diy drain cleaner

This morning, my bathtub drain was so clogged that by the time I finished taking a short shower, I was up to my ankles in water. Gross!

Instead of buying something toxic, or waiting for my husband to snake it out, I tried this green and budget friendly alternative to Liquid Plumr and Drano:

Remove the drain screen (if you have one). Pack 1/4 cup salt, then 1/4 cup Borax into the drain opening. Pour 1/2 cup vinegar over it, follow with a kettle of boiling water. Let it sit for a bit. Don't worry if it's backed up, it should eventually go down. Once it clears, flush it with hot water and it should be right as rain :)

Best housekeeping discovery of 2009!

general tso's tofu

1 package tofu (regular, firm, or extra firm)

2 T cornstarch
3/8 cup sugar
1 - 2 clove(s) garlic, pressed
2 T water
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T white vinegar
2 T white wine
1 cup vegetable stock
3 scallions, sliced
1 T minced ginger
6 - 8 dried chili peppers (remove seeds for a mild sauce)
1/2 lb. broccoli, cooked
oil for frying

Drain and press tofu. Cut it into cubes and deep fry until it's golden brown (about 5-6 minutes). I use corn oil in a Fry Daddy, but you can also do it in a few inches of oil heated to 350 degrees in a frying pan. Be careful not to cook it for too long, or else it will be tough. I rinse mine with hot water and drain it on paper towels to cut down on the fat content.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch, sugar, garlic, water, soy sauce, vinegar, white wine, and veggie stock. Set it aside.

Add a bit of oil (vegetable, canola, or corn) to a wok and heat over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, ginger, and peppers. Saute for a minute or so, then give the sauce a good stir and add it to the wok. Cook it until the the sauce becomes thick and clear, then add the tofu and broccoli and cook until it's heated through.

I like to serve this over brown rice. If you prefer crispy tofu, you can dip it in egg or egg substitute, then coat it with cornstarch before frying.

arroz sin pollo

On Sunday afternoons, I like to make a dish that Jeff and I can eat for lunches in the coming week.

I try to make things that are interesting and satisfying enough that we won't be dreading lunchtime come Wednesday, or worse yet, end up blowing money on lunch out. I also like to keep the cost to a minimum (of course). In the winter this usually means a rice and bean dish, soup, or chili of some sort.

This week, it was arroz sin pollo, an inexpensive and nutritious dish that I made in the crockpot!

1 medium onion, chopped

1 carrot, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 t oregano
1/2 t cumin
1/8 t turmeric
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable stock
1 red or green pepper, chopped
1 cup frozen green beans
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas (or one 15.5 oz can, drained)
1 cup white or brown rice, cooked
3/4 cup salsa
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/3 cup sliced green olives
salt & pepper to taste
olive oil

Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and carrot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, cumin, and turmeric and cook another 2 minutes.

Transfer the cooked veggies to a crockpot that's been sprayed with cooking spray, and add everything except the rice, salsa, peas, and olives. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.

15 minutes before serving, stir in the remaining ingredients, cover and continue cooking until most of the liquid is absorbed by the rice.

homemade laundry detergent

In the interest of spending less on something boring and consumable, I started making my own laundry detergent.

At first I thought it sounded a little crazy, but now I can't imagine handing over $10 in exchange for jug of soap. What a rip off! Especially when you can make your own for less than $.25/gallon :)

You will need:

1/2 - 1 bar of soap
1 cup washing soda (it's in the laundry aisle)
1/2 cup borax
hot water
5 gallon bucket with a lid
stirring stick

Pretty much any bar of soap will work; I use Ivory, Fels Naptha, or Zote. Fels Naptha and Zote are bar laundry soaps found in the laundry aisle. I prefer Zote because it's pink and the bars are giant so I can make 2 batches!

I'm super frugal, so I reused this cat litter bucket instead of buying one, and I raided the stirring stick from my husband's scrap wood pile:

Here's how you can save the money you were blindly handing over to Proctor & Gamble, for something a little more exciting...

Grate the soap (I use my food processor). You'll need a full bar for each batch (half a bar if you're using Zote).

In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a near boil. Add the grated soap and stir until it's completely dissolved:

While the soap is dissolving, measure 48 cups of hot water into the bucket (if you have a milk jug handy, that's about 3 gallons). I marked the water level on the bucket with a Sharpie so I don't have to measure anymore.

Add the hot, soapy water to the bucket and stir it for a few minutes, then add the washing soda and stir for a few more minutes, then add the Borax and stir for a few more minutes (about 5-6 minutes total stirring time). When you're done with all that stirring it should look something like this:

Put the lid on it, and let it cool overnight. The next morning, it should have congealed. Give it a good stir and it should look something like this:


Use 1/2 to 1 cup per load. This is a low sudsing soap and should be fine in HE machines.

favorite things - my sewing space

I'd been dreaming of a window seat for this delightful little nook in my bedroom, but it turned out to be the perfect space for my sewing table!

