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Friday, May 31, 2013

If I buy marked down produce, how will I keep it from spoiling?




The answer to that question is two-part.

1) I have a plan to use or freeze it right away (same day or within 2 days)

2) I understand how best to store it until it's consumed

I stopped in at the produce stand around the corner from my daughters' school yesterday. I needed fresh fruit for lunches, and mushrooms plus another veggie to add to stir-fry for dinner. I always check the markdown bins first. This is a completely open-air produce stand. They don't have refrigeration on site and produce needs to be sold promptly. Which means good fortune for bargain hunters, as they fill the markdown bins a couple of times per day. Woohoo!



Just look at these cantaloupes! Aren't they beautiful? They had a shopping cart full of cantaloupes marked at 25 to 50 cents each (I bought the 25-centers). These cantaloupes weighed in at about 1 & 1/3 pounds a piece, for a price per pound of around 18 cents. Found my fruit for lunches!

And as luck would have it, they had one bag (1/3 pound) of fresh mushrooms for 59 cents. Got that! And a good-sized bag (2 lbs) of cauliflower florets for 99 cents. Done with my shopping!

The cantaloupe was a great price. And I could have bought several more. But I decided to just buy what we could eat in about 3 days, which I guessed was 4 melons.



Melons this close to expiring need prompt attention. No leaving on the counter for a few days with these. Once home, I washed, sliced and trimmed the rind off the cantaloupes. As you can see, all this melon overfilled the bowl.

Some we had with dinner last night. I also cubed several slices for packing in today's lunches. The rest will keep nicely, covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. This cantaloupe will be our main fruit for the weekend, making part of weekend meal prep a bit easier.

With the mushrooms, as they don't like moisture, I spread them out on a tea towel, while waiting to slice and cook them. And I picked through the cauliflower florets, to use the oldest-looking pieces first in last night's stir-fry. The rest will be cooked and pureed as part of tonight's dinner (used as a topping for Shepherd's Pie  --  thanks Shara for the idea).

Yesterday's great finds at the produce stand will be history by the end of the weekend, with hopefully, no waste whatsoever!


Thursday, May 30, 2013

Guacamole Salad Bowl (or how do you get a fish-hater to eat fish?)



First of all I just want to say thanks for the well wishes. I'm doing much better. Sometimes I just run myself into the ground. I've spent a good deal of the last few days just napping, or doing nothing in particular. And now, life feels much easier this week. But thank you for your kind messages.

What I want to share with you today is a recipe that my mom clipped out of a magazine back in 1962. (Isn't it fun to find old recipes, cut from newspapers or magazines, many years ago?)

I think I've mentioned that I am trying to eat more fish. However, I really do not care for it (okay, that's an understatement so grand it borders on a fib). You know how some things just smell "bad" to you? Well, fish just smells "bad" to me. Frankly I don't understand how anybody ever thought to eat it in the first place. But everybody says that it's good for me, so I am making an effort to eat more of it.

So, not being a fan of fish, I have to look hard to find a recipe that I'm even willing to try. My foray into salmon patties a few months ago, was a miserable one. The smell of canned salmon was so horrible that I kept asking the fam if they thought I had bought a can that was contaminated with some deadly bacteria. I ate one itty bitty salmon patty, while the family devoured the remainder. No one died, so I guess the can was safe, after all.

Then I remembered this recipe of my mom's. I actually made this several times in the earlier years of our marriage. And it's one of the few ways that I will happily eat canned tuna.


This is a pantry entree salad -- the kind of thing that you may already have many of the ingredients, sitting in your pantry right now. It's fresh tasting, has some crunch, and is covered in a creamy, avocado dressing. It's called Guacamole Salad Bowl. And it can be whipped up in about 15 minutes, start to finish.

I am always quite generous with the corn chips (so I won't be judging you if you use way more than the 1-cup called for in the recipe!!). I like the crunch and salty flavor. My mom always used Fritos, so that's what I prefer. I suppose if what you have is tortilla chips, they would work just as well.


Guacamole Salad Bowl

Serves 4 to 6

1/2 medium head of iceberg lettuce, washed (or 1 full head of either Romaine or Loose leaf lettuce --enough for 4 to 6 persons in a main dish salad)
2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
1/2 cup sliced, pitted black olives
1/4 cup chopped green onions (I used shallot greens in this salad, but I've also subbed chives before)
1 cup corn chips
1 drained can of tuna, 6 1/2-, 7 1/2-, or 9 1/2 ounces (this recipe is from a time when cans of tuna contained 7 ounces in the US. Currently, most tuna is packed in 5 oz. cans. I use 2 cans of tuna for a recipe. For 5 of us that's 2 ounces per person)
1 recipe Avocado Dressing (you could use any guacamole, thinned with salad or olive oil)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
additional olives for garnish, if desired

Break/tear lettuce into a large bowl. Add tomato wedges, olives, green onions, corn chips and tuna.

Toss gently with Avocado Dressing. Top with cheese, garnish with extra olive slices and serve.



Avocado Dressing

1/2 cup mashed, very ripe avocado (I use 2 of the peewee avocados sold at our farmer's market. 1 medium avocado would also work well.)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sour cream (plain yogurt also works. I used mayo plus a little extra lemon juice, as I can't have dairy)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional, I skip it)
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon Tabasco (hot  pepper sauce) -- I subbed about 2 tablespoons mild salsa for the Tabasco
1/3 cup salad oil (or thereabouts. I use about 1/4 cup of oil)

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl, except oil. Blend in enough oil to a dressing consistency.

Enjoy! Even this fish-hater is happy to eat this salad!     :-)   :-)   :-)   :-)   :-)   :-)   :-)   :-)



Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Today is not a good day

I'm under the weather this week, but hope to be back to my old self by Thursday. I hope your week is going well. Until Thursday,
Lili

Friday, May 24, 2013

Just how inexpensive is it to make herb vinegar? (*plus* my Chive Blossom Vinegar)

(Once again, Saturday's post is going up a little early. But maybe that's a good thing, as you can now plan making herb vinegar into your weekend?)




A gallon of white vinegar costs me $2.49, that's 62 cents per quart, or about 38 cents per 20-ounce bottle. You may find white vinegar for less in your area.



