Make It From Scratch #37 – The Frugal Edition

Posted on October 29, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Carnivals

It’s time for Make It From Scratch #37! This carnival features the efforts and ideas of those who like to cook, craft, and create things from scratch.

If you are new to A Penny Closer, welcome! This is a blog about a couple who are working together to reach their goals through budgeting, saving, and learning about frugality. You can read more about our story here or view a single page of all of our posts in our archives.

Although I enjoy crafts and DIY projects, I must admit that I have a serious love affair with cooking so every week I feature at least one recipe called a “Reducipe“. They are recipes designed to reduce your grocery bills by making an expensive meal cheaper, or an already cheap meal better.

I thought “frugality” would be a perfect theme for this edition. Creating something homemade not only exercises our creativity and resourcefulness, it helps us save money along the way. And with the holidays right around the corner who couldn’t use a few extra bucks in their pockets?

We had a lot of wonderful submissions this week and I’ve marked my personal favorites with a star (*). Please enjoy!

Cook it!

*Mrs. Micah from Mrs. Micah: Finance and Life gives us a recipe for Frugal Lentil, Sausage, and Rice soup. This soup sounds very simple and satisfying and would be great for these chilly autumn nights. The recipe she gives makes a large batch so be prepared for a lot of soup for very little cash.

*Silvia from Po Moyemu–In My Opinion tests out a recipe from a Cook’s Illustrated cookbook in her post Cold Weather Tonight–Time for Some Chili. I absolutely love that she used home grown tomatoes for this recipe. There is something so appropriate in using one’s own produce to make a big pot of chili or soup. She cut the spices in half for her version but being that I’m from Texas I would probably double them! :-)

Stephanie from Stop the Ride! passes along a recipe for A New Twist on an Old Favorite – Meatloaf. Meatloaf is a smart way to save money and she gives several great ideas on how to vary the flavors on a tried and true meatloaf recipe. By making a few simple variations she keeps this classic meal interesting for her family.

Donetta from A Life Uncommon presents Homemade Taco Seasoning Mix . She makes this taco seasoning in bulk which allows her to control what’s included (or not included) and save money at the same time. I love making tacos so this is something I should look into!

Tiffany of Natural Family Living Blog introduces us to her Raw Peach Cobbler. She puts a healthy spin on the classic by using dates and walnuts for the topping. All you need are the ingredients and a food processor and you are ready for dessert in no time. Yum!

Amy from MomAdvice shares a Panera-style Broccoli & Cheddar Soup in Frugal Hacks: Soup Supper. She loves the Broccoli & Cheddar soup from Panera Bread so much that she decided to find a recipe she could make at home that mimicked it. Making “knock-offs” of your favorite restaurant fare at home is a fabulous way to save money.

Zamejias from Verb tells us about her recent first-time experience with Lobster cooking. You might be thinking lobster isn’t frugal but in this case it is. She got these lobsters for a phenomenal price from a fishing buddy and she prepared them at home. I’d say this is the best way to enjoy lobster on the cheap, short of getting it for free!

*brip blap discusses his blunders in trying to save money buying a grill for home cooking in a tale of 3 grills. Grilling at home is a great way to entertain but you have to have the right tools to make it successful. He points out that sometimes we buy the cheapest, only to discover that it doesn’t get the job done and it costs us more in the end. When selecting goods we should be frugal, not cheap, in order to get the best value in the long term. I think we’ve all been there, brip blap.

Laura of Laura Williams’ Musings reminds us How to Make Homemade Fries. Making french fries at home is so much cheaper than buying them and when they are this simple to make (like in this recipe) we have no excuse to pay more. Personally, I prefer mine fried but baking them is easier and better for you.

SeaBird of SeaBird Chronicles passes along a recipe for Porridge, as in Goldilocks. I had no idea porridge was this complex with so many good-for-you ingredients. This sounds like a solid way to start out your day.

Bake it!

*Christine from welcome to my brain accommodates for my lack of bread-baking skills with her whole wheat bread for complete morons. She does an excellent job explaining how she makes the bread from start to finish so that even the baking-challenged can turn out a good loaf. Entertaining and educational at the same time.

*HowToMe lets us in on a recipe from her mom that shows us How To Cook Hearty Breakfast Muffins With Time To Spare. These look fantastic and they could add up to significant savings. Who needs the drive-though when you have muffins full of sausage, eggs and cheese. Don’t like sausage? No problem – you can put whatever you want in these so the possibilities are endless. Mmmm!

LONI from Joy in the Morning gives us a recipe for The Bread with the “Secret” Ingredient (Tomato Soup Bread). It looks like a sweet bread, just with tomato soup. She says this bread is good for “fall” and with all those aromatic spices, nuts, and raisins I bet she is right. I think it sounds really intriguing.

Piscesgrrl from Wistful Wanderlust tells us of her adventures with homemade cinnamon rolls in Look What I Did. Who doesn’t like the smell of fresh cinnamon rolls?

Mel from Bean-Sprouts reveals her Soda Bread Recipe that makes a delicious loaf even for “scaredy-cat” bakers. I love easy and forgiving breads – perhaps because I’m still pretty new to baking.

Craft It!

*Michelle from Scribbit – A Blog About Motherhood in Alaska explains how she makes the cutest Knitted Halloween Spiders. They are adorable and you can make them yourself, provided you can knit. I have no idea how to knit but it is on my list of things I want to learn how to do someday. It would be nice to have the ability to create wonderful decorations like these.

