemon or orange peel, a cinnamon stick, a couple of whole cloves, a dash of ground nutmeg, and/or a few whole allspice berries, or with a few drops of almond extract or any of the above spices. ground, added after cooking. I sometimes use the pineapple juice from canned pineapple slices for stewing the prunes, too.

Pureed stewed prunes can also be used as a fat substitute in baking chocolate cake or brownies. 

I think prunes get a bad rap. And I'm not the only one who thinks that. Commercial packagers have begun labeling prunes as "dried plums." It seems the name "prune" has a derogatory association with it, calling a mean old woman an "old prune" or the description of how our toes or fingers look when they've been soaking in water or how prunes are often used for digestive reasons. Years ago, Prune was a somewhat common girl's name in France. I think that might be a hard sell as a baby name here in the US in the 21st century. Whatever the fruit is called, my family enjoys the plums fresh and preserved as prunes to use in winter. It's been a prolific tree for us and has saved at least a couple of hundred dollars over buying fruit.

How about you? Are you a prune-eater or a prune-hater?

Truly Scrumptious (“as a Cherry Peach Parfait") Fruity Granola

Hello, friends!

After a week of switching direction, I'm back to the blog. I spent a lot of time working in the kitchen. We're at the end of a 3-week grocery shopping cycle, so I had a lot of near overripe produce to deal with. I also just needed to give the fridge a good clean out.

In looking through my home-canned goods, I discovered that we have a lot of jam and jelly from last summer. While our garden-grown, fresh fruit is yet months away, I thought now would be a good time to begin using some of these fruity preserves.

I thought I'd share one item I made and has been particularly appreciated -- fruity granola. I use either jam or jelly plus some dried fruit to add sweetness and fruit flavor. In addition, I added nuts and seeds to this batch (read below to see what I was trying to duplicate). This granola is also tasty as a fruity-only cereal. With the nuts, it makes a great out-of-hand snack as well as a dry cereal. 

❝"

Fruity Granola

3/4 cup of jam or jelly

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons vegetable oil or melted butter

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon orange zest

3 cups oats

1 cup of dried fruit -- any combination of cranberries, apricots diced, cherries, golden raisins, or sweetened dried rhubarb dices

optional -- 3/4 cup of chopped almonds/hazelnuts (one or mixture of both), toasted

optional -- 2 to 3 tablespoons, total, sesame seeds, flax seeds, sunflower seeds, and/or pumpkin seeds

Butter a large jelly roll pan or baking sheet with raised edges. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a large microwavable bowl or casserole, microwave the the jelly or jam for about 30 to 45 seconds, until melted. Stir in the honey, oil or melted butter, almond extract, salt and orange zest. Toss with the oats and spread the mixture in the buttered jelly roll pan, pushing more of the coated oats to the edges of the pan and less in the center (for even baking).

Bake for 15-18 minutes. Turn off the oven. Stir the granola then leave in the cooling oven for 1  1/2 hour. After 1 1/2 hours, stir in dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Put back into the cooling oven for another 30 minutes to thoroughly dry.

If the granola does not have a crunchy texture, remove from the oven, preheat oven to 200 degrees F, turn the oven off, and place the tray back into the again cooling oven for 30 additional minutes. You don't want to bake the granola again, as the fruit will scorch. But it does work to put the granola into a cooling oven.

Once fully cooled, store in an airtight container.

There's a bakery on a nearby island in the Puget Sound, Blackbird Bakery. They're well-known in my area, especially for their pies, whole grain breads, and granola. The granola is loaded with nuts, seeds, dried fruit, and is lighter on the oats than most granolas. I first heard of Blackbird Bakery on the blog One Hundred Dollars a Month. The blog's author, Mavis Butterfield, posted about her experience there. Mavis used to live in the Puget Sound area but has since moved away. 

This Christmas, my brother and his wife sent us a large bag of Blackbird Bakery's granola. I recognized at once the bakery's name and unique raven logo on the packaging. This granola received a huge thumbs up from all of us. I'm usually only a so-so granola fan. But this stuff was very good. 

Fast-forward to this last week when I made a batch of my fruity granola enhanced with a bunch of nuts and seeds. My family thought this homemade granola was a close comparison to Blackbird's. 

What I used (listed as greatest to least): oats, toasted chopped almonds, crabapple jelly, dried sweetened cranberries, sliced dried apricots, honey, sesame seeds, flax seeds, vegetable oil, orange zest, almond extract, and salt.