I grow a variety of herbs, both in pots on the deck, and in the garden down below. I make flavored vinegars with many of my herbs. One of my favorites is Rosemary Vinegar. It's delicate rosemary flavor makes a delicious vinaigrette for salads, but I also enjoy it mixed with mayo for a cole slaw dressing.


My herbs are mostly free at this point. Many I started from a packet of seeds. Some I received as divisions from friends. And one or two I actually bought plants at the nursery. My chives I bought as a plant, 22 years ago, and dug up and moved with us to our home 18 years ago. Over the years I have divided it numerous times, so that now I have 4 nice little patches of chives.

So, let's say that the "cost" of my herbs is about 1 cent per batch of vinegar infusion. I reuse bottles year after year. Some of these bottles are repurposed food/sauce bottles, with a cork for a cap. Other bottles were gifts from a friend. And a couple of bottles were purchased either second hand, for about 50 cents per bottle, or retail for about $2 per bottle. Given that I reuse these bottles for years one end, even a $2 bottle will average out to about 20 cents/year after 10 years (and I expect to get many more than 10 years of service from each bottle).

For the sake of argument, we'll add 20 cents for the bottle to the 38 cents (for 20 oz. vinegar), plus 1 cent cost of herbs to the cost of making herb vinegar. So, for a total of 59 cents I can make 20 oz. of beautiful and delicious herb and fruit vinegars (I make berry vinegars as well).


With shop-bought flavored vinegar, you can spend as little as about $3 per bottle, or as much as $20. And a single bottle of shop-bought herb vinaigette salad dressing will set you back between $3 and $5. You can make your own herb vinaigrette for the cost of oil, a pinch of salt and dash of pepper, added to your homemade herb vinegar.

Home-infused herb vinegars keep for a couple of years. I alternate years on which vinegars I make. And I like to experiment, mixing different herbs and spices for new, interesting combinations.

One last thing . . .

herb vinegars are incredible easy to make!!!!!

Here's this month's vinegar, Chive Blossom Vinegar. (for details on making other herb vinegars, see here)  Chives are blossoming heavily this month in my garden. And I like to use the blossoms as well as the greens in recipes.

To make a bottle of Chive Blossom Vinegar, fill a clean jar 2/3 with rinsed and dried chive blossoms. (Spin them out in a salad spinner.)



If you don't have a full 2/3 of a jar of opened blossoms just yet, but you can see that there will be more in a couple of days, you can rinse and store what blossoms you do have in a salad spinner in the fridge for up to 4 days (then pick and wash the rest in 4 days time, for one jar of vinegar). Alternatively, you can make several smaller batches of infused vinegar, over the course of a month or two.

If your chive blossoms are already spent, you can try cutting an area of your chives back, to produce more blooms. This works in my garden, but I keep it watered all summer long.


After you have all the rinsed blossoms in the jar, fill with white vinegar. Cap the jar and wait 1 to 2 weeks. During this time, twice a day, open the jar and poke the blossoms back down into the vinegar.

one week later


After 1 week, you'll have a mild onion-y vinegar. Another 3-7 days and you'll have a slightly more intense vinegar.

Your vinegar is now complete. Strain the vinegar and decant into a clean bottle.

You can make the bottle look "fancy" for gifting, with a single strand of raffia and a tag.

Chive Blossom Vinegar has a delicate onion-y flavor. It's delicious on green salads in vinaigrette, but also, I found it to be a wonderful substitute for rice wine vinegar in many recipes. I make an Asian chicken salad that normally calls for rice wine vinegar. I subbed my Chive Blossom Vinegar for the rice wine vinegar all winter long (saving me a couple of dollars on rice wine vinegar). This vinegar is also wonderful sprinkled over fish and chips, or used in any savory recipe that calls for vinegar.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

I finally got the tire with a slow leak repaired - Woo hoo!

So, no more adding air to the tire every few weeks. Yesterday morning, I just got fed up with doing that, and made getting the tire patched a priority.



As soon as I returned home from taking my daughters to school, I phoned the closest tire place (Discount Tire). They were open (and this was minutes after 8 AM). I drove right over and was the second person into the showroom. I'm glad I went right away, as the one thing I'd been dreading was the wait to have them fix the tire. They got my car in right away.

There was a nice enough sitting area, and it didn't smell of tires, as the showroom did. I already had a raging headache, and the tire smell in the showroom was nauseating me. I thought I'd treat myself to a cup of coffee across the parking lot. But as luck had it, they had a pot of coffee all set up. They also had a nice selection of magazines. I honestly couldn't decide which one to read first. I rarely read magazines. Its something reserved for doctor's and dentist's waiting rooms.

So, there I sat, reading my magazine, sipping my coffee, and actually had a pleasant break from daily work. 30 minutes later, they were done. We had driven over a screw. They popped it out and patched the tire. And they did all this for FREE -- my favorite price! So, I had a nice break, read a magazine, drank a cup of coffee and got my tire fixed, and none of it cost me a single penny.

Have you taken care of some nagging task lately? Didn't it feel great to just get it done and over with?

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

How do you decide if something is a tool or a toy?

When someone feels guilt over buying something a bit expensive for the house, they sometimes try to justify it to others by saying its an investment, or a tool. When you're buying something new for your house, do you ever have a moment of anguish over whether or not this purchase is worthwhile? Do you ever think to yourself, "maybe this is just a new toy"? And how do you decide if it's a toy or a tool?



I used to feel guilty about buying just about anything that would help me to get my work done. That is, until I came to what, for me, is a brilliant conclusion -- a worthwhile tool is something that helps me with my work, so that I can get on with even more productive activities, and thereby increase my productivity.

My new mixer is pretty, but that doesn't mean that it's just a toy. It's a tool that helps me to mix and knead the week's bread dough, with about 5 minutes of hands-on time. When I was mixing and kneading the bread dough by hand, I was spending up to 1 hour mixing and kneading the dough each week. Now, I am able to move on to the next productive task in minutes, instead of an hour. And because the mixer makes this work so easy, I am less likely to procrastinate.



An argument for "toy" or "tool" could be made for most items in our houses, depending on how you use it, and what it allows you to do sooner, and with more energy.

