Hello everyone

[RedSpruce]

Newbie to this forum here, but not to frugality. I’ve lived the frugal life for 30+ years. I’m looking to up my game a bit. I’m after an online community with a lot of ideas and support for accountability along my frugal journey.

My fav frugal activities/main interests are cooking and any crafting with fabric or yarn, except crochet. I’ve tried it - twice - and I’m really bad at it. Hats off to any crocheters out there who get perfect tension every time! 🙂. I like projects where I can take something old and upcycle it, or add value to it.

I am currently busy baking for an upcoming bicycle trip my Hubby is taking. Homemade granola bars anyone? They are sooo yummy! I am also baking bread the old fashioned way (no bread machine here), rolls and tortillas for the freezer. The rolls and tortillas are today’s cooking projects.

Groceries are getting so expensive here I am running cost comparisons between buying and making at home. I am retired…sort of. I am an artist. We never really retire. 🙂. But I do have more freedom with my time than a lot of other people do.

Well this is plenty long enough for an introduction! I look forward to checking out the boards to see what’s happening. Thank-you for adding me!

[NewGig]

Glad to see you here!

What's in those granola bars?

I've been making the oat cake, a/k/a "flapjack" from FrugalJo's YouTube channel.

[Yppej]

Welcome. The frugality forum is probably my favorite here and I look forward to your contributions.

[KayLR]

Welcome from dry and crispy Washington State!

[pinkytoe]

Welcome! For road trips, we sometimes make "breakfast cookies." They have the usual suspects but also a generous helping of either mashed sweet potato or pumpkin for extra nutrition.

[Teacher Terry]

Welcome!!

[GeorgeParker]

Welcome. There are a lot of long-time frugalers here. (is that a word?) So you may find it useful to read old threads that have gone silent and reply to the ones that interest you as a way to revitalize conversation on those topics. You'll also find this place is like a bunch of gabby long-time neighbors -- there's no telling what kind of stuff will be talked about or how far off track a thread will wander. But it's all good.

[catherine]

Welcome, RedSpruce! As a treehugger, I love your username!

[rosarugosa]

Welcome, RedSpruce! I look forward to hearing more from you. What area are you from?

[happystuff]

Welcome! Lots of nice and helpful folks here. I would love to know your granola bar recipe as well!

[RedSpruce]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! Red Spruce grows in the area where I live…Nova Scotia, Canada. Hence my user name. As for my granola bar recipe…well, it’s like this…I use recipes more as guidelines these days. It’s a mash up of two granola recipes and an actual granola bar recipe from “Make Your Own Groceries “ by Daphne Metaxsis Hartwig. It’s an old cookbook that I think is out of print. So here it is.

Make the granola. Add dried fruit. Then make the bars.

Granola…

Mix together: 4.5 cups oats
3/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut
1 cup roughly chopped pecans/almonds/walnuts ( I used pecans)
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 Tbsp. Ground cinnamon

Mix and pour over top: 1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey
1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract

Mix until thoroughly coated. Then spread on oiled baking sheet with sides or in a roaster or whatever is big enough (this recipe can be doubled easily). Bake for 45 minutes to an hour until golden brown at 350 degrees F.

Granola Bars

Now…for the bars… take 4 cups granola.
Add 1 cup chopped dried apricots and 1/2 cup sultana raisins. Add 1/2 tsp. Salt and mix everything together.

in a separate bowl mix 2 tbsp. Butter (I used unsalted), 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract (or almond). Heat to melt butter and liquify honey (if you used creamed honey). Stir to mix everything well. Pour over the granola mixture. Stir to mix well. To be honest, at this point I wash my hands and, after waiting a bit for the liquid to cool, I thoroughly mix the entire mess with my hands. Then I transfer it all to a thoroughly buttered 9x13” baking pan and press it down as firmly as possible. I used a metal spatula. A metal fry pan turner would work too. You really want it dense, so it doesn’t fall apart when it’s finished. Then I bake it at 400 F for15-20 minutes, or until golden. **Cool completely before removing from the pan! Otherwise it will crumble!**

These are so yummy folks! Hubby and I tried one each and I packaged the rest up quickly for an upcoming bicycle hike. I have to admit, these aren’t very frugal. But, my brother-in-law is a beekeeper, so the honey came free. I buy butter on sale for $3.50 a pound or less. I by oats and nuts in bulk at Costco. Most of the other ingredients come from a store called Bulk Barn.

[dado potato]

Welcome, RedSpruce!

I bake too! Pizza once per week. Bread in a Pullman Pan. Sometimes cornbread in cast iron, sometimes scones.

[iris lilies]

You are in Nova Scotia! Wonderful. I would like to know more about that area and hope someday to get up there.

[RedSpruce]

Welcome, RedSpruce!

I bake too! Pizza once per week. Bread in a Pullman Pan. Sometimes cornbread in cast iron, sometimes scones.

Oooh! I miss my cast iron fry pan. We got rid of it when we had our first kitchen renovation in our previous house. It was awful heavy for me to manage. We have a ceramic glass cooktop now. I’m not sure how one would work on that?

[RedSpruce]

You are in Nova Scotia! Wonderful. I would like to know more about that area and hope someday to get up there.

ask away Iris lilies! I was born here, grew up out west, came back for Hubby’s university, went back west, and we returned here two years ago, now Hubby is retired.

[nswef]

My mother was raised in Halifax, they moved to Pittsburgh, PA when she was 14. (she would be 98 this year). We went up in 2001...and were able to find her house on Ingles St. and her elementary school. She was a cold water swimmer! Even in her old age.