Frugal Foodie

A few blogs ago I discussed using what I had in the fridge to clean it out and not waste food. I had some great suggests from Bonanza Buffet to CORN (Clean out refrigerator night)...all were very creative.

Well, it's that time again. I have leftover turkey and a little broth. I have some cottage cheese and a little fruit salad and a banana and a pear. I have some frozen vegetables I put in a container awhile ago. And some odds and ends of cheeses and some eggs. I think I'm going to make a turkey casserole of sorts with the turkey, broth, cheeses, vegetables and eggs. I think I'll add the pear and almost overripe banana to the fruit salad. And make biscuits with the cheese and some herbs from dh's garden.

I will say that turkey breast was quite a buy. We had it for supper Monday night, had it for lunches twice this week, and now supper tonight.

I made meatloaf Tuesday night and we had the leftovers for sandwiches one day this week and there was still a little bit leftover so I made homemade nachos...I had tortillas and I baked them with salt and olive oil after cutting them up. I sprinkled the leftover meatloaf crumbled and put some cheese on them and nuked them. Not a bad try for homemade and leftover stuff.

It's kind of challenging to come up with meals with what is left over and I have to admit, they are never the same! Plus, I like the idea I'm saving money by not going out nor throwing out stuff.

Our local gas prices dropped a whole penny overnight. Although oil prices have been going down, our "savings" usually trickles down a penny or two at a time. However, let the news report crude oil barrel prices going up, the hike can be anywhere from 15 to 20 cents a gallon in a matter of hours.

Our local news interviewed some guy at nearby university. He claimed that the reason the prices remain high is because we are using gas made with oil at the older, higher prices, so it takes awhile for the prices to come down. He might be a so called "expert", but my observation skills beg to differ. I have found many of these experts go by what it is supposed to be instead of what really is. Bleah!

Gas prices in Central Illinois range around $3.64...our town is higher than the other two larger towns around us. What are you paying?

Everytime I watch Barefoot Contessa I drool.

I am not drooling over the food, although my dh always comments how she invites all her friends over, but never has once invited us.

I am not drooling over her kitchen...I don't have room for a professional range and I certainly don't need a range and a cook top together.

I am not drooling over all her gadgets...I'm running out of room for the stuff I already have.

Which brings me to the reason I drool...her walk in pantry. I'd love a large pantry where I could store food stuffs in an organized manner and have dishes sitting in convenient spots. I'm short, and believe me, getting things from the top shelf of the cabinets can be dangerous!

When we first married and bought our first house, the kitchen was very small. Not tiny, but small. I asked the previous owner where she kept her canned goods and she said in the garage. We bought a cheap kitchen cabinet to put in the kitchen and that's where I kept canned goods. There were some cabinets and since I didn't have a lot of dishes or pots and pans, it was adequate.

Eight years later we bought a different house. The kitchen was larger and it has a pantry. Not a walk-in, but a real pantry. And with all truths, you grow into the space you have. And goodness, my kitchen stuff has grown.

Yesterday I organized the pantry. I could probably do this 4 times a year. I straightened it up and am happy to report that I didn't throw much away. I did put items in different things, but I'm happy to report I'm getting better at keeping on top of expiration dates.

I had organized the area of my spices earlier this week. I did throw out a few things because they were old. I am frustrated with the spice companies, though. So many of them sell larger bottles of things that I don't use that much of and I think it is wasteful. One of the stores I frequent is handling an off brand and the bottles are about 1/4 the size or regular spice bottles. I feel better about buying this instead of wasting so much. There are certain spices I use a lot of, but others...

I figure organizing my pantry and spices saves me money because I'm not buying things I already have, and hopefully not wasting what I do have. I need to be satisfied with what I have which is a serviceable pantry...far better than what I had at the other house. And, although a walk-in pantry is want, it isn't a need. So, we aren't spending the money.

DH says I'm not getting a walk-in pantry...We aren't building on the house and I can't see taking a bathroom or closet to get it. So, I guess I'll just have to drool over Ina's. At least it means that is one less "room" I have to clean!

