Are you staying frugal?

Eats lately:
Pecan Crusted Goat Cheese is so good on a thin slice of apple, pear or your cracker choice. Not really a recipe, just crush some nuts with a little spice, then roll and pat your cheese in it. I used 1/4t Penzey's baking spice blend.

Frugal doings lately:
> Bought a favorite brand of coffee that, while pretty expensive compared to my other favorite (Aldi's doughnut shop beans, light roast), will save me lots of $$ that I'd otherwise spend in the coffeehouses. It also happens to be an area roasted one that our little, non-chain coffee shops use.
> Along those lines: I ran out of my favorite sugar-free coffee syrup (Monin) and can't bring myself to pay for the cheaper brand at Sam's as it's just not as good. While my coffee doesn't taste quite the same without the syrup, it's been still pretty darn good with stevia drops (which I bought quite some time ago but found too bitter at the time). Not sure how long I can withstand going without Monin, but worth a try, ha ha!
> Pulled a bag of shrimp from deep down in the freezer. Made a little rice, let it cool, then mixed up a dressing/sauce and combined it with the rice and shrimp for a cold salad. (Recipe from a bottle salad dressing.) Cheap, satisfying dinner that I wouldn't have ever thought to make normally. I'm finding it sort of fun coming up with new ideas to use the "meat" items from deep down in the freezer and love not spending money on meat right now!
> Nearly passed on a two piece swimsuit that a friend offered me. But glad that I took it. Tried it on and found that it fits nicely. I own two others that are getting a bit worn out and this one is in new shape still as this friend likely only wore it a couple of times.
> Finally decided to make use of the wire hanging baskets that I'd picked up from the recycling/reuse center in the nearby city (for free). I did purchase a $5 coconut fiber liner and have to buy a couple of plants. But this is so much cheaper than purchasing a new filled basket from a greenhouse.
> Opened a Roth IRA in my own name so that J and I can each make deposits towards retirement as neither of our employers offer any benefits. Additionally, I influenced my son to make a frugal choice that will serve him well someday, too, as he also opened one for himself.
> Hit a few garage sales where I found a fleece pull-over jacket for J (50cents), a short sleeve and a long sleeve top for myself (50cents total), a nice dress for myself which may be too big but worth a try at $1. I also happened to come upon an electric skillet at the very first sale. It was $4 and in great shape. I had just told J the day before that we needed to replace ours as it's so scratched up. Yay!
> Made too much spaghetti and sauce for supper one night. There was enough left for an entire meal so I froze it. (We're not very good at using up leftovers quickly.) Same thing happened a couple nights later when I made a pork and peppers stir-fry with jasmine rice. These will be great for evenings when I don't feel like cooking.
> Received a coupon for a free bag of cat treats.
> Printed a coupon for a free bag of cat food with any purchase at a pet supplies store. Bought a tub of cat litter for the same price as we typically do.
> Answered a "quiz" on facebook and won 5 coupons for $3 off berries. This amounts to free ones as long as I buy when on sale.
> Received a brochure from which to choose a gift of thanks from my employer. It just so happened that I've been talking to someone recently about wanting an egg cooker and there was one in the brochure!
> While not a frugal doing for me so much, I was able to give a pair of tall, black boots to someone through our area freecycle site. Also, my m-i-l took a couple of bags of things that I was going to donate to Goodwill to go through first and she will drop the leftovers off at Goodwill. I'd rather someone get use of those items for free than having Goodwill sell them.
> I was asked to come in to work a couple of hours early to help out on a busy weekend. Two more hours of pay!
> While this was a spend, it still made my day! I went to Sam's Club to buy another skort as the one I'd bought from there has been so comfortable. They were marked down to half the price I had paid. I bought 3!
> I've had two empty essential oil room spray bottles hanging around for a while. I realized that I actually have lavender, sweet orange and tangerine essential oils. So I combined water and alcohol with a combo of the oils and refilled the bottles. It smells great!
> Made a low-sugar rhubarb freezer jam using rhubarb from the garden and a little sugar, xylitol and jello packets. I'd guess it to be about 2/3rd less sugar than regular. This will be a nice topping for yogurt.

