Green Frugality

In my quest to live a frugal life I am finding myself more and more interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle. In researching sustainability I am often led to other areas such as "green" living and the idea of leaving smaller "footprints". I love this. While I know that I cannot save the world, I can make a difference. And that is my intention. To live more frugally also means to live more simply. What could be more frugal than growing your own food and canning and preserving it? (Other than using solar and wind power, digging a well, raising chickens and cows, etc. of course...I know. But you gotta start somewhere, right? I'm choosing to start with a garden.)

My oldest son has taken to calling me a "health freak". He's 12. So I take it with a grain of salt. AND as a compliment.

My 9 year-old, on the other hand, likes to read labels, too. We've decided, he and I, that the only way to get around high-fructose corn syrup in our jellies and jams is to make it our dang selves. In preparation for this I've been watching for canning supplies at the thrift store. And I have a vast Wish List over at Amazon.com of books that will help me learn the art of canning! And my 90 year-old grandmother told me I could have her canning supplies, too. So I'm pretty excited really!

Anyway...not quite "green" yet...but definitely a strong chartreuse! It's a start!

What a great day for soup.

photo from Food Network

I just made a delicious soup using a recipe from Dave Lieberman's cookbook, Dave's Dinners. It's called Buttery Baby Pea Soup and it so good, so easy and so frugal! I figure it costs about a dollar per serving if you purchase everything on sale. It calls for a small, yellow onion, a can of chicken stock, a package of frozen peas and a few tablespoons of butter. Simmer 10 minutes then blend with an immersion blender. And then, of course, eat.

Simple and good.

What's in your freezer?

Being on a budget, and that budget sometimes being tighter than others, I am always trying to figure out more ways to stretch our continually shrinking dollar. Last night's dinner is a good example. I had no idea what I was going to make. I am so envious of those women who plan a weeks meals using sale items, coupons, freebies, and what's on their shelves to create delicious meals for pennies. For whatever reason, I just haven't been able to get it together enough to DO it. But, once in a while, I get lucky.

So dinner time was drawing near, and I still had no idea what I'd make. I took a peek in the freezer and realized I had two boneless, skinless chicken breasts left in the package. Hmm. How can I feed four people with two chicken breasts? Why of course. Soup.

I placed the chicken in a pot full of water with some garlic cloves, celery leaves, a bay leaf and salt and pepper corns. I also added a beef bone I'd kept from the chuck roast I'd made. It still had a bit of meat on it and I didn't want to waste it. At the time I saved it I had no idea what it would be good for. But it turned out to be perfect for the chicken soup. It didn't give it a beefy flavor. But it did make the broth much richer. It was really good.

Once the broth was ready, about 40 minutes later, I strained it and let it sit while I chopped some carrots, celery and onion. I sauteed them in some olive oil while I chopped up the chicken and removed the bit of beef from the bone. Once the vegetables were tender I added all of the broth, salt and a bay leaf, Italian seasoning and the meat. I let it simmer for about 40 minutes. About 15 minutes before serving I added a handful of Yemina. a handful of rice and a handful of frozen peas. (As you can see, I am not concerned with precise measurements. I think this is why baking and I don't get along so great. Baking can be so finicky!)

There are several reasons why I loved this meal:

One: I love chicken soup. Especially when it's cold, which it is here, finally.

Two: Not only did it feed us dinner, it also fed ME lunch.

Three: It was fresh and healthy...good for the body and the soul.

And it cannot go without mentioning, this meal was also quite frugal: Chicken; $2.00, vegetables; $1.00, Yemina: $.10, rice; $.10. Total for the chicken soup: $3.20. I served it with some sliced french bread I'd purchased at the Dollar Tree. This loaf lasted 3 meals! I served it with two pasta dinners and then the soup. So if I tally that along with the cost of the soup to get a Grand Total for the price of the dinner...$3.53! To feed a family of four! I love it.

Teach your children well...

