Make-a-mix French Cobbler and Crisp Mixes

by Lili Mounce


There is so much to do in summer, so much fun to be had! Most evenings I find myself just too busy to make dessert from scratch. So I "cheat" with one of my own homemade mixes.

Here's my mix recipe created just for those evenings. Once the mix is made, even on the busiest of evenings I can prepare my family's summer favorite with ease.

Basic French Cobbler & Crisp Topping Mix

4 cups (480 grams) flour
4 cups (800 grams) sugar
4 teaspoons (20 mL) baking powder
2 teaspoons (10 mL) salt
2  1/2 cups (595 mL) shortening or vegetable oil (in the US, we pack shortening into a measuring cup)
2 cups (180 grams) raw oats

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
Divide mixture into 2 equal portions.

Cobbler Mix

To first portion, cut in 1/2 cup (120 mL) of the shortening or oil. Store in airtight container or storage bag, up to 3 months.

Crisp (or Crumble) Mix

To second portion, cut in 2 cups (475 mL) of shortening/oil. Mix in oats. Store in airtight container or storage bag, up to 3 months.

To make one French Fruit Cobbler

4 cups (500 grams) fruit (peaches, berries, plums, apples, rhubarb)
sugar, to taste for the fruit (from 1/4 cup (50 grams), for very ripe peaches, plums and berries, up to 1 cup (200 grams) for very under ripe fruit or rhubarb)
dash salt
1 Tablespoon flour (15 mL)
1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons Cobbler Mix (about 180 grams -- I was a bit unsure on the exact metric measurement of this one item, but this is a close estimate)
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking dish. Peel and slice fruit, into the baking dish. Toss with sugar, salt and flour.

In a medium bowl, combine Cobbler Mix with egg. Spoon over prepared fruit.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until topping is done (it'll be golden and center of topping will be set and firm)


To make one Fruit Crisp/Crumble

4 cups (500 grams) fruit (same varieties as for cobbler)
sugar to taste ( as described for cobbler)
dash salt
1 Tablespoon (15 mL) flour
2  1/2 cups (about 350 grams) Crisp Mix

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 C). Lightly butter a medium baking dish.

Prepare fruit and add to baking dish. Toss with sugar, flour, salt.

Top with Crisp Mix.  Bake 30-35 minutes, until topping is golden.


One of the things I have done with these recipes in the past, is to print a copy and tape the recipe to the container of each mix. This way I don't have to hunt down the recipe each time I prepare a dessert with the mix. It's my version of a boxed mix, which includes the recipe on how to use the mix, right on the box. (Imagine if you had to hunt down a recipe every time you baked a cake with a mix!)

*other note -- this is one of my first attempts to convert imperial to metric measures, so if you find something a bit off in the metric conversion, my apologies. And please let me know, so I can correct it.



This copyrighted article was originally published on www.creativesavv.blogspot.com .If found published elsewhere, this material has been illegally scraped and should be reported to lili.mounce@gmail.com

Making blueberry vinegar -- very easy

by Lili Mounce

This is a slightly sweet blueberry vinegar, ideal for making vinaigrette to dress a leafy green salad (it's my favorite for spinach salad). It can be kept, refrigerated for at least a year (I've never had mine that long, so really can't say how long it'll keep. But my current last bit is from last summer's harvest.)

Blueberry Vinegar 
(this will make enough for you and a gift; if you just have a cup of berries, just do a half recipe)

about 2 cups (about 250 grams) blueberries, washed and dried
2 cups (475 mL) white vinegar
1/4 (50 grams) cup sugar

• In a stainless saucepan, place blueberries, 3/4 (180 mL) cup white vinegar and sugar.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add remaining vinegar and cool.
• Pour into a 1 quart (950 mL) jar, berries and all. Store in refrigerator. Allow to steep for at least 3-4 weeks. 

You can strain out the berries after about 2 months, and decant into individual bottles, if desired. Makes a really lovely gift, especially if a card with a blueberry vinaigrette recipe is included, such as this simple one.

Blueberry Vinaigrette (for 1/2 cup (120 mL)  dressing)

whisk together:

6  Tablespoons vegetable oil
2  Tablespoon blueberry vinegar
pinch salt
dash pepper
pinch sugar



This copyrighted article was originally published on www.creativesavv.blogspot.com .If found published elsewhere, this material has been illegally scraped and should be reported to lili.mounce@gmail.com

What to do with . . .

by Lili Mounce


So you've probably guessed that I am adverse to wasting food. With this in mind, here are some suggestions for using it all up.

What to do with. . .

leftover fruit salad 
--put into a freezer container, to use for a smoothie on a scorching summer day

leftover limp, tossed green salad, complete with dressing
--put in freezer container, add to it with other salad leftovers. When you make pasta sauce or soup, partially thaw the full container, puree in the food processor and add to sauce or soup.

just the salad dressing at the bottom of the salad bowl
--pour into veggie scrap for stock-making container in the freezer.

heels of bread, stale crackers, stale chips, stale pretzels, crumbs from cereal package
--put in freezer container. When making meatballs, meat loaf or breading meat or veggies, process into crumbs in food processor.

leftover cooking liquid from vegetables
--add to your veggie scrap for stock-making container in the freezer, or, add to vegetable juice like tomato juice, or, add to a pot of soup.

those last few drips of milk in the jug or carton
--rinse jug with a tablespoon of water and add to pancake, muffin, biscuit dough/batter, or, add to your coffee (In our house, we store these empties, with a tablespoon of water added, on their sides in the fridge. This is the one house where it's actually okay to put the empty jug back into the fridge!)

leftover lemon ends, slices or halves
--Feralhomemaking has some good suggestions right here

potato peelings
--scrub a potato well, then peel for potato salad or mashed potatoes. (I will keep a bag of peelings in the fridge for 2 or 3 days to build up a big enough supply to make a snack.) Toss potato peelings in a bowl with about 1 or 2 tablespoons oil, a sprinkling of salt, a bit of minced garlic, some oregano, rosemary and pepper. Spread on a large baking sheet. If you have some Parmesan cheese, sprinkle some over the top of the mass of potato skins. Toast in the oven at 390 degrees F, for 18-25minutes, or until lightly browned. Stir these once or twice while toasting. These are earthier tasting than chips or fries, but make a delicious snack.

already whipped cream
--spoon into individual serving mounds on a sheet of plastic wrap, on a baking sheet. Freeze. When frozen, slide plastic wrap into a large bag and seal shut. To use, partially thaw the amount of mounds that you need, and use as topping on shortcake, sundaes, smoothies, cocoa, fruit salad.

What do you do to use it all up?

Freezer containers for free

by Lili Mounce


Did you ever think that baggies are a created need? Hefty and Ziplock have us convinced that we can't store any of our food without their products. Before baggies, sandwiches were wrapped in waxed paper or butcher paper. Yes, they may have been a tad drier than if packed in plastic, but also there was no plastic off-gassing to be concerned with (yet another thing to be concerned about when it comes to your children, plastic off-gassing).

