How to be a Frugalista - Lesson # 4

Don't rule out Craigslist. We all probably know more than one person that has been skunked on craigslist. I myself have been victim to more than one shady deal or sketchy person. However, don't rule out buying (or selling) on this great free site. I purchased my nursery furniture on there which included the crib, mattress, dresser, and glider for $350.00! Talk about savings! I figure once princess peanut is older she will get nicer furniture. As of right now for a room that she only gets changed in, the furniture is great! I also purchased a travel swing in near new condition for less than half of what they were going for in the store. Sometimes you will have to drive across town  so you should always factor in the value of your time and fuel. If you are searching for a particular item, search early and often! Most sellers adhere to a first to respond first dibs policy!

Fabulous Frugal Breakfast Strata

I often find that I will buy a loaf of French bread and will only use half or less with dinner. Because the shelf life of a fresh French loaf is so short the bread often can go to waste.

If we have a stale loaf around on the weekend we often make a strata with whatever we have in the house. It varies from vegetables one week to sausage the next. Stratta is almost always better if prepared the night before and baked the next morning. It's a great option when you don't want to spend your morning cooking. Stratta is also a pretty food and makes for a great presentation for Sunday brunch. Not to mention this fabulous stratta only costs about $7.00! You will get about 8 generous portions, for about $.87 per serving. Not too shabby!

To enjoy this wonderful strata you will need:

1 half loaf of French bread. (preferably a few days old). - approx $.50

8 eggs - approx. $.66

1 1/2 cup milk- approx. $.50

8 ounces shredded cheese - $2.79

10 oz ground sausage - $2.50 with coupon

1 half yellow onion, chopped

Louisiana style hot sauce to taste

chopped green onion to taste

Begin by browning sausage in skillet. Add onion once sausage is beginning to cook through. Cook until sauage is fully cooked and the onions are translucent. In a mixing bowl beat together the eggs and milk and hot sauce. Spray casserole dish or glass baking pan with cooking spray. Tear up French bread into bite sized pieces arranging half in the bottom of the dish. Layer half of the sausage mixture, half the egg mixture, and half the shredded cheese. Repeat this process for your final layer. Refrigerate for a least 1 hour, but preferably longer. Bake for 45 - 55 minutes at 375. Test with toothpick to ensure middle is cooked. Garnish with chopped onion during the last 10 minutes of baking. I like to serve my strata with a side of fresh fruit.

Yummy!

How to be a Frugalista - Lesson #3

Learn to love leftovers. I know, I know... no one really LOVES eating the same thing twice. Well... It's time to get over that. I love eating out as much as the next gal. I also realize that I was spending a hearty chunk of my money on my love of good food. It was extremely hard for me to change my habits because I used to be a "never eat anything twice" person. My hubs is a stay-at-home Daddy, and we have half the income that we used to. That is when I had a talking to with my taste buds. I convinced them and myself an important lesson. Who cares if you had meatloaf for dinner, it was good then.. and will be good at lunch too.

Yellow Squash and Zucchini Pasta

We celebrated the end of the growing season in Colorado tonight. We had our first frost and my parents picked the last of the vegetables from their garden. I LOVE pasta sauce with fresh veggies and decided to make one of my favorite dishes. Because of the generosity of my parents this wonderfully delicious and beautiful dinner only cost us about $6.00! If you have friends or family that have a garden it’s always in your favor if you drop a hint about your love of homegrown produce! If you are not so lucky check out farmers markets in your area! (Note: Food prices are based on my local supermarket's offerings)


If you want to try this fantastic and fast dinner you will need the following:

1 pound ground meat (We prefer to use Turkey) - $4.99

1 small Yellow Squash

1 small Zucchini

1 half medium Yellow Onion

8-10 Roma Tomatoes

Fresh Parsley to taste

1 16oz Jar bottled Marinara – On Sale $1.00

1 box of pasta - On Sale $1.00

Brown ground meat and drain, (I use a few sprays of cooking spray to prevent sticking). Chop onion add to browning meat. Slice yellow squash and zucchini, add to meat and cover. Cook until veggies begin to lose their firmness. Add sliced roma tomatoes and cook for additional 5 minutes. Once tomatoes are beginning to reduce add marinara and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Of course while all of this is occurring you have been boiling your pasta! We garnished our pasta with some fresh chopped Italian parsley and parmesan cheese. Serve sauce over any pasta of your choice we just happened to use fettucini this time. This recipe is also great topped with shredded mozzarella and baked! Yummy!

Frugalista Mommy - Lesson # 2

Lesson # 2. Two is better than one. Email addresses that is. I'm a firm believer in having more than one email address. I personally maintain 3. One email address I strictly use for website registrations. This allows for me to register at websites for the places I eat, shop, and play. I'm registered everywhere, Betty Crocker, Old Navy, Ulta, anywhere I shop. You can weed out the coupons and offers that you will use and delete the others. Last fall Old Navy offered their subscribers 40% for mentioning an email offer in store! Don't miss out on opportunities like that because you don't want the junk mail. You could be missing out on some serious savings.

Frugalista Mommy - Lesson # 1

How to be a Frugalista:

(First you must remove that chip from your shoulder. Dusted off? Now we can begin.)

Lesson # 1 - Veer off of the beaten path. I often find amazing deals and worthy finds in unexpected places. Gift shops, thrift stores, ethnic markets, dollar stores, the list goes on and on. A hotel chain was changing hands across the street from my office a few months back. During the renovation the gift shop was liquidating their inventory quietly. I picked up a Burt's Bees lip balm set for $1.99, that made me smile.

Chicken N' Biscuit Potpie

Chicken Potpie has always been a favorite comfort food of mine. This week I was sick, the hubs was sick, and so was princess peanut. I didn't want to go to the store and came up with this fabulous recipe. The best part it that each pie serves about 8 generous portions and was about $7.20, that's about $.90 a serving! Hooray! (Note: Food prices are based on my local supermarket's offerings)

To share in the love of the Potpie you will need:

1 Can Big and Flaky Biscuit Dough - $1.29

1 Bag (12 oz) Frozen Mixed Vegetables, Peas, Carrots & Corn - On Sale $1.00

1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup - $.89

1 Pound Chicken Tenders - On Sale $3.99

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

To start, open the can of biscuit dough and separate the biscuits. You will use half for the bottom and half for the top. The dough is easier to work with if you have allowed the biscuits to warm to room temperature. (A word of caution - Do not allow biscuits to become room temperature while in the can, that will make for quite the biscuit explosion!)

Wash and Cut chicken tenders into bite size pieces. Brown in frying pan until brown ( I use a few sprays of cooking spray to prevent sticking). Add bag of frozen vegetables and cook until water from vegetables has evaporated. Stir in Cream of Mushroom soup and reduce heat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Spray a 9" pie pan with cooking spray. Pull apart each individual biscuit into two halves. Use the palms of your hands to press the dough flatter, this will give you more coverage. Press down each half into the pie pan making sure to spread the dough up around the edges of the pan.

Spoon in the chicken mixture and cover with the remaining biscuits. Again you will split each biscuit into two halves. Use your hands or a rolling pin to get more coverage from the biscuit if necessary. When arranging the biscuits on top allow for a few vents.

Bake for 20 minutes, remove and cover with foil. Bake for an Additional 5 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!