I have more pictures than words today, it seems, so today’s post will be a random collection of frugality-related photos.
This is a cup of mashed, cooked potato, frozen in a Chinese food take-out container (because I hate to part with my Pyrex!). I had some wrinkly potatoes, so I boiled them, mashed them, used 1 cup for a batch of potato bread, and froze the other cup for a future batch.
These are my rising loaves of potato bread, covered with a tea towel I got as a wedding gift almost 14 years ago. It’s getting a little ragged, but it still works.
This is another Pineapple Upside-Down cake that I made to use up some more of my pineapple. I was hoping it would be a winner, but I thought the cake to topping ratio was off on this one (too much cake). I prefer a shorter cake, I think.
I have a little more pineapple, so I may try the other recipe again with a few tweaks.
This is the clip I use to keep my brown sugar bag air-tight. I salvaged it from a birthday balloon one of my kids got some time ago….the telltale piece of leftover curling ribbon might have tipped you off to that.
This is about half of the mulch my neighbor gave to me (you can read more about that on today’s 365 post). Some potato bread served as my thanks to him. 😉
My muscles are sore, but I’m so pleased that all of my beds are mulched. This bed is populated with irises from Mr. FG’s aunt, a Yucca plant from my neighbor, and some sedum from a church friend.
When you can’t find the lid to one of your Pyrex containers, a cottage cheese lid just might work.
On Sunday night, I buttered some random, odd pieces of French bread, sprinkled them with cheese and pizza seasoning, and baked them until the cheese melted.
And Zoe helped me make popcorn, using our Whirly-Gig popcorn maker, which we picked up at our church’s sharing closet (where everything is free).
She really was having fun, but for some reason, she’s just lookin’ serious in a lot of my photos of her lately!
Oh, and I don’t have a picture of the finished product yet, but I updated this Goodwill pot a bit. And no, I didn’t paint it black. 😉
And that’s the last photo I have for you this Tuesday.
Ok, one more, just for fun.
Hope your day is sunny!
Today’s 365 post: Mulching Helpers
Joshua’s 365 post: Little Picnic
Barb @ 1SentenceDiary
Saturday 23rd of April 2011
Yay for Whirly-Gig popcorn makers! We got ours at a church rummage sale that we happened to notice as we were passing by. We love how the popcorn always comes out very light and evenly cooked.
But no popcorn for us this week, while we are celebrating Passover. Just talking about it is making my mouth water.
Randi
Thursday 21st of April 2011
Cook's Illustrated has an amazing pineapple upside down cake. Ive made it numerous times. There should be a pic on my blog. Its seriously so good and there is a ginger/coconut version too.
Sarah
Tuesday 19th of April 2011
I just use all of that stuff until it cracks and recycle it. Good work. Thanks for the tips. If you hurt you can soak in epsom salts for cheap and that will take care of it. Take care.
Tina (Tightwad Mom)
Tuesday 19th of April 2011
Mmm! Frugality is fabulous!!!! I make it a game to see what I can reuse or improvise with to get the job done. I am currently using clothes pins for bag clips (I have extra from a Buy One Get, One Free deal). I am also using empty plastic ice cream buckets for Easter baskets this year. My kid's are going to decorate them with leftover scrapbook paper and stickers I found at a salvage store. and I'm using shredded paper from our paper shredder in place of Easter grass (then I'll dump it in the compost bin). Thanks Kristin, I love all your great ideas for saving money!!!!!!!!!
Karen
Tuesday 19th of April 2011
Lucky you, with the mulch. Where I live you have to pay (lots) for a yard waste disposal bin that gets picked up like garbage and recycleables, so you pay again, then the municipality composts it and sells it back to you. Needless to say, I refused the bin, even though I still have to pay for it and the pick up, because I won't use it and don't need it in my yard, so I won't be buying any mulch from them. I compost my own and it takes quite a while to accumulate the amount you have. I'll have to look around for other sources as they do exist.