The Roundup - Road Warrior Edition
A friend of mine recently bought a huge RV and he brought the beast by to show it off. I had never been in one before and I was shocked at the level of amenties it has. I was very impressed - kind of like a nice studio apartment on wheels. This 35-foot behemoth even has its own garage with a lowering platform for bikes. All it’s lacking at this point is a hot tub and a Starbucks. And the hot tub ain’t gonna happen.
Getting to Now: How to Beat the Procrastination Habit @ Get Rich Slowly - I have a real problem with procrastination and multitasking. The lightbulb has been burned out in my laundry room for a week and I still haven’t replaced it. I used my lantern-style flashlight to do laundry today. How sad is that? I will go change it right now. Errr, after this post I mean. Great article!
Transfering Assets Upon Death Through a Will @ Generation X Finance - It seems people avoid thinking about a will until someone they know passes or they have kids. Wills are uncomfortable but important business and Jeremy does a good job discussing them this week.
To Tip Or Not To Tip @ Brip Blap - Tipping is a sensitive subject for some people. I usually tip 15-20% at restaurants, a few bucks to the pizza guy and valets, and a buck or two to the airport shuttle bus driver who is kind enough to help me with my bags. When it came to our wedding we paid a flat 20% to the waiters/bartenders and banished tip jars entirely. Making the no tipping rule clear helped make everyone more comfortable.
More carnivals to check out:
Carnival of Ethics, Values, and Personal Finance @ Money and Values
Carnival of Financial Planning @ The Skilled Investor
Image Source: EdTarwinski
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The Penny-Wise Wino
OK, I’m joking. Don’t be a wino. That’s just no good. But you can fit some wine in your frugal lifestyle with moderation.
If you enjoy a good glass of wine you know how expensive it can be. Obviously, the cheapest thing to do is to cut out all alcohol and just drink water.
Numerous sites will explain how alcohol is just empty calories and not a source of nourishment so avoid wasting your hard earned dollars on it. For the most part, I agree with this. When money is tight it is best to avoid these useless calories and focus on buying nutritious food.
Sometimes, I must admit, I just want a glass of wine. I know wine is not essential. But if you enjoy the occasional drink and want to fit it into your budget it is better to shop smart and make those dollars go as far as possible.
Before my frugal “conversion”, I loved unwinding with a good (generally not cheap) glass of wine while cooking. Hearing my husband pour me a glassful was a signal that it was time to relax and that the working day was officially over. I had read that one glass a day was good for you so I thought it might even be a good thing to indulge with a glass a few times a week.
When we started budgeting we dropped wine out entirely. There was a complete and utter moratorium on all alcoholic beverages. We just didn’t have the money to spend on it. I thought that if we ever did get to afford wine again that it would be the kind made from apples, not grapes. Now that we are getting a hold of the budget I’ve found that I can still enjoy a glass every so often as long as I am disciplined about it.
Wine can be pricey. Even cheap bottles are still $5-$10 each. And if you are only drinking the occasional glass you run the risk of the wine going bad before you can finish the bottle. That means you will have to uncork another bottle when you are ready for the next glass. Opening a bottle could actually encourage you to drink more so that you can avoid wasting it. Infrequent wine drinkers get to decide which is worse: wasting the wine or potentially drinking more than they want to.
We have found the solution to this problem: cheap boxed wine. Yes, boxed wine. I know what you are thinking, but give it a chance. It isn’t that bad, really. And at $10 to $15 for 4 or 5 liters you can’t beat the value (4 liters is about 27 - 5oz servings). A box every couple of months won’t break the bank.
The best part about boxed wine (besides the price) is that it stays good for several months and it allows you to take just a glass at a time. You can have a glass as infrequently as you want without running the risk of having it go bad. Don’t worry, these days boxed wine is available in many varieties; not just table white, sweet red, or white zinfandel. You are bound to find one you enjoy.
Boxed wine is great for entertaining on a budget, too. You can serve a crowd without spending a small fortune. I also use this wine for cooking. It’s nice not having to open an entire bottle for only ¼ cup of white wine. Now I measure directly from the spout and the rest stays fresh.
I am not suggesting that habitual drinking is good use of your money even if you manage to stay within budget. Overindulgence can hurt your bottom line in more ways than just the cost of the alcohol. But if you are drinking responsibly, boxed wine is a good way to enjoy your juice on the cheap.
Image Source: sporkist
Tightwad Wednesday - Reusing Baggies & Pickled Chops
Each week, I will test out two tips from the The Complete Tightwad Gazette
I have mixed results for my first edition of the Tightwad Wednesday challenge. One of the tips I tried from The Complete Tightwad Gazette
Washing and Reusing Baggies
Ironically, when I realized I’d be washing all my baggies for the week I noticed a trend toward using less baggies and more gladware. I guess knowing I’d have to wash and dry the baggies by hand was enough incentive for me to start relying more heavily on my non-disposable containers. That’s good!
