1. I finally used up my protein pasta
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve been on a mission to use up my stupid chickpea protein pasta from Aldi.
I did not appreciate the taste or the texture of this pasta, but since it was made of nothing but chickpeas, I figured it did have some redeeming nutritional quality, and thus deserved to be eaten.
(This is different than, say, freezer-burnt ice cream. I’d get rid of that in a heartbeat.)
I dumped the rest of the pasta in a pot with boiling water and salt, cooked it, and then went to work.
First, I tried marinating some of it overnight in Italian dressing to make a chicken pasta salad with vegetables. But somehow, after an overnight soak in dressing, it got…harder?
(How is this possible?)
There IS pasta underneath all that
I ate it, but I did not have fun.
Then I decided to make a cheese sauce, mix the pasta in, and top it with panko bread crumbs for a baked mac and cheese.
This was marginally better because the pasta was hot and also because a cheesy sauce rarely makes things worse. Same goes for buttered bread crumbs.
I ate some at dinner, then ate some in a packed lunch at work, ate the rest in an at-home lunch and now….it is finished.
Ohhh, look at that happy sight! No more pasta!
I will not be buying chickpea pasta again.
Why?
- I can eat gluten, so why not eat gluten-full pasta?
- There are other ways to get protein and fiber, most of them vastly more enjoyable than this
- I don’t even love pasta that much. If I had to choose between 1) no pasta and 2) chickpea pasta, then I’d just choose a pasta-free life.
I don’t regret eating it, exactly, because I did avoid food waste, and I did eat some protein and fiber.
I just don’t wanna do this again. Ever.
(Update: A friend gave me some pasta salad using Barilla protein pasta and it was actually good! But that’s because the Barilla protein pasta actually has flour in it, along with other things like pea protein. So, I may buy the Barilla version in the future, but I will NEVER again buy pasta that is 100% chickpea flour.)
2. I got a stool from Facebook Marketplace
I recently rearranged some of my bedroom furniture, and ended up taking a chair out and putting my little trash-picked green table in its place.
After taking the chair out, I realized I did want a sitting option of some kind, but it needed to be super small.
So I poked around Facebook Marketplace and found what is basically a short bar stool.
Now I have a little spot to sit and put on my compression socks, but there’s still plenty of room to walk by.
Snoopy is demonstrating, minus the compression socks
I paid $15 for mine, but honestly, the main advantage is that by buying used, I didn’t need to buy two; these stools generally seem to come in sets, and I only wanted one!
3. I made an error and then corrected it
As I was buying digital books for my new bachelor’s degree class, I made an error and bought the wrong one (basically, I bought the no-frills version, and I needed the deluxe one for this class.)
I was getting a little flustered trying to figure all of this class stuff out, and I almost wanted to let this error go. But I made the call to customer service and woohoo, they were able to refund me for the no-frills version.
I’m patting myself on the back for making the phone call I didn’t want to make, especially since this error was worth over $100.
4. I planted my green onion ends
As I was meal prepping and using up my green onions, I saved the rooted ends and stuck them in a pot out front.
They grow crazy fast…look at them after just a few days!
5. I froze my spinach and bananas
My last Hungry Harvest box blessed me with an awful lot of spinach. So, to prevent waste, I washed and froze some of it for future use in smoothies.
I also sliced up and froze two bananas that were getting vaguely spotty. Since even a millimeter past “vaguely spotty” is a no-go for me, it’s better for me to freeze them before they get any more ripe!
silicone pan liner is from Aldi, many years ago
Then I can throw them in smoothies or make banana chocolate “ice cream”.
a reused plastic bag OF COURSE
Isa
Wednesday 27th of August 2025
* Got a very nice 400$ surprise in my bank account this morning, payment for a Yahoo Breach settlement that I applied for and forgot about!
* I *think* I want to attempt a 100$ groceries challenge for September. We have a lot of food at home already, and I keep buying more and more... This is a problem. Limiting ourselves to 100$ for the next month would force us to use what we already have on hands. (gotta get the hubby onboard)
* Needed a new sofa to replace the urine smelling one (thanks, dog!). Did not want to buy a new one in case the dog has more accidents, and I don't buy second hand upholstered items (scared of bed bugs). Then I thought about the very old and ugly, but sturdy and comfy sofa in my basement. Bought a 65$ sofa cover, moved it upstairs, sent out the smelly one (garbage) and voila!
* Took an extra shift to cover for the shift I am missing at work next week due to the long weekend (labor day)
* Still reading a lot and using my public library and free piles to do so. I meet my yearly target of 50 books this morning :)
DebbieR
Tuesday 26th of August 2025
1. Made pumpkin muffins from frozen pumpkin puree from pumpkins bought on sale last year. Then made granola using up ingredients from the pantry while the oven was still hot/on. We'll be good for breakfast for a little while. 2. Son cleaned out his drawers and I was able to give away a bunch of his outgrown, but still in good shape socks on Buy Nothing. 3. Son planned to see a movie this weekend so I was able to use up a Cinemark gift card (won from a trivia game) for 2/3 of the price and he only had to pay $5. 4. After not buying anything from Amazon for long time, I had to concede and buy something my son needs for school. They offered me a month of free Prime, which I took, so that I didn't have to make the $35 threshold for free shipping. Now my husband is using Prime to watch/catch up on shows he likes for the next few weeks. I have it marked on my calendar to cancel by the end of the month-long trial! 5. Using my craft supplies to make a wedding card for a friend's wedding this weekend.
Frugal fail: For the aforementioned wedding, I had planned to wear something I already had, but when I went to try it on, found that it no longer fit me. :( At my age, I haven't attended a wedding for over 5 years. After trying on all my nice dresses, nothing fit well, so I had to concede that I needed to buy something new to wear. Was able to find something online with free shipping that I've been sort of eyeing but now hoping that it will arrive on time by Saturday!
Katy @ Practical Walk
Tuesday 26th of August 2025
I do that with green onions too! And celery.
1. Found a penny on my walk. 2. Fed my family clearance brussel sprouts. 3. Saved 2 boxes I can use to mail ebay items. 4. Snapped my receipt for fetch rewards. 5. Made homemade granola bars.
Jaime
Tuesday 26th of August 2025
Let's see...this week I...
1) was lucky to score an indoor bicycle trainer on buy-nothing. We are planning an upcoming movie to a state that has longer winters and much snow. This will help me to stay active when I can't be outside. 2) bought plums in bulk and got a discount...went from $90 to $63 3) got boxes from the liquor store for packing up some of our stuff 4) picked up some reduced for quick sale meats
That's all I've got
Jan
Tuesday 26th of August 2025
We are weird in our family in that we prefer the white ends of the green onions (minus the roots) to the green tops. So I never have enough of the green onion left to plant the root end.
OTOH, my daughter cuts off the asparagus tips and eats the stalks. I much prefer the tips, and I like teasing her by calling her "Morticia". For you youngsters, the original Addams Family sit com often showed Morticia (the mom in the show) cutting off roses and displaying the thorns. So I guess we all belong in the Addams family for liking the white ends of scallions ;o)
In terms of frugality, we are exploring 101 ways to prepare zucchini to use up our CSA baseball bat-sized zuchs. And the same with bowling ball sized cabbages. But it was nearly impossible to come up with strategies to use up 1 1/2 lbs of lettuce from our CSA. I'm not a huge fan of lettuce salads, but even if I was that's a LOT of lettuce.
Joan from Dublin, Ireland
Tuesday 26th of August 2025
@Jan, that's not weird - I prefer the white ends of the green onions (scallions) too!