My son has taken to reading food labels when he's bored...and he is a bit TOO eager to show me ingredients in food that I've missed. Like the high-fructose corn syrup in our bread. Yes, in the BREAD. I thought I was doing a good thing switching to wheat bread...and amazingly nobody in my family complained. But, I have to confess, it was the cheap wheat bread. Not the good whole grain stuff. I did this innocently enough, however...and could only say that once I knew better, I did better. Now I buy whole grain bread....even though it's a bit more expensive. It's worth it. I'm learning that being frugal can't always equate to cheap. And, as we've all learned at some time or another...you get what you pay for. In the case of bread vs. frugality...buy good bread when on sale and store in your freezer. Voila! Cost effective!

OK...so back to my son and label reading. He found that jelly has high-fructose corn syrup in it. And honestly, I had never thought to even look! You know how you just get used to buying what you buy without paying attention? Well, that's what happened with the jelly. If it was on sale, I was buying it. Period. But...the REAL challenge now is to combine good, healthy, whole food AND cost-effectiveness. But really...back to my son...(man I sure get side-tracked)...his thought is that the only way we'll be able to get good jelly or jam without the additives is to make it ourselves. Hm. Novel idea, son. (My grandmother DID say I could have all of her canning equipment...hmmm..)

Let me just say that this one sentence...well, and reading my bible from Genesis to Revelation (I'll go into this more at another time...)...and looking at country property...turned a light on in my head and led me on this wild goose chase of gathering information about sustainable living and organic gardening and preserving what I grow and raising chickens and equipping our home with renewable energy sources.

So...to make a long story even longer...this blog will not only focus on frugal feasts...it will also focus on frugal living in general. Simplicity, if you will.

And now...off to help Ian check labels.

Minestrone, anyone?

Yesterday was a beautiful, crisp autumn day...I was in heaven. This is my favorite time of year. I love the weather...I love Halloween and Thanksgiving...this time of year just makes me happy. I always feel so refreshed. Yesterday was the kind of day that called for a big pot of soup. So I scoured the pantry shelves and the fridge and found that I had the ingredients to make minestrone soup...or at least MY version, anyway!

Since I was making it up as I went along...using as my inspiration the ingredients used by one of the locally owned italian restaurants here in town...I made some changes after the fact. For example, last night in my experiment recipe I used a whole package of frozen spinach. It was WAY too much. I actually removed some of it because it was so overbearing. So in the recipe below I changed it to either HALF of a package of frozen or 1-2 cups fresh spinach. I also only added one can of beans. I happen to love beans so next time I make it I'll add two cans...one can of white beans and one can of kidney beans for color and texture.

After some changes this is what I came up with. (It even got a good review from my husband who's "not a soup kinda guy"!)

Mimi's Minestrone

2 tblsp. olive oil

1 yellow onion - chopped

2 garlic cloves - minced

2 carrots - peeled and cut into half moons

2 ribs celery - sliced

1 can beef broth

1 can chopped italian stewed tomatoes

1 can white beans - rinsed

1 can kidney beans - rinsed

2 cups water

1 tblsp italian seasoning

1 -2 cups fresh spinach (your preference)

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

In a large soup pot heat olive oil on medium high heat. Add onion, garlic, carrots and celery and saute until vegetables are tender and onion is translucent. Add beef broth, stewed tomatoes, beans, water and italian seasoning and stir to combine. Raise heat to high and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, add spinach, salt and pepper and let simmer for 30-40 minutes. 10 minutes before serving, add the parmesan cheese and stir well. This gives the soup a thicker consistency and tastes wonderful! Serve with french bread.

Makes 6 servings

"Mom, are you trying to kill us?"

My youngest son came into my room, holding our jar of peanut butter high in the air, hollering, "Mom, are you trying to kill us? Read the label!"

Yes. It contains partially hydrogenated oil.

"Good job, son."

Dangit. Why didn't I ever think to check THIS label? Maybe because I've been buying the same brand for years...and because it was the brand my mom bought...and because I pretty much just grab it out of habit? Hmmm..what else do I "just grab out of habit"?

I think this would be worth looking into a bit more...

And now...the hunt for a natural, good tasting peanut butter. These two requirements don't naturally go hand in hand. At least I've never found a natural peanut butter that tasted good, too.

