Preparing a healthy meal does not have to be time consuming or expensive. This is a quick, cheap, and healthy idea!
This recipe makes 8 burritos!!
1 medium onion, chopped ($0.70 lb)
3 cups cooked brown Rice ($2 md bag)
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed ($0.70)
1 steamed sweet potato, mashed ($0.50)
1 (11 ounce) can corn, drained ($0.60)
8 (8 inch) wheat flour tortillas ($3.00)
1 avocado, sliced ($0.50)
1 cup prepared salsa ($2.00)
Put it all in the center of a tortilla, sprinkle a little chili powder on top, roll it up, and EAT IT!
Total cost: $1.25 per burrito. (just as cheap and fast as Mr. Ronald McD's!)
You may add these extra items to your burrito (if your BUDGET allows!!): Cheese, lettuce, mushrooms, bell peppers, fat-free yogurt, etc...
Dress to impress!
I feel like a 10 year old girl writing all my personal little adventures on my diary. Except instead of waiting for my little brother to find my diary, read all my secrets and broadcast it to all the neighbors, I have skipped the middle man and posted it directly on the internet.
On a different note, I’d like to share one other frugally green idea.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to a bachelorette party. My good friend from college was getting married and she wanted me to celebrate with her.
To be honest, although I was honored to be invited to such special event, I did not want to go. First of all, the party started at 8pm, and usually by that time, I’m already in my pajamas. Secondly, I’m a stay-at-home mom, and the words “make-up”, “bar” and “limousine riding” are definitely not part of my job description. Also, my wardrobe consists of lots of t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. I don’t own anything fancy at all.
I thought I had many valid excuses not to go...until, the day before the party when I decided to clean up my closet. I found many “treasures” in there, including an old pair of skating shoes with duck tape holding the soles together (I told you we were frugal), a hand full of dead roaches, and a collection of old bridesmaid dresses. I tossed the shoes and the dead roaches away, but I kept the dresses. I tried them on, one by one. I remembered all the special weddings I got to witness and all the fun I had celebrating those special days with my friends. Then I remembered my own wedding. I don’t want to get all emotional here, so I’ll skip all the mushy-mushy details, but I’ll tell you this: I loved every minute of my special day, and I still love being married to my best friend.
So, I decided to step it up, set aside my excuses, put on something cute, and go celebrate a once in a life time day with my sweet college friend.
What did I wear? One of my old bridesmaid dresses. I’m not kidding...A golden, strapless dress...It was a long gown originally, but I cut it to knee length and hemmed it myself. I wore it with a brown leather belt and shoes. (It looks a little wrinkled in this picture, but it looked fabulous at the bachelorette party!)
Total cost?!
Cute cocktail dress: FREE
A glass of sweet tea at the bar: $2
A night full of fun with a good friend: PRICELESS
On a different note, I’d like to share one other frugally green idea.
A few weeks ago, I was invited to a bachelorette party. My good friend from college was getting married and she wanted me to celebrate with her.
To be honest, although I was honored to be invited to such special event, I did not want to go. First of all, the party started at 8pm, and usually by that time, I’m already in my pajamas. Secondly, I’m a stay-at-home mom, and the words “make-up”, “bar” and “limousine riding” are definitely not part of my job description. Also, my wardrobe consists of lots of t-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. I don’t own anything fancy at all.
I thought I had many valid excuses not to go...until, the day before the party when I decided to clean up my closet. I found many “treasures” in there, including an old pair of skating shoes with duck tape holding the soles together (I told you we were frugal), a hand full of dead roaches, and a collection of old bridesmaid dresses. I tossed the shoes and the dead roaches away, but I kept the dresses. I tried them on, one by one. I remembered all the special weddings I got to witness and all the fun I had celebrating those special days with my friends. Then I remembered my own wedding. I don’t want to get all emotional here, so I’ll skip all the mushy-mushy details, but I’ll tell you this: I loved every minute of my special day, and I still love being married to my best friend.
So, I decided to step it up, set aside my excuses, put on something cute, and go celebrate a once in a life time day with my sweet college friend.
What did I wear? One of my old bridesmaid dresses. I’m not kidding...A golden, strapless dress...It was a long gown originally, but I cut it to knee length and hemmed it myself. I wore it with a brown leather belt and shoes. (It looks a little wrinkled in this picture, but it looked fabulous at the bachelorette party!)
Total cost?!
Cute cocktail dress: FREE
A glass of sweet tea at the bar: $2
A night full of fun with a good friend: PRICELESS
Family Room
Eight months ago we purchased our "dream home". We bought a 1959 mid-century modern home. It's 1600 sq-ft, with slanted roof, and a really high selling. We love the location, it's right across the street from a public park, a mile away from the grocery store, and within five miles from all our friends.
