Resuscitating my sourdough starter

Another frugal thrill for me this week . . .

Over last weekend, I discovered my sourdough starter shoved to the back of the fridge. It was early November the last time I baked with this starter. That's a long time to leave a sourdough starter uncared for.

Anyway, I lifted the lid and the grey hooch that sits on top of the doughy mass was a bit on the green side. And it smelled more like cheese and less like hooch. This definitely did not look good.

This starter had taken me about 10 days to make, and I wasn't ready to start over from the beginning, without at least trying to resuscitate it. So, I thought I'd risk a cup of flour on it, just to see if I could bring it back to life.

Sure enough, after a day of feedings, the starter was all bubbly. I continued to feed the starter for a few days, just to get it going strong. By Wednesday afternoon, it was ready for mixing a dough.

I make my sourdough bread the old-timer way, with just starter, flour and a small amount of sugar and salt. It takes a good 24 hours from mixing the dough to baking, but it is so worth it.  Traditional sourdough bread has to be the most frugal of all bread to bake at home, as there's not even any yeast added.

Taking a few days to fire up my starter left me with a LOT of starter. So, yesterday I baked 2 loaves, and tomorrow I'll bake another 2. That should just about catch me up. I wish I could have just given some of the starter to you, but that might get a little messy in the mail.  -- And also could have aroused some odd suspicions with our postal service! :-o


If you are interested in learning more about making your own sourdough starter, you can find more information in a series of posts beginning here.

Does this give you a frugal thrill?

I wasn't going to post today, as I'm fighting the same cold my two daughters have had. But I had one of those oddball moments of frugal fun. Not even a moment, really. I'd say I was tickled for all of the dinner hour.

Do you get a frugal thrill when you find a bunch of leftovers and combine them into a tasty stew, or rinse a bunch of near-empty jars to add to the pot?

Last night, I did a little clean-out of the fridge and found a whole bunch of condiment jars, that in an ordinary household would have been deemed empty and disposed of. Not so, in our house. I save those jars to rinse and add to cooking. I used both sweet and dill pickle juice in a batch of baked beans. I rinsed out the jar of blackberry pancake syrup to add to the stewed mixed rhubarb and blackberries. And I rinsed the salsa jar to add to mashed potatoes and greens. Total number of jars used and cleaned out -- 4.

My fridge door looks presentable again, and dinner was seasoned nicely, with what may have been considered garbage in any other household. Yep, that gave me a frugal thrill.

How about you? Do you find particular fun in using the odd bits that others would consider material to be washed down the drain?

Getting my garden started indoors

I know, this gadget falls under the heading of toy/tool. Indoor grow lights will take many years to pay for themselves. But I do like my homegrown salads. And I can get a jump start on the garden, harvesting lettuce in early April, instead of June, by starting my seeds indoors.

Last week, I started a flat of lettuce, spinach and kale to transplant in March. I started them about a week earlier than in previous years, and am keeping my fingers crossed that I'll have a harvest that much sooner.

Starting most varieties of seeds indoors needs a soil temperature around 70 degrees, and light for the seedlings for about 14 hours per day. Although these are fluorescent tubes, they do give off a small amount of heat. And by positioning the lights close to the soil, there seems to be enough heat for my seeds to germinate. Once I had a couple of seeds sprouted, I set the timer on the light fixture for 14 hours/day.

The container with a blue lid is my indoor sprinkler. It's just a screw top plastic jar with a lid, into which I drilled a few small holes. It works well for wetting the surface of the soil for good germination of seeds.

I pick my toy/tools carefully, as I don't like a lot of junk hanging around the house. As for just how long this grow light will take to pay for itself, I did some figuring. I used to buy all my tomato seedlings each spring, spending between $15 and $18 per season. The grow light set-up was about $150 (less about $20 with an e-coupon). I now start all of my tomato plants from seeds, saving about $15 per season. I also use the grow lights to get one extra planting of leafy greens started and in the ground, saving about $10-15 on buying leafy greens at the produce stand each spring. On top of these savings,  I start smaller amounts of other veggies under the lights, too. My guess is this grow light will pay for itself in about 6-8 years. So, while not a great pay-back timeline, at least it's not a hobby that keeps costing me money.

Keeping one step ahead of my kids

This past Thursday evening was yet another free opportunity for me to see a live performance at the university. This time it was a student recital. I haven't enjoyed this many theater and music productions since my own university years. Theater daughter was working the backstage for the performance.

So, I met up with both daughters, we had a bite to eat, and went to the recital. Although the performances are free, my daughters have become accustomed to us spending a small sum of cash on treats in the Student Union Building. One daughter loves the cup of chocolate chunk cookie poppers (bite-sized cookies), and the other daughter enjoys the salads and fruit cups.

Even on 50% off nights, this adds up. What's a budget mama to do?

Thursday afternoon, I baked a batch of my own chocolate chip cookie poppers, and made a good-sized salad to take down to campus with me. And I even brought a treat for myself. I made a thermos of herb tea just for me (the girls don't always care for my selections in tea -- all the more for me).

We still bought 1 bagel sandwich to split between the three of us. But this was a far cry from buying several items off the menu. There's a large common area in the SUB where we sat, talked about the day, and enjoyed our treats before the performance.

Weekend brunch: waffle bar

On Saturday's, I make something special for breakfast, and make it substantial enough to call it brunch -- so I don't have to make lunch just a few hours later ;-) .

This past weekend, we had a waffle bar. I made whole wheat waffles, and set out several toppings to choose from: canned pineapple chunks, frozen strawberries (from last summer's garden), vanilla yogurt, maple syrup and whipped cream.

Other toppings that we've enjoyed include chopped nuts, dried fruit, cottage cheese, ham dices, banana slices, applesauce, fresh orange segments, shredded coconut, jam and jelly, blackberry syrup (homemade with wild-picked blackberries), frozen raspberries and blueberries (also from last summer's garden).

It's one of those whatever-I-have -on-hand sort of meals. I try to include a source of protein (besides the waffles themselves), some fruit and some fun stuff.

Waffle bars are always a hit with our family. I think that's due to having the opportunity to customize your own waffle.

So just what did I buy with my extra grocery money?

I know, we're all a bit curious how each other spends their money. So here's how I spent my "extra" money.

If you'll remember from last Saturday's post, I said that it looked like I'd have about $10 to $15 left in our grocery budget, at the end of each month for a few months.

All of your input really helped me to come to some conclusions.

• on a small grocery budget, nutrition counts
• I can make a lot of treat foods, like pop-tarts, but I can't make fresh produce or meat
• in winter there are always some holes in our diet, mainly fresh salads

So, while running some errands yesterday, I stopped in Trader Joe's and the Cash and Carry restaurant supply (down the road from each other). I had other items to pick-up, so used this time to check prices and make selections.

