Frugal Friday

[ecosophia]

Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up.

(That's a picture of natto on the left, by the way, to celebrate my third homemade batch, which finished fermenting this morning. It came out absolutely perfect.)

Ahem. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.

Rule #1:  this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc.  I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #2:  this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.

Rule #3:  please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about.  Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.

Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.

With that said, have at it!

Comments

One-pot colcannon

[(Anonymous)]

Colcannon is a good way to make a tolerable main dish out of two cheap vegetables (potatoes and cabbage) that would be far too blah just sitting on the plate. JMG, your Weird of Hali cookbook includes a very fancy recipe for it, which I can see was structured to maximize the nutrient content, flavor, and serving temperature. But, it's labor intensive, with over an hour of boiling time and three pots to wash. For those who don't want to put in that much effort, I offer the somewhat less nice but quicker and easier one-pot version.

Cut your potatoes into small chunks. Traditionally the potatoes are peeled for looks and texture, but you can keep the peel on for fiber and vitamins. Boil in a saucepan with plenty of water for about 15 minutes.
While that's boiling, shred the cabbage - I just cut a couple of wedges and chiffonade, or slice as fine as I can, and break it up. And, finely chop some onion (I'd just use half of a medium onion). Put these veggies in the pot, bring back to a boil, and cook until potatoes and cabbage are soft.
Drain the water. Mash with a potato masher. Stir in enough milk to give you a soft mashed-potatoes texture, and season with some salt and pepper.
Voila!

Not a suggestion but a request for advice

[degringolade]

I have a pressure cooker that works just dandy. But in the summer, cooking on a stovetop heats up my place and that isn't great.

So, if anybody here can offer advice (pro and con) about the new, spiffy electronically controlled plug-in pressure cookers, I would be most grateful.

Re: Not a suggestion but a request for advice

[(Anonymous)]

If you're talking about the Instant Pot variety, they're fantastic, so long as you have reliable electric power. They sip energy, are at least somewhat insulated for further efficiency, provide a high degree of flexibility (you can do everything from sautées to yogurt or natto-making*), also double as a slow cooker so you don't need another unit to do that, and cook rice tolerably well, though they're best for quite large batches (about half the rated capacity or more). They also steam excellently, under pressure or not.

I use mine all the time, far more than I use my passive stovetop pressure cooker, which I bought first. That one gets used more often as a large saucepot these days.

*Like our host, I have also finished my third batch of homemade natto which also came out very nicely. I made it in my instant pot, too, from steaming the soaked beans to fermenting the natto mixture. It couldn't be easier.

-- V.O.G

My first visit to a discount grocer

[teresa_from_hershey]

I've heard of discount groceries but until last week, I'd never visited one.
I expected far more scratch and dent than what I saw.
I expected everything to be on the verge of expiring.
Surprisingly, most of what I looked at didn't expire for months to a year.

As you'd expect, most of the groceries were canned or boxed (shelf-stable) and were brand names. But not all! There was a surprising range of -- I guess -- small house brands along with plenty of international foods that I wouldn't see at my local Giant.

I didn't pay attention to the produce, meat counter, or deli (all pre-packaged) other than fancy cheese. They did have them!

It looks like the stock changes dramatically from week to week or month to month depending on what the grocer gets from manufacturers, but there will always be something to choose from.

If you're not picky about brands or items, the prices were regularly as low as Giant's sale prices, sometimes lower. For some items, much, much lower. But not always! Dear Daughter checked the discount grocer against Giant's online store to see how prices compared vs. what the signs claimed.

Why would you visit a discount grocer, knowing that much of what they sold is highly processed?

Because walnuts were $3.99 a pound. A 30-oz bag of dried cranberries cost less than a 20 container of Giant brand raisins. Coffee (30 oz. can) was $5.99.

Based on my experience, I'll probably visit this discount grocer once a month or every two months for items I like that are normally too expensive. But I can also see, if you've got a convenient one nearby, you may want to shop there first and then fill in at your regular store.

Re: My first visit to a discount grocer

[(Anonymous)]

I visit such a store, not part of a chain, regularly. I compulsively read labels in all grocery stores. The terms 'natural flavors' and 'spices' indicate the presence of monosodium glutamate, a seaweed derivative, hence 'natural flavor', used to mask unpleasant tastes, such as from spoilage.

The store in my town has excellent tomato sauce exported from Italy, no chemicals added, in wonderful glass jars. I use those jars for lots of things, including storage of beans and grains.

