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Habits—everyone has them. Even the free spirits among us have some kind of daily and weekly routine. Even when we are traveling we have a routine for when we get to the next stop on the itinerary, such as checking out the nearest cafe. If we stay in a place a few days, we might start getting an ice-cream each day at a local shop. Or the same coffee order each day.

There are good reasons for this. One of them is biological. Our bodies are designed to run in a rhythmic fashion.  Our sleep patterns, for example, cause us to cycle on a daily basis. The second reason is psychological. Our minds are designed to categorize information. Huge amounts of undifferentiated data are just too much to process. Habits and routines are one of the ways we dial the information overload that comes barreling into our consciousness every day. In and of themselves habits are neither good nor bad. But they are 0ften unexamined. 

If you are trying to manage your money and cut your expenses you must create the right habits to give you a push, and defeat the habits that cost you. The first step is to identify your current routine. Let’s start in the morning: You roll out of bed, and then what? For many people the answer is to get a stimulant such as coffee into their system as fast as possible, often coffee in the western world. How do you get your coffee? How much does it cost? In addition, many of us eat breakfast, and according to nutritional experts all of us should. So, how do you handle that, and how much does it cost?

To do a good audit, pay attention to your routines for a few weeks. Each time you identify one, ask yourself if there is an expense associated with it. Remember to multiply the cost by how often you partake in the habit. For instance, the cost of to-go coffee should be multiplied by 365 if you do it every day. Do this exercise on the daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly levels.

This is not about the coffee or even about any particular habit. It’s about any and all of them that generate an expense item on the balance sheet. Having correct information is the first step.

Once you know what you are doing now, it may be time to tweak those habits. You may be shocked at how much money is leaking out of your sieve without you even being aware of it consciously. Changing habits, especially those that are deeply ingrained, may take quite an effort. But it can be done. If your money wasting (and often unhealthy) habit is one known to be tough to break you may want to get some help from a support group. If it is something like smoking you may need medical help. But, with the right plan in place virtually any habit can be defeated.

Other habits may be surprisingly easy to break. You were not addicted, just caught in a loop. Things like buying the name brand when the generic is just the same. 

Then there are the leaks created by paying for habits you WISH you had, like gym memberships when you never go, or being on a “great books” subscription and never reading them. These non-habits waste money. Just be honest with yourself and cancel.

It is a good idea to look at ALL your subscriptions and auto-pay items once a quarter. Then either use it or lose it. 

You may also have some good habits, walking each morning for example. Don’t forget to include these. Knowing you are doing some things right will improve your morale. A full audit of habits will catch ALL of them, helpful or not. 

You may also want to make a list of habits you would like to integrate into your life, such as making a healthy breakfast at home each day, packing a healthy lunch, or socializing outdoors instead of expensive indoor venues. Developing a little habit such as making your bed a certain way each day can anchor your day at no cost to you except a few moments of your time. These are the habits that enrich us and bring order to our lives. One of mine is to do the dishes from the day before while the coffee water boils. Then I have a clean counter for the day’s food prep.

Everyone has 24 hours each day, and we all fill them with habits. With a little work your habits can make you richer, healthier, and more fulfilled.

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Notice to Readers: Every essay across my three Substacks remains completely open-access because I refuse to use paywalls. If this work brought value to your week and you wish to make a voluntary one-time or recurring contribution to help keep these independent channels online, you can access methods of support directly below. This is what keeps the lights on:

• To leave a standard one-time tip: Buy Me A Coffee

• To back my long-term survival fund: Go-Fund-Me

• To set up a regular monthly patronage baseline: Patreon

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Entertainment and fun are basic to our health as human beings. But in our modern world that too often translates to spectator activities when activities that involve hand-on participation are almost always more fun, especially if they have a social component. We need to play with others. Here are two places where that is the whole idea.

Music: Playing an Instrument, Joining a Band or Jamming with Friends

I love concerts and clubs, but some of my fondest musical memories involve garage jam sessions, singing by the campfire, and impromptu dueling guitars popping out at a dinner party. I know that you all have experienced something similar. Playing music with friends is free, it’s fun, and it builds community. At community meetings it breaks tension and brings people together. It would not be a big stretch to call it therapeutic.

You will need to spend a little money, but not as much as you might think. Instruments can be found used in thrift stores, pawn shops, and online in places like Facebook Marketplace. Big music stores have sales. You can learn the basics on youtube, and from used books. After that, if you want a few lessons, it won’t break the bank.

It may be true that professional musicians sound better technically. Maybe your skill level isn’t as high as you would like and you feel embarrassed. Don’t let that stand in your way. In a casual home environment no one cares about that. They will be having too much fun singing along even if they are out of key.

So next time you are sitting around bored, pull out that old guitar or keyboard and noodle a little. Learn a few songs that most people know the words to. If you don’t play an instrument but have always wanted to, figure out what instrument you would like to learn and look for a used one. This is one of the items with a small up-front cost leading to years of pleasure. Then, next time your crowd gets together for a potluck meal, bring your instrument, and encourage others to join you. You may find yourself getting more popular overnight, and everyone will have a great time. There is no down side to homegrown musical fun!

Sports: Mostly the Team Kind but Anything that Gets You Moving

The principle here is the same. Being an actual participant and not just an observer is more fun and less expensive. Gone are the days of sandlot softball and “going out to play”. For many years now the schools have filled the gap for kids, though many of these programs are now threatened by hard times.

But it is not just kids who can benefit from playing sports. The state of children’s and teenager’s after school sports programs is large enough for its own post, so I will concentrate here on the grown-ups.

Do you have a sport you already play and love? Then you are lucky. If not, why not at least consider it? Is there something you have always been attracted to but never tried? Think about your physical condition and natural inclinations. There are many types of sport—some involve teams, some are done in the company of others but not as a team effort, and some are real solo activities. For example, softball always involves a team, cycling is often done with companions, and skiing is pretty much solo.

For the solo and companion style sports, all you need is the equipment and some skill building. Use the same method I wrote of above in the music section. And if you are getting into something like cycling, check at a local bike shop for groups that ride together. Or Meetup.com if it is active in your location.

Sports also vary in costs, both to get involved and to stay involved. Skiing can be pretty expensive if you don’t live near snow, but tennis is very reasonable once you have the equipment if you stick to public courts. You will want to rent or borrow the equipment at first to make sure you really like it, and then check out used equipment stores and craigslist.

If you have never played a team sport, you may have to ask around a bit, especially if you are self-employed or work for a very small business. Bigger companies sometimes have a team you can join. If not search online for local teams. Then check out the parks and recreation department in your town, or ask at a gym or sporting goods store.

There are some great side benefits to playing on a local team, besides the entertainment value. It gets you off the couch, which will improve your health naturally. And it builds wonderful connections with your fellow citizens. Have you ever been out at a tavern and seen a whole team come in for drinks after the game? That could be you.

Being a spectator is OK, but nothing takes the place of getting INTO something fun on a physical and social level. So, get fit, get in tune, make friends, get outside, and PLAY!

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Notice to Readers: Every essay across my three Substacks remains completely open-access because I refuse to use paywalls. If this work brought value to your week and you wish to make a voluntary one-time or recurring contribution to help keep these independent channels online, you can access methods of support directly below. This is what keeps the lights on:

• To leave a standard one-time tip: Buy Me a Coffee

• To back my long-term survival fund: Go-Fund-Me

• To set up a regular monthly patronage baseline: Patreon

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The other day I read an article about frugality where a young woman told a story in which her tires were bald and unsafe, but she didn’t want to spend the $400 to get them replaced. She seemed to believe that this was the frugal approach, but she couldn’t be more wrong.

Safety violations waste money whether they are at home, at work, or on the road. Every year millions or maybe billions of dollars are wasted cleaning up messes that could have been avoided with some simple safety precautions that were skimped on. Remember the gulf oil spill? If regular maintenance is good for the wallet, then taking safety precautions is mandatory to keeping you finances in good order.