It's out of the way, and I'll be able to look out at my gardens:

I've been sewing on this Singer machine since I was 12, and have been lugging it around since college. I thought it was broken forever, but my husband fixed it and now it sews like a dream.

With a couple coats of paint, my old make-up table will make a perfect sewing table. The chair is part of a vintage Bali-Hai bedroom set I bought at auction for $70.

I recently inherited another sewing machine, a pile of fabric, and a lifetime of sewing supplies, so I've rediscovered my beloved hobby for the cost of a little paint :)

teriyaki sauce

One of the great things about cooking from scratch is that a well stocked pantry yields nearly infinite combinations of foods. I rarely buy pre-made sauces because I can make them better from scratch at a huge savings.

This is the teriyaki sauce I use for my tempeh "cheesesteak" sandwiches. It's a thick sauce and might not be suitable for marinating meats, but it's wonderful for stir fries, grilling, dipping, etc.

1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
1/2 t ground ginger
5 T light brown sugar, firmly packed
2 T honey
2 T cornstarch
1/4 cup cold water

In a medium saucepan, whisk together everything but the cornstarch and 1/4 cup cold water and cook over medium-high heat.

Whisk together the cornstarch and cold water in a seperate dish until the cornstarch is dissolved. Immediately add it to the heating sauce mixture.

Continue to heat, stirring often until the sauce turns clear and is a consistency you like. The sauce will be cloudy when you first add the cornstarch mixture.

I store leftover sauce in the refrigerator in a Mason Jar. It thickens because of the cornstarch, but I just give it a quick whisk before measuring. The consistency improves once it's reheated.

While the cost of a batch of this sauce is negligible, a small bottle of prepared teriyaki would run me close to $3.

tempeh "cheesesteak" sandwiches

I've read several articles bemoaning how "difficult" it is to eat healthfully in the current economy. This is a complete and total myth, and one I wish the media would stop perpetuating. Sure, many prefer the taste and ease of fast food and junk food, but are those really the only choices we have when faced with tight grocery budgets? Of course not!

One of my favorite quick and inexpensive meals is tempeh "cheesesteak" sandwiches:

1/4 cup teriyaki sauce (I make my own, HFCS again!)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
8 ounces tempeh
1 onion
1 green pepper
10 oz mushrooms (I like baby bellas)
olive oil
bread or tortillas
provolone (optional)

Whisk together the teriyaki sauce and balsamic vinegar in a small bowl.

Slice the tempeh as thinly as possible along the short side. Add the tempeh to the marinade, stir to coat, and set aside.

Thinly slice the onion, green pepper, and mushrooms.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add a bit of olive oil. Add the veggies and cook until they begin to caramelize.

Add the tempeh and the marinade. Continue to cook until the liquid is absorbed and the tempeh is heated through.

I serve this in crusty bread or tortillas. I like mine without cheese, but I'm sure it's also delicious with a few slices of provolone melted under the broiler. A little bit of steak sauce makes it even more delicious ;)

Now doesn't that look better than one of those dollar menu sandwiches?

This recipe makes enough for 4-5 sandwiches. Tempeh is rich in fiber, which means it will keep you feeling full longer than the average fast food meal. At less than 225 calories and 3.7 grams of fat, 4 ounces of tempeh provides around 42% of the RDA of protein.

8 ounces of organic tempeh runs $1.69 at Trader Joes. Who says you can't eat healthfully in this economy?

countdown to spring

It's snowing again and I'm so ready for spring! According to Punxsutawney Phil we've got slightly under 5 weeks to go :(

The good news is that gives me plenty of time to get my garden plans in order. I placed the last of my seed orders tonight. Soon, the fun begins!

Introducing my 2009 veggie garden line-up:

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Celery
• Cucumbers (pickling & slicing)
• Lettuce (iceberg, romaine, spring mix)
• Bush Beans
• Radishes
• Squash ( zucchini & yellow)
• Onions (red & green)
• Peppers (mild & hot chilis, red & green)
• Tomatoes (cherry, grape, early, slicing & paste)

I'm going to keep my herb garden simple this year:

• Basil
• Chives
• Dill
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Rosemary
  

The reason for that is that I'm going to grow a tea garden:

• Bee Balm
• Catnip
• Chamomile
• Lavender
• Lemon Balm
• Spearmint
• Stevia

I thought it would be fun (and frugal) to grow and blend my own herbal teas! I'm also going to grow a couple types of edible flowers, which will be awesome in salads!

