Living like an Ant in a Grasshopper world

Welcome to Festival of Frugality #307

November 30, 2011 By 7 Comments

The “Why Does Everything Always Break at Once?”Edition.

First thing – an apology. This Festival of Frugality post should have been up yesterday morning, but as always seems to be the way, things went wrong at the worst possible moment. (Although my boychild reminds me, there’s never a good moment for things to break or go wrong.)

My computer decided that Monday evening was a great time to come down with the flu. Or in this case, a nasty virus that had my computer locked up tight for a while. Several hours, and a brand new install of Windows later all seemed to be fine. Back on track I could get the post completed and up by end of day yesterday. Or so I thought. Again, Murphy’s Law laughed at my puny attempts and decided that it was a great time to knock out the cable for nearly 24 hours so that I had no internet. Ok, so I don’t know that it was Murphy – it might have been the construction guys that happen to be replacing the elevators in my building and fixing the roof after the heavy rain this week. And maybe one of those guys is named Murphy. Either way… here we are with a late, but packed-to-the-brim with great stuff, Festival of Frugality #307.

Onward!

Christmas

Extravagance

Travel

Home Sweet Home

Everything Else

Thanks again to Ryan at Festival of Frugality for giving me the honour of hosting this week!
~ Merlene
photo “Broken Computer” by Tara Hunt used under Creative Commons license.
 
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Deviled Eggs – 12 Deviled Egg Recipes for Leftover Easter Eggs

April 4, 2010 By 2 Comments
Easter Eggs

Easter Eggs photo by Dystopos on Flickr

One of our favourite ways to use up leftover Easter Eggs is to make deviled eggs.

Deviled eggs are always a favourite around my house. My kids love them for picnics, potlucks, parties and snacks. Deviled eggs are quick and easy to make and there is an endless variety of recipes.

Tip: You can make any of the mayonnaise based recipes lighter by using light mayonnaise or mixing mayonnaise half and half with low fat (or no fat) yogurt.

12 Deviled Egg Recipes

  1. Special Deviled Eggs
  2. Classic Deviled Eggs
  3. Dijon Deviled Eggs
  4. Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs
  5. Spinach Deviled Eggs
  6. Spicy Deviled Eggs
  7. Tarragon Deviled Eggs
  8. Curried Deviled Eggs (my personal favourite)
  9. Hummus Deviled Eggs (no wait – this is my favourite!)
  10. Sun Dried Tomato and Chive Deviled Eggs (who says I need just one favourite?)
  11. Deviled Ham Deviled Eggs
  12. Scotch Eggs with Sausage (not eggsactly deviled but close)

Related post: Looking for another way to use up those leftover Easter Eggs? Check out 12 Egg Salad Sandwich Recipes.

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Fresh Strawberry Peach Trifle

June 30, 2009 By 4 Comments

Fresh strawberry and peach trifle.

Strawberry Peach Trifle
This has been a favourite in my household for years. A great dessert for Canada Day, July 4th or other summer celebrations.

4 peaches, halved, pitted, cut into 1/2-inch pieces or thinly sliced
2 1-pint baskets strawberries, halved or quartered (if large)
2 1/2-pint baskets raspberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups custard

48 purchased sponge-cake-type ladyfingers
1 cup cream sherry
3 cups chilled whipping cream
Additional whole strawberries (optional)

Mix first 5 ingredients in large bowl and toss to blend; let stand 10 minutes. Beat chilled cream in another large bowl until stiff peaks form.

Arrange 16 ladyfingers in 10- to 12-cup glass bowl or trifle dish to cover bottom. Using a pastry brush, generously brush ladyfingers with sherry. Top with 2 cups fruit mixture, then 1 cup custard. Repeat layering 2 more times with ladyfingers, sherry, fruit mixture and custard. Top with 3 cups whipped cream. Garnish with whole strawberries, raspberries and peach slices.

Mascarpone cheese or vanilla pudding may be substituted for custard.

Filed Under: Canada, food, holiday, meals Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Win $100 Wal-Mart Gift Card!

December 12, 2008 By

Great news!
You have a chance to win a $100 Wal-Mart gift card courtesy of Wal-Mart and ElevenMoms!

All you need to do is sign up for the Frugalous monthly newsletter below and post a comment telling me about your favourite Holiday tradition.

You have until 11:59pm EST on December 20th, 2008 to enter.
Winner will be notified by email and will have 24 hours to reply.
Good luck!

