Saturday, January 30, 2016

Honey Mustard Roasted Fennel and Cabbage Wedges- Paleo, Vegan Options

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I sometimes feel funny posting recipes like this because they're so simple, however we had guests last night for dinner and I served this, and it was a hit, and that reminded me that dishes don't have to be fancy or full of expensive ingredients to be delicious.
In fact, sometimes the simplest ones are the tastiest ones.

This recipe is both vegan and paleo as well as allergy friendly. And did I mention it was very easy to make?

Since I was gifted both the cabbage and the fennel bulbs, this dish was nearly free, but even if you weren't gifted them, being cold weather crops they are a very cheap dish to make.

Honey Mustard Roasted Fennel and Cabbage Wedges- Paleo, Vegan Options

Friday, January 29, 2016

Making My Own Homemade Fancy Tablecloth For Cheap


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I have this thing about tablecloths. Tables look so much nicer with a good tablecloth... and with a bad tablecloth, not so much. We have a few tablecloths at home already, but most of them got ruined because of spills and such, but even to begin with, they didn't really add to the home decor, since they weren't the color or style that I liked.

When I decided to redecorate my home on a budget, making the biggest changes possible on as low a budget as possible, without painting the walls or doing anything to the actual house itself since we're moving at home point in the near future, a friend recommended that the largest pieces of furniture- the couches and the table, should be with the colors that I like for the biggest effect, and I knew she was right.
I didn't want an orange tablecloth or blue tablecloth, since I wanted to reserve those colors for accents, since I wanted the bright splashes of color but not too much of the bright, because I wanted the room to look both elegant and relaxing, and that much orange or bright blue would be overdone and not have the effect I want.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Making Homemade Super Frugal Tab Top Curtains From Imperfect Fabric and Scraps

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One of the things I hated most in how my house looked before our super frugal home makeover was our blinds on our window in the living room part of our main room. They were given to us by friends who no longer wanted there, they were a color I hated, and they were half broken. I knew that one thing that absolutely needed to be done in our makeover was getting curtains for this window, pretty curtains that matched our color scheme.

However, I didn't want grey curtains since it would be right above our grey couch, and I thought that that was a bit much. And as much as I like orange, I felt orange curtains would be a little garish and a little too "retro" for my taste. So that left me with blue.

I didn't want the curtains to feel to heavy- I wanted something fresh and lively and light, so when I spotted this light blue fabric at the fabric store, I knew it was perfect. I loved that it was patterned yet not, so a little more interesting than just plain blue fabric, but not too busy looking either. And it was light enough to allow light through, yet thick enough to give us a little bit of privacy. The fabric was discounted- which was a plus, but the reason it was discounted, less so; it was just one yard long, which I thought would be enough... but was not. I mean, when I took it home and measured it, it was the right size to cover my window, but not to reach to the curtain rod a few inches above. On top of that, it also was cut unevenly, so it would need to be hemmed a good few inches shorter to hide the jagged edges.

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Testing out the fabric to see... Nope. not long enough.

I had a problem. I could either scratch the idea of making curtains with this fabric, something I really didn't want to do also because I didn't want to have wasted money on this fabric, and also because I really loved it, and it was so perfect, other than its imperfections, that is... or I could try to figure out a solution to use the fabric somehow, so that it would cover the window entirely.

Monday, January 25, 2016

My Super Frugal Home Makeover- The End Result

For the longest time, I wasn't house proud. My house was functional, and depending on the state of clutter, it was often less than fully functional. The furnishings and decorations were nearly all just based on what we got cheap. To say that it was to my taste would have been as far from the truth as possible. I, not only, wasn't house proud, I was embarrassed of my house, and because even when it was "fully clean" it still looked bad, I wasn't really motivated to clean it or keep it clean.

