Sugar-Free and Egg-Free No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake!!! (and opt dairy/gf!) and a lesson in frugality…:)

They say necessity is the mother of invention, well, I say, frugality is the mother of invention in this case too! This weekend, I was headed to a baby shower and wanted to bring a yummy dessert that I could enjoy too but others wouldn’t notice was "healthier”. :) I was also searching for something I could make with what I had on hand since it is nearing the end of the semester and I am trying not to buy much more. So, as fate would have it, :) I went to a breakfast that morning for my church and afterwards, they asked if anyone wanted any leftovers. I said sure! I always do. :) This is  one of those things that I feel no shame in doing and it allows me to gain a little extra food here and there and stretch my budget and frugality better. So, question was though, what to do with it when I got home.

 

Here’s what I was given:

1. a couple of already cut-in-half bananas that needed to be eaten or used quickly
2. about 7 mini muffins (not sugar-free or GF but I planned on bringing them to the party or giving them away or something!… and they were MOSTLY lemon and 2 were chocolate chip)
3. a tub of original cream cheese
4. a tiny tub of whipped berry cream cheese (again, not sugar-free, but I would use it for the party somehow!)
5. three blueberry bagels (again, not sugar-free, but I was going to figure out a way!)

So, what would you do? I was like…ok, I could eat the bananas. I ate one or two of the halves and decided….I need to use the others…So I just left them there for a moment and started thinking. I looked at my cream cheese….oh, yum! Cream cheese….I haven’t afforded myself that in a long time…check the container…almost full (nice!) but no way I’ll use this all……what can I use it for? Cheesecake! Now it says on the container, don’t use for baking. So, why not make a no bake cheesecake? :) And that’s where it really started….

I looked around for ideas and remembered seeing a recipe for no-bake cheesecake on my gelatin box. So gaining inspiration from there I created this recipe. The cheesecake became chocolate because I also needed to use up the rest of my chocolate sauce that I had made from the other day. :) Plus, what girl doesn’t like chocolate? :) 

And then there’s the crust….what to do, what to do….hmmm…it would be kind of awkward to bring 7 little mini muffins to a party…what if I used them as crumbs instead of using cookie crumbs or graham cracker crumbs (as in the traditional crust recipes out there, both of which I didn’t have, nor have time to make). Brilliant, if I do say so myself. Wanting to reduce the fat content a smidgen,  take away at least some of the strong flavor of the lemon muffins, save money on butter, use up the bananas, I added a mashed banana to the muffin crumbs. I then added the butter. I tasted it….Hmmm…still lemony. Just not quite right yet…and though I’ve heard you can put chocolate and lemon together, it just didn’t fit, plus it seemed too wet. So, I added cocoa…and pressed it in a pie plate since I didn’t have a spring form pan. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how I roll! :)

And the results? They loved it. I got several compliments at the shower. And, yes, though I realize it wasn’t the exact ideal ingredients (the crust had sugar and white flour which I never use), it was mostly for others, still a lot healthier than your average cheesecake  and the fact that I was able to use up my free ingredients was the big deal for me.

 

Oh, and what did I do with those bagels and whipped berry cream cheese? I used a tiny gingerbread boy cookie cutter and cut about 30 or so gingerbread boys from them. I then piped the whipped berry cream cheese on them to make them look like little girls with bows and dresses. I had cute pictures…but I accidently deleted them.

 

Anyways, sorry for being so long winded, but I just had to share what I was able to do with this recipe! (which for me to make cost me almost nothing!)  But here’s the recipe….

 

 

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 1 and 1/4 c. chocolate sauce*
• 1 package unflavored gelatin (if you can’t use…try agar agar)
• Original cream cheese spread (1 lb tub) or about 14.5 oz regular block cream cheese (soften) or equivalent amount of dairy-free cream cheese
• 1 t. vanilla

Crust:

• 3-4 T. butter or 3-4 T. earth balance
• 1 banana, mashed
• ~7-8 mini muffins (GF or not) or 3-4 regular size muffins, crumbled
• 1/4 c. cocoa

 

Directions:

• Mix together crust ingredients. Press into pie plate. Use as is or cook at 300 for 20 mins if you desire a soft-half baked crust. After doing that tough, I think it would be just as great/better raw. :)
• Boil and mix with 1 package unflavored gelatin, stir well. Set aside.
• Whip cream cheese with vanilla. Slowly add in sauce. Blend. Pour into prepared crust. Let set for 3 hours or until set in the fridge.
• Top with bananas and serve as is or with extra chocolate sauce.

