27 and Frugal » Food

Quick & Easy Dinner: Quesadillas

leslie — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 14:15:13 +0000

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

Add-Ins
Chicken
Rice
Corn
Peppers
Onions
Black beans
Anything!

This recipe is so flexible it’s ridiculous! You can add pretty much any vegetable inside your quesadilla, just allow for longer cooking times. I suggest sprinkling the mexican seasoning on any of the additional items you prepare. Rub it on the chicken, sprinkle over peppers, etc. If you get the quesadilla pretty stuffed, just one or two triangles will be more than enough to fill you up. Feel free to serve with sour cream and guacamole as well.

Share your favorite quesadilla combinations!

The Yummiest Pancakes Ever

leslie — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 01:23:59 +0000

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

What You Do

Beat egg with a fork until fluffy
Beat in everything else just until smooth
Grease a frying pan with butter/oil and pour 1/4C of batter into pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon then cook as normal.

Once you try these, let me know what you think!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Cookies (The Best Non-Chocolate Cookie Ever)

leslie — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:42:04 +0000

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

What You Do

Beat butter and sugars until creamy; Add eggs and vanilla
Stir in flour and baking soda
Stir in oats and cinnamon chips

Bake at 325 for 12 minutes.

Risk-Free, Guilt-Free Shopping with Free Samples

leslie — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 01:56:15 +0000

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.

Trying New Foods

The sample can be something petty like a new ice cream flavor. Step outside your boundaries and ask your local ice cream parlor to try a small sample spoonful of a new flavor. This is how I grew to love gelato.

Even Chipotle will give you a sample of their different seasoned toppings. This way you can try the food without risk.

Trying New Make-Up/Beauty Products

One of the most financially savvy examples of free samples is with make-up/beauty products. Sephora is great with offering free samples with your online purchase. In the stores, you can ask for a sample of any of their perfumes. Used wisely, this sample will definitely last you a few weeks. What a great way to see just how that scent reacts to your skin without spending $40.

Sephora also offers samples in the form of actually trying out the make-up right there in the store. Just find a color you want to try but might be a little afraid to. Ask one of the staff if they can apply it on you. Be sure to take advantage and ask questions about matching, weight, and application.

It is especially important to use free samples for expensive items. Lush products have a hefty price tag but the cashiers are more than willing to give you a free sample of everything there. Definitely take advantage of this. From experience, I have learned to always request a sample before trying a new product.

Trying New Medications

You can also receive samples of prescription medication. This is especially useful if you are sensitive to various prescriptions. If you are prescribed a new medication or want to change from one that is not working, ask your doctor if she has any samples available so you can see how your body reacts to the new medication without spending your money on the full prescription. This will save you money, time and frustration.

Risk-Free, Guilt-Free Spending

I’m happy to hear some twitter favs use free samples wisely, as well. @eemusings takes advantage of the free samples at Lush and The Body Shop and @pintucked likes the samples offered by Sephora.

Next time you see a product you want to purchase but are not sure you will like it, ask for a sample Most places are more than willing to take a little sacrifice in hopes you will make another purchase This way you are spending your money on products that work for you and you are making a smart, informed decision.

Homemade Wheatables!

leslie — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 02:30:34 +0000

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

Mix together the flours, sugar & salt. Add the butter. Gradually add milk until dough comes together. (Just a few minutes in a stand mixer)
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

My Thoughts

I had some trouble getting the crackers as thin as they should have been. The ideal method would be to use a pasta roller. However, all I had was a rolling pin so I just got them as thin as I could. I thought some of the crackers were a little thicker than they should have been but no one complained!

For the circle shape, I improvised and used the top of a cocktail shaker! That process was pretty tedious and next time I make these I will just use a pizza cutter to cut easy squares.

You definitely can experiment with seasonings on these crackers. I put table salt on most of them. I shredded Parmesan cheese on some others. They both turned out yummy but I liked them without the cheese a little bit better.

Readers: I would love to hear your success stories and seasoning experiments with these crackers!

Bringing Lunch to Work Does Not Have to Be Boring!

leslie — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:45:33 +0000

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!

Salads

Another easy lunch option is a salad. This involves a little bit more prep, but it is pretty easy to tear up some lettuce and put some chopped up veggies in a plastic container, then a side of salad dressing. There’s a zillion different veggies you can add to keep your salads from getting boring and redundant.

Sammiches

Lastly, we have sandwiches. Wait! Hear me out! One very easy way to punch up your sandwiches is by turning it into a wrap! Easy, right?