You and I surely would agree that a hammer is indeed a tool. But there's probably someone out there who would say, "what do you need a hammer for? When you can pound a nail in just as well with a rock from your yard?" Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration, but what about this example:

How about a clothes dryer? Is that a tool or a toy. In my mind, a dryer couldn't possibly be a toy. I don't wake up in the morning eager to find something I can toss into my dryer. Yet, on another frugal living blog, the blogger was criticized for no longer hanging her laundry to dry. She was accused of being unfrugal, as if using her dryer was somehow akin to having a toy.

Yes, in the perfect frugal world, we would all hang our laundry to dry. And there would be no nasties like pollen, rain, birds, time or human energy. We'd probably also all be merrily jogging down to the creek to pound our clothes against a rock, on laundry day.

Fortunately, we do have the option of machines to do some of our work for us.

For the frugal living blogger, mentioned above, using her dryer is actually a very productive use of her possessions and time. By doing so, she can more quickly move on to other frugal activities, and increase her productivity. This is where something becomes a tool in my mind, when it can enable us to move more quickly on to other productive work.

I sometimes do like to hang my laundry. I enjoy it when I have time for a "slow" activity. And I can just enjoy the slowness of it all. But most of the time, it's much more efficient for me to toss everything into the dryer, so that I can move on to gardening, cooking from scratch, earning a small income, mending clothing, repairing furniture, etc.

You could drive around in the ungliest thing sold as a car. And because it was uber-cheap, you might consider yourself more frugal than others.. But I don't think that's the only thing you could be driving and still call yourself frugal.  I think frugal means buying what fits your needs, purpose and size, in addition to affordability. Clearly, a single woman who hauls around nothing more than her purse, on decent roads, in good weather, doesn't really need a 13-passenger van. But a very large family very well may. Most of us are driving around in "tools", something to get ourselves from point A to point B. And you know, I think it's okay if you choose the pretty "tool", with a nice color, shape and overall design.

A lawn mower is definitely a tool. In our house, no one starts the weekend with a shout, "yay! It's Saturday! I get to mow the lawn!" Ours is an electric mower. You may think, "why not a human-powered push reel mower?" Well, our electric mower means that anyone in our family can do the mowing. We did have a push reel mower, but only the men were strong enough to use it. Our yard is just large enough to need some assistance with the mowing, but not so large to need a riding mower. So our electric mower is a reasonable tool for the job. And yes, we still call ourselves frugal. We bought the mower that was the right size and power for our needs. (And we got a deal on it through a county "green" promotion!)

With my recent stand mixer purchase, I was really tempted by the commercial model at twice the price. I was even more tempted by the Hobart mixers. But really, unless and until, I start up that candy shop or bakery, those mixers are overkill. The right tool is the mixer that suits my needs and purposes, which I believe is the one I chose.

So, a tool is something that helps you to be more productive in your work hours. A clothes dryer certainly fits that description, as does a reasonable car, a stand mixer and yes, a hammer.

And what about toys? If you have toys, can you still call yourself frugal? In my book, someone who has no toys isn't frugal, they're deprived.


What is a toy?

A toy is something designed to bring joy and/or recreation to the lives of those who use it, which may or may not have any productivity value.

A game is a toy, there's great enjoyment in playing a game. Musical equipment may be viewed as a toy (if it's just for your pleasure) or a tool (if you make a living using it).  A surfboard is a toy. For the woman who just likes to polish the shiny things on her kitchen counter, and never really use them, well, a stand mixer is probably just a toy.

And toys are good! Without them, life would be dull, and we would soon wear ourselves out from lack of recreation. Some of our favorite toys include a piano, a TV, a radio in the kitchen, many computers, games and puzzles, and an outdoor fire bowl.

I don't think for a single second that anyone here has been critical of my choices (at least not out loud!). But I do think it's important for us all to understand what it means to ourselves to be frugal, and just what is a toy vs. a tool. We need to appreciate that toys are desirable too. I think understanding this will a) give us all more freedom to make our choices without guilt, and b) spot the lunatics on other blogs who criticize frugal living bloggers for the choices they make.

So tell me, what was the last "tool" you bought? Did you feel any guilt buying it? How did you get over that guilt?

Saturday, May 18, 2013

What are your times to treasure this summer?



With this being Victoria Day weekend in Canada, and next weekend being Memorial Day for the US, it feels like the unofficial start to summer is upon us.

Now, while my children are still near to my husband and I (so near I can holler up the stairs to reach them), I want to squeeze every precious moment out of our time. So, as the chief social director of this family, I've been thinking about how I want us to spend our time. Obviously, my grown kids will have their own ideas. But if I get my way, here are some of the times I want to treasure this summer:

     1.  Start up our long walks again. Summer Saturday mornings are perfect for us to walk either down to the beach or up to the market and coffee house.

     2.  Dinner of fish and chips on the beach. There's a walk-up window for Ivar's (fish and chips place) down at the beach. At least once each summer we go "out" for dinner. We take our fish and chips over to the shoreline and sit on one of the logs just feet from the lapping waves, while we dine al fresco.


     3.  Saturday evenings around the campfire making s'mores. A little more difficult to do as a family, now that my son is busy most Saturday evenings. But maybe he'll squeeze us into his busy calendar once or twice. In any case, we build a fire, roast hot dogs and make s'mores. Then we wait, and listen to the birds' last song, and look for bats. Some years are bat-ier than others. They're interesting to watch fly around.


                                                                                          
     4.  Have some friends over for an evening of games and dinner.

     5.  Make ice cream and sorbet at home. And for my daughters -- make slurpies at home! That got a +1 from both of them. Just an FYI, every summer on July 11 (7-11), the store 7-11 gives away free, small slurpies. Just keep that in the back of your mind. I usually check online near to that date, to see if the promotion is a "go" again this year.

     6.  Visit the lavender festival in July. This may be a girls-only excursion. I could be hard-pressed to interest the men in the family to go traipse through fields of lavender. But it's been on my list for several summers, and I couldn't get away. Sometimes the girls just gotta have fun, right?

     7.  There's an annual art festival in the downtown area of my town. We've missed it the last 3 years, due to scheduled dance performances of my daughters. But this year, the performances have been moved up one week! Woohoo! A fun Sunday afternoon for the family (not that the dance performances weren't fun -- back peddling, back peddling -- but we get to attend both activities. Whew, saved that one!).
     8.  Which brings me to this, lately our Sunday afternoons have been filled with yard and housework. For this summer, I'd like us to have more time for recreation and relaxation on Sunday afternoons. A nap on the chaise on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or a good book in the shade of the plum tree, or just a long lunch on the grass, will all fit the bill.