I'll be using the square foot gardening method again this year, I had great success with it last year. Since I've got less than 1/4 acre to work with (.22 to be exact) I have to make every foot count!

Square foot gardening uses a mix of vermiculite, peat moss, and compost in raised beds, which are divided into 1' x 1' squares. Large plants take up several squares, smaller plants may be planted up to 16 plants to a square.

Some people look down their noses at this method, some even call it "eccentric", but after seeing the amount of organic produce I got out of 64 square feet of growing space, I call it "smart". And like I care if people think I'm eccentric!

I'm expanding my growing area this year and possibly adding an electric fence so I don't have to split my tomato crop 20/80 with the squirrels. I'd love to can enough tomatoes, salsa, and ketchup to escape Monsanto and HFCS for most of the coming year. I'll also be pickling, freezing, and possibly drying some of the other produce.

Here's a photo of last year's first harvest. It wasn't much, but I sure was proud :)


I'm also planning a berry patch and flower beds, but more on those later :)

keeping warm

Have I mentioned that it's freezing in my house?

We've added insulation to the attic, had insulation blown into the walls, and installed new storm doors, but still, it's frigid in here!

I think it's because the radiators are set into the walls so most of the heat escapes out the back vs. radiates into the room. Someday (when the mortgage is paid off) we might replace the radiators.

In the meantime, I've made this nifty rice bag:

It's filled with lavender scented rice and has a removable, washable cover. I pop it in the microwave for 4 minutes, and it keeps me warm for over an hour! It's also fab for preheating the bed before getting in at night; by the time it cools down, I'm in dreamland :)

I've listed one in my Shop, and can whip one up in pretty much any color combo your heart desires!

more playa mujeres

The blessing and curse of digital photography is the volume of photos I find myself sifting through. I've finally gone through all of them and have a few more to share...

I've been struggling with what to do decor-wise in my home office and was inspired by the colors in this room. My palatte with be cream, gold, and purple. Elegant, modern, gorgeous!

The Martini Bar, where they made the most delicious gin fizzes
(and mango martinis)

The lazy river that ran through the resort.

It was freezing cold :(

The beautiful Mexican moon.
(how Concrete Blonde!)

The seemingly endless stretch of undeveloped beach.

Paparazzi caught me on my way to cocktail hour.
(this is the most you'll probably see of me)

I promise my next post will be back on topic! There are garden plans, seed starting, sewing projects, and lots and lots of new recipes...

back from playa mujeres

We were driven through 3 guarded gates, and greeted with champagne and cold towels.

The resort was 5 star all the way and set on a private 2 mile stretch of beach, which was a beautiful walk.

It was exactly what my tropical fantasy beach looks like.

When I took my first look at the Jamaican beach where I was to be married almost nine years ago, I cursed Photoshop. This beach looked better than the website!

I spent most of my days sipping Tangueray and Tonics in a cabana and catching up on my reading.

I read several books, but the most memorable was Escape by Carolyn Jessop. It details her life and escape from the FLDS and is a read I won't soon forget. It reminded me of how lucky I am to have the freedom to choose my path in life. It might've even made me enjoy my vacation a little more.

There were 8 restaurants, none of which required reservations, one of which served only lobster. This is unusual for all inclusive resorts, most of which use the reservation system to control costs.

The wine was surprisingly drinkable, and the service was attentive; they were practically mindreaders. One of my favorite places at night was the beach bar, which was breathtaking place to relax and watch the moon over the water.

I enjoyed every minute of luxury to the fullest, but I'm happy to be back to simplicity...and my cats :)

in fewer than 24 hours

I'll be here:

First vacation in 5 years, I can't wait!!!

fresh from the oven

Here's my first attempt at making bread. I took this photo not even 15 minutes after it came out of the oven:

I declare it a smashing success :)

homemade vitamin c serum

I first tried Vitamin C serum as anti-aging treatment last year. I loved the results but hated the price, so what's a frugalista to do?

Make my own, of course :)

I've been making this for little over a year, mixing a fresh batch once every few weeks, and I still haven't had to rebuy the ingredients, which cost less than one over-packaged bottle of the premade stuff.

Improve your complexion on a dime:

Add 1/4 t l-ascorbic acid, 1/2 t propylene glycol (or glycerin if you have very dry skin), and 2 t distilled water to a blue or amber bottle. Shake vigorously for a few minutes, then shake a couple times an hour until the powder dissolves.

This will give you an approximately 10% solution. If you have sensitive skin, or are in doubt, cut back on the l-ascorbic acid.

I buy my ingredients from The Personal Formulator, and my bottles from Specialty Bottle; I suggest a 1/2 oz bottle with a dropper for this serum.

