I have invested in the leather-bound, gilt edged, illuminated, collectors edition, complete series (sent one each month by overnight air shipment) “How to Save Money in Your Daily Life”
I wonder what their first suggestion will be.

Mornin’ Christy,

one can also find slow cooker/crock pots at thrift stores – my old faithful finally died 6 months back and I’m now working with some circa 1980 model – cost me $4.00

plus you can use less expensive cuts of meat – always fork tender by dinner time

you covered a lot with all those great links – Sunset is an old standby

Morning Christie, Hope you are well and everyone has settled in all comfy.

lololol!

Good morning Christy and cruiser

My crock pot is so old we got it with Green Stamps
crocker cooker fryer. It’s still ticking.

My pot roast is pretty simple, sear a good chuck roast, add a can of Campbell’s cream of mushroom, a little water, let it get cooking. Finish with onions, potatoes, a carrot or two, and -for me- a wee bit of garlic. Then nom.

I’ll admit it. I do everything wrong. I wasn’t this way when my children were young and I stayed home. But now that I work (usually till 5), I eat out a lot, pick up take out every Thursday…you name it, I do it wrong. Except buy junk food, that I don’t do that. But otherwise, I cook as seldom as possible, waste an enormous amount of money. I’m going to have a tough time changing my ways if my income plummets.

Insulate your attic and your garage all you need is insulation, a staple gun and cloths that cover as much of your skin as possible, fiberglass is itchy.
A lot of Homes pre oil crisis were designed with no insulation in the roof so that your home’s heat would melt the snow on the roof and the carpenter could save on wood for roof supports.
An insulated garage serves as a buffer to the cold on that side of the house. Plus it makes winter projects in the garage easier.
Get the water proof insulation.

I had a hand-me-down green stamp crockpot for years and used it pretty much weekly until I finally killed it. Now I have two of them — comes in handy to keep mashed potatoes warm at Thanksgiving to have a spare, or mull cider and make meatballs for a party. *G*

I did that a lot when I was working full time outside the house — until I sat down one day and added up how much we were spending each week and just about gave myself a heart attack. We were starting to save for our house, and I hadn’t realized just how much we were frittering away..it was a huge eye-opener.

The Foxfire books are a series of anthologies of articles from Foxfire magazine. The first book of the series was published in 1972. As of 2004, the most recent is Foxfire 12; also as of that date, there are nearly nine million copies of the various books in print.

The series is an effort to document the lifestyle, culture, and skills of people in southern Appalachia in a mixture of how-to information and first-person narratives and oral history. Topics covered in the books include apple butter, banjos, basket weaving, beekeeping, butter churning, corn shucking, dulcimers, faith healing, fiddle making, haints, ginseng cultivation, hide tanning, hog dressing, hunting tales, log cabin building, moonshining, midwives, old-time burial customs, planting “by the signs”, preserving foods, sassafras tea, snake handling and lore, soap making, spinning, square dancing, wagon making, weaving, wild food gathering, witches, and wood carving.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxfire_books

I have been meaning to get these books for awhile.

Thanks to global warming its been decades since I’ve seen the snow I saw in the 70’s. I don’t think that 3 foot snow piled on the roof is likely anymore in Northern Illinois.

Everyone got home safe and sound last night, and are still sleeping away. The Peanut and I are up watching a Veggie Tales movie this morning and I’m desperately waiting for coffee…but life is much better for both of us now that someone’s daddy is home. *g*

One of my favorites gifts to give is the Good Housekeeping Illustrated Cookbook. It has pictures of most recipes, tasty recipes and lots of hints.

I have the Foxfire Book of Appalachian Cookery. It’s got some recipes that my granny and great-granny used to make in it, and it is such a wonderful read.

When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance & Planetary Survival (Paperback)

http://www.amazon.com/When-Tec…..1574160478

This book I got its a good read

I have a hand-me-down copy of that one, and it is great. One of my cousins picked it up at a yard sale for 50 cents. LOL Guess those folks didn’t like cooking as much — but she knew I’d love it. (I’m one of those people that reads cookbooks like a novel, so my family picks up spare cookbooks for me when they find one that looks interesting.)

Oh, thank goodness…coffee’s done brewing. Have two more bags of food to go out on the porch, too…brb.

I would like to try bee keeping and maybe Banjo making but first I need land away from people and some good wood working tools.

kinda like The Whole Earth Catalog?

Buy stuff at goodwill stores clothes, furniture etc.

I don’t know I heard of the whole earth catalog but never seen it “When Technology Fails ” has ideas on stuff you can do and books and sometimes even web sites to learn more or buy stuff but its more about explaining how to do stuff.

I like the idea of crock pot for keeping mashed potatoes warm for big dinners.

with very little planning, it’s actually easier than it sounds – you can be half asleep in your pj’s and still manage to throw stuff in the crockpot

plus – it’s not all stews and other comfort foods – google: Bradley Odgen’s crockpot recipes or Martha’s and see what you get

We know we’re being foolish. As I’ve mentioned before, Mr. Solai manages a car dealership. So far, we haven’t been hurt (just the opposite, actually) but the handwriting is on the wall and we’re concerned. So, we are looking into ways to tighten our belts. I suppose take-out will be the first casuality.

As a person living by myself I generally wind up freezing quite a bit of what I cook. For quick meals I have one of those countertop grill things. A side dish or two can also last several days and by overlapping I can generally avoid boredom.

and I know we’re supposed to be talkin’ frugality, but after that pic up top, I have crockpot envy – the photog says it was only $20 at Best Buy – wow

Fresh Caulk around the outside of the windows before the temperature gets below freezing.
Plastic on the windows you can buy the stuff at the store that melts on the glass with a hair dryer or just get some clear garbage bags and duct tape and cover the windows from the inside.

Good Morning all

I reuse aluminum foil. When I buy meat I usually buy some on sale, and freeze it. I wrap it in plastic then aluminum foil, which I reuse. Also the ziploc bags if they aren’t real messy.

A thermos is my new accessory in the morning with coffee I take to work. The stuff that os free there is horrible and the cafetria isn’t much better so that’s 1.41 a day, and it’s all organic.

When making tea you can hardboil eggs at the same time and save energy.

well i shall pat my own good self on the back for bringing this up 2 weeks ago…pat,pat,pat…now yhat the applause has subsided,i will be giving some cooking classes at the nearby church,teaching peeps about,Healthy slow cooker meals,and the very healthy standy by…BEANS and Rice…A COMPLETE PROTEIN and totally nutritious meal

btw, gang — barbara sent me a note a little earlier. David’s service will be this coming Wednesday, and she’s having a tough adjustment although muddling through. She said to tell everyone thanks so much for the kind words — she hasn’t had time to write much, but she tries to pop in and read when she can get a moment to unwind.