Re: Not a suggestion but a request for advice

[brotherkornhoer]

My Instant Pot is one of the few kitchen gadgets I think it worth the space on my counter. The biggest advantage is that it makes short work of hydrating and softening dried beans and tough (cheaper) meat cuts - less than an hour of cooking time is required rather than all day on low heat. If you want to make soup using the remains of a whole chicken or a couple of turkey wings, put them in and all the meat will fall off the bones. Since it's thermostatically controlled, it doesn't have to vent steam during cooking except for a little during the heat-up phase, so what you're cooking doesn't lose water over time - so your recipes come out reliably. The newer ones also have low settings for yogurt fermentation, which you can also use for natto. There's several manufacturers of these types of electronic pressure cookers, so not an endorsement of any particular brand.

A couple of other favourite machines: 1. My bread maker. I don't have the time to make bread by hand, so this allows me make hearty, quality bread using organic ingredients on the cheap and on the quick. It takes about 5 minutes to set up a batch of bread and get it started. 2. My electric tea kettle. Again it makes it easy to make tea in the winter, which keeps me warm and comfy on the cheap.

Cheap Dandruff Shampoo

[jedwardo]

I've been struggling with dandruff for the majority of my adult life. I've tried countless remedies over the years, some toxic others less so. I recently tried something on a whim in an attempt to deal with some strange eczema type scabs on my head that accomplished not only that goal, but simultaneously transformed the snow covered slopes of my dark shirted shoulders into a sight straight out of a pocket tee advertising campaign.

Every morning for the past couple months I've been putting a very small amount of castor oil (2-3 drops) in my hand with some castile soap, mixing them together in my palms and getting down to business.

It was a couple weeks in when I noticed the perma scabs were disappearing, and a couple more when my girlfriend pointed out I didn't have dandruff anymore in response to a self deprecating joke I had crafted about my condition. She said I hadn't had any since I started using the castor oil. One quick noogie and subsequent pillow check confirmed what we had stumbled upon and we're quite pleased to share it here with you all.

Anti dandruff shampoo recipe:

- palmful of castile soap (I'm assuming any shampoo will work as well but this is what has been working for me.)
- a couple drops of castor oil

Instructions:

- mix together
- scrub in
- rinse out

I'm not the type to soak in the city water. My showers are practical and I'm usually out in 5 minutes. As such this has been effective for me simply scrubbing my head and rinsing it out in a minutes time. I haven't been leaving in at all.

A small bottle can go quite a ways at the rate it gets used, making this quite the economical dandruff control solution.

I'd be interested to hear if others have positive results after trying.

Re: My first visit to a discount grocer

[degringolade]

I wrote about just this years ago during the aftermath of the last meltdown. I think that it is still pretty accurate.

https://mightaswellliebackandenjoyit.blogspot.com/2009/03/yuppies-are-dead-god-i-will-miss-food.html

The stores around here are Grocery Outlet and Advanced Liquidators. I still love to shop there.

During the summer when it is too hot to bake, I also hit the bajery outlets.

Re: Not a suggestion but a request for advice

[methylethyl]

What V.O.G said: Our Instant Pot is the kitchen workhorse, and I bought our first one (which we wore out over the course of maybe 5 years, and got another) specifically to avoid all the waste heat from using the stovetop for long-stewing things. We use it for soup stock, soups, rice, dry beans, yogurt, chili...

The reliable power thing is important though. I have lost a batch of yogurt that was going overnight, because the power blinked after we went to bed, and that makes the cooker forget what it was doing. So it didn't get properly incubated. Alas.

Still, the thing is so darn useful that this minor risk is not a big deal for us.

Re: My first visit to a discount grocer

[methylethyl]

I was just about to say... I haven't much luck at discount groceries, because most of what they sell is more processed than I use, but I do occasionally score a few fancy condiments in very useful little jars, which get repurposed afterward for homemade mustard, dry spices, and that one thing I wanted to share with a friend and needed a container for.

Re: Cheap Dandruff Shampoo

[(Anonymous)]

I also struggled many, many years with eczema type scabs on my scalp, and itching. Like you, I also found it was better to go simpler, although I never use castor oil, I went to much simpler shampoos, eventually to a shampoo bar which would be alot like the liquid castile soap you are using, and only doing it once a week. Which did make a big difference for the better, then I went to no shampoo, and it is even better. I also need to watch not being in the shower too long with water too hot. SO at this point, while I wash my body in luke warm water every night, I shower once a week and wash my hair once a week, with no shampoo, soap or other products. I do give my scalp a good srub and invigoration with my fingers when I do so. ANd I have to remember to not be in too long. SO no more itching or scabs.