Filed Under: Frugal Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Frugal Holiday: 8 Frugal Yet Fun Holiday Entertaining Ideas

December 12, 2008 By 9 Comments

The holiday season is in full swing, money’s tight but you want to get together with your friends and family. After all that’s what the holidays are all about – good times with the people you love. I’ve come up with a list of ideas for parties and get togethers that won’t break the bank.

  1. Tree trimming party – gather your friends and family around to help you decorate your tree. Serve hot apple cider and cookies and make sure you load up a bunch of great Christmas Carols on your stereo.
  2. Sledding or skating party – invite the gang to meet you at your favourite sledding hill or ice skating pond for a couple of hours of fun. Have a snowball fight, make snow angels, remember how much fun snow can be.
  3. Tree-cutting party – instead of buying your tree from a tree lot this year head out to the country to a Christmas tree farm and cut your own. Pack thermoses of hot chocolate and sandwiches and have a winter picnic while you’re out. This is especially fun if you have several families rounded up to go.
  4. Board game night – invite a group of friends over to play some of those old favourites like Monopoly, Scattergories or Rumoli. A tray of cookies or sandwiches within easy reach and you’re all set.
  5. Have a neighbourhood potluck – assign each household a course: appetizer, salad, soup, side dish, main dish, dessert.
  6. Craft night – for those of you who love to craft and are trying to make last minute holiday gifts, get together with your like-minded friends to share few hours of crafting while you catch up with your friends.
  7. Cookie exchange – gather up a bunch of friends, assign each a type of cookie (you don’t want everyone to make Snickerdoodles do you…. hmmm… or do you?), everyone makes enough of one type of cookie to swap with the others. This is a great frugal practise. Instead of buying ingredients for several types of cookies you only buy ingredients for lots of one.
  8. Food exchange party- Why limit yourself to just cookies? Why not gather with friends and batch cook cabbage rolls, lasagana, stew, chili and other freezable make-aheads.

Feel free to add any of your own frugal yet fabulous holiday entertaining ideas in the comments below!

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Win $500 Wal-Mart Gift Card!

December 11, 2008 By

500 dollar Wal-mart Gift Card Giveaway

One of the best parts about being one of Wal-Mart’s ElevenMoms is the opportunity to give great prizes away to my readers and subscribers.

Nickelodeon has teamed up with the Elevenmoms and Wal-Mart to offer you a chance to win a $500 Wal-Mart gift card just in time for the holidays. I’m sure you can think of lots of ways to use that card and entering is simple. Just follow the steps below for your chance to win and then head on over to the ElevenMoms website for more chances to win.

How to enter:

  1. Follow me on Twitter.
  2. Sign up for the Frugalous Monthly Newsletter (sign up is on this page).
  3. Post a comment below with ONE money saving tip for the Holidays, your twitter user name, and the email address you used to sign up for the newsletter.

This contest ends at 11:59pm EST on December 14, 2008.
Please note that you must complete all 3 steps to win! Good luck!
Winner will be notified by email on December 15, 2008 and will have 24 hours to reply.

EDIT: a reminder folks – you need to comment with 1. your money saving holiday tip AND 2. your twitter user name used to follow me AND 3. the email you used to sign up for the monthly newsletter. If you do not have all THREE of these in your comment you will not be eligible to win!

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8 Ways to Stick to a Frugal Holiday Gift Budget

December 4, 2008 By 2 Comments

The holiday season is the time of year when even the most frugalous of the frugal have difficulty sticking to budgets. Here are 8 ways to to stick to a frugal holiday gift budget without losing your marbles:

  1. Always shop with a list of names, spending limit, and ideas. Stick to your list and don’t be dazzled into impulse spending by store displays.
  2. Stick to your budget. If you’ve budgeted $25 for Cousin Joe and you can’t find a sweater under $30, move over to accessories and maybe grab him some gloves. If you go even $5 off your budget per person it will add up quickly!
  3. If you shop early in the season and discover later that an item you bought has been discounted, take it back to the store. As long as you have the receipt, chances are they’ll refund you the difference.
  4. Buy gift cards for the hard to shop for people in your life. Teens, grandparents, and even cranky uncles can always find a way to use the gift card in their favourite stores.
  5. If your budget is really tight this year, give a homemade gift like cookies or a gift of your time, such as volunteering to babysit or mow an elderly neighbour’s lawn.
  6. A family photo album or your family history on dvd is a great and invaluable present for a elderly, housebound or out of town relative
  7. For large or extended families put everyone’s name in a hate and have each family member draw a name and buy a gift for that one person.
  8. Limit your gift list. If you prefer not to exchange gifts with a friend, neighbour, or co-worker this year, just say so. It’s very likely that she’s trying to pare down her Christmas list too!
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Frugal Holiday: Chocolate Carrot Cake

November 18, 2008 By 8 Comments

Today is day two of Frugal Upstate’s Thanksgiving Mini Series and today’s topic is desserts.