This is what I chose:

• 2.5 lbs of bagged fresh spinach leaves. The best-by date is Feb 20. I'll use this in both salads, as well as lightly sauteed with garlic in olive oil, for the next week, and any remaining spinach can then be lightly steamed and frozen. Spinach is high in folate, Vits. K, C and A, some Omega-3s, Vits. B1, B2, B6, and several minerals, including iron. Spinach also is high in oxalic acid and phytic acid, both inhibitors of iron absorption. To get maximum iron from spinach, it's best if bought fresh, then lightly steamed, and served with a source of Vit. C. ---- My garden spinach won't be big enough to harvest until sometime in late May, so this is something of a treat for us.
• 2.5 lbs of packaged whole mushrooms.  Mushrooms contain protein, fiber, the B vitamins, and many minerals, including selenium and copper. Mushrooms may also contain Vit. B12 (a vitamin otherwise exclusive to animal sources). The amount of B12 varies substantially. It's carried through a beneficial bacteria which piggybacks on the mushrooms.  ----  Mushrooms, when cooked, have a meaty texture which our family really enjoys, a nice change from so many of our vegetarian dishes. Fresh mushrooms can be sauteed in butter, then frozen. So if we tire of them, none will be wasted. I have a small amount of ground beef in the freezer. I'll add some chopped mushrooms to the ground beef, in a marinara sauce to serve over pasta tomorrow night.
• 13 bananas. Trader Joe's prices their bananas per piece -- 19 cents each. If I carefully select only the largest bananas, I can buy them for 39 cents per pound or less.   ----  This is our fresh fruit for the next week. They'll be good in fruit salads mixed with canned pineapple, or in smoothies, or just as is for fresh fruit.
• 72 count package of corn tortillas.  ($2.18, for 72. This works out to 36 cents a dozen. I see 12-ct. packages of corn tortillas at the regular grocery store for about $1.)   While I make our flour tortillas, corn tortillas are a bit trickier. The best I've been able to do with making my own corn tortillas is to make them half wheat flour, half corn flour. Corn tortillas can be frozen. When I buy a large package, I freeze some of them in ziplocs of 6 corn tortillas each.  ---- In choosing the corn tortillas, I was looking for something of a treat for our family. Corn tortillas are a change from most of our bread products. They can be toasted in the toaster oven, with cheese or butter/cinnamon & sugar on top. Or, they can be cut into triangles for making homemade tortilla chips.

For all of this, I spent $14.51. That was our "extra" spending for this month. I wonder what I'll choose next month?

The thing that I am content to live without -- for now: a personal cell phone

When your income is modest, but your goals are large, you find yourself analyzing every expenditure. This is a good thing. Being purposeful with spending that hard-earned income insures that your money is being used according to your values and goals. Intentional spending is empowering. By choosing where our money has gone, our own family has been able to achieve quite a lot on a middle class income.

There are a few things that our family has decided we can be content to live without. Over the next few weeks, I'll give you a glimpse into a few of them.



By looking around the train station, airport, bus stop, grocery store, or mall, you'd think it was a complete impossibility (in our modern life), to live without a cell phone.

I've never had a cell phone. And I'm really okay with that. You'd think I'd feel a few pangs of cell phone-envy whenever I glimpsed a happy texting, chatting, surfing person on their phones. I've never sent or received a text. I often joke with my kids to just send me a text to our landline, when they get to their destination.

All three of my kids have pre-paid phones. And as a worrying mom, I wouldn't have it any other way. But neither my husband nor I have personal phones. We feel okay, not being "connected" 24/7.


I've weighed the pros and cons of having my own phone, and here's what I always come back to:

PROS: if I had my own cell phone

• I could be reached in case of an emergency anytime, anywhere.

• I would have a phone for personal travel, both locally and for trips.

CONS: if I had my own cell phone

• I'm a single-track person. I don't multi-task all that well. When I'm shopping, driving, meeting up with a friend, cooking, or cleaning, I do best if I stick to my task at hand. I really don't want to drop what I'm doing to take a non-emergency call. And I don't do well talking on the phone and continuing with my work. Frankly, I am a bit annoyed when someone else tries to multi-task while talking to me on their cell phone. I have a couple of people who regularly call me while they're driving and running errands. I feel that I don't really have their complete attention for that phone call.

• When I am out taking care of my business, I prefer to do my work in quiet. Now that my kids are grown, grocery shopping is something of a joy, to be out and quietly making my selections.

• If I had a cell phone, my kids might rely on me to solve everyday problems, more often. Although I am constantly involved in my kids' lives, I think having me not being totally accessible at all hours of the day, has encouraged them to find solutions to their own situations. This has been a very good thing. Not that I want my kids to struggle or suffer, but this paid off big for two of them, one day, when they got lost in downtown Seattle. They were on foot and went the wrong direction. I wasn't available to help them. So they found their way on their own.

• The expense. A basic phone with pre-paid plan would be a minimum of $10 per month. This amounts to $120 per year. That money can be used elsewhere, for the time being.

Beyond these pros and cons, this is my biggest point. I am home almost all day, every day. We have voicemail, for those instances when I am not at home. Anyone can call me, at any time of the day, and leave a message. I simply don't NEED a cell phone for the majority of my hours. 

I don't travel to desolate places, or in the wee hours of the night. When I am out taking care of business, I am within a short walk of a nearby phone, and I am visible to passers-by, should I have car trouble or get lost.

Not having a personal cell phone actually keeps us current with car maintenance, which in the end keeps our cars serving us longer. And through the years, I have developed a good sense of direction, as I've had to rely on my own intelligence to find my way.

I don't have a career that keeps me out of reach of a traditional phone, or in need of making business contacts, all day long.

A cell phone for me, would duplicate the services of our land-line, which despite a growing trend of ditching the land-line, we still find it to be more useful than each having our own cell phones (try plugging your computer into the cheapest pre-paid Tracfone, for dial-up).


I do have to admit, there is the occasional time, when I am running errands or returning from my once-per-week job, around the same time that I know my daughters will need a pick-up from the park and ride. I don't know the exact time they will reach the park and ride, so our arrangement is for them call me at the 10 minute point before the destination. Then I can run over to get them. Well, if I am away from the house, I need to go back home to touch base with them, so I know when to pick them up. The worst case, so far, has meant that they needed to wait for 20 minutes, until I could get them. I don't view that as a horrible crime as a parent. Waiting builds patience and appreciation for others' time and schedules.

For the problem of wanting a cell phone while traveling -- my kids have been generous in lending one to their father or me, when one of us is traveling. I email friends and family in advance, regarding the phone number of one of my kids' phones, in case of an emergency.


Will I ever buy a phone for myself? Well, yes, I'm sure that time will come someday, as family finances become looser, or if I land a job that requires a personal phone. But for now, I'm content to live without one.