     9.  Some cheap backyard fun is also planned. We'll have our croquet tourney, play horse shoes, throw the frisbee, and get out the small ping pong table.


     10.  And finally, a family vacation. And yay! The whole family will be going. We're driving down the coast to California for a week. The 5 of us, stuffed into our small-ish sedan -- this should be interesting! It's a good two days drive to So. Cal. Are we there yet?

You'll notice, this isn't a list of projects to accomplish. There will be time for those, too. These are togetherness, "ya love me don'tcha?"  times to make memories to hold for my rocking chair days.

Do you have any times to treasure on your list for this summer? Please share.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Simple Rhubarb Salad Dressing



Yay! It's salad season. Our spinach is at the perfect, baby-leaf stage. And our leaf lettuce is still tender and young. Meanwhile, over in the rhubarb patch, the stalks are going gang-busters. Tender green leaves combined with bits of rhubarb make a lovely spring lunch combination. Let's head into the kitchen.


This sweet dressing is delicious on baby spinach or mixed greens, along with some diced cooked chicken, bacon crumbles, sliced boiled eggs and strawberry halves. Lacking the extras, Simple Rhubarb Salad Dressing is our favorite dressing for baby spinach with boiled egg slices.

Simple Rhubarb Salad Dressing 

you'll need:

1/2 cup finely chopped fresh rhubarb
1 to 2 shallots minced (or 1 to 2 tablespoons of finely minced onion)
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vinegar (bump it up to 3 tablespoons if you like a tangy dressing)
1/8 teaspoon salt
dash black pepper
1/3 cup salad oil

Chop your rhubarb very fine.



Mince shallots (or onion).



In a small stainless saucepan, combine rhubarb, shallots, sugar, vinegar and salt.

It will look like this when you first combine everything in a saucepan


Simmer, with a lid on, for 10 to 12 minutes (until rhubarb is soft).

Once cooked, it should look like this


Whisk in oil. Add black pepper.
This makes 3/4 cup of dressing, and will keep in the fridge for about 10 days.



Toss salad with about a tablespoon of dressing per serving.

There you have it -- our go-to dressing for springtime salads!

Do you have a favorite dressing for spinach salad?


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Are rising gas prices causing your blood pressure to rise?


(Additional content at the bottom of this post -- May 19, 2013)

The price of gas jumped 30 cents per gallon in one week! That's huge! And it went up again yesterday from morning to afternoon. (edited: gas jumped another 10 cents Tuesday from morning to afternoon. We're close to a 50-cent increase in just 10 days.) Yikes! Whether this is just a tightening supply issue or something more, what can we do to save on fuel purchases?

Here's the thing. Most of us are already batching our errands. We're driving sensibly -- easing into the acceleration, and beginning to slow before needing to actually break for a stop light. We're doing the things we've been told to keep our fuel use down.

This past month, I've been studying up on how we can save even more on our gas, without too much extra work, time, or know-how when it comes to cars. So, I thought I'd share with you, what's been working for our family.

Maybe you already know these 5 tips. But sometimes, a little reminder gets us back to actually following them. Read on.

1)  When driving around town, unroll the windows instead of turning on the A/C. This is a good time of year for using windows for ventilation, as we haven't reached the super hot days of summer, yet. A rule of thumb number is about 40 MPH. Speeds above, use your A/C. Speeds below, use windows. There are a lot of variables with this basic formula -- make, model and year of car, but basically about 40 MPH is the number.

I checked a couple of different sites on this. Mythbusters recommended 45 MPH, but their testing didn't seem as scientific as that from this site, auto.howstuffworks.com, which recommended the 40 MPH.

I am a lover of A/C. But for in-town driving, I am using my windows this spring. What about the whacky hair that window's down can cause, you wonder? To keep myself from looking like Einstein's sister, when I arrive at my destination, I've been using a scarf to contain my curly locks.

2)  Keep your tire pressure to the manufacturer's recommendation, for your vehicle. You can find this information in your owner's manual, online for your vehicle, or on the inside of the jamb of the driver's door.

So you've heard this before. But did you know that you can improve your fuel efficiency by up to 3%, simply by maintaining proper tire pressure? If you're spending $150 per month on gas for your cars, multiplied by 12 months, that 3% is over $50, by the end of the year, my friend!

Many gas stations have air refilling pumps, some charge 25 cents or so, but many are free. This is a super cheap way to gain back some of that $$ that gas price increases have stripped away from us.

One of our cars has a tire with a very slow leak. It needs a top off of air every one to two months. Until we can get this tire patched, checking air pressure and adding a bit here and there is one of the cheapest things we can do to boost our fuel efficiency. The gas station we use offers free air, so no cost, just a tiny amount of time.

What about over-inflating your tires. This myth has been around for a while, that if under-inflating your tires reduces fuel economy, then over-inflating should improve fuel economy, right? Wrong. According to Popular Mechanics, not only do you not boost fuel economy by over-inflating your tires, you create undue risk to yourself, as handling is compromised on over-inflated tires.

3)  This tip is more likely to save you time, which you could put to better use, which in turn could potentially save you money. Know your car's cost per mile. Cost of gas per gallon (or litre) divided by your vehicle's MPG (or miles per litre). Use this to figure if driving out of your way to get cheaper gas is cost-efficient. So, yesterday's gas price was $3.58 per gallon. Our car gets 24 MPG. Our car's cost per mile is about 15 cents, when the cost per gallon is about $3.60.

If I drive 5 miles out of my way to buy cheaper gas, then I need to save about 75 cents on that fill-up to "break even". We typically put about 11 to 12 gallons into our car per week. If gas is only 3 cents cheaper per gallon, but I have to drive 5 miles out of my way, then I've only saved about 35 cents on that fill-up, and don't reach the "break even" point. But if gas is 10 cents less per gallon, and 5 miles out of my way, my savings on the price of gas is about $1.20/fill-up, or about a 45 cent profit. Depending on the value of my time, this may or may not be enough of a savings to drive out of my way.

