My 4-Step Method to Mindful, Frugal Living

I have a 4-step method for obtaining the life that I want while staying within my budget. This has worked for me for over 30 years, and has allowed my family to have many of the nice things that supposedly can't be had on a single income. The steps guide me from my initial desires to workable solutions that save the maximum amount of money for many of our expenses. The final step reinforces all of my choices to motivate me to continue on this path. Here's how it looks for my life and choices.

step 1 
When there is something that I want that costs money, I take a step back and decide what my end goal is, that is what I think I will get from the purchase of XYZ. If it's a gym membership, my end goal would be fitness. This is important to assess, as so often I see something in a store or hear of a friend having something, and I want what others seem to have, without really considering what my purpose would be in owning that thing. So, I move on to step 2.

step 2
After I figure out my end goal, I brainstorm all of the ways that I could possibly achieve that same objective without the big price tag. So, with a gym membership (with an end goal of fitness), I think of all the ways I could get fit for free -- walking, lifting hand weights, and aerobics videos on youtube came to mind recently. Now that I have some alternatives, I move on to step 3.

step 3 
I try several of these alternatives and see what sticks. I figure that it's not a failure to try a particular exercise video for 3 weeks, then find I lose interest and don't go back to that one. I've just successfully eliminated one of the options that for whatever reason didn't work for me, and then I moved onto the next option, a 15 minute beginners weight-training video combined with walking with friends. This past summer, I did just this. It has worked so well that I continue with this routine and I no longer dream of a gym membership.

step 4
In step 4, I remind myself of how much money I have saved by choosing a particular alternative and how that money is being redirected. If saving money on a gym membership means I can work fewer hours and spend more time with family or pursuing an enjoyable hobby, I tend to stick with a free workout routine in lieu of an expensive one. When I drive past the brand new LA Fitness building in my area, I remind myself that sweating is just sweating, and I can do that for free on my own.

This little exercise extends to more mundane expenses, too, like laundry detergent. When I see the brilliant orange bottles of Tide detergent, I think how nice it would be to have premium laundry detergent. For a few moments, I'm tempted to buy this brand. So, going through the steps, I decide what my end goal is with the Tide -- clean, stain-free laundry.

Moving on to step 2, how else can I get stain-free laundry? I can buy store-brand detergent, dollar store detergent, or even make my own laundry detergent. I can combine any of these with a trick that was shared in the comments a few weeks ago, and use an Irish Spring bar soap as a stain remover just before throwing items into the wash.

Step 3, I try what is going to work for me. Years ago, I wanted to make powdered laundry detergent for family use. Well, this involved grating bar soap, which I found to be tedious work, and so I wasn't inclined to continue this practice. I tried various discount laundry detergents, finding many that worked just fine for us. Then this past winter, with our substantial income reduction and need to reduce our spending, I resumed one of my quick and easy methods for making laundry detergent. I melt a bar of plain soap in a large pot of water, then I add a big squirt of dollar store liquid dish soap. My husband, who has complained the most about my homemade laundry soaps over the years, has mentioned a couple of times how much he likes this homemade detergent formula. For me, I'm happy that I can make this with about 3 minutes of hands-on time and can make enough at a time to last about 3 weeks.

Moving on to step 4, I analyze my savings. For about 1/5 of the price of Tide, I can make my own detergent and use Irish Spring for stains. Knowing that I save about $8 every other month with less than 5 minutes of actual work motivates me to continue with our homemade laundry detergent.

Here's another area for which I use these steps. When it comes to providing meals for myself and my family, again I consider the end goal. My end goal is delicious food that is nutritionally-balanced and quick and easy. I could pick up some salads and sandwiches from a place like Panera or some takeout from our local Chinese restaurant. Both of those options would be very tasty and I think pretty nutritious. However, I want to think of all of the possibilities to meet that end goal. I could also stop by the deli counter at the grocery store or buy some other convenience item from the center aisles of the store. Both of those would be tasty, nutritious (depending what I choose), and easy.

