Yesterday I finally attempted to do something with the ham I had leftover from the holidays. We have had sandwiches and such, but even though it was a very small ham (very reasonably priced), there was still a lot left. I looked around and found a recipe for a casserole, sort of a scalloped potato thing. Lucky for you, I figured out the down sides to it and fixed it up and now it is ready for me to share.
When you are using ham, keep in mind how it is flavored. Honey ham, smoked, deli, boiled, canned, all of these can handle different seasonings. This is a pretty basic recipe. Should you want to add flavor you could sprinkle in some fresh herbs or cook some mashed garlic with the butter for the white sauce or you could simmer some dried herbs in the sauce before using. This is incredibly simple.
Potato and Ham Casserole
White sauce:
3 Tablespoons of butter or margarine
3 Tablespoons all purpose flour
2 cups of milk
Any flavors you wish to incorporate.
For the white sauce all you do is melt the butter, add garlic if you wish, sprinkle in flour and stir until the flour just starts to brown a teeny bit. I over browned it and it was still good though, so don't worry too much, just keep an eye on it. Once the flour has been cooked, whisk in the milk slowly. This would be the time to add any dried herbs if using. Let simmer a few minutes until thickened.
For the rest of the casserole:
1 recipe of White Sauce
2 cups of finely chopped ham (mine were a little big but don't mince it)
3-4 Medium potatoes (I used russet, but any will work) thinly sliced. (the food processor is great for this if you are lucky enough to have one)
1 medium onion thinly sliced
Any fresh herbs you would like
1/2 cup cheddar cheese (optional)
Butter a casserole dish or baking pan. It should hold at least 2 quarts. Layer some potatoes, Scatter some onion slices, top with ham and add a little of the white sauce. Repeat as many times as you can for dish or pan, stopping with potatoes on top and a sprinkling of ham around the edges. Pour last of the sauce over the top and put some cheese in the middle.
Bake, covered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes.
You are done! Serving this with some vegetables will round out the meal, but you could even experiment with putting some vegetables inside the casserole. This is a very flexible and simple dish. Oh, and did I mention that it is pretty frugal? The only expensive item is the ham, but you can use cheaper ham such as boiled or canned and use some flavorings. I also suggest some ground pepper to your taste.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Purchasing Online
Some may say that buying online is not very budget friendly. I think that it depends on what, how much shipping is and how far you would need to go to pick it up in the real world. One of my children is very much into lolitta clothing. There really isn't anywhere around here to get it, so I went to a site that she sent me a link to and purchased her gift from there. Unfortunately, I got it too small. This is where I learned my lesson.
Always look at their refund/exchange policy. I was having this outfit delivered from California, so I never considered that it would not have a reasonable return policy. Boy was I wrong. First, you have 10 days to contact them. Well, I bought this well before Christmas, so that did not happen. Second, it has to be something that they did wrong. You have to take pictures of the problem and send that to them first. You must have ALL the original wrapping and pay shipping. I don't understand how an online only clothing shop will not exchange clothes that do not fit. There is no place to try them on, and the size I got was her normal size. Needless to say, I have wasted money. When there is not a lot to begin with this is bad, and even worse, my daughter didn't get her present.
My girls do not ask for a lot, and when they ask for something it is very reasonable. My youngest really loves classic Lolita clothing, but waited until the holidays to ask for anything because it wasn't reasonable to get it for everyday clothing. Now, I have to sell this entire outfit for less than I paid for it, and get her just one article of clothing rather than the whole outfit. We don't spend a lot on clothes, and Lolita styles require many pieces. She has purchased her own dress and her older sister lets her borrow the button up blouse and I found an inexpensive petticoat on Etsy.com which was lovely.
So, if your child is into this type of clothing, do not go to What a Beautiful Life even though their prices are usually really good. Frugal tip of the day? READ the policies of any place you shop. Just because so many places have lovely return policies doesn't mean that they all do. Take nothing for granted.
Lesson learned.