I'll let you know what I find!

Additives I stay away from...

I have only recently, say in the past year or so, become aware of the dangers of some of the additives that are added to many of our favorite, popular foods. These are the few things I stay away from when choosing foods for my family: partially hydrogenated oils, MSG or monosodium glutamate, aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup.

• The first one that was brought to my attention by my dear friend, Elaine, was partially hydogenated oil. This is found in almost every snack cracker, cookie, chip...you name it. It is quite a challenge to find good, tasty items that do not contain these dangerous trans fats. Two good snacks that I found today are Triscuit and Fiddle Faddle.
• The second additive that was brought to my attention was MSG or monosodium glutamate. This is another dangerous additive that is in SO many of our popular convenience foods. What really got me going about MSG was a piece done about it on CBN's The 700 Club a few months back. They called it "the cancer fertilizer". And with cancer in my family, I just wasn't going to take any MORE risks that I already unknowingly do. You can click the link above to read an interesting article about MSG. It also contains a helpful list of other names MSG is listed as...in disguise, if you will...in cognito. Not good. You will be surprised at the amount of foods that contain some form of MSG.
• Aspartame, found in diet drinks and fat free foods, among other things, is another additive I avoid. I figured this one out on my own when I was able to taste it every time I ate or drank something diet or fat-free. Yogurt, for example, would leave the worst taste in my mouth...all I could taste was chemicals. I was never able to get accustomed to diet sodas or drinks...again, all I could taste was, what I eventually figured out was, aspartame. So I stopped buying anything that contained aspartame. Luckily for my husband, who loves his diet soda, Coke and Pepsi both came out with a diet cola containing Splenda rather than aspartame. It's taken him some time to get used to it...but he's doing it without much complaining. You can read a list of symptoms and diseases linked, or possibly linked, to the ingestion of aspartame. Some people say that aspartame has to be consumed in large doses to do damage...but I figure if my body can't break it down, eventually it WILL be a large amount. So why take chances?
• This last ingredient was only brought to my attention over this past summer. I was lecturing my brother-in-law on the dangers of Aspartame when he came right back at me with the dangers of high-fructose corn syrup, telling me that it tells the brain it's not full. This is especially dangerous for children...and unfortunately, it is in SO many, TOO many foods we've all fed our children: cereals, juices, juice boxes, granola bars, fruit snacks, candy, I even saw it listed in the ingredients of a popular snack cracker just this morning while trying to find bargains at Big Lots (which I did, thank you!). It's everywhere...and in way more than we realize...and many times, unknowingly, we are pumping our children full of sugar...then sending them off to school without a proper, healthy meal and THEN wondering why they're having trouble staying focused. (Not to mention the awful school meals they are now feeding our kids...my kids won't even eat them) I know my kids would LOVE a big, fat bowl of Cap'n Crunch each morning...but I just can't do that to them. I may as well just send them off with a kiss and say, "Bye honey...love you...hope you fail today!" I know this may sound dramatic to some of you...but I can see the difference in my own children. Especially my younger son who seems to be more affected by what I allow him to put in his body. Sugar really affects him. Really. I can literally watch him be unable to focus, to remember, to stay on task, to sit still, he can't fall asleep if he's had a sugar-y snack too close to bedtime...it's sad, really. Not my older son so much...in that it doesn't necessarily make him hyper or unable to focus...he gets more lethargic and listless, which is just as detremental as the other.

I have to say that it does take more time at the store to do my shopping since I take the time to read the labels. But I find it to be worth every extra minute knowing that I am feeding my family as healthily as I possibly know how. This is not to say that we don't have the occasional treat that contains something that is less than good for us...we do. I have to admit, I haven't conquered my love of coffee creamer. But for the most part, we are careful. And my sons are even reading labels now, too! (And my husband, too!) My boys and I were at Big Lots earlier today and they were wanting a snack...they saw me reading labels and followed suit. After some complaining, "How come everything that tastes good is bad for you?!", they were finally able to agree on a sweet snack that didn't contain anything unsafe...that we know of anyway!