*Karen from Little Fun; Little Learning presents some wonderful art activities for preschoolers in her post Fun-Filled Friday: More Fall Stuff. These inexpensive art projects are perfect for little ones. The variety is interesting and will likely keep busy bodies entertained. It seems the best art project ideas just take a little creativity rather than money.

Lori from I Will Learn to Sew stays true to her name by creating an awesome Thomas Tote Bag. She said she was able to make this tote for under $4. It’s a gift that’s personalized, functional, and homemade. She included instructional details for those of you who want to try your hand at this project.

Summer from Creative Mom Cafe pays homage to the 80′s with One Funky Shirt On The Fly. She was able to make a fun shirt (without a pattern!) using materials she bought on sale from a thrift store. I think it is really cute and the name “Chocolate Monday” somehow fits.

Becca from Unplugging the “Stuff” Machine demonstrates how she made a Vintage Style Cocktail Ring. Vintage jewelry, even costume jewelry can be surprisingly expensive. After some inspiration, she got a blank ring setting and used a vintage brooch to make a beautiful cocktail ring. Very resourceful!

Joanie from Nini Makes shares how she is personalizing her daughter’s birthday in Party on. The homemade party invites using her daughter’s artwork are a great idea! Hopefully she will share more of her party ideas with us.

Annette of Crafter’s Journey shows off her scrapbooking skills in Ballet Beauty. She did a neat trick to make paper beading as a decoration. Scrapbooking is such a creative way to preserve your memories. I hear the materials can get quite pricey so making your own decorative touches like Annette did is bound to save money.

Next week, HowToMe will be hosting the next edition of MIFS. Pick out your best homemade marvel and submit it here. Thanks for visiting!

Comments

17 Responses to “Make It From Scratch #37 – The Frugal Edition”

Brip Blap on October 29th, 2007 7:54 pm

Thanks for including my post and selecting it as a favorite! Nice list of articles – since I’m usually reading a bunch of personal finance and productivity type sites this is a nice change of pace!

I had to laugh at the knitted spiders from Michelle. They ARE cute but I think they would spook my nieces, nephew AND my son! Probably need to make them a cute color like green or pink or something :)

I agree that learning to knit would be useful. As a man I think it would be a huge leap for me to overcome, culturally, but my grandmother has made so many millions of caps, mittens, blankets, etc. etc. over the years that I can really appreciate how useful it is. Nice stuff!
Stephanie on October 29th, 2007 8:09 pm

Wonderful job! Thanks so much for hosting!
Mel Rimmer on October 30th, 2007 1:59 am

Good job hosting the carnival this week, and thanks for including my submission.
BuildAndSucceed on October 30th, 2007 5:04 am

Wow cool. I always like learning to do something new myself. I like making my own fruit smoothies. Gets addicting though

Bas
BuildAndSucceed.com
joanie on October 30th, 2007 5:47 am

Great job Melissa! Always love to check out the very diverse posts here – a real Tuesday treat : )
Karen - Little Fun; Little Learning on October 30th, 2007 8:08 am

Thanks for hosting!
Lori on October 30th, 2007 8:09 am

Great job on the carnival. So organized! Thanks for listing my submission.
Laura @ Laura Williams' Musings on October 30th, 2007 9:44 am

WOW! Great job on this Melissa! Thank you to everyone for participating too. Now I have a lot of links to visit!
Michelle at Scribbit on October 30th, 2007 11:30 am

Thanks for the work, you’ve done a great job!
Silvia on October 30th, 2007 12:23 pm

I’m honored to have one of your favorite posts! Thanks for hosting.
RecycleCindy on October 30th, 2007 12:48 pm

What a great MIFS this week. I love the frugal theme! Thanks so much. On off to read…
Kristen's Raw on October 30th, 2007 4:44 pm

What a fun blog. I am coming back for more…maybe a little bedtime reading :)
Cheers!

Kristen’s Raw
Melissa on October 30th, 2007 6:30 pm

Thanks everyone for the wonderful comments! I’m thrilled that you all enjoyed this edition.

Thanks again and I’m glad to be apart of this great carnival!
Melissa on October 30th, 2007 6:39 pm

@Brip Blap – I think it’s fabulous that you would consider taking up knitting. I don’t think I’ve ever met a man that knows how to knit so I can understand the hesitation. But practical is practical no matter what gender you are.
brip blap » spooky links, 10-31-07 on October 31st, 2007 7:28 am

[...] Make It From Scratch Carnival at A Penny Closer: My post tales of 3 grills was included. This was a slight departure for me, but it was fun to see my work surrounded by all of the interesting make-it-from-scratch recipes. Plus, Melissa picked me for a personal favorite, which was a pleasant surprise! [...]
zamejias[verb] on October 31st, 2007 8:08 am

Thanks so much for including mine. You did an excellent job hosting this week’s MIFS.

WOuld also like to thank you for visiting my site and leaving a comment
November Reduce-a-Bill Challenge - The Grocery Bill, Part 2 | beingfrugal.net on November 2nd, 2007 5:30 am

[...] won’t be eating out, it’s really going to have to stretch. Time for me to check out the Make it From Scratch Carnival. If you have any tasty, frugal recipes, feel free to send them my [...]