Even driving just 1 mile out of my way will cost me 15 cents in gas, and most of the time, isn't worth it to me if I will only be saving 3 cents per gallon, for 11-12 gallons, or 33 to 36 cents savings, netting me just 18 to 21 cents total.

If your car only gets about 20 MPG, then at yesterday's prices in our area, your cost per mile is about 18 cents. Driving 5 miles out of your way will cost you 90 cents. If your tank holds about 13 gallons (which is about average for sedans), and you fill it to FULL every time, you would need a price difference of about 7 cents per gallon just to break even.

The poorer your car's fuel economy, and the smaller the price difference in different gas stations, combined with the less gas you add to the tank at a time, then the less valuable it is to drive out of your way for a few cents worth of savings per gallon. You can probably find something more lucrative to do with your time, than driving all around town to save a couple of pennies.

The most cost-effective way for us to buy our gas, is to make a stop at the lowest-priced gas station, that also happens to be along my regular route, or is very close to someplace I need to go anyway.

My son drives 20-25 miles to work each way, each day. When his tank is low, he checks seattlegasprices.com to find the lowest-priced gas at both ends of his commute. He discovered that it's less expensive to fill up down near his office. Getting gas near your destination, instead of near your home, on a regular basis, could save you a couple of dollars per month.

4)  Buy gas on Wednesday mornings, before 10 AM. When you buy your gas matters, especially with a holiday coming up. Memorial Day is just around the corner for the US. Canada has Victoria Day  next Monday, May 20. If you know you will likely need fuel just before or during that weekend, refuel a few days early, like on the Wednesday morning before the holiday. Wednesday mornings, before 10 AM is often the least expensive time and day of the week to buy gas, and by refueling a few days ahead of the long weekend-pack, you'll snag a cheaper price per gallon.

If you've been in the habit of buying your gas any other time of the week, an article from business.time.com explained why Wednesday mornings are THE best time/day of the week to buy your gas. Switching our gas buying routine from Sundays (our old day to buy gas) to Wednesdays is saving us a few dollars per month, or over $30 per year.

5)  Make sure you are driving the most economical car (that you already own) for your purpose. In the US, many families have 2 cars. Usually one car is designated as Mom's car and the other is designated as Dad's car. You may want to switch this up during the week. If your car gets better fuel economy than your husband's, but you need to travel less during the week, it may make sense for the two of you to switch cars, so that the person traveling more miles per week is driving the car that gets better MPG. We get into habits. And this is one habit you may want to alter.

What are gas prices doing in your area? Did you notice a huge jump in price this last week? What are your plans for dealing with rising gas prices?

One thing I'll be doing this summer, is riding my bike more for errands around town.

(added content 5/19/13) The price of gas in our area has now gone up over 60 cents per gallon in two weeks time. For one of our cars, that's over $7 per week. What am I going to do about it?

Well, I'm carefully laying out my driving plans for the week. I managed to shave 25 miles off my driving this past week, by making 3 trips to our church for drop offs and pick-ups for activities rather than 5 trips, by finding work that I either needed to take care of, or could volunteer for, and be nearby my daughters, minimizing my driving to/from.

I've changed my driving style, allowing more time to get to my destination, accelerating slowly, taking my foot off the gas pedal and coasting for a bit before braking, all the stuff they tell you to do to lessen gas consumption.

And I will likely have to allocate more money towards gas in our budget, and reduce another category, especially when it comes to our family vacation later in the summer.

If you came to my site via Google or other search engine, then I'm assuming that prices have risen for gas in your area, too. Some cities have been impacted more than others. If you are uncertain whether to buy gas today, or hold off for a day or two, gaspredictor.com could give you the info that you need. They base their forecasts on Futures trading.

What are you paying per gallon this week? 

Friday, May 10, 2013

My thoughts on beauty and my own skin care regimen (it's not grand, I'll tell you!)

(Happy Saturday, everyone. This is going up a few hours early.)

In the comments the other day, I was asked to share my skin care regimen. Which is really weird, because my regimen is quite minimal. But I thought I'd share my personal thoughts on beauty, aging and skin.

We live in a warped society, where a 20 year-old woman is thought to be beautiful if she looks like a 12 year-old girl. Women have horrible things done to themselves in the name of beauty. They have their faces injected, cut, lifted, chemically abraded -- all in the name of beauty. Real beauty comes from the spirit of a woman, not the skin that she's wrapped in.

The kind of beauty I pursue, is the beauty of a young mother who snuggles her newborn baby right after his first breath. This same beauty is that of a daughter, tear rolling down her cheek, as she holds her dying father's hand when he takes his last breath. This is love. This is joy. This is sorrow. This is life. This is beauty.

I want to have laugh lines, worry lines and tear-stained cheeks. I want my face to say that I've lived a rich and love-filled life. I want children to know that I'm a pleasant old lady, who enjoys the company of their young selves.


My memories of a very beautiful older lady (and she was indeed a lady)

Her name was Mrs. Reaume. And she was my piano teacher. She had lived through joy and sorrow. She was kind. She was patient. She was gentle. And she was 75 years old.

Her lovely white hair was loosely pinned into a bun on the back of her head. She wore elegant dresses with billowy sleeves, often in the same shade of ice blue as her sparkling eyes.

She was a widow. But somewhere along the line she picked up a suitor, Mr. Earl. She called him her gentleman friend. But my sister and I giggled in secret about Mr. Earl being Mrs. Reaume's boyfriend. Mr. Earl would drive Mrs. Reaume's enormous Cadillac convertible each week, ferrying Mrs. Reaume to her lessons with half-pint pupils. Mr. Earl knew that Mrs. Reaume was a beauty.

Mrs. Reaume's face gently held it's share of wrinkles. But there was beauty in these wrinkles, evidence of a life well-lived. That's the kind of beauty that I pursue.

So, I too will have a face filled with wrinkles, Lord willing that I should live a long life. I really don't fight them. My beauty regime is much simpler than that of many American women, but maybe similar to yours.

What I don't do
  • I don't exfoliate
  • I don't use a toner
  • I don't use soap on my face
  • I don't do injections of any kind (ouchy, ouch, ouch!)
  • And I don't have a cabinet of products that I use every day

In fact, I have 1 product for daily use. It's a moisturizing lotion that I use as my cleanser, moisturizer and eye"cream".

