Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Queen of Cheap

If you’re looking for the “queen of cheap,” look no further, I’m sitting right here. I have been known to pinch pennies until they scream for mercy, but then again, I come by my thriftiness honestly.

As a child, parents raised their own meat, and canned fruits and veggies from our garden. Of course, there were eggs from the chickens, and we milked our own cows. During the spring and early summer, we gathered wild berries and grapes and caught fish out of the creek. Put my hair in pigtails and call me Laura Ingalls, but that’s how we lived. We weren’t poor—wasn’t rich either-- but my daddy grew up after the Great Depression, knew how hard times could be without money, and was determined it would never happen to his family. He was frugal, and taught me how to “hold on to my money” at an early age.

It has truly paid off. I make my own pastries, bread, and even mayo; I don’t have to, but I like it, it’s relaxing. Here a couple of cost effective recipes I hope you enjoy.

Quick and Cheap brownies

1 regular size Betty Crocker chocolate fudge cake mix
½ cup oil
¼ cup water
2 eggs (well beaten)

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine mix, oil, and water and stir well. Add the two eggs and stir well. Pour the batter into a lightly greased and floured 13x9 pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Depending on how you cut them, it should make close to two dozen brownies. Someone has probably already tried this, but I’ve never done it until now.

I payed $.88 for the cake mix versus $1.25 for the regular brownie mix.

This is a great recipe I got off the PBS website. You can actually skip using the walnuts, and it still tastes wonderful.

Lentil-Walnut burgers

I didn't make the sauce that went with it. I had all the ingredients but the buns, lentils, and walnuts. For a recipe that made 4 burgers--without the sauce--my grand total was $3.07.

BTW, a great place to search for freebies is Mary's Freebies. I've gotten samples of tea, free bracelets, ect.

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