I have a large sign that reads “Keep it Simple” hanging above my kitchen door. More than kitschy art, it is a valuable reminder for me, a woman who has a history of making things far more complicated than they need to be. This is particularly the case when it comes to entertaining.
Even in college, I made elaborate meals for my friends. One year, I made a honey-glazed smoked turkey studded with golden pecans, a sweet potato soufflé, and bourbon cream pumpkin cheesecake. The fact that I remember precisely what I made for Thanksgiving 15 years ago speaks volumes about my sometimes over-the-top entertaining personality. (I also remember my horror when one of my guests literally flicked all my perfectly-placed pecans off the turkey before he started carving it.)
I probably spent more than a week’s wages and hours of prep time on that meal. While I may not be serving pecan-studded smoked turkeys these days with my four children underfoot, there are plenty of ways I can entertain without being tied to my kitchen or busting our already-slim food budget. These ideas for entertaining can satisfy my desire to be among friends, while helping me live up to my “keep it simple” mantra.
Revive the Progressive Dinner. This is a fabulous way of hosting a party. You get all the benefits of a true dinner party with fraction of the work and expense. Round up enough friends willing to host part of a meal at their home—drinks and appetizers to start, followed by salad at another home, a main course at a third location, and top the evening off with dessert at the last home.
Host a Punched-Up Potluck. Determine an international theme—Mexican, French, Chinese—and encourage guests to bring dishes reflecting that country’s cuisine. Or draw on a favorite film to create a memorable evening: all things chocolate for “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” bruschetta, artichokes in Hollandaise sauce, and chocolate cream pie for watching “Julie and Julia,” a green salad, a variety of cheeses, fresh fruit, and champagne to mimic the fare in “Babette’s Feast.” Screen the theme-inspiring film after dinner.
Set up a Buffet. Elevate simple, well-liked foods—such as baked potatoes, pizza, pancakes, hot dogs, ice cream, omelets, or tacos—by asking guests to bring complimentary toppings. Chili, caramelized onions, sauerkraut, an assortment of mustards, shredded cheese, tomato wedges, pickle spears, chutney, and spaghetti sauce are all options to round out a hot dog buffet, for example. To ensure a wide variety, you may want to assign a specific topping to each guest.
Plan an Activity. Serve satisfying one-dish meals appropriate for the season: baked macaroni and cheese or potato soup are perfect for a fall or winter soiree, for instance. Then plan an activity to get guests engaged with one another. Try pumpkin carving, setting up a game of lawn darts or bocce ball, roasting marshmallows in the backyard fire pit, playing board games, or showing an outdoor movie, using a projector and a large, white sheet.
Hosting a potluck-style party gives you a chance to indulge your love of entertaining and also gives your guests a chance to shine. Encourage them to bring the dishes they especially enjoy preparing. Ask one friend to make her famous salsa as an appetizer, for instance, and another to bake his luscious brownies for dessert.
These budget-friendly parties are simple to host because most of the preparation can be done in advance. That leaves you more time to relax and enjoy your guests – and, simple or fancy, that’s the point of a great party.
Showing posts with label budget baking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label budget baking. Show all posts
Friday, September 3, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Lower food bills can move us closer to debt-free lifestyle
I wish I could say that after all these years of writing about money, I’ve reached some sort of financial nirvana, a place where our budget effortlessly hums along. In truth, we hit budget bumps and have starts and stops every month like everyone else. Nevertheless, even if it were possible to find perfection, that isn’t the point of a budget.
A budget isn’t a static template that we lay over our lives; it’s a spending guide that flexes with our family. For us, one of the most exciting things about a budget is that it constantly offers us opportunities to see our finances with fresh eyes. When we see where we’re spending, we can shift our priorities.
It turns out that we’re getting ready for a major shift in our family budget. When we recently calculated our total monthly food expenses, we faced a sobering truth. In June, we spent over a $1,000 on food for our family of six, and in the five months prior to that, we averaged over $800 on groceries and eating out. We know we can do better. We want to do better.
