In The Spirit Of Giving

It's just a few days until the end of the year; you still have a couple of weeks to gather up items you no longer need or want and donate them to your favorite charity thrift store.

If you plan to itemize on your tax return, those donations are tax deductible. If you don't itemize, it's still a wonderful thing to do this time of year. In addition to selling items in their stores, some thrift organizations pass clothing, coats, blankets and household items directly to people who need them. Meanwhile, you get a head start on a more organized and clutter-free 2010.

Some thrift stores will take nearly anything you have to give, while others have restrictions on taking large furniture, mattresses and even magazines. Be sure to check with the store before packing your things and making the drive. Items that aren't eligible for donation can almost always be given away on craigslist or Freecycle.

Meat As An Ingredient

One great way to stretch food dollars is to use meat as an ingredient instead of as the main entree. Small amounts of meat added to casseroles, soups, pastas, stir-fries, and skillets will satisfy the craving for meat without breaking the budget.

Before we went camping over the Labor Day weekend, I bought a small ham that weighed about 2-1/2 pounds. My thoughts were that we'd eat it on sandwiches for our lunches while camping. When that didn't happen, I decided to see how far I could stretch that small ham by using it as an ingredient. In my opinion, ham isn't quite as versatile as ground beef or chicken, but it was still easy to come up with ideas. By the time that little ham was gone I'd made:

Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham (4+ servings)
Ham and Potato Baked Chimichangas (4 servings)
Spicy Ham and Beans over Rice (4 servings)
Ham and Cheese Quiche (4 servings)
Ham-Seasoned Green Beans (side dish - 4 servings)

And I still have enough left for ham sandwiches for lunch tomorrow. That's a lot from such a small piece of ham! All of our meals were filling, and none of us missed having a big slab of meat on our plates...not even Shane.

Here are the recipes, and pictures when I remembered to take them:



Au Gratin Potatoes with Ham


8 medium potatoes, peeled if desired and sliced
3 Tablespoons corn starch
1 teaspoon dry onion flakes
3 cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
1-1/2 cup shredded cheddar or co-jack cheese, divided
1 cup (or more) diced cooked ham

Place sliced potatoes in pan and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for three minutes; drain.

While potatoes cook, make sauce by placing cornstarch and dry onion flakes in a saucepan and adding milk gradually, whisking until smooth. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until sauce thickens. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of shredded cheese until melted and smooth.

Heat oven to 350°F.

Pour about 1/2 cup of sauce into 13x9 baking dish that has been sprayed with pan spray. Layer half of the potatoes in the prepare dished. Sprinkle diced ham evenly over potatoes and spread half of the sauce over all. Layer remaining potatoes and pour remaining sauce over, spreading to coat all potato pieces.

Cover with foil and bake for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Remove foil, sprinkle potatoes with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese and return to oven until cheese has melted, allowing cheese to brown if desired.

Makes 6-8 servings.



Crispy Baked Ham and Potato Chimichangas


2 cups (or so) of leftover au gratin potatoes with ham
1 cup additional diced ham
1 cup shredded cheddar or co-jack cheese
8 large flour tortillas
2-4 Tablespoons butter, melted
Taco sauce, salsa and sour cream as desired

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9 baking dish with pan spray.

Combine leftover au gratin potatoes with additional ham and shredded cheese. Divide filling evenly among 8 flour tortillas. Fold sides of tortillas to the middle and then roll burrito-style. Place seam down in prepared baking dish.

Brush rolled tortillas with melted butter. Use as much as you dare; the more butter, the crispier and flakier the tortillas.

Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until chimichangas are golden brown.

Top with salsa and sour cream if desired.

Makes 4 servings (2 chimis each)

NOTE: These are very good for breakfast as well.



Spicy Ham and Beans over Rice


1 cup dry beans of your choice (I used adzuki beans)
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup diced ham
cooked rice
chili paste, hot sauce, or picante sauce of your choice
other toppings as desired (shredded cheese, sour cream, ranch dressing, etc.)

Rinse beans with water; drain. Place in medium sauce pan along with salt, pepper, ham and enough water to cover by 1". Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender. Time will vary depending on type and freshness of beans.

When beans are tender, taste for seasoning. The ham should make them salty enough, but add more if desired.

Serve hot over cooked rice, stirring in "heat" (chili paste, etc.) as desired. Top with additional toppings.

Makes 4 servings



Ham and Cheese Quiche

3 or 4 large eggs (I like firmer quiche, so I used 4 eggs)
3/4 cup half-and-half or milk
1 cup shredded cheese, such as cheddar or co-jack
1 cup diced ham
2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
dash nutmeg
1 8-inch or 9-inch pie crust (homemade, refrigerated or frozen)

Heat oven to 350°F.

Break eggs into large bowl and beat well. Whisk in half-and-half until well-combined. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour into unbaked pie shell.