Sometimes it seems like I can't find anything that doesn't contain something that is bad for our health. And it seems like the only thing I could do to ensure total safety would be to move to some remote mountain region...build a cabin...grow my own food...water it with purified water...can it...freeze it...raise my own beef...and fowl...and do everything like they did back in the day.

But, since I don't see that happening anytime soon, I'll continue as I have been...something is better than nothing. Right? We can make a difference...one small change at a time.

Soups On for Under $7!

Last night I made a popular favorite around my house...New England Clam Chowder. I was always somewhat intimidated to make this...for whatever reason...until I tried a recipe from Dave Lieberman of the Food Network. I really like his philosophy behind cooking and preparing food...basically that you can eat well AND on a budget. Last Christmas I got his cookbook, Dave's Dinners, from my sister-in-law and, after working up my nerve, decided to try his chowder recipe. It was amazingly simple...and amazingly GOOD. I made a few changes to suit my taste and my health choices...and this is what I came up with. Enjoy!

New England Clam Chowder
6-8 servings

3 tblsp. olive oil
1 tblsp. butter
1 medium onion - finely diced
3 celery stalks - finely diced
3 tblsp. flour
2 cups fat-free chicken broth
2 (6.5 oz.) cans minced clams in juice (chopped work too!)
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 bay leaf
1 lb. russet potatoes - peeled and diced into 1/2" pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute until softened, mixing often. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add the flour and stir to distribute evenly. Add the broth, clams and juice, milk, bay leaf and potatoes and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, stirring often, then reduce heat to medium-low and cook 20-30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender, stirring often to prevent the sop from sticking to the bottom of your pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with crusty french bread and butter.

Or, to make it really fun, serve in sourdough bread bowls! My kids really enjoy it this way. It's like being on the wharf in San Francisco!

This recipe is so delicious...and really, truly simple. It originally called for cream, 2 bay leaves and didn't call for any butter. I added the butter and changed to 1% milk (I've also used fat-free and it was just as delicious). I also chose to only use 1 bay leaf as I thought 2 was way too strong, it was all I could taste.

The tally for this meal, with careful shopping, is as follows:

2 cans clams in juice 1.98
4 potatoes .50
celery and onion 1.00
chicken broth 1.00
milk .25

sub-total $4.73
(4) day-old mini sourdough loaves 1.99

Total $6.71

This fed my family of four a hearty dinner and left enough for a more than decent lunch for me the next day!

Lunch for $.95? You bet!

This recipe was inspired by Martha Stewarts recipe in her cookbook, Everyday Food, Great Food Fast. I love to use this cookbook as inspiration. As a matter of fact, I use ALL of my cookbooks as inspiration, rarely following a recipe to a tee. It's not because I think my recipes are better...it's more about having ADD and not being able to stay focused that long!

Needing to use what I had on hand due to budget constraints...and since I didn't have bacon, I substituted with Kielbasa. I was also limited on the amount of chicken broth I had...so I lowered the amount of broth and just added more water to equal the 4 cups of liquid the recipe called for. (I actually added more water as it cooked anyway because it got really thick...too thick...so you'll need to watch this as it's simmering.)

One of the really great things about this meal is that it is healthy and fresh. The thyme even came from my own backyard! All of the ingredients are free of additives such as partially hydrogenated oils and MSG...ingredients I try my BEST to steer clear of. I might miss a label here and there...but for the most part, I'm a big label reader.

The cost of the soup is about $3.75. I ladled it into (5) freezer safe plastic containers, each holding a perfect sized lunch serving, and popped them in the freezer after they'd cooled down. I had bought a loaf of day-old Asiago sourdough bread for $.99 that I sliced up, added a pat of butter to, and put into (5) baggies to go with each individual soup serving. Voila...5 days worth of lunch! All you have to do is grab it out of the freezer and go!

Lentil Soup
5 servings

2 Kielbasa, cut into small bite-size pieces
1 large onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
2 cups organic chicken broth
2 cups water
1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:
In a large soup pot, cook Kielbasa in a small amount of olive oil over medium-low heat until warmed through and slightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add lentils, thyme, broth, vinegar and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve immediately.