Last week I thoroughly enjoyed cooking, eating, and canning my tomatoes and peppers except when I ate too many over ripened jalapenos and just about scorched my face off. I was literally under the faucet it burned so much. I’ve never ate something so hot that it made me cough […]
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Thrift Kitchen: Put ’em Up!
I know many of you have gardens just like me. Once you finally cleared away the weeds in that mid summer purge, there was a whole lot less going on in there than you thought, than I thought. There are bald patches that feel like a lost oppertunity.
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Thrift Kitchen: Baked Eggs!
We have, I kid you not, 18 baby chicks in our basement. They are Jason and I’s + our friend’s egg investment plan. We each get 9 each–4 of mine are broilers. So for Jason and I, we will have our own little flock of 5 layers. I wrote about […]
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Home Again: Looking Back and Looking Forward
I loved my room at the Porches. It was a little oasis where people picked up after me for a change, coffee was delivered in the morning along with croissants and cream.
But, by the end of the week I was so ready to be home. I missed home cooked meals and being able cuddle with the cats. I missed the daily walks with Jak and working out with Jason–and just hanging out with him in general.
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Thrift Kitchen: Taco Mix!
I should tell you, I love tacos. I like chicken tacos, fish tacos, beef and bean, bean and cheese, tofu, avocado. Tacos are probably hands down my favorite food. After my 40 minutes of chest and bicep exercises are up I am jonesing for some freaking tacos. If I don’t get some tacos stat I’m going to have a serious melt down of give me now fits.
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Thrift Kitchen: Bagging up Homemade Bread
I’ve been cranking out the bread lately. Something about being without an oven for so long has made me go a little overboard. Or maybe I just really appreciate what I have and actually use it. It’s been about a loaf a week for a while now and I think I’ll keep it up. While baking your own bread is delicious, easy, and cheap, it does have the very wasteful side effect of chewing through plastic wrap.
You see, freshly baked bread, just like any other bread, will go bad when left exposed to air and it’s wonderful “wild yeasty beasties.” So I wrap it up tight. Maybe too tight. I’m going through like a roll of plastic every other month, not very Craft Leftovers spirited.
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Holiday Baking Making Plans
Okay family and friends out there reading this post, avert your eyes. This is a complete spoiler alert, so go away, skip to a different post. Starting last year I opted to make gift baskets up for my family and friends instead of trying to puzzle out individual gifts for […]
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Poached on Toast: Poaching Eggs the “don’t fuss” way.
I honestly have no idea why I decided to try poaching an egg. I also can’t remember where I learned how to do it. It’s totally different than how my mom showed me–which involved spooning boiling water and lots of fussing. Was it Julia Child? Maybe Martha Stewart?
In the last 2 years of living in Ames, I just gave it a shot. Now I have eggs and yogurt or eggs and oatmeal or eggs and greens or eggs and sausage (featured in today’s post) every morning.
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Making Fancy Yogurt on the Cheap
Two things recently happened that lead to me giving yogurt making another try. First, my dear Yankee friend Unplugged yogurt making with this great post on the process–no fancy equipment here. Second, I bought a dehydrator to make our own camping food. It came with instructions for making yogurt and a few dishes specifically for yogurt. How could I not try again? What happened the first time? Well, too hot, then too cold and that pretty much tells the story.
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Thrift Kitchen: Naked Burritos
Have you been to Pancheros or Qdoba? Have you tried their naked burritos? They are delicious! After going and spending $6 to get rice, beans, and what looked like what I usually have hanging out in my fridge from dinner the night before, I opted to stop “treating” myself to lunch there, and packing it for lunch instead.
Here’s how I generally make mine. You can vary it a lot. Mostly it depend what I have on hand – what came from the garden, the farmer’s market, what I made for dinner the night before. On nights we go out for wings, the next day I toss the leftovers in. Today’s version is a vegetarian naked burrito.
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Out of the Garden and into my Mouth
Thrift Kitchen Each Thursday I post about ways to be thrifty in the kitchen. To me, it isn’t just about being cheap, it’s about living creatively! Finally have some food for eating from the garden. I’m scarfing it all down as quickly as I can. I’ve stored the potatoes in […]
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Thrift Kitchen: Classing up Cheap Meat
Meat is expensive stuff. The difference in my grocery bill from when I was a strict vegetarian to now is huge. But I have to admit, I do love meat. And part of that love is my lack of interest in eating crappy meat. I don’t eat a steak that often, but when I do, I want it to taste AMAZING!
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Thrift Kitchen: Cutting Lettuce Easy Peasy
This is such a small thing, but it makes me happy and simplifies my kitchen, so I’m going to share it with you today. It’s one of those anti uni tasker moments. I like the idea of a lettuce knife, but wow, does that seem like a silly thing to have.
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Saving energy + money entertaining with summer grilling
Last night we grilled at the new house for the first time. We impromptu had a few friends over, and it was a blast. It made me realize that grilling is a great way to save money on energy and entertaining.
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Thrift Kitchen: Frappacheapo
I have to admit a shameful secret. I used to drink frappachinos. You know the ones in the bottle at the gas station. Talk about a sugar rush. It’s not the healthiest thing in the world and not to mention the expensive. YIKES! They are around $3 each here in Ames.
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Thrift Kitchen: Allrecipes.com
It’s amazing how resistant I can become to an idea out of sheer laziness. Once I finally get around to checking it out, I wonder how I got on without it in the first place. My sister has been preaching the wonders of allrecipes.com for years now. Literally years. When did I finally got around to looking up a recipe and then actually making said recipe? Just a few months ago.
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Farmer’s Markets and Crochet Market Bags
Here in Iowa, farmer’s markets are really starting to ramp up. It’s no longer just rhubarb and asparagus, but beans, peas, and so much more. Most weeks, it’s a better value to purchase produce from your local farmer’s market instead of the grocery store. I’ve most likely told you about this a million times before, Local Harvest is a great site to find farmer markets in your area.
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Thrift Kitchen: Vegetarian Spinach Lasagna
I started to wonder if I could get away with replacing the meat with some Textured Vegetable Protein and if it would pass the Jason test. (I’ve been trying to cut back on meat.) Taking a cue from the Sneaky Chef, I didn’t bother to tell him there was no meat in it until he had devoured the first piece.
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Thrift Kitchen: 7 Steps to Keeping the Fridge Clean
Now that I’m out of “half past overwhelmed” mode, I’m getting back to my weekly routine of cleaning out the fridge, finishing off any leftovers, and making up my grocery list. What I did with the fridge was the first step. Once you deep clean it, a weekly trash and swipe down will keep it clean for a very long time.
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Quick Treat: Chocolate Strawberry Yogurt
Strawberries are just starting to come into season around Iowa. You can get a huge gallon container for just $4. Usually that’s the cost of a pint. Unfortunately, a gallon is way too much for Jason and I to eat. I’ve been trying to come up with enough ideas to use them up before they go bad, things that can freeze and are healthy. Sure I could whip them all into strawberry tarts, but how many of those should I be eating?