Washing the baggies wasn’t difficult but I could never tell if I really got them clean. I’d put the baggies in the sink with the hot soapy water I use to wash plastic water bottles. I washed them twice just in case. Since grease can be a problem, make sure to wash your baggies in the clean dish water before any of the dirty dishes are in the sink.
Drying them was an interesting task. I don’t have an air-dry dish rack so arranging them with chop sticks like Amy suggested wasn’t an option for me. I tried several different methods: the dishwasher rack, standing them up on towel on the counter, and hanging them from a hook. The dishwasher rack worked pretty well although I did have water spots.
According to The Complete Tightwad Gazette
I never save any bag that was used to store meats. Greasy bags are hard to wash as well. … Most important, I never, ever reuse any bag that stored raw poultry.
This is an important tip. The bags that held crackers or other dry goods turned out fine after washing. The bags that held something greasy were another matter. Even after washing it twice I couldn’t seem to get rid of the “film” on the inside. Gross. I don’t want to reuse those. I actually use a lot of baggies to store ½ pound portions of hamburger and chicken in my freezer. Bummer that I won’t be able to reuse those due the film factor.
I reused a few of the bags to store non-edibles and to store unused coupons destined for my friends. I also used one to crush up tortilla chips in then tossed it because of all the punctures.
All in all - I’ll probably continue this tip. It felt good avoiding “unnecessary” waste. I have decided to use non-disposable containers when brining and marinading meats so I won’t have to automatically throw out those baggies. Basically, if it has oil in it I will avoid a baggie. That will help maximize the amount of baggies I can reuse.
Sweet Pickled Chops
I was intrigued by this idea when I first saw it because I’d love to find a good use for my leftover pickle juice. Eric loves pickle juice so if I could showcase it in a meal that would be great! This recipe calls for cooking pork chops topped with onions and ketchup in leftover sweet pickle juice. Unfortunately, it sounds better than it tastes.
When I saw how long the recipe wanted me to cook the pork chops, I knew I was in trouble. I decided to get the thickest chops I could find to try and make this work.
The recipe calls for baking these for an hour in a moderate oven. By the time 35 minutes passed I took pity on the poor chops and decided to remove them. They were like hockey pucks after braising in the boiling juice for so long. The color was pale and slightly yellow tinged on the edges. Not exactly appetizing. Despite the color it didn’t seem to absorb any of the pickle juice flavor. That was a little surprising to me, especially considering the smell.
The kitchen smelled oddly like a McDonald’s hamburger. Then I realized the recipe was based on a combo of pickle juice, onions, and ketchup. How funny that the smell reminded me of a happy meal.
My brave husband ate the tough, dry chops despite my offers to make him another meal. He is a real trooper. He was not about to let an expensive cut of meat, like these pork chops, go to waste.
Folks, I’d call this recipe, as is, a failure. Maybe this was actually meant for a roast? If you want a good cheap recipe for pork chops that is a sure fire winner try my *awesome* pork chop reducipe. This recipe is standard in my repertoire and after the pickled recipe flopped I figured my personal recipe needed to get posted on the fly.
When I finish the next jar of pickles I may try to give this idea another shot. Next time, I’d pan fry the chops for nice color and texture and use the reduced pickle juice in a pan sauce. Or maybe I’ll use it as a marinade. I’ll have to think about it more. I’ll make sure to let you know when I revisit it. I haven’t given up.
Since the purpose of this recipe was to find a good way to use up pickle juice, I thought I’d offer some alternatives. Try these neat pickle juice ideas from ilovepickles.org:
- Pickle and pickled pepper liquids make excellent marinades. They offer lots of gutsy flavor when simply combined with a little olive oil and chopped fresh herbs, or added to bottled Italian salad dressing.
- Add cut-up raw carrots, celery sticks, broccoli and cauliflower florets, and red and green pepper strips directly to the jar of any type of leftover pickle juice. Make sure to keep these tangy tidbits refrigerated. The marinated veggies are great for snacking on straight from the jar or become an innovative addition to a crudité platter.
- Slip sliced onions into a jar of sweet-hot bread and butter pickle juice. The “pickled” onions liven up turkey, chicken or ham sandwiches, as well as hamburgers.
- Pickle liquid mixed in with the mayo can give a new twist to your time-honored potato salad.
Final thoughts
Washing baggies made me much more conscious of how often I use “disposable” means of storage. I have decided to use non-disposable plastic containers whenever possible. Although I will likely throw out bags used for meat and greasy items, I will definitely reuse the other bags.
This Sweet Pickled Chops recipe was doomed. The timing and cooking method was off. I think the concept of using pickle juice with pork is a very good one, it just needs some serious tweaking in order to make it a keeper. I will not be adding this recipe to my file and I will use other methods for reusing my leftover pickle juice (like in salad dressings and marinades).