Waste Nothing: Freezing whipping cream

So, for me, saving the whipping cream usually comes about as a markdown find on cartons of whipping cream. Although, on holidays, there's often a few dollops of whipped cream left from the big meal, or part of a carton sitting in the fridge. This can be saved. I have three ways that I freeze whipping cream, for use later on.

• I freeze whipping cream, unwhipped, in ice cube trays (as I do half & half), to add to soups and sauces. Once frozen, I keep in a large plastic bag in the freezer.

• I also freeze whipping cream right in the carton, a pint at a time. I use this to make ice cream later on. Frozen, then thawed, whipping cream will work best in frozen desserts, if the whipping cream is cooked in a custard base. This minimizes any textural changes from freezing the cream.

• And I freeze already whipped cream, in dollops, to top desserts in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

To freeze whipped cream, here are my mom's instructions:

Line baking sheets with foil.

In a large bowl, for every pint of whipping cream,
add 1/4 to 1/3 cups of confectioner's powdered sugar.

Whip with mixer just until stiff. Add 1/4 teaspoon vanilla, and adjust sweetening as desired. (If you began with 1/4 cup of confectioner's sugar, you may find you'd like just a bit more sweetening.) Whip in the vanilla and any extra sugar.

Scoop large dollops of whipped cream onto the foil. Whipped cream will lose just a bit of its volume in the freezing process, so make the dollops just slightly larger than you think you'd like.

Freeze tray of whipped cream for about 2 hours. Working quickly, peel the dollops from the foil and place in a large ziploc bag.

These dollops of frozen whipped cream
will be saved for Easter dinner.

One pint of whipping cream will make about 18 medium-sized dollops.


To use frozen dollops of cream, place a dollop on a single serving of pie, cake or other dessert. Allow to stand for 10 minutes, to soften. Then serve.