Hugs, barbara.

No recipes to share this morning but as pups mention frittering away money without realizing where it’s going, here’s an activity that may be of help:

Several years before I was hoping to retire, of course the top question was, “Can I afford to?”

For 365 days I kept a written record of every single penny I spent on *everything*. For anal retentatives like me, rounding wasn’t good enough. *g* Every single forkin’ cent got accounted for! Of course there’s no need to carry it to such an extreme for it to be beneficial. Until you do it, you have absolutely no idea how rapidly dollars and even cents dribble through your fingers. It would be more difficult for someone with a spouse/S.O./family unless all those involved were committed to the idea. In a sense it’s a bit like what Barbara Kingsolver did with her family in eating off the land for a year. Note: you can do something similar for three or six months, but usually it’s those over-looked once-a-year expenses that will blow your budget out of the water.

Once that year is over and you categorize your expenditures, it’s just *so* much easier to see areas where you can fairly readily economize.

Change the oil on your car regular thats the cheapest way to avoid a big car repair bill.

Northern plains native americans were absolutely incredible in their utilization of the buffalo. They used to make soups and stews in the innards of the buffalo. They would assemble ingredients inside then heat rocks on a fire and put the super heated rocks into the sacks to cook.

Free searchable online recipe file available at epicurious.com
It collates recipes from many sources including Good Housekeeping, Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetit

Good for do-it-yourself gourmet meals when the price of a restaurant meal is prohibitive. The readers’ rankings of recipes (four forks is top rating) help one to concentrate on the better recipes and avoid wasting money on forgettable ones.

Beans and Rice cheap and filling you know my Mom?

Ah, you’ve hit a weak spot. My wife and I were both war babies, children of “the Greatest Generation” and just before the “Baby Boomers.” There was no name for our generation and we have often referred to ourselves as “the first throw-away generation.”

It’s a sad story. Our parent’s saved everything, saved on everything, and cared for what possessions they obtained. Throughout our childhoods, we were admonished on these principles. By the time we reached adulthood, plastic had become the primary construction material for everything, planned obsolesence had become a design and manufacturing credo, and we viewed wastefulness as liberty and progress.

We loved and admired our parents, but laughed and teased them about their frugality. Eventually, we had the sad duty of going through all of their possessions. My dad still had the same hammer, pliers, and screwdrivers (made in the U.S.) that he had had all of his life. My mother still had a 1930’s vintage Singer sewing machine and still had bobby pins from who knows when. They could have, and did, deal with the stresses that may be facing our country. I hope we have it in us.

The best no-pain idea I’ve heard was setting a timer to your hot water heater. It can only be done if it’s electric. My friend sets hers to go on for a.m. showers than off for the day, on again for a few hrs in the evening and off for most of the night. Painless and she says they noticed a difference in their electric bill.

The other money-saving piece of equipment, which is the flip side of the crockpot, is a pressure-cooker. That’s what you use if you were running late and didn’t have time to set up the crockpot in the morning. Yes, it’s another appliance that takes up room, but it can also double as a regular cooking pot. With the pressure cooker you can very quickly cook dry beans, soups, and other dishes that would normally take hours. I use it for boiled corned beef.

Sounds good and liver and tripe are pretty cheap.

Dave Ramsey had a great tip I use in my bankruptcy practice. Say you want a new car, and the payments would be $400, which you could pay. Don’t finance it. Save up $1,000 dollars and go buy a junker. Drive it for six months and save the $400. Then sell it and take the proceeds and the $2400 you saved not making payments and buy a better used car. The junker doesn’t really depreciate much, so you have $3,400 to buy a replacement (assuming you didn’t have a repair issue, in which case you might have to wait a bit longer.) Repeat for two or three cycles, and you will have a decent car that will last while you save the payments. Eventually you can pay cash for a new car.

The key is to remember what our parents knew, deferred gratification is good. We parked outside for 15 years and now twenty years later we still love our garage door opener.

so freakin healthy ,got some great recipes…thhe Cuban Black Beans ,are just chocked full of anti oxidents,(cause of deep color) and when combined with rice,raw onion and sour cream,is absolutely DELISHHHHHHH!

We eat a lot of tortillas-so I save those plastic ziplock bags they come in, instead of buying the expensive ziplock bags.

G’morning Christy and Firepups !

Sadlyyes, I was just about to say that the key to eating inexpensive meals is diversity. Various ethnic cuisines are nutritious, yet cost pennies per serving, like Beans & Rice. Sometimes it’s Kidney Beans, other times it’s Black eye Peas or Garbanzos or Lentils. Flatbreads are delicious and take little time to prepare.

warm hugs for (((barbara)))

Pinto Beans for me but black bean soup is great!

One thing that I noticed is that it get harder to find shoes that can be repaired. A good pair of shoes can last for a very long time if the the soles and heels can be replaced.

((((( Barbara )))))

Thanks Christy, I didn’t hear about David earlier. I had a tough couple of weeks dealing with the sudden passing of a close friend. Her family is devastated and I’ve only now worked up the courage to go and visit them (later today)

Great idea, and you’re recyling plastic at the same time.

Good Morning Sadly, Christy, Cbl2, and Things.
Hooray. The long awaited crock pot recipe thread is here. We all got a little distracted with other goings ons this week, didn’t we?
I got back on track yesterday at the grocery store. Bought a 20 lb. bag of rice for $3.28. Okay, depression, come and get me. Ha.

i love teaching people how to cut corners and eat healthy,yes Im my brothers keeper,and more important my CRITTERS KEEPER”g”

my kitchen is so vintage, I have a pressure cooker built into the stove.

can i just post this wonderful ”FOOD FOR THOUGHT” from a commentor at Glenzilla…it is apropos,for SO MANY people are in need of comfort methinks evenour media douche bags

A matter of character–or the lack thereof
Not just in McCain, who has clearly lacked it for most of his political career (and one might argue prior to it as well), but in the adulatory courtiers who fawn over his alleged (and mostly made-up and superficial) principled maverickness, and excuse his every ”misstep”. They want to be loved (I guess they didn’t get enough of it from their parents, and don’t know how to get it from their friends and SO’s), and McCain is more than ready to oblige them, with his mavericky BBQs and edgy jokes about bombing countries and first daughters.

