Weekly Project: Books, books, books!

Ivy says:

I knew last week was going to be so busy I wouldn’t be able to get any projects done, so I didn’t do one . This week looks to be better, though, so here’s what I’m working on: culling my books. Now, I know my fellow book lovers are saying, “Wait, there is no such thing as too many books!” But really, do I need three copies of Anne of Green Gables? I have more books than I have bookshelves, this cannot be good.

So I’m going through my books, one shelf at a time and getting rid of books I have more than one copy of, books I have never read and will never read  and books I’ve read but don’t dig enough to read more than once. There are all sorts of neat things I could do with the books like PaperbackSwap.com, but I’ll probably be taking them to my favorite local thrift store. I need tax writeoffs, yo!

So, what do you do with your extra books, Home Eccers? And what project will you be working on this week?

Menu Monday 6/30

Heather says:

Can someone tell me what happened to June?  I swear I just glanced at the calendar and it was Memorial Day, now we’re gearing up for 4th of July. Last week’s grilled chuck roast turned into pot roast while on vacation, I didn’t want to use the communal grill for something more time consuming than your typical fare.

Tell me, Home Eccers, what is on the menu this week?

• Monday - Tomato pie, Caesar salad
• Tuesday  - Chicken bog, green beans, steamed broccoli
• Wednesday - C.O.R.N.*
• Thursday - Grilled pork chops (seasoning to be determined), grilled zucchini, cucumber and tomato salad.
• Friday - Happy 4th of July! Chili dogs, grilled corn, baked beans
• Saturday - Family pizza night (This week I’ll make a double batch of dough and a triple batch of sauce)
• Sunday - shrimp alfredo over fettucini, Seven layer salad

*Clean Out Refrigerator Night

Retro Saturday: Biscuit Baking

Retro Saturday is a chance to see a blast from the Home Ec 101 past and gives Ivy and I a chance to relax.
Heather says:

I searched high and low. I tried at least a dozen recipes people swear were from Grandma and now I have it. This is the one I recommend to biscuit novices. This is my choice for those who are scared of rolling pins and feel unsure about kneading.

Basic biscuits:

• 2 cups all purpose flour + extra for dusting
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening (COLD)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter (COLD)+ 2 TBSP
• 1 cup milk

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Melt the 2 TBSP unsalted butter and pour into a 10″ square cake pan. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl thoroughly combine the flour, salt, and baking powder. Add the shortening and grate in the butter. If you have a pastry cutter you can work it in that way, but for novices I find a grater simplifies the process. Do not worry about the little bit that sticks to the grater.

Using your fingers work the shortening and butter into the flour mixture. When it is thoroughly combined it will resemble coarse crumbs.

Add the milk and stir until just combined. The dough will be VERY sticky, that is exactly how it is supposed to be.

Heavily dust your work area and hands with flour. Turn the dough onto the floured surface. Fold each side toward the middle. Pick up the dough, redistribute the flour on your work surface, turn the dough over, and set back down. Once again fold each side to the middle. Pick up the dough and turn it over. Set it down and using your hands, gently press it out until it is about 3/4″ thick.

Using a biscuit or cookie cutter, cut the dough into 2″ circles. Push the cutter straight into the dough and pull it straight out. It sounds silly, but do not twist the cutter. You can push the scraps together to salvage the last biscuit. One at a time, set each biscuit into the buttered cake pan, then turn over, this gives them a nice buttery topping without having to use a pastry brush.

Bake 15 minutes or until golden.

Yields ~ 9 biscuits

Saving Money On Bottled Water

Ivy says:

Recently, I saw a discussion about bottled water in a frugality community. Some people were saying it is not frugal at all to buy bottled water, since tap water is (essentially) free. Others explained that the water where they lived was just bad and they needed bottled water.

I’m in the “my water is just bad” camp, personally. We often get notices from the city that they have once again violated the state’s codes for safe water, and once our water turned pink. Now, I agree that buying the individual sizes of bottled water isn’t very frugal. But there are plenty of more-frugal ways to get water that’s safe and tastes good.

We ended up buying a refillable water cooler like this one, only mine’s not cool and black like that one. It uses Brita pitcher filters, so the cost of upkeep isn’t too bad. We spend about $15 every 3 months or so. The really nice thing about having the water cooler is that it has both cold water (and wowzers, it’s cold) and hot water (and WOWZERS, it’s HOT), so I can make instant oatmeal or instant ramen, well, instantly.

Another option is the faucet filters, which have gotten smaller and less of a pain to deal with. Certain brands also have flavor filters, so you can get your raspberry water right out of the tap. Pretty neat, if you ask me. And, of course, there’s the ubiquitous refrigerator pitchers, which are quite inexpensive and are also a good option.

If all else fails, you can buy bottled water in gallon jugs. This isn’t the *most* economical option, but it is certainly cheaper than the individually sized bottled water.

One of the reasons I see people saying they buy the individual bottled water is for on the go use, and some even refill the bottled water (which I hear is not recommended due to some plastic leaching issues), but I still find a Nalgalene bottle is the best way to go. You can sometimes find good bargains on these- I saw some at Target once for just a buck apiece and yeah- they were actually Nalgalene. So keep an eye out, bargains can be found with those.

What do you do to save money on bottled water, or are you lucky enough to live somewhere where the tap water is pretty good? And if so, where do you live, so I can move there??

Vacation Frugality

Heather says:

I’m home from our surprise getaway and although I’m still twitching from sudden Internet withdrawal, I have been assured it is harmless and will eventually stop.

So, what does one do when they find themselves with a vacation that has not been budgeted for?  Well, if there is a refrigerator, bring along the crockpot.  Seriously folks, I used Meredith as my inspiration and searched my cupboards and freezer for meals that were minimal work.  Sandwiches were used to fill in the gaps.  Six people ate for five days and four nights without breaking the bank.  We did eat out a couple times*, but we planned for those meals.

I used the in room microwave to heat vegetables to round out the meals and we had cold cereal* for breakfast several days.

Our menu:

• pot roast with onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes (cut with a butter knife because I forgot to pack my chef knife)
• chicken burritos
• Faux sloppy joes (ground beef cooked in the crockpot, drained, crumbled with a spatula and heated with BBQ sauce)

Looking back, if I had more time to plan, I would have brought some of the ingredients in storage containers, baggies, or twists of plastic wrap rather than in their full containers.  If the fridge in our room had been any more compact, we would have had to resort to utilizing the cooler.  For those concerned that I spent my vacation slaving away over the crockpot, let me assure you that I’d rather fill a slowcooker with ingredients than be responsible for slathering sunscreen on the squirming baby before trekking out to the beach.  Really, it was a fair trade-off.

If you brought your crockpot, what would you plan on cooking?

*As an aside I must note that there was an hour’s wait at the seafood restaurant on a Monday night; some people must still be spending money hand over fist.  While I am sure a few of those in line were of the frugal sort who had saved up for the treat, the overall mood of the place was jaded and reminescent of shuffling cattle through gates.  I don’t think we’ll be visiting another calabash a long, long time, much to my crableg loving stepdaughter’s dismay.

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