Living like Royalty

Growing up, my Mom always claimed that Prince Charles had a device in his bathroom that he used to squeeze out the last bit of toothpaste in the tube. She described it as something that looks like a pasta roller.

Why she thought Prince Charles was so particularly frugal is beyond me. I shall have to ask her. Anyway, she didn't like throwing away a nearly empty tube and more than once had cut open the end to find at least two brushings' worth of toothpaste in there.

Look what I found at the local supermarket. It's not worth $3.99 to me. I'm just very careful to roll and re-roll the end to get the rest out. Perhaps I'll start employing a pair of scissors as well.

unmentionables

I thought only Jamaicans knew this trick.

Jackie Chan must be a Jamaican.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_0pHBV0788

Growing up I never put my underwear into the laundry. It wasn't until I got to college that I lost that habit. This caused me to buy much more underwear. Hmmm...This is not a bad discipline to have as you will never be out of a clean pair of underwear and you don't have to own that many pairs. Plus, not putting them through the dryer means they will last a little bit longer.

frugal fatigue

Whenever I feel a little down about money, and feel as if we are saving too much or have too many restrictions on our pocket money, I can count on one or two bloggers to give me a good reality check.

I've been feeling fatigued lately and when I feel that way it is just too easy to run out and buy something. Whether it is purchasing prepared food because I haven't cooked, or buying something silly and unnecessary because I feel like it, somehow, money seems to leave my pocket.

I've found one small antidote to that habit:

There are a few bloggers I read who make do with less whether by choice or by necessity. Whenever I check out a post, I realize I'm hardly trying!

Whether it is making things for oneself rather than buying them, or planning carefully so groceries are purchased infrequently, there's a lot out there to learn.

Then of course there are the people who make amazing works of art with bottle caps and bits of string; or the quiet unassuming person who leaves millions for their favorite charity While never having earned anything more than 30,000 a year. I think those people are an inspiration to us all.

Every dollar we come across is a choice. While we're alive, we'll have to look after our needs. But much of what we spend is negotiable.

Bastone French Toast

I took before pictures but we were too busy chowing down on the after to take a photo.

A little while back I bought a whole wheat bastone to serve with dinner. It was probably lentil soup or black bean soup. I like to do soup on a Friday. It’s easy after a long week.

Well, we didn’t eat very much of the bread that day or the next couple of days. I saw that in the cupboard it would probably go bad so I put it in the fridge and there it remained. Usually this bastone would have wound up in the trash because it got so hard you could probably use it to hammer a nail. But I found a great recipe that saved the bread and gave us something fun to do Sunday morning. French toast!

Here’s the recipe: http://www.natecooks.net/2009/05/making-french-toast/

This French toast recipe was delicious and it tasted very accurate. The only advice I would offer is that you should probably be sure to slice as evenly as possible. Any crags or boulders on the slices will ensure that the slice doesn’t soak or cook evenly. So make sure you keep it smooth.

Since there were already two eggs in the recipe, we just added some turkey bacon. I wish I had put a bit of powdered sugar on the French toast, but then again it was sweet enough, and we added syrup on top anyway.

Next time I will just slice up the whole loaf while it is still soft in anticipation of a Sunday Morning French Toast Brunch!

 

Is this a frugal meal? Hmm… maybe not so frugal if eggs are pricey for you. Still, I like recipes that prevent me from throwing food away.