Something is empty and wanting inside these malformed faux ”journalists” (you are simply not a legitimate journalist if you impose your own views and feelings on that which you are covering, and don’t make an honest attempt at maintaining some objective distance from it), and they make up for it through these phony bonding experiences with one of the biggest public phonies today. They are lazy, they are dishonest, many of them are profoundly stupid (which Cox is not, making her even more disappointing), and they are what passes for journalists today.

McCain is a bad person. He is a liar. He is a moron. He has a dark heart and cares for nothing and no one but himself. He might even be a bit crazy. He is nothing like the public persona that he’s carefully cultivated over the past few decades. And yet, he’s managed to mesmerize a significant portion of today’s poltical press corps into buying into his lovable and principled old maverick shtick, and they either can’t, or won’t, see through it. They are like the co-dependant partner of a clearly bad and destructive person, who are in full-blown denial about them, and keep excusing their clearly atrocious behavior by saying ”But you don’t understand what a good person they really are deep down”.

Um, yeah. Now what are you going to do about that black eye, sunshine?

My dad was an accountant and experienced the depression as a young adult. I grew up with him advising me “save your pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves”.

((((( demi )))))

I hear that St. John’s Wort cures depression, so if every America took some …

… sorry, a little levity is the best way to get through challenges …

Good Morning to All,

It’s chilly and clear here in central Jersey. The National Weather Service has put up a note for us to harvest the last vegetables from our gardens this weekend, ’cause frost is coming early next week.

Mr. NJP and I didn’t have a veggie garden this year. I was still recuperating from a broken wrist, and surgery to mend it, when it was planting time, so we wisely decided that shopping at the farmer’s market would have to suffice this year. But we really missed our home grown cucumbers and those sweet 100s cherry tomatoes. I try growing heirloom tomatoes every year [ah, the faith and hope of gardeners], but they almost always get blossom end rot or are attacked by beetles, and we manage to harvest about three good tomatoes for the entire season.

But the farmer’s market has had plenty of wonderful goodies this year, as every year, and we have really been enjoying our latest cookbook purchase, Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. We were fortunate to eat at Greens in San Francisco back in the mid90s [a Zen restaurant, with a vegetarian menu] when Mr. NJP attended a conference. We’re not vegetarians, but we are trying to eat less meat for the good of the planet, and to expand our repertoire. We’ve tried a few recipes, and use it as a general reference.

Last weekend was the first lasagne batch of the fall [six dinners’ worth for the two of us], with the last boxes of traditional pasta. We’ve switched to whole wheat pasta, again for health reasons. But I’ve always made a vegetarian version of Italian American lasagne: mushroom and onions in the red sauce, lots of spinach and a dollop of pesto in the ricotta. I’ve never made traditional Italian lasagne, with bechamel, even tho’ I used Marcella Hazan’s cookbooks until they fell apart.

Mr. NJP and I are trying to rework our diet following some of the principles of Michael Pollan’s books, especially In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Good for our health, good for our tastebuds, and good for the planet.

Now it’s time to get to some Saturday chores. Tonight’s dinner: a frittata with mushrooms, peppers, zucchini, and onions [sautéed them Thursday, cleaning out the veggie bin in the fridge, tossed some with pasta for my dinner, put the rest aside for the frittata], some leftover roasted red and sweet potatoes, a big salad, and a nice Chianti.

Happy cooking, Firepups.

Work for peace, every day.

you can make a cake in your crockpot

And you can bet all the items you mention are a hell of a lot better made than anything similar you can buy today. From personal experience, here’s hoping you were able to keep as much of what may still prove useful as possible. After both my parents were gone and I went through the same thing, there were literally hundreds of canning jars that went for almost nothing at a yard sale…..dumb-dumb me thinking, “Oh, I’ve got plenty of jars already.”

Five years later as I spend more and more time canning and freezing, having to pay high sums for additional cartons of jars just makes me want to spit.

YUM….HUMMMY HUMMUS

http://wednesdaychef.typepad.c…..hummus.jpg

Hey, Petrocelli!
Yes about the St. John’s Wort. I was making tea with that after Sonny St. John’s daddy left us. That was then. Now, I’m a Moore. As in, more music, more love…:)

Add on top of that (if you do have good shoes) finding a cobbler to repair them. :-(

TobyWollin’s put up a couple good Oxdown diaries on thrift
here’s one:
Thrift: It’s Not Just For Your Granny Anymore: another in a continuing series of “The Guide to the Economically Depressed”

I woke up bleary eyed this morning having spent too much time taunting the elephants at their watering holes last night and thought this was a post about Palin: Crack Pot.

((((( njp )))))

We switched to Whole Wheat pasta several years ago. It’s more filling so we all eat less. And now that everyone’s had it, all my relatives and friends have switched over as well.

That was brillant !

You might like this piece about the press
http://www.scholarsandrogues.c…..the-press/

oh {{{{{demi}}}}} buy the book 1.00 NECESSARY LOSSes…more great FOOD for THOUGHT

If you do buy a crock-pot, pay a few extra bucks and get the kind with a removable crock. They’re a lot easier to clean.

Mornin’ Ms Christy.

Good cookbooks? Find the ones used for church fundraisers. You get everyone’s best recipes AND the shortcuts.

I use my crockpot especially for pot roast so I can get that old Sunday dinner, meat falling apart affect.

I also will buy an Eye of Round Roast and cut it up myself. Millineryman, when I freeze, I do similar but I wrap the meat (from the Eye of Round) or hamburger patties individually in wax paper then into ziploc bags for freezing. Seems to block freezer burn better than aluminum foil.

And I agree that buying shoes that can be re-heeled and re-soled is much cheaper (assuming you can find a cobbler to do it). Bass shoes are still one of the best lines and you can usually find a Bass Store at most Outlet Malls. The shoes will still run you $50-$60 a pair (a lot more than that in the department stores) but they are well made and with proper care will last for years and years.

One of the greatest benefits of Textured Vegetable Protein is its long shelf life. Canned with an oxygen absorber enclosed and kept properly it will store for 5-7 years. After opening, it will last for up to 6 months. Refrigerating or freezing like regular meats is not necessary until it is hydrated.