We were watching Suze Orman last night and some gal called in in the "Can I Afford It" segment. This segment is where you tell Suze what you want to buy and she looks at your debts and investments and money and tells you if it is a good idea. Anyway, this gal wanted to buy something and she listed her income and then her sweetheart allowance. Suze asked what that was and she said it was her boyfriend's gift to each month. I looked at dh and asked him how come he hadn't given me a sweetheart allowance when we were dating. We laughed about that. I hadn't ever heard of it. Have you?

Remember when retailers would ask you, cash, check, or charge?

For awhile around here, checks were considered lethal. A lot of places wouldn't consider taking them because they had been burnt with folks writing bad ones. I guess with technology, many are more comfortable because the money can be taken out almost immediately. Which is a good thing for retailers.

My husband has always paid cash for things. It was an issue when we married 21 years ago because he didn't have a credit rating. It made getting a home loan a challenge and we paid a larger interest rate since he had no credit rating although I had a good one. He didn't have a checking account and hated writing checks. He's not thrilled with it now, but since he's retired and does a lot of the shopping, he does write a few more. He did not have a credit card and when we married, I added him to one of mine. He rarely used it, but he's getting a little more comfortable now.

But, that's not to say he or we are spending like fools. If we charge something, it's for the convenience of using the card and then we pay it off when the bill comes.

Since the US' credit rating has been downgraded, lots of business folks are on news programs talking about what it means. One gal said "Cash is king." I know that mantra has been said by many in the past couple of years.

In my own simple thinking, until people realize that they can't buy things if they don't have the cash on hand, our economy is going to struggle. The whole housing fiasco where banks gave loans to folks who really couldn't afford home and no interest and no down payments...why would they think they are responsible for paying if it was so easy?

I know the economic woes extend to more things that this...jobs being a big issue. But, until many folks live within their means and have the cash to cover the checks and charges, we will continue to have problems and we all pay for it in the long run.

My dh has a wonderful garden of herbs. A friend of mine gave me a small bucket and basil seeds and I started the seeds last spring. My dh planted the basil plant in the ground and has taken very good care of it. Last week I made some pesto sauce. Well, sort of. I used basil and garlic, Parmesan, and olive oil and some seasonings, but didn't use the nuts. DH doesn't like nuts.

I know I can freeze the stuff, but there was such a small amount, I just had it in the fridge when I thought, why wouldn't that make a good marinade for some pork? So, I used it on both sides as a marinade and then cooked them with that in a dish with a little olive oil and two springs or rosemary (covered) in the toaster oven. It was pretty tasty.

My dh was watching the stock market numbers for the last half hour before it closed...dropping almost 513 points...newscasters claimed it was the biggest drop since 2008.

Tomorrow the unemployment numbers come out...I'm wondering if we need to fasten our seatbelt for yet another drop. I hope not, but things are looking grim. We were watching the news and they said veterans who have returned from oversees are coming back and having problems getting jobs. One gal said she has applied for 300 jobs -- she wants to be a chef, but said she'd be happy at a fast food restaurant, just to get a job and her foot in the door.

I hope tomorrow is a better day.

A friend emailed me a link about a product that can be used to "glue" cheaper pieces of meat to sell them as pricer cuts. I checked with snopes and truthorfiction and neither had anything except snopes listed a link about it as well. If this is happening, then the meat industry to overcharging and cheating the public.


http://www.dump.com/2011/04/14/meat-glue-secret-video/









Snopes and truthorfiction didn't have any comment, but snopes did send readers to:





http://www.greenprophet.com/2011/03/meat-glue-frankenstein-mea/

A week or so ago I posted about certain grocery prices on the rise and many responded you are seeing the same thing.

Last night as we watched Suze Orman, she predicted in 2012 that things might get worse. She said if gas prices continue to rise, groceries will as well, as much as 14-40%! She said that not only does the transporting of food go up, but petroleum products are used for make plastic containers for things that we buy. I never thought of that, but she is right.

As I'm fixing stuff, I'm thinking, am I going to be doing this because I want to save money or because I have to save money?

Suze Orman suggested that people stay conservative for 2012 because she thinks things could get tight. I read in the paper yesterday that the experts are now saying the recession was far worse than they originally thought. No kidding. One of our local food pantries is giving out 100-120 boxes of food each day.