For a while, I had decided that there was no way for my house to actually look nice- I mean, after all, we're a family of 6 people, and all our belongings, crammed into 484 square feet, with no closet space, and even though we have decluttered so much, we just have a lot of "stuff" and that takes up room, so of course our house will look bad, and only one day, when we have our new home with built in storage space, and twice as much living space, we'll be able to have a normal looking home.

And on top of that, I didn't even know what I wanted my home to look like- I just knew what I didn't want it to look like- how it was.
Through various discussions and personal reflection and pinterest searching, I was able to pinpoint what my taste was, and some friends decided to advise me how to best reach that. Clinch was- I couldn't paint the walls a color I liked, nor did we have the money to buy new furniture. The home makeover would have to be on a super tight budget using the furniture we already had.

I had a mission, and I was set to do it!

Here's the end results.

Well, not fully the end. I still plan on repainting the drawers in the corner where I keep my laptop, and we desperately either need new chairs or need slipcovers, and I need curtains for the kitchen windows. And, despite my decluttering, there still isn't enough storage space, so there is more clutter than I'd like ideally, like above the fridge and the cabinets, etc... But, hey, we're a work in progress here.

Unfortunately, the two biggest eyesores, the floor and the light fixtures, can't be replaced, so... This is what it is.

Total cost of the home makeover thus far: $104. Some might say that isn't "super frugal", but for the change that took place, I think it was very well worth it, since right now, for the first time ever, I am proud to call this place my home.

Most of what I spent on was fabric-fabric is expensive where I live. I first tried second hand stores but didn't find anything I could use there. The one long piece of grey fabric that I used to cover both couches and add touches to the curtain cost me $34. The grey for the tablecloth cost $14.50. The fabric for both pillows my son made cost me $8.50. I splurged and bought the orange vase for $12.75 because I loved it so much and thought it would be perfect for my home, and the orange flowers in it were another $2.85. And then there was the white paint that my husband bought to fix up the gross walls that end up happening when you live with kids in the house. That cost $27 but was only partially used up, so it can be used in the future as well.


So, first let me start by showing you my new favorite part of the house- the cozy and fun couch corner. I sewed the slipcover for this Ikea solsta myself (figured it out all on my own!), Lee helped me sew the pillows, I sewed the curtains, and the throw was given to me as a hand me down from a friend who knew I was using orange to redecorate. I took down the artwork that I didn't like that was there and instead hung up artwork that made me feel good. This corner of the room just makes me happy, the colors, the vibe. It's just perfect and its the part that makes me proudest.

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My Latest Super Frugal Shops and Discovering Some New Bargain Stores

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It's actually been almost 2 weeks since I did this grocery shop, but it actually was the last "big" shop I did, and I still have much of this in my house, and since it was such a terrific shop, I had to share what I bought and why.

So firstly, I went to the city to shop for two reasons- one, because I'd heard about a new scratch and dent store and I just had to go check it out, and because I needed produce and knew the cheapest place I can get it is at the market. I got such terrific deals- for the entire shop I paid only $69.04!

Thursday, January 21, 2016

My Eight Year Old Sewed New Pillows, And You Can Too

Lee, super proud of the two pillows he just sewed!


Today was a busy, busy, busy day in my house- the Penniless full home makeover on a budget is well underway and today most of the work and transformation was done. As I was sewing things for the house, my 8 year old, Lee, asked me what I was doing, and why I was doing those, and I explained to him the various steps involved. He wanted to know how a sewing machine works, what the different parts were called, why we needed thread on the top and the bottom, etc...

He saw me pinning down hems, and then ironing, and asked me if he could do those, so I guided him how to do that and he loved it- "Mommy, can I iron things all the time? This is fun!" Haha, I hate ironing.

When the ironing was finished, he wanted to know if he could sew. He'd never sewn before on a machine, and I'm not sure I ever taught him to sew by hand either, but he has good hand eye coordination and a good eye for detail and he's very responsible, so I figured- why not teach him how to use the sewing machine.

