Frugal Meals

Since the down turn in the economy, I have been trying to economize. Cooking at home has become a big part of my effort in saving money. My husband (who takes care of our finances) says it is helping. Fortunately, a new market came to our area called Fresh & Easy. The neat thing about this market is that they will mark items down for clearance. Sometimes they will have bread at half price. Recently, they were selling tuna packed in oil for 39 cents a can! I used the tuna in a dish called Fusilli with Tuna. I made the simple tomato sauce recipe in the crock-pot. I only made half the recipe of tomato sauce, by using two 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes (Italian style) and an 8 oz can of tomato sauce. I used a hand blender to puree the sauce. The dish was very tasty.

Another easy and frugal recipe is Campbell's Beef Taco Skillet which is one of Mark's favorite dishes. I can get tomato soup for 69 cents a can at Fresh & Easy. I use corn tortillas in the recipe which have less calories than flour tortillas and tend to be cheaper.

Scones

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold butter, cut into bits
3/4 cup raisins (or blueberries)

1. Preheat oven to 400*F. Whisk the egg and milk together in glass measuring cup. In a mixing bowl measure out dry ingredients.

2. Drop the butter into the flour. Use pastry blender or your hands to blend until pebbly. Pour in milk & egg mixture. Mix with a fork until the dough is evenly moist. Add the raisins/blueberries and give the sticky dough a few more stirs.



3. Spoon the mixture onto a foil or parchment lined baking sheet. I sprinkle each with a bit of sugar.


4. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes (although mine were done at 18 minutes) or browned to your liking. Cool for a bit and serve warm with butter and/or jam. Makes 10 to 12.


My boys loved waking up to these scones. I used fresh blueberries and they came out nice. If you make the recipe I hope you enjoy it.

In other news, I took my first Arimidex pill. I have been in pain for days so I decided to just go ahead and take one. Some of my pain has calmed down so I guess it is already working. However some of my other pain is still bothering me. Sigh. I just have to keep praying.

Mark is a bit down these days and it is no wonder with his father having health problems and then all the lay-offs at work. He said that the office is really empty and quiet. The company leased two buildings to house all the employees it had. Now they have laid off enough employees that everyone can fit into one building. That is a lot of employees!

My Weekend

A new pillow sham that I picked up on Saturday for $2.99.
It is reversible and ties up at the end.
Brand name too, Liz Claiborne.

Here I am beginning to make my potato soup.
I am cooking up chopped pancetta & onion.

Here I have added creamer potatoes (about 4 cups chopped)
2 cups of water, 2 cups of milk, salt, garlic and 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon.

Here is the finished product half eaten.
When the potatoes are tender it is ready to be pureed
with a hand blender. Then 1 cup of half & half is added.
It is then ready to serve.

Here are my mashed potato biscuits again.
This time made with a little whole wheat flour.
Brandon requested that I make them again.

Lady Bird spent time outside this weekend. I brought her cage outside and opened the door. She flew out and sat in our plum tree. She flies around the tree visiting various branches and then returns to me or her cage. Today she had to show me how she likes to eat now. She scolded me for not doing it right. She wants to eat on her own, so I set the food down and she tilts her head to look at it. Then she picks it up herself and sort of mashes it up with her beak. Her beak has grown and has a nice point on it so she can peck at seeds. She is trying to get the hang of eating seeds, but isn't quite there yet.

Since I am not taking any hormones I am having menopausal symptoms, which is not the greatest. I feel irritable most days and I enjoy time alone. I think I may be feeling a little depressed due to lack of hormones. Today hubby took me out shopping and told me to pick out what I wanted at the store. What a blessing that was, God is so good to me!

Innovation - Its Whats for Dinner

Here I am cooking up some Italian chicken sausage (without
skin) that I got at Trader Joe's. I sprayed the pan
with cooking spray, added a stalk of sliced celery
with leaves and half a medium onion to the sausage.

Here is some leftover pasta sauce I had in the fridge.
About 2/3 of the jar.

Had some brown rice in the pantry, so cooked some up.

Here I have added the sauce, along with a few sliced up
sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil.

Here I have mixed the meat sauce with the cooked rice.
Wa-la, dinner!

Here it is sprinkled with some parmesan & mozzarella cheese
served with a green salad.
The lights are low for dining ambiance.
It turned out a very yummy dish for something I just made up.

Surprise!

Today Mark brought me these flowers when he came home from work. It was such a lovely surprise! It really meant so much to me because the past few days I have been struggling with pain and bowel troubles. Even so I am trying to keep up with my homekeeping duties. I am behind after being on Danazol. Below is a picture of the baby bird which I have named Lady Bird.

We have had her a week now and she has been a joy even though it takes a lot of work to keep her fed. She has fattened up and the bald spots have filled in with feathers. She is full of spunk and hops around her cage happily cheeping at us. She has taken to flying about at times, but needs a little work on landing.

Today was a busy day of homeschooling, laundry and cooking. Last week the boys had SAT 10 testing so there was not much school work to be done. Good thing I tried the Danazol last week. Today I needed to be teaching and I am thankful that I am back to my regular self so that I can teach. Below I am sharing pictures of what I cooked for dinner hoping it will help inspire you in your cooking.

Here is a lovely pot of Red Beans.
They were served with brown rice.
(The recipe link says to use "kidney" beans, I use "red" beans instead.)

A lovely green salad.

Some garlic bread I made up.

For dessert we had Butter Pecan ice cream.
Happy meal making!

On the Menu

Today I am practicing the art of thrifty cooking.

Dinner:
Pinto beans with bacon
Jiffy corn muffins
Spinach Delish

For dessert:
Banana pudding & whipped cream

The latest update is that the boys have been driving me nuts with their antics. This weekend they are going to Camporee where they will be competing with other troops at various events. My oldest son is an expert at knots and lashings. He can do all kinds of fun stuff. Here is a picture of something he did today.

A neighbor cut down a couple of trees and she said that my son could have some of the branches. Of course he took them and got rope from the garage to make this little stretcher.

On another note, I am sending a copy of the tests I recently went through up to my endo doctor. After enduring yet another bout of horrible pain, I have written a letter stating that I want surgery. As for the endoscopy, I have not heard a peep. We put in a call to my bowel doctor, but did not get anywhere. If I don't get the scope I am not going to be too disappointed as I am sick of all these scans and tests. And I will be seeing my bowel doctor in April and I'll just tell him they never called. And I will be telling him that I am ready to have someone take a look inside.