So, do you think Suze is right on grocery prices going up as much as 40%? If she is, it is going to hurt the economy even more because housing and food are necessary items and people will be using their money to buy the necessities.

We are delighted that we are getting tomatoes from dh's garden. I had requested he plant more than one cherry tomato plant because I wanted to make tomato sauce...I made 3 batches last summer from one plant, and I was thinking I could more if we had two...

Anyway, I made my first batch and it looks yummy! I'm looking forward to serving it this week over some pasta. My husband's big tomatoes are starting to come on and we are getting enough for eating for meals which is wonderful.

We had chicken wings that I baked the other night. We didn't eat them all, so I put them and some celery that was getting a little bedraggled and a bell pepper from dh's garden, and an onion from dh's garden and some of our herbs and made some rich chicken broth. I took it out to the freezer so we have a supply of that. I love having my own -- no preservatives and I control the salt.

With the tomato sauce and the chicken stock, I think I better get busy making some pasta!

It's still warm here. So, the emails are starting about the heat! OK, I had two different people send this photo to my personal email...so I say, let's start this off and have a contest and say,

"You Know It's Hot When the Ice Cream Truck Melts!"




So, what do you say?

We just finished eating a bit of ago and cleaned up. I was trying to tally the cost of the meal. I have always kind of played at doing this, to see if it was an expensive one or a reasonable one, but ever since the restaurant owner claimed no one could eat at home for less than $10 each, I do it more frequently.

Our supper was pork chops, noodles, bread, sliced tomatoes, corn on the cob, cottage cheese, and saute'd mushrooms. The meat, of course, was the most expensive item, but I believe when I bought it, they were having a sale -- I had taken it out of the freezer.

The noodles were homemade -- I made them with basil. I told my husband that it is unbelieveable how much noodles cost that are considered homemade and I made a big batch for less than a $1. The basil was from our garden. The bread was homemade -- it was less than a $1 for the loaf and we didn't eat a lot of it. The tomatoes are from my husband's garden and the corn was a gift from a friend we had over for supper last week. He brought a dozen ears and we didn't use them all. The mushrooms were leftover from something I had bought it for so I just went ahead and used them. I think I spent about $4.00 each for a very hearty meal.

A decent meal and cost effective as well...can't beat that!

Yesterday we made our weekly trek to Aldi. I had my list for the items I wanted. We then pick up the items we can't get at another store. Since the heat is so bad, we decided to go to Aldi on one day and the other store today.

I noticed that some items at Aldi have risen since last week. Sugar went up. Portabella mushrooms went up over 40 cents. Butter went up a dime. Eggs had gone up a dime about three weeks ago. Lemons went up 40 cents. This isn't the complete list, but goodness, some of these are large hikes! I realize that some of the fresh produce is often priced on the growing and harvesting season, but eggs and butter?

Anyone else see grocery prices on the rise? Do you think this is a foretaste of the inflation to come?

Last week CNBC had a program on grocery stores and/or supermarkets. Interviewed were CEO's of large ones such as Whole Foods and also a gal who owned a little mom and pop. It was interesting to hear what each thought of their business.

They talked about research done for the big chains. It said that stores that provide extras seem to bring in people for those things -- recipes, samples, even entertainment. What they also said was the average person shops 3-4 times a week and overspends because they buy things they didn't originally plan to buy.

Well, we all know if one buys unplanned for things, it can blow the budget, but I'm curious, how many times do you shop? I try to do it once a week and usually be the end of the week, my fridge looks what I term "lonely" because it is getting empty. I just hate it if I have to stop and get something I forgot.

I've admitted I'm anal. I guess it gets pointed out to me on various occasions, but I am a planner. I like things to work out. Perhaps I'm a control freak, but I just know I like to have a plan.

This has come home to me a few times this summer. We do weekly grocery shopping -- usually a couple of stores. I figure out what's on sale, what I have on hand, and then try to work out a menu for the week's meals. We do eat out, probably more than we should, but I like to have that planned because I want it to be an "social experience" instead of just eating out and not cooking. I also try to eat things that are nutritous...not a lot of fried or junk foods and watch my salt intake.