Okay, going a little further, I could also spend a couple of minutes surveying my pantry, fridge, and freezer, going online to look for frugal recipes using the ingredients that I have on hand, then coming up with a game plan to make a meal from scratch or almost from scratch (either on a weekly basis as part of menu planning, or even the "day of" for the meal). I've been running a household for 32 years, so I've had a lot of experience trying out all of these methods to provide tasty, nutritious, and easy meals. What has stuck with me, time and again, is that home-made, simple meals meet every goal and save wads of cash. 

Knowing how much I save in dollars and cents really keeps me motivated. My family will tell you that I am fond of calculating the cost of each meal and making an announcement at the dinner table. (I know, that's probably really bad manners, but it's entertainment for us.) Going beyond just knowing the dollar amount, I remind myself, often, that the money that I have saved by cooking from scratch has paid for a lot of luxuries for my family, such as vacations, home remodeling, and educations.

This all boils down to mindful, frugal living. In many areas of life, mindfulness results in greater satisfaction as we eliminate what is unnecessary and hone in on the relationships, material things, and experiences that matter the most. In frugal living, mindfulness allows us to create the life that we want on any level of income.

I don't think that my little steps are revolutionary. I think that most of us practice a process like this, but may do so less consciously. We do this in our every day actions. I just did a version of my steps a little while ago. I wanted dessert after lunch, but there was nothing readily available. I thought about stopping by a store when on errands. I also thought about baking some cookies. Then I thought I could simply make myself a dessert-like cup of coffee. With instant decaf granules, sugar, vanilla extract, coconut milk, a bit of whipped cream from the freezer, and some nutmeg, I made myself a wonderful spiced-vanilla latte. It took seconds to make and fulfilled my end goal and saved our grocery money so that we can stock up on other foods later.

This is what works for me. Do you follow any pattern or process when making frugal choices for yourself or your family?

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for September

Is everyone ready for some weekend R & R? Can you believe that September is nearly half over? The busier I get, the faster the weeks fly by. Despite the busy-ness, our family tries to gather for dinner every night. Some nights this means all 4 of us assembled around the table, and other nights this means just 2 or 3 of us. My family understands that this is important to me, so they make the effort. (And I appreciate that.)

Here's what we ate this past week:

Friday -- another cook-out
hot dogs
buns
quick and easy sauerkraut
tossed green salad
s'mores

Saturday
bean and cheese burritos in these homemade tortillas
carrot sticks
corn tortilla chips

Sunday --a quick dinner after an afternoon out
peanut noodles with cabbage
fresh blackberries

Monday
Cabbage Patch soup
fresh French bread and homemade soft butter
green salad
blackberry cobbler (using this easy tip for a baking powder substitute)

Tuesday
leftover soup
garden salad
French bread and butter
leftover cobbler

Wednesday
fried tofu with peanut noodles
sauteed beet greens, onions, and garlic
vanilla-rhubarb sauce

Thursday
homemade cheese pizza (using the same dough recipe as the french bread)
garden salad
fresh peaches



Family favorites for our time together
You may have noticed that we repeat our favorites often, such as homemade pizza, bean burritos, and the numerous summer cook-outs. I guess that you could say that we've found what works for us. The summer cook-outs, especially, are family favorites. Roasting hot dogs over a fire ring is incredibly inexpensive, yet provides not only a meal but entertainment for us. As a result, we all linger just a little longer when sitting around the fire than when we're just having a normal, kitchen supper. (And mom gets just a little more time with her family.)

The veggie garden
Our garden continues to produce for us. We're currently harvesting tomatoes, lettuce, Swiss chard, kale, summer squash, winter squash, cucumbers, green beans, beets, and herbs. I pulled the last of the beets the other day (have them cleaned and in the fridge right now) to make room for the fall greens. 