Textured Vegetable Protein is more economical than meat. Even the cheapest cuts of meat may be more expensive than your average serving of Textured Vegetable Protein. Depending what area you live in, you could save as much as 86% over the cost of real hamburger. And remember, hamburger is not 100% beef. Beef fat is added when the hamburger is ground, up to 20% of it, depending upon what grade of meat it is. This means, that after the meat is browned, drained, and rinsed to remove extra fat, you end up with a lot less hamburger. With Textured Vegetable Protein, none of that food value is lost in preparation.
Textured Vegetable Protein is lower in fat than red meat. A lot lower, in fact. The average serving of Textured Vegetable Protein contains usually about 5 grams of fat. That’s the same as lean broiled chicken or fish. And the fat found in the soy of Textured Vegetable Protein is vegetable fat, which is healthier than animal fat.

http://beprepared.com/article……1224335405

I think TVP is also a good source of calcium. Mix it it with chili or taco seasoning or let it soak in Ramen Noodle broth it soaks up any flavor mixed in the water it rehydrates in
The big chunk TVP feels more like meat than the small chunks in my opinion.

LOL … if rwcole shows up, the zingers will really start to fly …

We’ve been through many tough times and humor has helped us to get through all of them.

(((Barbara)))
I’m thinking about you every day. I’m visualizing your transition. It won’t be easy, but you are a survivor and you will be okay. That, I believe.
You write, don’t you? After some time passes, you may enjoy that again.

Thanks, Sadly. That loss was 7 years ago. By now, it’s a good riddance kinda thing.

o/t p.s.
today is my favorite day of the year as a Central Texan – our small town’s fall fest – I get to harass the Republics – yeay !!! they have become increasingly defensive in each of the four years we’ve attended – this year should be tons o fun what with an actual opponent in the Congressional race and the Obama folks out in force – Yeeeee Hawwww !!!!

and yes, I have a few questions for our sitting incumbent at his ad hoc Townhall, why do you ask ? *g*

so true,that is their aim,to muddy up the waters…but i think that poster hit on something…McNasty…acts like BIG SWEET GRANDPA to the prress following him,and these people who are so needy for praise…LITERALLY eat it up

Thanks for the tip on wax paper.

Heel Sew Quick are franchises that some of the malls around here have. I have a cobbler so I’ve never used them.

Years ago I bought a hand crank pasta maker. There is nothing like fresh homemade pasta.

good…”Smart Cookies Dont Crumble”…..”G” asyou can tell,ive been experienced at this…”g”

oh yes,just bought one….sun dried tommato pasta,basil pasta,porcini mushroom pasta…winter will be yummy and cheap

Mr. Peter in Savannah just got through the “shoes that can be resoled” search and finally found them at, of all places, J. C. Penney. Who knew? Ordered on line, shoes arrived, lovely leather soles.

I bought my crock pot at a garage sale and it’s great.

I eat seasonally and locally and after someone suggested it last week – I ate weeds out of my yard…purslane
http://seasonalpantry.blogspot…..urced.html

A recent UN report says half of the food we produce is wasted!
http://www.treehugger.com/file…..wasted.php

Find the ones used for church fundraisers.

excellent suggestion. a few years back my sis gave me a Home Ec Teachers Fundraiser – bet I still use it once a week. linkies

sample: Peanut Butter Cookies (you can use Cashew Butter)

1 cup sugar
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg

roll into 2 inch balls and flatten with fork
350 degree oven, 7 to 12 minutes

Good morning everyone! Christy, I love cooking in a crock pot too. Not only is it delicious, but the left overs save any family lots of money for sure!

My crock pot was bought for me by my brother when I got my first apartment in the late 80’s. It finally died in the past year, so what did my thrifty parents do? They found one in a yard sale that was almost brand new! Apparently the woman got it at Christmas last year and didn’t like the looks of it. It’s amazing what people ‘throw’ away! So for $2, I’ve got a crock pot that will keep our tummies warm with yummy food for years now. Thanks lady.

so true,that is their aim,to muddy up the waters…but i think that poster hit on something…McNasty…acts like BIG SWEET GRANDPA to the prress following him,and these people who are so needy for praise…LITERALLY eat it up
————————-
i hate throwing out food…HATE IT
so i cut up as much overage as possible stir fry it for the dogs and cats,and throw the rest in the woods for BIRDS and racoons and possums

Here’s the Diary I posted this last week at Oxdown regarding the Fire Evacuation of Monday:
http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/769.

i coppied it last week thanks so very much!

OT -

Bachman Burner Overdrive
Needless to say the appearance of Congresswoman Michelle Bachman (MN-06) on Hardball Friday night pissed me off as well as some “others”. I’ve been looking around all night at this thing and something the good congresswoman didn’t ever dream of has happened.
The netroots got Really Pissed.

Her opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberghad was adopted some folks at KOS , and it went around the horn as fast as anything the Dean Campaign ever dreamed of.
Tinklenberghad has had $ 100,000 pour in to the Act Blue pages in 12 hours. He’s raising money faster than Jerry Lewis.

Now we all know how vain “Tweety” is , and we all know he does a feature called the “Big Number” on his show at the bottom of the hour. Soo let’s give him a real big number for Monday.

Spread out, ask other sites to post on this , it’s not like it’s starting from Zero, we got a $ 100,000 head start. And if you need more encouragement consider this :

A day earlier at a debate in St. Cloud with her Democratic opponent, Elwyn Tinklenberg, Bachmann spoke kindly of Obama.

“If the presidency would somehow go to Barack Obama, I would welcome him to the 6th District as well,” Bachmann said after the debate. “As a matter of fact, I would put my hand on his shoulder and give him a kiss if he wanted to” – a reference to when Bachmann gained notoriety for grabbing President Bush’s shoulder after his 2007 State of the Union address and holding on until he kissed her.”

http://www.actblue.com/entity/fundraisers/18660

Recipezaar is another great place to find recipes, and there are also forums devoted to different areas, and cookbooks created by members. Here’s their page of crock pot cookbooks, each with multiple recipes for the crock pot. I’ve gotten some wonderful recipes from this site.

peeps can post their favorite recipes HERE all winter,like a community dinner

404 page not found

I am going to boycott this blog until I find out if it is hosted in “real America”.

-G

I make American Chop Suey in my crock pot all the time:

Fry up hamburger with onions/green peppers in a pan,
Add to crock pot (minus grease) along with a can of diced tomatoes, a can of sause, a can of tomato paste (you can fry this with the hamburger if it’s easier), some chopped garlic, Italian seasoning, (you can add some water to thin the sauce if you need to)
Cook for 4-6 hours
and then…
30 minutes before you want to serve dinner, add a cup or two of noodles (I don’t even measure….I throw what I have in)

So delicious!

