Friday, February 27, 2015

Thrifty is Nifty!

"Do you want chili for lunch?" I asked Howard as he came in at a frigid noon hour.  He readily agreed, and I got out ground meat to brown, then an unwelcome thought surfaced.  I wasn't sure I had chili seasoning!  I had already done a mental checklist for the other ingredients: canned tomatoes, leftover beans, as well as canned black beans. Sure enough, there was no chili seasoning.

"I will run and get some," my husband offered.  Though the store was only two blocks away, I hated for him to go back out in the cold.

"Do you think I could use this?" I asked doubtfully, holding up a packet of  taco seasoning. I read the ingredients and saw that it had chili seasoning in it.

He told me to go ahead, and as I tasted, experimented, added tomato sauce and the other things, it seemed pretty flavorful.  He ate it and loved it!  Even said it was better than usual!

"Do we have anything sweet?" he asked hopefully, upon finishing a bowl of the Chili-O? Taco-lili? I told him I was thinking of making a cake, but I didn't have enough butter.  A half-recipe of Texas Sheet Cake would have been nice, and it stirs up in a jiffy. I knew the recipe by heart: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, soda, and salt, plus 1 stick butter melted with 2 tbs cocoa, and buttermilk, 1 egg, water and vanilla.  Then melted butter and cocoa for the frosting, a bit of milk and vanilla, and powdered sugar.

Wait a minute! I thought.  I had sour cream! I could stretch the butter with that.  It worked! I didn't even have to use buttermilk (milk + vinegar), because the sour cream would work with the soda! With the added sour cream,  I had enough butter to make the delicious chocolate frosting, and the cream sufficed for the milk, too!  My husband was a happy camper, and didn't mind the substitutions at all! He remained at the table in the warm kitchen with his iPad until the cake was finished.

I like being frugal! This was brought home to me the other day when our daughter-in-law Rhonda and son Mark took us to a home store near their house.  We had a few hours until her turkey roast was ready, and it was something to do on our only afternoon there. I loved the store!  Scads of lovely home decor, from  flowers to furniture, covered the giant warehouse-like floor space.  And best of all, it was reasonable!  Not that I needed anything, although the art work was amazing, and the graphics and old-fashioned signs were tempting, even though I have no available wall space.

A nice throw pillow for 50% off took my eye, but I was able to resist other stuff, until I yelled, "At last! Something I can afford!" as I held up a bundle of 24 colorful dish cloths! And at only $4.99! Just what I needed, since I prefer to wash dishes by hand. My present ones had seen better days, the name, dish rags, befitting them perfectly. I couldn't believe how happy my practical bargain made me feel!

Although creation and nature are lavish in beauty and bounty, surely God doesn't want us to be wasteful.  In John 6:12, after Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and fishes, the scripture says, "When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost (wasted)."

So I guess when I save my leftovers, I am in good company!

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