Rice and Beans and Other Fine Things

Feeding Your Family On A Budget

The nice folks at Cookware.com wrote this article for my readers.  Check out all the money saving tips and be encouraged today.  Thanks, Cookware.com!  And just as a little note to my husband, this is on my wish list.  

Feeding Your Family On A Budget

Times are tough, folks. With food prices going up and gas prices as high as they are, having a budget in place is more important now than ever before. When it comes to feeding your family, a budget is especially useful. Here are some smart, budget-conscious tips that will help you stock your kitchen with all of the essentials for less and also help you get the most use out of those cookware sets.

Budget, Budget, Budget:

Chances are you already have a budget in mind before going out to the grocery store. While this is a great start, it helps to write out your budget, either on a chart or on a computer spreadsheet. Start out by keeping a running list of what you spend in a given month. Include all of your expenses: food, gas, mortgage payments & rent, phone, entertainment, prescriptions - everything!

Put all of these expenses in your spreadsheet and see how much you're spending. Keeping all of your grocery store receipts is important for your budgeting purposes. You'll be able to clearly see how much you spend on each trip, and most grocery stores today itemize your receipt by the type of food (i.e. - dairy, produce, deli, etc.) which makes it even easier to keep track of. Now see how much you have left over. You don't want to be breaking even each month. You need to give yourself a bit of a buffer.

Frugal Shopping:

While at the grocery store, it's really easy to overspend. Your first inclination might be to go up and down each and every aisle but this is a big no no! This encourages you to be impulsive, grabbing unnecessary items off the shelves and throwing them in your cart. Utilize the marked signs hanging over each aisle and only go down the aisles containing items on your list. A grocery list is absolutely necessary and it needs to be written out before you arrive at the store. Here are some other helpful tips to consider while at the store:

• Sign up for your grocery store's savings card or discount card
• Bring sales circulars and clip Coupons
• Look for brand-specific coupons online
• Buy store brand items or brand names when they are on sale
• Buy fruits and vegetables when they are in season

School Lunches:

If you've got kids, you know how expensive packing lunches can be. Those pre-packaged lunches marketed to kids are particularly expensive, so avoid those at all costs. Buy a large box of sealable sandwich bags, invest in an insulated lunch bag or lunch box and make the lunches yourself the night or the morning before school. Reusable containers and utensils are important, not to mention environmentally friendly! It might also be worth looking into your school's lunch program. If it's within your budget and the menu seems healthy, you might actually save money. Do some investigating and see what works best for you.

Be Smart, Save Money:

Stocking up on nonperishables is always a good idea when they are on sale. You also want to make sure that you're not letting those left overs go to waste. Investing in some high quality cookware is also not a bad idea. While you might pay a bit more up front, you'll save in the long run, not having to replace your cheap cookware in a year or so. If you're a smart and cautious shopper and exercise a bit of restraint and self control, you should be golden.

Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes With Dulce de Leche Buttercream-The Quick And Easy Version

Yesterday was my son-in-law's birthday and I wanted to make him something really special.  He loves my Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream that landed me a spot on The Ultimate Recipe Showdown on Food Network in 2008, but I'm not going to lie:  although very delicious, these cupcakes are pretty time consuming to make. 

And because every flower, weed, and tree bud known to man is now in full bloom in my part of Mississippi, and is sending my body into a sneezy/watery-eyed/dry sore throat/body-aching/sinus pressured/pollen-induced frenzy, I haven't felt like baking or cooking or EVEN polishing my toes in a bright spring color, which is something I've been waiting weeks to do.  (Yay! for spring, but Boo! for spring allergies.)  So, I made over my original recipe to make it easy and quick (er).

Here are some tips when making this recipe:
-I prefer to cook my dulce de leche in the oven instead of buying the bottled stuff at the store.  I think it's better this way.  DO NOT forget to cover with foil first or you'll get a brown, tarry, unusable substance.  I speak from experience.

- They freeze well and you can even eat them straight out of the freezer because all the milk in the cupcake prevents the cake part from getting rock hard.  They can be brought to room temperature to serve, too, just store them in the fridge.

- You will probably have injecting liquid left over, but don't you worry your pretty little head about that because I've got a couple of ideas on how to use it up.  The first way is to drizzle a little bit of the liquid on a small dessert plate, then take the cupcake out of the wrapper and place in the center of the drizzle.  This makes for a pretty and more elegant presentation.  The second way to use up the liquid is to place a tablespoon or so in your morning coffee in place of your usual cream.  I'm SERIOUS about this.  I did it this morning and it was delicious, although I had to use a little extra sweetener.