Do not double the recipe. Vitamin C can become oxidized as it sits and may cause free radicals to form. It' s important that you mix a fresh batch every few weeks. I keep mine in the fridge.

personal values

I was very fortunate this past fall to work with a talented life coach.

The most valuable thing I’ve taken away from that experience is a list of my personal values. I keep copies of this list at work and at home, and try to honor these values in everything I do. I’ve learned that if I’m upset about something, it’s most likely because I feel that one of my values has been compromised. Knowing this and identifying it early on helps me to correct my course and let go of whatever is bringing me down.

These are my values:

Control/Stability/Order

Having spent part of my childhood without predictable meals and sometimes without heat, electricity, or even a place to call home, it’s no surprise that as an adult, I crave stability and order. Unfortunately, this has translated into me being a control freak. Knowing this helps me keep it in check.

Freedom

This is probably the most important of all of my values. The two areas most important to me are financial freedom, and remaining childfree. We’ll be completely debt free (including the house) at age 35 and I can’t imagine anything more freeing than not having to worry about the economy, job stability or any of the related stuff that keeps me from feeling free to follow my bliss.

Accomplishment/Effectiveness/Excellence/Closure
I’m a perfectionist in everything I do. If I haven’t done my best, even if it’s “good enough,” I feel empty. I need to finish things. There's not much that bugs me more than not finishing what I’ve started. When I’m feeling stressed out, it’s generally because I have too many unfinished things in my life. Perfectionism coupled with control freak tendencies is horrible burden, but I’m making it work :)

Activism
I don’t accept things at face value because “that just the way it is”. I believe that what I buy or don’t buy and where I shop or don’t shop makes a difference. I believe in writing to companies, governments, etc. and asking them to change things I’d like to see changed. I believe that change begins with one person who's willing to go about it in a constructive way. I do not believe in complaining and accepting the status quo.

Green Living/Frugality/Simplicity
I checked out of consumerism a few years ago and I’m better for it. I enjoy gardening, cooking and baking from scratch, sewing, and keeping a home much more than I ever enjoyed shopping, amassing stuff, and wasting hours in front of the TV. Collecting knowledge instead of stuff seems a bit radical at times, but it’s given me a richer life.

Domestic Bliss

Because so much of my life is centered around my home, it’s important to me that it be clean, orderly, pretty, and well run. Yes, this is kind of a throwback to the 50’s, but I think of myself more as a post-feminist domestic diva than a subservient housewife (I also have a career). I cook dinner from scratch almost every night, bake fresh bread, muffins, cookies, and cakes, and prepare homemade lunches to-go. I could pay someone clean my house, but why? I find satisfaction in making my home a comfortable place.

Accountability/Candor/Commitment
A boss once told me that I’m “accountable to a fault”. If I tell you I’m going to do something, I’ll do it come hell or high water. If I screw up, I own it. Yep, that was I who dumped a chunk of our life savings into the S&P 500 right before it tanked. It was a bad decision. I’m honest. Maybe too honest. Don’t ask me questions you don’t really want answered.

Nonconformity
I don’t strive for nonconformity, but I don’t value conformity. Being largely cut off from TV and marketing is an interesting thing. I don’t have anything to emulate. I don’t really know what I should want or how I should dress. As a result, I’m just me and that’s why knowing my values is so important, it gives me a roadmap to my best life.

Even if you don’t have a life coach, I think it’s important to identify and honor the values that are most important to you. What do you value?

tea cosy

Keeping tea hot in January in a drafty house with granite counters is nearly impossible, so I made a tea cosy.

Then I fell in love with making tea cosies and didn't want to stop, so now I'm selling them in my Etsy shop :)

perfect winter lunch

I started the crockpot when I woke up this morning. By noon, I had a steaming pot of delicious homemade potato soup!

Warm your soul:

6 potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
1 medium/large onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
5 cups vegetable stock
1 T dried parsley
1 T salt
1/3 cup butter
1 cup non-fat dry milk
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Combine everything but the milk and water in a crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 3-4 hours.

In the last hour of cooking, whisk together the water and dry milk. Add it to the crockpot.

When the soup is fully cooked, puree about 3/4 of the vegetables in a blender or food processor and return to the pot.

I'm fancy, so I sprinkled some dried chives on top of each dish before unveiling. However, I wasn't fancy enough to bake bread today :(

I made 3 quarts of this soup for under $2. I was able to find 5 lbs. of Maine all purpose potatoes for $.99 on the reduced for quick sale shelf. I make my own vegetable stock, then save the spent veggies for my vermicomposter.

12 oz of evaporated milk will work in place of the reconstituted dry milk. 4 vegetable bouillon cubes and 5 cups of water will work in place of the stock.