You can also change up your meats, cheese and, most importantly, the condiments. Instead of buying ham, try prosciutto. Put down the cheddar and try muenster. Also, using a spread like pesto or hummus adds a lot of depth to a lil’ old sandwich!

In Desperation…

Hey, if you’re really crunched for time, just throw a can of soup in your bag and you’re good to go!

Readers, I ask you… how do you keep your “brown bag” lunches from being boring?

My Quest to Bake Home-Made Bread

leslie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:36:33 +0000

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.

I tried another white cinnamon swirl bread recipe and, finally, had success again!

I am a little nervous now to try other variations of bread. I want to try wheat again or maybe half/half. I want to perfect a sandwich bread and an eating bread. For now, I will stick with the two loaves that I can make and just hope that practice makes perfect. I now know how temperamental bread baking can be and will be better prepared for failures (and not get too overconfident by the successes).

Rapid Mix Cool Rise White Bread Recipe

This recipe makes 1 loaf of a delicious eating white bread with lots of flavor. Tastes great for plain toast, toast with fried egg on top, grilled cheese, and soup dipping.

3-3 1/2C all-purpose flour
1T white sugar
1 3/4t salt
1 1/2pkg (3 1/4t) active dry yeast
1/8C butter, softened
1C very warm water (120-130F)

Place 2 1/2C flour, sugar, salt, yeast and butter in mixer bowl. Using dough hook, mix on speed 2 for 20 seconds. Gradually add the water and mix a minute longer.

Add remaining flour 1/2C at a time and mix on speed 2 until dough clings to hook and clings to sides of bowl, roughly two more minutes. Knead with dough hook on speed 2 for two minutes longer.

Cover dough with plastic wrap and a towel. Leave it be for 20 minutes.

Shape into a loaf and place in a greased loaf pan. Brush with oil (cover with chopped oats if you’d like) and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 2-12 hours.

When ready to bake, slowly uncover the dough and let stand to room temperature for 10 minutes.

Bake at 400F for 35-40minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire racks.

White Cinnamon Swirl Bread Recipe

This recipe makes 1 loaf of a delicious soft white sandwich bread with a super yummy cinnamon swirl inside.

Dough
1pkg (2 1/4t) Active Dry Yeast
1/4C white sugar, plus a pinch
1 1/4C warm milk (100F)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4t salt
1 large egg
1/4t vanilla extract
Pinch of nutmeg
3 3/4 to 4C all-purpose flour

Swirl
1T white sugar
2t cinnamon
2t cocoa powder
3T unsalted butter, softened

Put the yeast, pinch of sugar and 1/4C milk in a small bowl. Let rest for 3 minutes. The yeast may not have bubbled but it should be soft.

Place 1C milk, butter and 1/4C sugar into mixer bowl. Using paddle attachment, mix on speed 2 for two minutes. Add salt, egg, vanilla and nutmeg. Mix for another minute. The mixture will look rather “curdly”. Add the yeast mixture and mix on Speed 3 for a minute. Add 2 3/4C flour while the mixer is off, then stir just until combined.

Using the dough hook, add 1C flour and beat the dough for 2-3 minutes on speed 2. Add flour 1T at a time until the dough cleans sides of bowl.

Once that happens, knead the dough on speed 2 for 3-5 minutes until the dough is smooth and has a sheen to it.

Place the ball of dough into a greased bowl, turning the dough inside the bowl; then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a draft-free place until dough doubles in size; about 1 1/2 hours. (Optional: To help the bread rise, boil a pot of water and place it in the oven. Put the covered bowl on a rack above the pot of water. Keep oven door closed.)

Once risen, wrap the dough in plastic wrap. If you plan to bake that same day, freeze the dough for 30 minutes. If you plan to bake it later, refrigerate the dough overnight.

When ready to bake, prepare the swirl by whisking together the sugar, cinnamon and cocoa. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a 12×18″ rectangle. Using your fingers, smear 2T of the butter onto the dough. Then sprinkle the sugar mixture on top.

Roll the dough tightly, starting from the short side. Fit dough into greased loaf pan, seam side down and tuck the ends under.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and set in a warm place. Let the dough rise about 45 minutes.

Once risen, melt the rest of the butter and brush top of loaf. Place the loaf pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Then cover loosely with foil and bake another 25 minutes (or until inner bread temperature is 200F).

Let the pan cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack then remove from pan and cool loaf on wire racks.

Coupons Make You Fat

leslie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:32:49 +0000

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.