Atmospheric RIver

Re: One-pot colcannon

[slclaire]

In my garden, green beans begin to be available about the same time as I harvest potatoes, so we make a version that substitutes green beans for the cabbage. We cook it just until the green beans reach the right texture (cooked but still a little crisp) and eat it as is without mashing the potatoes.

Re: One-pot colcannon

[(Anonymous)]

My family really loves this, but as a soup in the winter, with broth added to make a soup consistency. Occasionally, a leftover piece of breakfast bacon has been known to be crisped and chopped as a garnish for each bowl, but leftover bacon is pretty rare around here!

shewhoholdstensions

Solar oven summer recipes

[(Anonymous)]

SO summer is time for casual party food to eat with people over or just instead of more traditional meals as it is just too hot anyways.

I have a Sun Oven, and have had it for 17 years I think. The first thing I did was make a homemade one with my kids out of carboard and foil for the box, box within a box, crumpled newspaper insulating between the layers. We wanted it big enough to do 2 medium pots next to each other, and had a window sitting around of a certain size. While it worked, with a low heat, it was not practical, and too big not alot of use realy. I knew about the sun oven, but thought it was too expensive, so bought a Solar Sport, it was lightweight, I could easily move it unlike the homemade one. It had 2 pots next to each other, the price was right, but it did not get that hot, even with the reflector on. We used this extensively for a few years. Then I added a Sun Oven. This was great. Got hotter for baking, very sturdy. Easier to take camping. Eventually, I gave the solar sport away. And, bought a second Sun oven as there was a sale on.

I know they are expensive, but it is a major way I cook. I use one constantly, not two at a time anymore since the kids are out of the house, but I use one all the time. Like this week. And, it is hot here, never Armageddon as the media makes out, but yeah, hot.

Wednesday afternoon, I baked a lemon chiffon cake in the Sun Oven. I made a half batch so that I could bake it in a loaf pan, I lined the pan with parchment paper, or I could have just had it on the bottom, but since it is a Chiffon cake, it was to cling to the sides and is usually done in a larger pan where the bottom comes off.

Orange or Lemon Chiffon Cake, Betty Crockers cookbook

I am giving the half recipe amounts to bake in a bread loaf pan, time in Sun Oven for loaf pan about what it is for in oven
preheat to 325'F, or set up Sun Oven facing sun and preheating, eggs should be room temperature

Separate 4 eggs

Beat 4 egg whites with wisk in mixer with 1/2 t cream of Tartar until stiff peaks form, use spatula to plop out of mixing bowl into another glass bowl.

Change mixer to regular mixer paddle.
In mixer bowl mix together:
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2t baking powder
1/2t salt
Add:
1/4 cup oil
4 egg yolks
3/8 cup water
1T zest of orange (or 1 t zest of lemon plus 1t vanilla)
mix well, take mixer bowl off mixer. Use spatula to plop in some of the egg whites and mix well, like 1/4 cup worth ?
Plop rest of beaten egg whites on top and cut in carefully.
Put into ungreased loaf pan, can use parchment paper at least on bottom (or folded to line pan) so you can get it out of the pan later.

Bake until springs back when touched lightly, about 1 1/4 hour. (normally when done full recips and baked in a tube pan, you cool with it upside down. I just let it cool in the loaf pan until the next day. Put up high out of the way of ants and pets to cool.

I usually leave it unfrosted as a cake to snack on, or I serve it at a party with whipped cream and sliced fresh strawberries. Yesterday I served it with a glaze.

Lemon Glaze. In a small glass bowl mix by hand with a spoon, 1cup powdered sugar, 1 1/2 or 2 tables spoons soft butter, 1 1/2t lemon zest. Juice the lemon you have been zesting off of. Add lemon juice until correct consistency. start with 1T lemon juice, but probably need to add a bit more so it will drip some down the sides.


Yesterday morning I made the potato salad, again I made 1/2 batch, cooked in the Sun Oven. Then chilled in the fridge until late lunch time

Very Much Marinated Potatoes, from Enchanted Brocolli Forest, Mollie Katzen

This is amounts for full batch, I did half batch. You must cut potatoes very thin.

6 medium, fist sized, potatoes, scrubbed sliced in half lengthwise then sliced very thin, 1/4 inch or less
2/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup cider vinegar or wine vinegar
1 1/2t slat
generous amount black pepper

in pot, with lid, put in Sun Oven. Once it reaches a simmer, cook about 20 to 30 minutes. I sed a pot with a clear glass lid, but you can just check them after 30 minutes and see if need more time. Cook until just tender.