Remember I started some spinach and radish seeds in a flat a few weeks ago? Well, most of the spinach plants got devoured by a slug, but the radishes are looking good. I transplanted them into the trough where the beets had been, tightly packed together to promote greens instead of roots. I also transplanted the last of the lettuce and kale seedlings into various spots in the garden. My hope is to have fresh salad and cooking greens through all of October and cooking greens alone till the middle of November. 

Working on preserving what I can
Whenever I can, I freeze excess greens to use next winter. It really isn't a lot, but any amount will keep us eating healthy during the months that the garden is not producing (December through mid-March).

Sometime this next week, I'll harvest the basil, oregano, peppermint, lemon balm, rosemary, dill, cilantro, and sage to either chop and freeze or dry. I prefer to freeze both basil and rosemary, but I will use my dehydrator for the other herbs. Years ago, I bought a basic American Harvest food dehydrator. At the time, I think I envisioned batches of beef jerky, homemade fruit leather, and granola bars. In truth, I think I use this machine most for drying herbs and chopped/diced fruits and vegetables. The other foods just seemed to have too many steps to the process. As I live where the humidity tends to be high year round, the dehydrator has actually been a good appliance to own. Air-dried herbs mold more often than not in my kitchen. 

My parsley didn't grow very well this year (slugs kept eating the newly planted seedlings), so I won't have much parsley to chop and freeze. However, parsley is biennial, so I will have a second crop in early spring to harvest next year, without any planting work on my part.

In addition, my winter squash and pumpkins are still sizing up and ripening, and the potatoes are about ready to dig. Before the end of the month, I'll need to do the hard digging work for those potatoes.

I tried a new-to-me brand of canning jar lids and rings this past week -- Walmart's Mainstays brand. A package of 12 regular-size lids and rings cost $2.32, a much better price for me than the name brands. And, they seemed to work just fine for me when I made jam earlier this week.

So much of my energy is focused on food -- planting, harvesting, preserving, or procuring. It is what it is.

I hope you had a pleasant week and are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Have a good one!

How I Make Fried Tofu

Have you ever bought a package of tofu only to have it languish in your fridge for weeks, as you ponder what on earth possessed you, that you would buy the jelled white stuff in the first place? Or, maybe you've heard that tofu can be good for your heart, so you're trying to incorporate it into your diet. Or, perhaps some supermarket gremlin slipped a package of it into your cart when you were eyeing the fresh asparagus. For whatever reason, there may come a day when you find yourself in possession of a slab of this soy food.

Tofu is actually one of my favorite foods. I get excited when I find it's on the menu someplace. When we had guests for Labor Day, to my absolute delight, we were greeted with tofu spring rolls. I know . . . call me crazy.

Anyway, if the squishy, jelled texture is off-putting, here's one of my fav ways to prepare tofu -- savory fried tofu. It is easier to make than you might think. In fact, I often make this as my protein source to have with my lunches during the week when I really don't feel like going to the trouble to make myself anything.


The simplified method for making fried tofu

Slice firm or extra firm tofu into 1/8 to 1/4-inch slices (pretty thin).

Heat a tablespoon or two of oil over in a skillet over Medium heat. Place the slices, single layer, into the bottom of the skillet.

Drizzle the slices with a little soy sauce, vinegar, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar, and pinch of ginger powder. Allow to cook for a few minutes (4 to 6-ish), then turn each slice over and cook the other side. No need to season this other side of the slices. Cook for another 4 minutes. You'll notice the slices shrink away from each other as they cook.

Remove from the pan and serve. I use fried tofu with a garlic peanut sauce over noodles or in a veggie stir fry. with the residual oil left in the skillet after removing the fried tofu slices, I saute some veggies or make a peanut sauce. Nothing wasted.

It's delicious stuff and the texture is slightly chewy. Some people marinate the tofu before frying, but I've found that simply drizzling the slices with the seasonings while they're in the skillet works just as well (although they don't look as uniform in color using my method, compared to marinated ones). Even my husband, who normally does not care for tofu admits that fried tofu is pretty good stuff. Last night, I served fried tofu, on top of peanut noodles, along with some stir-fried veggies. It was gobbled up quickly.


