Category: Easy meals

Just Keep Swimming

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy mealsLeave a comment

Today started off rough. It was so foggy. It wasn’t too bad in town, but once we got on the road it was like I was driving in a cloud. It got so bad at one point I just turned on my hazards and tried my best to see the road. I white knuckled it until I got back home.

Hannah wasn’t feeling well when she woke up so she didn’t go to class today. She started feeling better so we went to the gym for about an hour. I like working out at night so much better than the daytime. It’s so busy and just has a whole different vibe. Lucky for us Sprouts is in the same parking lot so we decided to treat ourselves to some sushi.

I haven’t really felt like cooking lately. It was feeling like I was just making the same things every week. I decided to get out my binder and do a little meal planning. I found 4 recipes that I wanted to make this week.

I made my list and headed to Aldi. I was pleasantly surprised when I found a parking space near the door and it didn’t even look too crowded. It started off bad when I walked through the door. People were not moving and going in all different directions. I finally got through that mess. The next issue was that there were older couples, like 5 of them, that were walking side by side and just randomly stopping. No one was smiling. Everyone just seemed so grumpy. One couple, who I kept having to say excuse me to, the woman was just mean mugging me the whole time I was shopping. She reminded me so much of this woman that I had an interaction with when I was an embalmer.

I worked the overnight shift at a funeral home in Austin. It was just myself and my embalming partner. We got a call to make a removal at a nursing home. He always liked to deal with the families and the paperwork while I did the embalming. Anyway, this was a very nice nursing home. It was very stately with dark wood and jewel tone colors. There was a woman sitting in a wheelchair in the reception area. She called me over. I always tried to be very nice to anyone I came into contact with on a call. She took my hand and told me that I reminded her of her daughter. She said it several times in a very sweet voice. Then she said, in a not so nice voice, I want to kill my daughter in the library. That was very unexpected and needless to say I pulled my hand away and went on my merry way. Working in the funeral business I have so many crazy stories.

Back to Aldi. I finally got checked out and was so happy to be out of there. It was just a strange day all around. People were driving crazily running red lights and not looking where they were going so I was happy to be headed home.

Since Donny has to work until 8 tonight I thought I’d make something super easy.

I would definitely bump up the temperature to 350.

I added onions because we just like them. I browned the mushrooms and onions in the skillet after I’d cooked and removed the meat.

It turned out good except for my wonky looking crust. After this very weird day I needed something easy.

Easy (Aldi) Meal + Paint

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy mealsLeave a comment

Lately, for some reason, I have been very uninspired to cook actual meals. Donny was off on Thursday this past week so we decided to make the drive to Lone Star to have dinner at Arnold’s. The prices are so good and everyone there is very friendly.

It’s not much to look at but the food is worth the 40 minute drive. The kids didn’t even complain because it really is a gorgeous drive.

Our neighbor across the street works for a restaurant food supply company so he brought us over some pizza dough and crumble pizza sausage. So Friday’s dinner was sausage pizza. Today I knew I had to make a grocery run which I dread doing on a Saturday. I do 95% of my grocery shopping at Aldi because it’s small, there aren’t many selections, I know what I like and I can get in and out fast. One of our favorite quick dinner meals is their asian chicken meals.

From start to finish this meal takes 20 minutes. I get both kinds because I serve the sauce on the side and it’s good to have a choice.

I serve it with rice and stir fried broccoli. It’s so good and everyone in the family likes it. There’s also almost always enough for Donny to take it for lunch the next day.

After I mowed on Friday I finally got around to doing something I had wanted to do all summer. Our front stoop (for lack of a better word) was looking so bad. The concrete, no matter how many times we power washed it, would not come clean. The pavers around it were faded and not looking their best.

This is an older picture but it’s the only one I could find. Anyway I painted the pavers the same color as the door (aqua fresco). I painted the concrete square the same color as the trim. I don’t have the color because it’s from two gallons of oops paint I got on sale. It looks so much better and just crisper.

I still need to put the plants back where they go.

We still have our little visitor and last night the raccoon came to visit and I fed it a hot dog.

The little skunk is so sweet. It doesn’t bother anyone. The cats just ignore it. Just eats and leaves. I wish I could get a picture of the raccoon.

Oh, and if you do happen to be in Aldi, these are the best cookies. I bought them on a whim and they did not disappoint.

