27 and Frugal

Quesadillas are not only quick and easy, but also flexible!

What You Need (Core)
2 Tortillas
Shredded cheese (cheddar, pepper jack, your preference)
Mexican seasoning (you better use mine!)

What You Do (3 Options)
1. Toaster Oven: Put quesadilla in toaster oven and toast until cheese melts
2. Oven: Put quesadilla on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for 10 mins or until cheese melts
3. Stove Top: With olive oil on a pan, place your quesadilla and cook for ~10 minutes then flip Continue reading »

These pancakes have the perfect amount of flavor and density. It is more common for me to have beer than milk on hand, so I directly substitute the two. I actually prefer the flavor as it creates a perfect counter to the sweetness. You barely need any toppings on these lil’ pancakes. They melt in your mouth, are a perfect texture and a perfect sweetness.

What You Need

1 egg
1C white or wheat flour
3/4C Yeungling (or any light-medium flavored beer)
1T white sugar
2T vegetable oil
3t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 capful of vanilla Continue reading »

These oatmeal cookies are simply amazing! They do not have raisins (yay!) and do not have chocolate (sadness) but are still tasty and sweet.

The key ingredient here are Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips. They may be hard to find. The only grocery store in my central New Jersey area that carries them is Wegman’s. I usually stock up on them when I go.

Here’s the recipe!

What You Need

2 sticks of butter, softened
1C brown sugar
1/3C white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2t vanilla

1 1/2C flour
1t baking soda
2 1/2C quick oats
1pkg Hershey’s Cinnamon Chips Continue reading »

Free samples are a great example of how frugality is more about being resourceful than it is about being cheap.

Cheap people will use free samples solely because they are free. They have no intention of ever buying the product and simply think of the item as a free meal, free lipstick, free soap, etc.

Frugal consumers, on the other hand, will focus more on the fact that it is a sample. Samples allow you to try a product with no investment. If you like the sample, then spending money on it will be a smart purchase. If you do not, then no harm done. You did not waste your money. Continue reading »

These home-made wheat crackers are not only absolutely amazingly delicious but they are also easypeasy! I promise!

Lots of thanks to Cooking For Seven for the awesome recipe!

What You Need

1C Whole Wheat Flour
1C White Flour
1/4C White Sugar
1/2t Salt
4T butter, cut
1/2C Milk
Salt/Seasonings

What You Do

1. Mix together the flours, sugar & salt. Add the butter. Gradually add milk until dough comes together. (Just a few minutes in a stand mixer)
2. On a floured surface, roll out 1/3 of the dough as thin as you can get it. Sprinkle with salt, seasonings, etc. Cut into shapes. Transfer to a stone or any baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes

Original recipe Continue reading »

One of the simplest ways to save money is to bring your own lunch to work everyday. It is easy to make excuses, “I don’t have time to pack a lunch,” “I get sick of sandwiches,” “I hate leftovers.” Enough already! There are a ton of lunch foods outside of sandwiches that are just as easy to bring to work. There are also many ways to kick your standard sandwich up a notch. Many foods even taste better the next day and are especially easy for cooking newbs!

Chili, Soups & Stews

These meals do not take long to put together. The most time consuming aspect is letting them simmer for 30-60 minutes but you can just watch TV or do pilates while you are waiting.

Chili is nothing other than tomatoes, meat, beans and spices! Put it all in a pot and walk away. Leave it in the fridge and bring it to work the next day. It’ll smell great and taste even better!

Chicken noodle soup is just as easy! I’ve already posted my favorite super-easy chicken noodle soup recipe. It’s simply chicken broth, chicken and veggies. Again, just boil, simmer then eat. Soup reheats perfectly and the flavors usually blend together to taste even better when reheated.

Similarly, beef stew is just beef bouillon, beef, water and veggies. You can season it to your preference. This will be a super easy dinner and an even yummier lunch.

Chili, soups and stews work so well when reheated because it completely eliminates the “soggy food” complaint. It is also very filling and not too messy to eat for lunch. In fact, you probably already purchase soup or chili for lunch at that overpriced cafe down the street!
Continue reading »

Between The Simple Dollar’s home-made bread post and my new KitchenAid mixer, I had plenty of inspiration to try baking my own bread.

Failbread

My first attempt was a recipe for “Rapid Mix Cool Rise White Bread” that is in the recipe book that came with my mixer. I used it so I could get used to mixing times and speeds. My first loaf came out perfect! I was very very excited at the premise of making my own bread whenever I wanted!

My second loaf, did not rise. I killed the yeast with water that was too hot. So I immediately went out and bought a $5 digital thermometer at target. With that help, my third loaf came out perfect just like the first one.

After two good loaves of bread, I thought I had this baking bread thing down pact. So, I tried to make wheat bread. Boy was I in for a treat. I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and my first loaf did not rise.

So I tried again. Second loaf did not rise.

Two failures started to get me down so I switched gears to a white cinnamon swirl bread. Fail. I do not even know what went wrong with this one!

