A Frugal Weekend

Did all the right frugal things this weekend and loved it!

Needed teabags on Friday, got out the packet of loose tea I bought last year when Rhonda encouraged us to give up teabags because of all the extra packaging. I have 9 teapots but only one in the kitchen, an old-fashioned round brown china pot so I dusted that off and put it to work. The tea is so very much better as it's stronger, teabags contain so very little tea really. We also needed bread but a dig through the freezer revealed English muffins and a few odd slices of bread I'd saved for breadcrumbs. Our milkman brought our rye bread last night so we're set for the week.
Saved fuel, time and money!
I've been craving Mexican or Tex-Mex meals for several days now so instead of a $100 meal at Zocala's(which is wonderful btw) I put my thinking cap on...and asked the Down to Earth ladies in the states what makes a great Mexican meal. Chillies obviously but it's the more subtle flavours of oregano and cumin, lemon or lime juice, fresh herbs and cheese of course.
Over night I soaked a bag of lovely dried mixed beans($1.70) and then cooked them in the pressure cooker for 5 mins...not quite done but 2 more minutes finished them to perfection. Hmmm there seems rather a lot now I thought and then whipped up some beanie dip with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, Mexican chilli(a blend of chilli/herbs/spices) and salt. The cooked beans equalled in volume what I would have got from 4 tins of mixed beans.

Next I fried up chopped onion, red capsicum, garlic and half a habenero from my garden, added tomato paste and then a tin of organic chopped tomatoes and a splash of liquid smoke and simmered that for 10 mins before adding about 2 cups of cooked beans. Left that on for 15 mins and then tasted my delicious chilli beans...no need to go out dinner now lol! I cooked some white rice and sliced a chicken breast, rubbed the chicken with the Mexican chilli blend, dried herbs, lime juice and shallow fried that. Served it all up with grated cheese and a little Greek yoghurt in place of sour cream and it was yummmy!

Forgot to take a pic of the served up plates...steamy, spicy beans and tomatoes...

and sizzling chicken...one breast does us for 3-4 meals...

Other frugal achievements this weekend include mowing the lawns myself instead of paying some-one $50-$60 to do that...this is not without it's "issues" as I can rarely start the lawnmower myself , I re-filled it with fuel and washed the filter sponge but have to wait for Joe to pull-start the mean machine. I focussed on making it look like a Wimbledon court and was very pleased with the result.
I also finished this scarf, made completely from wool given to me last year...the simple pattern is here

So all added up I suppose I saved /avoided spending almost $200...do I get to keep that?? More savings for Canada is my way of looking at it.

Frugal Queen and other bloggers are having "make do with what I have July", just using up what they have in their pantries and freezers and while I haven't joined that challenge I keep it in mind and try to adjust to suit what we do have on hand. They have lots of very thrifty and delicious recipes to share too.

So how did you spend the weekend, gardening perhaps, cooking and crafting are just my favourite ways to spend my time.
Love from Sue
xxx