Meant to add this link into the mix — it’s a recipe for a vegetarian lentil curry that I threw together back in my law school days and we still eat it.

oh my,youve been holding out on us

http://seasonalpantry.blogspot…..pizza.html

bwaaahaaaahaaaa !

was just checking Elwyn Tinklenberg’s ActBlue page: $103,777.00 in 16 hours

one can contribute HERE

Palinism, it’s the new McCarthyism.

-G

Chop suey?

One problem I found with some supposed cobblers, was the “soles” they were putting on were actually compressed paper rather than leather. I had wondered why I had to replace as often as was happening and discovered when I found a good cobbler who explained it to me. From there I learned to make sure of what I was getting.

apple or peach?

sorry Dutton, just saw you had posted same link.

let’s all go on a Low CARB diet (Crazy Ass Rabid Bigots) shall we ?

This trickle down economy sure has worked.
http://www.scholarsandrogues.c…..-the-ceos/

That’s what we call it. ;-)

Real America loves America so much we will risk telling America when its doing wrong.
Its your real friends who tell you that you are drinking to much, invading the wrong country, or chose the wrong person as VP.
No matter how much they know that you don’t want to hear it your real friends know that Someone has to tell you.

I have to say, I’m still surprised that they find people who cheer such tripe … then again, most Canadians who voted chose Harper …

So sorry. “g” I’m still in the process of perfecting my whole wheat crust but
I think I have come pretty close. I used a combination of whole wheat flour and corn flour. Also if you put oil in whole wheat dough -use canola instead of olive oil! Next I’m going to try capturing “wild yeast.”

Very cool. When I checked his Act Blue page this morning (not even 15 minutes ago), he had 665 donors and now that you’ve posted a link to the page, it’s gone up to 701!

Oh boy! This is how we SPEAK in this country. Let’s hope Elwyn (love that name!) kicks her ass out now!

How fun! Got to Elwyn Tinklenberg’s Act Blue page and hit ‘reload’. The number of donors keeps going up! It’s up to 703 now (on the MN-08). Love it!

peeps

HOT OATMEAL in the morn,with a wittle pat of real butter and molassas,will keep ya going all morning and …lookey here

http://www.epicurious.com/tool…..h+molassas

Just a quick note (cuz the husband has demanded my help). I’m bleeding radiators and a couple of the little holes were sealed last time we painted. What to use to penetrate? Why, my Obama pin worked magnificently.

LMAO!

oh jeebus,yall got me food crazy this a.m.

http://www.epicurious.com/reci…..GER-238805

How strange. I can’t find it now. It appears to have vanished. Do they yank those things? Can anyone here with backstage ties tell me?
Oh, well.

El Tinklenberg says Thanks !

O/t -

Weather here is dreary and rainy (tho’ moisture much needed) but there’s a smile on my face………took a half-hour to find the distribution point and another 2 1/2 hours standing on line yesterday but I’m now the proud owner of a ticket to one for the five benefit concerts James Taylor is giving for Obama in NC. Nine hundred tickets and they were gone in a single hour, according to today’s paper! *G*

oh do i love that man

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mhfAO0aYMg

Crock pot overnite: make your beans, chicken stock, swiss steak, etc. by putting it in the crock on low overnite. Then refrigerate till you get home after work and heat up. I make chicken stock every week (from the carcass after I cut off thighs and breast). I make beans every thursday (with salt pork). I canned cheap summer tomatoes so I can throw them in with bits of pork bones, ribs, etc. Get the OLD Joy of Cooking, the new one cut out all the depression recipes. I make all my own crackers for pennies – use semolina and flour, add fresh herbs, roasted garlic, bulk parmesan, whatever you’ve got, roll out with a pasta maker or rolling pin. Freeze all your summer greens in baggies flat in the freezer (like Chard). Get a selzer maker for ‘pop’ and keep iced tea, etc. in the fridge for drinks. YOu can even make your own soy milk and tofu – easy and cheap. Make your own yoghurt like we did in the 70s. Of course make all your own bread, and I keep sourdough in the fridge for starter. Look in Joy of cooking for ‘meatless’ meals, lots of good ideas with eggs, noodles (I make all my own pasta, noodles, SO EASY, see JofC). Pickle your nasturtium seeds for capers, make easy pickles, pickled green beans, etc. Roast peppers and keep in fridge under olive oil, make your own salsa, ketchup, mustard (easy!). NEVER BUY snack foods (make yer own popcorn, cookies, ice cream etc.) Make chocolate sirup, make pie dough mix for quick quiche after work, EASY. Buy dish soap in bulk at natural food stores, ditto all soaps (oil, honey). Make all your own jelly and jam, so EASY (4 C fruit, 4 cups sugar, boil and can). You can find all the recipes on the canning company websites. Buy half a cow or pig or sheep with your neighbors and put it in the freezer. Wear sweaters, eat soup, stay warm, and vote for Obama.

That was incredible last night watching his fund raising total on ActBlue skyrocket.

how wonderful for you !

just to hear NC described as “battleground state” on the box this morning brought a smile to this dfh :D

We are finding ourselves in a new situation. Moved from a 4 bedroom bi-level to a 2 bedroom apartment. I got rid of much, but still don’t have room for everything here. That stops the shopping right away.

We moved over a thousand miles away, from a more prosperous community to an older, low-income town. No real shopping here. If people shop, they apparently go to Bozeman (80 miles) or Helena (about 50 or 60 miles). And the influence of others is profound, so it does help to live in a more frugal environment and to develop frugal friends. I particularly like that the people I’ve met here aren’t house proud. The buildings seem to be the settings for the home and family among those I’ve met (I chat with people when out walking on the trails and am improving my set of acquaintances that way).

I put gas in the car yesterday. The last time was Sept 12. Working full time takes a lot of time and energy, so I don’t run around much. Too busy reading for the next class I’m to teach.

But yes, reading is frugal entertainment!

The local newsletter of our YWCA Shelter for Women and Children suggested direct-giving of the foodstuffs left over from folks’ lake cabins and campers. [we’re big on driving over into Minnesota around here, typical weekend half the license plates in the tall timber are North Dakota….with a lot of Manitoba and Ontario]

In addition to your local food pantry, the homeless shelters can all use foodstuffs too. And cash.

love you ,thanks

It looks like you added a period to the end of your link at comment 84. The link works if you remove the period: http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/769

Still have my Foxfire books. They were/are wonderful.

Have you seen this yet ?

Montana GOP Exec Director RESIGNS after failed Voter Suppression Effort

well we all shine on …

Conservative 37.6
Liberal 26.2
NDP 18.2
Bloc 10
Green 6.8
Other 0.7

In a first-past-the-post parliamentary system, popular vote and elected members are only indirectly related. Between them, the Liberals and NDP polled 44.4%, yet the Tories hold the largest block of seats.

