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

[Packratona!]

Yum chocolate tapioca. Must try. Do you have a recipe?

[cdttmm]

Yum chocolate tapioca. Must try. Do you have a recipe?

Yes! Here it is:

2-2/3 cups whole milk
3 tbsp tapioca pearls
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Heat 2 cups of milk to just below the boiling point. Add the tapioca pearls while stirring with a whisk or fork to keep from sticking. Cook at just below the boiling point for 17 minutes, stirring constantly. Mix 2/3 cup milk, egg, sugar, and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Slowly add chocolate mixture to tapioca mixture and stir well to combine. Cook another 10 minutes. Let cool -- it will continue to thicken. Makes 6 servings.

[SteveinMN]

It's easy to not spend money when you never leave the house (well, courtesy of mail order and the Internet, that's not always true, but...). Thank you, polar vortex!

About the only frugal I can think of (besides the usuals) was that DW has been "remodeling" her woman cave (one of our spare bedrooms) and repurposed a cabinet we had just hanging around. She also wanted a chest of drawers, so we found one on craigslist; solid wood, metal drawer glides, in great shape, for $20 and a gallon of fuel and a few cents of Goo-Gone to remove a sticker one of the seller's kids had applied to a drawer. On the trip to pick it up, we got to have a long-overdue visit with some friends in her area, and enjoyed dinner together (they cooked).

[Stella]

Zach and I have been doing some planning for the upcoming birthday season. All of our kids have birthdays about a month apart. We have decided that, for the most part, we are going to build the kids' gifts this year. Since we have a family closet for our clothing in the basement, Zach is going to build our oldest daughter and American Girl dollhouse into one of the closets in the girls' room. It should cost about $50, if that, and she will love it. Her birthday is the day before our new baby is due, so Zach is probably going to build it this weekend to make sure it is done in time. Grandpa is getting her an acoustic guitar and my mom will contribute to Cheyenne's savings for her SCUBA certification. She has been saving for two years and has all but $50 of the money. I'm actually really proud of her. She will be 10 years old. Saving for two years for something awesome like that is a big accomplishment, I think.

[cdttmm]

my mom will contribute to Cheyenne's savings for her SCUBA certification. She has been saving for two years and has all but $50 of the money. I'm actually really proud of her. She will be 10 years old. Saving for two years for something awesome like that is a big accomplishment, I think.

Wow! That is super cool! As a certified SCUBA diver, I can say that I would have loved to have started much earlier in life. So great that Cheyenne has maintained interest for such a long period of time at such a young age. If you ever have any questions about diving, please don't hesitate to ask!

[Teacher Terry]

Fidgiegirl, you will save a ton of money by using cloth diapers. When I had my first we used disposables and it cost a fortune. For the next 2 on the advice of a friend we used cloth diapers. My babies got much fewer diaper rashes with the cloth versus the disposable ones. As long as you have a washer/dryer I do not think it is that much work.

[cdttmm]

Just the usual frugals here today. Brought my lunch to work (leftovers) along with green tea to drink. We'll be having leftovers for dinner, too. Have two overripe bananas that will become banana bread tomorrow. Coordinated with my dearly beloved so that we will both go to the gym at the same time tonight and can carpool. Feeding some past-its-prime chicken to the dogs with their dog food tonight. They'll be happy and it will stretch the dog food until the order comes in on Friday. Not much else to report!

[Packratona!]

Yes! Here it is:

2-2/3 cups whole milk
3 tbsp tapioca pearls
1 egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Heat 2 cups of milk to just below the boiling point. Add the tapioca pearls while stirring with a whisk or fork to keep from sticking. Cook at just below the boiling point for 17 minutes, stirring constantly. Mix 2/3 cup milk, egg, sugar, and cocoa powder in a separate bowl. Slowly add chocolate mixture to tapioca mixture and stir well to combine. Cook another 10 minutes. Let cool -- it will continue to thicken. Makes 6 servings.

Thank you. Now have to figure out where to purchase tapioca around here.

[Packratona!]

I have been wanting a slow cooker for a long time. DH has been wanting a deep fryer for a long time. However, since neither of these items were "necessary," we'd dithered about getting either one. Of all things, our friend recently told us about a wondrous machine that works both as a slow cooker AND a deep fryer. We found one yesterday, then negotiated the price down by about $25 USD, then used our store discount "club card" to get another 7% off.

Our friend also told us how to buy "Number 6" beef (in Israel each cut of beef is assigned a number, rather than a name), so I can start making yummy slow-cooker stews. This is great news, as DH and I are both working evenings now, and frequently both of us are working random hours between 2 and midnight, so neither of us has time to cook anything, much less eat at the same time. With this new machine, I can do the "cooking" in the morning, and then things will be ready for a quick plating whenever either of us gets a break.

Just out of curiousity, how do you manage to live frugally in Israel? I hear it is tough to survive there economically. Oh, duh just noticed your link for your blog. Will read.

[cdttmm]

Proud of my dearly beloved who is really trying to be more frugal these days. He's been making a pitcher of green tea every few days of have on hand as his drink of choice. So much cheaper than the orange juice and carrot juice that he was drinking. And he's baking two loaves of bread today since we finished off the bread I baked the other day. He also willing ate the leftover vegetable paella that was just too spicy for me to eat. Now he just needs to remember to eat the leftover chicken soup in the fridge before he leaves for NYC to work for the next week. The eating down of the pantry and fridge mission continues!

We filled the car with diesel last night -- stopping at the least expensive station -- and then got an extra 10 cents per gallon off with a loyalty card.

I skipped the yoga class I was planning to attend this morning because I feel like I'm getting a sore throat. Stayed home and slept in and then gargled with warm salt water when I woke up. So saved a bit on gas from not driving and hopefully will minimize whatever illness I might be developing. Would hate to miss work, and therefore the associated pay, because I was sick.