Always look at their refund/exchange policy. I was having this outfit delivered from California, so I never considered that it would not have a reasonable return policy. Boy was I wrong. First, you have 10 days to contact them. Well, I bought this well before Christmas, so that did not happen. Second, it has to be something that they did wrong. You have to take pictures of the problem and send that to them first. You must have ALL the original wrapping and pay shipping. I don't understand how an online only clothing shop will not exchange clothes that do not fit. There is no place to try them on, and the size I got was her normal size. Needless to say, I have wasted money. When there is not a lot to begin with this is bad, and even worse, my daughter didn't get her present.
My girls do not ask for a lot, and when they ask for something it is very reasonable. My youngest really loves classic Lolita clothing, but waited until the holidays to ask for anything because it wasn't reasonable to get it for everyday clothing. Now, I have to sell this entire outfit for less than I paid for it, and get her just one article of clothing rather than the whole outfit. We don't spend a lot on clothes, and Lolita styles require many pieces. She has purchased her own dress and her older sister lets her borrow the button up blouse and I found an inexpensive petticoat on Etsy.com which was lovely.
So, if your child is into this type of clothing, do not go to What a Beautiful Life even though their prices are usually really good. Frugal tip of the day? READ the policies of any place you shop. Just because so many places have lovely return policies doesn't mean that they all do. Take nothing for granted.
Lesson learned.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
When to Be Cheap and Recipe
Now that I am out of school and looking for a job I have a little time to post about what is going on in our family now. We are a family of four with only one full time worker at this time. Until I get a job and we get a tenant for upstairs we are living hand to mouth. As many of you can probably understand we are juggling our bills, paying one while letting the other be overdue and back and forth between things. We have a very tiny credit card debt from having to buy food and I will admit, ordering some take out. Yes, I hang my head in shame.
For the last six months we have had our food stamps cut to 90 dollars a month, but with the help of friends we do have some good staple foods and some other things also. If we did not have this help, we would be going to food banks, and folks? There is nothing wrong with doing that! These are hard times and most of us need all the help we can get. Things will get better, but until then, I will try blogging about cheap recipes, household tips and getting the most for your money. I will not talk about couponing. I have done this, and quite well. I averaged saving 70% on groceries a week. The problem is that most coupons are for junk. Sugary cereals that leave you hungry right after you have eaten it, cookies, crackers, canned soups and other things that I normally wouldn't have purchased in the first place. So, in an effort to not only be cheap, but also keep things as healthy as possible, I gave up on most coupons. That doesn't mean one shouldn't look for them. There can be some really good deals, especially if you can combine them with a sale (although I think the grocery stores have caught on to that trick because it doesn't happen much anymore around here).
There are also some things that are smarter to buy name brand if you can. One of those things for us is the Bounty select-a-size (tm). We don't use paper towels much anyway, but for somethings, like drying meat, it is really the best choice. I have used generic and we go through them three times as fast as the brand name. One roll lasts us about two months, so we buy the more pricey ones, one at a time of course unless we have a little extra and the sale is good. My point is that sometimes it is better to go with brands names because in some instances they actually save you money. A roll of Bounty for 2.00 which lasts two months, or a Generic for 1.00 that barely makes it a month? I think that the choice is clear.
So, take a good look at what you use regularly and decide if you would spend less on better quality items or not. If you are one to use things like cream of mushroom soup, the generics are usually just fine, same with most frozen vegetables. Other things like toilet paper and dish soap (yes, the name brand will often last longer, especially if mixed with a little water) may be less expensive buying less at a time but having it last longer.
Food: First things first, what about food? Personally, I always have some sort of fat (margarine, butter, oil, vegetable shortening etc.), eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. If you generally have baking soda and powder around that is terrific. I can make a type of popover with leftovers. Add any condiment you have on hand, sweet or savory and you have a meal.
Sausage Popovers (this is what the recipe was called, but you don't need sausage)
2 beaten eggs
1 c. milk
1 Tablespoon oil (or any melted fat you have on hand)
1 c. Flour (all purpose)
1/4 teaspoon of regular table salt. Adjust if using larger grained salt, you will need more.