Rich Sugar-Free Chocolate Sauce/ Chocolate Syrup…

Looking for a sugar-free chocolate sauce recipe for my crepes (post to come soon! :)) I found this recipe online and decided with the rave reviews I got about it, I definitely needed to share it with you! :) I wrote my comments about it after the recipe. Enjoy! Serve on crepes, ice-cream, or use in or on my chocolate cheesecake. :)

 

“Chocolate Sauce
2 squares unsweetened chocolate
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup honey
1/4 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Combine chocolate, water, honey and salt in small saucepan. Stir over low heat until chocolate is melted. Increase heat to medium and cook until sauce is smooth and slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Serve warm or cold. Makes 1 cup.”

My Notes:

• Water- you may want to leave this out for thicker chocolate…this is more of a syrup than a sauce especially with the water
• I found this a bit too sweet/rich for me….but when making it for others that aren’t used to sugar-free, keep the levels the same. (That’s how I made it and got lots of thumbs up.) If making for yourself and your family, try lowering the honey amount.
• You could use agave if you are vegan or prefer agave in place of honey.
• Margarine- I kept that in there only because I am quoting the recipe. But, really, leave it out! Use butter, earth balance, or coconut oil instead please!!!

GF (Gluten-Free) , dairy-free, sugar-free, soy-free, vegan, homemade frugal chocolate chips!

     No way! Is that even possible? I can hear you say it millions of blogger spheres away. :) That’s what I would be saying! It is intensely hard to find sugar free, gluten free, and dairy-free chocolate, let alone the combination of all of those and still have it be frugal and taste delicious! But I discovered away my friends and I’m here to tell you that:

The answer is, most definitely(YES!)

 

Remember the recipe that I got from Oceans of Joy for peanut butter cups that I posted here? Well, it’s the same chocolate recipe….I’ll just post it here for reference.

• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 c. melted butter (the real thing! or earth balance, or coconut oil as suggested in the original recipe)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/8 – 1/4 c. honey/agave (try the lesser amount if you can handle it---It seems to help them hold shape better)

Combine all ingredients. Stir. Line a small cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Fill a cake decorating icing bag (or a plastic bag with a tiny hole in one corner) with the chocolate. Slowly touch the point down to the paper. Pull up quickly. Add more if needed. (I’ll tell you a little secret: Most of these required at least two times of touch and go. :) And don’t worry if they aren’t as beautiful and perfect as the one’s from the store----these ones have personality! They were made by you! Not a machine! :))    Place in the freezer until frozen. Use for recipes calling for chocolate chips or add them to recipes you want chocolate chips!

 

Fabulously Frugal Healthy Homemade Deodorant

Deodorant? What? :) Sounds crazy right? Healthy Deodorant?  I learned about this from Passionate Homemaking a while ago and have been meaning to post about it ever since.

And this is part of why I started using it (from the passionate homemaking site): “Did you know that nearly all commercial deodorants contain aluminum salts, usually aluminum chlorohydrate? Manufacturers like aluminum because it effectively suppresses perspiration but the metal has a dark side once it makes its way into our body. Aluminum toxicity It has been linked to cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and other health issues. It is especially important for women to take thought to the harmful aluminum materials in deodorant as it has been linked to breast cancer, being that the breast tissue extends up into the armpits.”

This is especially important to me as my own paternal grandmother died of breast cancer. I want to do whatever I can to prevent that from happening to me. I had heard once it was bad for me but I didn’t know why.

Another reason I like this is because it WORKS great and is VERY FRUGAL! I have tried aluminum-free natural deodorants which are expensive and don’t work. I have found that they have not kept me from smelling badly unless I reapplied several times a day.

Although it may be weird at first to use this homemade deodorant, you will get used to it. You can even put it in one of your old deodorant dispensers to make it easier and less noticeable to others if you want.

I just use my fingers and put less than a pea size amount on each finger and then spread it around. It lasts for months! I’ve been using mine for quite a while (a month or two at least) and it still looks like I barely touched it. It is odorless, although you can add essential oils to it if you want. It keeps me from sweating too much and most importantly, keeps me smelling nice! :)

I used passionate homemaking’s recipe as a guide……

“Ingredients:

6-8 Tbsp Coconut oil (solid state)
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup arrowroot powder or cornstarch (arrowroot is preferred)”

I didn’t have coconut oil on hand (though I want to use it in the future for it’s health and anti-fungal benefits) so I used Spectrum Organic Shortening. I used cornstarch and baking soda and mixed it until it felt like the consistency of my old deodorant. Then I stored it in a container in my bathroom! :)

For more info and answers to your questions, please see Lindsay @ Passionate Homemaking's post about this here. :)

UPDATE 7/29/10-----Still using it...it's not gone yet! :)

UPDATE 10/21/10--Still using it! It's been about 7 months...and there is still more left!

