The Art of Leftover Wizardry

I first published this post to Living the Low-Income Life on the 13th of this month. Older children can easily throw together a simple meal with these ideas.

On page 133 of Amy Dycyzynz book The Complete Tightwad Gazette, she discusses the art of leftover wizardry. This is an important concept when trying to live frugally.

She mentions things like:

• Using leftovers for lunches.
• Keeping a soup container in the freezer.
• Pot luck nights.

When freezing leftovers, I tend to do three things:

1. Freeze leftover vegetables in 1 container.
2. Freeze leftover meats in another container.
3. Freeze vegetable, meat and pasta juice in another container.

With these three containers of food, I can make a variety of foods:

1. Casseroles
2. Sauces
3. Cat Stew (for our kitties)
4. Soups/stews
5. Mini meatloaf

What ideas can you come up with?

Shannon

Spiced Tea

I am a tea lover, incase you haven’t figured that out yet. I love drinking hot tea on cold teas, cold tea on hot days. Tea is good for you. Tea is yummy. While this is not one of my favorite recipes, it is sometimes cheaper to make it than to buy good tea bags.

Ingredients:

2 c water

1 c tang/orange drink

1 c instant tea mix

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1. Combine everything.
2. Mix with hot water according to your liking.

Shannon

Cappuccino

Here is another coffee recipe for your enjoyment. Again, this can be used as a gift for a coffee lover.

Ingredients:

1 c nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c coffee grounds, instant

1/2 tsp orange peel, crushed well

1. Mix it all together.
2. Put through the blender.
3. Use 2 Tbsp per 1 cup of hot water.

Shannon

Swiss Mocha

Here is another mocha recipe for coffee lovers. This recipe can be used as a gift for coffee lovers as well.

Ingredients:

1 c nonfat dry milk powder

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c coffee grounds, instant

2 Tbsp cocoa

1. Mix it all together.
2. Put through the blender.
3. Use 2 Tbsp for each 4 ounces of hot water.

Shannon

Mocha Espresso

Many people enjoy mocha. Even though I am not one of those people, I am offering up this recipe to you. It can actually be found on page 128 of Amy Dycyzyns The Complete Tightwad Gazette.

Ingredients:

4 1/2 c nonfat dry milk

1 c coffee grounds, instant

1 c sugar

1/2 c cocoa

1. Mix it all together.
2. Put through the blender.
3. Use 2 Tbsp for each small cup of hot water.

This is another mix that would make a great gift for a coffee lover.

Shannon

Cafe Vienna

My daughter, Zowie, loves coffee. I do not. Well, I love the smell of the grounds, and I love the smell of the coffee when it is percolating, but it makes breath smell stinky and I do not like the taste of it.

For those who do:

Ingredients:

2/3 c sugar

2/3 c nonfat dry milk powder

1/2 c coffee grounds, instant

1/2 to 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix it all together.
2. Put through the blender.
3. Mix about 2 tsp of this with a cup of hot water.

This mix would make a great gift for any coffee lover.

Shannon

Syrup

Syrup is great on pancakes, waffles and french toast. We do not ea these foods often, but it is nice to have a recipe on hand for syrup when we decide that we want to.

This recipe can be reduced to what you need. This is an easy one for children and teens who do not need much supervision.

Ingredients:

3 c. sugar

1 1/2 c. water

3 Tbsp molasses (You may like more or less)

1 tsp vanilla

q tsp maple extract (you can experiment with this as well)

• Put everything a pot and bring to a good rolling boil. Be sure sugar is dissolved.
• Stir often.
• Turn off burner.
• Leave pot on burner until it is no longer bubbling.

Shannon

Frugal Recipes Goals for 2010

I have goals for this blog that I hope I will be able to accomplish this year.

Frugal Recipes Goals:

1. Update this site.
2. Write eBooks containing all recipes up to December 31st, 2009.
3. Clear the site of old posts to make room for new posts.
4. Add more links to places that can help people during hard times.

Happy New Year!

Shannon

Frugal Kitchen Goals for 2010

2009 is on its’ way out, and 2010 is right around the corner. I always take the first day of the new year off to reflect on the previous year, figure out what I want to accomplish in the new year and create my goals list.

What are your frugal kitchen goals for 2010? How do you intend to go about accomplishing these goals? Feel free to let us know in the comments of this post, or post them on your own blog. You can even post a link to your blog post here if you would like.

Perhaps you want to purchase a slowcooker in order to use less energy when cooking. Maybe you want to start creating menus.

Be sure to post these goals in a prominent place in your kitcen, so that you can see them every day. This will help to keep you motivated to accomplish the goals throughout the year.

Happy New Year!

Shannon L. Buck

Leftover Ham: Pocket Sandwich

Here is another idea for eating up leftover ham. You can make pita bread sandwiches. My daughter, Zowie, loves pita bread sandwiches.

Ingredients:

pita bread, cut in half

ham, diced

mayo

shredded cabbage and/or lettuce and/or fresh spinach

shredded carrot

1. Mix the ham with may.
2. Add the vegetables and mix again.
3. Spoon the mixture into pita pockets.

Notes:

Feel free to substitute ingredients for what you have on hand.

You could try dressing rather than mayo.

Adults will want to dice and shred ingredients for young children.

Shannon