It is not hard to imagine all the ways that skimping and procrastinating on safety measures can bring hardship. It might even cause death or serious injury to you aor someone you care about. Those bald tires might cost you an accident that totals the car. Or they could cause a deadly accident. Taking care that your equipment is in order isn’t just frugal, it is essential to good citizenship.

This applies at home as well. Use knives and fire properly and with respect. Have a proper fire extinguisher, and working smoke and carbon-monoxide alarms. Don’t put a greasy pizza box in a wood-stove. Read safety instructions and follow them.

Don’t stint on tires, checkups, fire protection, or proper gear for your activities, such as helmets for bicycling. Whatever it cost in money or time to stay save is actually a bargain. So take some time to evaluate in the next couple of days. Make a few lists: home, car, work, hobbies, and any other place you spend time. Write down all safety issues and make sure that everything is in order. Check the batteries in things. Check the fire extinguisher. If there are items that aren’t up to snuff—fix them now. And breathe a little easier.

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There is a little device in the sustainability community: Reduce, Re-Use, Recycle. The three Rs. And I would add an “M” for Maintain. This post is about the first and most powerful of the three--REDUCE. 

The question “how much is enough?” is at the very heart of a frugal life richly lived. It is the backbone of frugal abundance. We live in a culture that resists the concept of enough. For the inhabitants of the “developed world”, the answer we must give is that no amount is enough. The economy we have created depends on MORE, and just enough is considered an ill.

But sensible people trying to live a good and pleasant life know that this is hog wash. Too much clutter in our material possessions or our time leads to a frenzied life where we don’t fully use or enjoy the things we have. So what is the cure? Try these six simple tips to get back to a state of happy balance:

1. Before you bring in ANYTHING new, look at what you already have and ask yourself what the purpose is. Do you already have something that will accomplish whatever it is you are trying to do? For example, if you want to make crepes, do you really need to buy a special pan? Or would the cast iron pan you have work just as well? This also applies to time—before you add something to your schedule STOP and ask yourself why.

2. Do you know the real cost of the things you want to acquire? Don’t forget to add in the cost of maintenance, repair, and auxiliary doo dads that you will need to make it work. When it comes to your time, remember to include travel and preparation time. These are things you need to know before committing yourself. If you don’t think it through you may bite off more than you can chew and end up with TOO MUCH.

3. Where are you going to put the new thing? If it doesn’t fit in your house it won’t fit in your life. The same goes for new activities. When are you going to do the new activity, including prep, practice, and travel if applicable? Things without places create clutter and eventually misery.

4. How does the new thing fit into your value system? If you don’t know, don’t buy it till you find out. You only have so much time, money, and physical space. If you let in a bunch of stuff that does not serve your value system, it just becomes a distraction. It also drives out the things that are in harmony with your values, and therefore robs your life of meaning to one extent or another. For example, if your values include bonding with your loved ones with a real sit down dinner, adding a lot of early evening activities is actually a form of clutter and will soon become TOO MUCH.

6. Have a plan for buying things and committing your time. If you put the big pieces in first, such as travel or buying a house then the smaller decisions become easier. If you know that forgoing a new outfit will get you closer to a trip you want to take, it removes some of the sting of saying no to yourself. This also works when dealing with family members. If you all agree that going camping is important it will help when you have to nix the new sneakers. Well, maybe not every time, but it will certainly help.

Now apply these guidelines to what you already have. Do you need to purge anything? Cancel anything? Get rid of any time commitments, memberships, or subscriptions? Does all that you have serve you and your values? Be honest, and then start making a pile for charity. And don’t be too quick to fill up the spaces that get opened up. Open space and breathing room are essential to a happy life and a sign that you have just the right amount.

Try these six tips to create a life that is the right size for you. Not all of them will be easy, but the results will be worth it. I will be discussing the other two Rs (REUSE and RECYCLE) as well as the M (MAINTAIN) is upcoming posts.

As always, comments are welcome.

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If you like this you might enjoy my other stack:

Annabel’s Hard Times Kitchen

Elevated Food for Empty Pockets. This and my Frugal Goddess stack go together. I have worked for years on the problem of having a healthy and delicious for a reasonable amount of money. It has never been more important than now.

By Annabel Ascher

For those of us who love books the need to acquire them amounts to almost a form of lust. The most humble book-lover can develop a form of greed when entering a bookstore. But books are often too expensive to buy outright, and full price books rarely retain their value. In fact the ratio is a little like buying a new car in terms of immediate loss.

A number of years ago it became necessary for me to sell around five thousand of my six thousand volumes. Though traumatic at the time, to say nothing of labor intensive, I now realize that this has freed me in certain ways. Just the bookshelf issue alone is liberating. I have come to believe that most private libraries would be better if shared.

Luckily for us there are several ways to satisfy the book lust without going broke. The first and most obvious is the public library. They might not have everything you want, but they are free. Libraries and librarians have done wonderful things for the countries that have them. They continue to be an absolutely frugal bastion of culture, and, in the United States at least, they are to be found in every little hamlet across the land.

If the book you want is not at the library, or if the waiting list is long and you are impatient,there are still things you can do. First check online, both for the used bookstores near you and for online sources. Local used bookstores have a selection limited to what happened to come in. I still buy from them when I can. But often the online used bookstores are the only choice. 

 Amazon.com has literally millions of used titles, some for as little as a dollar plus shipping charges. Amazon prime does not cover used items but for any given book there is almost always a free delivery option. They classify used books as acceptable, good, very good, and like new. I set the filter to good and above, then look for free delivery. 

Amazon is not the only online giant with used books. Walmart has a used book section online as well. Barnes and Noble has 30% and 50% off sections on new books.

But they are not the only source of used books. Look for Better World Books, Alibris, Abe, and World of Books. All of these have a big selection, good prices, and a spending limit for free shipping. For Better World, the limit is a purchase over $15. Not a steep ask. They are also generally less expensive at the moment.

There are also remainder and discount sections in brick and mortar stores such as Barnes and Noble. If there is one nearby, it is worth a trip.

I usually check a few places once I know what I am looking for. Unless the first place I look has one in good condition for $1.99 with free shipping. I know I can’t do better than that. Other than that, shopping around pays off. 

Sometimes with a popular new book it won’t be available used or discounted for some time. In the past, the e-books were reliably much cheaper, but they are now often only a dollar cheaper than the paperback. It is important to note that Kindle gives only a LICENSE to read the book. You don’t own it. That does not seem ideal to me. Also, I don’t love screens. There is something about turning a physical page that can’t be duplicated on a screen.

Right now I have 5 books ready to ship from Better World. The total is $31.36, free shipping. They take all the cards, plus PayPal and Pay-in-4 for over $30.

Wherever you source your books--Happy reading, and may you never run out of new-to-you books.

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When I first began studying the art and science of frugality, I looked at many lists that claimed to be the top five or ten money wasters. I found that most of the items on the list were mere opinions. But one category stood out as being accurate and useful—the dead waste. These are not spending decisions, but rather mistakes. The parking ticket, the bank fee, and yes-the food we let rot. Almost everyone in the United States does this to one extent or another. Nobody likes it and everyone finds themselves annoyed and a little guilty and embarrassed when it happens.

Beyond Your Own Bank Balance: Why Food Waste Hurts Us All

• Everybody does it and everybody hates it. Americans waste 165 BILLION tons of food per year. And the implications of this affect us all. Here are a few facts about the big picture:

• It takes a lot of water to produce food. Meat production uses the most, but almost every food in the marketplace has a water footprint. When you throw away food, you are wasting the water used to produce it.

• It takes fossil fuel to move the food from field to processing plant to market. Even local food must get to the farmer’s market. When you waste food, the cost of the fuel and the environmental impact of burning it is wasted too.

• Wasted food ends up overwhelmingly in the landfill, where it gives off methane gas. Putting food in the landfill is a direct cause of greenhouse gas emission. Putting the waste in your own compost pile for the garden or feeding your worms or chickens is an alternative, but it still doesn’t make up for the waste.
  