Well, I think it is causing some problems. We have a couple we go out with every so often. She rarely cooks and they eat out. A lot. A lot of junk food. However, as to planning, they are pretty spontaneous. For example, they contacted us early afternoon and wanted us to go out to eat with them that evening. We already had meat thawing for supper. I guess that makes me an old stick in the mud. I have explained that I usually plan the week's menus by Thursday or Friday night the previous week so I know for what I will purchase.

We ate out last night with a friend. It had been planned last week. We all looked forward to it and it was a lot of fun visiting as well as enjoying the meal. I like to think it was an event.

I think purposeful planning saves us money by shopping for those things I plan to use, hopefully find them on sale, and as well as having a menu so supper isn't a last minute "gotta think of something" ordeal.

So, if I'm anal, I guess it's just a fact of life. I'm sorry I am not spontaneous, but then again, I like to feel I make wise decisions with my money.

Another steamy day in Central Illinois! In fact the whole week is supposed to be miserable, with heat warnings from last night until Friday night.

Being the Crockpot Queen (I have 5 in 5 different sizes), I thought this might be a good time to put them to use.

Today it is pork roast cooked with rosemary and thyme. My husband has the herbs growing in our yard so I went out this morning and picked some and pulled an onion to go with it. I picked lettuce this morning and washed it and put it in the fridge. That and the cherry tomatoes and slicing the other tomatoes, it should be a good supper on a hot Monday. I'm going to fix potatoes in another Crockpot. I was looking for different recipes. Here's the one I'm going to use, I think:

Crockpot Sage Potatoes

Cooking spray
6 medium brown potatoes (such as Idaho or Russet), peeled and sliced 1/ 4 inch thick
½ yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup flour
4 T (1/2 stick) butter, melted
2 ½ cups heavy cream or half and half
1 t Kosher salt
¼ t black pepper
1 t dried sage
1 ½ c shredded Greyere cheese
1 ½ c walnut halves

In a 4 quart slow cooker, spray the inside with cooking spray. Put the sliced potatoes and onion in the slow cooker. In a mixing bowl whisk the flour into the melted butter. Add the cream and salt, pepper, and sage to the bowl, mixing well. Pour the cream mixture into the slow cooker and toss with the potatoes and ion. Sprinkle the cheese and walnuts on the top. Cover and cook on high for 3-5 hours or until the potatoes are tender.


I don't have any walnuts so that will be ommitted and I'm going to use a different cheese because I don't have any Greyere and I'm not running to the store to get these. And, I'm using fresh sage because we have that in my husband's garden. I'm a firm believer in using what you have.

I am perusing recipes for other slow cooker meals. I did find one for squirrel. Not being a hunter, I don't think I'll try it, but if you are interested, it is on the allrecipes.com site. I realize I try to use what I have on hand, but I'm not sitting in the yard with a ball bat waiting for the squirrel...

With the recent onset of hot weather, my husband's tomatoes are starting to ripen. We've been blessed with a few cherry tomatoes -- enough for our salads made with his home grown lettuce. But today was the day he could pick his vine ripened regular tomatoes. So far, only two were ready, but we are looking forward to tasting them.

Last summer about this time I blogged that I wanted to new stove. Well, this summer it is a new dishwasher. Our dishwasher still works, so there isn't any hurry. Yet I have found that having a savings goal helps me plan plus lets me anticipate.

My husband is a rare breed -- he carries cash and he likes to pay in exact change. As a result he often has lots of change around the house. I noticed the other day when I was dusting, that his change bowl was overflowing and there seemed to be a lot of pennies. I asked him if I could have the pennies and he said sure. Since there were far more pennies than other coins, I thought this could help both of us out.

Last night I sorted through the change and pulled out the pennies -- over $2.30 worth of pennies. I did find two wheat pennies that I saved. They probably aren't worth anything, but they aren't as plentiful so I thought it would be nice to have two of them before they no longer are in circulation. My husband is a Lincoln buff and I found three pennies that had different Lincoln scenes on the back -- minted in 2009 for his 100th birthday, so I saved those three too.

I checked my wallet and had a few pennies and some extra coins so I threw that in the bag to take to the credit union. Our credit union has one of those change things, but you have to have an account for them to use it. I also had a few extra ones. So my dishwasher account is up to $141.73 (I have added to it previously too).