I'll be using one of the pints that I bought on markdown last week, to make ice cream for my daughters' birthday in March. Looking at my recipe for custard-based ice cream (and having bought pints of whipping cream for 59 cents each), I should be able to keep the cost to under $1 for a quart of homemade ice cream. Not bad!

```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Waste Nothing: Salvaging cinnamon sticks from making spiced cider

I made 3 batches of spiced apple cider this autumn. After the mulling spices were done with each batch, I picked out the cinnamon sticks and kept them in a container in the freezer.

To salvage these seemingly spent cinnamon sticks, I do a couple of things. First, I simmer them in about 2 cups of water, for 20 minutes, to remove the stickiness from the cider. Then I dry them on a baking sheet in the toaster oven, at a low temp, for about 30 minutes.

Now they're ready to grind into cinnamon powder to add to applesauce, oatmeal, cookies and breads.

You can use a microplane to grind cinnamon. But I like my knuckles with the skin intact, so I prefer my coffee mill. I break the cinnamon sticks into pieces,

then grind to a powder.

If there is any residual graininess, I roll my mortar and pestle around for a minute to reduce it to a fine powder.

Surprisingly, even after being used for spiced cider and then simmered in water, these cinnamon sticks are still quite aromatic. I've used this freshly ground cinnamon in oatmeal already.

I did a taste comparison between this cinnamon and that I have in a canister. My best estimate is salvaged cinnamon sticks yield about 1/2 to 2/3 the flavoring power of ground cinnamon from the canister. Not too bad!

FYI -- My 3 cinnamon sticks yielded a little over 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What would you do with an extra $10 to $15 in your grocery budget?

When looking at my grocery spending, I can see that for the coming months at least, I won't be spending all $170 that's budgeted. I should have as much as an extra $10 to $15 each month to spend on groceries. It's not a large amount of money, but it gives me something to play with. Some possibilities that I've thought of:

• fresh seasonal produce, such as lettuce and spinach for green salads, currently out of season for my garden
• honey -- I can buy a large jug of honey at the wholesaler for a fraction of grocery store prices. Honey would be nice, but not a necessity.
• more meat, specifically beef -- I miss having beef
• fish -- I don't care much for fish, especially canned fish. If I bought higher quality fresh fish, I may like it more.
• aged cheese -- cheese aged for a year or more is the lower in lactose than most grocery store cheese, and better for my system. But cheese is not a necessity for me, just something nice to have.
• fresh fruit -- one of my daughters would love to have more fresh fruit in winter. We do have ample frozen and dried fruit, but she really loves fresh fruit.
• junky stuff -- the other daughter would be in heaven if I would buy Pop-Tarts, her absolute favorite breakfast (if you can even call it that!).

I suspect that I'll try to balance nutrient-dense additional foods with particular preferences for each member of my family. But I'm open to ideas and suggestions.

What would you do with an extra $10 to $15 per month to spend on food?

Could there be a theme developing here?

Black Cherry Cupcakes, 

using chopped, brandied black cherries and the cherry liquid, that I preserved last summer, to tint and flavor the butter cream frosting.

Wooden Craft Hearts,

which I painted with pink acrylic paints.
I'll string the hearts onto satin ribbon, to make a garland for some Valentine kitchen decor. (wood craft hearts -- Jo-Ann Fabrics 29 cents each, use a coupon and save 10 to 15%)

Roses in Bloom Kitchen Towel

No roses growing in my garden right now. Roses printed on a kitchen towel will cheer me for Valentine's Day and the weeks to come.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Free entertainment for our family this winter

I continue to get opportunities to see plays and concerts at my daughters' university, completely free of charge.

Last fall, I had the opportunity to attend a piano concert and a play. Then last Wednesday, my theater daughter had to usher at another play, so again, I got to enjoy the theater. That particular performance was a preview showing. My daughter ushered, and was given a free ticket to invite a guest. A friend from her class didn't need her free ticket (each student in that class received one free ticket), so my daughter scored a second free one. Both my other daughter and I could sit and watch the performance. The preview showings don't offer refreshments during intermission, but for a free seat, I can give up that cup of punch.

Cheap seats at a professional live theater, in downtown Seattle, run around $30 per seat. While what I get to enjoy are student actors, and not professional, there is something fun about watching the students as they increase in acting ability over the course of the year.

In addition to live entertainment on campus, the art gallery rotates exhibits on a regular basis. I've only had a couple of opportunities to take in these exhibits, but have thoroughly enjoyed them when I could. One Saturday, a couple of weeks ago, my art student daughter needed a ride to campus. There was an exhibit going on at the time, and I got to spend an hour enjoying that exhibit, again, free of charge.

For the whole family, we've been watching movies borrowed from the local library each Saturday and Sunday evening. Not only did I not see these movies in the theater when they were first relieased, but it's likely that I wouldn't have, as many of them are older, or more obscure, but still worth the time to watch. The real bonus in watching these movies at home, we discovered, is if a movie is not up to our standards, we change to another dvd, on the spot. We had one such movie, a week ago. The language was so foul, we all agreed to change it right away.

And for my personal entertainment, my most recent fixation is online sudoku puzzles. I play them both online and on paper. When I've had to take my fun on the go, I find a puzzle or two online, and jot it down on a piece of graph paper, to work with a pencil while in waiting rooms, or while sitting in the car at the park-and-ride picking up my girls. Oh yes, I know they make those handy booklets of sudoku puzzles, but as I can get them for free, online, I can't bring myself to spend the money to buy them.

Each season brings its own free entertainment. For now, we're enjoying indoor activities. But it won't be long until a long walk to the beach, or backyard campfires, are heavily featured in our bargain entertainment schedule.

What free or cheap fun things have you been up to this winter?

Is there anything that smells better than bread fresh out of the oven?

Oh, the aroma is intoxicating.

Sometimes, I have great restraint and can wait until the bread is fully cooled.

Other times, I just can't help myself. Needs no butter, jam or jelly. I'm in heaven.

Making soft butter

Butter is expensive. But our family really prefers butter over margarine, for several reasons. Butter is also rock-hard fresh out of the fridge. You know what I mean? Like when butter is so hard that it tears up a slice of bread. 

So, to address both problems (expense and spreadability), I make my own soft butter. 

Our cost for vegetable oil is quite low, about 69 cents per pound, when bought in an institutional-size container (for a post on buying in institutional-size quantities, see here). While real butter is around $1.90 per pound (on sale, and usually limited to one or two pounds, and only with a coupon). By blending vegetable oil into the butter (using about 1/3 cup of oil, for every 1 cup of butter), the cost of my soft butter is about $1.59/lb.

I have two methods for making soft butter. The ratios are the same, just a different technique mostly determined by the amount I want to make at one time.

The first is a simple process, using a spoon and dish or crock.
To make soft butter, I soften 2 sticks (1 cup) of butter on the counter for several hours. I mash it up with the back of a spoon, in a small crock, until soft and spreadable. Then I add 1/3 cup of vegetable oil, a tablespoon at a time, mixing in well.

When the oil is all mixed in, it looks quite soft  and sloppy (and will have some lumps of butter here and there. I'm not a perfectionist about this).

I cover and refrigerate. Within a couple of hours in the fridge, it will be firm, but spreadable.

The second method I use when I am making a pound or more of soft butter at a time. I use my hand mixer. I do this just prior to using my mixer to bake a cake or make a batch of cookie dough, and then use that buttery bowl afterwards for the baking batter/dough.

I put 1 or 2 pounds of butter into a large mixing bowl, and allow to soften on the counter for an hour or two. I then use my mixer to cream the butter, and add in the oil, in proportions of 3 parts butter to 1 part oil. I blend until all is incorporated, then scoop into containers for the fridge. My buttery bowl and mixer are then used to mix some cake batter/cookie dough -- no extra washing. (Obviously, this is a much more efficient method for making soft butter, than one crock at a time.)