  
  

Why it Happens

Food waste takes place in two ways: Buying too much or cooking too much for the people who will be eating the food. There is also loss in the field or garden, but that won’t be covered here. Some examples of buying too much are moldy cheese and black bananas. An example of cooking too much is when you make spaghetti and sauce for ten when you live alone. There are different cures for each type of waste, and even a method for using planned leftovers. The operative word being planned.

Here are the specifics:

Lack of Planning

Most food waste comes about because the person in charge of food in the household does not have enough information to make an informed decision about what to buy. A pen and paper applied BEFORE any shopping trip is the greatest single tool against food waste—to make a shopping list, yes. But, it goes much deeper than that, as you shall see.

Self-Deception

This comes about because you are on a kick of some kind or have an unrealistic viewpoint about what you and your family are really going to eat. These purchasing mistakes come from a positive urge and are easy to rationalize. It is a good idea to lose that stubborn 30 pounds, and it could be that kelp chips (or whatever food is the latest thing) really will improve your metabolism. The problem comes when you THROW OUT the stale kale chips, which are now very expensive garbage. Meanwhile, someone has gone out and purchased the mac and cheese, ice cream, and dip that the family really wanted, and the person who bought the kelp chips is still struggling to lose weight. Just buying a healthy (or reputedly healthy) food is not magic. You have to actually eat it. And if you really hate it—you won’t. Ever.

Another form of self-deception might be called Martha Stewart Syndrome. You see a bushel of gorgeous ripe peaches at the farmer’s market and imagine yourself making peach preserves and lovely little fruit tarts for a garden party. The only thing is, you have three important meetings in the next week and on Friday, you are leaving for 3 days. Peaches last about 2 days once they ripen. It would be better to take a picture and let the bushel stay at the produce stand. Do you have the next 2 days to process fruit? No? Then put that basket down. Save it for your vacation or a long weekend at home.

All Alone and Cooking for a Crowd

This happens most to those of us who have cooked at some point for large families. Either you are an empty-nester or you are the sibling that stepped up to cook for everyone early in life. You got used to cooking for eight or ten people. And now you can’t stop.

Another form of this type of distortion is buying perishables in bulk when the item won’t get used up because it seems like a good deal. It isn’t. If you aren’t having a party and aren’t feeding 8 people, put down that big sack of avocados.

Lazy? Or Just Tired?

Sometimes we waste food because we get lazy and don’t cook it in time or our plans change, and we end up going out when we meant to stay in. Sometimes we say we are lazy when really, we are tired. It is good to have a little play in the system. When we are exhausted, it is the perfect time to pop out the dish we cooked too much of last week, solving two problems at once. As for the spontaneous change of plans, that is just life. If you leave a couple of blank spots when you plan the menu for the week it will all even out. The food purchase to food use equation may never be perfect. But if you follow these steps the waste bin will be a lot emptier.

We Don’t Understand Shelf Life or Take it into Account When Food Shopping

Food is a living resource that flows through your kitchen, like nutrients through a lake or a forest. In human terms, you must manage it like cash flow through your bank account. Conditions in you food supply are constantly moving and changing.

The most important attribute of food when it comes to waste is the fact that it is PERISHABLE! Every bit of it has a shelf life and if you want to avoid waste, you must always be aware of that. In a few paragraphs there is a guide to all sorts of perishable foods and how to store them for long shelf life. Or at least a bit longer. Some produce is fleeting by nature.

The Food Waste Ritual

There is a strange ritual that many people perform when anticipating food waste. The rejected food is put back into a container, and back into the refrigerator when the person performing the food rejection ritual knows that they never going to eat it, and that it will be thrown away--eventually. Then they wait for the food to get truly spoiled. Moldy or smelly and nasty. Only then may the offending object go into the compost.

Striking a Balance

There is a thin line between buying too much (especially perishables) and buying too little. Too little to easily fulfill your household food requirements, leads to calling out for pizza or hitting a fast-food place.

The solution is a well-stocked pantry with some quick recipes, a tight system for portion control, a working freezer, and making good lists and then sticking to them. In a word—planning. Keep coming back to learn how.

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For the truly frugal, the answer is most often used. Except for personal hygiene items and underwear, which should be purchased new, and things like computers and mattresses, which should be bought used only from someone we know and trust. Everything else can and should be bought used. This makes sense from an economic standpoint, and also from an environmental standpoint. It fulfills the second tenet in “reduce, reuse, recycle”.

So, what is the best place to buy used? It depends on what you are looking for. There are always the big web-based sources, such as e-bay, Amazon and craigslist. There are large non-profits such as Goodwill. Then there are the flea markets, garage sales, and small local second hand stores.

I believe it is best to start with the local sources first. The very best deals are generally at garage sales. Most places have several “big” thrift outlets like Goodwill or Salvation Army. The stores run by Habitat for Humanity, under the name RESTORE, are treasure troves. And they also cross over into the realm of the salvage yard, invaluable if you are rehabbing or doing home maintenance.

Flea markets can be good if they are not over-run with cheap new goods, as is the case at our local market. The trick is to hunt carefully for the table full of obvious personal belongings.

For big ticket items such as cars it is always better to buy used-but do your home work. This applies to appliances, furniture and cars. A car loses a third of its sticker price when the first owner drives it around the block. Even if you really want a new car, buying a late model low miles used car just makes sense.

Then there are things like clothing exchanges. This is part of the gift economy. These rely on having a space, volunteers, and enough participants to give the variety needed so everyone gets something they need. This idea could also work with other goods, such as tools, toys, or cookware.

Freecycle is another gift economy idea, this time online. People list things they are giving away and connect with people who want it.

The best place to start is with your Facebook Marketplace and by searching Second Hand Stores (your city). Garage sales are listed on the Next Door site, on FB Marketplace, on Craiglist, and I gather there are garage sale finder apps, though I have not tested this. My policy is to go to sales in the best neighborhoods I can find. The stuff is better and the prices are still cheap.


Here are some links to information about buying used goods.

Kelley Blue Book Know the numbers for the car you are considering before you walk in.

Craigslist.org They also have listings for freebies.

eBay

Freecycle If there is a group near you, check it out-or start one of your own.

This should be enough to get you started on the happy path of second hand acquisition. Happy hunting!

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A large national outbreak of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal infection caused by the Cyclospora parasite, is sickening thousands across the U.S. during the summer of 2026. It causes SEVERE diarrhea. I know 2 people who have had it. It takes weeks to recover and can be life-threatening.

Virtually ALL factory farmed produce is a risk, even organic. Though the exact source remains unknown, it appears to be coming from contaminated runoff, and, to put it delicately, human waste in the fields where the produce is tended and picked.

It can be killed by thorough cooking. Which is good news for vegetables we normally cook like squash, asparagus, corn, and chile peppers. Fruits baked in pies and crisps and the like are fine. But so much of what we love about summer food is now problematic. Tomatoes in BLTs and Gazpacho. Salad greens. Fresh berries. Watermelon salad…

Maybe you don’t want to give up on these summer joys. Maybe you looked forward to fresh raw produce all winter. Here are some things to consider:

Garden grown by yourself or a trusted friend are safe. Local from small farms and farmers you know are generally safe. Hydroponics seem to be safe.

This echos what we already knew—factory farming is collapsing. It was never sustainable. It was always a bad idea, implemented for the benefit of the capitalists at our expense.

This hits the poor, who were already struggling with the cost of nutritionally necessary produce, harder than the rest of society. But even there, workarounds are possible. Just going to the farmers market is not enough. Most markets now are flooded with conventional resellers. The answer is to seek out the few truly local vendors and ask a lot of questions.

I am rethinking my summer food plans. There will be a small herb garden in my house later this week, and lettuce too, grown inside in a pot. Because that is the best I can do.

If you read this and have some tips or ideas for a growing at home by whatever means, or other coping tips, please do comment!

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Summer is finally in full swing, and with it an explosion of luscious fruits and vegetables! Here in the USA we have a true bounty of summer produce that makes eating frugally simple and fun. The beauty of this bounty is matched only by its flavor. Whether you are shopping at a supermarket, a farmer’s market, or growing it yourself there are more choices than you could possibly use.