UPDATE: 2/26/11-Just finished the very last bit of it! So...

...That means this amount took me over a year to use! So frugal and it works well. I'm never going back! This time I'm going to try it with coconut oil and arrowroot too I think. :)

Peanut Butter Pudding (Naturally GF and sugar-free! Vegan! And opt. dairy-free)

This pudding is very good and very good for you too! It doesn’t contain eggs or sugar!

It comes from the same author and cookbook as my recent post about sweet milk. (Sweet and Natural Desserts without Sugar, Honey, Molasses, or Artificial Sweeteners by Janet Warrington.) I am going to quote the recipe below (from pg 131) and then add my own comments.

   

“Peanut Butter Pudding

It is good to focus on the simple things that give pleasure. My friend, Dale, expresses appreciation in the simple things. He is especially fond of perfect bananas so, while preparing this pudding, Dale come to mind not only because of the perfect banana it contains, but because it is such a simple pleasure to make and eat.

Preparation time: 10 minutes to prepare, 45 mins to chill

Yield serves 3 (1/2 cup servings) or 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients: 1 small (7 3/4 inch) perfect, ripe banana

1/2 cup Nonfat Yogurt…

1/2 c. peanut butter, natural style

1/4 tsp. vanilla

pinch salt, optional

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Process on low then high speed until smooth.

2. Pour into four individual serving dishes and refrigerate.

3. Serve Cold.”

 

This is even more delicious then it looks, I promise! You could sub any nut butter for the peanut butter or sun butter. I imagine you could sub coconut butter (mmm!) for the peanut butter too. As far as the yogurt goes, use any yogurt you desire…full/nonfat and dairy-free or not! And for your banana, use what you got. It will taste good no matter what!

I used a food processor to blend it. I also thought it was very thick and peanut buttery, so if you like it that way, great! If you prefer a little thinner (it will get thicker in the fridge over time too), add a little more yogurt. Still tastes great!

I didn’t put it in the fridge for 45 mins…more like 5…because I couldn’t wait. :) It was still good though. It gets thicker though as time goes on.

Let me know if you try it and any variations you come up with! :) Enjoy!

Sweet Milk Hot Chocolate or Chocolate Milk!

 

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It’s been cold around here lately and I was in the mood for hot chocolate. I had some sweet milk leftover and decided to try it out. It worked great.

 

Ingredients:

1 c. sweet milk (whether that be dairy-free or not)

1 T. cocoa

 

Mix well and warm in the microwave (if you want hot chocolate… Make one serving! No other sweeteners required! :) Yum!!

Sweeten and flavor your own yogurt…for more nutrition and frugality!

 

                        Sprinkle it on top       or            mix it in! :)

Here’s a little tip for today!

Buy or Make Plain Yogurt (stay tuned for a recipe soon about how to make your own) and sprinkle it with fruit. Mix it in or just eat it as is. You can also add a little honey and or stevia.

*For those who are dairy-free, try this with soy or coconut milk yogurt.

Other combinations I have mixed with my yogurt are:

• vanilla extract and stevia…
• applesauce
• cranberry sauce (homemade)
• fresh/frozen berries of any kind
• frozen fruit concentrates
• juice

 

These ideas will save you money because you can buy plain yogurt in bulk and not spend money on all that sugar and get more yogurt for your money! Also, this is much more nutritious to use fruit! plus no sugar (and even if you use honey, you need just a tiny bit and will save yourself calories and be a lot healthier!)

 

And it is customizable every day! Never have the same yogurt again if you so desire! Also, no fighting between kiddos who gets the blueberry yogurt…you can make everyone’s the same or customize it for different tastes!

Any other ideas? What do you put on your yogurt? :)

My New Blouse!

