Category: Recipe

Muffins + Thrift date

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn RecipeLeave a comment

This morning when I woke up I decided to make donut muffins. They are so good, not too sweet and easy to make.

I had completely forgotten that I bought these Halloween baking cups last year. What a perfect time to find them.

Here’s the recipe. I have it saved to one of my pinterist boards, so I can’t take the credit for it.

Since Hannah had to be at work by 11 and Jackson and I hadn’t had our weekly thrift day due to sickness in the house, he went with me to drop her off so we could go to our 3 favorites that we always go to. The first one was kind of a bust. I only found 2 books, Where the Crawdads Sing (I loved the movie so I definitely wanted to read the book) and another one that I can’t remember right this second.

At the second one, which is my favorite, I found a vintage Streams in the Desert book. I had the newer version but for some reason I can’t find it anywhere. I have no idea where it’s gone. I actually like the cover of this 1980 version so much better. I’ve never read a Dominick Dunne book so I picked up People Like Us.

And I found this moon. I have absolutely no idea where I’m going to hang it. Maybe the bathroom, but I couldn’t pass it up for the price. I think it’s pretty cool.

When we went to checkout there was a prize wheel you could spin. Jackson spun it and we got 30% off our purchase, so everything was super cheap!

At our last one they were having 25% off everything in the store. I found this vintage Warren Kimble cow frame. I went through my old family photos and found a picture that exactly fit the frame. I guess it was meant to be.

We don’t always buy a lot, sometimes nothing, but it’s just a fun time spent with my son.

Does anyone remember the discontinued Hamburger Helper Rice Oriental? I have had the copycat recipe pinned for a while. It was one of my favorites back in the day. To me, it’s comfort food. I’m going to share the recipe in case you want to relive the goodness of Hamburger Helper.

I used unsalted butter and added about 3 Tablespoons of soy sauce. My kids really liked it too so that’s a win.

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. ❤

Change of Plans

On By thefunkyfrugalistaIn Home Stuff, RecipeLeave a comment

I woke up to this.

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I was ready to start my day because I had a plan, an agenda. Today was going to be Garage Day. Our garage had become a catch all ever since Christmas. Ya know all the stuff I had gotten rid of to donate? It is sitting in my garage. Bags of used wrapping paper from Christmas. Yep, in the garage. Halloween and Christmas decor? In the garage waiting to go up into the attic. I don’t even want to post a picture because it is beyond embarrassing. But I always said I’d be honest, so here it is.

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It is HORRIBLE!!! After I took this I grabbed two of the big black garbage bags and filled them up. I even found a bag of stocking stuffers that I had forgotten to put out in the stockings.  Want to hear the worst part? I cleaned it out right after Halloween. Between decluttering the inside and holiday throwing up all over it, I look like an episode of Hoarders.  It gives my anxiety just to step foot in it. My laundry closet is out there. I do not want to even go out there to do laundry.

Which explains this.

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This is the laundry that I haven’t wanted to do because of the anxiety I get in the garage, but the laundry gives me anxiety too, so all it is, is one big vicious circle.

I decided that I could kill two birds with one stone. I’d do the laundry while I sorted through the garage. All I needed to do was get all the empty boxes together to break down and recycle. Put all the holiday decor tubs in one place so Donny could help me get them back up in the attic. Put all  the donations in one place so I could load them in the car and get them to the thrift store. Easy, right? Wrong. It was freezing and I got overwhelmed. I needed Donny’s input on some of the things out there. He’s off tomorrow. Perfect.

I decided to do something that I like to do.

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It was a cold day and what’s one of the best thing for cold days? Soup. French Onion soup. Which is just about my favorite soup in the whole world. I had found a recipe for my Instant Pot on pinterest. I would post the link, but I changed some of the ingredients and added others to make it the way I liked it.

 

I have never made French Onion soup in my Instant Pot before. Melt butter and oil on the saute setting. It’s 3 T butter and 1 T olive oil.

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Add 4 thinly sliced onions and saute until they are brown. This part takes the longest because you want to get the brown “crust” on the bottom.  Don’t rush it. This can make or break your soup. I would pat them all down, let them cook for a few minutes then move them around and pat them down again.

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These still needed to cook a while longer, but you can see they are starting to brown.

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After the onions are browned, scrape the brown crust off the bottom and mix it with the onions then add 5 cups beef broth, 1 tsp salt, 2 bay leaves and pepper to taste. Put the lid on and use the manual setting for 10 minutes. Do a natural release.

After it’s released, slice french bread and toast on both sides in the oven. Spoon your soup in an oven safe dish, put the toasted bread on and place the cheese on top.

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I get this cheese at Aldi. I love that it’s round and fits perfectly on my bowl. You can use whatever cheese you like best. I normally use provolone or swiss.

Place your bowl on a baking tray and put it under the broiler until it’s nice and bubbly. That’s it! Super easy and just as good as any fine dining restaurant.

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I normally let my cheese brown more, but I was starving and couldn’t wait. This will definitely be my go to French Onion soup recipe from now on. I ate this whole bowl and probably could have eaten two more. It’s that good.

Nothing is better than hot soup on a cold day. Especially when your plans don’t go exactly as planned.  Comfort food at it’s finest!

Tomorrow we storm the garage!

Wish us luck. You saw it, we need it.

P.S.  I did get all of the laundry washed, dried and put away, so there’s that.