For comparison, the ingredients' label on Blackbird's granola lists oats, hazelnuts, almonds, maple syrup, pumpkin seeds, honey, coconut, dried apricots, dried cranberries, sesame seeds, and unsalted butter.

As you can see, my fruity granola and Blackbird's have many ingredients in common. Mine was just a tad fruitier.

Truly scrumptious, just like the song from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Just to let you know . . .

I'm taking a couple of days off and will be back soon. This is my version of a vacation. Wishing you all a wonderful week!

Saying Be Mine with a Cupcake

Those pink, red, and chocolate pretzels were for someone outside our household. These Valentine cupcakes are for us. 

I used this scratch vanilla cake recipe, some Valentine-themed cake wrappers, pink frosting (dyed and flavored with maraschino cherry liquid), and then topped the baked cupcakes with holiday picks. I had bought the cake wrappers and holiday picks on clearance after Valentine's Day a couple of years ago. Now seemed as good as any time to use those fun things.

I pulled out our Valentine's Day tablecloth. I had bought this on clearance a few years ago and posted about that bargain then. Our kitchen table looks very Valentine-ish now. Over the years, I have collected several tablecloths for the kitchen to use when celebrating the various holidays. I love fabrics. And this is something that puts a smile on my family members' faces.

On another note, I went walking past the house with the gnome abode this morning. They saw my heart rock and moved it closer to the gnome family! That made me smile. It was very cold today, and snow flurries were flying. I hope you're safe and warm right now.

Just Fun

In the next neighborhood over, there's a family with young kids that have set up a little gnome abode at the base of a tree along the sidewalk. In October, they put out some mini Halloween decorations, and at Christmas, they had mini lights, a tiny tree, and an itty bitty wreath on the gnome's front door. The kids have painted rocks and placed them in the gnome's miniature woods. It's been a fun spot to visit when I'm on my walks.

Meanwhile, sometime last week, a very nice someone left two small, painted Valentine's rocks on our driveway. I decided to bring one of those rocks with me to place in the gnome's "yard" yesterday morning.

The new rock is the one with the red heart. I hope the children are as delighted as they've made me.

A Tiny Bit of Springtime Just before Winter Returns

We've had a somewhat mild winter so far, with a small amount of snow in December followed by lots of rain and clouds. I was kind of enjoying thinking we'd pretty much skipped winter this year. Then, of course, the cold air returned this week. 

Just before, though, I grabbed a small pot with two small pink primrose plants from the back deck and brought it indoors. This will be my tiny taste of springtime, even with snow on the ground outside by late this week.

I have neighbors with crocus and forsythia in bloom. I think we were all thinking winter had skipped us this year. 

I'll enjoy my primrose sitting on the windowsill until real spring comes.

50+ Soup Toppings to Transform a Plain Bowl of Soup

Yesterday, I made a large pot of split pea soup for our dinner. As I was putting everything together to serve, it just didn't look like very much. Instead of making something else to go with dinner, I decided to enhance the already-made soup with a bunch of toppings. Raiding my fridge, freezer and pantry turned up a whole lot of possibilities.

 Why top soup? Topping a bowl of soup is a last-minute way:

• to make something special out of something simple
• to add concentrated flavor bites
• to add freshness to long-cooked soups
• to boost nutrient value
• to retain the texture of topping ingredients
• to make a bowl of soup visually appealing
• to add texture to "cream of" soups
• to customize each serving according to individual taste

And so, I wrote out a list of soup topping possibilities.

For Crunch:

• cracker, pretzel, croutons, tortilla or corn chips, crumbled potato chips, bread crumbs sautéed in butter or oil with or without added herbs and minced garlic -- aka pangrattato
• toasted chopped nuts, toasted seeds (sunflower, sesame, pumpkin), toasted coconut

For Added Protein:

• diced hard-cooked egg, whole poached egg
• bacon bits, sausage crumbles or dices, pepperoni strips, ham cubes, pan-toasted hot dog slices
• shredded, diced, crumbled cheese
• strips or shreds of cooked chicken, beef, or turkey

For Freshness:

• minced fresh herbs
• thin lemon slices, lemon zest
• chopped fresh tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, celery, green onions (scallions), thinly sliced radishes
• small dices of fresh apple or pear, tossed with lemon juice

For Creaminess:

• sour cream, plain yogurt, unsweetened whipping cream (whipped or liquid), crème fraîche, cream cheese cubes
• ripe avocado cubes, guacamole, seasoned oil or plain olive oil, herb butter, peanut butter

For Flavor Boosting:

• salsa, chutney, pesto, olive tapenade, hot sauce, hoisin sauce, Sriracha, sesame oil
• minced or sliced garlic fried in oil, chopped or sliced onions sautéed in butter/oil, sautéed mushroom slices
• grated fresh ginger

For Added Texture

• cooked cheese tortellini
• cracklins (from rendering ham fat),
• sliced olives
• cooked whole pieces of vegetables that are also featured in a soup (such as asparagus tips topping  cream of asparagus soup)
• thawed frozen peas (to top split pea soup)
• stale bread cubes

While I topped individuals bowls for expediency last night, I also think a soup and toppings bar would be a fun way to do Soup Night.

What do you like to top your soup?

Valentine's Pretzel Treats for My Favorite Young Couple

using what I have on hand to make a tin full of treats for Valentine's Day

mini pretzels, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and pink and red Wilton's Candy Melts

I think they even look a little like hearts.

Making Budget Foods and Recipes User-Friendly: Saving on Homemade Pizza and Tomato Soup with Tomato Paste

Back to my weekend version of this blog -- basic frugal foods made easy. 

A lot of folks weren't raised learning basic frugal cooking skills. Instead, in their family homes of origin, a lot of foods that they consumed were what we'd recognize as convenience foods, such as boxed meal helpers. There's nothing at all wrong with that scenario. However, they now find themselves (through no fault of their own) on a very limited budget, unemployed or forced into early retirement due to this pandemic, struggling financially right now and looking for help so that they can help themselves. Enter Basic Frugal Foods Made Easy, my weekend version of this blog that goes back to the basics to help others make very delicious foods while sticking to a tight budget. Remember, once you learn a piece of information or a new skill, you own that information to use over and over again. 

Tomato paste is the unsung hero of the frugal pantry. If you have a can of tomato paste on your shelf, you can make pasta sauce, sloppy joe's, chili, pulled pork, hunter's sauce, ketchup, vegetable soup, pizza sauce, or tomato soup. 

In a cost analysis of tomato paste vs. tomato sauce, tomato paste is slightly cheaper in my area. Walmart's Great Value 12-oz can of tomato paste costs 92 cents, or 8.9 cents per 30 calorie portion. Walmart's Great Value 28-oz can of tomato sauce costs 87 cents, or 10 cents per 30 calorie portion. 

Tomato paste is also a simpler product than tomato sauce. Depending on brand, tomato paste contains either just tomatoes or tomatoes and citric acid. Tomato sauce contains tomatoes, salt, citric acid, and seasonings such as garlic, onion and spices. If tomato sauce is less expensive for you than tomato paste, then by all means, use tomato sauce in your own recipes if the added ingredients won't hamper your final dish. The other caveat is tomato sauce's relative thin consistency. User-review recommended pizza sauce for homemade pizzas indicates a thicker sauce prevents a soggy crust. Canned tomato sauce will need cooking down to reach that recommended thickness for a pizza sauce. 

In some ways, tomato paste is really a convenience food. If you can imagine the work that would go into making your own tomato paste from whole tomatoes -- cooking them down, pureeing, then straining to smooth texture -- you can appreciate having that done for you and for a lot less money than it would cost to buy the whole tomatoes and do the work yourself.

I have two super easy and quick recipes to share with you today -- pizza sauce and tomato soup. Both of these recipes have saved me money over the years, both replace common convenience products, and both require extremely little effort. 

sometimes I make pizza the traditional
way, on a dough crust then topped
with cheese and other yummies

Homemade Pizza Sauce

If you read the label on a bottle of Contadina Pizza sauce, you'll see that water and tomato paste are the first ingredients. Contadina's pizza sauce also contains sugar, salt, modified food starch (from corn), soybean oil, spices, garlic powder, carrot fiber, citric acid, potassium sorbate, and natural flavors. I'm not sure what some of those ingredients do for pizza sauce. But I can tell you this, my recipe is super simple and requires no cooking.

For a large 15 to 16-inch diameter pizza, I use about 2/3 to 1 cup of sauce. Leftovers can be frozen, or stored in the fridge for up to a week. 