We’ve challenged ourselves to cut our food budget in half, not as a way to be stingy, but because we want to stretch our money. We’re looking for creative ways to get the things we want and need with the money we have. Ultimately, our goal is to be entirely debt free, so we plan to take half of what we save on food costs and apply it to the principle balance on our mortgage. We’ll devote the other half to projects for our family. We want some fun things, including a family trip and a playhouse for our children. Some practical items, such as a new vacuum and a woodstove, also are on our list.
Cutting our food budget in half may sound like a daunting task. How will this even be possible in a family of growing children who are voracious eaters? We’ll start with what we spend on eating out, which averages over $200 a month. By packing snacks and lunches instead of heading for the nearest fast food restaurant, we’ll whittle down what we spend on eating out to $100, which we plan to take out in cash and keep in an envelope. When the cash is gone, there’s no more eating out that month.
We’ll use the same all-cash approach with grocery shopping, because I know how easy it is to spend more than I’ve planned. Case in point, when I stopped at the grocery store with four items on my list for a camping trip, I walked out with 10 and spent three times as much as I had planned. With cash, that won’t happen.
We’ll also have to carve out more time for food preparation and change the way we do some of our shopping. This means rethinking items we mindlessly put in our cart, including pudding cups and granola bars. Juice won’t be a morning mainstay, but will become an occasional treat. Even pantry staples like egg noodles (Here is the Cowgirl's Country Life blog where she has a great recipe for Chicken and (Egg) Noodles) that seem inexpensive will be foods I buy the ingredients for and prepare at home - for a fraction of the grocery store price. We’ll keep trying different strategies until we find budget-stretching ideas that truly work for us.
I’ll be sharing my journey to reduce my food bill with you in future posts. And I encourage you to share your best cost-cutting ideas with me. E-mail me at cdenman@acce-online.com or leave comments below. Adventures in frugal living are more fun when we experience them together.
A budget isn’t a static template that we lay over our lives; it’s a spending guide that flexes with our family. For us, one of the most exciting things about a budget is that it constantly offers us opportunities to see our finances with fresh eyes. When we see where we’re spending, we can shift our priorities.
It turns out that we’re getting ready for a major shift in our family budget. When we recently calculated our total monthly food expenses, we faced a sobering truth. In June, we spent over a $1,000 on food for our family of six, and in the five months prior to that, we averaged over $800 on groceries and eating out. We know we can do better. We want to do better.
We’ve challenged ourselves to cut our food budget in half, not as a way to be stingy, but because we want to stretch our money. We’re looking for creative ways to get the things we want and need with the money we have. Ultimately, our goal is to be entirely debt free, so we plan to take half of what we save on food costs and apply it to the principle balance on our mortgage. We’ll devote the other half to projects for our family. We want some fun things, including a family trip and a playhouse for our children. Some practical items, such as a new vacuum and a woodstove, also are on our list.
Cutting our food budget in half may sound like a daunting task. How will this even be possible in a family of growing children who are voracious eaters? We’ll start with what we spend on eating out, which averages over $200 a month. By packing snacks and lunches instead of heading for the nearest fast food restaurant, we’ll whittle down what we spend on eating out to $100, which we plan to take out in cash and keep in an envelope. When the cash is gone, there’s no more eating out that month.
We’ll use the same all-cash approach with grocery shopping, because I know how easy it is to spend more than I’ve planned. Case in point, when I stopped at the grocery store with four items on my list for a camping trip, I walked out with 10 and spent three times as much as I had planned. With cash, that won’t happen.
We’ll also have to carve out more time for food preparation and change the way we do some of our shopping. This means rethinking items we mindlessly put in our cart, including pudding cups and granola bars. Juice won’t be a morning mainstay, but will become an occasional treat. Even pantry staples like egg noodles (Here is the Cowgirl's Country Life blog where she has a great recipe for Chicken and (Egg) Noodles) that seem inexpensive will be foods I buy the ingredients for and prepare at home - for a fraction of the grocery store price. We’ll keep trying different strategies until we find budget-stretching ideas that truly work for us.