One of the simplest projects to make on a sewing machine is a pillow, and just our luck- pillows were some of the things I anyhow wanted to get made today. I tested out Lee to see how he managed to sew on a piece of scrap fabric, if he managed to go at a reasonable pace (and not push down the pedal to the metal) and go in a straight line, and when I saw that he was able to do that very well, I decided to entrust the fabric that I bought to make our new pillows, to him. It was a gamble, letting my son make them, but I was hoping it would pay off. Worst comes to worst, I would just have to buy new fabric if he managed to botch it up really badly.

Tuesday, January 19, 2016

So Long and Thanks For All The Wash

Anneliese wearing a prefold cloth diaper, in a bikini twist fold and secured with a Snappi, at a few days old.

The end of an era is here.
Today, all my cloth diapers and cloth diapering accessories are leaving my house.

Those cloth diapers were one of my first things I blogged about on this blog, 6 years ago when I first started PennilessParenting.com, my 8th post on this blog actually was about cloth diapers. It's the theme that continued throughout all the different changes my family has gone through over the past 6 years, growing from a family of 4 to a family of 6, from living in a 950 square foot house to downsizing to a 484 square foot place to buying a 1850 square foot place, of which we will be living in 925 of them. From being sort of natural minded to going full on crunchy, into homebirthing, extended breastfeeding, and unschooling. From being very into my legume based meals and seitan to going gluten free and then into Paleo.
Throughout it all, cloth diapers have been a constant in my life. More or less constant, that is. They've taken up a large amount of room on my shelves this entire time, but depending on how crazy hectic my life got, I used them more or less, but always had them there as a back up, staring me in my face, a reminder that if I really wanted to be frugal and green, I should just use those cloth diapers instead of buying expensive landfill filling disposable diapers.

Saving Money and Learning to Trade

I really know nothing about financial trading, so it's always nice to learn something new. I hope you enjoy this post by Daniel Bailey and find it as educational and enlightening as I did.


One of the most pervasive myths in modern society is that financial trading is only carried out by those with decades of experience and through the use of professional brokers. Although this may have indeed been the case two decades ago, the Internet has now opened up this very same realm to anyone who desires to enjoy greater amounts of liquidity and freedom. There are a number of methods to develop a well-rounded and lucrative portfolio; many of these much easier than one may initially believe. How can anyone with little knowledge of this area begin down the path towards success?

Budgeting

Monday, January 18, 2016

Frugal Foraged Spring Rolls Recipe- Vegan and Paleo Options



I love getting food inspiration from my various foraging friends, because, while I sometimes come up with creative ways to use my foraged foods, more often than not, I just repeat the same methods again and again, which gets old.
The other day, I saw Leda Meredith post pictures of her sow thistle spring rolls from her upcoming book, the Forager's Feast, which really enticed me, especially since she had radishes and mint and cilantro in hers, all things that I have in my house now- mint and cilantro that needs to be used up already since I bought it a little while ago and its on its last legs, and radishes I bought dirt cheap (28 cents per pound).  And of course, sow thistle and chickweed are growing around my house in thick carpets.
Combine those with the other cheap vegetables I have in the house now (carrots and celery) and the rice paper wraps sitting in my cabinet for a while already and I knew that I'd have the perfect lunch to feed my family.
Doesn't hurt that I also have a bunch of peanut butter that I bought super cheaply at the scratch and dent store last week.

And so, here's how I made my delicious spring rolls, ones that the kids simply devoured and were dirt cheap to make. This is less an exact recipe, and more general guidelines- feel free to play around with it based on what is cheap where you live- no need to include foraged ingredients if you don't have them.
This can easily be Paleo or GAPS legal by using paleo wrapping options or simply serving it unwrapped as a salad. I made it vegan, but you can add animal proteins if you have them available and/or don't care about it being vegan.