-I like to cook my dulce de leche and bake my cupcakes and inject them the day before, then leave them to chill in the refrigerator overnight.  The next day I just whip up my frosting and top with the coconut.

-If you don't have an injector needle, you could certainly poke holes in the top of the cupcakes and drizzle the mixture over the top.  I just like using the needle because I can better control where the mixture goes in; also,  it doesn't leave big holes that smash the cake.   Let me add this about injector needles:   if you already have one that has been used for turkey or other meat, I would not use it for your baked goods.  Just buy another one that is used just for baking, that way there is not a chance of contamination.  There is a picture of an injector and how to use it in this post.

Tres leches means "three milks" in Spanish and here is a little history of the cake if your interested.

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Tres Leches Coconut Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream-The Quick and Easy Version

2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk, divided

1 (18.25-ounce) box yellow cake mix

Ingredients to make the cake

1 teaspoon coconut extract

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

1 (13.5 ounce) can coconut milk (not cream of coconut)

2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature

3 cups powdered sugar

About 1 cup shredded, flaked coconut, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  To make the dulce de leche:  pour 1 can of the sweetened condensed milk in a glass pie plate or similar size glass casserole dish; cover with foil.  Place the pie plate in a large roasting pan where it can sit flat.  Pour hot water into the roasting pan to a depth of about halfway up the pie plate.  Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 25 minutes or until caramel colored.  Let cool completely.
2. Mix up cake according to package directions using recommended ingredients and adding 1 teaspoon coconut extract to the batter.  Pour into paper lined cupcake pans filling about 3/4 full.  Bake according to package directions. 
3. While cupcakes are baking, whisk together the remaining can of sweetened condensed milk, the evaporated milk, and the coconut milk.  When cupcakes come out of the oven, inject each of them with the milk mixture using an injection needle and about 1/2 to 3/4 ounce in each cupcake.  Cool completely before frosting.
4. To make the frosting, beat the butter on high speed until light and fluffy.  Add the dulce de leche and beat until smooth.  Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time and beat until smooth and light and fluffy.
5. Frost cupcakes generously with frosting, then sprinkle with toasted coconut.  Keep refrigerated.

 Pour the water between the roasting pan and the pie plate for the dulce de leche.

 

The dulce de leche will be thick, but this is okay.  It will blend into the frosting perfectly.

 

It's Lent, So Here's A Post On Lint.

I want you to do something.  Get some cotton balls and a long, thin object, like say, oh, a screwdriver, and use that screwdriver to push those cotton balls halfway down your throat.  Wait a few minutes.

Can you breathe?  I didn't think so.

You can remove them now.

That is what happens to your appliances when they get clogged with lint, fuzz, and dirt particles.  They don't get air and then they can't breathe.

You see, lint is a very, very bad thing.  It's the enemy of all things black, the filler of belly buttons,  the inhibitor of good air flow, AND it can cause you to sneeze.  And the worst thing is, other than getting some on your contact lens, is that it can cause you to have to spend a lot of money when you don't properly remove it from filters.  How, you ask?  Because the motors inside the appliances can overheat from reduced air flow and completely shut down.  Duh, silly!

Now, I know that cleaning filters is not the glam idea of saving money that most people think about.  Yes, I would MUCH rather hit a red dot clearance sale with an 'extra 75% off my purchases' coupon, but cleaning the lint from my household appliances could potentially yield a huge savings when compared to replacing the appliance because the motor burned up from lack of air flow.

Don't forget, there is a safety element, too.  In extreme cases, reduced air flow can cause things to overheat so much that they could possibly catch on fire.  Check out this article. 

I'm sure most people know about proper lint removal, but there may be someone out there who is new to home maintenance-type things and lint removal might not be at the very front of their mind.  Newlywed-type people.  But it is important and it does fall under the heading of saving money.  One of the best ways to save money is to not have to spend money to replace things that break.  That's what I always say.

This is my dryer filter after approximately four loads of clothes.  That's a lot of fuzz.   That does seem like a lot of fuzz, actually.   I wonder if this is an average amount or do we just have more than other people?

 

I gently pull it away from the filter...

 

...freeing it to breathe again.  It's that simple. 

If you really want to be thrifty, save all your lint in a bag, then when you've gathered enough, use it for stuffing a new throw pillow for your couch.

Don't stop at just your dryer.  Anything that has a motor can collect lint.  Keep those blow dryers clean.  They are notorious for shutting off when they get too hot and the problem can usually be remedied by cleaning out the fuzz.

I just really felt I needed to address this topic.  I have my reasons.