Soft butter only takes a few minutes to make, but it really slows our consumption of an expensive ingredient.

I sometimes go to extremes, with not wanting to waste anything

Using the core of a fresh pineapple

We were given a whole, fresh pineapple as a thank you, for some work my daughters and I helped with a week ago. Fresh pineapple is pretty rare for us, so we made the absolute most of the one we received.

The core of the pineapple is less flavorful, and more fibrous than the outer flesh of the fruit. Often the core is just disposed of.

I added the core pieces to a pitcher of filtered water and left in the fridge for a couple of days. This pleasantly flavored our drinking water for a couple of days.

Before I discarded the core pieces, I thought that maybe there's still some flavor left in them. So, I ran them through the juicer. I've got to be honest here. The resulting juice was significantly less flavorful than commercial pineapple juice. But not wanting to waste any nutrients, I mixed it in with the rest of some orange juice. Pleasant enough. Then, and only then, did I compost the remains of those pineapple cores.

I also cut the crown off and have it sitting in a saucer of water. I have a hunch that you need more of the pineapple corwn than I allowed. But if it does grow in to a house plant, that will be fun.

You know, I considered trying to use the skins of the pineapple. Some people juice the skins and all. But our pineapple was looking a little less than fresh, so I composted those skins. Still, the compost will make a free soil amendment in a few months, so I guess I didn't let any of it go to waste.

This is one of those weird little tips, and I'm not even sure if its true. But I was once told by the produce guy at the market, that to prevent fermentation of sugars at the base of a pineapple, and to ripen the fruit evenly,  stand  the whole pineapple, upside down, on the counter for 2 to 3 days. Does this work for us? Well, since I started doing this, none of our pineapples have had a fermented bottom half. But still, I don't know, for certain, if this really works.

January Grocery Money Journal

Jan. 1 So, we're starting out the month with $158.15 for groceries. It looks doable. I'll need eggs, whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour and a few fruits and veggies. I've been experimenting with various egg substitutes. Right now, I've got a batch of egg-free muffins in the oven. I like this recipe because the leaven comes from vinegar and baking soda, and the moisture from applesauce. So, very affordable for an egg substitute. We'll see how the month goes.

Jan. 3 QFC -- I had a coupon for a free package of bath tissue. I knew I'd use the coupon the next time I went to the bank, as the two businesses are right next door to each other. While there (you must know by now, that I'm going to mention checking for markdowns), I checked the dairy case. If only I'd had more freezer space, because they had a lot of marked down milk and eggnog.  I bought 1 quart of eggnog for 49 cents (we're about done with all the treats, so 1 quart will be enough), 2 gallons of whole milk, for making yogurt (1.89 each), and 5 gallons of 2% milk (1.79 each). Spent $13.22

Trader Joe's -- they have the lowest regular price on eggs in our area, but still I only bought 1 dozen, as $1.89 feels high to me, compared to the usual sale at Walgreen's for 99 cents/dozen. I'll make this dozen last a few weeks if I have to, and hope to find eggs on sale for less, someplace in the meantime. I also bought 13 bananas, for lunches next week, at 19 cents each. Some of these bananas are huge, and this is truly the best deal on bananas in our area. When I got home, I weighed a few, and the price per pound worked out to 34 cents, on average. That's a great price for here. Spent $4.36

Wholesaler Cash and Carry -- just down the road from Trader Joe's. I read their ad online earlier today and saw they had 1 pound packages of butter for $1.85. Worth my time to stop in and pick up 4 pounds. We went through a LOT of butter during the holidays, as my girls love, love, love to bake. So, 4 pounds will extend our current supply of butter another 6 weeks (I still have 4 pounds in the fridge from fall sales, so in all we have enough butter to get through March, barring a baking spree of my daughters'). Spent $7.40, for a total month to date of $24.98

Jan. 4 -- Dollar store for 2 quarts of soy milk. spent $2

Jan. 5 -- Walgreen's. I don't get their ad in the mail, so I check it online on Sundays when it comes out. Eggs for 99 cents/dozen. Woohoo! I bought 12 dozen eggs, with the plan of freezing 3-4 dozen, to use later, while waiting for another sale on eggs. spent $11.98, for a month to date spending of $38.96

Jan. 9  Dollar Tree for soy milk, white flour macaroni noodles (24 oz bag -- We eat whole wheat pasta for everything but mac and cheese. I just can't get behind brown mac and cheese.), 6 packets of veg and herb seeds. Total spent $3.65

Jan. 9  Albertsons cheese and whole wheat pasta on sale. 2 lbs medium cheddar for $3.99/limit 2 with coupon, and boxes of whole wheat pasta (13.25 oz) for $1 each. I bought 14 boxes of an asst of spaghetti, thin spaghetti, penne and rotini. This price works out to about $1.20/lb, which beats Trader Joe's whole wheat pasta price by 19 cents/lb. Also, I cruised the dairy case and found half and half creamer for 75 cents/qt (bought 1, I'll freeze in small amounts for adding to coffee, soups and sauces), and 1 qt of pumpkin spice soy eggnog for 99 cents. The rest of the family gets their fill of eggnog over the holidays, I get mine on the clearance sale. I'll freeze in single portions to have as treats when I want. Spent $23.72, for a month to date total of $66.33

Jan. 14 Cash and Carry restaurant supply for all-purpose flour (50 lbs for $13.49), whole wheat flour (50 lbs for $12.48), ground mustard (10 oz. for $3.39), and raisins (2 lbs for $4.59). Total spent $33.95, for a month to date total of $100.28

Jan. 27 I have to take my daughters to the transit center in a nearby town twice a week. Fortunately, the transit center is near a couple of stores where I make grocery purchases. Today, I stopped at the Cash and Carry, and picked up carrots (25 lb bag for 8.48). I wanted to just buy the 5 lb bag for $2.21, as I didn't want the hassle of re-bagging into smaller packages, or the crowded fridge. But after doing some math, I realized that buying the larger bag would be like paying for 19 lbs and getting 6 pounds for free (as compared to buying carrots in the smaller bag). And I also thought about our family's eating habits. We went through the last 25 lb bag in about 2  1/2 months. So, our fridge would not be overly crowded for all that long. Total spent $8.48

Also stopped by Trader Joe's, just down the street and bought several bananas. 13 bananas at 19 cents each. Total spent $2.47

Stopped in QFC to check for marked down milk, and use a coupon. I bought 3 gallons of skim milk ($1.99 each), and got 6 full-sized candy bars for free, with coupon. The candy bars are put away for something special. QFC has been sending a sheet of coupons every few weeks, this winter. IN with the coupons is a freebie each time. Last time around it was for a 6-pack of bath tissue. This time 6 free candy bars. Not bad! Total spent, $5.97

Also in the area is Dollar Tree. I picked up 1 box of baking soda (16 oz for 59 cents), a bag of pretzels for a special occasion coming up, and 2 packets of vegetable seeds (25 cents/packet). Total spent $2.09.
Month to date spending -- $119.29

Our budget for the month of January was set at $158.15. This includes the carry forward of our overspending from November and December, so we're now completely caught up, and have a surplus of $38.86, going forward into February.

Our pantry is beginning to look like a dent has been put into our stock. And I was able to easily find room in the freezers for this week's bread-baking. But I can see that we have enough grains, meat, fruits and vegetables to get through February.

I've been asked a few times how we're managing to keep our spending so low.

• making almost everything from scratch
• buying the inexpensive fruits and vegetables, and not buying the more expensive ones
• skipping the treat items. Around the holidays, instead of buying crackers (even from the dollar store), I made crostini regularly. I haven't bought any specialty coffee (like bags of Starbucks or Tulley's) since some time last spring, but instead we're just drinking whatever I find on sale.
• if the price is too high, I just don't buy. I'd have loved to have bought some oranges in January. But I didn't find any in my price range all month. I'll be able to buy them at 50 cents/lb at the produce stand in late March, so we'll wait. Until then, I do have some frozen orange juice left, and lots of tomato products, all have good amounts of Vit. C. Fresh cabbage will go on sale in early March, again, good amount of Vit. C. Plus all of our frozen strawberries, and the greens and parsley in the garden are coming back, which also have Vit. C. 