I have extremely sensitive skin, prone to eczema. My face can not tolerate many products. Exfoliation would be painful, A toner would chap my skin. Soap burns. I have tried many products which claim to be good for eczema. But so far, I've just found one moisturizer (and I use it as an all-purpose product) which actually helps the feel and condition of my skin. It's called CeraVe Moisturizing Lotion. You buy it in the drugstore.

About 5 years ago, I read a book on dealing with eczema. The doctor recommended a different lotion, which I could not find locally. But the key ingredients were ceramides. If you'd like to read up a bit on ceramides here's a link to more info. It appears that ceramides are indeed helpful for eczematic skin (I found that out personally about 5 years ago). If you suffer from eczema, I'd recommend asking your doctor about products with ceramides. Many dermatologists are recommending CeraVe, as it's affordable and over the counter. And that's my big skin care secret! LOL!

I also use cortisone cream during allergy season. I keep a tube of it with me in my purse.


I told you that I use this one single product for cleansing and moisturizing. I tried the cleanser in this line, but found I got better results just using this one product, the moisturizer. So here's my grand skin care regimen.

  • I apply CeraVe to my face, then splash off with warm water. 
  • I pat my face dry, then immediately put more CeraVe on my face. If I've been out in the wind, I wait for the first coat of CeraVe to soak in, then apply just a bit more. 
  • I dab more CeraVe under my eyes, as an eye "cream". Because of it's water content, I have to wait a minute or two before putting on concealer over my dark circles. 
  • I do the cleansing/moisturizing thing at least once per day, twice if I've been active, worn make-up, or allergies are causing itchies.


I also had a conversation with a dermatologist (who had great skin, by the way, for a woman in her 60s, obviously followed her own advice) several years ago. She told me great skin is mostly genetic, but there were a few things I could do to influence my own outcome.

Avoid:

  • alcohol
  • tobacco
  • caffeine
  • soda pop
  • stress
  • sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM
She said "do":
  • use sunscreen 
  • wear sunglasses
  • wear a hat when outdoors
  • eat fish, nuts, avocados and olive oil


Basic stuff that we've all heard, but I do think this common sense approach can benefit both our insides and our outsides.

How have I done over the years with this? Well, I'm great on the tobacco and alcohol. And I gave up soda about 18 years ago.

I'm not always great about avoiding the sun, but I do wear a hat. I live in Seattle -- so I can never find my sunglasses, and that's a problem.

I'm terrible on the stress and eating fish. I really dislike fish, but I am trying very hard to include it. And I can't seem to give up coffee. I'm down to half-caff coffee. I'm trying to get down to 1/4 caffeinated coffee. (Any tips on cutting out coffee would be greatly appreciated. I do okay for a while, then I slip back into drinking a lot of it again.)

And the stress, well, what can I say. Stress is one of the worst things you can do for the outside and inside of your body. Stress causes our bodies to produce cortisol. Cortisol reduces the skin's collagen. Collagen is what gives your skin it's elasticity. Elasticity is what makes our skin look tight and plump. If you pinch the back of your hand, the pinch mark should go away almost immediately in young, pre-menopausal skin. But if your body has been making a lot of cortisol for a while, that elasticity will be diminished. That's a sign that you're aging both on the inside and the outside. I am working on the stress issue, finding better ways to de-stress and taking supplements which help with stress.

I expect my skin will "age" considerably in the next 5 years or so. I haven't gone through menopause yet, but someday will. It's a part of life.

I'm much more concerned, though, with how my insides will age. If someday, I'm old and wrinkly, well at least I'm old, is my attitude. I hope to become a sweet, little old lady, sporting plenty of laugh and worry lines.

How about you? What's your beauty secret?




Thursday, May 9, 2013

Produce triage: preventing produce waste


Triage is a rather important sounding word for what I do with our produce. But it fits.

I first heard of the word triage when watching M*A*S*H in the 70s. The word triage comes from the verb (Fr) trier, which means to separate or select. It's been mostly used in medical settings, as in the TV show M*A*S*H.  But I am hearing it used more and more outside of the medical field, such as "to triage an issue".

Basically triage means to give priority to what needs and could most benefit from urgent attention.



If you are on a tight budget, buying produce by the bag can save you a substantial percentage of your grocery budget. But buying bagged produce sounds like a recipe for waste disaster for many of us. Have you ever bought a bag of fruit or vegetables, and had half the bag rot, unbeknownst to you? This has happened in my kitchen.

It's not like I am carelessly picking up the first bag of oranges I see at the market. I actually search the bag, through the plastic, to see if the produce is good all through. But still, there can be that lone orange or onion that has gone soft, and will soon rot, contaminating the entire bag. (And it's the one usually hiding behind the label, hmmm.)

Several years ago, tired of this happening, I decided to make a change in my at-home treatment of produce. I now "triage" all my bagged produce as I bring it into the house.

I go through each bag, and pull out any pieces of produce that look like they could "go" at any moment. I place these in a spot in my kitchen fridge that means, "use this first". The good pieces either get loaded into drawers in the garage fridge (like onions, apples and oranges), or tucked into a paper grocery sack (like potatoes) to store in the pantry.


Just this week, I bought a large sack of onions, and found this one, near the bottom. It was usable. I just had to cut off about a 1-inch by 2-inch chunk. If I had not triaged this bag of onions, this onion would have rotted and caused the rot of several more onions.



I also bought a bag of oranges. In this bag I found several squishy ones. They are still edible, but will be the first to "go" in about a week. So, these have been designated to be used up within a few days.


Here's 10 lbs. of potatoes. They were in a plastic bag. Sometimes the potatoes have sat in a damp warehouse in storage. Moisture covers the potatoes inside the bag and mold forms on the skins. The plastic bags do have some ventilation holes, but even so, my potatoes feel slightly damp on the skins. By transferring to a paper sack, not only does the moisture dissipate, but I can keep these potatoes in darkness better (and longer) in the paper, preventing some of the green that develops on and just below the skin. And yes, not only were these potatoes a bit damp, but I found one potato with a large bruise. I cut off that bruise and cooked the potato the next day.