From apricots to summer squash, there is something for everyone, and at the hight of the season it may be hard to keep up. Three of the most beloved items on the summer menu are corn, tomatoes, and watermelon. Tomatoes are very versatile, and you could just eat them plain with a little salt, or have a tomato sandwich. Or, you could go all out and make homemade catsup.

Corn is best extremely fresh. Look for heavy ears that have not been stripped. It starts to lose sugar after being husked. All you have to do is boil a pot of water and add the husked corn for about 5 minutes, then eat it off the cob with butter and a bit of salt.

Watermelons should be heavy for their size, and have a good sized field mark. That is the webbing and slight discoloration on one side that shows where the melon lay on the earth as it grew. All you have to do is chill and cut. And, if it is not a seedless variety, have a place to spit the seeds.

By midsummer you may have too much darned zucchini. If you are growing your own the crop may be so good you can’t give it away. Try to get your zucchini on the small and tender side. Simple steaming with a little butter and salt is a great way to enjoy this summer treat. But-if a zucchini “gets away from you” by hiding under the leaves, you will need to find a recipe to deal with the tougher flesh.

You may also find yourself with too many berries or peaches, though I can hardly imagine such a predicament.

Here are two recipes to deal with the overflow of zucchini and fruit:

Zucchini Bread

• 1–1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

• 2 eggs

• 1/2 cup neutral oil such as sunflower.

• 1/2 cup white sugar or date sugar (or any other granulated sweetener)

• 1–1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 cup grated zucchini

• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Put pastry paper in an 8×4 pan.

Mix flour, salt, baking powder, and soda together in a small bowl.

Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a larger bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.

Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove the bread from pan, and completely cool before cutting. Recipe may be doubled.

A Fruit Crisp:

Start with a quart of fresh fruit. Any kind of stone fruit or berries will do. If you are using stone fruit cut it into slices.

Put the fruit into a 8X8 pan. Dust with one third cup sugar combined with two tablespoons cornstarch, arrowroot powder, or tapioca powder. If you have it, add 1/4 cup fruit jam, any kind.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Mix 1 cup rolled oats, one cup flour, three quarters of a cup sugar, one cup walnuts cut into small pieces, and one stick butter (one half cup), cut into small pieces. Spread evenly over the fruit, being sure to get the corners. Put in the oven and bake for about twenty minutes, until the top is golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Cool a bit and serve with vanilla ice-cream if you have it.

Keep coming back for ideas on corn, cherries, peaches, and more.

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It may seem counterintuitive to buy cookbooks when money is short. But even for an experienced cook, having a guide can help make meals that are not just fuel but also a pleasure. And some things are simply to complex to make without a recipe, at least the first ten times.

Enter the cookbook.

But all cookbooks are not created equal. Because I geek out on this stuff, I am aware when the “best-of” lists come out each year, usually in late October. There are around fifteen lists, from sources such as Epicurious, Food and Wine, Food 52, Eater, and others. They tend to be top 20 or 25. The issue is that generally only around 7 will be on ALL the lists. Those are the ones that stand a chance of still being worth buying in ten years.

But there is NO master list of the last hundred years. Rolling Stone Magazine famously has a 500 Best Albums list. Is it somewhat subjective? Yes, how could it not be. But there is a method, and most would agree in principle with the top 50 at least.

There is nothing like this for cookbooks.

So I am making one. Here is the rough draft of the first 150 entries, in chronological order:

The Joy of Cooking (1931)

Sunset All-Western Cook Book (1936)

The American Woman’s Cook Book (1941)

Ann Batchelder’s Own Cook Book (1941)

How to Cook a Wolf (1942)

Cross Creek Cookery (1942)

The Escoffier Cookbook (1945)

Trader Vic’s Food and Drink (1946)

The Gold Cook Book (1947)

Woman’s Home Companion Cookbook (1947)

Betty Crocker (1950s)

West Coast Cook Book (1952)

Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book (1953)

The Settlement Cookbook (1954)

Alice B. Toklas (1954)

The Good Housekeeping Cookbook (1956)

The Prudence Penny Regional Cookbook (1957)

New York Times Cookbook by Craig Claiborne (1961)

Mastering the Art of French Cooking (1960s)

The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (11th Edition) (1965)

French Provincial Cookery (1966)

A Book of Middle Eastern Food” by Claudia Roden (1968)

The Graham Kerr Cookbook (1969)

Alice’s Restaurant Cookbook (1969)

Sunset Cookbook of Favorite Recipes (1969)

Tassajara Bread Book (1970)

Grub Bag Cookbook (1971)

Food Stamp Gourmet (1971)

The Vegetarian Epicure (1972)

James Beard’s American Cookery (1972)

The Cuisines of Mexico” by Diana Kennedy (1972)

The Green Grocer (1972)

An Invitation to Indian Cooking” by Madhur Jaffrey (1973)

Beard on Bread (1973)

Moosewood Cookbook” by Mollie Katzen (1974)

The Seasonal Kitchen: A Return to Fresh Foods (1975)

Crockery Cookery (1975)

La Technique” by Jacques Pépin (1976)

Jacques Pépin’s The Art of Cooking (1976)

The Ebony Cookbook (1978)

Laurel’s Kitchen: A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery & Nutrition (1976)

The Taste of Country Cooking” by Edna Lewis (1976)

Bistro Cooking (1979)

The Pleasures of Your Processor (1980)

Southern Heritage Cookbook (1986)

The Silver Palate Cookbook (1982)

The Cooking of Southwest France (1983)

Maida Heatter’s Book of Great American Desserts (1983)

Cafe Beaujolais (1984)

The Frugal Gourmet (1984)

White Trash Cooking (1986)

The Greens Cookbook (1987)

Sinkin Spells, Hot Flashes, Fits and Cravins (1988)

Chez Panisse Cooking (1988)

The Cake Bible (1988)

Cayote Cafe (1988)

Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking (1990s)

The New Doubleday Cookbook (1990)

Please to the Table (1990)

The Thrill of the Grill (1990)

The Farmhouse Cookbook (1991)

San Francisco A La Carte (1991)

Sauces by James Peterson (1991)

Dairy Hollow House Soup & Bread (1992)

The Splendid Table (1992)

China Moon (1992)

New York Cookbook (1993)

Emeril’s New New Orleans Cooking (1993)

Miami Spice (1993)

How to Peel a Peach (1994)

The Martha Stewart Cookbook (1995)

Roasting: A Simple Art (1995)

The Border Cookbook (1995)

The Book of Jewish Food (1996)

The Taste of Mexico (1996)

Rick Bayless’s Mexican Kitchen (1996)

Dean and DeLuca (1996)

Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone (1997)

The San Francisco Chronicle Cookbook (1997)

Cookwise (1997)

How to Cook Everything (1998)

How to Eat by Nigella Lawson (1998)

Saveur Cooks Authentic American (1998)

The French Laundry Cookbook” by Thomas Keller (1999)

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook (1999)

American Home Cooking (1999)

Hot Sour Salty Sweet (2000)

The River Cottage Cookbook (2000)

The Bread Baker’s Apprentice (2001)

Classic Home Desserts (2001)

I’m Just Here for the Food (2002)

The Zuni Cafe Cookbook by Judy Rodgers (2002)

Passionate Vegetarian (2003)

Balthazar Cookbook (2003)

Sunday Suppers at Lucques (2005)

The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook (2006)

Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill Cookbook (2007)

The Flavor Bible (2008)

Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking (2009)

Ad Hoc at Home (2009)

Momofuku (2009)

California Home Cooking (2011)

Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook (2011)

Jerusalem (2012)

The Flavor Thesaurus (2012)

Tasting New Mexico (2012)

Jacques Pépin New Complete Techniques (2012)

The New Midwestern Table by Amy Thielen (2013)

Every Grain of Rice (2013)

The Slanted Door (2014)

The Food Lab (2015)

Gjelina Cooks (2015)

Appetites: A Cookbook (2016)

My Two Souths (2016)

Deep Run Roots (2016)

Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (2017)