Even though I was definitely starting to get discouraged by this point (and annoyed at seeing all my hard work end up in the garbage) I did not give up. Continue reading »

Coupons are one of the most ingenious marketing techniques ever created. They use the same principle new businesses will use to attract customers; Give customers a deal so they are willing to take a risk.

Marketing companies know how loyal we are to our favorite foods, brands and toilet cleaning products. They know that we will not switch just for anyone. However, with the lure of savings, we will try anything!

Coupons Do Not Endorse a Healthy Lifestyle

When I used to clip out coupons, I tried all kinds of new processed foods and cleaning products. Unfortunately for the marketing companies, I no longer purchase processed foods and commercial cleaning products. Most of the items I buy at the grocery store are rarely featured in coupons. When was the last time you saw a coupon for celery? Companies do not care about your health or savings. They know that your $0.50 savings is nothing compared to the mark-up they just profited on your purchase. Continue reading »

There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to weight loss. Many people think that if you are physically healthy, you do not need to think about food. This is the same for being financially healthy. It is often thought thought that if you have a lot of money in your savings account, you do not need to think about money or plan ahead because you have a safe cushion. Reality couldn’t be far from the truth!

Stop Focusing on Diets & Debts

In the case of losing weight, dieting is very short sighted. While on a diet, you will count calories, routinely exercise, eat healthy, and be much more aware of what you are eating. These habits are successful and cause you to lose weight. Having met your weight loss goal, you might now think it’s safe to stop thinking about food. Now that you’re healthy, you will loosen the grip on your food habits; then become confused when the weight comes back.

This bad habit of a short sighted goal can happen when paying off financial debt as well. While aggressively paying off debt, you’ll constantly check your budget, be more conscious of your spending habits, and think more about your financial future. Then, once the debt is paid, you start to think of all that extra money you now have. Maybe you buy something as an reward. Then you find yourself losing track of your spending. It won’t be too long before you find yourself in trouble again.

Learning to be financially healthy and physically healthy is the same process: Make conscious decisions, plan ahead & be patient.
Continue reading »

Don’t ever throw that stale bread out! Making your own breadcrumbs is so easy and I bet you already have the ingredient on hand (bread!).

There’s a variety of ways to make your crumbs:

• Throw a piece of stale/toasted bread or two in a food processor
• Rip a few pieces of stale/toasted bread in half and chop with a manual food chopper
• Put a few pieces of stale/toasted bread in a sandwich bag and roll over it with a rolling pin

You can also make breadcrumbs out of crackers, nuts, or cornflakes.

Just store your breadcrumbs in a container in the cupboard … Continue reading »

This recipe is so ridiculously easy, you’ll never buy canned soup again!

Cook 1/2C chopped onion and 1C chopped celery in a pot with 1T melted butter for 5 minutes until veggies are tender.

Stir in 60oz of chicken broth (4 cans), 14.5oz of vegetable broth, 1/2lb uncooked bite-sized chicken pieces, 1C chopped carrots, 1/4t basil, 1/4t oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then simmer 10 mins.

While all that is simmering cook the egg noodles in a separate pot then add to soup and simmer another 10 mins.

Eat and enjoy! … Continue reading »

This is a fabulous cheesecake that is much easier to make than it appears. This recipe is very flexible, even for a cheesecake, and the end result is definitely worth it (and boyfriend approved!).

Crust: Press 2C cinnamon graham cracker crumbs, 1/8C sugar & 1/3C softened butter into a spring-form pan and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Strawberry Sauce: Blend 20oz. strawberries with 1T cornstarch until smooth then boil in a pot for 2 minutes and refrigerate to cool.

Cake: Beat 2pkgs cream cheese until fluffy then beat in 1C sweetened condensed milk, 1/8C lemon juice and 3 eggs. Continue reading »

I was tired of dishing out $3 for sugary syrup at the store, so I decided to just make my own. Don’t worry! This isn’t a huge project at all; In fact, it’s easier than making a pot of rice.

Mix 2/3C cocoa powder with 1C sugar in a pot on the stove.

Stir in 1C of water and boil everything for 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and let cool. Stir in 1t of vanilla then pour the syrup into a glass jar and store in the fridge.

Easy easy easy!

The syrup will thicken upon cooling and the … Continue reading »

This is as easy as you can get and you should already have all the ingredients in your pantry.

Mix 1/3C of dijon mustard, 1/3C honey, 2T mayo, and 1t steak/worcestershire sauce.

That’s it! Mix it all up and it’s good to use right away or refrigerate it for later.

Some meal suggestions: dip for spicy chicken/wings, dip for french fries, dressing in a chicken wrap, mix with tunafish, mix with mashed potatoes or just as a chicken marinade.

This mustard is extremely flexible and you can adjust the ratio of ingredients to fit your taste-buds.

Lunch is the only meal of the day that I try to plan ahead for, just to make sure I always have something to eat (since I don’t go out for lunch).

I found canned tuna on sale at my local grocery store last week because I thought it would make a good lunch. It did. However, I wanted to do something a little extra than just the tuna+mayo combo my parents fed me growing up. The result was delicious! Continue reading »