On diapering related matters- we're kind of stepping up the potty training a little bit, since I got Anneliese cute new underwear that she likes and wants to wear, so we're using fewer disposable diapers for her. And of course, Rose is still exclusively cloth diapered and exclusively nursing, so she isn't costing us a thing, fortunately.
Here's what I did to save money this week:
Sunday-
Made a version of ful medames, an Egyptian bean based breakfast, typically made with broad beans, from home cooked kidney beans for my breakfast.
Made homemade coconut milk.
Served a fish curry made with cheapo fish.
Made homemade yogurt.
Made homemade cream cheese.
Picked the meat off my chicken carcasses that I had used to make soup.
Monday-
Served yogurt with fruit and granola for breakfast for the kids, and refried beans and salad for myself.
Since the yogurt was too runny, I strained it through a cheesecloth to make it more usable, and saved the whey for my husband to use for his post workout shakes, since it is rich in protein.
Went to the farmer's market and got a TON of produce for only 25 cents a pound, plus stocked up on other cheap groceries. This should last me at least a week and a half, if not more. Went to two areas of the city in one day, so that I didn't need to pay for bus fare for a second trip in.
Foraged pigweed.
Picked 17.6 lbs nectarines from a family member's tree.
Made rice with leftover chicken broth.
Made chili with some peppers that were about to spoil, some mushy tomatoes, the beans I had in my fridge from a few days before, and the chicken picked off of the chicken carcasses, plus other ingredients.
Processed all the produce, chopping up and freezing the produce that wouldn't last as long in the fridge. Made pear sauce from super mushy pears, and froze it.
Tuesday-
Made fried rice with leftover rice, some partially mushy peppers, partially mushy onions, and the greens from the celery root.
Inherited a cute scarf.
Foraged a lot of pigweed.
Bought a cheap bottle of wine to cheaply and easily fancy up a family picnic.
Wednesday-
Made a frugal vegan Indian feast for lunch, using lentils, foraged greens, and peaches that were on their last legs. Went into the city and brought leftovers from lunch to be my supper so I wouldn't have to buy food when out.
Found pants for Lee at a clothes store for half the price they usually are, because they were on the sale rack.
Bought 3 skirts for myself, also all on sale so cheap- I got 3 skirts for the price I would usually pay for 1.
Bought needle and a few colors thread to be able to make clothes repairs.
Went to a book swap for free books.
My friend has both chicken and ducks, and I've discovered that I don't react badly to duck eggs. My friend gladly will trade me some of my store bought chicken eggs for some of her duck eggs from her duck, so we made a trade.
Thursday-
Repurposed left over red lentil dal and crumbled up rice cakes into lentil burgers.
Used semi icky onions to make onion soup.
Cooked up chicken gizzards and saved the broth for soup.
Tried out a frugal exercise- zumba class for only $6 a class.
Inherited a bunch of cute, never used baby girls clothes for Rose from a neighbor.
Friday-
Made homemade chocolate cake.
Cooked rice with chicken broth from making gizzards.
Prepared and cooked foraged lambsquarters for supper.
Saturday-
Made fermented Moroccan carrot salad.
Used essential oils instead of buying antibacterial cream.
Soaked mung beans to make nokdu bindaetteok, vegan Korean mung bean pancakes.
What did you do to save money this week? Did you have a good week, frugality-wise? Anything you'd like to do differently next week?
Tags
babies
clothes
cutting clothing costs
extreme frugality
foraging
free things
frugal shopping
frugal strategies
legumes
made from scratch
I also had that same "good exhausted" feeling this week! As someone who had fatigue issues for years, this is a welcomed sort of tired!
ReplyDeleteI like how you have it broken down by day - I think I will give that a try. I also love that you used your rice cakes in lentil burgers! I love not wasting food.
This week I worked a lot in the garden, and ate a lot from the garden! Harvested our first crop of various lettuces which was so yummy.
I also got creative and made lentil crackers. I first tried your buckwheat cracker recipe, but I think I must have used a different kind of buckwheat flour (hull and all) because mine came out really dark gray and not the best tasting. Yours looked much tastier! But I am really happy to be making crackers again. I sort of just forgot about it!
Here are some more things I did, along with photos:
http://simpleeasyfrugal.blogspot.com/2014/05/frugal-week-in-review-with-photos.html
I Planted some flowers I got for free at school
DeleteI got my hair styled at our new supermarket having a promotion
I also got some free samples from this promotion
Got some clothes for my oldest daughter from a friend. Some we will save. Some I will consign
Made a smoothie with some frozen bananas and strawberries I had.
Used a coupon for free guacamole
Miss Frugal, my guess is that your buckwheat crackers were made with toasted buckwheat flour, not raw buckwheat flour- am I right? Read about the difference here- http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2014/01/the-difference-between-raw-and-toasted.html
DeleteI'm pretty sure it is raw, this is what I used: http://www.bobsredmill.com/organic-buckwheat-flour.html. It says whole grain, so I think the hull is ground in there.
DeleteThat isn't made from green buckwheat. :( Sorry.
DeleteOh is green buckwheat what I want? No worries, I just had this lying around! It did get me back into cracker making which I'm super excited about! :) I made your recipe with the Namaste flour blend, then I made a lentil cracker (just through some stuff together) that turned out awesome!
DeleteHad some sunny days so worked in the garden and used the compost pile to fertilize everything. Still too early to plant though...soon!
ReplyDeleteMade sourdough rye bread (Borodinsky bread) out of the rye berries we traded some canned stuff for. Complicated recipe: sprouted rye flour, rye sourdough, rye flour, but it was all great practice and the bread was awesome. And it supposedly is indestructible.
Collected healthy frugal recipes for my son-in-law, who is on a diet.
Looks like you had a great week too!
Can you tell me more about this bread?
DeleteBEST. BREAD. EVER. And it's humid here, but the bread has not gone moldy, a real accomplishment.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/37222/borodinsky-supreme-old-school-100-rye
You have to use the sprouted rye flour, it adds a certain something. I dried my sprouted berries in the oven, then (don't do this) in my Nutrimill. Which worked, but gunked up the grinder so my husband took it apart and fixed it. Next time I'll grind them in a meat grinder, fine plate.
Next experiment will be using sprouted flour made from GF grains, just to see what happens, in something like your flatbread. The sprouted grains really are amazing.
always love reading your posts about frugal accomplishments! This week, I ground some wheat for flour; made homemade bread (two loaves); made homemade brownies for a Cub Scout party for my boys; brewed homemade kombucha and water kefir; plan to make homemade yogurt (thanks for reminding me!) made homemade honey mustard salad dressing/dip
ReplyDelete