Six Seasons (2017)

Smitten Kitchen Every Day (2017)

Dinner in an Instant (2017)

Brave Tart (2017)

Milk Street: Tuesday Nights (2018)

Bottom of the Pot: Persian Recipes and Stories (2018)

Jubilee (2019)

Eleven Madison Park (2019)

Where Cooking Begins (2019)

Mosquito Supper Club (2020)

In Bibi’s Kitchen (2020)

The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food (2020)

The Flavor Equation: The Science of Great Cooking Explained in More Than 100 Essential Recipes (2020)

Dessert Person (2020)

Foolproof Fish (2020)

Essentials of Mexican Cooking by Rick Bayless (2000)

Grist (2021)

Cook Real Hawai’i (2021)

The Complete Salad Cookbook (2021)

Bress ‘N’ Nyam (2021)

Vegetable Simple (2021)

Boards: Stylish Spreads for Casual Gatherings (2022)

Mi Cocina: Recipes and Tales from My Mexico (2022)

Dinner in One (2022)

The Wok by J. Kenji López-Alt (2022)

The Everlasting Meal Cookbook (2023)

Love and Lemons Simple Feel Good Food (2023)

Braided Heritage (2025)

When Southern Women Cook (2025)

Six Seasons of Pasta (2025)

The Diaspora Spice Co. Cookbook (2026)

Some of these I own. Others I got by pouring over lists. The final version will have complete entries, Title, Author, Date.

What would YOU include?

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Salt remains inexpensive. Even the fancy kind. I have a container of Himalayan Pink salt that I bought four years ago for $12 at CostCo and it is still 25% full. I use as much as I need and I cook three meals a day seven days a week. Salt is so important that fine Japanese restaurants have a chef responsible for it. The right amount at the right time can transform your food.

Uses of Salt in Cooking

Brining

Some foods get a lot of benefit from brining. Most people who cook turkey once a year have at least dabbled in wet brining. But a dry salt rub is less messy and keeps the skin crispy. Other protein dense foods like salt too. It can be used as a rub on beef or pork. For poultry, salt the night before. For red meats, and hour before. And the flavor of shrimp goes from yeah to wow after a half hour dip in a wet brine. Go ahead and punch it up with other herbs and spices. Garlic granules, chile powders, oregano. Use your taste buds and your imagination. Or find a recipe in a book or online.

Drawing Moisture

Salt can be used to draw out moisture where that is desirable, as in things like eggplant which are water-heavy. Slice, salt, and let sit for a half hour, then wipe dry before making dishes like Eggplant Parmesan. This prep solves the sogginess problem. This is also the reason why you don’t salt water-heavy ingredients where retention of the liquid is desirable. An example is sautéing mushrooms. Let them brown first, then salt them.

Salting Water and in Wet Cooking Methods

Salting the water for boiled starches like pasta and potatoes makes even a simple cheap dinner into a treat. Some say that salting dried beans before they are cooked tender makes them tough. But there is no scientific evidence for that. Salt early or salt late, but whatever you do don’t leave it out.

There are very few braises or stews that don’t require a bit of salt. I can’t think of one. Baked goods and breads, even the sweet ones, all need a pinch. As far as sweets go, some of them really like a touch of salt on the finished product. I’m looking at you, caramel.

How Much?

That said, getting the right quantity is crucial. Over-salting CAN be corrected as long as it is not over a certain limit. The best way to get it right is to salt in small increments and then TASTE. The moment will come when it just clicks. It is just right. In some cases it will be after adding a half teaspoon. In others, a full tablespoon, a half teaspoon at a time. Patience will be rewarded.

I don’t have too many true cooking disaster stories, but one I will never forget is as follows: I was 18 and cooking dinner for my boyfriend and his bestie. Dessert was Tapioca Pudding. The steak was exactly medium rare, the potatoes were soft and creamy inside with crispy skins, the asparagus was fork tender, the hollandaise unbroken. But then came the pudding, wherein I had grabbed salt instead of sugar. That is a mistake that can’t be repaired with tricks. It was fifty years ago and my memory of that taste is still clear.

Repairing Over Salted Foods

There are tricks though, for less heinous over-salting. Some say add a potato and let it soak up the salt, then take it out. I have never had to try that. But what I would do is this--split the soup or stew or whatever it is in two. Freeze one and label it “salty base”. Take the other half and fill it out with new. stock or water or whatever you used the first time. Proceed with NO further salt. You will have the same amount of food in the finished dish, but the salt content should be just right.

Medicinal Qualities

Salt has medicinal qualities too. If you have low blood pressure and feel lightheaded, a handful of a salty snack and some hydration will help. I like potato chips. Speaking of which, it is as possible to have a salt tooth as a sweet tooth. This can be a problem for people with HIGH blood pressure. But new information is changing the recommendations about salt for hypertension patients.

I would say that most heavily processed foods have far too much sodium. A method for big manufacturers to hide the cardboard like quality of their products. This is one huge benefit of cooking your own food. You could measure out one teaspoon of high quality salt and use only that much in a day. And be far ahead of anyone eating even a can of commercial soup.

But what kind of salt should you get? Here are the major designations:

Table Salt

The one most of us grew up with. Morton is the most common brand. The one with the girl holding an umbrella. It is highly refined, contains added iodine, and is dirt cheap.

Sea Salt

This salt comes from evaporated ocean water. It is not inherently healthier than table salt but may have other minerals that change the flavor profile.

Fleur De Sel

This salt is a special type of sea salt that forms on the surface of seawater as it evaporates. Traditional French Fleur de sel comes from the coast of Brittany in France, though other countries have their own versions. This type of salt is used as a finishing salt.

Kosher Salt

The name “kosher” refers to its use in koshering or preparing meat according to Jewish dietary laws, but it is not necessarily kosher-certified. It is lighter, flakier, and less strong than table salt. The two main brands are Diamond and Morton.

Himalayan Pink Salt

Its main properties include its rich mineral content, with trace amounts of over 70 minerals which contribute to its unique color and flavor. It contains slightly less sodium per gram than table salt and is less processed. It is my go-to salt.

Flakey Salt

The best known is Maldon salt. It has thin, flat, irregular and delicate crystals. They are a type of sea salt that have a very beautiful look and delicate crunch that make them perfect for finishing touches on grilled meats and desserts.

Other Salts and Blends

There are more kinds of specialized salts. And salt blends, such as garlic salt and celery salt. But it is really better to salt and spice separately to get quantities correct. On the other hand, products like smoked salt, chile lime salt or even vanilla salt can be unexpected and fun editions to the salt pantry.

In Closing

I hope this has expanded your knowledge of this important element of kitchen life. Have fun and don’t forget to salt!

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The SNAP crisis is bringing systemic weakness into clear view. For most of our time as H. sapiens the entire food system has been regulated by the sun and the seasons and was overwhelmingly local. First as hunter-gatherers and later as cultivators of the land. The factory system that replaced the local system in developed countries has been in place in a widespread way for just under 100 years. In evolutionary terms that is less than a blink of an eye.

The experiment has been a social and ecological disaster. Yes, I know the chemical inputs allowed societies to feed an ever growing population, but the planet can’t handle that. We number 8.5 billion and our if the planet’s carrying capacity for humans tops one billion I would be surprised.

All of the other effects have been negative. It has stripped the land of minerals, caused disease to spread, and turned great swaths of land into monocultures.

AND, it is controlled by corporations. Allowing corporations to control the food supply is not wise or just. The distribution system is based entirely on ability to pay.

So, the government, chastened by the starvation of the Great Depression, created a safety net. That SEEMS like a good solution, and, as things go under brutal capitalism, it was. The problem is that the programs are under the control of whatever group of people are running the government and therefore can’t be relied upon. For decades the threat of being considered morally repugnant held the worst of the powerful in check.

That gave the false impression that the programs set up to make brutal capitalism palatable were rights, when they are actually created by caveat.

Enter a regime who cares not how repugnant they are.

This is happening at a time when the evil effects of factory farming and a petroleum based economy are becoming apparent. The capitalist ecocide is in full swing and it is breaking the planet. Including the food supply.