Thanks for finding it that was a good Diary. Prairie Sunshine I will have to remember to get those books. Bye!

Yesterday wobbilybits suggested putting unused egg whites in ice cube trays and freezing them until you are ready to use them. I thought that was a brilliant tip for the tight-fisted type.

Oh, thanks twolf1. I thought I was loosing my mind there for a minute. Whew.

No one’s saying on the record that Adam Eaton’s departure is a result of the challenge fiasco. But the Missoulian reports: “Last week, rumors were running rampant in political circles that Eaton would be pushed out because of the much-criticized effort to challenge voter registrations.”

The challenges appeared to win the party no friends in the state. After it was revealed that among the challenged voters was a member of the Army Reserve about to deploy to Kuwait, and an 86-year old Second World War hero, even some local Republicans denounced the gambit.

Democrats in the state had gone to court to block the challenges. The Republicans withdrew them before a ruling was made, but not before the judge issued an order charging: “The timing of these challenges is so transparent that it defies common sense to believe the purpose is anything but political chicanery.”

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…..ter_fa.php

Montana might go Blue after all! I wonder what “the Math ” Karl has to say about McCains election math now?
Bye for real this time!

Actually when I was in elementary school, the cooks made a wonderful Cherry cobbler.

o/t

Censure Bachman Campaigned Launched

go on hippies, ya know ya wanna sign :D

Wear sweaters, eat soup, stay warm, and vote for Obama.

Now, that’s some good advice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prYGCwQPA0c

bada bing

Thanks for all that. What’s a seltzer maker?

For really good food that is quick and easy I like Mark Bittman’s “How to Cook Everything” He also has a book “How to Cook Everything Vegetarian”

The ticket distribution point was next to one of the voting locations in Wilmington but I was around the corner and couldn’t see degree of early voting participation. Parking lot was full with lots of O/B stickers but again, hard to know which ones were there to vote vs. pick up tickets.

CNN?MSNBC this morning showed NC as one of the states with voting machinery less questionable than many of the others. Don’t know how much faith to have in their accessment but does make me feel better for those of us here.

hahahhahahahahahaahaah
blows air into water to make soda

The latest Rolling Stone has a big article on McCain. Lumpenluntz brought up the obligatory POW last night on Maher…but conveniently left out that all the rest of the guys were getting the same treatment. That’s not a golden key to entitlement!

Barbara, hugs to you and wishes for strength in your sorrows. And a mug of fresh-ground and brewed Caribou French Roast…you are loved.

And a great recipes site — allrecipes.com

can o cherry pie filling
1 box yellow cake mix
1 1/2 cubes of butter (oh go ahead, use soy margarine, it works)

pre heat to 350 deg.

pour cherries in to 8″ pan
cover with cake mix, tamp down
cover cake mix with rows of thinly sliced pats of butter

25 to 30 min – depends on your oven

options -
serve with vanilla ice cream
add splash of amaretto, grand mariner, or (your choice here) to the cherries before covering

Yep, that’s sweet. We are so pleased. I’m new enough here that I only have glimmerings of the local politics, but even the lieuteant gov, a Republican, authored a prominent anti-voter caging op-ed and castigated his own party. I think that helped sealed the doom.

Over and over, I get this sense of “enough” (and I have the 2006 jingle of “Have You Had Enough” rattling through my brain) among the general populace. Many of us just got there years ago.

Well yes. . . but I’ve never heard of one. We go through cases of club soda at our house. I could save a lot!

oooh thanks

Voted yesterday in NC in my little hamlet and boy was it busy! Also, the 500 Obama/Biden yard signs that arrived at the local Dem headquarters were gone in two hours.

But the most hopeful news of the day (for me) was in a visit from my mother’s neighbor. Lib is 86 and a rockribbed Republican. I naturally assumed she was a McCain/Dole lady.

I am very happy to be wrong on that score. She always leaned to Hagan because Dole has been such a carpetbagger. And in the pres, Obama has won her over by dint of his intellect and demeanor — plus she’s appalled by Palin.

Could hardly contain my glee — as she would be one of the last elderly people here that I would have expected to vote Dem.

Let’s hope the next two weeks turn NC from Carolina Blue to Duke blue!

handmade pasta is delish — and a fun thing to do with kids. Found my pasta maker at the local TJ Maxx.

Upthread someone linked to hummmmy hummus pic? This summer I tried an organic spinach hummus from the farmers market in Park Rapids. Oh, it was mahvelous.

you are young!…”g”

One item that we noticed in the Rolling Stone article is that McCain admits that he wasn’t following orders when he was shot down. He was either hot-dogging it or going farther.

We have a rebellious, narcissistic man who has re-branding his failing as a virtue, as a maverick.

So, the branding of maverick is repeated so much that we don’t even think about it as a questionable quality for a leader. Someone that likes to go it on his own isn’t necessarily one that can look out for the herd. Similarly, why didn’t someone ask why everyone was talking about having a beer with a man who had problems with alcohol back in 2000? Would have saved us a lot of problems if the country had thought that one out more carefully.

me….velllllllly healthy

overnight news shows 114,000+ Tar Heels voted early yesterday

wonder if this had anything to do with it :D

If you guys are interested there is a cookbook put out by the Junior League of Baton Rouge, Louisiana called River Road Recipes. This book has been a staple of learning to cook Louisiana food in my Mom’s house. Mom grew up in Detroit you see, so she had to teach herself. I must say her cooking as gotten better since she started cooking Louisiana food! Bonus: you can order it online. If you google it it is available elsewhere too. Even ebay.

http://www.juniorleaguebr.org/?nd=recipes

Oh and beans and rice! All kinds of yummy!

Thrift stores are great for saving money! We go to Goodwill store here and find any number of great things. They even have a “Discount” store, where things go for pennies. Great place for clothes, housewares, and odds and ends. Ours is about the size of Walmart, but then it is a pretty big city.

Yahoo, Dem party today for early voting….I paid for the tent and chair rental with all the $$$ I saved at Goodwill!

mr. fizz

http://www.prairiemoon.biz/mrfibrsosi1l.html

Bachmann was makin’ rounds last night, acting as the total shill she is for the “Palin Truth Squad.” Hardball, Larry King, who knows where else.

Adding my imploring for giving Tinklenberg a big number [Mr. S says if Minnesota re-elects her we may have to seriously consider selling the little cabin in the big woods. /s]

Sheeesh, will I ever catch up on this thread????