It may sound like a lot of work, to go through the bags once I'm home, but it's really not. It only takes a few minutes per bag. And I usually only buy a couple of bags of produce at a time. I view it as just another part of putting the groceries away.



I also triage containers of berries right away. I search the sides of the berry clamshell in the store, and think all is well, only to find several moldy berries at the bottom in a few days. So, I gently empty the plastic clamshell onto a dish towel, sort through, set aside those that should be consumed that day, or frozen for smoothies or cobblers later. I add a paper towel or napkin to the bottom of the container, then refill with the berries. A container of berries will keep several days longer, with this extra bit of attention, than when I don't triage them.

I do occasionally buy bagged leafy greens, and I have a way to deal with them, as well. Before I put them in the fridge, I open the bag and dump them into the salad spinner. I pull out any leaves that look like they could get yucky right away, and use or freeze that day. The rest I leave in the spinner, and I add about a spoonful of water to the bottom of the spinner (beneath the basket), and keep in the fridge. I had a bag of spinach keep for 8 days this way once (then we'd eaten it all, no telling just how long it could have kept). As I needed spinach I would pick through the leaves in the spinner and find those which should be used first. The aging leaves were pulled out earliest, plus nothing sat up against the inside of a plastic bag, and I think that's what kept the spinach so fresh, for so long.

I don't seem to have a problem with bagged carrots or celery, so I don't do anything out of the ordinary with either of them.

How about you? What's your best tip for preventing produce waste?

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

10 best buys at my dollar store


The chain is Dollar Tree. And in recent years they have made a push to enlarge their grocery selection. You do need to know your prices, and do a little math in the store. But here's what I've found to be the 10 best buys at our local Dollar Tree.

  1. Paper cupcake liners, 100 ct., both mini and regular-sized for $1
  2. Graham Crackers (crucial ingredient in s'mores) almost a 10 oz box for $1 (they sometimes get Honey Maid Cinnamon Grahams, 16 oz boxes for $1)
  3. Foil-wrapped holiday chocolate candies (Christmas, Valentine's, Easter), small bag of about 12 pieces for 25 cents, on clearance, after the holiday -- we use these for s'mores
  4. Crackers, all kinds, 8 to 10 oz boxes -- I  don't know why anyone would buy crackers in a regular store. When we want crackers for a party or celebration, we head to the dollar store
  5. Soy milk -- I buy Westsoy brand soy milk at the dollar store in a quart for $1. Soy milk has really jumped up in price in the last 5 years. I used to be able to frequently buy other major brands of soy milk in the regular grocery store for a dollar on sale. Just not happening anymore.
  6. Individually-wrapped snacks, packages of 5, 6 or 8 for $1-- I don't usually buy these. But there is one occasion when I do. When we're traveling by plane I make a stop at Dollar Tree the afternoon before we leave and I buy the multi-packs of single serve, individually wrapped snacks of cheese and crackers, raisins, peanuts, trail mix, breakfast and granola bars. I put all these into a pile on the kitchen table, give each family member a bag, and tell them to choose 4 or 5 items from the pile. This is their traveling day snack, for in the airport, on the plane or any other time during that day, as they are hungry. I wind up spending $6 for the day's and flight's snacks, compared to maybe spending $6 per person in flight. And while it's kind of junky stuff, by our standards, we don't eat like this every day. So I don't feel bad about it.
  7. Large sheets of poster board for school projects and signs, 50 cents per sheet.
  8. Sweetened shredded coconut flakes for baking, $1 for 6 or 7 oz. bag (depending on brand). Do you make Dream Bars, the incredibly yummy, multi-layered coconut, graham crumbs and chocolate chip bar cookies? 
  9. Sea Salt, $1 for  26 oz container of San Francisco Bay brand sea salt -- good for cooking, yes, but also nice for making bath salts
  10. Panty liners, 40 ct. package, $1 -- grocery store brands have 22 ct. packages for about $1
Like I said, if you know your prices, you can snag some really great deals at Dollar Tree. What deals have you found at your dollar store?



I don't always shop at the dollar store ; )


I shave the budget where I can. But I do splurge when the purchase will benefit our family greatly.

I've been making our bread the old-fashioned way, with a bowl, spoon and a lot of muscle, for 25 years now. I also was gifted with a rather used, hand-me-down bread machine a few years ago. But my aging and crippled machine's days are numbered. The time has come to decide how we're going to make our bread. (And while buying bread is certainly an option, we've become so accustomed to our recipe for bread that we're quite spoiled!)

For 7 long years now I've been debating whether or not to buy a stand mixer, primarily to mix and knead bread and roll dough, but also for large batches of other batters or dough. Last week I found a very good deal. The stand mixer that I wanted, on sale at a good price, plus an extra 10% discount with a coupon code, plus free shipping, and I had a gift card in my purse to the store selling this mixer.

The day I took it out of the box I mixed a large batch of whole wheat bread dough, enough for 3 loaves of bread, a batch of hot dog buns and a pan of cinnamon rolls. The next day, I used the mixer to make a double batch of pizza dough, half for that day's pizza and half for the freezer for easy homemade pizza, on another day.

I think it's safe to say that I'll be getting a fair amount of work out of this mixer, and my injured shoulder might just get a break long enough to heal properly.

Have you splurged on anything lately? What's your criteria for splurges?


Saturday, May 4, 2013

Add ambiance to your outdoor space with budget-friendly outdoor lighting (25 cents per light)



When I'm attempting a crafty project, my inspiration springs from my current selection of supplies, before I buy anything new. I really don't need more supplies in my cupboards.

Each spring/summer I dream over glossy images of strings of lights, suspended over decks and patios. The lights glisten in the dark and make an ordinary night look festive. I had a bad case of downright envy, at a neighbor's house one evening, two years ago. She had these adorable dragonfly lights hung from the overhang over her patio. We have no such overhang. There is nothing to suspend the lights from over our deck or patio.

So I just need to be creative. Candles (both real and faux) are always lovely, and can be set anywhere, just needing some protection from winds (for real candles).

In Dollar Tree the other day, I was browsing the candle aisle, and saw some votive candles, priced 4/$1. I looked over their votive holders, but for $1 a piece, none caught my eye. In that moment, I realized that I had all the makings of something far cuter, all in my own cupboards. Making use of things I already had -- that is always a happy thought! So I bought a 4-pack of sage green votive candles, to make into my own outdoor lighting.