My local Walmart sells 16 oz packages of firm tofu for $1.44. 4 ounces of firm tofu contains about 10 grams of protein, so most brands suggest that 1 pound of tofu contains between 4 and 5.5 servings.

A Quiet and Solemn Kind of Day

We all remember where we were 18 years ago, today. The anniversary of 9/11 just sort places today into the solemn category for me. I've just been puttering and taking care of business. I'm in the middle of making a batch of yogurt. I've completed my business work for the day. And I made another pair of earrings. Making these pieces of jewelry is therapeutic for me. It's productive and creative, while taking my mind off of serious subjects and completely enveloping me in the process for those few moments. Here's today's pair.

I also wanted to share with you my all-time favorite fall soup -- Cabbage Patch Soup. Many years ago when my son was a small boy, we were homeschooling. This was years before I had access to the internet or had even thought that someday I'd be able to shop via my computer. My experience with computers was from conducting morning business in the department store where I was a floor manager. There was this bulky machine that spit out reams of paper with numbers and symbols -- pages and pages of attached papers (remember when printers used paper that you had to tear along perforations?) that I would scan for my departments' sales information for the previous day. There were even larger machines at the flagship store, which spit out information concerning the entire chain of stores. I toured the computer room in this flagship store on one occasion and was duly impressed with the size of these machines, the noise in the room, and how warm the room was, despite the excess of cooling equipment in operation at all times. 

So, a few years later, married with one child, the thought of ever using a computer in my own home was something unthinkable for me. We did almost all of our shopping in-person, and many stores didn't accept credit cards but operated on a cash or check only basis. Homeschooling was relatively new. Finding curriculum required finding a specialist in what was available, followed up with searching for the way to buy the books we required. I couldn't very well order books from a catalog without first thumbing through a few of them, right? After a couple of months of asking around, I finally asked the librarian and she put me in touch with some local homeschooling families and a store in western Washington that sold full curriculums. The homeschool book store was an hour's drive north of us, so the three of us made this a Saturday adventure, perusing books, choosing our year's materials, and making our purchase. (You're wondering what this has to do with a favorite fall soup, right? I'm getting there.) 

After a couple of hours, one tired little boy desperately needed lunch. As it happened, right next door to the bookstore was a small cafe. They had posted their menu with prices on the glass entrance door. It was indeed a lucky day for us, because after spending what seemed like a small fortune on school materials, the cafe's prices were incredibly reasonable -- the 3 of us could eat lunch and dessert for under $5, including tax and a tip. The soup that we ordered that first time was their Cabbage Patch Soup. It was a tomato-based soup with onions, celery, canned tomatoes, carrots, ground beef, and lots of shredded cabbage.

Once home, I replicated that soup over and over. I came up with many variations, mostly changing up the protein source based on what we had on hand. In addition to making this soup with ground beef, I've also used sliced smoked sausage, beans/lentils and barley, and TVP (textured vegetable protein). As I mentioned last week, I got an amazing deal on cabbage recently. So, this week I made a large pot of cabbage patch soup, this time using a combination of cooked pinto beans, lentils, and barley as the protein, in addition to the onions, carrots, canned tomato paste (I sometimes use canned, chopped tomatoes), and abundance of shredded cabbage. I seasoned the soup with oregano, garlic, chili powder, salt, and black pepper, and I used chicken stock as the base. This is one of those soups where the leftovers are every bit as delicious as when it was first made. So, we've had this twice for dinners, and twice for lunches. Not only is it tasty, but this is a very frugal autumn soup. Even if I couldn't get cabbage at 18 cents/lb, I can find it at Sprouts for 49 cents/lb, and carrots and onions are also inexpensive vegetables. I did without the celery as celery prices have been high this past year, but we didn't notice a loss in flavor. With a protein source of beans and barley, this is a complete meal. I add a garnish of cheese when I have some.

