Elizabeth loves, loves, loves Taco Bell and so when hamburger goes on sale, we quadruple (or more) this recipe and freeze it in meal-size batches for future use:

Taco Bell Tacos

1 pound lean ground beef
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried minced onion
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

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 1. In a medium bowl, combine the ground beef with the flour, chili powder, salt, minced onion, paprika, onion powder, and garlic powder. Use your hands to thoroughly mix the ingredients into the ground beef.
2. Add the seasoned beef mixture to the water in a skillet over medium heat. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula, and break up the meat as it cooks. Heat for 5 to 6 minutes, or until browned. The finished product should be very smooth, somewhat pasty, with no large chunks of beef remaining.

Umm, Mom, are you seriously wanting me to put my HANDS in this yuckiness?

Eeeewwwwww!

That was DISTGUSTO!

We use a large cup to hold a quart size freezer Ziploc (or generic counterpart) bag in place.  By turning over the top of the bag, the zippy part stays clean and you have a better shot at a good seal.  For gallon-size bags, I use a pitcher.

Now just label and freeze flat.  I usually date these as well, but taco meat never lasts to the next hamburger sale!

For more Tightwad Tuesday fun, go to Mary's blog!

I tried this last year with a folded bottom sort of method and it was only somewhat successful, but then I came across this lovely blog, Chicken in the Road, and wow!  This is sooooo easy.  I'm hoping these pots are more stable than my folded ones.

Here are samples of my own handiwork:

As you can see, they fit nicely into the "greenhouse" made from repurposed salad green containers!  I figure 18 will fit nicely.

Now I have a reason to look forward to replacing rolls of paper towels and toilet paper!

For more Tightwad Tuesday, see Mary's blog!

One way to save money is to make your own bread.  Sometimes, however, you miss the texture and fluffiness of "store bought" bread.  One way to improve homemade bread is to add dough enhancer.  With a trip to the health food store you can buy then ingredients to make your own inexpensively.  Here is what you need:

2 cups wheat gluten
4 tablespoons lecithin granules
2 teaspoon ascorbic acid crystals (Fruit Fresh)
1 cup nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoon powdered ginger

Combine all these in a bowl and then store in a tight sealing container (I use a canning jar with a lid) in the refrigerator.  You can easily double or halve this recipe depending on how often you bake bread.  When making white bread, you need only one tablespoon per loaf.  For whole wheat bread, I use 1 tablespoon per cup of flour.

There are also many other recipes online  that use other ingredients like gelatin, pectin, etc.  This is a recipe that I have used and like.  It softens the bread and it also extends its yumminess.  Here is a good sort of tutorial on how these ingredients work.

For more Tightwad Tuesday tips, go to Mary's blog! 

And this is just the front row of my collection!

I know, I know, every Food Network Foodie will tell you NOT to do this, but having a Philistine Tongue saves SOOOO much money.  Over the years I have collected MANY large containers of herbs and spices and assorted flavorings and they last for YEARS...at least according to my taste buds.  I recently finished a container of Chili Powder.  It had to be at least five years old--and I have some that are OLDER.  They taste fine to me.

The containers also are quite reusable for other items when you finish the original product!

I purchased the majority of these from Sam's Club because that's the food club nearest (by FAR) to me.  I've started writing the date purchased and the price because I'd really like to know how much prices have risen on some of these long lasting products. 

For more Tightwat Tips, go visit Mary!

I found a cool way to reuse those annoying plastic containers you buy salad and such in--use them as greenhouses!

I started some seeds today and reused plastic trays from the nursery that I purchased flowers in last fall and then I stuck them into the plastic salad green boxes and placed them on top of my freezer.  Hopefully I'll have seedlings soon!

For more money saving tips, go to Mary's blog!

I'm usually not one to run out and buy gadgets--I have a husband for that--but one day while meandering through Walmart I picked up a rice cooker.   I think I paid about $20 for it.  I'll tell you what, I LOVE it!  Previously I cooked rice only occasionally because I wasn't particularly good at it and we've scraped the top layer of "good" rice from a scorched batch more than once!

Well, no more.  My cheapo rice cooker has not failed me once AND I don't have to watch it at all.  I dump the rice in, take water directly from the facet to the fill line, plug it in and let it go.  If I mis-time meal prep and the rice finishes early--NO PROBLEM--the rice cooker keeps it warm.  Since purchasing this gadget we eat rice much more frequently and when I'm not sure what to cook, we have stir fry.  I start the rice and the go hunting for meat and veg!

Another great thing you can prepare in your rice cooker is oatmeal.  This is cool because you can dump the ingredients in the cooker, start it, and then go take a shower.  By the time you're back to the kitchen a nice, healthy, warm breakfast is waiting for you and it's a snap to clean up!

Here is the recipe:

2 Cups rolled oats (NOT quick cooking)

3 Cups water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3-4 Tbs raisins

Just dump the ingredients into the rice cooker in any order, stir them up and then press cook!

You can add sugar or whatever sweetener to the mix before cooking, but I prefer to let the kids decide what they want to add.  Some things you can top your oatmeal with include: fruit, brown or white sugar, honey, nuts, sunflower seeds...whatever you want!

For more Tightwad Tuesday, please go to Mary's blog!

Over the Christmas holiday I got a hankering to have a large whiteboard put up in the dining room where we do most of our "together" schooling.  I checked out the prices for the size that I wanted and decided, NO WAY! 

When the kids were much younger, someone told me about using the cheap shower board you could buy at Lowe's or Home Depot and she gave me some scrap of the one she had put up.  My father-in-law cut them into clipboard-size bits, sanded the edges and my children had mini whiteboards that I could use to do math or science problems on when they had a question. 

Well, I started pestering dear hubby for a BIG whiteboard over the holidays and last week I got my wish!

And all for less than $20!

Go to Mary's blog for more Tightwad Tuesday's.

Earlier this week I dug up a very tarnished silver tray thingy.  Being in a frugal mindset lately, rather than running out and buying Tarn-X or some other chemical  amalgamation, I decided to hunt the internet for a cheaper, more gentle alternative.  I found a really cool website.  They have a TON or homemade recipes that I will have to explore more fully.  Anyway, one of the recipes suggested using baking soda to polish silver and remove tarnish. 

Well, I had all the ingredients, so I figured I'd give it a whirl. 

After 45 minutes of rubbing with a rag and a toothbrush, here was the result:

I'll work on the other piece another day!

.Go to Mary's blog to see more Tightwad Tuesday posts.

Usually the priciest part of a meal is the meat portion and a good way to cut down on that is to make casseroles, soups, and stews.  When you cut up the meat for the dish, cut it small--into tidbits really--and then make up the difference with vegetables.  I've been able to cut the amount of stew meat in half for beef stew with no noticable difference!

This is what it looks like before it's cooked. The vegetables include potatoes, onion, celery and baby carrots that had gotten slightly dried out and wouldn't be eaten in a salad or with dip anymore.  For liquid I fill the crockpot to a level just below the top of the vegetables and use two or three buillion cubes.   I add frozen corn and peas in the last half hour and then thicken the broth just before serving. 

You can use this meat cutting "trick" in stir fries as well. 

On a fun note, I just pulled out the last of the after-Halloween-sale candy from the freezer and made these:

Yum!

For more Tightwad Tuesday Tips, go to Mary's blog!