Sometimes we’re around to see karma kick the assholes in the ass.

The idiot ignored the alarm that went off when the missle locked on to him and did not take evasive action.

Done.

“Scouting for Food” is coming up around me. If a scout leaves a plastic bag on your doorknob, please don’t throw it out. Put a couple of cans in it if you can and leave it in front of your front door the following Saturday or whenever the pick-up day is. Do they do that anywhere else? or is that an Orlando thing? Speaking of The City Beautiful, Hillary and That One are gonna be at the O-rena on Monday!!!!! (It’s really called the Amway Arena. But Amway is run by Rich DeVos who is a Republican prick and father-in-law of Eric Prince of Blackwater fame. So i call it by the old name.) Looks like I may have to play a little hooky Monday.

Bachman’s opponent Tinklenberg has raised another $4000. in the last hour

there is a new post

I love my crockpot, and my rice cooker as well.

But what I like best has nothing to do with food: I taught myself how to fix my broken electric dryer last weekend, so instead of spending $300 on a new dryer, or even $100 on a used one, I fixed what I have for $27.99.

Anyone can do it: unplug it, unscrew the back, and start testing fuses with a cheap and widely available multimeter. Why buy new when you can learn to fix the thing and impress your honey!

…adding that when my Astro van became too expensive to repair (and with the spark plugs located behind the wheels, every repair was expensive), I bought a 1996 subaru wagon, which is easy to maintain myself.

Off to the farmer’s market now to support my local economy.

We’re not vegetarians and don’t imagine we will ever be (loves us some good BBQ ribs, steak, chicken, salmon …) but we decided we ate too much meat so asked a friend (who likely has more cookbooks than Julian Child had) if she had any vegetarian books and in response got 3 4-foot stacks. Among those books was Crescent Dragonwagon’s (yes, that’s the author and there is a story) Passionate Vegetarian and if you’re looking for some wonderful, healthy, non-meat recipes that’s an excellent source – we ended up purchasing the book ourselves.

I have the 1962 edition of the “Culinary Arts Institute Encyclopedic Cookbook,” which is my main cookbook. Published before packaged ingredients were available for everything. 30+ pages of just potato and sweet potato recipes alone. Everything is from scratch. A person who has never boiled water could cook a meal from this cookbook.

My old crockpot makes great veggie anything. I discovered rice cookers while in Asia and couldn’t live without one. Inexpensive and cooks rice to perfection every time. I prefer short and medium grain brown rice and basmati. Dried beans in bulk from the natural foods store are cheaper than packaged organic dried beans in the supermarket. Same goes for rice, white or brown.

I just went back to work after staying home with our daughter for her first 18 months on earth. Huge adjustment, and the crock pot is a lifesaver, and money saver. I buy a big pork loin or picnic roast (whichever is cheaper, sometimes the sales on loins is great), throw it in the pot all by itself and we eat it all week. After it’s cooked, I divide it into 3 or 4 Tupperware containers. Night 1: add bbq sauce, there’s pulled pork sandwiches. Night 2: add salsa and there’s taco meat. Night 3: stir fry up some veggies, make some rice, season with teriyaki sauce or something similar, and there’s pork-fried rice. The flavors are so different each night that you don’t even notice that you’re eating pork…again. You can do the same with a big chuck roast or a bunch of chicken breasts.

Another simple recipe is to fill it with sauerkraut and then cook your pork in sauerkraut. Moist pork, better sauerkraut.

Seconding the Crock-Pot idea. (It’s an excellent way to do ribs and rice!)

Tip: If you’re a night person like me, get the ingredients chopped up and ready to go the night before. That way, all you have to do in the morning is dump it all in the pot with some water or stock and set it on “Low”. Eight hours later, supper!

Another tip: If you’re watching both your caloric and your salt intake, cooking from scratch is a good way to control both.

Yet another tip: Make your own chicken stock and cut up your own chicken — it’s easy and cheap!

Here’s what you do: Buy a whole chicken and cut it up yourself, using kitchen shears. (Kitchen shears are wonderful things.)

Now you’ll probably find ready uses for the breasts, legs and thighs — but the wings and back, not so much. No problem: Use them to make chicken stock! Much less salty than the store-bought kind, and you can use it for cooking so many things.

The wings and back of a typical store-bought whole bird will suffice to make two to three ice-cube trays’ worth of stock; just break up the bones as best you can (that helps release the flavor and nutrients in them), throw in some onions and carrots and even garlic (maybe some cayenne if you’re feeling spicy) into a pot with just enough cold water (cold water helps draw out the juices from the meat and bones) to cover everything, bring it to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer, covered, for at least two hours. (I often do this at the same time that I’m making something else for dinner.)

Pull out the bones and meat and veggies and discard (they should be very mushy by this point — all of their goodness has gone into the stock), then strain out the impurities with a wire strainer and put the resulting liquid into the fridge for a few hours or overnight. This allows the fat to rise to the top, which you can then easily remove and store in the freezer as chicken fat can be used in many dishes (if you like to make your own sausages, chicken fat works wonderfully).

Pour the stock into your ice cube trays; when it’s frozen, put the frozen cubes into a container (a Ziploc bag works well for this) in the freezer; now you can add stock in easy-to-melt, small portions to your recipe!

Haven’t had a chance to read all the comments but I have a Food Saver and it is the most wonderful thing. It’s a little pricey – about $120 but it amazing. The food frozen in these bags is truly fresh – fish tastes asif it just came out of the water. Meat can be kept frozen for up to 3 years ! I highly recommend if for those who don’t get wonderful fresh produce all year round. The only thing I have found that you can’t freeze by this method is bread. Try one. It’s wonderful.

This is in EPU-land, but I thought I’d put it in as a recipe even so. The day before yesterday, I took a turkey leg out of the freezer, removed the skin, browned it, and then cooked it slowly with onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the Le Creuset version of a stockpot for about two hours. No touching after the browning. Very good and the Turkey leg, which was well over a pound, cost about $4.00 grain-fed. There’s a lot of simple cooking like this which can be done without too much cash or skill.

Here’s another easy one. Braising a pork roast in milk. You salt and pepper a rolled shoulder, brown it and then cook it for about 3 and a half hours in milk, adding about a cup or so every hour. The milk absorbs the pork juices, and becomes curdy. When it’s done, you mash the curds and have a delicious gravy (thanks to Marcella Hazan).

A couple of alternatives to the crockpot exist. Both are a bit more labor intensive.