For several years, we made the annual trek north to the homeschool store and would have lunch immediately afterward at this local cafe. Soup and pie were our favorites there. When Cabbage Patch Soup was on the menu, we always ordered it. My daughters were not around to experience this little cafe first-hand, but they've enjoyed this soup from my own kitchen every fall and heard the stories of life before they entered the picture. 

in a nostalgic mood . . .

Freezing Milk to Save Money and Reduce Food Waste

Why freeze milk?

• to stock-up on sale-priced or marked down milk, yet not have it spoil. 
• to divide a too-large container of milk into smaller portions that can be consumed before souring. So, if you're a household of one, you can buy a gallon of milk, and save money. Simply divide the gallon into weekly-sized portions and freeze all but one portion.
• in order to shop less often (once-a-month), but always have milk on hand. This is something I do. I buy a month's worth of milk at a time (9 gallons or more). I take advantage of my discounts, sales, and coupons on a single day, then I don't have to think about buying milk again until the next month.
• to save milk that is near its sell-by date. 

Can you refreeze milk (that is, freeze, thaw, then freeze again)?

The answer is YES. The taste and texture may be affected (milk may pick up additional "freezer" tastes or milk solids may form small particles). However, milk will not become toxic or make one sick simply because it was frozen twice, IF you have followed these basic rules for thawing the milk in the first place:

• thaw the frozen milk in the refrigerator, not on the counter. According to the USDA, "once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it without cooking;"
• do not refreeze milk (or any perishable, previously frozen food) that has been left at room temperature for longer than 2 hours (1 hour if room temp = 90 degrees or more);
• refreeze the thawed milk within 3 to 4 days of complete thawing.
• BEST PRACTICE -- refreeze milk in 1 cup portions, to be used in cooked items once thawed, such as cream or cheese sauce, waffles/pancakes, muffins, cakes, breads, and casseroles. 

However, since I know that we all sometimes have our doubts about salvaging a food, this is what I do: if I have previously frozen milk that is already beginning to sour just a bit, I make a large batch of pancakes or quick bread and freeze those items. 

How to freeze milk

As a liquid, milk expands during freezing. To allow for this, pour about 1/8th of the milk off into another container (for freezing or consuming soon), cap the container of milk, and freeze. For a gallon of milk, I pour off about 2 cups of milk. Most of the time, I simply pour this excess milk into the currently-in-use container. When I have more milk that we can use, but I still want to freeze some, I pour the excess milk into other plastic containers, mark with contents/date on lid, and freeze.

How long does milk keep frozen?

For best taste and appearance, use frozen milk within about 6 months. It will still be "safe" to consume after 6 months, but may have more taste issues. I use this "older" milk in cooking with no problems.

Can you freeze milk to use for making yogurt?

Yes, I do this routinely. I use whole milk (4% milkfat) for making yogurt. I make yogurt 3 times per month. The first 2 times are usually within the sell-by date on the gallons that I buy at the beginning of the month. The last batch of yogurt is usually made with frozen, then thawed milk. I pour about 2 cups of a gallon of milk into a plastic container, then mark both the gallon jug and extra container "for yogurt, 1 of 2." This lets the family know that this milk is specifically for yogurt-making, and lets me know that I should be looking for 2 containers of milk to equal 1 gallon. If I am freezing more than 1 gallon of milk for making yogurt, I mark the containers like this: "for yogurt, 1 of 2A" or "1 of 2B." Then I can be certain that I am using a full gallon of milk for each batch.

I'm sharing all of this today because I realized this morning that I only shop for milk once per month. In our house, there is extremely little chance that anyone will have to dash out to pick up milk at the last minute. And on top of that, I was able to save a lot of money in our grocery budget this month because I found gallons of milk marked down to $1.19. I was able to stock up on way more than could be used before the sell-by date because I planned on freezing the milk. This is just a small part of how I save money on groceries. I realize that frozen milk does not appeal to everyone. In fact, for those with texture sensitivities, thawed milk may not work. Not always, but sometimes frozen milk will develop small particles of solids that some people really don't like. And I get that. Freezing milk in a pinch can still work even in these cases, by freezing milk in 1 cup portions solely for the purpose of using this milk in cooking or baking, where the texture of the liquid milk will not matter.