What I've Seen Lately:
Cut a couple of small branches from a rose bush during a storm before all the blooms blew off. (I know, I know... boy, is my lamp dusty. And my bedding doesn't match.) Second pic is of said storm rolling in to our neighborhood. Cut peonies and placed vases of them all around the house for a natural deodorizer.

Are you staying frugal?

Eats lately:
I have forgotten to take pics of what I'm eating. Though these two photos may reveal why I have gained five pounds over the past several months. Well, part of the reason. (The other part would be potato chips and Top-the-Tator dip.) I can't seem to curb my fruit cravings. (Or chips and dip.) Also, portion control has become an issue. Anyway, first pic is of Spam,spinach & eggs topped with white cheddar and a clementine. Second pic is pre-seasoned chicken breast from off the grill, salad and cottage cheese with pear slices.

Frugal doings:
>Bought two graduation cards at the dollar store at 2 for $1.
>Refashioning a keychain out of a couple gifted items and a clearance purchased item.
>Repaired the crotch of J's favorite pair of pull on pants. He has a habit of wearing pants over his pajama flannels a lot and it increases the wear on his pants, grr. His second pair are waiting to have the button replaced that had popped off a few days ago. Again, worn over flannel pajamas. Men.
>J took on a portion of another contractor's route. He's doing a month long trial run before committing completely.
>Since we do not have health insurance, I have been taking advantage of a slow period at work and have been resting my legs a lot. I've had lots of knee pain (both knees) for the past several weeks. It seems that the concrete floors and long standing periods at work may be contributing factors.
>Bought a solar lantern for $15. I like the idea of having it for power outages, as well as reducing electricity use by using it to read by in the evenings. Now if I could just remember to get it out in the sun to charge it...
>Went back on the sub list as a school lunch lady. It's only a few hours at a time and may only happen twice in a school year. But I like the little ones (only subbing for the elementary school) and one of my friends is a former coworker and I enjoy working with her, too. Also, in the summer when there is no school it is our busy time at my "real" job as the tourists come to town.
>Considering selling my Leslie Sansone dvd's and just doing some regular walking once my knees are good to go again. The kicking in those videos were when I first realized the knee pain some years ago and I think it's time to let them go.
> Bought two bookmarks at Barnes & Noble from their 50% off tables, as well as a tote bag, that will be a couple of stocking stuffers and a birthday gift.
> Noticed in my new members coupon booklet from Sam's Club that they offered a free dozen croissants in addition to their other already advertised freebies (rotisserie chicken, dinner rolls and an apple pie). It's far more bread than this house can consume while it's fresh, so I froze a few of the dinner rolls and croissants and J will bring some to his mom, along with part of the pie.
> Used rhubarb from garden to make some tartlets that I brought along for coffee at a friend's house. We also played Mahjong again.
> Took chicken salad to work for lunches instead of buying something there. Although we have cheap food items, it comes at the expense of my health.
> Received a check from US Treasury that they say is due us because we've overpaid. I think they've made a mistake. I put it into our tax account at the bank until they catch up to it or I call and get it straightened away. Until then it may as well grow interest.
> Downloaded a few books onto my kindle from the library. I haven't done this for a while as I prefer to hold an actual book. But I haven't found any good ones lately. This feels less wasteful of my and the librarian's time and I can delete them right away if they don't catch my interest fast enough.
> Came across some forgotten, frozen blueberries in the freezer from several years ago. I heated them with some store brand pancake syrup, a bit of vanilla and a gob of brown sugar to make a blueberry syrup for J and D for their waffles.
> Have greatly reduced meat purchases as I still try to reach the bottom of our freezers by using what we have. It's gotten frustrating as we don't tend to rotate that stuff to the top. Grr.
> Have spent time with two friends where we played cribbage and had coffee together as well as played Mahjong and ate a lunch of one friend's Memorial Day leftovers.
> Along the line of game playing, we have discovered that a group of people get together in our little hometown on Thursday evenings to play Mahjong. We will be going for the first time tomorrow night!

Sights lately:

Oriole, couple turkey vultures (neighbors guinea hen had just been hit = roadkill supper), hummingbird, evening grosbeak and a little bird with a strange growth on its leg.

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Recipe & Re-done!