One is to go to “quick recipes”. Rachael Ray is probably the best known proponent of the venue, but the idea is to have a meal on the table in less than 20 minutes.

The other is the preparation style known as once a month cooking (though once a week works if your freezer space is more limited). The advantages of this technique are much the reason we use convenience foods. Cleanup is much easier as almost all the pots and pans and measuring utensils and bowls and, well, you get the idea, only come out once a month (or week). Second, since it’s done (or almost done), all that’s needed is final heating; whether microwave or quick broil or quick stir in the skillet or whatever, it’s still fast (convenient).

Both, as I said, are much more labor intensive than tossing something into the crockpot. They do, however, significantly extend the options while providing much better food.

Make it sound patriotic American – Chop Sooey!

Chilly but sunny day up here in Ottawa and I’ll be BBQ’in some tangy pork loins, sausage for a gumbo, roasted veggies for a veg. curry and some chicken breasts (still on the bone) for aforementioned gumbo and sammiches! Lots of room on the grill so take advantage and use up all the hot space.

it’s not chilly in Ottawa. It’s late summer. It’s chilly in REGINA.

Everytime I read beans and rice…I think of Condi Rice…some of you may not know that she lives with, and owns a home with, a woman called Randy Bean.

Hi Christy and everyone. Christy, I hope you and your family are all hanging in there.

We have become so wasteful as a culture that there are millions of ways to begin to cut back on waste.

And for some hard core frugality, you’ll get a kick out of the Tightwad Gazette. Be forewarned, the tips in there are fairly severe in terms of not wasting anything, ever — we’re talking Depression-era in some cases — but it does make you think, a LOT, about waste and over-spending.

I read a book last summer – The Inheritance of Loss by Kirin Dasai (sp?) which takes place in India. Wonderful book. In one scene, the long suffering family servant is washing and carefully folding his piece of tinfoil, which he has reused hundreds of times. And while that concept might seem shocking – why not wash and reuse tinfoil? Why not wash and reuse everything? I’ve gotten quite focused on throwing nothing out that may have value again. Used wooden matches – tinder. Plastic bags, to the extent I allow them in my house, washed and reused again and again. Tin foil. I buy very little, and reuse it multiple times.

Because I was bread with old yankee values thanks to my parents, this saving for a future date when it may come in handy comes easily to me. One of my favorite sayings is “Patch it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without.” Followed closely by “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”

Last thought: during the 20th century we took a turn away from traditional ways, from knowledge handed down over generations. The old timers knew a thing or two. Time to tap back into their ingenuity and know how.

For your crock pot party this morning Christy, I brought some Media Crazy Salt:

From Reuters
Final debate called a draw
Report

Oct. 16 – Presidential hopefuls McCain and Obama may have saved the best for the last debate, but analysts call it a tie favoring Obama.

In opinion polls three weeks before the November 4 election, more voters say they trust Obama’s leadership on the economy, which has dominated the campaign-trail discussion and dwarfed McCain’s expertise in foreign and military policy.

Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters.

My Sun sign is Cancer and, not surprisingly, I abhor cookbooks. I make it up as I go along tossing in a little of this and a little of that according to whatever engages my fancy. I never write down anything that I produce in the kitchen because then I would have produced — dare I mention the unmentionable — a recipe. Oh, how I despise that word!

A crockpot is a fantastic way to combine and consume leftovers. I always add something new and fresh to the pot, usually fresh vegetables at the end with pasta or rice as a side dish. I’m never certain exactly what the hell I’m eating, but it’s always yummy and I can’t remember the last time I threw away any food.

Try it, you’ll like it.

Elwyn Tinklenberg

He should win on the name alone!

I know I’m down here in EPU land, but there are other ways to save money aside from your food.

Wash your hands often, cuts down on minor illnesses and doctor bills. Remind the kids.

Keep your heat down and wear a sweater, or even longjohns *and* a sweater.

Make your own bread, it’s easy with or without a bread machine. You can get at least five loaves of bread out of a bag of flour, and the flour costs a lot less than five loaves of bread.

Buy your jeans and sweats at the thrift store. If you work, change out of your good stuff and into the thrift shop stuff as soon as you get home. I’m retired, so I wear thrift shop all the time. Nobody knows unless I tell them.

If you eat meat (I do), use it as a flavoring in casserole type dishes rather than as the main dish. If a casserole calls for 1 lb. it will usually be just as good with 1/4 lb.

You only have to carry 13 coins for change. 4 quarters, 2 dimes, 2 nickles and 5 pennies. Each night take any “extra” coins and throw them in a jar. It adds up faster than you think, and if you always carry that configuration of 13 coins your purse or pocket will be a lot lighter.

If your community has a recycle center that pays for recyclables, use it! Recently took back 120 lbs. of aluminum (crushed soda cans) and got $100 for it. Use the money if you’re short, or donate some/all to the local food pantry.

Learn some sort of craft that will let you make personal gifts rather than buying them.

Here’s a hot tip from EPUville: Don’t try to make ice cream in a crock pot.

I don’t have a source, alas, but I’ve heard some less than encouraging things about what slow-cooking does to the nutritional value of food. I’ve heard pressure-cookers are ok, though.

Some of my cheapest meals are Indian foods like dahl or khichadi. Dal/dahl refers to the lentils or the dishes made from them. Dahls are basically split lentils (mung dahl, masoor dahl, etc.) and spices cooked until soft, served over rice. My favorite has onion and tomato in it. Khichadi is rice, dahl, and spices all cooked together until soft. Some of my recipes feature greens and sweet potatoes, but the most basic is mostly rice with a bit of dahl and spice. You can get bags of these dahls at Asian stores for cheap. (Same with chappati flour, which with a little water and salt is all you need to make roti = flatbread.)

One thing about frugality/food storage I learned the hard way: it’s not cheap if you have to throw it out. It only takes one bug-infested bag of rice to get into everything you have. To prevent this I now:

1. Freeze rice, flours, etc., for several days to kill any insect eggs that may be in them. (We’d like to think our food comes to us pristine, but we are kidding ourselves.) In the dead of winter I use the trunk of my car.

2. Put boxes of pasta and grains into airtight plastic containers (brands like Lock & Lock or Pods). I don’t have a separate box for each item, but at least if I get a bad box of something, it doesn’t affect everything else. And it keeps mice out.

3. For larger bags, 5-6 gallon plastic food storage buckets come in handy. You can buy them online, or get them for free from your grocery store’s bakery department. (I ended up doing the former, since when I tried to do the latter, I got one that had had garlic mayonnaise or somesuch in it.)