The reaction among ordinary Americans to this criminal tampering with SNAP has been heartening. WE the people ARE stepping up. We are doing what the government should be doing. They kill SNAP, we give to the vulnerable. They cut-off deliveries to the FOOD BANKS--we fill the food banks.

But there are further considerations. First of all, this is not just a “crisis” that lasts a few months and then all is restored. It is a SYSTEMIC breakdown.

We need to be prepared to keep feeding people in the deep winter and for an unknown timespan going forward. And there is a monster recession waiting in the wings. This will be a type of sharing Americans have forgotten about for a very long time.

Second--the multiplier effect. Every dollar put into SNAP generated $1.86 into the surrounding economy, as people bought food that was subsidized by our tax dollars. Losing this effect hurts everyone, but no group more than LOCAL FARMERS.

So we must shore them up as well. I am still thinking about how, but going out of our way to buy local seems like an obvious first step.

The local food movement has never gained the traction to restore a true local food system of the type that existed before the factory system came into being. Two of the main reasons (besides the fact that the capitalist overlords do not approve) has been the seasonal nature of local foods and the inconvenience. If we want to survive this difficult situation and help others to survive it we must be willing to be inconvenienced. We must be willing to change our eating habits.

If the system is to go local we must get over demanding raspberries in January at 11 PM because we have a hankering. We must be willing to make deep structural changes to our habits. We must be willing to engage in a gift economy. We must embrace the notion that we ARE our brother’s keeper.

Some years ago I became interested in what are generally referred to as “food deserts”, though that is a terrible name. These are places, always located in impoverished communities, where there is no real grocery store. The nearest real store may be a half hour bus ride. There may be little corner stores that sell quarts of milk and frozen fish sticks in with the cigarettes and booze. But no produce and no protein.

This happens because the brutal capitalists decide that there is no profit in those places and in our current system that is the ONLY metric that counts. The people and organizations that try to fix this sort of injustice generally want to do it by getting a Piggly Wiggly back on the block. But I have a better idea.

Why not use the absence of a factory supermarket to build a real functioning local food system, block by block and neighborhood by neighborhood? The overlords are throwing us to the wolves. Why not take that as an opportunity to build something better, something that they do not control?

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Making dairy products at home is both frugal and satisfying. Frugal because a wide range of foods can be made from one or two ingredients, cutting down on the number of things that need to be kept at hand. Instead of buying 3 or 4 different cheeses plus sour cream and yogurt, I just buy 3 gallons of milk and decide each week what I need.

Satisfying not only due to the sense of accomplishment, but also the big upgrade in flavor and quality.

Here then are three simple recipes, along with any equipment. I will tell you what I use, and make suggestions for alternatives if need be.

Crème Fraîche

This is the simplest of the three. Get heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized. It may be harder to find, but look carefully. Pick out a jar that holds around 12 ounces. I like jelly jars from Bonne Mammon.
Clean the jar well, and swish with boiling water, then let cool. Add cream up to around an inch from the top. Let it come to room temperature, then add 1.5 tablespoons of buttermilk OR a half teaspoon of live crème fraîche culture from a cheesemaking supply, which is what I do.
Cover with a clean dish towel and put somewhere warm where it won't be disturbed, such as inside a toaster oven that is turned off. Let sit for 6-18 hours. Mine usually sets up in 12 hours. Use INSTEAD of sour cream, eliminating one thing from the shopping list.

Yogurt

I use an instant pot for this. If you do use one, and it makes it 10 times easier, be sure to check the temperature after the “boil” phase. It MUST reach 185F to properly set the yogurt. I use a Therma-pen instant read thermometer for this and to get the right temperature to start the culture. One of my two pots is perfect. The other under heats. In that case, do the boil in a stainless steel pan on stove top. Bring it to temperature slowly. Then finish in the instapot.
Either way, when the boil cycle ends, let it cool down to 110F to 115F. Then add 1 teaspoon of culture from a cheesemaker OR a half cup of live culture yogurt. I do the former to ensure good results every time. The culture is inexpensive and will inoculate many batches. It is also more reliable.
At that point all you have to do is set it on yogurt, 8 hours, normal. Or whatever the equivalent is on your pot. Then go away for 8 hours. At the end of that time you will have a soft but good yogurt.
I like to drain mine in butter muslin cheesecloth for around two hours afterwards to get that creamy Greek Yogurt thickness. Just line a colander with the cheesecloth being sure to use a LOT of cloth. You want enough to gather into a bundle without spilling over the sides. Put the lined colander in a large bowl to catch the whey, and pour in the yogurt. There may be a bit stuck to the bottom of the insert that needs help getting out. Use a rubber spatula.
The best thing is to gather the cloth carefully up, grabbing it several inches below the edge, then lift it up and secure with thick rubber bands. It can then be hung over the catch bowl using a wooden spoon. Check every hour for thickness, then open the bundle and transfer to a jar or glass container with a lid and chill.

Milk Ricotta

So named to distinguish it from Whey Ricotta, which is in the next level of cheesemaking, Milk Ricotta is the first real cheese. It is in the fresh cheese family.

You will need a heavy stainless 6 quart pot, a slotted curd ladle, a rubber spatula, a very accurate thermometer, and the same draining setup as the yogurt.
The ingredients are

1 teaspoon citric acid powder

1 teaspoon cheese salt

one gallon of non-ultrapasteurized milk,

one half cup of cream

two quarter cups of water separate

EVERYTHING must be sanitized. Clean the kitchen and don’t bake anything involving yeast for two days before. Boil ALL the equipment. And keep any pets out of the room for the duration. You don’t want any bacteria except the good kind.
Take an ice cube and rub the bottom of the pot to create a vapor barrier and prevent scorching. The bottom of the pot should be icy cold.
Dissolve the citric acid in one quarter cup of water, and the cheese salt in the other. Add the milk, the cream, and both water solutions, then put on medium low flame. Stir gently with the rubber spatula, without touching the bottom of the pan. You don’t want it to heat too fast or too slow, and it must never boil.
The target is 185F. Use the thermometer. Mine is an instant read that shuts off. I take the temperature every two or three minutes

.
As the temperature rises curds will form. You can gently push the curds from the sides to see what is happening and facilitate formation, but don’t stir with any force. The whey may be cloudy or clear, but at some point the separation will be obvious. When you get to 185F adjust the flame to hold it until the curds separate from the whey. When that happens, remove from heat right away.
Use the curd ladle to lift the curds into the lined colander. It may take quite a few passes to get all of the curd. Drain just like the yogurt, but for only around a half hour, then place in a glass or ceramic container with a lid and chill. Keeps in fridge for around a week, but it won’t last that long

.

There are so many uses for these three simple dairy case items. I will be posting some recipes to go soon.

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There are plenty of reasons to want to go car-free. Besides being an ecological disaster and a major driver of the climate crisis, they are expensive in several ways. From the initial purchase to the upkeep to the fuel to the insurance, cars drain our bank accounts. And, for some, driving becomes impossible. Eventually we all hang up our keys if we live long enough.

When I lived on the mesa I had a car. It was great when I first got it, and it is a basic necessity when you are 25 miles out on the high desert. But the mesa is hard on cars, and the road to town was an ill kept two lane blacktop with no useable shoulders. The car was so beat up by the time I left it made no sense to bring it to a mid-sized eastern city with BUS SERVICE!

Almost a year later I can say that it is possible to do everything I need to do by taking busses. There are a few places that take time to get to. Grocery shopping is a mixed bag. But I get around, even at night.

Here are some things to know: The bigger the city, the better the public system. In NYC, the system is 24/7 and busses come every 10 minutes. In my town, weekdays and popular routes are easy. Weekend service is somewhat inconvenient, but it beats paying for a car.

Use the internet to find out how the public system works where you live. There is probably a pass of some kind that you can buy at the terminal and refill using a debit or credit card online. There may be special rates such as senior or student. There will almost certainly be time-tables and route maps.