Frugal Foraged Spring Rolls Recipe- Vegan and Paleo Options

Friday, January 15, 2016

Easy Vegan Reese's Style Fudge Recipe, Paleo Option

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Last night I was trying to think of a delicious dessert to make for my family. The thing is- my house wasn't so clean, so I didn't want to make more dishes, I didn't have so much energy, but I still wanted a relatively healthy dessert, dairy free, gluten free, egg free, and ideally grain free.
What to do, what to do...

A few days ago when I was in the city, I discovered a new scratch and dent store with very cheap all natural peanut butter (100% peanuts, no added salt, sugar, or oils) and relatively healthy vegan chocolate chips, so I was thinking of combining the two to make some peanut butter chocolate fudge, but all the recipes that I saw out there were with coconut oil, and a) I am getting a little tired of coconut oil based desserts- I make them all the time b) I didn't want to take out measuring cups or anything to measure the coconut oil.

However, I had the idea that just chocolate chips should be enough to solidify the dessert, and the peanut butter would keep it softer than just solid chocolate. I figured the two combined probably would make a fudgey texture, without the need for butter or coconut oil. I figured- worst comes to worst, I'd have something with a funky texture that tasted great (you can't go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate).

And so, I made this delicious dessert, no measuring cups or spoons. The only things that got dirty were my rubber spatula, a teaspoon, a soup spoon, and the inner pot for my makeshift double boiler. (I put a smaller pot inside a larger pot filled with an inch of water. The outer pot just got wet, not dirty, and just the inner pot needed washing.)

Super easy- tastes delicious, and relatively healthy too! The kids all were a fan, and the texture was spot on and fudge-like!

If you can't eat peanut butter, whether because of allergies or being on the Paleo diet, feel free to replace this with any pure nut butter or sunflower seed butter, either store bought or homemade.

Mine aren't Paleo or refined sugar free since I used chocolate chips that contained white sugar, but they aren't so bad either (ingredients are only cocoa solids, cocoa butter, white sugar, and vanilla)- to keep this totally Paleo, use Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips and a nut or seed butter other than peanut butter. If you have homemade chocolate, you can use this in place of the chocolate chips.

Easy Vegan Reese's Style Fudge Recipe, Paleo Option

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

My Super Frugal House Makeover- Part 1

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My pinterest board with my dream living room

My friend, Sarah, recently put up some pictures of her new living room, and it made me wonder how people decide what they want their living room to look like, what pictures they want to hang on their wall, etc. Because I, quite frankly, had no idea what I liked. But what I did know is that I certainly don't like how my house looks now.
If you'd walk into my house now, you'd have this idea in your head of what my "Style" is based on how my house looks. And that bugs me. Because none of what is in my house is actually my style. It's well lived in, yes. It's a home, yes. But it isn't something I'm particularly proud of, or that I particularly enjoy. My house currently is a mishmash of whatever things we got free or cheap, and functional. Basically the mantra we've lived by has been "If it's free/super cheap, and we can use it, why not?" without giving thought as to whether or not we'd like how it looks. Function and cost came first.
But it bugs me. I don't want my house to be haphazardly thrown together. I want it to be a house that I'm proud of, a house that makes me happy, and a house whose style speaks to me.
But it doesn't.

This has made me do a lot of thinking, because I can't just say that my house doesn't look like I want it to look like, if I have no idea what I actually do like. I know what styles I don't like. I'm very not into maroons or pastels. Of course, that's the colors of our couch covers now, since that's what we've gotten free, and beggars can't be choosers. But still. I've been to houses that the decor made me feel blah. So I know that those styles aren't for me.

