The Frugalista Files

Frugal Foodie

Food prices are skyrocketing everywhere. Nothing is left untouched. The Snickers bars in our work vending machine are now $1. They used to be $.50. As a community service, I want to know your favorite frugal recipes. My favorite is spaghetti because it lasts a long time and tastes even better the next day when the ingredients have settled. I have a new blog friend, The Frugal Cook,  who offers advice on how to eat on the cheap. My paper offered up three affordable recipes in the Cook's Corner column

Here is my spaghetti recipe:

1 medium onion                                           
3 celery stalks                                                    
16 oz. tomato sauce                                          
1 lb. ground round                                    
Accent                                                    
Garlic salt                                                      
1-2 tablespoons sugar  
1 medium green pepper
2 garlic cloves
6 oz. tomato paste
8 or 16 oz. package of spaghetti
Lawry's seasoned salt
Cayenne pepper 

Cook the spaghetti as shown on box. Dice and saute onion, 
green pepper, celery, and garlic cloves in skillet with 
olive or canola oil. Add ground and the seasonings 
to your taste and cook until the meat is done. 
Add tomato sauce and tomato paste(
add two-and-a-half 6 oz.tomato paste cans of water) 
to skillet with meat and
seasonings and simmer.
Either mix all of the sauce with the spaghetti 
or put the sauce on
individual servings.

What's your favorite frugal recipe?

Frugalicious Desserts

Happy Friday! For all of your hard work, here are some top frugalicious desserts 
from blogger Squawkfox. What I like about this list is that a) she includes chocolate b) the desserts are healthy c) it's affordable.

Also, here is a recipe for Snickerdoodles from the Living on a Dime blog.
I learned to make snickerdoodles in a baking class I took in 5th grade, and they are tre yummy. It's nice to know that the cookies make the affordable edible cut.  I was ahead of the curve! :)

When I'm at a restaurant, I share dessert with my dining partners.  Dessert sharing is more about keeping the waistline in check, not the budget. It's all gravy if my budgets benefits, right?

Do you have any dessert recipes that are sweet on the budget? If so, give em up, pretty please!

Have a great weekend!

Healthy Food on an Unhealthy Budget

On NPR, I got a call from a guy who said he cooks at home but is gaining weight. I also know a lot of people who say that eating healthy is more expensive. Take a browse around Whole Foods or The Fresh Market and you may not see the same prices as say, oh, a big box grocery store. I keep running across articles like this one, which roasts the food press for pushing extravagant recipes. Personally, my meals are rather basic: meat, grain and a vegetable. Dishes sound great but would take a lot of grocery time and I'm a babe in cooking. I'm not breaking the bank for an exotic dish I may hate. But, cry not for me. My paper has a story today about seniors struggling to pay for food with the rising costs.
I found this article on the personal finance blog Get Rich Slowly on how to eat healthy for less.

Among the tips:

Drink water, not soda
Eat fruits and vegetables
Prepare vegetarian stir fry

Do you think it's possible to eat affordable food that's also healthy? What are your favorite healthy recipes that are budget minded?  Do you think that organic food is worth the extra dollars? Calling all frugal foodies!

April Challenge

Hi! So, I'm ready for another challenge. March was my re-entry into life without doing no-buy. I still haven't gone to a nail salon and only went to the hair salon once. I haven't bought one article of clothing. However, food is my problem area. I cooked couscous and chicken last night. I need to do more of that.

Since I launched The Frugalista Files, I've made a lot of friends in the blogsphere. Krystal at Give Me Back My Five Bucks paid off $17,000 in debts in a year. This woman sold her car and drives a scooter! Anyway, she started an April challenge asking people to set a budget for their problem areas. Food is my weakness. Here's the link for the challenge. I will spend only $200 in April on food.

I'm starting to prepare for this food challenge. FF reader Chic not Cheap sent me this link from the NY Times about finding food at $.99 stores. I don't really trust those dollar stores, but I must figure out a way to ration meal spending.

Where do you need to tighten up your budget? Food, clothing, shelter? Entertainment? And would you eat a meal made with ingredients from the dollar store?