Anyway, I hope this is helpful to someone.

references: 

https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/safe-food-handling/freezing-and-food-safety/CT_Index

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for Early September

Another week of simple meals. We had two dinners where time and energy were a factor in choosing the menu (Friday and Wednesday). Even in a time-crunch, something as simple as pancakes or scrambled eggs can make a tasty meal. Both of these meals require no advance preparation, but still get dinner for 4 on the table in 15 to 20 minutes. 

When we have more time and energy, we can create more elaborate meals. I think that's part of my basic philosophy for frugal meal planning and prep -- when I can, I do more. When I can't, I don't sweat it. There is enough variety in the simple, scratch-prepared foods, like eggs, pancakes, and sandwiches, that I don't need to buy a lot of convenience foods or take-out.

Here's our week's menus:

Friday (I didn't feel well -- pancakes are easy to make)
pancakes and blackberry syrup

Saturday
rice and lentils
green salad
blackberries

Sunday -- cookout
hot dogs in homemade buns
homemade sauerkraut
tossed garden salad (lettuce, kale, tomatoes, cucumber)
spring rolls (brought by guests)
blackberry cobbler
s'mores

Monday
homemade cheese pizza
cole slaw ( 18 cent/lb cabbage and garden kale in homemade dressing)
fresh blackberries with honey

Tuesday
chicken salad over lettuce
crackers (bought by daughter)

Wednesday
scrambled eggs topped with salsa
toasted corn tortillas
steamed broccoli stems
leftover brown rice

Thursday
spaghetti in meat sauce (leftover pizza sauce from Monday with added ground beef)
garden green beans
marinated beets 
blackberry cobbler


What was on your menu this past week?
What are your go-to, easy-to-fix, basic foods that you prepare when you don't have time or energy?

Ushering in Autumn With Some Front Porch Decor

It's about that time of year, isn't it? Kids are back in school, stores are brimming with autumn-themed goods, Starbucks has it's annual pumpkin-spice beverages on the menu, and the garden is coming to its fruition.

The other afternoon, I gathered up all of my autumn outdoor decor pieces and put them to use. I reuse everything each year but try to change where and how I use it all.

In addition to what I had in storage, I also added this picket gate. It's been lingering by the side of the house since 2009 when it was removed. I knew there would be a good use for it!

The rest of the decor pieces came from thrift stores, Dollar Tree, and Michael's. I try to do seasonal decorating as frugally as I can.

Have a lovely day!

Still Working on Christmas Gifts and Other Stuff

How is your week going? Are you feeling like fall is near? We have summer-like weather, here. However, the sun's angle is saying fall is just around the corner.

I am still making Christmas gifts. I finished another pair of earrings this afternoon. I like how these turned out. The design is a Celtic cross inside a heart. 

How about you? Are you working on any Christmas gifts this week?

It's the beginning of a new month, which means I've been grocery shopping. I did pick up some raisins for adding to chutney. The good news is I only spent 60 cents on the small amount of raisins. I also discovered that our wild plum tree has fruit this year, which I can also use in the chutney. I have an apple on a tree in the garden and all of the spices that I need. I'm just waiting for the onions (Cash & Carry in a week) so I can make a small batch of the spicy condiment. 

Yesterday was Senior Discount Day at Fred Meyer. I did get myself up and out early and that paid off. I found gallons of skim milk on markdown for $1.19 each. I bought 6 gallons of the skim at that price and 4 gallons of whole milk at the regular price. The skim milk is not adequate for one of my daughters (due to her history of an eating disorder), so I'll be mixing some whole milk into each gallon of skim. I can use skim milk as it is in cooking, however. While at Fred Meyer, I also found ground beef on sale. With my discount, it was $1.69/lb. I only had enough in the budget to buy 3 pounds, but 3 is better than none. Besides, I still have about 6 pounds of ground beef in the freezer from last spring. 

