Maybe Carrying Frugality Too Far...

One of our two stops during our one preparation-day-out trip today, was at Joann Fabrics and Crafts.  I wanted to get some double-sided 12 x 12 card stock (yes, really!  I have a birthday project coming up), some wet glue, and a Wilton spoonula.  Two out of three was pretty good!  I can get the spoonula at Michaels next time I go.  Which may be sooner rather than later since I have a bug for it!

When I got back to the car I found that Dear One had been doing a bit of cleaning out (in the passenger side foot well), which he put in the nice re-useable shopping bag I found at Safeway with orange slices on the outside.  This is a bag I really like.  Dear One added a crunched up cube box of Kleenex we have had in the car since we left Vermont, and which has seen MUCH better days, plus an empty box which had held a lightning-to-USB cable, and, embarrassingly enough, an empty Whopper Jr box.  Quite a nice hoeing-out job in my absence...

After doing a few other necessaries in the kitchen after we arrived home, I went into the study to do some writing.  M called and as we talked I got the gray duct tape and repaired the Kleenex cube. (One of the main bonuses of having a cell phone is that you can move around while carrying on a conversation.  I do like that bit about a cell phone, especially since the duct tape was in the top drawer of the bureau in the bedroom next door.)

As you can see, this is not a glorious project, but since there was almost a full box of Kleenex (I guess we have not had too many sneezing fits or colds since Vermont, which is nice to contemplate and for which to be very grateful), it seemed a shame to just throw it out, which was Dear One's plan.  Now, don't get me wrong, he is pretty frugal, too, but he was not wedded to that box of Kleenex.  Obviously, I have been, and see no reason not to keep it going a while longer...

Possibly this is carrying frugality too far, but I am not convinced of it.

Frugality: Strip Cards

This week I needed to make some envelopes for forwarding mail to some missionaries who had gone home.  Well, not needed to, but wanted to. As I was working on the envelope I put the leftover strip of colored paper into the leftovers box and put it back under my desk.  A lightbulb went on!

After taking out the leftovers box again, which was all strips of colorful papers in various widths, I took it to the guillotine cutter and cut off the white strip that held the paper glued into the paper pad. There were a LOT of strips!  Some of the envelopes required a piece of paper 11 x 11,  others 9 x 9, etc.  There were many strips to choose.  Since I love making cards, I thought these would be perfect.

This is what I did for the first card.  (Well, maybe I have done this before, maybe even blogged about it, but I don't remember...one of the bonuses of growing older: everything is new and exciting.  Even if you have done it a dozen times before!)

Here is the front of the card onto which are glued five strips.  After they dried I cut them and then folded them into A2 sized cards.  I did discover that I had not put enough glue along one edge of one strip so I inserted more glue there, which seems to have worked.

There was a little bit of overhang on the back which I cut off.  When I cut it off, there was an apparent unevenness so I put it back in the guillotine and made another cut.  The end result was that the card was slightly smaller than a standard A2 but close enough for me.

Here is the final card and the envelope it went into.  It makes me happy to make cards.  In this case, there were two cards, so one is sitting in my drawer with the the other cards I have made doubles of.  Nice to be ready to share a thought with someone at the drop of a hat.

Food Friday: Delicious Refrigerator Soup

There were more than usual small containers of leftovers in the refrigerator one morning lately so I pulled them all out of the refrigerator, tossed them into a large soup pot and, after chopping up three onions that I found in separate containers, I turned on the heat, brought the soup to a boil, then let simmer until the onions were mostly cooked.  It is a delicious soup.  Sadly, not to be duplicated....My mother was truly the master at making refrigerator soup.  Those soups always tasted good.  Sometimes mine have not been as tasty.  This one was BUT  Dear One had a bit of problem with it, though he did try.

These were the ingredients I used:

3 partial onions, chopped

1 bunch dried out scallions

2 cups homemade baked beans

1 1/2 cups homemade macaroni and cheese

2 cups roasted Brussels sprouts and cauliflower

2 cups sautéed onions and spinach

1 quart pork broth

1 quart chicken broth

2 -3 Tablespoons French onion dip made with sour cream and French's Onion Soup mix

2 Tablespoons Harvest Blend Seasoning...basically dried vegetables and herbs

2 1/2 Tablespoons dried red bell pepper flakes

Ragu spaghetti sauce

Chopped the onions finer then began cooking them in the two broths and broths.  After about 2 minutes, just added everything except the dip and Ragu sauce and brought everything up to a boil then simmered until the raw onions were softened...well, 15 minutes, then an additional 6 minutes because the onions were not yet soft.