And I did not eat three of them before dinner

Sauced

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy mealsLeave a comment

I needed to use our tomatoes from our garden before they went bad. I like making pasta sauce, but couldn’t find the recipe I had used before. I found a recipe on Pinterest that uses the instapot so I thought I’d try it. There are only a few ingredients, so it’s super easy.

I doubled the recipe because I had 12 cups of tomatoes. Here’s the recipe if you want to try it. It turned out so go. I froze two bags and then put the rest in a jar that we’ll use later in the week.

Just don’t pull the immersion blender to far up because it will spray you with boiling hot sauce. Not that I did that. No, not at all. LOL

Old Hwy 80 Sale + Easy Dinner

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, Frugal Life, thriftingLeave a comment

For more than 25 years there has been a 392 mile garage sale than runs down old Hwy 80 from Texas to Georgia. People bring their trailers and just set up shop in parking lots and on the side of the road.

It happens twice a year, once in the spring and again in the Fall. I needed to run to Aldi today so I thought I’d take the back way down Hwy 80 aka Marshall Ave. The first one I saw were two very sweet ladies who told me that a lot of the vendors had packed up and left the day before because of the heavy storms. I’m glad I stopped because they had some cool stuff for sale. I ended up with a Buddha head and a cute little plant all for $2.00.

A little ways down the road I saw a whole parking lot filled with different vendors. There I found a lampshade, curling iron and a pretty summery blouse by Indigo Soul. I spent a whopping $9.00 there.

The lampshade worked pretty good on the lamp I was wanting it for. I like the fact that when you turn it on it looks like glowing little moon.

The Buddha head works well next to the stereo with my other brass objects.

I specifically got the plant for a flower pot that I had picked up several months ago.

When Donny got home from work we needed to run to the grocery. He’s been itching to find a plant for the rooster he got me for my birthday. It has been sitting in our living room and has now found its place outside. Please excuse the dead circles, we have moved a lot of pots to the backyard. It’s some kind of palm. I just know it works well in shade or sun.

After a busy day, I didn’t really feel like making a big messy meal. A shrimp boil is one of the easiest meals to make with very little to clean up. Right now shrimp is on sale here.

Growing up on the coast in Corpus Christi, we would go down to the T-heads when the shrimp boats came in a buy shrimp fresh off the boats. This is definitely not the same, but it will do in a pinch.

I like to use the bagged shrimp boil, but when did it start coming in the plastic pouches and not the net ones? So strange.

I also like to throw in a healthy dose of Old Bay seasoning.

I make a pretty simple boil. Fill a big pot with water. Add seasoning and red potatoes. Boil until they are tender. Add sausage and corn on the cob. Boil for 5 minutes. Add shrimp and boil for 3 minutes. You’re done.

I use a big commercial kitchen pot. I worked at a catering company and the owner gave me this pot so I’d always have one big enough to do this, gumbo, etc. Using it reminded me of the fun, hectic, sometimes stressful time I worked there. He has since passed away so it’s pretty sentimental.

And that’s it. My son doesn’t like shrimp so I made him some boudin and cut up some pineapple. Easy peasy meal.

B.O.B. + Discarded Art

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, saving money, thriftingLeave a comment

We woke up to a terrible thunderstorm with rain so heavy you could hardly see across the street. That’s unfortunate because it is the weekend of the Old Hwy 80 garage sale that stretches for 392 miles. Hopefully there are places that are getting to still have it.

Anyway, yesterday I was making one of our favorite breakfasts, the BOB aka Breakfast on a Bun. We used to get them all the time at Whataburger. When my husband and I were both working, we never really thought about spending money on fast food or eating out. Now that we are living with one income, I watch the finances much more closely.

If you purchase a BOB and hashbrown sticks at Whataburger it will set you back $6.05. That seemed like a lot to me so I did a breakdown of how much it actually costs to make it yourself at home. My go to grocery is Aldi, so this is where I have gotten the prices for what I use.

Hamburger buns – $1.45 (8 count) .18 per serving

Sausage patties – $9.45 (20 Patties) .47 per serving

Cheese – $1.89 (11 slices) .17 per serving

Eggs – $2.29 (1 dozen) .19 per serving

Hashbrowns – $6.05 (20 count) .30 per serving

That totals $1.31. Plus you get actual cheese and not the American rubber cheese. That is such a huge savings. I know a lot of people just like the convenience of a drive thru and I get that, but you are saving $4.74. If you are getting this for a family of 4, it’s a savings of $18.96. That’s a nice chunk of change for just a little bit of effort.