I know the gurus claim we prices haven't been going up, but I have noticed an increase in many items at the grocery store, plus Illinois increased income tax this spring. It is getting harder to save for nonessentials, so it will probably take me longer to save the money for the dishwasher I want.

Yet, that is OK. It gives me more time to think about and wish for it and appreciate it when I do get it.

With the recent higher temperatures, it is time to break out the Crockpot!

I am fixing shrimp creole for supper tonight. My recipe is pretty simple.

Shrimp Creole

1 large celery stalk, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon tumeric
1 tablepoon of olive oil or canola oil

2 15 oz cans of stewed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar
shrimp
cooked rice

Try to chop the celery, onion, zucchini, and pepper about the same size. Saute in olive oil. Add tumeric and garlic near the end so it doesn't burn. Add to Crockpot. Add the stewed tomatoes and sugar and cover; cook on low 6-7 hours. Depending on the size of the shrimp, add the last 30-45 minutes of cooking. I'm using salad shrimp so it won't take long to heat up.

Service over cooked rice.

I will admit I do cut up the stewed tomatoes so they are the same size as the vegetables I chopped, but that's just a personal preference. Other than the shrimp, I had everything else on hand. I'm sure if you wanted to make more for a more servings, you could easily cut up more vegetables and add more tomatoes or tomato sauce. I have doubled the recipe before so I could take part of it to some relatives.

I'm looking forward to a cooler kitchen tonight!

Here in the Midwest with high dew points and even higher temps, it was miserable today. Just going outside to pick a few leaves of lettuce resulted in a warm sticky feeling and I was only outside a few minutes.

My goal today was to fix something for supper that didn't heat up the kitchen -- or me for that matter!

Fortunately my husband is starting to get cherry tomatoes so that added to the lettuce and a couple of other items already in the fridge made a good salad.

I fixed pork chops on the top of the stove and saute'd mushrooms with them, and then boiled two ears of corn. I made biscuits in the toaster oven. I made a fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, grapes, bananas and added Greek yogurt and honey -- what a cool dessert.

The other day the owner of a restaurant we go to was telling me that no one can eat at home for less than $10 each. I just smiled because he's the type of guy who thinks he's never wrong...many of our meals are less than $10 total for the two of us! So, I figured eating at home also saved money.

I'm sure glad we ate at home...it's too hot to go anywhere, that's for sure!

Cool and refreshing is how I would describe the newest dessert I made.

It's an Italian Ice made with Lemon Zinger tea. Very easy:

4 Lemon Zinger Tea Bags
3 cups boiling water
2/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice


Steep the tea bags in the boiling water and sugar for an hour. Take out the bags and refrigerate the tea and sugar mixture for at least 8 hours or overnight. Take out and add the lemon juice.

You can then put in an ice cream freezer for 30 minutes or put in a metal pan and let it freeze hard. It was very refreshing.

I found the recipe in Living Well's diabetic cookbook. I thought it was so clever I am trying it with raspberry tea bags today.

Ever have one of those nights when you have a lots of odds and ends in the fridge and hate to see it go to waste? Last night was one of those nights at our house.

I have been working through the freezer and trying to use up some of the stuff we've had awhile, and crab cakes was the winner from the freezer roulette.

The fridge had a few different items. We had green beans from the night before, baked beans from lunch a couple of days ago (we had them for two meals before this), lettuce, tomatoes, and part of a red onion, a boiled egg, a small portion of Feta cheese, leftover biscuits, a small portion of cottage cheese, leftover roasted potatoes, leftover fruit salad, an overripe pear, and on the counter...very ripe bananas.

I heated the potatoes in a little olive oil and cut up part of the onion in them. The rest of the onion I used for the salad of lettuce, tomato, Feta cheese,and sliced the egg. I heated up both types of beans, and put the cottage cheese out in a little bowl. I nuked the biscuits.

I cut up the pear and bananas into the fruit salad.

There was ample food and little of it went to waste. I think I did pitch a couple of biscuits. I had made them a couple of days before with some flour, milk, baking powder, and herbs from our garden so I wasn't throwing out big money.

Not a gourmet meal, but full tummies and a cleaner fridge were the result.