 

 

I just finished sewing this for my sewing class! I am so excited it turned out so well! I have never really sown before and before this, we have only done pajama pants and a pillowcase (both which I plan to post about later.)  I am so excited to learn more about this frugal skill and be able to use it in my life! :)

Cornmeal Banana Biscuits

(Topped with natural peanut butter :) )

 

I just tried this recipe from Happy Herbivore tonight. This is really a recipe review but I wanted to change the name for what I thought was a better title in my version. :)  Why? Because there is a light-hint of banana taste and cornmeal goodness throughout. Lindsay is a wonderful cook and I love her recipes. This is just one of the few. Try her others out at her site.

 

Anyway, here is what I used and did.

 

Ingredients:

• ½ cup cornmeal
• ½ cup whole wheat flour (or use GF blend)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ whole banana (or a small banana- as I used)
• ¼ + 2 T. sweet milk or non-dairy sweet milk

Preheat your oven for 425 F.  Mix all dry ingredients together in a food processor. Add banana and mix until crumbly. Add milk and process again in the food processor. Scoop onto a greased cookie sheet. Cook for 7  mins. Serve warm, topped with your favorite condiment such as a nut butter, or jam.

 

Thanks again Lindsay!

Sweet Milk- A delicious, natural alternative to other sweeteners, including honey, etc

“Sweet Milk”                 vs               “Regular Milk”

I recently borrowed this wonderful, older book from my college library. I was amazed they even had it. I’m pretty sure I will be purchasing it soon. It’s called Sweet and Natural Desserts without Sugar, Honey, Molasses, or Artificial Sweeteners and it’s by Janet Warrington. Though published in 1982, I find it a very useful reference and wish I could get in contact with the author. I am going to post this recipe and hope that it is ok. I am giving all credit to Janet and her cookbook. :)

The following is quoted from her book on page 29.

“Sweet Milk: Naturally sweet, this milk is delicious on cold or hot cereals and grains. It is also a common ingredient in many of my desserts. I like to keep a jar of it hanging around in my refrigerator for spur of the moment baking. It should be made at least one day in advance for use, but reaches peak sweetness after two or three days.

Ingredients: 2 cups reconstituted nonfat milk

2/3 c. raisins

1. Combine milk and raisins in a jar, cover and refrigerate at least overnight.

2. Before using, shake the jar vigorously. Milk should be an ivory color.

3. Strain the milk to remove the raisins which will be mushy and a little flat tasting.

4. Use milk as directed.”

So, after quoting that, let me tell you a little bit about what I do. I do, as she says, except, I haven’t tried it with reconstituted/dry milk. I usually use just the milk I buy from the store. If you are dairy-free, I think this would work well with any-other dairy-free milk.

I usually store it in the fridge for a few days and I find that it gets the sweetest after about 2-3 days…and turns the color up above. I showed “regular” milk beside it so you can see the difference. It is a great sweetener and I’ve been experimenting a lot with it (and have had both failures and successes) and will post some recipes with it soon.

Hopefully, it is ok to post this here and if anyone knows how I can contact the author, let me know! Thanks!

**UPDATE**: Aubree Cherie said,

"I wanted to let you know that I tried the sweet milk with unsweetened soymilk. It worked great! I left it to absorb the raisins for about 3 days. I used it in place of regular milk and a sugar substitute in a bread recipe – the bread turned out perfect! So thanks again for posting that "

So, for all of you that were wondering if this would work with non-dairy milk, here is your happy answer! :)

Homemade Cheetos/ Cheese puff's/ Cheese balls

Mmmm….good! I was craving Cheetos or cheese balls the other day and bookmarked a recipe I wanted to try out. And I finally got around to it! Plus, I made them a wee bit better for you! :) They are delicious and certainly better for you then the conventional, expensive, store-bought junk. :)

So, you want that recipe do you? Ok, here it is:

Homemade Cheese Balls

1 c. shredded cheese (or dairy-free/vegan cheese or try nutritional yeast)

1/2 c. whole wheat flour (or GF mix)

1/4 c. softened butter or earth balance

1/2 t. ground mustard.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F. Mix all ingredients. I suggest using a pastry cutter or your (clean) hands :). Place on ungreased cookie sheet with an inch in between each one and bake for about 15 minutes. Serve warm if you desire or cool. :)

Makes: ~12- 1 inch balls

Note: Next time I am going to try making these smaller as they do spread a bit in the oven. I think they might be crisper (and more like the original) that way.

Healthy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I love pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! My mom used to make these a lot but I would always feel sick after a few of them…happily, these didn’t make me sick (I think it’s got something to do with all the sugar and refined oil mom’s had…not that I blame her either—they were sure yummy!) Anyway, below is my modifications on a recipe I found and used. (At least I’m pretty sure this is what I did but can’t be sure since I forgot to write it down again…..sorry about that!)