And because I like to save money anywhere I can, we needed more than the 20 hot rollers I had for Hannah’s hair. Some of you may cringe, but I ran to the thrift store down the street and found a nice set for $3.50. Even though they looked like they had been barely used, I still sanitized them with my spray.

I always have to look through the artwork to see if there is something handmade. Discarded handmade art just makes me sad, so I was very happy when I found this sweet cross stitch for only $1.

I also found this cute little owl that was only $3.00. I had needed something to fill in on the window shelves in the kitchen since I moved one of the plants outside.

Such a cutie!

Hopefully, the rain will stop by tomorrow and the kids and I can hit the Hwy 80 sale. I’ll let ya know.

Kitchen Monday

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Baking, Easy mealsLeave a comment

Some days I feel like I spend most of my time in the kitchen, but I really don’t mind because I really like to cook. Every single morning, on the days Donny works, I make his breakfast and lunch that he takes to work. This morning it was pork tenderloin and eggs.

For lunch I thawed some homemade pasta sauce, that I made with tomatoes from our garden, that i had in the freezer and sausage tortellini.

It’s amazing how much money we save with him taking his lunch everyday.

After running a few errands I decided to bake some cookies. I like to cook, but I love to bake. These were just basic chocolate chip, but I find baking so relaxing. I also like knowing exactly what is in the food my family eats.

We make our own ground beef and last night I ground up 12 pounds of brisket. I always keep a portion of it to make a Mississippi roast. While I was at the store I found a packet that had everything I needed. I normally buy the ranch mix, Italian and au jus separate. I thought I’d give it a try.

Here it is all in the pot.

It turned out so good. We had it with mashed potatoes and corn. A good stick to your ribs meal.

Also, I was almost out of two of my favorite products.

Have you tried this toothpaste? We love it. The only drawback is that it’s black and can be a bit messy. They also make one with fluoride if you prefer that.

Look at that poor little sliver. It’s orange patchouli. That, patchouli and Dragon’s Blood are my favorite scents. They make your whole bathroom smell heavenly. I love Zum products.

And here’s our stray chicken herding cat that gets cooked chicken because he does such a good job. He lives across the street at my neighbors, but earns his keep by making sure our chickens don’t go out into the street.

The Same But Different

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, Home life2 Comments

Yesterday I realized that I do the exact same thing every morning. My dog Marty wakes me up around 5:30. I let him out, make coffee and then either read or watch a documentary on Netflix. I’m an morning person, so I try not to wake the rest of my family who is definitely not.

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I’ve been watching Dark Tourist. It’s really good, if you need something to watch.

When Marty comes in, he knows he gets a treat and will not let you forget.

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He then gets his bone, tries to bury it under the rug, realizes he can’t, so he puts it against the wall so he can guard it because he just knows the cat is trying to get it. Every. Day.

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When Donny wakes up we decide what we’re going to do for the day. He grabs coffee and goes and checks on the garden. He loves the garden. It is a mobile one and he grew it from seeds.

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And I finally have flowers on my morning glories that we also grew from seed.

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When the kids wake up we normally go for a walk. It’s been rainy so lately we’ve had to go between rain showers.

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I am not a huge fan of shopping. I know what I need, try to find the best deal I can and get it. I needed a pot to grow my pineapple top in. I was pretty sure I could find one at Ollie’s. We hadn’t been to this one since it had opened, but I managed to find the perfect planter and for a steal.

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Natural Grocers is right next door. Have you tried the Mad Hippie skincare line? I love it. It’s not too expensive and works really well. I was out of my vitamin a serum and picked up some night cream too.

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How great is that packaging?

Winding down the day, I make dinner. We’ve been trying to eat cleaner and lighter. I’ve stopped doing heavy side dishes. Sometimes we don’t even have sides. Tonight I made a bacon, onion and cheese frittata. We just had watermelon and pineapple for sides. Super easy and everyone liked it.

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I had made a big batch of berry sauce to go with pancakes for brunch. There was some leftover, so I baked a pound cake to use the rest of the sauce. Turned out like a scone and although if you let the sauce absorb into your slice it was ok, I wouldn’t use the recipe again.

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But the sauce was delicious!

I can’t wait to see what today brings ❤

Strawberry Sauce + English Pancakes

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, RecipeLeave a comment

As a family, we had a discussion about eating cleaner, healthier and simplifying our meals. We also decided that it would be fun to add some foods that  we might not eat here, but that other countries enjoy regularly.

Today I made strawberry sauce to spread on some English pancakes. Again, this is not a formal recipe, but more of a guide.