Stay tuned for next week’s Tightwad Wednesday where I will be:
- Using a bottle filled with rocks to lower the water used to flush toilets
- Switching to powered milk for drinking
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Reducipe - Orange Rosemary Pork Chops
Reducipe
Pronunciation: ri-doos-uh-pee
Function: noun
1 : a recipe that can help lower your food costs in a variety of ways
a : by scaling back an expensive recipe to be less pricey but still just as tasty
b : by turning an already inexpensive meal into something special
c : by using leftovers in creative ways to stretch their use
These pork chops are to die for. Seriously. The pork chops alone are excellent with a hint of garlic and lightly crispy crust but it’s the pan sauce that really makes it. Made from orange juice, brown sugar, Dijon, rosemary, and browned butter it is simply *fantastic*. I have been making this for years and not once have I seen a plate come back that wasn’t licked clean.
I’m not exaggerating.
Not only is this recipe a homerun, it’s also cheap! The priciest part of this meal is by far the pork chops. Most of the ingredients are staples. For me, the only ingredients I didn’t have on hand were the pork chops, rosemary, and orange juice. You can use thin or thick chops; just adjust the cooking time accordingly. I used thick chops but if you use the thin style you can save even more money.
Melissa’s Orange Rosemary Pork Chops
Pork Chops:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 pork chops, thick or thin
1/4 cup flour
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to tasteSauce:
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary, minced
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar, to taste
Pork chop pan drippings
1 tablespoon butter (to thicken and gloss)Combine the orange juice, mustard, brown sugar, and rosemary in a small bowl. Add salt to taste. Set aside.
Heat the butter and oil in a skillet over low heat. Season the chops with the garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper then dredge in the flour. Shake off any excess flour.
Increase the heat to medium high and when the butter starts to brown and smell nutty, put the chops in the skillet. Cook for about 3-6 minutes a side (depending on thickness) or until you reach an internal temperature of 150 degrees. Remove chops to a platter and keep warm.
Lower the heat to medium. Pour the orange juice mixture into the hot pan with the chop drippings and whisk to combine. Add the remaining butter, whisking to incorporate. Continue to whisk the sauce while it cooks until it thickens slightly. Serve immediately over the chops.
This makes 4 servings. If you make more than 4-6 chops, I highly recommend doubling the sauce.
I like to serve this with mashed potatoes to help sop up the sauce. Check out this line up of ingredients below. Pretty simple, huh?
Tips and tricks: When cooking these chops don’t move or lift them up to check them in the first few minutes. They need that “quality time” with the pan to develop a good sear and beautiful color. Only turn them once.
I remove the chops when they hit ~146 degrees and let carryover cooking take them the rest of the way. It is perfectly safe to eat pork at 150 degrees. If they get past 160 degrees they will turn out more rubbery than succulent.
I also add a dash of cayenne to my flour mixture because I think everything benefits from a little heat. I would not recommend trying this with dried rosemary. The dried rosemary tends to keep its texture in this sauce and it is distracting and unpleasant. Stick with the fresh stuff; you won’t regret it.
If you try this recipe, and I sincerely hope you will, please let me know what you think of it. I spent a long time tweaking this one and I hope others like it as much as my family and I do. Enjoy!
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The Carnival Review
There have been some great carnivals this week! I thought I’d highlight a few of the ones I’ve enjoyed so far. Check them out when you get a chance!
Carnival of Personal Finance #118 was held over at Money, Matter, and More Musings. It was a massive carnival with 88 submissions making the cut. My article on disputing incorrect collections on my credit report was included.
The Festival of Frugality #92 is up over at No Credit Needed. There were quite a few great submissions this week. My article on choosing not to give up TiVo made the edition.
Carnival of Money Stories #26 was particularly interesting over at I’ve Paid Twice For This Already. PaidTwice did a great job weaving the submissions into a story and my post about my furniture giving up was included. Very creative, PaidTwice!
Make It From Scratch #31 was hosted by Sunflowers in my Kitchen this week. I’m glad she enjoyed my recipe for Chicken Tetrazzini and included it.
The Carnival of Debt Management #24 was held by Debt Consolidation Lowdown. My post about setting up an overage fund was included.
The Carnival of Recipes was hosted by This Mama Cooks. Sadly, I wasn’t aware the theme was diet recipes so my Tetrazzini recipe was a little out of place. I guess my recipe served as an example of how NOT to diet.
My favorite articles from these carnivals:
7 Unwritten & Often Forgotten Credit Card Secrets @ Blueprint for Financial Prosperity
7 Prudent Things to do with Small Windfalls @ Mighty Bargain Hunter
Fifteen Ideas for a Deeply Fulfilling Money Free Weekend @ The Simple Dollar
Money Saving Monday Tip #9 - Use Craigslist @ Gather Little By Little
A Tale of 3 Grills @ Brip Blap
Image Source: StuSeeger
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A Penny Closer is for those of us who want to improve how we spend, save, and invest. We want to be able to manage our money so that we can use it to enjoy our lives today while still saving to reach our dreams tomorrow. Read more about us here...
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