January 2014 Frugals.........

[cdttmm]

Bread is baked! I discovered that baby bella mushrooms were on sale at the grocery store. So I stocked up and used my day off to make a huge batch of wild mushroom soup. I already had a box of dried gourmet mushrooms in the panty that were not slated for another use so into the soup they went! Smells so good in my house right now!!! Should be about 20 servings of soup in the end, which means we'll have plenty of quick and easy meals to pull out of the freezer in the future.

Later this week I need to tackle the giant butternut squash in my kitchen. Perhaps that will become soup as well... Now if only I could get motivated enough to make vegetable stock on my own, then I would really be making some frugal pots of soup!!!

[rosarugosa]

cdttmm: We've used a modification of this recipe, which sounds like something you might like with the squash. It's from The Gardener's Cottage blog, which I enjoy. I'm not sure if this link will work, so I'm posting the recipe too.

http://thegardenerscottage.blogspot....ch?q=butternut

2 cups cubed butternut squash
1 small onion diced
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup arborio rice
4 cups vegetable broth
salt, pepper, fresh or dried sage

Roast your butternut squash that's been drizzled with a little olive oil and s&p on a sheetpan in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or so.

In a heavy saucepan saute the onion in a tablespoon of earth balance til soft then add the butternut squash. Add the arborio rice and thoroughly mix it with veggies. Add the white wine and cook until wine is absorbed. Then add about 1/2 cup of hot broth to the mixture, stir until slowly absorbed. Repeat this until all the broth has been added. The slow stirring is quite medatative.

I taste at this point and if it needs adjusting then I add salt and pepper. I garnish with fresh sage and cracked black pepper and serve.

[fidgiegirl]

Mmmmm, soup talk . . .

We had a squash soup tonight out of some acorn squashes and another winter squash that I don't know the name. Used up that coconut milk, too!!

Finished up a bunch of errands this morning. Not particularly frugal, though we did use gift cards for as much of it as we could, saving $60 at Target and had a Starbucks treat, too, on a GC.

Meals are planned for the week, laundry is folded, I am pooped!! We had a productive weekend, I groomed the dog but I think for the last time in a while. It is really physical, at least it is with squirmy fraidy boy and me with my low skill level - though now I figured out how to better utilize the blades I have, so part of it went a lot better. I had to take a nap when we were done.

Not too much else to report! We did break down and go out to eat this weekend. We've been doing super on that, and my DBiL and DSis had come to help us unload a piece of furniture, so we treated. Speaking of! That's a huge frugal! DH scored us a free oak buffet for our basement project. It was a built-in, and it's beautiful, though it needs a little help with new glass and such. For free, who cares?! We did rent a UHaul cargo van to go get it, so there was a small cost, but so worth it. It will become our wet bar.

[cdttmm]

rosa: that soup recipe sounds delicious! I've made a roasted butternut squash soup in the past, but never from a recipe that uses arborio rice -- that sounds like a fantastic addition and it just so happens that I have some in the pantry!

[Birdie]

cdttmm, I keep a jar of Better than bouillon brand vegetable base in the fridge that I use to make a quick vegetable broth. It's pretty good in a pinch. I found it at Costco, though the grocery store might have it also.

[Tiam]

This year I started an allowance. I opened a separate checking account and I have $160.00 going into it every pay day. I also with draw 30.00 cash for a total of 190.00. All I carry in my wallet is a check register to track spending. This is all I get until the next payday. I use this for gas, groceries, hair cuts, shoes, clothes, etc. My re-occurring bills like mortgage, and utilities are paid from my main account. I keep this in a separate wallet that stays at home in my safe. My goal is to not use my credit card for any purchases this year. I will pay cash for everything.

I owe about 28,000.00 on my home. I am attempting to become debt free in two years. I have about $14,000 in credit card bills for a total $42,000.00 in debt. My current mortgage is $230.00 a month. I am going to pay off the smallest credit first. I pay extra against my mortgage but I am going to up this amount

I'm also looking at changing some things to change lifestyle, pay down debt etc. I can't put this much away each payday. (sadly). I'm confused about what you are allowing yourself per pay period though.

[Tiam]

Put that rotisserie chicken carcass in the crockpot with chopped celery and carrot and onion and garlic to make a chicken broth.

[rosarugosa]

The recipe I shared makes a creamy risotto, but I'm sure it can be modified to make a soup.

[Selah]

DH is doing some forensic examinations of our grocery bills and is becoming a finely-tuned comparison shopping machine. Since we usually buy pretty much the same thing every week, he is getting it down to an art form regarding where to shop for what, and how much to buy in bulk--that sweet spot that maximizes discount for bulk purchases, but minimizes wastage from spoilage.

I keep looking for tasty, frugal, and healthy recipes we can now make in our WONDERFUL slow-cooker. Since we both work from 2 p.m. up until 1 a.m. and often don't have a dinner break together, we're finding it much easier and less stressful to do slow-cooker cooking in the morning. Good for marital harmony and our pocketbook!

[cdttmm]

The recipe I shared makes a creamy risotto, but I'm sure it can be modified to make a soup.

Ahhh...that makes more sense in my brain now!