Every week when you go grocery shopping, you not only bring home food, but tons of food-grade packaging material. Why not get more uses out of this "free" packaging?  Here are some materials/containers you may have right now in your kitchen. Take a look in your pantry and fridge and just see how many containers you have that you could use, once they're empty. If it's plastic, give it consideration. You'll be surprised at just how many potential freezer containers you have.

plastic food containers

• yogurt, big and small   (the big ones are great for freezing soups and pasta sauce)
• whipped topping   (I freeze berries and chopped rhubarb in these)
• cottage cheese/sour cream/margarine containers   (great for individual servings of casseroles/soups)
• plastic peanut butter and mayo jars, with lids   (yes, you can use these for freezing, too. Lay a small piece of plastic wrap over top of filled jar, then screw on lid)
• prepared foods, such as hummus come in nice little round plastic containers   (these are my favorite for leftover pancakes, just the right size and shape)
• plastic coffee "cans"   (great for large batches of soup)
• plastic shortening (like Crisco) containers   (this is what I use for my veggie scraps for stock-making)

containers with one re-use

• small, waxed cardboard milk/cream cartons -- these are single re-use, then throw away, containers. Fill with hot soapy water, rinse well and fill. Because of potential bacteria, use clean, milk/cream cartons right away, or toss into your freezer, empty, to use later. After filling, pinch top closed, paper clip, butterfly clip, staple to hold closed. Slip into a plastic grocery bag and tie shut for greater airtight seal 

My mother-in-law showed me this. She used these filled with water and frozen, as disposable ice packs in coolers.

bags that food has come in
These bags are sometimes inside a box, sometimes just the bag used in packaging from items such as:  cereal, bread, chips, cookies, pasta, rice, produce, raisins, nuts, crackers, chocolate chips, and at holiday time - candy bags

Use scissors to cut off the top, so bag doesn't tear and become unusable.  Double or triple bag items (depending on thickness of bag), twist tie, rubber band or staple shut.

bread bags -- especially good for dividing family packs of meat
Put a lump of raw meat into the bottom of bag, tie the bag in a knot, close to the meat, add another lump if meat, tie another knot and continue until you reach the top of the bread bag. When you need some meat, cut off a portion of the bag, just above a knot.

purchased freezer bags
You can wash and reuse freezer bags. If the food it held was dry, turn inside out to keep for a few weeks in a box (until you have several to wash at once).  If the food inside was wet, turn the bag inside out, rinse and air dry, then put with the other dirty freezer bags.

how I wash my freezer bags
I have them all turned inside out, and place in my washing machine, with several dishrags/hand towels.  I add a squirt of liquid hand-washing dish detergent, and wash with hot water. I remove from washer and air dry on the kitchen counter, still inside out.

Making June's grocery money last

How are you doing this month with your grocery spending? We've just a few days left in June. For those of you who keep a budget, do you tally up your spending as you go? I add up the expenses a few times per month. Last week, before my big shopping rounds, I did the tally. Good thing, too, as I discovered I just had $30 US, left.  I thought I had more. I guess that's why it's a good idea to keep track, because we often think we have more to spend than we really do. Anyways, here's the update for the month.

June 8, 2012    Last month, May 31st greeted me with no grocery money left in the budget.  So this month, instead of just spending all month, then waiting to see where we stand at the end, I'm planning ahead. And I figured, if we all pool our ideas, we all will get through this month with more coins in our pocket. (Plus, for my family, whatever is leftover in the grocery budget this month gets put in our summer fun budget.)

The Cheap and Cheerful Menu

refried beans with homemade tortillas

lentil-barley salad in mustard vinaigrette

tabbouleh (using brown rice in place of cracked wheat, as we have lots of brown rice)

homemade pizza

additional things to do to stretch the grocery budget:

using what's ready in the garden (for us, that's mostly greens)

baking more breads and rolls

What other Cheap and Cheerful meal ideas do you have?

June 26, 2012     Update on making June's grocery money last--

We're in the last week of the month. I've gone over our budget by about $2.50 for the month. I consider that a win, as I started the month $10 in the hole. (But no extra money to put into our summer fun budget, unfortunately.) I'm making progress getting us back in line. I did have to buy extra produce this week, as we have a guest staying with us for the week. But I'm using up meat that we already had in our freezer. I had one small beef roast, and quite a bit of turkey, and some hot dogs.

Here's what our menu looks like for this final week (with a guest):

Sunday

Breakfast -- oatmeal

Lunch -- sloppy Joes made with lentils and barley, on biscuits (that my daughters made) for buns

Dinner (Father-in-law arrived an hour before dinner) -- leftover turkey and gravy from freezer, mashed potatoes, frozen peas, homemade sourdough bread (baked that afternoon, so fresh and warm), salad (from garden), plain cake topped with rhubarb sauce and whip cream

Monday

Breakfast -- bran muffins, cantaloupe

Lunch -- Hot turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad (from garden), fruit compote

Dinner -- Beef stew (made with small beef roast, carrots, peas, barley, potatoes and tomato sauce), salad (from garden, plus produce stand avocados and cucumbers), garlic toast (made with leftover sourdough bread), cookies (my daughters baked)

Tuesday

Breakfast -- homemade granola with fruit and milk

Lunch -- Father-in-law and husband are downtown and will use a gift card to grab a bite for lunch, daughters and I will have leftover stew

Dinner -- turkey pot pie (frozen turkey/gravy, veggies, topped with pie crust), salad (from garden, plus produce stand avocados and cucumber, again) rest of plain cake, topped with strawberries (from garden) in rhubarb sauce, with whip cream

Wednesday

Breakfast -- rhubarb muffins, cantaloupe

Lunch -- egg salad sandwiches, fruit compote, cookies

Dinner -- roast hot dogs over fire in patio fire bowl, with homemade hot dog buns, green salad, rhubarb jello salad, toasted marshmallows

Thursday

Breakfast-- toast and fruit

Lunch -- Homemade tomato soup and broiled cheese sandwiches

Dinner -- teriyaki with turkey, rice, and vegetables (primarily from garden), fruit, rhubarb pie

Friday

Breakfast -- granola with fruit and milk

Lunch -- large main dish salad, with boiled eggs, bacon, vegetables and lettuce, along with cheese biscuits

Dinner -- eating out

Saturday

Breakfast -- bacon, eggs, coffee cake (my daughters will bake), fruit

Lunch -- (my Father-in-law leaves sometime in the AM to catch a flight), sunflower seed butter on bread, fruit, cookies

Dinner -- any leftovers from the week (and that's the end of the month, woohoo!)

You'll notice the week is heavy in turkey.  Early in June I roasted our last of 4 turkeys, bought and frozen in fall. They were about 30 cents a pound, a real deal for meat. I roasted one for Thanksgiving, 1 for Christmas, 1 for Easter and now this last a few weeks ago. The teriyaki turkey is a great way to disguise the turkey. My husband is always asking if it's shredded beef. When I pick apart the turkey, I freeze shreds in containers of homemade teriyaki sauce, all ready to turn into a dinner some night.


June 30, 2012   One last update to the month. One small glitch in the meal planning. Mid-week I boiled up all the eggs! So no eggs left for Saturday breakfast of eggs with coffee cake. Not too big of a problem. We did sausage, toast, muffins (leftover from earlier in the week) and fruit. Just one of those mind-fog moments, where I lose track of the plan for a minute. It all turned out well. We kept to $2.50 over budget. And I have all the month of July to get us back within our grocery budget! I love a new month -- new start, new energy, new challenges!
p.s. read the comments for some good ways to use turkey!

Library summer reading programs for adults and more

Summer reading programs are no longer just for kids. Most libraries now offer adult reading programs, as well.

In our library system (Sno-isle Libraries), the summer adult reading program offers $5 Starbucks gift cards to everyone who participates, plus has a drawing for the prize of a Nook Tablet. Simply read 3 books, write 3 brief reviews before August 15th (in person or online) and collect your gift card, plus be entered to win 1 of 3 Nooks. The adults in our family have been doing this for the past several years. It's one of the ways we get our Starbucks fix for free.