Yield: about 1 cup
Cost: about 65 cents

Total time: under 3 minutes, start to finish

1/2 cup tomato paste (about 2/3 of a 6-oz can)

1 teaspoon crushed dried oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon oregano and 1/2 teaspoon dried basil)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup of water

Mix all ingredients in the same measuring cup used to measure the tomato paste. Easy-peasy, done. Spread onto pizza dough, split loaves of French bread, or pre-toasted slices of dense bread. 

sometimes I make pizza on
split loaves of French bread

For a price comparison: 1 cup of commercial pizza sauce costs between 60 and 96 cents. However, 1 cup of commercial sauce is thinner and less nutrient-dense, containing 100 calories. Whereas, 1 cup of homemade sauce is thicker and contains 122 calories, due to higher concentration of tomato paste, not food starches. If you prefer a thinner pizza sauce, you can thin the above recipe with an additional tablespoon of water.

and sometimes I spread pizza sauce on a
pre-toasted slice of homemade bread,
add some cheese and put under
the broiler for a pizza sandwich

Homemade Tomato Soup

The other recipe that I'll share today is for tomato soup, using canned tomato paste.

Tomato soup is simply tomato paste, seasonings and water. Let me show you what's in canned tomato soup. The ingredients in a can of Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup are listed as follows: tomato puree (water, tomato paste), high fructose corn syrup, wheat flour, water, salt, potassium chloride, citric acid, natural flavoring, ascorbic acid (vitamin C), monopotassium phosphate, celery extract, garlic oil. Now, look at the ingredients in my recipe, below. See many similarities? And what do you see that is missing from my homemade version? My recipe is simple and pure. It also has 1/3 of the total sodium per same-size serving of Campbell's Tomato Soup (141 mg per 1/2 cup homemade vs. 480 mg per 1/2 cup Campbell's). 

Yield: 36 ounces

Cost: about 72-75 cents if I bought all of the ingredients at Walmart

Total time: under 20 minutes, start to finish

8 oz canned tomato paste

1  1/4 teaspoons onion powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

28 oz. water

2 to 3 teaspoons lemon juice (I use bottled lemon juice but fresh squeezed would be better)

1 teaspoon fresh (or frozen) minced basil or 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon sugar 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 tablespoon flour

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, optional

In a medium saucepan, mix together the tomato paste, onion powder, salt, and minced celery. Slowly mix in water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Stir in lemon juice, basil, and sugar. 

In a small bowl, mix oil and flour. Stir into the hot soup. Simmer for another 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Adjust lemon juice, sugar, and/or salt to your preference. Add garlic powder, if desired. 

At this point, you can swirl in a couple of tablespoons of cream (for Cream of Tomato Soup) or serve as is. Garnish with shredded or crumbled cheese, sour cream, plain yogurt, minced herbs, croutons, or oyster crackers.

Leftover tomato soup stores well in the refrigerator for up to a week.

For a price comparison: Using Walmart Great Value Condensed Tomato Soup as a comparison, at 50 cents to make 21 1/2 ounces, GV commercial soup would cost 84 cents for a 36 ounce amount. Campbell's Tomato Soup would cost about $1.64 for a 36 ounce amount.

Questions

Could you use fresh onions and garlic instead of onion powder? Yes you can. Use 3 tablespoons of minced onions and 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic instead of the powders. Add at the same time as the celery.

Can you use herbs other than basil? Yes you can. Try rosemary, oregano, or parsley.

What if I want a completely smooth soup? This soup can be pureed after cooking using a stick blender or a pitcher blender to smooth out the bits of celery.

Can I make this fat-free? Yes. Instead of mixing oil and flour, make a slurry with 2 tablespoons of water and 1/2 tablespoon of flour, then whisk into the simmering soup and stir as the soup cooks 2 additional minutes.

Tomato paste is sold in 6 and 12-oz cans. What do I do with the remainder? Tomato paste freezes beautifully. When needed, thaw in the microwave in 30-second bursts or in the refrigerator overnight.

Tomato paste goes on sale periodically. Stocking up on a few extra cans when on sale is a way to reduce your cost on pizza sauce and tomato soup even further.

One of my missions, here, is to not only share recipes that put food on the table for less, but to put flavorful and nutrient-dense food on the table for less. Both of these recipes provide an end result that my family thinks tastes better than most commercial products while containing more of the nutritious ingredients and fewer of the questionable ones. 

Viva buona cucina!