I needed to use up some strawberries we had that were going to go bad in a day or so. For some reason, we had two containers a little less than half empty.

First I cut off the tops and cut them up and threw then in a sauce pan. I added 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup sugar. Next time I’ll probably add a little more sugar. I squeezed half a lemon into the pot and then set it to boil.

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Now for the not so fun part. Stir, stir, stir, stir and repeat. While it’s bubbling along you must stir it so the sugar doesn’t burn. It is interesting to watch the sugars and citrus all break down and become one. And I should add that the smell is pretty darn good.

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IMG_20200517_092453I cooked it for about 30 minutes. There’s no set time, just when you feel like all the sugars are broken down.

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That’s it. It’s basically just a dump and stir. You can use blueberries, raspberries, apples, whichever fruit you prefer. You can eat it warm or cold. I just moved mine off if the stove while I mixed up the English pancakes.

English pancakes are not like American pancakes. They are not fluffy. They are very much like crepes. There are a lot of different recipes out there. I just read a few and then made my own.

I sifted about 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour and a pinch of salt into a mixing bowl.

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Made a well in the middle and added two eggs.

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Start pulling a little bit of flour into the eggs. It’s going to be a little sticky, but that’s ok.

Next I added 2 T melted butter and stirred it all together.

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Now add 2 cups milk and whisk it all until it’s blended. You can also use a hand mixer or blender. It’s going to be runny. VERY runny, but that’s what you want. Let it rest for at least 15 minutes. If you want to make it the night before, you can. Just keep it in the fridge.

When it’s time to cook, have a stick of butter and a hot pan ready. Melt some butter in the hot pan and then pour about 1/4 cup of batter in and swirl it around until it’s VERY thin. Let it cook then flip it over. You have to judge when to do this. I wrecked the first two until I found the timing sweet spot.

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Before it’s flipped.

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After it’s flipped. You need to make sure the first side is set before you flip it or it will tear. These babies are really thin. Also, don’t forget to butter that pan between pancakes. I almost went through a whole stick.

I like mine folded into thirds, but you can eat then however you want. The traditional English way is with lemon juice and sugar.

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And here’s the finished dish. I spread the strawberry sauce on top and sprinkled on some powered sugar.

The whole family loved them. There were no pancakes or sauce left. The batter makes about 12 pancakes.

Just remember when you’re cooking, no recipe is set in stone. Be creative. We like to try to use what we have. Some might be failures, but that’s ok. That’s how we learn. ❤

Easy Peasy Spring Rolls

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Easy meals, Home life, RecipeLeave a comment

We love spring rolls in this household. They are filled with fresh ingredients and super easy to make. Years ago, we had a craving for some so we picked up a few at our favorite sushi restaurant when we lived in Dallas. They were good, but the price was outrageous. It was then and there that I decided we could actually make them ourselves.

This isn’t a formal recipe, but more of a guide. That’s the best thing about spring rolls, there are no set in stone rules about what you fill them with.

We bought the majority of the ingredients at the Asian market here in Longview, but I’ve seen the same ingredients at the grocery store.

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First I cook the rice noodles. They come in a big bag and a little goes a long way. I found these individual serving ones that come as a little mat. They were so much easier than the normal cook all together ones, but either one is fine to use.

IMG_20200516_190418 just cook according to package directions. The ones I used you just pour boiling water over, leave for 1 minute 15 seconds, then dunk then in cold water for 1 second.

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After they were finished cooking I just left them on a cutting board while I finished preparing the other ingredients.

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For these rolls I used carrots, cucumber, orange bell pepper, cilantro, imitation crab sticks and shrimp. You can use anything you have on hand. I’ve seen all veggie, chicken, mushroom, the sky’s the limit.

IMG_20200516_165609 Now here is the fun part. Rice paper comes in a thin hard disk, like a flattened paper plate. But when you soak it in water

IMG_20200516_200901it becomes translucent and pliable. The package says to soak it in warm water for 5 seconds. That wasn’t long enough though. You don’t want any stiffness to remain.

IMG_20200516_201001 See what I mean? You can barely see it on the cutting board.

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Now you just lay down the noodles in the middle of the rice paper and then pile whatever you like in yours on top. Fold the top and bottom over then just roll it.

IMG_20200516_201208I like to dip mine in peanut sauce.

So there you have it, a super easy, healthy meal, that doesn’t cost a fortune. My kids like to help make them by chopping the ingredients and assembling them. I hope you try them. ❤