Leftovers. Meats of any kind, though flavoring them is a good plan, leftover vegetables (vegetables should be cooked first when necessary, like with carrots. Thawed and thoroughly squeezed out chopped spinach is also a neat choice. Originally the recipe was for breakfast sausage which is often on sale and are kept frozen. Just thaw first.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom of and 8 inch bake pan. This is what I use, but a souffle dish or small casserole will also work.
Beat eggs, milk, oil, flour and salt until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. (if you are using a chopped up vegetable it is good to mix it in there a little before pouring) Top with chopped meat. Bake about 35 minutes until puffy and a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.
Server with syrup, molasses, honey, mustard, ketchup (yeah I know, but kids like it) or anything else you like that is on hand and you think would work.
For the last six months we have had our food stamps cut to 90 dollars a month, but with the help of friends we do have some good staple foods and some other things also. If we did not have this help, we would be going to food banks, and folks? There is nothing wrong with doing that! These are hard times and most of us need all the help we can get. Things will get better, but until then, I will try blogging about cheap recipes, household tips and getting the most for your money. I will not talk about couponing. I have done this, and quite well. I averaged saving 70% on groceries a week. The problem is that most coupons are for junk. Sugary cereals that leave you hungry right after you have eaten it, cookies, crackers, canned soups and other things that I normally wouldn't have purchased in the first place. So, in an effort to not only be cheap, but also keep things as healthy as possible, I gave up on most coupons. That doesn't mean one shouldn't look for them. There can be some really good deals, especially if you can combine them with a sale (although I think the grocery stores have caught on to that trick because it doesn't happen much anymore around here).
There are also some things that are smarter to buy name brand if you can. One of those things for us is the Bounty select-a-size (tm). We don't use paper towels much anyway, but for somethings, like drying meat, it is really the best choice. I have used generic and we go through them three times as fast as the brand name. One roll lasts us about two months, so we buy the more pricey ones, one at a time of course unless we have a little extra and the sale is good. My point is that sometimes it is better to go with brands names because in some instances they actually save you money. A roll of Bounty for 2.00 which lasts two months, or a Generic for 1.00 that barely makes it a month? I think that the choice is clear.
So, take a good look at what you use regularly and decide if you would spend less on better quality items or not. If you are one to use things like cream of mushroom soup, the generics are usually just fine, same with most frozen vegetables. Other things like toilet paper and dish soap (yes, the name brand will often last longer, especially if mixed with a little water) may be less expensive buying less at a time but having it last longer.
Food: First things first, what about food? Personally, I always have some sort of fat (margarine, butter, oil, vegetable shortening etc.), eggs, milk, flour, and sugar. If you generally have baking soda and powder around that is terrific. I can make a type of popover with leftovers. Add any condiment you have on hand, sweet or savory and you have a meal.
Sausage Popovers (this is what the recipe was called, but you don't need sausage)
2 beaten eggs
1 c. milk
1 Tablespoon oil (or any melted fat you have on hand)
1 c. Flour (all purpose)
1/4 teaspoon of regular table salt. Adjust if using larger grained salt, you will need more.
Leftovers. Meats of any kind, though flavoring them is a good plan, leftover vegetables (vegetables should be cooked first when necessary, like with carrots. Thawed and thoroughly squeezed out chopped spinach is also a neat choice. Originally the recipe was for breakfast sausage which is often on sale and are kept frozen. Just thaw first.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease bottom of and 8 inch bake pan. This is what I use, but a souffle dish or small casserole will also work.
Beat eggs, milk, oil, flour and salt until smooth. Pour into prepared pan. (if you are using a chopped up vegetable it is good to mix it in there a little before pouring) Top with chopped meat. Bake about 35 minutes until puffy and a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.
Server with syrup, molasses, honey, mustard, ketchup (yeah I know, but kids like it) or anything else you like that is on hand and you think would work.
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