I’ll be sharing my journey to reduce my food bill with you in future posts. And I encourage you to share your best cost-cutting ideas with me. E-mail me at cdenman@acce-online.com or leave comments below. Adventures in frugal living are more fun when we experience them together.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Create a wholesome breakfast that’s easy on your wallet
It’s probably no surprise, then, that children who wake with yawning hunger can eat a lot. (Our donut lover can easily eat five pancakes at one sitting.) With big appetites and busy mornings, the challenge is to have breakfast fare that is quick, easy, and inexpensive and that isn’t overly processed or sugary.
I’m continually looking for ways to create wholesome breakfast options that we can have on hand and grab on the go. That way, on those mornings when we get a late start and the dog bolts out the door and the baby is crying and we have to search for a missing shoe or backpack, we won’t starve or be tempted to hit the drive-thru.
You no doubt have your own morning scenario, and yours probably involves being short on time, too. With a little planning and kitchen savvy, you can prepare breakfast foods that will fuel you for the day ahead without breaking your budget.
One of the most practical, easy things I make at our house is breakfast burritos. My mantra is that anything wrapped in a tortilla is good. I usually end up using eggs, beans, and cheese in our burritos, but if I have leftover meat or vegetables, I toss those in, too. I line up the tortillas assembly-line style, spoon about ½ cup of filling into the middle, fold the burritos and wrap them in aluminum foil. I put the burritos in the freezer, but they never last long.
Whole-wheat banana chocolate chip pancakes are another favorite for freezing. They are easy to make, warm beautifully in the toaster, and are good eaten out of hand—no syrup necessary. Breakfast cookies are in the same category. The idea of eating cookies for breakfast is enough to make everyone love them, no matter what I put in them. One recipe calls for whole-wheat flour, mashed bananas, canned pumpkin, and grated apples. I’ve added mini chocolate chips, flax seed, raisins and cinnamon at various times, too.
Look for ways to streamline your breakfast routine with homemade, make-ahead versions of fast foods. If you find yourself grabbing instant oatmeal packets, for example, why not make your own? You can make a large batch of ready-to-eat oatmeal by mixing oatmeal, a little sugar and dried fruit in a sealable bowl. When you need a quick breakfast, scoop out a ½ cup of mix and add boiling water, or try packing individual servings to keep with you at school or work. You can experiment with other flavors and concoct your own custom oatmeal mixes.
If you’re like me and you love breakfast sandwiches, you can make your own. I fry eggs and sausage patties and put them on English muffins with some cheese. I wrap them individually and store them in the freezer. When I know I’ll have an extra busy morning, I put one in the refrigerator to thaw overnight, then pop it into the microwave when I’m ready to eat it. Frozen fruit cups, baked oatmeal, homemade granola, and miniature muffins have also been part of my breakfast repertoire.
A good breakfast is a satisfying way to start the day, especially when you’re eating something quick and nutritious that’s easy on your wallet, too.
Kitchen Sink Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients:
½ cup canned pumpkin
½ cup applesauce, unsweetened
½ cup grated apple
1 cup banana, mashed
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup raisins (or mini chocolate chips)
Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, applesauce, grated apple, banana and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add flours, baking soda, cinnamon, pie spice and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins (or chocolate chips); mix well.
2. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack to cool completely.
Whole-Wheat Banana Chocolate-Chip Pancakes
Ingredients:
1½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 cup milk with 1 tbsp. lemon juice or cider vinegar mixed in
1 egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp. canola oil
1 mashed banana
½ cup mini chocolate chips
Directions:
1. Mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium mixing bowl; set aside.
2. In another mixing bowl, mix the milk, egg, vanilla, and oil; add the mashed banana and mix well.
3. Add the wet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Cook on a greased griddle over medium to high heat.
Granola
Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup canola oil
½ cup honey
Directions:
1. Mix ingredients in bowl.
2. Spread on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake for 14 minutes at 300 degrees.
4. Add dried, chopped fruit of your choice.
Bran Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup wheat bran
1 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
½ cup raisins
¾ cup applesauce
1 cup milk
½ cup molasses or honey
2 tbsp. oil
2 eggs, beaten
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine wheat bran, whole-wheat flour, baking soda, and baking powder.
3. Stir in raisins.
4. In a separate bowl, blend applesauce, milk, molasses, oil, and eggs.
5. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until moistened.
6. Spoon into greased muffin tin (or paper muffin cups) and bake for 15-20 minutes.
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