Roasted Potato Slices

This is a simple and frugal potato recipe that looks pretty enough to be served to company. The recipe can be doubled or tripled to serve a crowd, or it can be halved to serve two. And, you can vary the seasonings to your taste. My family gobbled this up last night, and was asking for more. A 5out of 5 recipe for sure!

               

Roasted Potato Slices

4 medium sized potatoes

4 Tbsp. melted butter

Rosemary

Salt and Pepper to taste

Thoroughly wash potatoes. Thinly slice and arrange, standing upright, in a baking dish. Drizzle with melted butter. Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Bake at 375˚ for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

This post has been linked to Penny Pinching Party.

We Have No A/C

Our air conditioning has been out for two days now. So, with temperatures at 95-100˚ every day, our house is hot. Thankfully, we had some thunderstorms last night to cool things off a bit. As a result, I have been keeping the cooking to a minimum. I certainly do not want to add any more heat to our house.

After having had a broken oven for two weeks, and now this, it seems like I am becoming a pro at improvising. It would be easy to just stock up on convenience foods when something like this happens, or head straight to a restaurant for our meals. But, as I have told you before, I find is somewhat enjoyable to stretch my mind and cook creatively.

Over the last couple of days I have…

… pulled some Seasoned Brown Rice out of my freezer for a quick side dish.

… made Nut Free Trail Mix for the kid’s lunches instead of the Granola Bars that I had planned to make.

… served leftovers and cleared out our refrigerator. We polished off some slow cooker chicken, pan seared pork chops, and Ranch Dip with veggies.

Doing all of these frugal things helped to keep me on track with our grocery budget. And, hopefully, our A/C will be fixed today and we’ll be back to normal again!

This post has been linked to Frugal Tuesday Tip.

Buckwheat Pancakes

This week we have had the pleasure of visiting with our good friend Susan. We met Susan and her family while living in Germany. But, we truly got to know them when we took a trip to London together. It has been such a blessing to have her here.

Susan is both gluten and lactose intolerant. So, one morning for breakfast I made these Buckwheat Pancakes, which was something new for Susan. I substituted soy milk for regular milk and coconut oil for the butter and the pancakes turned out beautifully. Everyone gobbled them up gladly.

The coolest thing about our visit is that I was able to help Susan start her own blog for her family. We had so much fun choosing a name and picking pictures to post. Susan is my first “real life” friend to join me in blogging!

Buckwheat Pancakes

2 cups buckwheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

¼ cup sugar (raw or white)

1 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 cups milk

4 Tbsp. melted butter

Measure the dry ingredients into a bowl. Add eggs, milk, and melted butter. Stir just until combined.  Pour batter onto hot greased griddle and cook until bubbles on top pop (about 3-4 minutes). Flip and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, or until thoroughly cooked. Serve hot with syrup. Yield 14-18 pancakes.

This post has been linked to Mop It Up Mondays.

365 Ways to Live Cheap

My kids have been on a Boxcar Children kick lately. I read the first book to them a couple of months ago and they are now fascinated with these creative and resourceful kids. This week we listened to The Yellow House Mystery (Book 3). And, of course, they loved it. My son is also reading Blue Bay Mystery (Book 6) for his homework every day. And, I read a frugal living book this week that a friend loaned to me and learned some great tips for saving money.

365 Ways to Live Cheap: Your Everyday Guide to Saving Money written by Trent Hamm

This little book of frugal tips and tricks is filled with money saving strategies and techniques that can save both money and time. It is a comprehensive book that includes advice on areas such as cars, clutter, health, and groceries. And, the topics are organized in a logical manner allowing the reader to skip around the book to find what is most beneficial, when needed.

Trent Hamm is also the author of The Simple Dollar, a financial blog offering practical advice for average people. If you are a long time reader of Trent’s blog, you may find that many of these tips can be found there. However, it is nice to have it all in one place as a reference that is categorized for easy use.

This book is perfect for those just starting out in frugal living. The tips are practical and reasonable. And, even a seasoned frugal girl like myself, learned some new tips. I would recommend this book particularly to someone that needs to cut expenses quickly or to someone who is transitioning from a two income family to a one income family. A great resource for pinching pennies without sacrificing quality of life!

To learn more about this weekly reading report, click on the tab above.

Sausage and Rice Casserole

This is a comfort food recipe that my husband especially loves. He was out of town for several days last week and I made this for him when he got home. He was pleased and said, “Now, this is a recipe to come home to!” I like to use homemade pork sausage and seasoned brown rice from my freezer, but it still works well with purchased sausage and a boxed rice mix. And, this is one recipe that all of my kids will gobble up gladly.

Sausage and Rice Casserole

1 lb. ground pork sausage, browned

1 cup sour cream

2 cups cooked seasoned rice (or 6oz. pkg. instant long grain and wild rice mix, prepared)

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Stir together pork sausage and sour cream. In a casserole dish, layer half of the rice, half of the meat mixture, and half of the cheese. Repeat layers. Bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

Wheat Crackers

Yesterday, I told you about the Roasted Red Pepper Spread that we have fallen in love with. These Wheat Crackers are a perfect dipper for this spread. Crackers are so simple to make and taste so much better than store-bought; you may never buy them again! We like these plain, with a spread, or with cheese. And, surprisingly, my kids will dig through them to find the darkest ones to eat first.

Wheat Crackers

2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

2/3 cup warm water

1/3 cup olive oil

Additional olive oil and salt for topping

Stir together all ingredients until a soft dough forms. Divide the dough into two portions and evenly roll out each portion onto a greased 10x15cookie sheet (the dough should be rolled all the way out to the very edges of the pan).  Cut the dough into squares, with a knife or a pizza cutter, into the desired cracker size. As the dough bakes, the crackers will shrink and separate. Brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake each sheet of crackers individually at 400˚ for 10-12 minutes. (Watch these carefully, they can brown quickly just like cookies.) Cool completely and store in an airtight container for up to a week.

Optional Toppings: In addition to the salt, toppings such as rosemary, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, parmesan cheese, or dried onion can be sprinkled on top of the crackers before baking.

This post has been linked to The Thrifty Home: Penny Pinching Party.

Fascinating Find - Roasted Red Pepper Spread

As we get closer and closer to our big move, we have been making a concentrated effort to eat up all of the food in our pantry, fridge, and freezer. I have had a jar of roasted red peppers hanging around for a while, so when I saw this simple recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Spread on Trish's blog, Mom On Time Out, I just knew I had to try it.

The results were spectacular! Everyone at my house loved it, resulting in a 5 out of 5 rating, which is rare for us. We ate it with crackers, but it would be excellent with tortilla chips, bagel chips, or even as a sandwich spread. I have made it twice now and I can honestly say that this recipe is now one of our favorites.

Be sure to check out Trish’s blog for more recipes, craft ideas, and money saving tips. Thanks Trish for such a great recipe!

Blog Link: Mom On Time Out

Recipe Link: Roasted Red Pepper Spread