Here's a sampling of what other library systems are offering this summer.

Stratford Library, Stratford, Conn. -- read book, fill out a slip with title of book, and be entered to win drawing for a prize
Cranford Library, Cranford, NJ -- read, fill out reading logs and submit to be entered for weekly drawings, and 3 grand prize drawings for $75 restaurant gift certificates
Royal Oak Public Library, Royal Oak, Mich. -- read and enter for drawings for prizes
Los Gatos Public Library, Los Gatos, CA -- read 5 books, submit 5 reviews, and receive a $5 gift card to Amazon
Westfield Washington Public Library, Westfield, Indiana -- read 10 books, receive a $5 gift card to Target or Barnes & Nobles, plus be entered to win one of over 100 prizes

Like I said, this was a sampling. I found so, so, so many more libraries in the US offering prizes, drawings and giveaways. It's not just in the USA, here are just a couple of listings in Canada

Milton Public Library, Milton, Ontario, Canada -- read from a specific list, be entered in monthly drawings for prizes
Fraser Valley Regional Library, Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada -- read books, be entered into drawings for prizes

If you're going to be reading this summer, anyways, why not use your reading to enter a drawing for a nice prize?  The prizes I saw at the various sites ranged from free dinners out, to E-readers, to sporting event tickets. Drop in to your local library and find out what's going on for adults this summer.

And what if your library isn't offering any prizes for reading this summer? What else can your library do for you? Here are some things your library may have for you this summer.

• E-books for your readers 
• assistance with resume writing (out of a job and want that competitive edge? Get free professional resume writing help and make yours stand out from the pack.) 
• free printing for these resumes (and other work, as well; have a class you're taking and need to print out papers? Save your printer ink at home and print at the library for free.). Some limits may apply, such as 10 pages per day. 
• free technology classes, such as a computer skills for job seekers course
• events, such as coupon exchanges and plant exchanges
• our library even has a knitters club. Anyone can drop in, work on a project and get how-to advice from more experienced knitters.

Your library is paid for by your tax dollars. Can you think of a reason to not use the programs and services for which you've already paid? 

Ground meat substitute without the pink slime

lentil and barley mixture before seasoning

by Lili Mounce


One of the ways we save on our grocery spending is by eating less meat. And with recent items in the news like the whole "pink slime" thing, I've become even pickier about ground meat. Unless you are standing right there, while your butcher is grinding the cut of beef that you selected, you have no idea what is going into that ground beef.

I understand, we all have our own particularities, and some folks just don't care about this issue.  But it's been enough to motivate me to limit my purchases of "mystery" ground meat. My preferences now, in descending order are to 1) hand select my meat and have the butcher grind it, 2) bring home a cut of meat and "grind" it in my food processor, or 3) very carefully inspect ground beef to buy. All of which cost more than the prepackaged, family-pack beef "chubs".

I have a solution that works for us for many ground beef applications, including burrito, pocket bread, salads and taco filling.  It's cooked barley and lentils.  You could use any combination of legume and grain, for optimal protein, but I like the barley/lentil combo for speed of cooking, low price, and availability of these items in every supermarket.

Once a week, I cook up a large pot of this mixture, store in the fridge, then, as needed, season it according to what I'm making. Barley takes about 15 minutes longer to cook than lentils, so I begin my pot with the barley in the total amount of water for both barley and lentils. After 15 minutes of cooking, I add in the lentils. Both barley and lentils will soak up just over double their measure in water. So, for 1 cup of barley, cook in just over 2 cups of water.

I prepare my combo in a half and half mix. Here's my recipe

1. put about about 4  1/4 cups water and 1 cup lentils into a large saucepan
2. bring to a boil, reduce heat then simmer, covered for 15 minutes
3. add 1 cup of lentils, bring back to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, covered for about 45 additional minutes, or until all is done. 
4. close to the end of cooking time, stir up from the bottom and check for water, and add a bit more water, if needed, or leave the lid off if there is too much water remaining.

You may decide you'd like more lentils than barley, in which case, just decrease the barley by the same amount that you increase the lentils. I occasionally do a double batch in a large dutch oven. I freeze the leftovers in amounts suitable for one family meal.

To give this mix flavor, once cooked, add seasonings, such as:

• chili powder, oregano, garlic, sauteed onions, cumin and salt for Mexican dishes, for burritos, tacos, tostados
• sauteed chopped onion and green pepper, minced garlic, chopped tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, raisins, salt for North African taste, spoon into pockets and top with plain yogurt and parsley
• marinated in a vinaigrette for 30 minutes, to top a bed of lettuce
• sauteed onions and garlic, tomato paste, salt, oregano, basil to add as a layer of filling in lasagna
• smothered in barbeque sauce, with sauteed onions, green and red pepper, garlic for sloppy Joes

This combination provides good quality protein, has great "chew" from the barley, and costs a pittance -- between 30 cents (with my large quantity purchase of ingredients) and 50 cents (if purchased in small 1 lb. bags in the grocery store) per pound, cooked.

*note - Whenever cooking legumes, always salt after cooking.  Salt inhibits legumes' ability to absorb water.

The blessing of a frugal life

by Lili Mounce

I feel quite blessed to have been given the opportunity to be frugal. That's not a sentiment that you expect to read on a frugal living blog. The outside world sees frugality as something that is thrust upon an individual, because of lack. I see frugality as a gift from God, as it has been the impetus to encourage great personal growth in myself. Allow me to explain.

Frugality grants me compassion towards those with less, breeding a generous spirit within. I personally know the struggle of making ends meet on a small income. Because of this, I find I am more aware of the difficulties that others face. And along with the compassion that frugality has bred in me, it also has provided me with the financial means to give freely.

Frugality has given me the right frame of mind to evaluate my priorities. If I'd been wealthy, I might be spending my time and energy on accumulating expensive belongings, instead of finding what has real value to my life. Wealth creates an artificial busy-ness in a person's mind. Preoccupation with things is mind-consuming. In contrast, frugality leads to a stillness of mind, allowing me to hear the quiet voice that encourages seeking wisdom instead of things.

Frugality has given me the freedom to be creative.  I find that I surround myself with others who creatively find solutions to everyday problems. This has normalized my own sense of creative adventure. I've developed a mind's eye that can visualize the possibilities, whether it's a pair of plain shoes that just need a spark of color, or a beat-up, hand-me-down chest that is really a treasure in hiding. If I always bought everything new and in perfect condition, my creativity would never have a chance to flourish.

I love my frugal life. And I am a better person for having lived this way. Frugality has indeed been a blessing, for which I am quite thankful, most days.

How has frugality been a blessing to you?

Pampering the overnight guest

My father-in-law is coming to stay with us for a week! The five of us are all excited to have him come. My husband did some cleaning and repainting of trim in the bathroom, re-caulked the tub and generally got the bathroom looking all spiffy (does anyone say spiffy any more?).

My two daughters and I have been cleaning and tidying the guest room. We just want to make his time in our home enjoyable.

Hosting guests means making their stay as pleasant as possible. Guests often feel shy about asking for things, so I like to think through what their needs might be, and just provide these outright.