Our blackberry freezer is now full, so any blackberries that come into our house have been baked into pies or made into more jam. It does appear that we are nearing the end of blackberry foraging for this season. Fortunately, our garden is continuing to produce.

We saved ourselves a small fortune on plumbing work last week. An interior part in the faucet in the bathtub cracked and the water could not be shut off at the tap. We had to shut our water off at the street overnight. The following morning, we were able to pick up the piece that we needed at a plumbing supply and my husband replaced the broken bit. 

We went without any tap water for an evening and the following morning. However, we did still have water. A couple of years ago, I mentioned that I store water in empty plastic juice and 2-liter soda bottles in our garage fridge. I keep 3  1/2 gallons of water at all times, just for this sort of emergency. 2-liter soda bottles and 64 oz juice bottles fit in the door pockets of our spare fridge perfectly. As the water that I had stored was over a year old, I followed the CDC's recommendations for killing bacteria: 

"Boiling can be used as a pathogen reduction method that should kill all pathogens. Water should be brought to a rolling boil for 1 minute. At altitudes greater than 6,562 feet (greater than 2000 meters), you should boil water for 3 minutes." (cdc.gov)

3  1/2 gallons is not enough for bathing or laundering clothing, but it was enough for sponge baths, washing hands, and drinking. There are a variety of reasons that any of us could lose our water supply temporarily. Keeping some extra water on hand can be as simple as washing out a 2-liter soda bottle and refilling with tap water, then storing in a refrigerator.

That's what's new around here. What's new in your area?

Quick and Easy, Unfermented Sauerkraut

Over the weekend, I found a killer deal on heads of cabbage. Each head was $1, and these were enormous heads. I chose four 5.5 to 6 pound heads, making my price per pound about 18 cents. I had planned on making cole slaw to go with our cook-out but then thought again about that and decided to try making sauerkraut. We were roasting hot dogs,and sauerkraut sounded like an excellent addition.

I have to say, I've never made sauerkraut before and was put off by a long fermentation process. So, I was very pleasantly surprised how easy an unfermented one was. I chose a Martha Stewart recipe, but added my own tweak.


First of all, I only made a small-ish batch, with a finished product of about 3 cups. Here's how I made mine:

about 1 pound of fresh cabbage, cored, then thinly sliced (about 4  1/2 cups sliced)
1/4 cup of white vinegar
1  1/2 teaspoons of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon of caraway seeds
5/8 cup of water

In a medium, non-reactive (stainless or enameled) saucepan, combine all of the above ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally. If the liquids appear to have evaporated at any point, add another 2 tablespoons of water. Remove from heat once the cabbage is tender. Cool and store in a glass jar or crockery in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. 

That's it. Easy peasy.

Everyone raved about this, perhaps because it was fresh (not commercially-made) and perhaps because I'd never made it before so it was new to us (we've had commercial sauerkraut before). We all thought it made a tasty addition to our roasted hot dogs.


This time of year, I find cabbage priced very low at produce stands and ethnic markets in our area, and I thought that you may, too. This type of sauerkraut is so easy to make, and keeps for a couple of weeks, that I thought I'd share. We've enjoyed the leftovers, as is, on salads, and in other types of sandwiches (other than hot dogs). With October (and Oktoberfest) just around the corner, I'll be making more quick and easy sauerkraut. I'm envisioning some bratwurst in a bun, topped with sauerkraut and cheese, then popped under the broiler for a minute or two. Yum. I can taste it in my imagination already.

Wanted S'Mores, but No Chocolate Bars -- Chocolate Chips to the Rescue

We had our Labor Day cook-out on Sunday, as one daughter has to work today. With a fire in the fire ring, s'mores for dessert was a natural.