Let it cool in fridge. Add:

3 green onions finely minced
1/4 cup finely minced parsley
Optional - 1 small bell pepper, thin sliced

I had put a batch of no knead bread dough in the refrigerator the day before, so I took half of it out and while the morning was still cool, I cooked up 6 rounds of pita bread ( flat bread) on a dry, hot lidded cast iron pan ( roll the dough out thin) Yesterday I used half whole wheat, half white. I did this inside, but is a great thing to do outdoors on a rocket stove.

Then I used a can of garbanzo beans and the blender to make hummus

Hummus

1/4 cup brown(unhulled) sesame seeds, put on hot dry cast iron pan ( medium high setting on my stove), stir now and then to toast, they should pop a little

meanwhile, into the blender put
1 can garbanzo beans mostly drained, some of the water needs to be in there, drain into a bowl so you can add more if needed
2T olive oil
2T apple cider vinegar
1/4 t garlic powder or 1 clove partially minced garlic
1/4t ground cumin
1/4t pepper
1/2t salt

when sesame seeds are done, add to blender. Blend well, adding more liquid if needed. You may need to start and stop, or stir a time or two depending on blender


Atmospheric River

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[slclaire]

Thanks for these recipes! We have a Sun Oven, but we don't use it as much as we could. This inspires me to use it more often.

Re: Not a suggestion but a request for advice

[(Anonymous)]

Agreed. I've used mine mainly for beans and for cooking tougher cuts of meat. Some really tough, gristly cuts like pork shoulder or beef short ribs can be transformed into mouthwatering marvels by a couple hours or less in the Instant Pot.

Added benefit-- there's often just the single pot to wash for an Instant Pot meal.

Beef heart with caramelized onions and a little red wine is a particular favorite of mine.

*Ochre Harebrained Curmudgeon*

Re: Not a suggestion but a request for advice

[(Anonymous)]

For me, hands-down, the best appliance is the Instant Pot. It does pressure cooking, but also sautee, slow cooking, whatever you want. I use it mainly for making soups, beans, rice, chutney, and hard-boiled eggs. I found it to be a game changer for keeping the kitchen cooler and also the timer lets me step out of the kitchen now and then, which I would never do with a traditional pressure cooker on the stovetop.

I first found out about Instant Pots from the website Nom Nom Paleo https://nomnompaleo.com/
She offers a ton of recipes
https://nomnompaleo.com/#search/q=instant%20pot

I don't know if she still does this, but some years ago when I subscribed to her newsletter she provided alerts whenever amazon.com offered sales on Instant Pots, and I saved a chunk of money.

When I moved to Europe, leaving behind my North American appliances, I bought a French version of the programmed pressure and slow-cooker and it seriously sucked. It had a teflon pot which got gnarly fast. I ended up putting it out with trash and getting an Instant Pot from the UK. The Instant Pots have a stainless steel pot.

Lilac Rotating Schipperke

Re: One-pot colcannon

[apis_mellifera80]

I love Colcannon, it's commonly made with kale instead of cabbage here in Ireland. We'd always have it traditionally around Halloween, I guess when kale was in abundance. (It grows well here and has a long season, unless it gets hot and sunny, which rarely happens!) We'd also gently soften the onions in the frying pan with a bit of butter before adding them. A great meal with a side of beans!

Speaking of kale, there are a few perennial varieties of kale you can get, Taunton Deane and Daubenton, you usually buy them as cuttings or plants, I bought a few cuttings online, I found the Taunton Deane was more successful. I have them in pots and just need to find a permanent spot for them in the garden, then hopefully endless kale! I'm planning to take my own cuttings and make more plants too, once they get established.

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[(Anonymous)]

I looked up the Sun Oven and it looks like a very nice solar oven, but it's also far too expensive for me to gamble on, since my inconvenient outdoor access would probably mean I rarely used it. Does anyone perhaps know of a place where one can get plans for a similar, even if materially inferior homemade version?

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[(Anonymous)]

I believe there is a description of how to construct one (plans aren't necessary, just principles that you can easily apply to nearly anything, and some guidelines on what works and what doesn't) in his book "Green Wizardry", starting on page 135 and going on in detail. :)

-- V.O.G

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[(Anonymous)]

plans are easy to find, you can do internet searches or look in the library for a book with a plan in it. I have seen an unused sun oven being sold used in my area. Some people may be selling their COVID era purchase, I would imagine they would have been bought in an area with moderate weather, good sun, medium to high disposable income -- I would imagine, people might have done so, too far for me to drive, but Danville, Alamo, possibly Walnut Creek, Napa, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, San Louis Obispo, and other usual suspects. Think about your state.