• when I find a good deal on a staple item, I nudge myself to buy even more than I would have in the past. I bought 12 dozen eggs when I found them at 99 cents/dozen. This should be enough to last us through March. And hopefully I will find them on sale again near that time.
• finding substitutes for foods that I'm not finding on sale. Mayonnaise at over $3 per quart seems ridiculous to me. Instead, I'm using Greek yogurt in place of mayo in all our cooking. Mayo will eventually go on sale, then I'll stock up. My price to look for is under $2.50 per quart.

None of these points sound like extraordinary money-savers, but when you combine them all, it has resulted in us reducing our grocery budget by about 20%, since August.

There's a certain amount of stress when you know that you can't just buy whatever you want. I look at my pantry, fridge and freezer, and realize that this stress is all in my mind. I have to keep reminding myself, that sticking to this low grocery budget is part of the overall plan to keep our daughters at the university, to save for retirement, and be prepared for any unseen emergencies looming in the future. 

We're still able to do a lot of fun things on our small budget, including some travel (using miles, points and reward dollars), and a special meal out later this spring (using a gift card). We're well. We're comfortable. We're provided for. I even have a little bit of birthday money from last year to spend. (I did spend some of it last week, on a new shirt and sweater -- Penney's clearance rack). When I'm feeling deprived, I just need to remind myself that it's really all in my head.

I want spring!

I know, still January, but I want spring! I am so eager to get outside and plant seeds, rake up winter's mess, and begin to work on a new section of the yard. But this week is still cold and wet.

So instead, I'm making out my gardening plans. I've gone through my seed packets, and begun to fill the gaps where I've run out of favorite vegetable seeds. I've picked up several packets at Dollar Tree, but will need to go to Home Depot for other varieties. I have new gloves to begin the gardening season. I picked these up on clearance at the drug store in October.

I need seed starting soil, but have a large selection of 9-cell seed starters, peat pots, and now am collecting empty peanut butter jars for larger seedlings.

Most of my seedlings will do fine in the small 9-cell seed starters, but some plants need larger starting pots. I'm saving plastic containers to use as seed starters for plants like pumpkin and squash that develop large root systems quickly.  I have over a dozen 10 and 16-oz. plastic, peanut butter jars, already. I'll drill drainage holes in the bottoms, and they should serve well for starting seeds this spring. I like being able to use these one more time, before adding them to the recycle bin.

But I still have to wait another couple of weeks before starting seeds. So hard to wait! Are you doing any armchair gardening this week?

Just a note -- Life is super busy for me this week. If I don't get back to your comments right away, give me a sec. I'm trying to check in and read once or twice a day. Things should settle down come Monday or Tuesday. Hope all is well at your end!

Organizing my desk: my correspondence center

My desk has been in a state of distress for the last couple of months. The holidays, getting my daughters settled at the university, end of the gardening season, and a family who likes to deposit all of their things on my desk, are my excuse.

No more. I need an organized area to work, once again.

One of my recent resolutions is to keep on top of family special events. No one wants to be known as the auntie who's always late with birthday cards. Organizing my supplies will hopefully help in that area. Plus, I'll save a bit of money, as I won't be heading off to the store to buy birthday cards, when I have several to choose from, right here at home.

Maybe you have these, too. Squashed boxes of envelopes in a drawer.

I piled several sizes of envelopes together, and tied with a pretty ribbon.

The ribbon wasn't totally necessary, but it says to me that I care what my desk looks like.

My letter caddy had become a general receptacle for any paper to cross my desk. I emptied it. Then placed the bundle of envelopes in one of the front sections, along with postage stamps, and envelope-sealing stickers.

The backside of the caddy now holds an assortment of greeting cards, homemade and shop-bought, from wedding, to new baby, to get well, and to birthday greetings. Now there is no excuse for me to miss acknowledging a special occasion. I also placed a stack of thank you note cards, as I don't want to be the daughter, sister or friend who forgets to express gratitude.

Are you one of those very organized gals who always has a card ready for the occasion, and is never remiss with a thank you? If so, what is your secret? I've been working on this for the better part of my life, and have only made baby steps of progress!

I was really annoyed last week

Last Tuesday, our neighbor stopped by our house, on her early morning dog walk. She had a bundle of papers in her arms. When the doorbell rings early in the morning, your mind races to the worst possible place. I had no idea what my neighbor wanted.

I opened the door, and realized the papers were pieces of mail. She handed me several, then told me where she found them -- in the woods behind her house.

We'd been hit by mail thieves, again! This has been a problem in our neighborhood for a few years. It's usually closer to when tax refunds are sent out, or, just before Christmas, when gift cards and checks are often sent. But lately, it's been any time of the year. And we'd been the victims.

So angry, so worried, so annoyed, that someone would take advantage of another person's hard work. We are just ordinary people, taking care of our business, day in and day out. Trying to make ends meet. Trying to save for retirement. Trying to pay our bills. What right did these thieves think they had, that they could steal our mail, our financial information, our checks, our sense of security?!

And now, my husband and I had to go to the cost and trouble, to replace our mailbox with a locking one. And we had to file a police report. Now, we'll need to closely scrutinize future bank account information, credit card statements, and credit reports. So annoyed!

I did my homework, though. I went online and read reviews of several different makes and models of locking mailboxes. These things aren't cheap. Not if you want to get one that really keeps the thieves out of your mail.

Some makes/models use the exact same key for all the boxes they sell! Others can be pried open with a screwdriver in under a minute. And others have a slot that doesn't get the mail out of a fishing thief's fingers.

I eventually found a box on Amazon, that looks like it will deter most thieves. Next, I searched online for a better price on the model that I had settled on. I found the same make/model on Lowes.com, with free shipping, and for about $40 less than Amazon.com. And finally, I shopped through Swagbucks, earning swag dollars for my purchase.

At least if we have to pay to replace our mailbox, I feel I did get a good price on it.

But I'm still annoyed.


Some helpful advice that I'll pass on to you.

• Never allow incoming mail to sit in an unlocked box more than a couple of hours. 
• Never place outgoing mail in your box. But if you do, don't put your flag up. The mailman told me that he didn't need the flag, that he would see our outgoing mail in the box, when he went to place new mail inside. 
• If you are the victim of mail theft, report it. Mail theft isn't just a nuisance, it's a federal crime. A friend of ours told me that they had trouble with mail theft a few years back, and they were actually able to catch the thief, and have him prosecuted.
• Secure your mailbox area. Remove or prune shrubs, trees and bushes surrounding the mailbox. If there's a street light in the area, make sure that its light is not obstructed by tree branches. 
• Tidy up your mailbox stand and area. An untidy mail delivery area looks like it could be unattended.
• If you can afford to upgrade to a locking mailbox, do your homework and find a model that truly is secure.
• Alert all of your neighbors about the mail theft. Post signs, if legal, above neighbor's mailboxes. The fewer non-locking mailboxes in a development/area, the less likely mail thieves will target this area.
• Consider alerting your bank and credit card companies, and placing a fraud alert on your credit report.
• Even if you have a locking mailbox, have your mail held while you're on vacation. In even some of the better locking mailboxes, mail can pile up inside, and be more easily fished out.

I hope that you already have a locking mailbox, and that this could never happen to you. It's been an invasion in our family's sense of security. And, yes, I'm still really annoyed over this.

Taking advantage of Half & Half or heavy cream on markdown

When I find half & half or heavy cream on  markdown, I buy a couple of quarts and freeze in ice cube trays. After the cream cubes are frozen, I pop them out into a large ziploc bag, and keep in the freezer. To use, I thaw, as needed, to add to sauces or my coffee.