We decided to furnish the house with 1950's and 1960's furniture, to go along with the style of the home. My first project was the family/kids play room.
I wanted a family room that would be mid-century modern, colorful, and easy to clean, since my family is a little on the messy side. I shopped thrift stores, antique stores, eb*y, and other places online for the best used furniture deal. After a couple months I finally found these couches on Cr%#gslist. I paid $300 dollars for both couches, an awesome side table (not shown), and the coffee table/foot stool. I've seen similar couches on eb*y go for over $1000! I'm very please with them, both couches and coffee table are made of wood and vinyl, which makes it very easy to clean. Now I just need a pretty rug and some pillows, but that's another post!
Bread Baking Story
We always eat wheat bread. Lately, we also have been trying to buy foods with little or no preservatives, if possible. At the grocery store the other day, while walking down the frozen foods isle, I found a kind of wheat bread that does not have a lot of preservatives. I was very exited about my discovery, until I saw the price...$5 for a loaf of bread?! Seriously?!
I bought it anyway. I usually don't mind paying a little extra for higher quality foods, but to tell you the truth, the bread sucked. It was hard and it tasted like cardboard.
So I decided to make my own fresh wheat bread. I have gone down that road twice before, and it was a disaster both times! In my very first attempt, I gave up when I spilled flour all over myself. The second time, I almost burned the house down, and the final product looked more like a cement brick than a loaf of bread.
I'm awful at baking because I'm awful at following instructions. I'm also a "know-it-all", I always deviate from the original recipe because I think I know best.
So even with my long history of failure, I decided to try bread baking one more time. I dove head first into the adventure. I found a simple recipe I liked and I went to the grocery store to get all the ingredients. I got home, put the kids to nap, and started working. After 4 hours of beating, pinching, punching, and resting, the dough was ready to be baked. I sat there staring at the brown mushy blob of dough while the oven was pre-heating. I was so nervous. I did not want to mess it up this time.
I finally had the courage to put the dough in the oven, and 35 long minutes later, the master piece was ready!! My husband was so excited to come home to some fresh, preservative free, wheat bread that actually tasted good!! My kids loved it too!!
In a lot of ways, baking have been like going to a psychologist. It has helped me understand myself. I have slowly come to the realization that, just like in real life, I don't have to "know it all". I just have to be willing to step back, let a "recipe book" tell me what to do, and hope I don't burn the "bread" in the end!
By the way, I followed the recipe for wheat bread from the "Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book". This recipe does not require a "bread Machine". Total cost?! $10 for 8 loafs!!!!
From Trash To Treasure!
I found these chairs in the trash! I was driving to my parent’s house when I saw them on the side of the road. While hanging out with my family, I kept thinking about them, so on the way back to my house, I stopped and loaded two of the chairs into my car. My aunt was with me. I’m pretty sure she thinks I’m a little on the crazy side, but I’m ok with that. I’ve always wanted to learn how to reupholster something and I thought these chairs would be an easy first project.
I started by wiping them with a rag. All the dirt and paper that was stuck to them came right off. I didn’t even have to sand or re-stain them!! I unscrewed the cushions from the chairs and started to rip the old fabric off. That was the grossest part of the whole process. The old cushion was saggy and stinky. I started to imagine all the bum-bums that once sat on those chairs, and how many toots those old cushions must have endured. I almost quit right at that thought, but I didn’t. I was too far into the process to give up.
I tossed all the nasty material away.I purchased new padding and fabric at the craft store. I used a staple gun to attach them back to the chairs. Total cost? $6 for each chair.
I would like to think there are no more toot particles stuck to the cushions now, but with a family like mine, I'm pretty sure I'm wrong!
Retro Pillows!
I found two huge panels of curtains at an antique store for $2 a piece. They were very retro looking with green and orange flowers. I think there were over 6 yards for fabric! What a deal!
I took them home, washed them, and with a little magic, they became pillows!!
Ok...I'll tell you the truth: I don't really have magical powers. I just cut the fabric into squares, hand-sewed them together, and stuffed them with some pre-made pillow inserts. They look great on my orange, mid-century, vinyl couches! Total cost? $5 for two pillows! I still have over 4 yard of fabric left, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. Any suggestions?
About Us
If I were to ask my family and friends to describe my husband and I, I'm pretty sure they would use the word "frugal" a lot. We enjoy clipping coupons and shopping for good deals. It's almost like a game to us!
My dad would also add the word "hippie" to our description. We bring our own bags to the grocery store and we also recycle all paper, plastic, and glass items. Before we buy anything "new", we always look for "gently used" items first.
We like to call ourselves "Frugally green". We don't like spending a lot of money, and we like to live an environmentally responsible life.
Most of the time combining the two attributes is very hard, so being Frugally green has become a life style. It has determined what kind of car we drive, what we eat, and even where we live. Follow us as we embark in this blogging adventure!
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