Bake at 350°F. for about 40 minutes or until knife inserted near center of quiche comes out clean.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Makes 4 servings.



Ham-Seasoned Green Beans

2 cans green beans (or equivalent frozen)
1/4-1/3 cup diced cooked ham
2 tablespoons finely diced onion
pepper to taste
pinch of sugar

Drain one can of green beans, but keep the liquid from the other. (If using frozen, add enough water to cover all green beans by about 1/2 an inch.) Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to very low, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Gettin' Ready

The lack of posts this week is because I'm getting things ready for a yard sale tomorrow and Saturday.

Making extra money is nice, but what we're really trying to make is extra space, so we're pricing things low to get them out of here! If you're local and want the address, email me at imannies (at) gmail.com.

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On an entirely different note, Shane and I were invited by Quiltgranny Sharon and her husband Kevin to attend an advanced screening of Julie & Julia. What a wonderful movie!! It was funny and charming, as much a romantic comedy as it was a movie about food and cooking. Meryl Streep did a fantastic job as Julia Child. I highly recommend the movie to everyone.

Just Some Thoughts

Kat and I are home sick today. Both of us are feeling under the weather a bit, but I just wanted to direct your attention to another blog post I read this morning by Karen at Living Well On Less. She writes about finding your own optimal comfort zone when living a frugal lifestyle.

This is something I think about often. In living a frugal lifestyle, Shane and I encounter opposition (for lack of a better word) from two distinct camps: those who "get it" and those who don't.

We know plenty of people who just don't get it. They don't understand why we strive for the best value on everything we buy, or why we deprive ourselves (in their eyes) of things we want because we refuse to put our latest whims on credit. They don't understand our goal to become entirely debt-free by retirement, if not sooner. They don't understand that often, less is more. Many of the men Shane works with fall into this category.

On the other side of the coin, there are those who do get it...in a big way. Sometimes they are even harder to deal with, because frugality suddenly becomes a competition. Nearly everyone in my family is frugal, but unfortunately some have become very competitive about it. To me, the competitive nature cheapens (pun intended) the concept of being frugal.

I guess my point is....there's no wrong way to be frugal. Use coupons or don't. Shop at garage sales or don't. Focus on smaller savings or just the larger ones. It doesn't really matter, as long as you are working toward the goals YOU set for YOUR family and situation, and that you try not to judge others who choose to go a different route.

I think Karen says it better than I can. Check out her post here.

I'm Done Shopping

We finished up our Christmas shopping over the weekend, easily meeting our goal to be done before Thanksgiving. I set aside a few dollars each week from Shane’s paycheck throughout the year and had more than enough to pay for everything holiday-related.

We aren’t a religious family. But Shane and I do try to make family, rather than gift-giving, the main focus of the holidays. Luckily, our extended families on both sides think similarly and are more than happy to share some food and fun together in lieu of exchanging gifts. Also, this year Shane and I have decided not to buy gifts for each other. All in all, our gift list was short and sweet.

That said, I still feel as if I may have gone overboard, especially with Kat’s gifts. This is something I struggle with annually. Now, one person’s idea of overboard may be drastically different than another’s. What I consider adequate or even abundant, another might see as quite minimal. Yet another may see it as over-the-top.

The money spent is not the issue. I budgeted for Christmas, shopped wisely and didn’t go over my allotted amount. It’s the number of gifts that I think is excessive. This is one area where my general philosophy of "less is more" goes by the wayside. If my count is right, there will be a dozen gifts under the tree for Kat, plus trinkets in her stocking. Even that amount might be alright if that was all. But there will also be gifts from her mom Jeanne, some of her great-grandparents and even her mom’s boyfriend’s mom.

Oh well. I guess I should try not to worry about Kat being spoiled and instead try to remember that much of the joy is in the giving. I know it holds true for me. I enjoy giving as much, or even more, than receiving. Who am I to spoil someone else’s fun by suggesting they don’t buy so many gifts for Kat?

Anyway, all of that is neither here nor there in regard to the title of my post. Which is… I’m Done Shopping. All the gifts have been bought. We send a few holiday cards; they’ve been bought, along with stamps. We aren’t buying any new decorations this year. There’s an outside chance I’ll need more wrapping supplies, but I think even that’s covered (heh...covered) for this year. There will be a few baking needs to buy, but according to our budget those fall under “groceries”, not “holidays”.

Having set the money aside throughout the year made shopping so simple! It’s good to know that from now until December 25, the only things I have to worry about is when I’ll wrap gifts and what I’ll bake. It’s nice to know that I can go to the mall just to enjoy the sights and smells of the holiday without stressing over what to buy. And best of all, it’s great to know that none of the holiday expenses were paid with a credit card.

So, how are you coming along with your holiday shopping? Did you save for it ahead of time or will you “charge it”? Do you, like me, ever worry about excess, or do you go all-out?