I decided that I need to figure out what I do like, somehow, so I made myself a pinterest board. I looked on pinterest for living room designs, and when I liked what I saw, when a certain picture made me feel good, I pinned it to my dream home decor board.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Foraging Sow Thistle- A Versatile Wild Edible



It's the middle of the best season for foraging where I live. Rain falls and plants grow, greenery is everywhere and most of it near me is edible. I find that I can spend less money in the grocery store since the greenery is so abundant that I use it to replace a lot of the produce in my family's diet.
I amuse myself when I look back at old foraging posts where I talk about how certain plants are my favorite thing to forage because my favorites change all the time depending on season, what's most abundant near me, and what I'm in the mood for.

A container of chickweed and sow thistle, my current favorite edible weeds
At this time I could say that my current favorite plants to forage are chickweed and sow thistle, but who knows what the plant du jour will be in another week or month. But right now I'm really loving my chickweed and sow thistle, in large part because of how readily available they are to me, growing in thick lush emerald carpets within 100 feet from my front door.
Chickweed has the most mild flavor of all wild edibles, I've found, making it the perfect 'gateway' weed for those that are pickier eaters (I once had a guest who thinks foraged food is too weird to eat but then noshed on an entire bowl of chickweed that was sitting on my counter). But chickweed, while terrific raw, becomes less visually and texturally appealing, becoming stringy when cooked unless chopped up really small or pureed.

When it comes to overall versatility, sow thistle wins hands down. Only the tiniest touch bitter when young (about the same as romaine lettuce) sow thistle works terrifically in salads, and it is also terrific when cooked in a variety of ways. The entire plant is also edible, not just the leaves, but also the stems, and with one snip you can pick a entire plant, all of which can then go on your plate, which makes you get the most bang for your buck, and also is the least amount of work for the most amount of food.

I love foraging sow thistle because I end up spending so much less money on produce because I am able to make so much use of sow thistle in my kitchen, without needing to exert much effort at all.

So, what exactly is sow thistle?

Ways To Reuse Those Little Boxes

I know many people like myself have lots of empty boxes lying around their house, whether from cereal boxes, contact lens boxes, etc... I hope you enjoy this guest post filled with these creative upcycling ideas as much as I did. 

If you are lucky enough to get daily disposable contact lenses, like the popular Dailies AquaComfort Plus contact lenses, then you have only one problem. Should you throw the box in the garbage and add to the paper waste in this country or find a creative way to upcycle it? Paper waste accounts for 25 percent of the garbage in landfills.

Why not look for an environmentally-friendly way to dispose of those little boxes that hold your contacts? At the same time, you find things the kids can do that doesn’t involve sitting in front of their computer or video game console. It is a win-win solution for moms that wear contact lenses.

Sunday, January 10, 2016

My Last Few Grocery Shopping Trips- And Some Great Deals I Got

I have done some really terrific shopping trips lately, scoring some absolutely amazing deals each time, and each time I want to write up about my grocery shop, and then don't get around to it until I've done yet another shop... and so, my last three grocery shops, what I got and why.

First shop was a week ago Wednesday, second shop Sunday, and third shop this past Monday...

This shop was done at a local weekly sale, and I was really excited to see how low the prices were.

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Your Child wants to Ride a Motorcycle: How to Protect them and You!

My kids are far from teenage-hood, and far from the age that I even have to begin worrying about these types of things, but for those who are in that chapter of life, I hope you enjoy this guest post by Nancy Evans.

It's stressful enough to think about the first time your child gets behind the wheel of the family vehicle, but imagine how you'd feel when your little darling tells you they want to start riding a motorcycle. Your first thoughts are probably about studded leather vests, handlebar mustaches, and husky bikers named Sue. I'm sure that many parents would be in the same boat on this one; having said that, while nothing is ever 100% safe and we can't hold on to our kiddos forever, we can do something to alleviate the stress.

Friday, January 8, 2016

Bhutanese Style Curried Fish With Oranges Recipe- Gluten Free, Paleo



I wrote yesterday about having been inspired by pictures of people's weekly groceries from around the worldb to want to explore the cuisines of various cultures around the world, specifically to check out Ecuadorian, Guatemalan, and Bhutanese recipes.