These 4 cream cubes are for a pumpkin, sage and sausage pasta dish that I'm making tonight. I'll thaw them on the counter for an hour, before stirring into the pumpkin sauce.

In November, I found half and half creamer on markdown for 50 cents per quart. Then in December, I found the same brand on markdown for 75 cents per quart. Both prices I felt were good enough to buy some. A touch of cream can smooth out soups and sauces, which in turn leaves us very satisfied with meals at home.

A hint for popping the frozen cream cubes out of the tray: they're difficult to just pop out of the plastic tray, fresh out of the freezer. If I let the ice tray sit on the counter for about 3-4 minutes before popping out, they come out easily.

When we bought our current fridge/freezer with auto ice maker, I thought I would give the ice cube trays away. But I had a second thought to keep them. You never know when you'll need to freeze something in small quantities, like cream. What do you use your ice cube trays for?


(Note -- sometimes, but not always, milk and cream products separate when freezing and thawing. We've had good luck re-combining with a brisk stir.)

Winter vegetables for my frugal kitchen: Roasted chunks of winter squash

This is the last of the budget winter vegetable dishes that I'll share this week.

I haven't bought any veggies since December 17th, when I bought a 50-lb sack of onions. We've managed all of our meals with the vegetables on-hand, from the fridge, freezer and pantry. This is a huge savings for us, as looking at this week's ads for the local grocery stores, there are absolutely no veggies within my limits for what I'll spend on vegetables. The best I could possibly do this week, is 75 cents for canned green beans, or $1.50 for a bundle of fresh kale (and I can pick kale fresh in my own garden, even now in January).

On November 1, I did a big stock-up at the produce stand's clearance day. In all of that I bought a bunch of sugar pie pumpkins and winter squash. I cooked most of those pieces in November and December. But I saved a couple of them in the garage fridge. I cooked the last of the winter squash this past week, and have 2 sugar pie pumpkins remaining.


We like squash in many ways, mashed, whipped in a souffle, in breads and cakes, and also, in chunks, roasted in the oven.

Roasted cubes of winter squash

2 to 3 pounds of smooth-skinned winter squash, such as butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cubed to 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons oil (olive is nice, but vegetable oil will also work)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
dash of black pepper
2 teaspoons finely minced, fresh herbs, such as sage or thyme (optional)

Butter a large baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, with rack in the center of oven.

In a large bowl, toss squash pieces with the oil, salt, pepper and fresh herbs (optional). Spread out, in a single layer, on the prepared baking sheet. (If squash pieces are too close together, they don't caramelize as well, but instead tend to "steam" in the moisture of adjacent pieces.)

Place in the oven, and bake for about 35-40 minutes, (turning once after about 25 minutes), until the squash is tender and beginning to brown. Serve.

You can freeze roasted squash, to use later in risotto, soup or pasta dishes. The roasting adds a nice flavor to winter squash, both nutty and caramelized sweetness.


This past week, I've shared some of our family's vegetable dishes that we've enjoyed this winter. (Gee, it's felt like my kinder years and "show and tell"). Without the garden in full-swing, it has been something of a challenge to pull together meals, without too much repetition. But overall, we've been eating very well, even on our reduced grocery budget of $170/mo.

Have a great weekend!

Winter cooking using canned corn: Golden Corn Pudding

More winter vegetable dishes, using what's in my pantry, freezer and fridge. So, technically, corn is a grain and not a vegetable. But we often eat it like a vegetable.

Corn pudding is one of those dishes that you can add ingredients to and make it a hearty, main attraction for supper, or leave it plain, and it's a nice side. It often makes an appearance on our Thanksgiving table, as it's a favorite of my kids.

There are several possible add-ins: grated cheese, chopped ham, diced fresh or frozen green bell pepper, minced hot peppers (I like jalapenos), or crumbled bacon.

Corn pudding last week had frozen, leftover Christmas ham as the only add-in, but it was very hearty. I found canned corn on sale for 50 cents per can in November. Along with the ham, eggs, cream and water, this main dish cost just under $2 to serve 4 of us.

Golden Corn Pudding

serves 4 or 5

ingredients:

one 15.25 oz can of corn, with liquid
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
cream, milk or water, to add to corn liquid (drained corn liquid + extra liquid = 1 cup total)
2 eggs, separated (whites in a medium to large bowl, yolks in a small dish)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon paprika

optional add-ins (one or several):
1/2 cup grated cheese
1 1/2 cups chopped ham
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
small amount of fresh hot peppers, minced (I like about 1/2 of a jalapeno, minced)
1/4 cup crumbled, cooked bacon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 2-quart round casserole or souffle baker.

Drain can of corn, reserving liquid in a measuring cup. Add cream, milk or water to reserved liquid to make 1 cup of liquid, total.

In a medium saucepan over Medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour. Combine this with reserved corn liquid plus extra liquid of choice (cream, milk or water,) stirring well. Continue cooking until sauce is smooth and has thickened. Add drained corn, peppers and/or ham or bacon. Remove from heat.

Beat the egg yolks with a fork. Spoon a tablespoon of the sauce over egg yolks, and stir well. Add another spoonful of hot sauce to egg yolks, and stir well. Repeat one more time.

Add the warmed egg yolks to the sauce. Stir well. Return to heat (Medium), stir and heat for 3 or 4 minutes, until egg yolks have cooked and thickened the sauce slightly. Stir in salt and paprika. Remove from heat.

In medium or large bowl, use a mixer to whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle with grated cheese (optional). Fold the egg yolk, sauce and corn mixture into the stiff egg whites and grated cheese.

Transfer to a prepared casserole or souffle baker. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until puffy, golden and eggs are set. Serve immediately.

My two daughters' recipe for Curried Carrot Soup

Curried Carrot Soup

Another winter vegetable dish for the frugal kitchen.

When my kids find recipes that they do very well, I learned early on that I should just step back and let them "own" that recipe. Why stomp all over their success by making a recipe that they've learned to do very well?!

My two daughters have a cake with caramel sauce and fudge topping that is "theirs".

They do biscuits much better than mine.

And they have this tasty carrot soup recipe that they make for family dinners, every so often.

It's super frugal, calling for carrots, curry powder, onion, broth, oil and water. That's it!

I wish I had photos to share the how-to's. But when the kids are working in the kitchen, I make myself scarce!

Here's the link:
Curried Carrot Soup

Using canned tomatoes for a side dish in winter

More winter vegetable dishes, using what I have on hand.

I don't buy a lot of canned vegetables, mostly because we don't have the amazing deals on canned veggies, such as in other areas of the country. But I do buy canned tomatoes and canned corn. The canned tomatoes, I buy in #10 cans, by the case (6 large cans), as tomato paste, diced tomatoes and whole, stewed tomatoes.

Once a large can is open, I freeze whatever I don't use, in portions large enough for family meals.

This is one side dish that we really enjoy. It goes well with many of our entrees, from rice and beans, to veggie burgers, or, ham or turkey meals.

Just before adding the topping. I used Swiss chard in this batch.

Tomato-Vegetable Medley

1/2 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 cups of diced, canned tomatoes, in their juice (equivalent to a 14.5 oz can)
1 cup of any frozen, leafy green, such as Swiss chard, spinach or kale
1 cup frozen, shredded zucchini (totally optional, but when I want to up the vegetable content of dinner, I add this)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon minced fresh or frozen basil, or 1/2 teaspoon dried
pinch salt
pinch red pepper flakes, if desired

optional topping:
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs (whatever I happen to have -- oregano, basil, rosemary, savory, marjoram)

In a large skillet, heat oil. Saute onions until translucent.

Add garlic and tomatoes. Simmer for 5 minutes, to reduce the liquids. Add frozen greens, and frozen shredded zucchini (optional). Bring back to a gentle boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 6-7 minutes. (The cooking times all depend on how liquidy you like your vegetables. Reduce the time for simmering if you prefer a saucier dish, cook for the stated time for a drier dish.)

