Black Bean and Sausage Pot

This week the challenge is to be thrifty and still put a delish dinner on the table using what I have on hand.

Crock pot cooked black beans from the freezer, dry rice, bell pepper, onion, a can of diced tomatoes, and half a package of jalapeno cheddar sausage.  Seemed a little lackluster, so I added a package of...

 ...Italian salad dressing mix.  The following is not so much a recipe as an experiment!  I cooked the rice and set it aside earlier in the day.  Then about 30 minutes before dinner, I sliced and cooked the sausage and set it aside, too.  Then sauteed the chopped  onion and pepper in some olive oil and added the tomatoes, juice and all with  the seasoning packet and a can of water.

I simmered it all about 20 minutes, then stirred in the rice and kept if warm in the crock pot while I fixed butter dip biscuits from Plain Chicken. It made something of a stew, perfect with the biscuits. Not bad for a frugal meal.

Gina

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February thifting

Last week I stopped by one of my favorite thrift stores with nothing in particular to look for - which always seems to work out better for me.

 I found 2 like new Eddie Bauer shirts for Hubby that ended up being half price - so $6.29 for two.

 And four tops for me at around $7.50.

 And this little bit of bric-a-brac.  Some new IKEA cork coasters for $1, new food storage containers for $1, the books at about 50 cents each, and a wire "tree" for $2.50.  I was going to save the tree for Christmas decor, but it fit in nicely with the stuff up on the tops of the kitchen cabinets:

 

Simple, pretty, thrifty.

Gina

Four Ingredient Enchiladas

These are a favorite of ours and simple to make - I call them "The Working Woman's Friend" and I have made them this way for years.

 You will need:

One can of chili (or, make your own)
One can of petite diced tomatoes
One package 10 ct. corn tortillas
2-3 cups shredded cheese (I used the Mexican Blend)

*This recipe is easy to double if you are feeding more than 5 people - count on two enchiladas per person.

Put a dab of margarine on each tortilla and stack 'em while you heat up a skillet.

Cook a little on each side - one minute or so total - to soften them up.  I have tried other ways to soften them that didn't work as well - the margarine makes them nice and pliable.

Stack them on a plate to cool til you get them all done.  Then put a couple tablespoons of grated cheese in each one, roll up, and place seam side down in a greased 13x9 casserole dish.

 Turn your oven to 350 and start the sauce.

Saute a little garlic, if you like, and add in the chili and tomatoes, juice and all.  Tweak it with cumin, chili powder - whatever you like. Let it warm up in your already hot pan, but you don't have to simmer it.

Slather it all over the rolled up enchiladas.

And sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes while you chop a salad.

Dessert was Cherry Cheesecake Squares from Abundance on a Dime:

  It was a sweet ending to our enchilada meal.

Gina

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She and He

The Girl asked me to send her some pictures of she and her dad for a slide show that will play at a Father/Daughter event for her sorority.  So I pulled my little scanner out, and went through all the photo albums and digital files to come up with these:

Gina

Homemade laundry soap

I've made laundry soap before, mostly for fun, and found that it was hard to stir, hard to store, and just a mess to pour into the container you were going to use it from.  So when I saw a way to make it in powdered form, I thought I would give it another shot.

I bought Purex Crystals, washing soda, baking soda, borax, and Oxi Clean.  I didn't think to write down the sizes on these - sorry.  But I found them easily in the washing detergent section of Wal-Mart.
I used the entire contents of each.

I also added bar soap.  I grated up enough to equal 2 cups.  I chose the hardest slivers of soap I had, so they would grate up fine and dissolve easily in the wash.  The Chinese soap seems to work well - I read that you shouldn't use beauty bars like Dove or Tone - too much oil in the soap can make spots on your clothes. Or you can buy Fels Naptha bar soap, also sold where laundry soap is.  I just happened to have a lot of small used bars handy.

 The mix of sandalwood and jasmine soaps smelled divine!

 

 I found a big stockpot in the garage to mix it all up in.  Next time I will do this step on the back patio, as the dust really flies, and it's not fun to breathe it in!

 The empty Purex and Oxi containers made good containers to store a portion for me, and for The Girl.  I want her to test it out - I wrote the instructions for her on the top of the cap and included the small scoop that came with the Oxi.  I can pour the mixture easily into this bottle.

 For a large load set on  "super" for water level, I would probably use two capfuls of soap, otherwise one seems to work fine.  And I pour it in as I'm letting the machine fill so it has extra time to dissolve before I pile the clothes in.  Most of our things I wash on cold and it doesn't seem to be an issue.

All the extra soap fit nicely into this plastic lidded bin I stored above the washer.

So far, so good.  I've done a couple of loads and they seem clean and smell great.  I didn't do the math to figure out how much per load I am saving, if any.  It cost $18 to make and I am curious to see how long it will last - I am keeping track of how many loads I do - typically, I do roughly 8-10 loads per week.  It was fun to do and great knowing I have enough laundry soap to last a while.  Have you ever made your own laundry soap?

Gina

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Burlapped Cork Board

While perusing the crafty blogs I came across a gem from Megan  at Balancing Home.  She made a Ballard bulletin board knock- off, and it made me want to make one, too! 

 Well, it so happens I had a nice big bulletin board out in the garage.

 and a big enough space over my desk to hang it.

 Before

The memo board that was hanging there was cute, but so little.  I'm going to find a new home for that portrait and make a Ballard-inspired board, too, only mine will have a French memo board twist.

I started with sage green burlap, a darker sage ribbon, and two packages of upholstery tacks.

I ironed the burlap then laid it out on the bulletin board.  There was about 2" of overhang to wrap around the frame to the back.  Then I just started laying out the ribbon and tacking it in place.

 

 In the center where all the lines of the ribbon intersect, I pushed in a tack.

 After that, I just filled in the blank spots with more tacks until I ran out.

 

 

 Then I stapled the edges of the overhang to the back and carefully trimmed away the excess.

 Nothing fancy for the corners.  Just wanted to make sure it wouldn't stick out from the wall.

 My new board seems really big, but it fits great in my office nook.

I put all the pictures and mementos from the little one, and now I have room to add more stuff.  I am just going to use the tacks I already have - about a bazillion clear ones.  Why buy more?

 

I really like how it turned out. I estimate I spent $10 on it; Ballard's sells theirs for $89.  And mine has a little something extra.  Whatcha think?

Gina

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