Munchie Monday: Frugality Again--Cabbage and Onions

We had half a cabbage that was beginning to look less than lovely. Well, it was drying out.  I could not bear to throw it out.  This is what I did:

Sliced the cabbage into fine shreds.

Slice two large onions, also finely, but since I knew I was the only person who would eat this food, I did not trouble too much about the size of the onions.

Melted 1 tablespoon of coconut oil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the cast iron skillet then put in the cabbage and onions.  Stirred them well to coat with the lovely oil.  Sautéed the vegetables over medium heat until the cabbage was tender and the onions nicely caramelized.  Sprinkled with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Yes, I love that stuff.

This cabbage and onion conglomeration was very very good.  It took me three days to eat it all but I enjoyed every single bite.  No one else bit when offered...

 You can see the lovely caramelized onions.  So good.

Frugality: Using What You Have--Salsa Guac

We had four small tomatoes sitting on the table and one beautiful-looking avocado.  We had lime juice and red onions.  We did not have any jalapeños or fresh cilantro.  We did have dried cilantro, granulated garlic, white pepper, and sriracha sauce.  Because the tomatoes were beginning to speak to me about using them up pretty soon, I decided to make some salsa guac.  When I opened the avocado, it was in perfect ripeness.  That does not happen often here in the northern climes.

This is what I did:

Chopped the tomatoes finely.  Put them in a large bowl.
Diced the two small red onions.  Put them in the same bowl.
Harvested the avocado meat, diced it, and put that into the bowl.
Added:
3 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon dried cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 1/2 teaspoons dried ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

Stirred it all together.  Tasted it and liked it.  I added a little more sriracha.

This salsa guac will do in a pinch. It is not remotely as good as all-fresh-ingredients salsa guac, but it worked when I wanted to use up the tomatoes before they went beyond happily using them.

 For eating, I mixed equal parts leftover refried beans and salsa guac and added twice as much steamed broccoli, also leftover, stirred it all together and called it breakfast.  It looks nasty (thus: no picture!) , but tastes really fine.

Munchie Monday: Apple Crisp!

The old saying: "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade" can also be applied to apples.  If the apples are soft, make apple crisp.

We had a bowl of nice tart apples which were no longer crisp and perfect for eating.  Thrift makes it impossible for me to toss them onto the compost pile.  This morning I awoke just after 4 AM and decided to finally do something about those apples which were screaming at me to take care of them before they totally turned into mush and bruises.

What I did:

Peeled, cored, and chopped the apples and tossed them into a 3-quart bowl.

Measured out 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon which I sprinkled over the apples.  With a spatula I mixed the apples, sugar, and cinnamon until every chunk of apples was well seasoned.

Cinnamon flavored apple chunks in 9 by 13 dish

In that same 3-quart bowl I put 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and 1 teaspoon nutmeg.  After mixing that around I added 1/2 cup softened butter and, using my fingers, rubbed the butter into the flour mixture until there were lovely crumbled.

Crumbs ready for the topping

Put the seasoned apples evenly into a 9 by 13 glass baking dish then sprinkle on the crumb topping.  Place in a preheated 350 degree F. oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the apples are cooked and soft.  (I did not bother greasing the baking dish.  We shall see if that was a poor decision....)

Cooked crisp, cooling on the marble slab (a useful family heirloom which came from a great-aunt's hardware store counter)

When the apple crisp is getting close to being finished cooking, it fills the kitchen with the most delicious cinnamon fragrance.  Such a lovely smell for early morning visitors to enjoy as they enter the house from the middle-fall cold outside air.  Much nicer to sniff that the smell that happens when I foolishly steam some broccoli florets to munch on as a snack throughout the day....

Barbara Walker Learn To Knit Afghan Project, Square 30

This block was a joy to knit.  It is number 30 and is called the Twisted Lattice square.  This stitch could have multiple applications.

The pattern is a multiple of 12 stitches plus 10.

Cast on 46 stitches. 

There are 24 rows in the pattern repeats.  Repeat rows 1-24 twice then rows 1-6 finishing with 54 rows before bind off.

 

As you can tell, this square is being blocked and is on its side rather than straight up and down.  If you turn your head 90 degrees you can see it the way it is supposed to look!

At this stage in my knitting of this project I have decided to go back to where I left off...not being a tremendous fan of slipped-stitch patterns...and will then continue on as Barbara Walker wrote her book. I am sure I will learn many things if I just take them as they come.

Until this point I have used just four colors, two darks and two lights, as Mrs. Walker suggests.  Another one of my "semi-sleep" nights was productive in that I have a good-sized bucket of Bartlettyarns already and have plenty of lights and darks, so from now on I will just use up what I have.  With good fortune I will use up the whole bucket and can then justify going to Hilda Yates' Yarn Sale again this fall!