This simple cake is the most requested recipe I’ve ever made. Family and friends rave about it and it’s not only simple to make but frugal as well. Even people who don’t like carrot cake love this moist, luscious cake.




Chocolate Carrot Cake

2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cup of sugar
1 cup of salad oil*
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of cocoa
2 teaspoons of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
zest of 1 orange
4 eggs
2 cups of  shredded carrots
1 cup flaked or shredded coconut
1/2 cup crushed walnuts (optional)

*I usually substitute 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. It significantly reduces the fat but keeps the cake moist.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease and flour Bundt pan. In large bowl, mix 10 ingredients at low speed until well blended, constantly scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Increase speed to high, beat 2 minutes, occasionally scraping bowl. Add in carrots, coconut, and walnuts. Spoon batter into pan. Bake 50 to 55 minutes until inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool cake in pan 10 minutes; remove cake from pan. Cool completely.

The cake can be made up to 2 days ahead. Wrap well with cling wrap to keep it moist. It can also be kept in the freezer for up to a month.

Drizzle Icing

1/2 cup sifted icing sugar
1 tsp orange juice
1/4 tsp vanilla

In a small bowl sugar, juice, and vanilla. Stir in enough additional juice to make a drizzling consistency. Drizzle icing from the back of the spoon onto the cake and allow to run down the sides.

You can garnish the cake with a sprinkle of icing sugar on top, or well drained mandarin orange slices.

Filed Under: food, holiday, meals Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Frugal Holiday: Beautiful Beet Soup

November 17, 2008 By Leave a Comment

My friend Jenn over at Frugal Upstate is doing a week long mini-series “Thanksgiving – the Frugal Mini-Series” and while I’m Canadian and my Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago I decided to add a favourite fall soup for today’s topic of Thanksgiving side dishes. Be sure to visit Frugal Upstate every day this week to find more great Thanksgiving recipes, ideas for decorating and more.



This is a gorgeous beet soup. Full of colour and flavour.

It can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated or up to a month ahead and frozen to be reheated in a Crock-Pot or on stove before serving.

6-8 large beets (1.5 lb), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 yellow flesh potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
1 onion, chopped fine
2 celery stalks, chopped fine
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp curry powder
6 cups vegetable or chicken stock
salt & pepper
1/4 cup sour cream

In a large, heavy saucepan heat oil over medium heat. Cook beets, potato, onion, celery, and curry for 8-10 minutes, stirring often, until onion is soft and translucent.

Add stock, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes or until vegetables are soft. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Transfer to a food processor or blender and process until smooth. You might find it easier to work in small batches rather than all at once, returning puree to a clean saucepan.

For a velvety smooth soup you could then take an extra step and pass the puree through a fine mesh strainer but it’s not required.

At this point the soup can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

To serve, reheat on stove until hot throughout or in a Crock-Pot for 1-2 hrs on low, ladle into soup bowls, top with a spoonful of sour cream.

Makes 8 servings and can easily be doubled.

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Frugal Holiday – Wrap Gifts as you Go to Save Time

October 25, 2008 By 3 Comments

photo by MicheKerr If you’re anything like me you’ve likely started, or perhaps even finished, shopping for the holidays. One of things I dislike most is being faced with a mountain of gifts to wrap all at once. It takes any pleasure from wrapping and decorating package when you’ve a dozen or more to do at once.

When my kids were young I began wrapping the gifts as I bought them and stacking them on a closet shelf.  No ribbons, gift tags or other decoration. I’d just wrap at that point. In soft pencil on or near the tape I’d put a small symbol to represent which person it was meant for. Squiggle, circle, star, square, etc. Just something easy to let you know who each gift is for when the time comes to put them out.

A week or so before Christmas, once the tree was up and decorated, I’d take down the stack of gifts and decorate with ribbon and gift tags to place under the tree which only took a few minutes.

I found my kids were less likely to snoop through the gifts if they didn’t know who they were for and the ribbons were less likely to get squashed plus it took the stress out of gift wrapping.

Sometimes it’s just as important to be frugal with your time as it is with your money. Any little tricks that preserve your sanity during the holiday season counts as frugal in my book!

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