I bet we could get people to think leftovers were gourmet undertakings if we could figure out a catchy phrase for it!

Yesterday we drove to a town about an hour away to nose around at the shops. On the return trip home, we stopped at a produce stand and bought a melon, green beans, and sweet corn.

It is so exciting to see locally grown produce for sale. Our city has a couple farmer's markets and we often go to them. One, unfortunately has a stand where I think the person isn't really selling locally grown items...I noticed he had the same type of boxes that the grocery stores have to unload the stuff and it seemed to be packed the same way. After seeing this, I decided I would avoid this stand. I think that is misleading.

I like buying locally. I think it is important to support those who live near us. Plus, the food is fresh...not having been shipped for days!

We enjoyed the green beans last night at supper. I snapped them, cooked them with chicken broth and bacon...yum! I look forward to cutting into the melon and having some of that sweet corn too! Ah, the joys of summer cooking!

Happy 235th birthday, USA!

I guess for countries, that isn't THAT old, but for a human, it's kind of ancient!

I hope that you are having a great holiday...I guess I should bake a birthday cake, eh?

Last weekend the paper had a list of antique shops and there was a new one in town. For me, that's a good thing.

Years ago this same house had been the "China House" and it had hundreds of pieces of dinnerware and China. We went every so often and it was fun looking at all the different dishes. I can't say we ever bought anything, but it was always fun to look. The lady retired and as far as we know, it has been vacant. However, apparently there's a new owner and he has opened. Well, sort of.

His hours are every day and go from about 9 until 4 or 4:30. We get there after 12:30. We notice there are bars on every window and there's bars over the backdoor. Yet, the ones on the back door do have a hinge, but it is closed.

It was a comedy of errors...we get there and it is locked up. The back door has bars over it and I look in and it looks like a store room. We figured maybe you had to walk in the front door and walk around to the street side...there are no steps to the porch to the front door. Hey, I'm all for adventure, but I'm not hopping on the front porch as a pole vaulter!

So, I whip out the cell phone, OK, maybe not whip it out because I, of course, didn't have it on, like usual. So I got it out, waited for it to come on and called the number. Whipping it out certainly has more of a ring to it, doesn't it? I guess I could stretch the truth since it is MY story.

The owner wasn't there. He was off eating lunch but would be back in 20 minutes. We go do something and come back. He's at the door waiting (back door). He had the bar thingy open this time. Good thing because I'm still not pole vaulting. We could barely get in because he doesn't have it organized. There are boxes everywhere. There is a small path, but even it is an obstacle course! What a hoot! He said his helper was in jail. I didn't even ask! I wanted to, but refrained. I can only imagine THAT story.

We talked for a bit and left. I wonder if he will be ready in a month. I will say one thing...I did save money because I couldn't find anything to buy!

It is interesting that one’s high school experience can still forge one’s lifetime decisions.

For many, high school was their greatest time of life – making friends, going to dances and parties and growing up. I made friends and learned an incredible amount of the politics of society. I wasn’t in the popular crowd. I didn’t go to dances. Some of the folks who were in the popular crowd were pretty snobby. I had friends and we did things and it was OK.

I’m 50, yet I’m surprised at how some people my age are still trying to relive their high school days. Someone I work with was a wanna be, in other words, she wanted to hang with the ”in” crowd. Well, she is trying to relive this time because someone she went to school with is someone she now works with, and they are now “friends.” Yet she copies everything this person does, right or wrong, because she still wants to be what she perceives as the “in” crowd. It is kind of sad, really. This person’s “friend” is accepting of her because she is using her, not because she really likes her. How incredibly shallow. I guess everyone wants a peep or two. And this person still wants to be accepted by their “hero.”

Some folks talk about high school being the best time of their life. And I’m sure it was. It wasn’t for me, but I learned that being popular isn’t always the most important. Doing what they consider boring isn’t always boring. It is often lonely standing up for what is right. I learned that even when a school district has little money, they will save the sports program at all costs, even if it cuts into academics, and that there is a pecking order in both the student body and the faculty. I saw emotional turmoil and such hatred in those who vied for the popular status and the hollowness of those fake friendships. And one day they were friends, the next day they were back biting, venomous enemies, only to start over the vicious cycle. Yet, I saw the depth of the good people I hung with who were not considered popular – they were the ones who stood by their friends, even if it meant getting made fun of. I saw teachers fighting for what was right. There was both good and bad and so much to be learned besides what was in the textbooks.