To see a more recent version of these I made and how I made them gluten-free and use sweet potatoes too----see this post

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins



1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or GF blend)

1/2 cup honey

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup canned/fresh pumpkin

1/2 cup milk (or dairy-free alternative)

1/4 cup (oil, melted butter/earth balance)

1 egg

1 cup chocolate chips (I used grain-sweetened chips)

In a bowl, combine the pumpkin, milk, egg, oil, and honey. Add the dry ingredients (including chocolate) and mix until just barely combined.

Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes.

Homemade Frugal Fun: Washable Finger-paints

A allergen-free recipe for Homemade Frugal Fun! Try this out! Modified slightly/Quoted from this source.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp sugar (this is the only time I use sugar…lol)
1/3 cup cornstarch or potato starch (or arrowroot)*
2 cups water
1/4 cup dishwashing soap
food coloring

*in the future, I will make it thicker (by adding 1 T. extra starch at a time) as after I added the soap, it became a little too runny for my tastes. Also, I don’t know if arrowroot would require the same amount or not.

Directions:

“In a large sauce pan, combine the sugar, cornstarch, and water.

Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat (under adult supervision), stirring constantly until the mixture thickens into a smooth gel. Stir in the dishwashing soap.

Pour into individual containers.

Place food coloring in each container and mix while it is still warm.

Let cool, then store in the glass jars (or other container with a lid).”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! And “Green” Food

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day Everyone! 

I am a huge fan of St. Patrick’s Day especially since I am a quarter Irish and my grandfather is 100%!

I thought I would share some “green” recipes with you today! Check them out. (And please forgive me for the photos—they’ve seemed to gone missing----maybe some leprechauns took them? :))

 

Peanut Butter Banana Green Smoothie

Avocado Mayonnaise

Guilt-Free and Healthy Key Lime Pudding

How to make your own sweet relish….

How to make your own tartar sauce… (with the above homemade sweet relish of course!)

GF Chocolate Zucchini Cake Muffins

 

And as always, these are all sugar-free, dairy-free, and gluten-free……..enjoy!

Homemade Reese's (Peanut Butter Cups)! :) (refined sugar-free)

Oh my peanut butter chocolaty goodness! These are like heaven and are about 1,000 times better than the original things. Plus they are about 100 times better for you too.And frugal. :) Warning: These are very rich but very addicting. :)

Not convinced these are better for you? Take a look at the store-bought varieties ingredients: Milk Chocolate (Sugar; Cocoa Butter; Chocolate; Nonfat Milk; Milk Fat; Lactose; Soy Lecithin and PGPR, Emulsifier)High Fructose Corn Syrup; Peanuts; Sugar; Dextrose; contains 2% or Less of: Coconut Oil; Dairy Butter (Milk)Nonfat Milk; Glycerin; Salt; Mono- and Diglycerides; Molasses; Natural and Artificial Flavors; Soy Lecithin; Sodium Bicarbonate; TBHQ (Preservative)Disodium Phosphate.

Can you say yuck? What are you putting in YOUR body? Try these instead……

Here’s the recipe/recipe review (modified a just a wee bit with much thanks from this source):

CHOCOLATE: (I would double this next time---as you can see in the picture the peanut butter overtakes the chocolate [even for this lover of peanut butter it was a bit much] - but if you may want it that way, go right ahead and leave it as a single recipe.)

• 1/2 c. cocoa powder
• 1/4 c. melted butter (the real thing! or earth balance, or coconut oil as suggested in the original recipe)
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/8 – 1/4 c. honey/agave

Combine all ingredients. Stir. Pour half of the chocolate into a square pan or molds (I used a mini muffin tin….but will want to use foil muffin papers next time…as they still stuck some when I tried to get them out.)  Place in the freezer.

Now, make the peanut butter:

• 3/4 c. creamy peanut butter (natural)/ or other nut butter or sunbutter
• 2 T. honey
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/4 c. c. melted butter (the real thing! or earth balance, or coconut oil as suggested in the original recipe)

Spoon peanut butter filling into each mold or over the top of the chocolate. Put back in the freezer for a few minutes.

After a few minutes, use leftover half of the chocolate and pour it over the peanut butter…..place back in the freezer for about 10 minutes.