Here is one, its like 7 hours from me, but as I suspected, a craigs list search in the southern CA area turned one up, people usually take less than asking price https://orangecounty.craigslist.org/app/d/fountain-valley-all-american-sun-oven/7757450214.html

or this portable one, looks like made for backpacking or use by people one person, not alot of room. https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/for/d/santa-clara-portable-solar-oven/7759133393.html

I did a quick facebook marketplace search and turned up a SUN Oven, not used, asking $300, but also like 8 hours away in deep southern CA.

Marketplace has lots of various types, here is one in Sacramento, a 3 hour drive from me, $20 different brand and desiign https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/360513530066212/?ref=search&referral_code=null&referral_story_type=post&tracking=browse_serp%3A499a0c34-0faf-4177-bc23-c098277da513

ANd more of those portable ones with the tube at the focal point for less money

Do NOT buy any of this from craigs list or marketplace remotely and they send ! I would not trust that. But, do think if there are any areas in your part of the country or of the work were things are listed for sale. I buy were I drive and see it and pay in person when if pick up

Atmospheric River

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[(Anonymous)]

For other people who know they will use it, the price amoratizes well, especially for a time of rising energy prices, energy not being reliable in the heat, etc...

So, lets say you pay with tax and such as much as $600 ( I picked this price for easy math). Over 20 years of use, that is $30 a year, that is $2.50 a month over 12 months, but lets be realistic and say you use it half the year, 6 months a year, so $5 a month. I have found them to last a very long time, I do think 20 years is possible as I have seen 15 or 17 and counting on one, still going. $5 a month is not much money compared to energy prices for cooking with electirc in the house and heating up the house in summer and the comfort savings

Atmospheric River

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[(Anonymous)]

Of course, for my area in recent years, filled with PMC, they think the way to cook solar is to buy an induction range, some photovoltaic panels with microinverters, 2 or 3 Tesla power walls for power outages in the heat. Hey, there's a tax credit, dont ya know ? And, one of those see thru the door counter depth, ice maker $5k refrigerators, a heat pump electric water heater, a heat pump electric dryer.

The frugal way is to have a Grundfos flex well pump with a panel or two connected directly to it to go to your water tanks, pumps when the sun is out. A solar hot water heater. A clothsline or wooden drying rack. A Sun Oven for cooking at least half the year, when power is on or off, then if you have money, a very small system you can install yourself to power a regular energy star basic refrigerator(no ice maker, about 360kWh/year rating, that is 1kWh a day) and your communications. Back up everything with a wood stove.

Atmospheric River

Re: Solar oven summer recipes

[prayergardens]

So I went down this rabbit hole the other day after I saw the talk here on sun ovens.

I found a video of this guy, Haines, comparing a bunch, and then saw that he made his own which is about $100. He is a retired guy that volunteers for Rotary in other countries taking solar ovens to the poor so it seems like he knows what he is doing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsFrXjMA01M
https://hainessolarcookers.com/

Even after reading all that, I did decide to put out the money for the SunOven. I realized all of my off grid cooking and water purification methods are dependent on wood stoves and outdoor cooking over fire so I needed to get something else to diversify.

What sealed the deal for me on the SunOven was the higher and more reliable heat for water purification, the little hinged shelf that keeps things from spilling as you adjust the angle, the heartiness of the construction, and the fact that you could also use it as a dehydrator by propping open the door. I dry a lot of herbs and had been considering some sort of solar dryer. I learned all this on their website so actual use could change my opinion for sure. And yeah, it was pricey but water independence is a big priority for me right now. I got rain barrels last year so another way to clean drinking water is top of my to-do list. The cooking and keeping the house cooler is a super bonus.

Thanks to AtmosphericRiver! My SunOven arrives this week and I'm going to make a little table so I can put it on my backporch and use it right away.

Preserving eggplant and canning book

[michele7]

The Garden Gods blessed us with a bountiful crop of Japanese eggplant this year. I've given tons away, but was struggling with what to do with the excess. A search online and a peruse through my canning books led me to make and can ratatouille, eggplant pasta sauce, Madras pickled eggplant and eggplant chutney. Success!

So many canning recipes are for jars and jars of one recipe that it can be off putting to someone living alone or a small family. I can recommend The Complete Book of Year-Round Small-Batch Preserving by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. These canning recipes make 1-2 pints.