Has rhubarb sprung up where you are at? Not here. Unfortunately, as I look out the kitchen window, I see gray sky, cold wind and snowflakes falling... Again. But knowing that spring is here and the rhubarb will start to come up soon, I dug out from the freezer what's left of last year's that I'd harvested. I love this use for rhubarb! I have tried a couple low-carb recipes for bbq sauce in the past. They just didn't do it for me - yuck. But this? This is great! I imagine you could:
1.) add a little liquid smoke.
2.) use honey (or other natural sweetener, for that matter) for a sweet honey bbq sauce.
3.) add molasses for a darker and deeper flavor.
4.) add more chipotle for a spicier kick (though this already leaves a nice little "sting").
5.) omit the chipotle if you don't like heat at all.
6.) use as a salad dressing when chilled.
7.) add to mayo/sour cream for a veggie dip or onion ring dip.
8.) etc., you get the picture...

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce 
(adapted from Cooking Light magazine, April 2014) 
1T butter
1/2c diced onion
1T minced garlic, heaping
3c frozen diced rhubarb
1/2c water
1/3c sugar
1/4c ketchup
2T white vinegar
1/2tsp chipotle powder
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/8tsp salt

Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion and garlic, cook until tender, about 5mns. Add rhubard, cook about 5mns more, stirring occasionally. Add water, sugar, ketchup, vinegar, chipotle and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5mns more, or until rhubarb is tender. Pour into either a blender or processor and run until smooth. Pour back into saucepan and let cook a minute. Turn off heat and stir in mustard and salt. Makes about a full pint.

Their notes say that this contains 5g carbs per 2T sized serving. No sugar count given. Just think how easy this would be to make into a low-carb sauce! Wait! Don't even give it a thought. I redid it for you!

Tangy Rhubarb BBQ Sauce Re-done to Low-Carb
(adapted from adapted recipe above)
1T butter
1/2c diced onion
1T minced garlic, heaping
3c frozen diced rhubarb (or fresh if yours is up)
1/2c water
1/3c xylitol
1/4c sugar-free ketchup
2T white vinegar
1/2tsp chipotle powder
1tsp Dijon mustard
1/8tsp pink salt 

Follow directions as posted in recipe above.

Now on to-
Frugal doings:
1.) Making our clothes last longer by fixing what we own, such as sewing up a split seam on my black yoga style pants and a tear in the underarm of A's thermal top. I've also been hanging up all of our clothes to dry inside on racks, though this began as a matter of necessity since our dryer conked out. I will continue to hang most things after the new dryer arrives in a week or so, except underwear, socks and washcloths. (As an aside, I have found that hanging my work scrubs to dry has resulted in infrequent shocks at work! I'm tellin' ya, it was a dozen times a day thing before - darn plastic wrap roll. Anyhow, no softener used and haven't had anywhere near the static problems.)
2.) I had set a limit of $1 for shampoo and hairspray a while back. This meant that I purchased those items only if I had a high-value coupon or a great sale at our grocery store, like 77cents for V-05 shampoo. I took a risk (for me, anyway) and while in the nearby city bought two different shampoos and a hairspray from the Dollar Tree store. My expectations were low. But I am happy to say that they work just as well as the higher priced items I'd been buying. While 77cents is better than $1, the dollar store bottle is substantially larger.
3.) Think twice before making a purchase. Then think again. Two examples: I nearly picked up two darling little journals that I'd come across on clearance at Target the other day. They'd been about $5-6 each originally, were marked down to $2 each. I had them in my basket with the idea of putting them away for stocking stuffers. I then recalled that I've seen many cute journals at the dollar store or Michael's for half of that clearanced price. So they went back on the shelf. As mentioned in number 1, we are expecting our new dryer soon. J and I shopped around, looked for scratch-n-dent deals, and finally decided on one at Home Depot. However, it was not in stock and they offered to order it for me. I turned them down since I could order it for myself online and have it delivered right to our doorstep as they had free shipping at time of purchase. On top of that, I get 5% back from our credit card company for going through their link.
4.) Know prices of things I buy regularly. The one thing that comes to mind right away is my favorite mozzarella cheese log. It sells for $5.99 per log at Walmart, $7.99 at our local grocery store. I have bought it from Sam's Club for $9 - as a 2 pack! But I do not have a membership, only had gone with someone else who did. I did a quick online search for a day-pass and was able to print one before heading to the city. Sure, I paid 10% on top of that $9. But $9.90 for two logs is equal to $4.95 each, still the best price.