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.

the delicious apple

I'm not a fan of American apples because of these. But I try to buy and eat apples because they are hardy, deliver lots of fiber, and are grown in my state (which reduces the impact on the environment for them to travel to my supermarket).

The trick I've found with buying apples is to buy smaller ones. They are usually more bursting with flavor than larger ones. There is a scientific reason behind it. I forget the exact terminology but let's just say the smaller apples have the same number of flavor particles as the big ones but the size of the small apple concentrates more flavor in every bite!

So at the supermarket nowadays I look for smaller apples and take a good long smell to make sure they have a flavor I will enjoy eating.

Now, the apples are bought. How do I get the most out of them?

1. Here's a link about how to eat apples in a way that wastes less food:

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/amazing-way-to-eat-an-apple-makes-core-disappear

2. And what if your apple is a bit wrinkly or just too soft for you to enjoy? Make banana apple bread!

Just grab any banana bread recipe and replace some of the banana with a peeled and diced apple. If they want a cup of banana make sure you have a cup of combined fruit. Then as you are mixing, if you find your recipe a tad too dry, just add a tablespoon of (almond) milk or apple juice.

Here's a nice one:
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/zb5qv0gn/easy-banana-bread.html

It'll be delicious, I promise! I used this recipe over the weekend to use up some fruit and make a dessert instead of buying one.

No bananas? How about apple cake?
http://www.cooks.com/recipe/dr8gv4k0/apple-cake.html

Taking a closer look

I've been busy throughout most of January up until yesterday. My attention was consumed with our hunt for new accommodation. We are interested in purchasing a home; preferably in the area where we live now. We've been looking casually for just under a year now.

In  early January we found out about a house just two blocks from where we live and went to look at it. After that things happened pretty quickly. Before we knew it we had a lawyer, a mortgage banker, and an engineer!

The home, by all appearances was perfect for us and we were delighted that our counter offer was accepted. Our lawyer gave us the names of two good engineers and we set up the date for the inspection. That is when things began to fall apart.

The Engineer's inspection can be a seller's worst nightmare. Perhaps a buyer's also. Maybe there are some things we didn't want to know about that house. However, it was in our best interest to find out. Some of the items the Engineer flagged were simply remedied. Things like a nonworking doorbell, or a loose bannister were things even I felt comfortable with doing after a short video tutorial. However, the big things were much too big for first-timers to take on. They involved hazardous materials that don't belong in any home. In addition there were some items that were not up to code.

The preceding paragraph may make this home sound like it was barely habitable but that is not true. It looked homey and inviting. It had beautiful hardwood floors. It only seemed to need updating in the bathroom and kitchen. It was a starter-home dream. But what lay beneath the surface killed the deal.

We spent about $350 for the initial consultation with our attorney. The insepction cost $440.

For $790 we spared ourselves heartache, pain, and debt. It was money well spent. I would recommend having an Engineer's inspection for anyone who has an accepted offer on a property. Don't do a deal without it!

2014

Orchard Beach 01-01-2014

The Mister and I welcomed the New Year at the beach (see photo). We didn't jump into the water. We didn't even see a single 'polar bear'. I guess it was too late in the day for that. But I'd love to do that next year. The idea had never occurred to me until recently, at out holiday lunch, my manager mentioned she planned to do it. I was thrilled by the thought. I also heard the water was warmer than the air! Look for me to be doing this in 2015.

I have made resolutions. I have even done them!
One, I got a head start on. . . I began on Monday because I knew it would be a hard one. Another, I have to play catch up with. I got distracted by my cousin's posts of fancy outfits on Facebook. Tomorrow I'll know better. My cousin and her outfits can wait.

Something I'm toying with, but that I'm not sure if I really want to do is to track my spending. Maybe for the month of January. That might be more than enough to keep me busy and give perspective. Perhaps I'll post weekly what the spending has been. Some things I can't track because the Mister and I give ourselves pocket money each week. Maybe I'll exclude that as it is a fixed amount.

2014 still has that shiny look, that new year smell. It's so full of possibility.

Wow, it's November

Wow, I guess I didn't post anything in October. I had almost too much to say. It's been a whirlwind fall season. I've had a family member in and out of the hospital. Right now he's out and improving by degrees.

I've started a quilting and hand-piecing class. The one thing I've gained from taking this class is the confidence that I can probably sew most simple things if only i had a machine. It's such painstaking work to sew fiddly things by hand. So putting a button back onto a coat is a piece of cake. Why was I afraid to do this in the past?

We've paid off one of our student loans. We just took the plunge and wiped out 60% of our savings doing that. The interest we were earning was nothing compared to the interest we were paying and we're not in a position to buy a house anyway.

My husband also paid Murphy to go away. There was a thing. I can't get into it. Anyway, it's gone now.

And meanwhile I've been shoppping like a crazy person. Oy! But rest assured, I'm not buying frivolous little stupid things. These are definitely needed.

I think that is all that has happened. Oh, and I had a birthday. We'll be celebrating this month. Had to put everything off what with hanging out in the Emergency room and hospital wards for so much of October. But that is alright. It'll be soon enough.

Five reasons we won't buy a house until we're ready

1.      Tens of thousands of tiny reasons in the form of dollars that we owe to banks that so generously helped us pay up front for educations we couldn't afford at the time.

2.      Budding, but location-dependent careers that could make life intensely difficult if we tied ourselves down geographically. Imagine you've bought the house of your dreams and suddenly a better job materializes over 50 miles away. Sometimes when opportunity knocks, you need to be able to pack your bags and simply move.

3.      We have barely enough space right now. We're champing at the bit to get out, and have two cats who seem to be constantly underfoot. I can't tell you how many times I've almost pulled a hamstring or twisted an ankle in efforts to right myself again after tripping over a cat. One even bit me on the ankle after I stepped on her tail, which she placed right behind me as I stood at the stove. Yet, it's still enough space for us. We haven't turned to a self-storage and decluttering and donating seems to be doing the trick for the time being.

4.      20%.  Call that 100%. We don't really have a 20% down payment on the type of house the bank thinks we can afford. And we don't have 100% either. And the bank thinks we can afford a whole LOT of house. They think we should buy a 3 bed, 2 bath monstrosity with a garage, a front and back yard, and perhaps a gazebo. Honest. Well, we don't have the first dollar for that. Not if you don't count our emergency fund and our baby emergency fund (in case someone dies and leaves us a baby or the stork brings one). We wouldn't want to put our emergency fund toward a house and then find ourselves in an emergency without a penny to our names, now, would we?

5.      We're too picky. We want a house we can live in until retirement. Not that we plan on it. We, like many reluctant West Indian transplants, dream of sunnier climes for our golden years. Every year it gets a little bit harder to deal with the utter destruction cold weather can wreak. But if it turns out we don't wind up in sunny Orlando, or mild Virginia, perhaps we need a house we think is valuable, meets our needs, and we can grow into. The realtor we contracted with told us that most people's dream house is the second or third house they buy. What dreams eh?!You know what that means. . . someone's getting a big fact commission every time. I'd rather do what my parents' generation did , or should have done. Save until you can afford a house, then buy the best house you can afford without assuming you'll always be in a position to trade up.

 

And there we have it, all the reasons I can think of right now why buying a house is not in the cards for us. I know what everyone is saying. Think of the interest rates! Think of the low low prices! That is alright. I stand firm. We know our budget better than they do, and it's just not in the picture.

 

money leaks

Brunch with friends: $18

 







Knock off "Cronut": $3.50

Drinkable wine: $6.00

Though not all purchased at the same time.