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No Comments» Continue ReadingLast weekend…
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» Continue Reading“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.” -Ronald Reagan We have talked all week about frugality in meal planning. I want to end our week thinking about how NOT be frugal at the tables in our home. While we slash grocery bills, meal plan, and reuse leftovers with frugality in mind, the greatest extravagance and over-indulgence at our tables should be in that of time, deliberate speech, and the extension of hospitality. Sometimes I think we have it backwards in this culture: we buy fast food so we can take time and spend the evening staring blankly at the TV. Many homes in America find families preparing a meal, just to have everyone eating in separate rooms, watching the news, or eating awkwardly with no desire for conversation. Seneca, influential Roman writer and philosopher in the time of Christ, said, It is not that we have a […]
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» Continue ReadingOne of the easiest ways to blow your budget is to buy ingredients for a super spectacular dessert you’ve always wanted to try. Don’t get me wrong–there are definitely those occasions and a place for marscapone cheese, real vanilla beans, and creme fraiche. But for the many other moments when hospitality or the occasion calls for a budget friendly dessert, there is one place I love to go: Caramel Sauce. With ingredients most of us regularly have in stock: sugar, butter, heavy whipping cream…you can be well on your way to many special desserts that often take nothing more than other ingredients you already have in your home! And, seriously…this is so delicious, you may be surprised that you made it yourself. Let me whet your appetite: Caramel apple pie, caramel cheesecake, caramel apple. turtle brownies, caramel bread pudding… You’ll be amazed how quickly you can whip something together! One-Stop […]
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» Continue ReadingBeing frugal is less about setting a dollar amount and more about a state of mind, don’t you think? It’s not so much about doing all you can to not cross a certain financial line, but rather, to train your appetite to want what you already have. Simply put, I think frugality is more about doing the most with what you have than it is about having the most of what you can. I remember this line from a Sheryl Crow song says: It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got. My point is this: The goal really isn’t to just have more money. The goal is to be godly stewards of whatever God has given us; to make the absolute most of all of it with gladness. With gladness. If we are honest, sometimes leftovers are not looked upon with gladness at the meal table. Perhaps […]
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» Continue ReadingI seem to be talking quite a bit about breakfast lately…especially the make-ahead-grab-and-go kind of breakfasts. However, truth be known, all the menfolk in our household quite enjoy breakfast for dinner, thus elevating budget-friendly breakfast recipes to reasonable meals for other times of day as well. What makes these burritos worthwhile? You can make them ahead, freeze them, then warm them up in microwave or out on the grill for a crisp tortilla. And as eggs, cheese, potatoes, and tortillas can all be purchased in bulk, a breakfast burrito finds its rightful place at the Frugal Table. Budget Breakfast Burritos Ingredients (loosely): 18 eggs, beaten + 1/4 cup milk or half and half beaten in 1 lb. shredded cheese About 16 oz. sausage or bacon, or turkey sausage 6 lbs medium size potatoes butter, and vegetable oil for cooking Homemade salsa 18-24 medium size tortillas salt and pepper to taste […]
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» Continue ReadingThis week is dedicated to making mealtime monetarily manageable. (The Preacher made me write that.) Whether you have six children, or one, you undoubtedly seek to cut down your grocery bill. Ease, nutrition, family friendliness, and culinary interest, have always ranked highly among the factors that go into meal planning for my family. But, as our family anticipates baby boy Number 5 (while the other 4 grow and eat like mad!), FRUGALITY now tops that list. I’m eager to share with you some menus and meal plans that may serve your family as they have mine; however, as principles always make for better strategy, here are 10 simple tips, first, on cutting down grocery bills: 1. Buy bulk: I always buy carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes in bulk. They are base ingredients to a great variety of recipes. In the beginning of the week, I cut up a quarter of […]
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» Continue ReadingWe look at them everyday, but how rarely we notice how our kids’ facial features have changed from one year to the next. Unless we examine and compare, we don’t get the full affect. Change that happens slowly can so often go unacknowledged and taken for granted. It’s like the rotation of the Earth. It’s the same way with our growth as followers of Christ. The changes are day by day, moment by moment, choice by choice. Rare are the radical resolutions that turn our lives upside down and leave us different forevermore. We don’t wake up one day looking and acting wholly Christ-like. In fact, when our desire is to obey day by day, moment by moment, choice by choice, we often find that we have no idea how transformed we’ve become until we examine and make note. But, the same can be said of the unwanted change of […]
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» Continue ReadingA study. A reading room. A parlor. A music room. Just don’t call it an office. please. That’s what I had in mind when I convinced The Preacher to turn our formal dining room into a new space for music, reading, and writing, now that our long dining table has been relocated. The formal dining room, now Library, is the first room you walk into when entering our house. It used to look like this: Since this room is also a high traffic thoroughfare, I knew I wanted something inviting, something classy…like 18th century libraries…something that says: We gather around books and music for entertainment. And while a workspace for The Preacher’s two office-at-home jobs was at hand, function need not be unsightly. We moved his two bookshelves that used to be in our bedroom downstairs: We then purchased two matching desks from Costco with “desk fund money” (Thank you, […]
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