Making a salad when it seems as if there's not enough of anything

To go with dinner the other night, I had planned to make a bowl of cole slaw, with the last of the cabbage.

When I got the head of cabbage out, I realized that there was only a small section of the cabbage left. After shredding it, I could clearly see that this would never feed the five of us.

Out to the garden I went, to see what I could possibly find to add to the cabbage. The watercress was looking good, so I picked all of the leaves big enough, washed and chopped them, and added to the cabbage.

Still not enough salad, I grated a carrot to add to the salad. Now to add some dressing. I am all out of mayo, for a creamy dressing, so I made an oil and chive blossom vinegar dressing to toss the vegetables in.

My salad bowl still looked slightly skimpy for 5 adults, so I cooked up a cup of shell pasta, to add to the salad.


What began as cole slaw managed to morph into a cabbage-y pasta salad. Not nearly what I had planned, but delicious anyways!

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Springtime gifts to make

I'm taking a brief break from grocery budget issues on my blog today, as lots goes on in my humble abode, besides cooking and budgeting.

We have several spring birthdays, plus there's Easter and Mother's Day just around the corner, too. So, I'm busy making some gifts this month. I'll show you one or two each week, until I'm done.

These first two gifts are for my daughters. They'll be turning 20 years old next Tuesday. I had noticed one daughter was pinning one of her scarves to wear as an infinity scarf. Hmmm, that must be something she's interested in.

These are spring infinity scarves. They're made from 1 yard each of lightweight fabric. I spent a grand total of 3 hours sewing them (and that includes working with a misbehaving sewing machine), and they were super easy. Straight stitches, plus a bit of hand whip-stitch at the end. Nothing more to them.

I bought new fabric, but these could also be made with fabric from a garment, cut into sections. I had very specific ideas on fabric choice -- to go with some tops that I bought for the girls at Wet Seal, for $4 per top. So coupons in hand, I went to Jo-Ann fabrics. Each scarf cost about $7.50, after coupons. And even though I bought new fabric, they were still half the price of what I saw at the mall at Claire's.

I have the scarves hanging on flocked, sectioned accessory hangers. Maybe you've seen these in stores. I saw these a while back and thought they would be great to help my daughters with a little closet organization. After Christmas, I found them on clearance at Michael's for $3 each.

While at Jo-Ann's, I saw some lovely burnt red gauzy fabric that I'm thinking of picking up, to make one of these scarves for my step-mom for Mother's Day or her birthday. They were so very easy, I suspect all of the women on my gift-giving list will be receiving one of these this year.

One of the gifts for spring, with more to come!

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Another tweak to my grocery spending

Last month, I made a couple of small purchases, in an attempt to give myself an easier Sunday, each week. I've been working at making Sunday a truly restful day for me. For lunches, I set out leftovers or a jar of peanut butter and loaf of bread, and everyone helps themselves. But I was still left with making Sunday dinner.

So, in February, trying to simplify dinner prep, twice I bought flour tortillas from Dollar Tree, for making bean burritos. Now these only cost a dollar a package, so no big deal, right? But for this month, at least, as I try to cut my spending to catch up on our budget, I had to make the decision to *not* buy any convenience items, like those flour tortillas.

I have a new plan for Sunday dinners, for the month of March -- making something during the week to heat for Sunday supper. This past week, that was pizza. I made 4 large pizzas during the week, and froze the leftovers. On Sunday, all I needed to do was make carrot sticks, a dip, some dried fruit, and reheat a pizza. For a dip, I made a quickie marinara sauce in the microwave, with tomato paste, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, oil, water, basil and oregano. Both the carrot sticks and the pizza could be dipped in the marinara.


Cooking ahead is not a new idea. However, it's an idea that I'm dedicating to my Sunday dinner prep for the month. This should save us $4 in extra grocery purchases (by not buying those packages o tortillas) for the month of March.

This is not a "forever" plan. But it's helpful in a pinch. If I remind myself that a change from routine is short term, it easier to carry out. In April, once the budget is back on track, I may return to buying packaged tortillas to keep my Sunday supper work to a minimum.

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