Remove from molds/ or cut into pieces and enjoy! (If you use butter vs coconut oil, it is normal for them to be soft…so be sure to only take out what you need at a time because they get soft fast…store in the freezer or fridge for best results.)

 

 

Linked to Slightly Indulgent Tuesdays, DIY Tuesday, Homemaker Monday, Mouthwatering Monday,

Sugar-Free Strawberry-Rhubarb Freezer/Cooked Jam

(The last spoonful of jam…)

I know, I know, you'll are probably wondering why I am posting a strawberry-rhubarb jam recipe when it’s the middle of winter. Strawberries and rhubarb aren’t in season you say? I know….but they are (in a sense) for me because I had a bunch of leftover frozen rhubarb (which I cut up and froze when it was in season----and which I got for free! :)) and frozen strawberries (from the store…not as good as fresh but they’ll do) that I wanted to use up. So, if you aren’t ready yet to use this recipe, save it and store it in your archives for later use this summer. :) Or, substitute another berry or more strawberries for the rhubarb.

 

I have started making my own jam because it is much more frugal than sugar-free naturally sweetened jam at the grocery store. One tiny little bottle usually costs a couple of bucks and I figure I can make some for a much cheaper price at home and make much more of it too!

 

Ingredients:

4 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen, sliced)

4 c. rhubarb (fresh/frozen, sliced into small pieces)

1 c. honey

2 packages no sugar added pectin

 

Add all ingredients except pectin into a pan. Mash and cook until it is well-combined. Taste. Add more honey (I used a lot less than the original recipe called for but I think it’s sweet enough…you might want to add up to 1 and 2/3 c. more honey) to taste. Add pectin according to package directions. Pour into freezer containers or can according to package directions. Enjoy! :)

Recipe Review: Sweet Morning Potatoes

This dish was so tasty! (And a yummy change from my normal oatmeal breakfast routine. I loved this recipe and it left me wishing I had more leftover sweet potatoes and brown rice. This recipe is also very frugal and filling. I loved it! :)      

I am going to quote Amy’s recipe here (but go here for the original recipe and pictures-believe me her picture is much prettier!) since it is the exact same as what I did except that i added some raisins (1/4-1/2 c.) and baked it in a bread pan (for a little  bit longer----check to see if it’s done at 30 minutes instead of 20) since I didn’t have soufflé dishes. I also didn’t add the topping she did, but feel free to add it if you want. And when it says agave, feel free to use honey instead if you so desire. And for the milk, if you can’t have milk, use water or a dairy-free milk alternative. :) Enjoy!

 

Ok, here it is:

“Sweet Morning Potatoes
Serves 4 as a side

For potatoes:

1 sweet potato, cooked & peeled
about 2 – 3 tablespoons water
¾ cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 cup cooked brown rice

For topping:

¼ cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon agave

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Prepare 4 small soufflé dishes with cooking spray.

Cut sweet potato into large pieces and place in bowl of mini-food chopper.  Add 2 tablespoons of water and process until smooth, adding more water if needed to make a thick, smooth puree.  Measure 1 cup and place into a medium bowl.  Whisk in milk, egg, agave, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, and flax until smooth.  Stir in brown rice.

Divide evenly  between the four soufflé dishes.  Place on a baking tray and bake for 20 – 22 minutes, until sweet potato  mixture is mostly set.  It will still be a little runny in the middle. While sweet potato mix is baking, combine pecans and agave in a bowl, making sure pecans are coated.  Set aside.

Once sweet potatoes are almost set, top with pecans, dividing evenly among the four dishes.  Bake for another  5 – 7 minutes, until a toothpick tests clean and pecans are lightly toasted.  Let cool slightly and serve warm.”

 

Thanks AMY! :) Be sure to check out some other amazing recipes at her site

Homemade Sweet Potato Chips!

 

I love these homemade sweet potato chips! I like them even better than the ones I used to buy (and these are much less expensive…yeah! for frugality!)

 

So yummy. Original recipe is here----although it won’t allow public access anymore. :(

 

Preheat your oven to 400. Then, slice the sweet potatoes as thinly as possible. Place in bowl. Add about 2 T. olive oil per sweet potato (or less-I made a note that you could get away with less on this recipe) and mix the slices around in the oil. Next, take a cookie sheet and lay all the slices on it. Add salt and pepper (and be careful with that pepper…if you don’t like it spicy, don’t use too much.) Add parmesan cheese too if you like. Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes or so….some will cook faster than others so you might want to keep an eye on it and take them out as they cook…I like mine a little crispy on the edges! :)

 

ENJOY! :)

Free Redbox Rental! :)

Become a Fan of Redbox on Facebook and receive a free redbox rental on St. Patrick’s Day! :) Enjoy! :)

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (in the Crockpot!)

