Five Frugal Things | Squishable Beets
1. I roasted my squishable beets
I am sorry to say that two large beets sat, forgotten, at the back of my fridge until they became so dry that they were squishy. They felt almost like one of those foam toys that kids love (you know, the one shaped like food).
Luckily, the beets were not actually rotten...just dry. Very dry.
My eat-my-fridge-down efforts left me with a veggie supply of those two beets and three carrots, though, so I was kinda forced to do something with them.
I sliced, oiled, salted, and roasted them, so, yay me!
Look: even before roasting, they were so squishable, I could bend the slices. Raw beets are not normally bendable. 😉
2. I went to a free concert
There's an annual outdoor September symphony, which is free to anyone, so I didn't even need my student discount to go.
Sometimes the weather is terribly hot, and I do not bother going, but this year, it was lovely! So I went.
I almost stayed home because I always have piles of homework that I could do, but I reminded myself that life feels more full when you do at least an occasional thing that is fun and interesting.
And I was really glad I went!
3. I packed some food for the concert
They have food trucks at the event, but I decided to just bring a peanut butter and honey sandwich plus some grapes.
And my metal water bottle, of course.
4. I used my roasted tomatoes and onions
I did this before my freezer inventory, actually! I had some roasted tomatoes and onions in the freezer; I think I'd roasted them to rescue them from nearly getting wasted, and then I stuck them in the freezer.
But the other night I thawed them, blended them up, added some milk and seasonings, and then I had a bowl of tomato soup.
5. I juiced my limes
I had some elderly limes in my fridge, so I grated the zest and froze it.
Then I juiced the limes and froze the juice in my little tiny ice cube container.
I transferred them to a bag, labeled 'em, and I will do my best to remember to grab them when I next need lime juice.
(I realize this is slightly counter to my freezer challenge, since I'm adding something to the freezer! But the other option was to let the limes go bad, and we can't have that. 😉 )
Lemons and limes add a lot of taste to all kinds of foods, so I like to have them on stock, fresh or frozen.
This week I
-- used the water of the de-humidifier to water some outdoor plants
-- made and canned several portions of pasta sauce for later meals
-- went to an exhibition in a nearby town, on free senior citizen transport and no entrance fee since I am a museum card holder
-- used a gift card to buy a slightly bigger lunch/cooler bag. It came with cool packs, of which I now have too many so I will give some away
-- used a store specific gift card for a scarf in my colour scheme
-- de-crystallized some honey
-- Freezer challenge: made an easiest ever banana bread using frozen bananas, and adding frozen oranic orange zest, and a handful of old and slightly bitter walnuts. The recipe used oats as well, which I always have on hand. The bread was so good, I am making a mental note to always zest and freeze organic oranges going forward. It was just the flavour that made the difference in this recipe!
1. I also had a "life feels more full when you do at least an occasional thing that is fun and interesting" outing that I was a little stressed about heading into, but ended up being really glad we went... we took a day trip to Lake Michigan when the kids were off school Friday. We packed both lunch and dinner (that was the biggest part of the stress - planning food when my time was short) and even avoided buying any snacks. Takeout for five is pricey, so I'm glad it worked out.
2. You know what my 10yo son enjoyed playing with the most at the beach? An empty Gatorade bottle that he found on a sand dune. I had initially looked for something fun to buy in the Meijer clearance section of summer toys, but I'm glad I didn't spend the money. He had a blast with that bottle.
3. I worked a lot of extra hours last week. I was looking for extra income and they were looking for extra help and it was a great match.
4. I said, "Yes, thank you!" when a friend asked if I wanted a couple of garbage bags full of clothes for my son. There were a lot of things he's excited to wear and we have a few things to pass on to other people.
5. I am also trying to use things from my freezer, so I'm really glad you're doing a freezer challenge! I might not go as intensely as you (though maybe I'll change my mind and I will), but I am looking forward to the frequent reminder to do it. I made a ham on Sunday and got out some pork to make pork chops on Thursday.