Among the list of things that I've thought of, so far, to make a guest's stay a pleasant one, include:

• bedside lamp, for reading
• a selection of interesting books/magazines to read (since we don't have any magazines that Dad would enjoy, I went by the library and picked up a couple)
• a tray with a drinking glass, (carafe of filtered water, optional; this is one of the occasions where having a supply of bottled water is a nice touch, but I also feel a carafe is good too)
• guests' personal set of towels; (if they'll be sharing the bathroom with family, I think it's nice to provide the towels in the guests' room, in a nice stack, so they'll know which towels are for them to use)
• paper and pen, also nice -- a crossword puzzle or two, you can download from the Internet
• space in drawers and closet, as well as a place to put their bags
• a sweet treat  (I stopped by See's and bought a small 4-piece box for Dad, hope he likes what I chose!)
• optional, a computer for their use, with any passwords to log in, as necessary, written on a card
• if they'll have a car, and will go exploring on their own, a road map of the area is handy
• in the kitchen, family or living room, it's nice to put out something to snack on, like a bowl of fruit, or nuts in the shell and a nutcracker (I went with fruit for a basket on the kitchen counter)
• if you have a programmable coffee maker, use it; set a few clean mugs, and sugar bowl and spoon next to the coffee maker. If your guests rise early, they can help themselves.
• if your family likes puzzles, having a puzzle set out on a game table, and partially begun will provide some occupation for those moments when the host/hostess is occupied, as well as provide a way for guests to interact with the children of the household. (We are puzzle afficionados here, so will definitely get one started.)
• speaking of regular work, most people like to lend a hand. So I try to think ahead of chores they could do -- simple things, like setting the table, or pouring milk for the kids.

These items are free or have minimal cost. It's very inexpensive to have a generous spirit. It just takes thought and a bit of planning.

Our guest room is furnished with a motley collection of pieces. But after a thorough cleaning it looks decent enough. We scavenged a bedside lamp from another room in the house. I keep a couple of bed pillow that are "hands off!" to the rest of the family. We always seem to have plenty of pillows, but not many that are in like-new condition, for some odd reason. (Pillows are just not something that I think to buy regularly.)

We love having people stay with us. Guests brighten the family landscape, if only for a few days. What are some special touches you like to provide for your guests? Do you have a special breakfast menu you like to prepare? Or special treat you reserve just for when company is coming?

Where in the world are you from?

One of my biggest daily delights, is checking the "audience" page of stats for this blog.  I love to see that people from all over the world have come for a visit. This is exciting to me, how small our world has become with the Internet.

When I was a girl, I had a pen pal from Japan. My grandmother had met a family from Japan, that had a boy a few years older than me. She gave me his address, and he and I exchanged letters for several years. I looked forward to receiving mail from him, with great anticipation.

What I'd like to do now is to ask a favor of you. Could you please, just give your name (it can be just a first name, if you wish to remain mostly anonymous) and where you live? Just use the comment box below. This would be my chance to "meet" you, and I'm hoping as interesting to others to "meet" you, as well.

I'll try to keep this post off to the right side, so you can easily find it, if you want to see where others are from, as well. Thank you for indulging me on this.

Yours truly,
Lili Mounce
I live in Edmonds, Washington, USA (where it rains, and rains and rains!)

Who wants a free Magic Bullet?

Okay, I can not be the only one who has chanced upon a late night infommercial. My daughters will on occasion watch one on a Saturday morning.  (My son has far too much sense to stop and watch an infommercial.) My girls are enthralled with the Magic Bullet. And yes, I've thought how nice and tidy it would be, to blend up everything in the same little jar as you might store or use the stuff in.

Last week I was on Livingonadime.com, and the post was about helpful household tips. One tip was to replace the blender jar on your blender with a canning jar.  I'd read this before, a few years ago. I also had a little plastic, screw-on jar that had come with my blender, 31 years ago.  That little jar got lost in a move or tossed in a de-cluttering effort, and I couldn't find it, even after a very thorough search of the cupboards.

I've been making my own sunflower seed butter for several months now, and thought how convenient this little jar would make the process. Then I read the tip again on Living on a dime, and set to try it out with the sunseed butter.

I got a canning jar out, took the blender jar off the blade assembly. Then screwed the blade assembly onto my canning jar, and one of my daughters exclaimed, "it's a Magic Bullet!" Really, the excitement in the house that afternoon was incredible, just over this one little thing (we're easily amused, excited and entertained at this end of the world).

So, after twisting the blade assembly back off the canning jar, I dumped my warm sunflower seeds into it, along with the oil and brown sugar, put the blade back on and proceeded to make my week's sunseed butter. And yes, this one little trick really did simplify my seed butter making process. When the seeds were all ground into sunseed butter, I took the blade assembly off the canning jar, and capped the jar with a canning lid.  All that was left to clean was the blade assembly.

So I started thinking, wouldn't this be cool for smoothies. Everybody gets to choose their ingredients to put in their own pint-sized canning jars, then take turns with the blade assembly portion. And the smoothies can be drunk straight out of the canning jar. Just like the Magic Bullet! Sure I don't have those fancy colored drinking caps that fit on top of the real Magic Bullet jars, but still I think a pretty cool idea. Everyone gets their own custom smoothie!

This will also be great for homemade salad dressings and sauces that need blending, then storing in the fridge. Like a jar of homemade ranch-style dressing, made with fresh herbs from the garden. Or a jar of barbeque sauce, or even homemade mayonnaise.  Process in the same jar as storing. Anyways, if you want to try this yourself, here are the detailed instructions.


Here's a standard blender jar. The blade assembly is attached to the bottom of the blender jar and removes for easy cleaning. It consists of the blade base (the black part), the blade itself, and a rubber gasket to ensure a good seal.

To turn your blender into a Magic Bullet:
Fill a pint or quart, narrow-necked, standard canning jar no more than 2/3 full with ingredients to be processed.
Turn your blender jar upside down, unscrew and remove the blade assembly.  Fit this onto your filled, standard canning jar.

Screw the entire blade assembly onto the jar, including the assembly base (the black cap-like part), blade and rubber gasket.

After screwing the blade assembly onto the jar, turn upside down and fit onto blender base and process. Hold onto the glass jar as it is processing, to prevent the jar from unscrewing mid-process.

Use a quart-sized jar for amounts greater than 2  1/2 to 3 cups, so the contents have room to move about when blending.

Pop a canning lid on your mixture in the canning jar, and store.

Voila! Your very own Magic Bullet for free! I'm not sure of all the manufacturers' blenders, as to whether or not their blades will fit your canning jars. But I know that this does work with my Osterizer.

Whole wheat sourdough bread and more

Whole wheat sourdough

For anyone following the sourdough starter thread, here's a bit of an update and another recipe. Two weeks ago, I baked 2 loaves of San Francisco sourdough. I wanted to make another batch, this time with more tang.

So, I mixed up the sponge portion of the recipe and allowed it to sit on the counter for two full days, instead of 14-36 hours, as the recipe instructs. At the end of the first 24 hours, I gave my sponge a feeding of one cup of flour, stirred in well. I wanted the sourdough to have something to continue to feed on for the next 24 hours. This one cup came out of the recipe's portion of flour for the final mixing of the dough.

At the end of 48 hours, I divided the dough, one half for a loaf, the other half for bread sticks.  The loaf did indeed turn out with more tang. It had a good flavor.  The bread sticks were great right after baking, but didn't have the keeping quality of loaf bread -- they were almost too chewy on the second day.  If I do breadsticks again with this sourdough starter, I'll follow a recipe that incorporates some butter in the dough, for tenderizing.

My starter has been doing well in the fridge for two weeks. Last weekend I brought it out for some whole wheat sourdough. The starter had a layer of fermented liquid on top, which I stirred in before measuring out some for extending of the starter.  I took out 1 cup and extended it --1 cup of starter stirred up with 2 cups warm water and 2  1/2 cups flour.