Let me give you an example of the plethora of unhealthy food that coupons are used to endorse. I simply typed “coupons” into google and went to the first site that allows you to print coupons. Let’s see what we have:

Save 40¢ when you buy any flavor Box or Pouch Betty Crocker® Potatoes – Can these legally be called potatoes? Take a look at the ingredients and tell me you want to eat that.
Save 50¢ when you buy one any flavor Betty Crocker® Warm Delights® Bowls OR Betty Crocker® Warm Delights® Minis Bowls – Is saving $0.50 really worth ingesting HFCS?
Save $1.00 on any one Jose Ole® product (16 oz or larger) – Might I remind you that 3 Jose Ole Taquitos has 440mg of sodium?
Save 50¢ when you buy any variety 19 OZ. – 24 OZ. ONLY Green Giant® Frozen Bagged Vegetables – Finally! Some vegetables!

We all know it is much cheaper to make your own homemade baked goods and dishes than buying lower quality, processed convenient foods. Coupons do not make up this difference. It is still cheaper to make your own yummy brownie bowl (without the corn syrup).

Coupons Make Us Buy More Food

There is no doubt about it. The words “savings” and “deal” trick our brains into thinking we need the item. How many times have you purchased an item you normally would not have because you had a coupon?

Now, one argument for coupons is, “they are an effective way for people to purchase new products without taking a huge risk.” Unfortunately, spending $3.50 instead of $4.00 on poor-tasting cereal, is not a savings at all.

You might be thinking right now, “I only use coupons on items I already buy.” If that is the case, then awesome. And if you have the time to play the grocery game, where you match up coupons (of items you would normally buy) with store sales for huge savings, that is awesome as well! But as someone who does not have the time or motivation to put into coupons, the savings on the few items I would use coupons for is not worth it to me.

Don’t Let Coupons Control Your Eating Habits

Next time you are looking through coupons, stop and notice just how many are for frozen, pre-packaged, or sugar-laden foods. Do not let the savings tempt you to continue purchasing this junk. It is cheaper (now and down the road) to purchase healthy alternatives or make your own.

Starting the Journey to Financial & Physical Health

leslie — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:30:53 +0000

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.

Make Conscious Decisions

To maintain physical health, you have to be conscious of what you eat all the time. This doesn’t necessarily mean counting calories, but simply being aware of what you’re eating and have eaten. If you ate a greasy burger on Monday, you don’t want to eat another one on Thursday. Spending habits are similar. If you indulged in a $20 manicure earlier in the week, you don’t want to make a hair appointment for just a few days later.

Staying aware of your spending and eating also allows you to treat yourself when necessary. If you’ve been saving up for an item that you really want, finally making that purchase (or eating that meal) will feel great.

Plan Ahead

Remaining aware of your spending and eating means you can plan ahead. If you know you will be eating out with friends on Saturday, you would skip buying lunch throughout the week. If you plan on doing a costly weekend activity, you will curb your spending earlier in the week. If you’re going to a friend’s house for a bbq, you might eat something healthy at home first so you don’t eat too much there. If you’re going out to a bar, you could have a beer at home first, so you only buy one once you’re out.

Be Patient

I know that small goals are great, I prefer them as well. But when it comes to your financial and physical health, this will be a long-term journey. Be patient. Weight-loss and debt removal is just the first step in the process to a healthy lifestyle. In this step, the lessons you learn (eating better & spending less) will be used for the rest of your life. These lessons will turn into habits and will hopefully result in an entire lifestyle change. Getting your debt and weight under control will mean that you have to change permanently. You are in these problematic situations because you were doing something wrong. If you lose weight, then go back to your old life and habits, the weight will come back; the debts will come back. This will be a permanent change that takes time.

Enjoy It!

With that said, make sure you enjoy the new habits; the new lifestyle! Don’t starve yourself! Don’t completely stop spending! If it’s fun, you’ll stick to it. I know that if I was on a grapefruit and applejuice diet and had to think about eating like that every single day for the rest of my life, I’d go crazy! You have to enjoy this change.

Forget about diets altogether and instead figure out ways to eat what you already like, in a more healthy manner. Forget about strict debt removal practices and figure out ways to purchase what you already like, for cheaper. Instead of paying $5 for that Starbucks coffee, make it at home. Love that Olive Garden pasta dish? Make it at home so you can control the butter, salt and calorie amounts. This is the only way to ensure that you won’t go back into debt or won’t put the weight back on.

Share your advice for beginning weight & debt wrangling below!

Quick Food Tip: DIY Breadcrumbs

leslie — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:15:35 +0000

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 for two weeks or the freezer for months.