If there is a manned kiosk at a real terminal, ask questions. If not, read everything on the website. It can also help to ask fellow riders, if done politely. Look for someone who seems friendly. The worst that will happen is that they don’t know.

In my town, I can time my 300 yard walk to the bus stop to the minute. This saves a lot of standing around. And at each stop is a number to text with a code to get the time for the next bus coming to that stop.

It is a good idea to study the route for the street name BEFORE your stop, plus a landmark or two. Sometimes they don’t announce every stop. Keep your eyes open.

Once you board, it is good to follow some basic rules of etiquette beyond the official rules about food, electronics, and decorum. Don’t stare. Don’t pursue conversation unless it is obviously welcome. I have met nice people on busses, but most of the time it is best to keep yourself to yourself. If it is crowded, don’t spread out. If you are fit and an infirm person needs a seat, give up yours.

Be patient with strollers and wheel chairs. Yesterday I was on a crowed line and a young man with a carriage holding an infant boarded. He picked up the baby to go swipe his card and the carriage started to roll. Two people stepped in and steadied it and helped him get settled. He held the baby and the woman next to me and I did all we could not to gawk at that gorgeous child. Just another day on the bus.

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Spring is almost here! So what does spring cleaning have to do with frugality, and how can it possibly be fun?

Frugality is all about old-fashioned values, and requires that we maintain what we have. In the last century we were all much more affected by the natural changes that came with the seasons. Spring was a time to open up the house and sweep out all the mustiness that came with being stuck indoors all winter. Now we have advanced ways to make the indoors comfortable all year round. We control our environments with technology. We can almost ignore the seasons. But there is a natural exuberance to the spring that it would be a shame to ignore.

Our stuff may not need to be “aired out”, but it does still need to be maintained. And even now, the house stays mostly shut up in cold climates and that fresh air feels really good the first time you open the windows.

Starting the new season by deep cleaning will prolong the life of our interiors and furniture, and create a sense of order necessary for a frugal life. Spring cleaning means knocking down the cob-webs in the outer world which then knocks out our internal cob-webs. It is the season of new beginnings.

But how can this be fun? Some of the actual work may be a pain in the neck. That is why we only do it a couple of times a year. But if you do it as a family it is a team-building, self-esteem building activity. And when you are done it is fun to see the results. So go ahead, order a pizza and get out the cleaning rags. Do it even if you live alone. It may take longer than it would with many hands, but the feeling of accomplishment is just as big.

Here are a few things you may want to include:

• The windows, at least the insides. Save the outsides for later if you expect more foul weather.

• The kitchen cupboards should be emptied and wiped down. This is a good opportunity to reorganize as well.

• The stove and refrigerator should be cleaned inside and out.

• The furniture should be pulled back from the walls so you can clean under and behind where it usually is.

• All rooms should be de-cobwebbed and dusted.

• The carpets and drapes should be cleaned.

• As you clean make a list of anything broken so it can be repaired.

• The laundry room should be cleared out and scrubbed down.

• Wash ALL the bedding. Find the summer quilts and blankets and put them where you can make the switch in a month or so.

• Any other obvious messes should be cleaned up.

• Pull out the summer things, organize them, and clean or repair as needed.

• Prepare to put away the winter things. Don’t do it yet if you live in a place with a cold spring season. If it sometimes snows in May get your storage ready but don’t put those Sorels away just yet.

Just try it and see how great it feels. Happy Spring, my frugalistas!

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Working on a big project, which begins with an experiment. The goal is a strategic plan to stay well-nourished when groceries get even more expensive. Those in the bottom 15-20% have long had carb overload combined with lower quality protein, bad fats, lots of sugar as high fructose corn syrup, and a heaping helping of toxic chemicals.

Now even the former middle class may struggle with food prices. I am not a nutritionist. People living on the lower end can't AFFORD that. But I can read and understand, and as each of us are ultimately responsible for what we put in our mouths, it falls on me to understand the problem.

Here is the experiment--can a single 68 year old female, 4'11" and around 129 pounds, get sufficient healthy food at the 1500 calorie a day requirement with a budget of $300 a month? This is $10 a day.

The first thing that becomes clear is the necessity of scratch cooking. It can't be done using the typical SAD diet processed foods.

I also have some other parameters.

1. It must TASTE REALLY GOOD. Life is hard enough when broke. Food should be a delight.

2. It can't take all day, every day, to make the food. The last time most food was from scratch there was a person in each household who spent most of their time cooking, baking, and prepping. I can't be a full time cook, even for myself. No more than an hour a day, with one big cooking day a week (4 hours).

3. It must be nutritionally sound. No more than 50% from carbs. In my case, I need 75 grams of high quality protein, 50 grams good fat, and around 200 grams of carbs to make up 1500 calories. 4. Environmental sustainability is important. It is not clear that meat is always worse for the biosphere. But meat under our factory system is. So I would be meatless but not vegan during the week. On weekends meat would be a condiment, not a big hunk.

The plan is to start on January 20 and do this through February 18th, then analyze the results. The first week will use what I have in my larder, with best guess on cost. Then there will be shopping data going forward. The data will be money spent, time spent, and nutritional content.

I don't know if it is possible. The food part is, but it may simply cost more than $300 to get the nutrition. If so, that is good information too. The final result could be customized for people with bigger caloric needs and multiplied for any size household.

I will post updates here.

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One thing about cooking everything from scratch is having to eat your own cooking 90% of the time. If you are living on a “just adequate” income this is a must. If you have less than that, it is a matter of survival.

Having a few filling and tasty choices that rely on the cheapest ingredients is a must. Today I made a ground beef, cabbage, and onion fry with buttered egg noodles. A bit of salt, garlic, paprika if you’ve got it, and a dollop of sour cream round it out.

This time I made just enough for one big meal for one. I am working on the kitchen and it is in disarray so I wanted to keep it simple. I cooked one cup of the noodles and set them aside. Then used a quarter pound of the meat, a slice of onion, diced, and two slices of green cabbage. I will put the recipe for a bigger batch below.

Green Cabbage is one of the cheapest ways to get some vegatables into your diet. Ground beef still holds the championship in that regard for protein. Onions too are cheap.

I like to make up a bigger batch and freeze it. Just the base, not the noodles.

Take one green cabbage and one yellow onion and slice into rounds, then cut into smaller pieces. They don’t have to be picture perfect. This is a rough hewn dish.

Now, take two pounds of ground beef. 80/20 is fine. Heat a big cast iron frying pan till it is pretty hot. Break up the beef and put in pan. If you are using a leaner cut, add a splash of oil. As soon as the beef gives up some fat, add the vegetables and cook the whole thing down, stirring often to prevent sticking.

Add a pinch of salt, a pinch of paprika, and a shake of powdered garlic or two minced cloves.

When all the components are well cooked, pull the pan and cool slightly. Have 12 ounce freezer containers ready to go. They can be in the freezer up to six months. Each container will make one very generous portion.

Set aside one portion to eat right away before freezing the rest.

Cook one cup of egg noodles, butter, and stir into a cup and a half (12 oz.) meat and cabbage mix. Stir well. Serve the sour cream on the side or mix in.

If you are vegan, use crumbled tofu. You will need to use a bit of oil, and cook the cabbage and onions till soft before adding the protein.

The reason the measurements for this don’t sound like a formal cookbook is that this is a poor folks cottage recipe. It is loose. You mostly need to understand how it looks when its done. Don’t undercook the vegetables.

And vegans, if the meat version bothers you, please don’t food shame those who need more protein than you and are struggling to pay for it. Be kind.

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This is why cooking is a basic skill. My cupboard has been looking a bit empty. I am having a financial dry spell and the food supply has taken a hit. I got a couple of bags about two weeks ago but all the good stuff is gone.

What I do have is a fairly deep bench when it comes to dry pantry items. And a few fresh bits and pieces. I had leftover cooked rice and broccoli. A tiny bit of blue cheese crumbles. An apple. A head of green cabbage. Walnuts. Some leftover chicken slices, frozen. Four cherry tomatoes that had seen better days. Lot’s of cans, including some peaches. Baking supplies, including rolled oats. And I always have oil and balsamic.