I let this sit overnight, then the next morning I returned 1 cup of this extended starter to my container in the fridge. With the remaining extended starter I did another baking of bread, this time adding whole wheat flour to the dough. I used about half white flour,  half wheat flour. I chose to make this in the old style, without added yeast (as a frugal person, one of the reasons I like to bake with sourdough is it's less expensive without the additional cost of purchased yeast). I increased the sugar just a bit, from 2 teaspoons (in the all white flour recipe) to 3 teaspoons. Whole wheat breads are often enhanced by a bit more sweetening, so that's what I did.

To make whole wheat San Francisco sourdough bread, go here , and make these modifications:

• when adding flour for the sponge, use 1 1/2 cups white flour and 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour, and allow the sponge to stand for 14 hours.
• when adding sugar, add 3 teaspoons instead of 2 teaspoons
• when adding additional flour, use a combination of half white, half whole wheat

This will make a good, part whole wheat sourdough bread, in the San Franciscan style.


By the way, the woman who gave me my first starter 20 years ago, also gave me the recipe for the San Francisco style bread. But I do not know where that recipe came from. But I understand that it's quite authentic. The pancake recipe is my own, but very similar to most sourdough pancake recipes.

The crystal chandelier: champagne taste on a beer budget

by Lili Mounce


The first house that I remember of my grandmother's had a small crystal chandelier over the mahogany dining table. My grandmother always lit candles at dinner. The way the light in the room danced across the walls, as the crystals reflected it, I thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world. That longing for a crystal chandelier remained with me. However, I never lived in quite the right house to hang such a chandelier.

A few years ago, we went to replace the dining room chandelier in our cottage-y home. Our house was built in the 70s and the light fixtures sure showed it. As a replacement, we found a beautiful brass chandelier, with handsome candlesticks and shades. It was on clearance at Lamps Plus, the floor model. That red clearance tag always makes things more attractive to me, go figure. I hear that same red tag will repel others. So, we took it home, and my husband swapped it out for our very old, very 70s light fixture. We've been enjoying it ever since. Yet, I've always had this longing for that crystal chandelier.

Last month, my two daughters and I went vintage/antique browsing, up in Snohomish (same place as the other day). In one of the shops I spied a glittering basket of crystal pendants, all shapes and sizes.  I zeroed in on the large teardrops. As I picked through the basket, I was trying to imagine a way to suspend them from our brass chandelier. I like decorating projects to be quick and easy, so my more complex ideas were quickly given the boot. Then it occurred to me, why not tie them on with a pretty ribbon? And, as I like to juxtapose differing styles, plaids and ginghams came to mind, to offset the elegance of the crystal and the weight of the brass arms. So I picked out the best 5 pendants and home we went. Of course, what should I discover once home? Our chandelier has 6 arms, not 5.  The other day when we ventured up there again, my girls had their own agendas, but to get that last pendant was mine.

This afternoon, I cut the ribbons and tied a pendant to each arm. I think I mentioned that I like decorating to be quick and easy. Well, this took about 30 minutes, and not a second more, and that included giving the chandelier a good cleaning, cutting the ribbons and tying them on. The cost? About $15 for the crystals and $2.50 (with a coupon) for the ribbon. Not only was this less expensive than one of those over-the-top crystal fixtures, but I think the style is much more in keeping with our cottage-y look. And I can change out the ribbons with the seasons. I'm thinking burgundy velvet for Christmas.

It may not be your taste. But my point (other than showing something off to you) is that there are always alternate ways to do things, with similar pleasing results. What sort of things have you "thought outside the box" and been pleased with the results?

Frugality with flair

by Lili Mounce

When we live frugally, day after day, there is the chance we'll slip into the poverty mindset. We scrimp and save so much that we lose a sense of who we really are, and why we are choosing to be frugal. Our children ask us to buy something for them and we reply, "I'm sorry honey, we can't afford that." As a result, our children go through their day feeling poor. I hear myself say constantly, "that's not within our budget" (which I think is only slightly better than "we can't afford it"). It would be more accurate for me to reply, "we're choosing to spend our money in a different way this month." So, how do we keep from falling into the poverty mindset?

Just because I'm frugal, it doesn't mean I have to look like a bag lady.

My daughters wanted me to drive them up to the area with the vintage and antique shops. So we decided to make a day of it. I knew we needed to stay on budget for the day, so I planned a hearty midday snack of coffee, cocoa (it was a cold and drizzly morning here), vegetarian burritos (leftovers from last night's dinner), and bananas. I could've piled all this stuff into a plastic grocery bag, in fact that would have been the quickest route. Instead, I took 5 minutes to get out my small, nearly 30-year old picnic basket, and packed the thermoses and our snacks inside. Lacking paper napkins, I tossed 3 cloth ones in the basket, along with some non-breakable mugs, and a rag for spills.

After a couple of hours of shopping, we were a bit chilled and hungry, so off we went for our car picnic. Had it been a warm day, it would've been pleasant to sit on a bench outside, but it was still cool. We were content to have our midday repast in the car. And none of us were thinking, "gee it sure would be nice to be eating in one of those restaurants." I think our enjoyment of the moment came because we had made the effort to "do it well".

It wasn't fancy schmancy stuff. But it was definitely a cut above a plastic shopping bag and paper towels.

What was I waiting for, a visit from the Queen?

We all have some nice belongings. Yet we keep them stored away, awaiting that royal visit, perhaps? How often do you treat yourself to the little niceties that you've acquired along the way?

My grandmother lived on a very small income for most of her life. But I never knew that. She used her silver and china everyday. She laid her table with linen cloths handed down from her mother. Paper napkins were reserved for untidy toddlers. Even her kitchen waste bin was a very pretty basket. She wasn't trying to impress anyone. She just wanted to enjoy the use of her finest things.

I recently found a box of towels stored away in a closet. These are very nice, monogrammed bath towels that had been wedding gifts, 25 years ago. We never used them because, "we might get them dirty". Silly us, that's what towels do, and that's why washing machines are so great! Needless to say, I brought those towels out and am using them everyday, now.

Cutting flowers and bringing them inside to enjoy, is another way to bring beauty and a sense of luxury into an otherwise ordinary day. I've amassed a variety of vases to put them in. When I have my mid-morning coffee or tea, I sometimes put it on a nice little tray. It's pretty, I enjoy looking at it, and it says to myself, "I'm taking care of me." We use cloth napkins, in part because they save money, but also because they just feel and look nice. Keeping these belongings in convenient access locations, I find that I'm more inclined to use them. And I know that I don't have to pull out all the stops everyday. If I just do one of these things daily, it enhances my mindset.

So, when you go out, do you look like a bag lady, or do you try to live frugally with flair?

Quilled paper greeting card

I'm in a crafty-craft sort of mood this week. Today I'll show you an adorable homemade greeting card, part crafted by me, part crafted by my daughter.

Grace's paper-quilled Gerbera daisy

My daughter, Grace, likes to quill paper. She taught herself how to do this with books from the library. And for those of you interested, she's going to write a tutorial on simple paper quilling in the next week or two.


For this greeting card (a birthday card for a friend of mine), she quilled a Gerbera daisy.  Didn't it turn out cute?! She said that it took her about 10 minutes to make. I used craft cement (the rubber cement-y kind) to adhere it to the part I did.