Here's what I used:



half-pint jelly jars (from the pantry)
a length of grosgrain ribbon in a light shade of green (from my gift wrap ribbons box, came on a gift last spring)
raffia (who here doesn't have a bag of raffia sitting around -- ask around, someone you know is bound to have some)
faux ivy (this is leftover from the wreath and basket I made for spring decor)
hot-glue gun (if I didn't have a hot-glue gun I would have used rubber cement-type craft glue)
sand, (about 2 to 3 tablespoons sand per jar, alternatively some people use salt in candle jars) if using a traditional candle; not necessary for battery ones

and of course the purchased votive candles (a 4-pack for $1)




I wrapped the ribbon around the jelly jars, just below the threads for screwing on a lid. It took about 9 inches to go all the way around, and have a bit of overlap for gluing.



I used hot glue to secure the wrap of the ribbon to itself (but not to the jar, I want to be able to use these as jelly jars again this fall). The glued ends are on the backside of the candle holder.



I hot-glued a sprig of faux ivy to the front of the ribbon wrap. Lacking faux ivy you could also just tuck a sprig of evergreen like Camellia, under the raffia bow.



I laid the jar on a cloth, to make the bow-tying easier. Then I took a length of raffia, doubled it over and wrapped it around the ribbon and ivy, concealing the end of the faux ivy under the raffia. I tied the bow and trimmed the ends.



Pour in some sand, level, and plop in a candle and I've got a votive candle in a holder for about 25 cents. (I also tucked in some sea glass and shells, as I think they look pretty.)

These were quick to make. I did 4 in about 30 minutes. If you had a large event in your garden this summer, you could easily do a dozen in an hour, especially if you made these assembly line-style.

And you don't need to go to all the trouble of layering the ribbon with ivy and raffia. You could just tie on brightly colored ribbons. Those would look very festive.

We have a lot of small critters in our area. So I wouldn't leave these on the deck railing overnight, but would tuck them up against the house at the end of the evening.



And if I had small children running about, I'd use the battery-operated faux votive candles. I also buy those at the dollar store in packs of 4 for a dollar.


Candle and glass safety

Glass can and does break from candles. This mostly happens when making a poured candle, not with votives, or using non-canning jars or vintage canning jars. But just to err on the side of caution:

  • use votives or tea lights, not large pillar candles
  • do not use vintage canning jars, as they are prone to crack
  • do not use a cracked, chipped or heavily scratched jar
  • only use canning jars, do not use other food jars
  • the sand will both balance the candle and serve as a bit of insulation at the bottom of the jar from a bit of the heat of melting wax. Balancing the candle will keep heat from building up on one side of the jar. The bonus with the sand is that melted wax comes right out of the jar.
  • do not burn the candle all the way down
  • trim the wick to about 1/4-inch
  • place jar on a level and heat-resistant surface, away from dried matter of all kinds
  • if using for indoors, consider the battery-powered lights. They're just as pretty and won't pose any risk, should they be unattended (like in a powder room when you have guests over).
  • if you are wanting to use vintage jars (the blue ones are beautiful with a light in them), use the battery-powered tea lights. You won't run the risk of ruining your lovely vintage jars.
  • if you are still not sure about a candle in use, the battery-powered tea lights are also priced at 4/$1 at Dollar Tree, and will most definitely not cause a fire.


A tip for making bows nice and straight

Do your bows ever look crooked? As a girl I worked in a department store in the gift wrap station. I learned a trick for tying bows which don't go crooked after tying.

First, you make the half-knot part of the bow. Then turn the package or item that you are tying, around 180 degrees. Tie the remaining portion (the two loops) of the bow.



So, for these jelly jars, I tied the half-knot with the jar in what would be the upright position. Then I spun the jar around until it was what would be upside down, and finished off the bow.
I've never thought this all through, but by doing this, my bows turn out straight, instead of the formerly crooked ones.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Pizza in 5!! 5 steps, 5 minutes




This is the easiest (and possibly least expensive) pizza you may ever make at home. But to qualify, this isn't pizzeria-style pizza. This is have a snack, go with soup for dinner, make quickly in the morning for breakfast, feed the kids lunch type of pizza. It's what my kids will make for themselves after school, in the morning, and late at night. We call them pizza sandwiches. They are oven-toasted, open-faced sandwiches.

The crust -- sliced bread, any will do. I've used the super cheap stuff, bread machine bread and thick slices of French bread. (This one is whole-wheat bread machine bread).

The sauce -- pasta or pizza sauce. You can even make "instant" pizza sauce in the microwave from canned tomato paste. Here's my recipe:

"Instant" Pizza Sauce
In a microwaveable measuring cup or bowl, stir together 1/2 cup tomato paste, 1 minced clove of garlic, 2 tablespoons minced onion, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon each dried oregano and basil, and 1/2 cup of water. Microwave for 40-60 seconds. You can sub onion (1/4 teaspoon) and garlic powder (1/8 teaspoon) for the fresh, and this is even more "instant".

Cheese -- mozza, cheddar, Parmesan, whatever we have in the fridge.

Toppings -- after Thanksgiving, we like to make turkey-pizza sandwiches. These are thin slices of turkey breast, lightly salted and peppered, and layered between the sauce and cheese (between, so the turkey doesn't dry out). Any cooked meat can be added here. Other "regular" pizza toppings for on top of the cheese an be used. I like olives and green pepper slices.

The Method


STEP 1
Lightly toast the slice of bread in your toaster, just until firm, but not browned.



STEP 2
Spread the toasted bread with pizza or pasta sauce. You can use jarred sauce, "instant"sauce, leftover spaghetti sauce. I keep homemade pizza/pasta sauce in the freezer. I do big batch cooking, and it's ready when I want it.


STEP 3
Sprinkle with cheese -- mozzarella, Parmesan, feta, cheddar, whatever you have in your fridge.

STEP 4
Add toppings -- olives, sliced veggies, pepperoni, mushrooms, cooked sausage/ground beef -- the sky's the limit!




STEP 5
Broil in your oven until the cheese is melty and golden. And you're done. Pizza is served!! Pizza in 5: 5 steps, 5 minutes.


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