Some of these were not fun lessons, but they were certainly life lessons.

I have been working on those homemade pie crusts. I used a recipe from Ina Garten for "perfect pie crust". I don't know if it is perfect, but it is pretty darn good. I made enough for two last week and we had quiche on Saturday for lunch. It was pretty good.

Yesterday I tried it again and made blackberry pie. I'm learning more each time I try. I think I got it a little thinner this time. The crust was flaky and good. I'm sure practice will improve and isn't it a shame my husband has to be the taste tester? :-)

Goal two accomplished...on to goal three: pizza!

I was raised by frugal parents. They had to be, as their parents had to be.

My dad worked full-time and they also has a business on the side. For awhile it was a furniture store. Then it was an antique shop. We went to sales, auctions, etc., always looking for a bargain that could either benefit us personally or their shop financially. That was years ago and my parents have passed.

Last week we went "antiquing." I use the term loosely because many of the items in these antique shops really aren't antiques. We enjoy looking at older stuff whether it is from our childhood, or from over a generation ago.

I often buy my kitchen stuff used. Last year before Pyrex and Fire King and Corningware became popular again, I decided to try and get rid of most of the plastic containers in my kitchen. I keep a few, but for personal use, I use glass ones. I found some refrigerator dishes to store leftovers, and have found some Pyrex dishes for leftovers and some small Corningware dishes to bake in. I like using them because I feel a little safer -- the BPA thing kind of worries me -- but I also just like using glass.

Most of the casseroles and glass dishes in my kitchen were bought "used". They cleaned up great and I enjoy using them. Plus, being the klutz I often am, I figure if I drop one, I'm not out a lot if it breaks.

The other day I was remarking that I was also being a recycler of sorts because I was reusing something someone else didn't want. I don't care if my Pyrex or Corningware doesn't match. I got a great deal on a Corningware dish at the church's rummage sale: $1. It doesn't match anything in my kitchen, but it holds good stuff when I put it in there.

Since most of the stuff anymore isn't made in America, I like using stuff that had been, at one point, made in our country.

In a way, I'm being green. I use and reuse these dishes. I'm not throwing out disposables. And I adopted these unwanted items. I figure I save money by buying them used, and since I'm not buying disposable stuff, I'm not constantly replenishing it so I'm also being frugal. And, if I'm cooking at home, I'm probably saving some money there as well.

I have three cooking goals this summer: 1)homemade noodles, 2)pie crusts, and 3)homemade pizza. Last night I worked on the pie crusts.

I have tried to make pie crusts and they weren't flaky and I think I didn't roll them out thin enough. I tried again last night. We are having quiche for lunch using one of them, so we shall see. I guess practice makes perfect.

I am almost ashamed to admit this, but I have never made noodles from scratch. I have three cooking goals this summer and one of them was to make noodles.

So, last Sunday, I looked at recipes, printed one off, and went into the kitchen. I mixed the ingredients, rolled them out as thin as I could, and cut them and let them dry. While they were drying, I put a chicken in the Crockpot with some vegetables and herbs to let it cook and make some broth. That evening when the noodles were dry, I cooked them in the broth and put the chicken in there. I let it simmer for awhile. I then let it cool and put it in the fridge because I knew I'd be working Tuesday and wouldn't have a lot of time to cook when I got home.

We had them last night. I wasn't sure if dh would like it, but he had three helpings so I think my noodle experiment was a success.

Yesterday I was talking to a gal who said she made her noodles and how she admired her mom's talent -- she didn't measure anything, just made a mount of flower on the counter, added an egg, water, and salt and mixed it without getting flour everywhere. She said it was a great way to fill people up on a budget and I'm thinking she is so right!

Here's the recipe I used:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 pinch salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 T butter

Mix, knead for 5 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes. Roll out to desired thinness and cut. Allow to air dry before cooking.

I'm wondering what kinds of things I can add to make these noodles different...