This is very frugal and very good! :)

This is my mom’s chicken soup recipes except I made it in the Crockpot. :)  First, I cooked the chicken in the Crockpot by placing it and water in the pot for several hours on low. Then when it was cooked, I drained the broth and saved it for the soup. I used the chicken for the soup its self. Then I cut up carrots (and celery-you can tell I was almost out at the time…:) ) and placed the carrots, celery, chicken, and broth back into the Crockpot. I let that cook on high for about 3-4 hours….or how ever long it took. After that was done, right before I wanted to serve it, I added the noodles (or/and I’ve done rice in the past). I let it cook for about 10 more minutes and voila! Dinner is served! :) This is especially great this time of year when it seems like everyone is getting sick (myself :( included). For an even more nutrient dense broth and frugal too, you can also add the chicken bones to the pot. The only reason I didn’t was because I didn’t have bone-in chicken this time…although I plan to in the future because it is cheaper and I also can use the bones to make nutrient-dense broth! :)

Here are mom’s ingredients……and then just follow what I mentioned above

2 medium carrots, sliced (1 c.)

2 medium stalks celery, sliced (1 c.)

1 c. uncooked noodles (GF/whole wheat) OR 1/2 c. brown rice OR 1/2 c. noodles and 1/4 c. brown rice

1 sm. onion, chopped (1/4. c.) (optional-I didn’t include it since unfortunately my body detests onions)

Chicken amount depends on how much you want. I used about a cup or so of shredded (it does that itself when cooked in water for a long time) chicken. For me that was approximately 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on the size.)

Enjoy! Serve with muffins, such as these! :) Mmmm, my favorite……soup and muffins for dinner! :)

Frugal Gift Wrap Ideas

 

Ever since I started college, I haven’t had access to my mother’s seemingly endless supply of gift wrap and gift bags nor do I feel I have the funds for such things. So, here is what I do:

• I usually use brown paper bags…. I couldn’t find my photo or I’d show you. I take brown paper bags (ask for them at the grocery store), cut them on one edge and cut out the bottom  so it’s all one long piece. Then I cut up the paper to the size I need and wrap the gift. Afterwards, I decorated it with my own designs using colored pencils (or crayons/markers.) I really prefer/like this method… I think it creates a very homemade, thoughtful, earthy looking gift which can be lots of fun to create! :)
• Another idea I have heard of, which I want to try sometime, is wrapping gifts in cartoons (from the Sunday paper) or even just newsprint.
• Pictured in the first picture, I found some plain white dollar store (I think) gift wrap that someone didn’t want when I went through the items that all the students left behind last year. Anyway, I saved it to use. Although it wasn’t the greatest quality (and I found that I had to wrap it in regular paper first to make it so you couldn’t see through the gift-wrap), it still served the purpose well and I then decorated each one with some stickers I had on hand.
• Another idea is what I used in the second picture. This is from my first year of college. I gave my roommate a homemade wedding gift- a cookbook I made (also frugal) wrapped in pink paper I got from the school (those huge rolls of paper you might remember from elementary school). I don’t know if they sell paper this way at craft stores or such, but if so, it is also I good option. I wrapped it in that and then added a cute ribbon I had lying around.
• I have also taken those simple paper lunch sacs you can buy at the store and decorated them and placed gifts inside them too.
• I have also reused gift wrap/tissue paper others have given me gifts in (what I can salvage of it).
• I have also reused gift bags and tissue paper I have received gifts in to give gifts to others.
• And for boxes to wrap gifts in that are awkwardly shaped, I use things I already have. The gifts (infant clothing) in the picture where wrapped in empty medicine boxes, empty fabric softener sheet boxes, empty postal boxes, etc. :) Keep those on hand and you may find a use for them! :)

 

And there you have it!  8 (EIGHT) ways to make gift wrap more frugal! I hope you are able to use these options in your future gift wrapping efforts! Let me know if you have more ideas! :)

Strawberry/Blueberry Muffin Love

I love muffins! My mom made them a lot growing up (one of the many signs of her love for us)  and I remember eating the meal (even if I didn’t like it) just so I could have a second muffin! :) This recipe is a slightly altered version of my mom’s homemade blueberry muffins. These are frugal since you make them yourself and a whole lot more nourishing and healthy than what you find in the store! These are also frugal because you can use any berry you have on hand, and it uses the juice from defrosting the strawberries instead of throwing it away.

