It’s Not Easy Being Frugal

I like to pride myself on finding great deals, especially online.  Paying full price for anything seems ridiculous, when there always seems to be a coupon or online code available for it.  I’m not cheap; I’m frugal, frugal and proud!

I do usually find myself spending more on electronics, such as a computer or smartphone, but it’s because I believe that I should be willing to spend more on something that I use throughout the day, to ensure better quality and longevity of the product.  For instance, for the first time in my life, I became an owner of an Apple product, when I purchased an iMac in early 2011.  I don’t intend on buying another computer for myself until 2021, and that’s only if my iMac decides to go live with Steve Jobs in iHeaven.

I only allow myself to upgrade my mobile phone every two years, unless it has to be replaced immediately.  I’d truly like to have an iPhone, just because I want to know what all the fuss is about, to see if it’s really the emperor of all smartphones, to compare it to my life with an Android smartphone.  The main thing stopping me from purchasing one, is the cost.  Sure, I can buy it today if I wanted to, but is it really worth it?  Shouldn’t I just be happy that I have a functional smartphone with an unlimited everything plan with no contract?  Believe me, I don’t want an iPhone because everyone else wants or owns one.  I don’t believe in following the crowd.  When Timberland boots were all the rage when I was in high school, I couldn’t care less about owning a pair.  When tablets became popular, I hesitated to accept them, because I felt (and still feel) that having a desktop computer, laptop (that I barely use now), and smartphone are plenty to indulge in my digital world.  While everyone still seems to go bananas for new expensive name brand clothing, I don’t mind buying some of my attire from a thrift shop (not because of Macklemore–I’ve been shopping at Goodwill!) and Target.

Since I’ve taken cooking more seriously, I ditched my old aluminum pans I’ve had since ’08 for some stainless steel cookware.  I feel that the investment is worth it, if I’m gonna step my cooking game up.  Pans I bought from Family Dollar aren’t going to make any of my acidic dishes reach their full flavor capabilities.  Though I spent over $100 on my stainless steel cookware, it will provide me a lifetime of quality.  So the packaging and care manual indicates.

I recently purchased the handbag pictured at the top of this post.  I’ve never spent more than $30 on a purse, but I got tired of buying inexpensive handbags, only to have them start wearing out (mostly the part where the straps are attached to the purse) on me after roughly three months of six day a week use.  I figured, what the heck, I’ll splurge on something unique that appears durable, and see what happens.

All in all, some things are worth investing in, and others or not.  It all comes down to personal preferences, but one must also be practical, especially if you’re trying to live by your means.

Sex for Breakfast

Thanks Again, Dean Foods

 

The letter above was received by me, after I sent Dean Foods an online complaint pertaining to a gallon of milk I’d purchased from them recently.  I’m surprised at their quick response (within seventy two hours via email), and their decision to quickly remedy the situation by issuing me a five dollar refund, which slightly exceeded what I paid for the milk.  I truly appreciate them looking out for me like that, and for letting me know that corporations do care about their consumers.  They could’ve easily dismissed my claim, even though I provided the correct UPC code and other required info to prove my purchase.

Thanks again Dean Foods.  I am proud to say that I purchase dairy products from a company that cares more about the customer than their profits.

Monday Advice: Use Chopsticks

Have you ever tried using chopsticks to eat?  It isn’t as easy as it looks.
I enjoy using chopsticks to eat sushi, but trying to use them to pick up anything else, can cause me to break a sweat, and even break the chopsticks.

In some cultures, people eat everything using their hands.  Fact of the matter is, eating utensils weren’t always around, so people did the best they could when it came to delivering foodstuffs to their mouths.

If you’ve never tried eating with chopsticks, go for it! Learning to use something you ordinarily wouldn’t will bring you out of your comfort zone, and expose you to something new.

Live on the edge, baby!

Monday Advice: Avoid Eating Certain Foods in Public

Eating bananas in public is difficult, especially if you have ovaries.  Orally consuming a naturally elongated piece of yellow fruit, has been widely seen as a sexual act [sigh].

Other foods one may want to consider eating in private, are any other banana-like foods, and  most foods that are on a stick, like corn dogs, lollipops, popsicles (or ice lollies as they’re also known), ice cream bars, etc.  You may as well forget about enjoying Ring Pops and ice cream cones around others too.

I know this may seem like a hard thing to avoid doing, but you should ask yourself: is it worth embarrassing my mouth and allowing others to silently (or openly) degrade it?  Of course not.  Don’t shame your mouth!

You Really Don’t Need More Than 16 oz

Apparently, there was no need for the correction I announced-the ban only effects NYC.

My Lemon-Limeade Recipe

 

What you’ll need:

• 6 organic or natural limes
• 6 organic or natural lemons
• 1 ½ c of organic sugar
• About 3 standard (17 oz) bottles of spring water (room temp)
• 2 ice cubes
• Citrus juicer
• Glass pitcher (half gallon/64 oz)
• Long spoon
• Small kitchen knife
• Cutting board
• Small container (for storing fruit pulp)

What to do:

1. Mix 1 bottle of spring water with organic sugar in glass pitcher.  Allow to settle for at least thirty minutes at room temp.
2. Juice limes and lemons; be sure to cut 2 slices (about 3 mm thick) from one lime, and 2 slices from one lemon; set slices aside.  Store leftover pulp in small container.
3. Once sugar mixture is settled, add lemon and lime juices to pitcher.  Mix well.  Add remaining bottles of water to pitcher, and stir well.
4. Add lemon and lime slices, then add ice cubes.
5. Chill in fridge for at least one hour before serving.

Yield: About ten 8oz servings.

 

Shookies!

For those of you not familiar with a shookie, it’s basically a milkshake with crushed cookies.  I had my first shookie at a Cookie Farm(?) at one of my local malls.  It was ages ago, so I’m not even sure if the name of the place was actually Cookie Farm, but the place definitely had the name cookie in it.

Anyway, I got a chocolate chip cookie shookie, and I immediately became enamored.  Since I wasn’t willing to drive to a Cookie Farm whenever I was fiening for a shookie, I decided to take matters in my own hands, and make my own!

You can use any type of cookies, just as long as you’re able to crush or chop them up in a blender or food processer.  You’ll also need vanilla ice cream, though you can use any flavor of ice cream you like, even gelato(if you’re fancy like that); I currently prefer using Trader Joe’s FrenchVanilla Ice Cream.  And of course, you need milk–what’s a milkshake without milk?  Add a cup of crushed cookies, six to eight scoops of ice cream, and half to a whole cup of milk into your blender; adjust the amount of milk to your consistency preference (more milk for a thinner shake, less for thicker).  Mix well for about a minute, making sure all ingredients have been blended well.  Then enjoy!

Oh yeah, if you use ginger snaps, you may want to use only half a cup of crushed snaps since the flavor of these cookies can be potent.  I know this, since I made a ginger snap shookie earlier this month, and I wish I would’ve used less cookies!

My Almond Cranberry Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c white flour

½ c  softened natural butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ c brown sugar

¼ c organic white sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 large brown egg

¼ c of dried cranberries

½ c chopped almonds

1 pinch of sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Cream butter and sugars, then add vanilla extract and egg.    
3. Toss in salt, baking soda, and flour, then blend well.
4. Add almonds and cranberries.
5. Spoon cookie dough into golf ball sized portions onto baking pan.
6. Bake for ten minutes or until slightly browned on top, then cool on wire rack(s).

 

Makes a dozen mouth-watering cookies

Cereal Haiku

Breakfast in a box

Milk that’s white creamy and cold

Dance cereal dance