I have been eyeing the Vietnamese Chicken Salad with lime dressing, but was missing most of the ingredients. Except the chicken and cabbage. That was a start. I like a composed salad, but this was pure improv.

I had no lettuce so I shredded a bit of cabbage fine and made base. Then, thin slices or shred most of the other ingredients and placed them around the bowl. A scoop of rice. All the remaining cheese crumbles. A handful of broken walnuts. And then a drizzle of the good balsamic vinegar and a drizzle of olive oil.

For dessert: one can of peaches, drained and macerated in ginger simple syrup leftover from Thanksgiving. One recipe crumble topping: flour and butter in food processor till butter is like sand. Mix in brown and white sugars, rolled oats, and walnuts broken into small pieces. Not in the processor, that will break it all up too fine.

Add about a tablespoon of thickener such as corn starch to the peaches and stir to dissolve. This must be done cold. The heat acts on the starch, which starts out cloudy, and turns it clear. Place in an 8X8 baking pan, and cover well with the crumble mix. Bake for 15 minutes until the fruit bubbles up and the top is golden.

If you are using fresh fruit, pre bake it first for about 10 minutes, cool, then add topping and bake. The canned fruit is already soft enough and takes less baking to be done right.

It was a filling meal and quite good, all in all. Yes, I would have enjoyed croutons and roasted beets. Yes, a dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream would have been great on that peach crumble. And I still want to make the Vietnamese Chicken Salad after I get to a store equipped with a fat wallet.

But I ate well at a time when first glance would say there is nothing to cook here. I was not eating plain canned green beans, I was eating a complete meal.

And that is the power of real cooking. Not the frozen dinner aisle. Not Blue Apron or some other meal in a box service.

Just the ability to see a meal in an empty cupboard. Just like the story of Stone Soup.

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If you live in a decent sized city, you have a frugal decorating tool in your belt that you country cousin doesn’t. If you need furniture, try scrounging first. I am not saying that this sort of gift never happens in the country, just that the quality is a lot more likely to be compromised when something has been left by the roadside for quite some time. In the country you get people’s “outdoor” couch left sitting by a back road in the rain. In the city there are more finds, and of higher quality.

A good time to scout is at the end of the semester if you have a college or university nearby. The students move-out in May, or sometimes December, and some don’t want to take everything with them. Also keep an eye out in better neighborhoods on trash day.

If you see something good, be prepared to get hang out with your find until you can get help moving it. If you leave it you likely lose it. There is also more competition in the city. Why do people give away furniture when it is still good, or at least, good enough? Taking things to a second-hand store takes effort. Holding a garage sale takes a lot of effort. Even donating requires a time investment. If a person just needs something gone, whether to make room or because they are moving, some nice things may end up on the curb with a free sign.

There are things you should pass on, no matter how tasty a deal you think it is. Things like mattresses, pillows, or other bedding. With chairs and couches check for fleas or other undesirable qualities. Also pass on bloodstains or anything nasty like that, not that I need to tell you that. But lesser stains can be dealt with. As for tables, chairs, bookcases, and other “hard” items, there is no downside.

If you see something that has the right profile (size, etc.) but is a hideous color or has a few holes or some other defect, grab it anyhow. You can refinish or paint wooden items, and reupholster fabric furniture. Or just throw a colorful sheet or blanket over it.

There are many ways to salvage decorate your space. Finding giveaways is by far the cheapest.

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Most will agree when I say that I love a clean house as much as the next person, I just don’t believe I need to break the bank getting it that way. Household cleaners are a multi-million dollar industry, but we clean and green fruaglistas would rather spare ourselves both the chemicals and the expense. Especially when the expense is not necessary to get great results.

The first step is clutter busting. In each room, do the following, in this order: Collect trash and bag it. Remove dishes and laundry, the dishes to the sink and the laundry to the hamper. Put everything that lives in that room away. Put everything that does not have a home in that room in a box. Take the box to the next room, and repeat, but check the homeless things box to see if anything can be put away. Keep going throughout the house.

If there is anything left in the box, find places for those things, store them in an "off to the side" storage area such as a basement or back closet, or question why you have them to begin with. Then, throw out all the trash and do all the dishes. Now you are ready to clean.

Cleaning a house can be divided between wet jobs and dry jobs. Wet jobs are wiping down the whole bathroom, and the whole kitchen, also any floors in any room that are made of tile or linoleum. Dry jobs are dusting, vacuuming, and knocking down spider webs. Then there is the laundry.

The first line of defense for wet jobs is water. Don Aslett, author of many books on cleaning and organizing, says that just soaking the area to be cleaned for one half hour before scrubbing will help remove more dirt and cut your time in half. This is just one of the natural properties of water-it dissolves things. If the target area isn’t germy, just dirty, water is all you need. Otherwise, try adding some vinegar. Vinegar is the housecleaner’s best friend.

For windows, vinegar water on a damp rag, followed by a dry rag to polish it out works very well. Start at the top and work down. This works on mirrors as well.

In the bathroom and kitchen, sinks, and tubs should be sprinkled with non-scratch Bon Ami or plain baking soda, then scrubbed with a sponge, and finally rinsed and then wiped with a dry rag. Buffing the faucets with a soft dry rag will make them shine. For toilets I use a specialized plant based cleaner such as Better Life Toilet Bowl Cleaner. Let it sit for around 20 minutes, then scrub with the toilet brush. This should remove stains.

Dust first before doing the floors. For dusting, all you really need is a damp cloth and a dry cloth. This goes for hardwood floors as well. A webber is a tool used for getting webs off ceilings and high walls. It looks like a jellyfish on a pole. Use it for spider webs too high to reach. Go top to bottom. A good vacuum cleaner can then get all of what falls to the floor. They also have edge attachments to get into corners and the area right at the baseboards. A broom can only do so much. Even if you have all hard floors you still get it cleaner with a vacuum. If you have rugs of any kind the vacuum is indispensable.

For floors, VACUUM FIRST before mopping!

If only moderately dirty, floors can be cleaned with a mixture of two cups of water to two ounces of vegetable based soap (such as Dr. Bronner’s) to a few drops of essential oil of your choice if desired. Use it for kitchen and bathroom counters and floors. This all-purpose mixture can also be put into a Swiffer container. A washable pad can be used on a Swiffer instead of the throw-away pad. Remember to rinse thoroughly when using this recipe. Remember to vacuum floors before you scrub them. It will go much easier that way. Or use Citrisolve for heavy dirt, using the same process.

The Swiffer is good for light dirt. A sponge mop is also a good choice, the kind where the sponge can be replaced. But to get a floor truly clean there is bad news--you have to get down on knees and scrub it section by section. Then rinse. It is a nasty job, but if you are keeping up with regular light mopping and spot cleaning it need only be done a few times a year.

This only leaves the laundry. Most of the cleaning done in a washing machine comes from the rotation action, not the detergent. Which means you can cut way down on the soap or even leave it out on light loads. Or get a laundry ball if you just don’t trust your machine to do its job. Buy your detergent at the lowest price possible in the biggest size. It really doesn’t go bad. In the last few years laundry soap sheets have come out, saving all that water being shipped and all that plastic. This is what I use now. One box lasts a long time.

I also don’t use any bleach, because it is absolutely awful for humans and the environment. I know my laundry is clean, and I don’t need whiter whites to prove it. But, if you feel differently, chlorine is cheap. Then, hang your clothes out if the weather allows for a fresh clean smell. Though I love warm clothes right from the dryer.

Here is everything you need.

Equipment:

• trash bags

• a box for collecting misplaced items

• rubber gloves

• a webber

• a vacuum cleaner

• a mop

• a broom

• rags and plenty of them

• sponges

• laundry ball

Supplies:

• baking soda or Bon Ami

• vinegar

• dish soap

• toilet bowl cleaner

• vegetable based soap like Dr. Bronner's

• essential oil such as lavender-- just a drop

• Citrisolve

• laundry soap or sheets

• chlorine if you must

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