Stir in herbs and seasonings. Cook for 2 minutes. Depending on which vegetables I use, it can be a bit soupy at this point. I sometimes serve this in small ramekins, just as is, along with the entree. Or, I toss it with cooked pasta or rice, for a grain and vegetable side dish.

But for a more finished side dish, I use the topping. Transfer the vegetables to an oven-proof casserole dish, at this point.

In a small bowl, combine the topping ingredients. Sprinkle over the vegetables. Place in a preheated 400 degree F oven. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until topping is browned and crisp.

Winter vegetable dishes using the inexpensive cool-season vegetables

It's mid-winter. Produce stands are closed for the season. Gardens aren't producing much, if at all (yours may be under 2 feet of snow this week). Grocery store produce can be expensive. But there are some vegetables which are the mainstays of the frugal kitchen. Potatoes, onions, carrots, cabbage, winter squash, and of course some canned and frozen veggies.

I've had some inquiries as to what we're eating, produce-wise, without buying much in the way of the fresh stuff. So, this week, I thought I'd share some of the vegetable-y dishes that we've had this month, using onions, carrots, winter squash, garlic, frozen garden greens, canned tomatoes, and canned corn.

Just for the curious (and those on a teensy grocery budget, such as myself), I have 5 quick and easy (emphasis on "easy") recipes for frugal vegetable dishes -- 3 side dishes and 2 main dishes, all using my favorite budget-friendly veggies.

Mustard Glazed Onions

I serve this at least once per week in winter. The onions go well with sandwich meals, alongside bean or meat patties, or with simpler casseroles. I made grilled ham and cheese sandwiches last Sunday for lunch. The glazed onions were a perfect accompaniment to the sandwiches. Then on Thursday, we had leftover turkey in gravy and mashed potatoes. Again I made these glazed onions and they seemed to suit that meal, as well.

This recipe takes just basic ingredients that you probably have in your kitchen right now.

to serve 4-5

1  1/2 large onions
2 teaspoons oil and 2 teaspoons butter (or all oil, all butter/margarine)
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard
pinch salt (did you know that a pinch has been standardized to 1/16 teaspoon?)

In a large skillet, heat oil and butter over medium.

Thin slice the onions. Saute onions in melted oil/butter, until golden, stirring often.

When onions are golden, stir in brown sugar, mustard and salt. Add more mustard to taste, if desired.

Serve.

How to take care of a blender so that it lasts for decades

In yesterday's comments, Valarie S. made a good point, that "older" often means "sturdier", in regards to household goods, appliances, tools and equipment. I have found this to be the case, as well. And this line of thinking has kept me from replacing appliances, simply because I want the newer and prettier model.

a tale of two blenders that last, and last, and last

My parents had an Oster blender, wedding gift c.1957, which continued to perform well for their entire marriage. There was nothing fancy about their blender. The switch had two functions to choose from, "on" and "off". But did it ever work. It chopped ice, made shakes (back in the 60s and 70s, we didn't call them smoothies, but called them shakes), pureed vegetables and more. That thing was built to last!

In 1981, my sister gave me an Osterizer blender. And guess what? It still does smoothie-duty almost every morning. In 33 years, I've replaced the gasket a half a dozen times, and I've sharpened the blades a few times. When my blender was given to me, my dad told me what I needed to do to take good care of it. And it's lasted, and lasted, and lasted. I've used it on ice, to puree soups, to make smoothies, and even to make peanut and sunflower seed butters. I'd say, for near daily use, it's held up well. 33 years and going strong.

One of the things that really impresses me is how much of this blender is heavy-duty metal, and how little of it is plastic. This was standard for appliance design in the past. Not always the case today.


Making your older appliances stand the test of time does require some work.

• On a blender, replacing the gasket will not only give you a better seal between the jug and blade assembly, but the rubber gasket becomes ever-so-slightly pitted, and can harbor bacteria as a result. Cost to replace the gasket, about $1.50.

• Taking the jug and blade assembly apart regularly, to clean it thoroughly, is not just good kitchen hygiene, but it will prolong the life of your gasket, and give you a chance to check the blade for nicks. Cost to clean the blade assembly, nothing but warm, soapy water and a rag.

• After washing the blender jar, don't place it back on the base unit until the bottom of the blender is totally dry. Placing a wet blender jar on the base unit can cause corrosion of the square drive pin and plate (the place where the underside of the jar connects with the motor base assembly). Cost to leave it to dry, nothing but patience. But should you find your square drive pin and plate (on Oster models) have corroded, no worries. You can order those Oster parts for under $7.

• When it seems that your blade isn't chopping as well as it did when the blender was new, there's a good chance that the blades need sharpening. I use a sharpening steel and a small knife sharpening stone to gently hone the edge of the blades. This gives me like-new processing results once again. Cost to sharpen the blades, free if you have a steel or stone. (Here are some good instructions on sharpening your blender blade.)

• When I reach the point where the blades can't be sharpened another time, then replacing the blade unit will be a good, and cost-effective option.  Cost to replace the blade assembly, about $10.

When I was searching online for a gasket last week, I found that not only could I order blades, the jar nuts (that plastic cap-like piece that holds the blade), the glass jars and the lids, but I could also order parts for the base unit of the blender that I have, should those wear out someday. Good to know.

A company like Oster is well-known for the quality of their products. In fact, their motto is "Legendary performance. Designed to last." And that they do. Their blenders have been around for many decades, and they strive to keep parts available for even some of their older models.

I've gotten over 30 years of use out my Oster blender, and I expect I can get another decade, at least. No need for the newer, fancier models.

Maintaining the older appliances in my home is definitely well worth it.

Frugality isn't all how-to and do

This past week's posts have been filled with how-tos. And frankly I'm about exhausted by all the how-tos. But I wanted to get them out there, for anyone else needing the information.

A lot of what we read on these frugal living blogs is how to do something you normally do, but for less. This information is all helpful. But in reality, most of our frugal living is not activity-oriented.

When I think of all the things that I don't do, that wind up saving us money, the list looks something like this:


1) I sometimes don't get around to replacing a burned-out light bulb for a long while. (Sorry, girls, that bathroom light bulb will eventually get changed out.)


2) Some weeks, cooking is not-so-creative and meals look like this -- breakfast: oatmeal, lunch: peanut butter on bread, dinner: a huge pot of soup that winds up feeding the 5 of us for 3 different dinners.


3) I keep myself out of stores, and save, save, save -- no coupons required when you're not shopping.


4) Old and worn towels take up life in the rag pile. I don't even cut them up. Large towels are great for wiping down the car, after a wash. Medium size towels make great mop-heads for my Swiffer. And the washcloths and fingertip towels are the perfect size for cleaning up kitchen spills.


5) I probably only get one or two professional haircuts per year, some years, not at all. The in-between times, I take a small pair of scissors and trim up every few weeks. And this takes me less time than driving to a salon -- about 10 minutes. (A note, I have thick and curly hair. A self-haircut doesn't show ragged edges on my type of hair.) 


6) In summer, we sometimes skip a week of mowing the back lawn. Our mower is rechargeable electric, so this does result in less electricity used.


7) We stick with our ancient technology gadgets, like our phone. It's tethered to the wall, no portable phone for our house. We've had this phone for about 25 years, and it still works, so why replace it.


8) We've accepted hand-me-downs for probably 75% of our furniture. We didn't have to do anything to fill our house, but open the front door.


9) In the flower gardens, I plant almost all perennials or flowering evergreens. Plant once, and they come back year after year. Plus, I've learned to embrace the color green.



You see, what we don't do easily saves us as much money as what we do do. Maybe it sounds like we're lazy. But I like to think that we're just very busy, and don't have time to do everything.


How about you? Do you think that you save more money in the doing, or in the not-doing?