Our supplies included 1 packet of graham crackers, a half-bag of marshmallows, and semi-sweet chocolate chips. S'mores with chocolate chips are just okay, IMO. It's a balancing act -- trying to keep all of the chocolate morsels on the graham cracker while plopping a toasted marshmallow on top. For last night's cook-out, I wanted our s'mores-making to be a smooth operation.

A few hours before dinner, I melted some chocolate chips with a half-teaspoon of Crisco-type shortening in a cup in the microwave, stirring in between bursts of melting. Once the chocolate chips were thoroughly melted, I spooned the melty mixture onto a sheet of waxed paper in individual portions, then popped the chocolate circles into the fridge to firm up. Once firm, they were ready for s'mores.

These worked fantastically. Not only did the chocolate stay on the graham cracker neatly, but the added shortening made the chocolate just slightly softer than the chips by themselves, which made every bite seem so rich and chocolatey. 

Forming patties using melted chocolate chips and shortening simplified s'mores-making, was less expensive than buying chocolate bars, and saved me an extra trip to the store.


The rest of our cook-out menu was comprised of other foods that we had at home, including hot dogs, homemade buns, homemade ketchup and mustard, homemade sauerkraut, a large tossed salad of garden greens, tomatoes, and cucumber covered with a homemade dressing, and a blackberry cobbler (in case there wasn't enough dessert, of course).

I hope your Labor Day weekend was wonderful!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for the End of August

garden veggie medley from Wednesday -- my favorite way to prepare veggies

Friday
scrambled eggs topped with cheddar and salsa
oven-fried corn tortilla chips with salsa
garden salad w/ homemade dressing
blackberry pie

Friday's humble meal of scrambled eggs and chips

Saturday
rice & lentils
sauteed garden greens
fresh blackberries

Sunday
vegetable, bean, and noodle soup, w/ homemade chicken stock
biscuits
fresh blackberries

Monday
brown rice
lentil and veggie curry
chocolate chip cookies

Tuesday -- the wedge in the left corner is a spaghetti pancake

Tuesday
baked spaghetti pancake w/ beet greens, garlic, cooked noodles, egg, milk, and salt
(garden) acorn squash
(garden) chilled beets and tomatoes w/ ranch-style dressing
blackberry cobbler

Wednesday -- I pull chicken meat off bones before serving
 so that I can use the bones for soup stock

Wednesday
baked chicken legs/thighs
brown rice
(mostly from garden) green bean, yellow crookneck squash, onion, garlic, basil, and canned tomato medley
stewed plums (last year's harvest)

remnants from Thursday's Mexican feast -- so good!

Thursday -- a Mexican feast (complete with appropriate musical accompaniment courtesy of youtube)

chicken (leftover from previous night), homemade refried beans, homemade salsa, garden lettuce and tomatoes, and homemade salted, plain yogurt -- all piled high in a layered dip
corn tortilla chips for dipping


My favorite meal this week was Thursday's. This was my daughter's night to cook and she saw a photo online of something that looked good to her. She did her best to replicate it with what we had on hand. It was so tasty! When I look at what went into it, I can see that this was a very frugal meal, as well. Refried beans made from dried beans and bulk-purchased spices, chicken that was picked off of the bones after making stock from the previous night's chicken dinner, yogurt and salsa made at home, and vegetables from our garden.

The music was a last-minute grab off of the internet and created a festive atmosphere for the meal.

Some of our meals are extremely simple, like Saturday's rice and lentils or Friday's scrambled eggs. I don't think that family meals need to be "gourmet" or extravaganzas in order to be delicious. If I could afford to have a private chef who would cook gourmet meals for me, I might enjoy that part of the time. However, simple meals are also more than just satisfactory. They taste great, easy to make, and save us a bundle.

Low-budget meals could be quite dull. Keeping a vegetable garden is key for adding life to meals of rice and beans, simply cooked eggs, or chicken and rice. Almost all of the color in these photos comes from our garden produce. That color equates to variety in flavor, texture, and nutrients. 

How was your week of meals? What were your favorites this week? I hope everyone has a lovely holiday weekend!