Bhutanese recipes, I've discovered, are difficult to find on the internet, and many of the ones that I found are very dairy heavy, and therefore not really something I can make. I found this recipe, and it seemed really interesting and original- I've never had fish with ginger and oranges, and I like to vary up my diet by making fish instead of chicken (my two main protein staples, as eggs and dairy and legumes are out, and beef is very expensive), but I'm less creative with fish, and can't always think of tasty ways to eat fish, so end up doing the same boring fish recipes over and over, and this seemed like a welcome change. It seemed flavorful enough to use with lower quality and cheaper white fish.

The thing is- I couldn't do the recipe exactly as written. I can't use butter, I don't know where to get perilla seeds, and even if I did, I knew they wouldn't exactly be so cheap. Doing some searches online, I got the idea that ground sesame seeds might possibly work as a substitute (since perilla is also known as wild sesame) but I could be totally off about that, since I have never tasted perilla seeds. So I used ground sesame seeds in this recipe, which certainly makes it less authentic but it still tastes terrific. And instead of the butter, I used coconut oil in mine. And since I currently am out of fish broth, I decided to play around with the recipe to eliminate that. And since I have no szechuan peppercorns, I used regular black pepper as a substitute.

And so, here's the recipe that I was left with. I'm not claiming that it actually is authentic, however it is strongly inspired by Bhutanese curried fish. It tastes amazing. Amazing enough that I made it twice in one week, since once was not nearly enough. The first time I made it with my chum salmon, and the second time was with cheapo white fish (I think cod), and it was phenomenal both ways. There is a lot of sauce, so I liked to take a spoon of sauce with each bite of fish, and when the fish was finished, just ate up the sauce with a spoon- it is delectable!

I'm so excited to have discovered this new way to make my fish, especially being that I was able to make it all with foods I already had in my house and that I bought cheaply. Score!
The first time I made it without cilantro, the second time with. It is just as good both ways, so if you don't have any fresh cilantro, feel free to leave it out- it's still great that way.

Added bonus- this recipe is paleo, gluten free, and GAPS diet friendly, in addition to being refined sugar free.

Bhutanese Style Curried Fish With Oranges Recipe- Gluten Free, Paleo

Thursday, January 7, 2016

Picado De Rabano- Guatemalan Radish Salad Recipe- Paleo, Vegan, Low Carb, Fat Free

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I must admit that, like many other Americans, when I think about Central American cuisine, I really have no idea what it is like- I have this misguided idea in my head that it's all Tex-Mex style, guacamole and chili and salsa and burritos and tortillas, and that every country in Central America eats exactly the same thing. I know that's incorrect, though, and that Guatemalan cuisine is not the same as Mexican, and is different than Honduran, etc...
But still, my mind wants to stereotype all Central American dishes to be a certain style.

Recently I looked at some pics of weekly groceries from families around the world, and the Guatemalan cuisine looked healthy and not full of processed foods, which inspired me to want to learn more about what they at in Guatemala.
I discovered this tasty looking recipe- picado de rabano- a radish salad made with ingredients that I'd never have pegged as Central American- I didn't know oranges and mint were used in Guatemala, but apparently this dish is very common there, so different than the stereotype I had in my head...

It seemed like the perfect recipe to try out since I had a bunch of oranges and radishes that I'd bought cheaply. My only regret is that I didn't taste this recipe until today. It is so delicious and refreshing and healthy and cheap. I know this will easily be a favorite in my home. I highly suggest you try it.

Additional bonus- it is paleo, vegan, allergy friendly, no added sweetener, low carb, and for those who actually care about it- oil free and therefore fat free (something I am not opposed to, but I know other people do try avoid).

It's actually amusing, now that I'm posting this, that once upon a time I literally had no idea what to do with radishes, that I'd try to scrounge around to come up with good recipes using them since they were cheap, and now it's a staple vegetable in my house.