 

Strawberry/Blueberry Muffins (or Raspberry Muffins, etc)

Prep Time: approx. 25 mins or less

Ingredients:

2 c. whole wheat flour (or GF mix)

1 T. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

1/4 c. honey

2 eggs

1/4 c. oil*

1/4 c. strawberry juice (leftover from defrost of the strawberries)

3/4 c. strawberries and blueberries

 

Directions: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Defrost and mash strawberries. (You don’t need to defrost the blueberries). Whisk together the wet ingredients (including the berries). Add the dry ingredients. Mix lightly and as little as possible until just barely combined. Spoon into greased muffin tins or papered tins and bake for about 20 minutes.

Yield: 1 dozen

*I’ve found the best results so far with grapeseed oil. But I’ve also melted organic palm oil shortening. Or you can use another oil. Or you can use butter or earth balance also as long as they are melted.

Free Audio Book and Song-Alice's Adventures In Wonderland!

Hello there! So here goes my first real post on my site....and it's for a FREE product. With the new Alice and Wonderland coming out, why not download this free copy of Alice In Wonderland and play it for your kiddos (or yourself!)  Then when you are done, you can watch the old versions of Alice in Wonderland and then wait for the movie to come out on DVD (since it is much more frugal to rent or borrow from a friend.)  But all the time you spend listening and watching the old versions should take you some time anyway, so why not wait and enjoy the movie more frugally and also be able to enjoy the book!!! :) I can also see this used easily as a homeschooling project.....anyway, enjoy! and be sure to download by March 16th!

Also, get a free download of Alice's Theme to put you in the mood!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! Please see my about section on my blog for more info about what this site is about. I will also be refining and updating this site as time goes on, so please bear with me! :)

The Best Kiss….(Of the food variety! :))

My mother sent me this huge kiss for Valentine’s Day……I’ve been meaning to share it because look what is inside!

Dried, unsweetened, delicious pineapple! This is my kind of treat!

 

Thanks mom! :)

 

Thought you all would enjoy seeing a cute alternative to candy and chocolate for valentines or any other special occasion!

Chocolate Crepes with Chocolate Sauce and Strawberries

Just pretend I posted these for Valentine’s Day ok? This is what I had intended too….shhh…I’m a little behind….. :)

Whether for Valentine’s Day or for any occasion, especially those special ones….this makes a delightful breakfast or dessert.  Top with whip cream if you have it on hand and can eat it. :) Besides, this recipe is "frugallyrich" because you use what you have on hand and don't need to purchase any special ingredients...and it is healthy! as always! :)

The crepe recipe was altered from this recipe. The rich, dark chocolate syrup is my own creation.

Ingredients (crepe):

• 1 cup flour (whole wheat or GF mix)


• 2-4 tbsp  unsweetened cocoa powder (depending on how strong of a chocolate taste you desire-start with 2)


• 1 tbsp honey/sweetener


• 1 1/2 cups  milk


• 2 eggs


• 1 t. oil

Heat a pan on medium heat.   Mix wet ingredients. Then add dry ingredients. Grease pan. Pour scant 1/4 c. batter into pan and lift the pan off the burner, moving the batter around until you have a thin crepe.

Top and fill with strawberries and

Rich Dark Chocolate Syrup

• 3 T soft butter


• 1/2 c. cocoa


• 4 T. agave/honey


• 6-8 T. water (to your desired thickness.

Combine all ingredients and serve over crepes. Use leftovers for chocolate milk or ice-cream (cow, almond, soy, etc).

How to Slice An Apple and Keep it from Browning (without lemon juice!)

I found the following info at this site. What a great idea! Healthy snacks are always good (especially for kids). Frugal too because you cut down on the amount of waste (ie. picky eaters that won't eat browned apples but still want them cut).

The rest of this post is quoted from the site.

"Slicing An Apple So It Won’t Brown

My daughters love apples with peanut butter for lunch – it is one of the few protein sources I can get my ultra picky 9 year to eat at lunch time – buthow do you keep the apple slices from getting brown?

Check out this technique:

Using an Apple Corer and Divider, cut down 7/8 of the way through the apple. Remove the slicer and reform the apple so it looks “whole” again. Pack in a sealed baggie or container. When your child opens it up at lunch, the apple will still appear fresh and will not have browned."