Supplies: card blank/envelope, sheet of colorful scrapbook
 paper, straightedge ruler, xacto-type knife, glue stick, old
catalog for a cutting/gluing surface (also needed, the
quilled flower, ribbon or strip green paper, craft cement)

I used a card blank and cut a rectangle of scrapbook paper for the front, and glued down with glue stick. To get the glue stick on the paper as smooth as possible, I rubbed the glue stick all over the back of the colored paper, then used an old credit card to scrape the glue across.


I didn't have the right shade of green ribbon to go under the flower, so cut thin strips of green paper. I glued these on with glue stick. Then I used the craft cement to adhere the paper flower on top.

card Grace and I made on the left,
 card from my friend on the right

I based this idea/design on a Thank You card that a friend had given to me.  Her card has a fabric flower and ribbon glued to the front.

If you're not interested in quilling flowers, you could also use this idea with silk flowers that you may already have at home from another project. (I don't know about you, but I seem to accumulate odd flowers and leaves from other projects -- cards and gift boxes are great ways to use those up!)




Our card was inexpensive to make. The card blank, I bought in a package of 50, on sale for about $5, was 10 cents each including the envelope. The scrapbook paper was 59 cents, but can be used for about 9 cards in total, so 7 cents per card. The paper for quilling and glue, maybe 5 cents -- so for about 22 cents, a very nice card with a homemade touch! (Just an FYI, you could cut card stock yourself to make your own blank. If you cut it to the size of a standard envelope -- there's no rule that says a greeting card has to be the shape and size they often are -- your card and envelope blanks could cost even less. And if you used colorful card stock from a craft store, you could skip the colorful scrapbook paper altogether.) The quilling papers can be bought pre-cut, or you can do as my daughter often does, cut your own.  The pink petals on this flower are actually the backside of a choir bulletin from church.

Grace made a whole collection of flowers this past week, and I'm kicking myself for not taking a photo of them.  She hot glued each one onto a bobby pin to give to the girls in her dance class on the last day of their recital, this past weekend. Each flower was different and unique. It was quite impressive.

For another quilled project see Querly quilling -- floral greetings.

Storing, maintaining, and extending sourdough starter

This info was part of Days 8 and 9 of the making a sourdough starter. I separated it out, so as needed, you can find it easily (without having to remember, "which day did she include maintainence of sourdough in?")

Storing your starter

I'm keeping my starter in the fridge, in a large plastic container, with the lid only loosely screwed on. Sourdough starters should be kept in a large (about 2 quart -- 2 L -- to allow for expansion), non-metal container with some sort of loose covering for the top -- piece of plastic wrap loosely tied on, screw on lid only partially screwed on, or in a canning jar, with folded over cheesecloth secured with a canning band as a lid. Starters produce gas, and need to breath a bit. 

If storing in plastic, make sure you scald the inside of the container before pouring in the starter. Just swirl around some boiling water, pour out and allow to cool. Plastic surfaces grab on to grease, soap and other things you don't want in your starter.

Maintaining your starter

If you can, bake with it once a week. If not, feed it 3/4 cup (180 mL) lukewarm water and 1 cup (110 g) flour, once a week. Leave it out on the counter for about two to three hours, until you can see that it's all bubbly. Then put it right back into the fridge for storage. (If you miss a week, no big deal -- sourdough starters are pretty hearty.) You'll either need to discard some, give some away or use some in pancakes or waffles after one or two weeks, if only feeding it and not baking with it.

When you do bake with it, the feeding process is built in.  Baking with starter is a two-step process.  First, you extend the starter (by adding flour and water), then measure out the right amount for the recipe and refrigerate the rest.

Never add anything other than flour and water to the starter that you keep in the fridge.  Old-timers would add scraps of prepared dough to their starter.  Good way to get sick.

If the starter has a gray, green or brown liquid, this is okay, just stir it in.  If it develops a pinkish liquid, throw it out -- it's taken on an unwanted bacteria.

To extend your starter

The night before you bake with your starter, you will need to extend it (otherwise you'd just use it all up, and all that work getting it started would be for naught).  Think of this as "growing" your yeast.

For a recipe that calls for 2 cups (475 mL) of starter

In a non-metallic bowl, put 1 cup (240 mL) of starter and mix with 2 cups (473 mL) of warm water and 2 1/2 cups (280 g) of flour. Mix thoroughly.  It will be thick and lumpy, but will thin down as it ferments. Cover bowl and set in a warm place overnight. The starter should have become bubbly within a few hours of adding the flour and water.

In the morning, measure 2 cups (475 mL) of starter for your recipe, and put the remainder back in your sourdough pot and refrigerate.  Your freshened starter is now ready to bake with. You will have enough starter, ready to use, for any recipe or combination of recipes that calls for 2 cups (475 mL) of starter (such as the pancake recipe, which calls for 2 cups).

For a recipe that calls for 1 cup (240mL) of starter

If you just wish to do a regular baking of San Francisco sourdough bread (which only calls for 1 cup --240 mL -- of starter), halve the extender recipe -- 1/2 cup (120 mL) starter, mixed with 1 cup (240 mL) warm water and 1  1/4 cups (140 g) flour.

Allow to sit overnight, then measure 1 full cup (240 mL) for your recipe and return the remaining starter to the pot to be refrigerated. Your 1 cup (240 mL) of starter for San Francisco sourdough is now ready to use.

You will find, over time, that you will either have accumulated too much starter in your fridge pot or too little.  The way to remedy with too much is obviously to either give some away or do an extra baking. With too little, just do the half extender recipe, allow to sit overnight in a warm place, and repeat until you have the desired amount of starter.

Look for more recipes to use your starter in the coming days.

*note* this was very long-winded and extensive.  If I failed to make anything clear, please email me.  I can clarify for you and update the post, so it will be clear to others.  Thanks.

To start at the beginning of making a sourdough starter go here

Havin' a flip-floppin' good summer!

It's flip flop season. Feet are getting all pretty for the summer. Show them off in some cute new flip flops.

The basic flip flops cost about $1 a pair (I paid under a dollar a pair at Wal-mart in the spring, but I've seen them for a buck at drug stores and at the dollar store). You can decorate a pair with just about anything that a) is small enough to fit on the strap, and b) can be glued down.  Some ideas for flip flop decors -- small shells, flat-bottomed rhinestones, seeds and beads, foam craft pieces, glitter, ribbon.


These are the flip flops that I made for my two daughters as part of their Easter basket fillers. They are incredibly easy to make. In fact, I really enjoyed the afternoon I spent doing them. I used flower and lady bug foam craft cut-outs found at stores like Michaels and Jo-Ann's Fabric and Craft.  They're cute and they're waterproof, so wading into the water at the beach will be no problem. The cut-outs were about $2.50 for a bag. I had the craft cement leftover from another project. So each pair cost under $2.50 each -- a fun, fashion accessory for a song.

Four simple ingredients:

1. the basic flip flops
2. craft cement (texture of rubber cement, I used a floral cement called Flora Bond (it's what I had on hand), I also recommend UHU creativ craft glue designed for flexible materials -- warning, hot glue will not hold well on flexible materials)
3. a bit of liquid dish detergent and cloth (to clean off the straps so the glue will hold)
4. the decor
5. a bit of sandpaper to rough up the surface of the strap to get a better hold with the cement

Basic steps:

• use a piece of sand paper to rough up the surface of the straps a bit first -- just barely scuff the surface.  
• wet the portion of the strap that you intend to glue pieces to. Apply a small amount of dish soap to this area with a damp rag, and scrub briefly. Rinse well, and pat dry with a lint-free dish towel or paper towel.  Flip flops must be completely dry before using the adhesive. 
• layout your design on the table or counter where you're working.
• apply a generous dollop of craft cement to the strap for each decor piece, as you go. If there's an overlap in your decor pieces (as in mine with the layered effect of foam pieces), you'll need to generously cement these pieces to each other as well.
• apply the pieces, and press firmly, forcing out any air bubbles. Wipe excess cement from edges. Do not try on or flex the strap for 24 hours, or as long as package indicates for curing time.

