5 Frugal Things We Do Daily

1. Cook and eat from scratch.

2. Use cloth diapers and wipes (and wash them at home instead of using a diaper service).

3. Turn our heat down by several degrees every night.

4. Breastfeed. (Well, "we" don't breastfeed.)

5. Read library books.

We don't do any of these things just to save money, of course, but it's definitely a plus! What are frugal things you do daily?

Frugal Meatless Meals: Chana Masala

I've made chana masala before, but it always turned out pasty. All the recipes I'd tried called for too much onion, too much tomato. But my mother-in-law gave me Molly Wizenberg's book for Christmas, and one of the first recipes I wanted to try was her chana masala. It turned out wonderfully--like a milder, sweeter version of our beloved chole. Try it!



Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloes garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garam masala
3 cardamom pods, lightly crushed
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
Pinch cayenne pepper
3 cups cooked chickpeas (about 2 cans)
1 cup plain yogurt, optional

Directions:
In a large saucepan over medium heat, cook onion in olive oil until dark and caramelized. Don't worry if it gets a little burn-y. (Yes, burn-y.) Reduce the heat to low and add garlic, cumin, coriander, ginger, garam masala, and cardamom pods. Stirring constantly, fry them for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add 1/4 cup of water and stir. Cook until the water has evaporated, then pour in the tomatoes and salt.

Bring the pot to a boil before reducing the heat to low, adding cilantro and cayenne, and simmering until the mixture reduces and thickens a bit. Add chickpeas and cook over low heat for about 1o minutes. Check the pot and see how much water has absorbed into the chickpeas--you don't want it to be too soupy. Cook until the mixture is thick, then stir in the yogurt and serve. This made a lot--about eight servings. We're currently obsessed with bhatura, so that's what we served alongside, but you could easily serve rice.

AND this week I'm unveiling Frugal Meatless Meals as a carnival. You're welcome to link up your meatless recipes, tips, or tricks!



This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Ask me anything!

Just for fun...

Anything you want to know?

I'll answer your questions in a post later this week. :-)

Menu Plan Monday

Breakfast:
-Homemade instant oatmeal

Lunch:
-Apples, red pepper strips, pistachios (Jason)
-Leftovers, fruit smoothies (me)

Dinner:
-Sausage and green pepper deep dish pizza
-Lentil tacos with pico de gallo, guacamole, and tortilla chips
-Breakfast sandwiches with pineapple
-Red beans and rice with Jiffy cornbread

Dessert:
-Strawberry crumb pie

Groceries

Farmer's Market - $4.50



Amazing Grace - $25.80



Kroger - $67.24



We spent a total of $97.54 on groceries this week, which leaves $252.46 in February's grocery budget. I'll need to spend a little less next week to compensate, but that should be totally doable.

This post is linked to Super Savings Saturday.

Food Waste Friday

Why am I chronicling my food waste? According to Jonathan Bloom, the average family wastes 1/4 of the food they bring home. Food waste isn't just a waste of food, but a waste of time, resources, and money. So I've joined Kristen and other bloggers in tracking my food waste for not only a lesser environmental footprint, but a lower grocery bill.

Yes, that's our empty counter again. I'm SO happy that we've had three weeks in a row of zero food waste!

However, we narrowly escaped wasting food this week. While making dinner the other night I pulled out an onion that had started to grow mold. I'd never even seen a moldy onion before! Luckily, it hadn't spread much yet, so I was able to just chop off the icky part and go about my business. I checked the other onions in the basket and they were all fine, so I'm guessing it was just a fluke.

There's also a lackluster bunch of cilantro in the fridge. It's currently holding strong in some water, but I made sure to put lentil tacos, pico de gallo, and guacamole on next week's menu in hopes of using it all up before it gets brown and wilty.

I also chopped up and froze five bananas and untold numbers of carrots. I'm quite proud of myself this week!

This doesn't happen every day...

I woke up to an odd sight this morning.



Our neighbor's new chicken escaped the coop and was pecking around the backyard.

The kitties were certainly entertained.