Picado De Rabano- Guatemalan Radish Salad Recipe- Paleo, Vegan, Low Carb, Fat Free

Wednesday, January 6, 2016

How To Make Super Frugal Healthy Breakfast Muffins Using Revamped Leftovers (Gluten Free and Vegan Options)

I'm a big fan of making muffins for my family for breakfast, and I find it ironic that despite making them so often, I don't really have any recipe on my blog for the types of muffins I tend to make for breakfasts.
See, the reason is that I don't have a specific recipe I follow- I have a basic concept of how I make them, and the rest of it changes every single time.
I could probably best call this type of muffins "waste not, want not" muffins, or "everything but the kitchen sink" muffins, or "revamped leftover muffins", and though they sound funny, my kids actually prefer when I make this type of muffin to when I make "standard" muffins using regular recipes.

Going back, the inspiration for this type of muffin probably originally can be credited to my dad, who is the king of repurposing leftovers. Whatever leftovers there were in our house that were mildly sweet, pretty much, would go into pancakes. Leftover bowls of cereal and milk, grits, you name it. Into pancakes it went. I think he even put in leftover spaghetti one time but I'm not sure.
So from him I got the idea that you can use leftovers in a variety of ways...

Enter Amy Dacyzyn, author of The Complete Tightwad's Gazette. She has a universal muffin recipe that is easily adaptable and makes use of things like leftover cooked oatmeal or rice, and can also contain things like fruit and nut butters. (I'll share it at the bottom if you need a specific recipe and can't just wing it like I do. ) My issue with her recipe is simply that it is too specific and that the leftovers are just as an addition and not as the base like I sometimes do. Essentially hers are regular muffin with standard ingredients that you can add leftovers to, and mine are "leftover muffins" that I add enough of the "basic muffin ingredients" to make them work as a muffin.

I'll admit- they aren't the most beautiful looking muffins, but my kids actually prefer them to regular muffins. Every time I made them recently, my kids said that they were the best kind of muffins, and when I tried making "normal" muffins, they asked me why I didn't make them "the better way". So if anyone "feels bad" for my kids for "having to eat these", don't. They love them, and my pocketbook likes them.

So, how do I actually do it?

Monday, January 4, 2016

How Mike And I Saved Money By Not Doing Things This Past Week

So when I was writing up this list of frugal things I did this past week, I realized that there was a theme. It was less frugal by action, but rather, frugality by inaction. All the things that I didn't do, which ended up saving me money, instead of active things that I did that were frugal.

So, instead of writing this my usual way, I'll share about what I did and didn't do.

Sunday, January 3, 2016

Homemade Gluten Free Bagels Recipe- Vegan, Refined Sugar Free Options




One thing I've missed since going gluten free was gluten free bagels. I especially felt this lack, as did my kids, whenever we'd get invited to a bagel brunch, as would happen a few times a year, and my kids and I wouldn't have any bagels to eat. I mean, fine, I know how to make a mean gluten free bread, but that just isn't the same as having yummy chewy bagels...

I found this recipe for homemade gluten free bagels, but the fact that it was made entirely out of starches weirded me out, so I decided to try playing around with it, to make it gluten free, vegan, and refined sugar free. The first time I made it, I used a store bought all purpose gluten free flour mix, the next times I made it with a mix of green buckwheat and short grain rice flour. Both times came out great, but somewhat different. I assume you can use any of your favorite gluten free flour mixes for this recipe, but just tried those two.

These were a big hit with my family.

I plan on trying to adjust this recipe some more to make it paleo- since the original is made with two starches only, I want to try making this with tapioca starch and perhaps another starch (potato bothers my stomach or I'd try that) to attempt to make a paleo egg free bagel, but not doing that for now, since something super high in carbs as that would be wouldn't exactly be so weight loss friendly.

Homemade Gluten Free Bagels Recipe- Vegan, Refined Sugar Free Options