With wear, and depending on your design, you may need to refresh the glue in spots. But I don't anticipate that to be problematic for me.

More quirky little frugal things

I save what's left of my pot of tea in the fridge for the next day. Not so quirky, right?

I buy ketchup in gallon size cans, when I open a can I scoop the ketchup into large plastic containers for the fridge, and fill our family bottle.  I scrape out the can, but also I rinse it with water, and save that ketchup water to add to baked beans or soup.

I know that I can not be the only one doing this. When the box of laundry detergent appears to be empty, I put the box on it's side on the floor and stomp on it a couple of times. This exposes the area under the bottom and top tabs, glued to hold the box shut. Then I dump these grains of detergent into the wash. As a bonus, the box is now flattened for recycling!

Also, laundry related, having to do with the plastic soap dish in the shower.  When the soap dish gets all gummy with glopped on soap, I put the dish in the washing machine with some towels, and have the water fill to the lowest level, leaving the door up (so the machine is not running).  I leave it like this overnight. In the morning, I swish the soap dish, then take it out, as it's clean now. I fill the machine with more towels and the like, add about 3/4 the usual amount of detergent, and have the machine continue its fill up of water and wash a load. Crazy or sensible?

If a friend is coming over in the AM, and there's still cheapo coffee in the pot, instead of dumping that coffee out to start a fresh batch, or worse, serving this brew to a friend, I pour it into a cup and refrigerate.  Then I make a "good" pot of coffee.  The refrigerated coffee is then added to the next day's pot.  I may be extremely frugal, but I have no intention of forcing my quirky ways on my guests. Guests deserve the privilege of the very best of what I have to offer, as I am honored to have them in my home!

4 uses for your salad spinner: 3 normal, 1 only slightly crazy

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is the salad spinner. I can't believe I went all those years without one. We got this spinner through a health awareness contest at my husband's work. I wasn't exactly jumping up and down, doing flips, when he brought it home.  I thought, "oh great, another thing to find a place for." But I have found it to be so very useful. Here are 4 terrific uses for your salad spinner.

spinning out excess water before drying herbs
If you dry herbs in summer, how do you make sure you've extracted as much water as possible from your just washed herbs before drying? We use the spinner to spin off the excess water.  I dry my herbs in a dehydrator, as it's rather damp in the Pacific Northwest, and this ensures they get dried off before loading on the trays. By spinning out the excess water, I shave close to 1/4 off the total drying time. That's electricity saved, which translates to money saved. If you air dry your herbs, this could still be beneficial. If you've found your air-dried herbs have a musty smell, it could be they didn't dry quickly or thoroughly enough. Spinning out excess water before hanging to dry would minimize time that the herbs were damp. If you dry your herbs in a microwave or conventional oven, again spinning out water first, would shave time and electricity off the drying process.

storing veggies to keep the slime away
Once you've washed your vegetables, how do you store them? Have you ever had produce get slimy, in the fridge, because it was wrapped in a plastic bag? The salad spinner is an excellent produce keeper. It's mostly airtight (but not all, and that's important), so produce does not dry out. But, the basket liner allows air flow all around the produce, so it doesn't develop the dreaded slime. And it keeps lettuce and other leafies super crisp, because it will hold the small amount of moisture from washed veggies, between the basket and the bowl of the spinner (providing a hydrating environment for your tender veggies).

washing greens and berries
How do you usually wash your veggies and berries? I like to wash mine right in the spinner. When I pick something from the garden, I use the spinner as my container for the veggies or berries. Then I fill with water, allow a little soak, swish with my hands and drain. I repeat until the water comes out clean.

spinning out water from hand-washed fine clothing
When you wash fine lingerie or pantyhose, do you remove excess water before hanging to dry? When I have a pair of pantyhose that I need later in the day, I can't count on them being totally dry in time, unless. . . . Yes, I have used my salad spinner to spin out excess water from pantyhose. Then hung to dry over the heat register and they were dry in under 20 minutes!

Totally off topic, but funny visual -- I once heard of a lady who's only decent pair of pantyhose needed washing before work. She washed them in her sink, then realized that they were too damp to put on. So she took the dripping pair out to her car. She unrolled her car's window an inch, slipped the pantyhose waist part through the opening, and rolled the window back up, securing the pantyhose in the crack. She drove 30 minutes to work, with her pantyhose flapping in the breeze. Halfway there, she noticed a state trooper following her for about a mile. He pulled her over for a tail light problem. When she went to open her window to talk with the trooper, the pantyhose fell to the ground. He picked them up and handed them to her, and said that while he needed to cite her for the tail light, what he was really interested in was what it was that was flying out her window. She gave him the whole story about being late to work, not having clean pantyhose, washing them, but having them too damp to put on, etc. This woman said the trooper laughed his head off. He said that was the absolute craziest story he had ever, ever heard.  

Moral of the story, better to spin dry, than wind dry. End of derail.

Best way to clean your spinner -- top rack of the dishwasher, but no heated dry. Second best -- fill 1/2 full with soapy water, and spin away. Empty this soapy water, rinse. Then spin again, this time with about 1/4 cup white vinegar. Empty the vinegar, then allow all parts to air dry.  The vinegar inhibits mold growth.

If you already own a salad spinner, why not give one of these uses a try? You've nothing to lose. Three normal uses, and one, only slightly crazy (or fully crazy, you be the judge).

Free fruit -- yours for the gleaning

One of the little joys I get to experience is picking fruit from the trees in my own backyard.  So satisfying to fill a box with apples, plums or pears.

No fruit trees in your yard to harvest? Are you tired of reading about other folks picking bushels of apples right out their backdoor? Here's an idea that might work for you -- urban gleaning.

I have a friend who has been doing this on an informal basis for a couple of years now.  She has some fruit on her property, but not as much as she'd like. She has friends who have some fruit trees on their property. Her friends are happy to have my friend come and pick whatever she'd like. She plans on continuing with her "gleaning" to subsidize her fruit stores.  This is an example of an informal set-up for urban gleaning. There's actually a more structured avenue for gleaning available in many areas.

Mainstream urban gleaning -- no longer just for the leftover hippie-types. To get involved:

• find a gleaning association in your own city by googling the terms:  urban  gleaning  your city's name
• sign up with this organization
• you'll be assigned a location (often the home of an elderly resident, no longer able to harvest their own fruit)
• you pick the fruit
• 1/3 goes to the homeowner, 1/3 to the pickers, and 1/3 to a local food bank -- win, win, win situation

Peaked your interest? Take a look at these two articles. The first article is a very good overview of urban gleaning, the second, also a good article, but provides some links for additional city agriculture info.

Urban Gleaning Movement
Urban Fruit Gleaning: Harvesting Fresh Fruit in the Middle of the City

An afternoon in the glorious, summer sunshine, breathing in the fresh air, and picking fruit to store away for winter -- all for free. Even without keeping a third of the fruit, urban gleaning sounds like its got the makings of a memorable day.

Out of the frugal closet

Okay, so it's true, our family has averaged about $210 per month this last year, on food, for a family of 5. We've worked hard to find ways to save on groceries. I keep a veggie garden. I have several fruit trees and bushes. I have a car and live in the 'burbs, so I am able to shop at a variety of types of places (see Alternate grocery shopping venues to save you money  and My top secret shopping spot for milk ). I work just part time, so I am able to do all kinds of things from scratch like make my own sunflower seed butter for half the price of peanut butter.  But also, I focus, while shopping, to get the most for my money. I almost always bring a calculator (or two even -- gotta help my teen daughters keep their math minds sharp), and if not a calculator, I will pull out a pen and paper and do the math myself.  (You should know, many restaurant supply places do not provide unit pricing on the shelves. You have to do the math all by your little self.)

This is a very peculiar feeling. I feel as though I've outed myself from the frugal closet. I really don't like to tell people just what we spend on groceries, because it seems so unbelievable to many folks. And I really don't like the skeptics who imply that our grocery spending could not be correct. So I prefer to just stay mum about the whole thing.

Yet, I am here, because I have learned a couple of things that may be of use to someone else. You'll find in my blog that I give specific details concerning where and when I shop, and just what I buy at each place. I want anyone in this area to also be able to get these great deals. But I also want to help others look around their own area, to see if there couldn't be more cost effective places to shop. I know, the doubts and skepticism go with the territory. I'm just not one who deals with that sort of thing very well. Anyways, I needed to say that so that I could just get on with things.

Now, here are my grocery purchases made the other day.  While it certainly doesn't look like anyone could make meals out of what I bought, these are the items I most needed to fill holes in my pantry stockpile. I spent just under $100, that plus about $5 at the produce stand the other day, so I have about $105 for the rest of the month, for great deals on things like meat and milk. My freezer, fridge and pantry are quite full. I roasted a whole turkey the other day, so lots of turkey for the month (yes, I roasted a turkey in June -- I bought 4 turkeys in November when they were a steal; this is our last one). That $105 will be enough, and I'm hoping to have some $ leftover (see June's grocery plan).

The first batch is just items from the more upscale, neighborhood grocery store. They have a much better selection of marked down items in the dairy than the budget-oriented neighborhood grocery.

You see those orange tags? The yogurt and soy milk were mark down items. Love those orange tags! The yogurt I had second thoughts about driving home -- too late then. But it will be a treat for my kids' and husband's lunches, and it was marked down to 29 cents a container -- that's a pretty good price for yogurt in our area.

The chocolate soy milk was for me.  It was also marked down, to $1.39 per half gallon.  I generally pay $1.99 for a half gallon of plain soy milk. I'll use this in my coffee and on my granola, as well as for my drinking.  I already froze one half gallon.  The other will stay fresh for about 10 days.  I will have to make my own rice milk for cooking, if I'm making something for the family that I'd also like to eat (baked goods, white sauces), but I have the brown rice for that already, so no additional cost.

The coffee, well, just can not get around that.  I love excellent coffee, but I don't need to have my coffee barrista-style every day.  I am working at getting even more from our coffee grounds.  I use 1 coffee filter for two mornings.  Day 1, I add the proper amount of coffee grounds to the clean filter. Day 2, I add slightly less than the usual amount of new grounds, right on top of the old grounds. When I'm feeling very frugal (or we're just running low on coffee), before I dump these grounds, I run about 1 cup more of water through them, before dumping the grounds into a bowl (to spread around our blueberry bushes later).  This 1 last cup of coffee on a good day, gets refrigerated then added to the next day's pot.  On a regular day, it just sits in the pot until the new batch is made the next morning. I am looking for ideas on how to cut down our expense for coffee.  I've looked into roasting our own beans at home (you can do that in a hot air popcorn popper), as well as mixing our coffee with other substances (in the "olden days" people roasted dandelion and chicory roots, then ground up to blend with coffee).

The eggs were $1.69/18 count carton, while not a steal, good enough till that great buy comes along. And the gallon of milk, also not a great buy, but good enough at $2.49. I needed one gallon of whole milk to blend with the remaining non-fat that I have from the freezer, to make my own 2 % milk. I will stop in at the grocery store with marked down milk today around noon, and be keeping my fingers crossed.  I must look like the crazy lady in that store "look at all this not-quite-gone-bad milk on clearance!" as I pile the jugs up in my cart. And the salt, it was on sale for 49 cents a carton. Salt goes on sale frequently in the grocery store, but not at all in the restaurant/institutional supply store. So, I bought one.

This next batch of groceries were from the Cash and Carry (in Lynnwood, for you locals).  It's a restaurant/institutional supply. Ketchup comes in 7 lb. tins or 5 lb bags, rice in 25 lb. bags if you want the small (50 pounders if you want the large rice), dried pasta in 5 lb. boxes, I think you get the picture.

This week, I bought 50 lbs whole wheat flour, 25 lbs. barley (that'll last about 9 months to a year, I'll keep about half of it in the freezer to prolong its life), and a 30 lb. case of margarine (I know, butter is much better for us -- we buy butter about 1/4 of the time, and use mostly oil in baking; this case will last us 6 months, that's just over 1 lb. of margarine used in our house, per week).

The canola oil I use for sauteeing, baking, and half and half with olive oil in salad dressings. Some months I buy soybean oil, some months, canola.  It all depends which is less expensive. This month that was canola.

The 5 lb. bag of carrots will get us through June. We should be able to dig our early carrots in July.  I considered the 25 lb. bag of carrots, but the savings was not enough, considering we'll be getting lots from our garden next month. Also in produce, the bananas were 43 cents a pound. I prefer to get bananas at Trader Joes.  TJs prices bananas per piece. By selecting out the largest ones I wind up paying about 38 cents/lb. But I wasn't going to be stopping in to TJs this week.

The can of whipped topping is just a treat.  I can't do real whipping cream, so we opt for this spray variety (and even Cool Whip has some dairy ingredients, or else it would be my preference because then I could reuse the container at least).

Even the restaurant supply has sales.  Their sales run for almost an entire month, which is great. I can rethink after I get home and decide I'll stop in again later in the month and buy more. This month, one of their sales was on bottled lemon juice in the 1 gallon jug. In case you hadn't noticed, bottled lemon juice has been super expensive, for almost 2 years now. To find it on sale for $5 a gallon was a surprise.  I make lemonade, iced tea and rhubarb lemonade for summer beverages. This jug of lemon juice will make 32 quarts of lemonade this summer.  My kids have been drinking limeade all school year, as lime juice has been the less expensive bottled juice. Lemonade will be a refreshing change.

The tomato paste. Tomato paste is one of the few canned veggies that actually has more nutrients in the canned version than eating the same veggie, fresh. I'll open this can and make a 5-6 quart batch of pizza/pasta sauce. I'll freeze the rest of the paste to use later in soups and stews, and barbeque sauce.

This is about half of what I'll buy for the entire month of June. I buy to stock my pantry and freezer,  looking for outstanding deals and stocking up on them, not to fulfill a weekly meal plan. I plan from what I have on hand. I estimate this saves us at least 1/3 off our grocery bill. Anyone remember Amy Dacyzyn's article The Pantry Principle? I read about this sort of shopping in a magazine article about 24 years ago.  I was newly married with a baby. I was shopping the way my mom always shopped, for one week's worth of groceries at a time. After reading this article, we went from spending $60/week on groceries to $30/week, just in one month.

This, in a rather long-winded nutshell, is how we keep our grocery spending as low as it is. And I'm certain there are folks somewhere who spend even less.

*update* Thursday, 6/14, I stopped in at Dollar Tree and bought 1 quart of soymilk and 1 bag of marshmallows for s'mores for a whopping total of $2.