the house behind

Happy Frugal New Year. Seems with the uncertainty of the economy, establishing healthy frugal habits is more important than ever before.

I like to start the New Year off quietly. At home. With a steaming hot cup of coffee, wrapped in my own thoughts.

I begin by emptying out my refrigerator. All of it. Partially this is a reason to deep clean the fridge, but I also put all my condiments out for inspection. Three categories: keep and put back, use up immediately and discard because it has expired. I was pleased this year to only have a couple of the odd condiments that were expired. The borderline ones I used up immediately and everything else went back into the fridge. The borderline represents an opportunity to do some creative baking and cooking, a way I’ll happily spend my first day of the New Year.

I do something similar with my stash of makeup although I simply get rid of anything older than a year for safety’s sake. I find as I get older that I need less makeup and can curate my stash more efficiently. Less means less money spent and I am all for saving money.

I will venture into my freezers at some point during the purge, plucking out everything that needs using up immediately and reorganizing what I have left. I always seem to find leafy green vegetables that I froze for some unknown reason and off bits of fruit besides. These I use in my New Year smoothies. Because my partner has a thing about milk that is about to expire, I have long stopped arguing and simply use up the milk to make homemade yogurt which is also perfect for smoothies.

New Years is also the ideal day to make my frugal soup. Both smoothie and soup recipes are below and very versatile, designed to use up what you have on hand. Make both a frugal habit for the New Year.

New Year/New You Smoothie

Ingredients:

Two handfuls of dark green leafy vegetables; kale, spinach, beet greens, etc.

Half cup or so of yogurt, homemade is best but any will do.

One cup of chopped up fruit, any kind will do but frozen berries are best

Two large spoonfuls of nut butter. Peanut butter is a frugal choice but whatever you have on hand will work.

Sweetener of your choice; honey is always a good choice although I don’t always use sweetener, it depends on the fruit.

One and a half to two cups of milk. I use unsweetened coconut milk that I buy in cartons when it goes on sale at the grocery store. It is low calorie and lasts a long time.

Method: Put everything in a blender and blend way longer than you think you need to, a couple of minutes at least. Enjoy.

Variations: Use up whatever you have lying around for veggies. Beets are a good choice as are cooked carrots although they will need to be unseasoned. Cauliflower is also a good choice although, again, it should be cooked and unseasoned. This is where keeping a large plastic freezer bag in the freezer packed with leftovers for smoothies might be a good idea if you make smoothies a lot and need to up your veggie count. I happen to loathe the taste and texture of raw kale but know it is a frugal and very healthy choice, so I buy a large bunch of it on sale, strip the leaves from the tough stems (to be donated to the local wildlife in my case) and freeze it for my smoothies. I don’t usually have any leftover broccoli or other greens that are unseasoned but when I do I toss them all into my smoothie stash. Frozen spinach is an excellent frugal choice. Buy it by the box or bag when it is on sale and keep it handy for smoothies. You can also toss in some raw oats for texture and thickening or even chia or other nuts. Again, the goal is to use up what you have.

Frugal additions: Fruit juice can be swapped out for milk products although it changes the texture of your smoothie. I also like all matter of nut butters, but tahini sauce is also an excellent choice. Again, the strategy is to use up what you have.

New Year’s Use It Up Soup

Ingredients:

Old potatoes, four to six are best for this soup, cut up in small chunks and tossed into a large pot. Be sure and remove any eyes but the skin is fine, you don’t need to peel them, just cut them up.

Leftover veggies that have seen better days including whole onions, spring onions (never toss the roots, put them in water and after a few days plant them in your garden or a pot and have an endless supply of green onions), carrots, celery, leeks, fennel, etc. I will check my freezer for minced hot peppers in my freezer and tossing that into my soup pot for some added spice and heat.

Chicken broth, about six cups will do it,

Couple of bay leaves and seasoning to your taste.

Method: Put everything in a large pot and simmer until the potatoes are cooked thorough. Cool the soup and blend in a blender until smooth.

Variations: If you have a can or two of tomatoes that are about to expire, you can also make the soup tomato-based.

Frugal additions: Leftover beans are a good source of protein and can be tossed in before blending to help thicken up the soup or after for texture. Chickpeas and lentils are also excellent options. I like to use up cheese in my soup as well. If you have chicken or another cooked protein lying around, you can probably make use of it in your soup. Just raid your larder and get creative. The potato-base of the soup makes it the ideal starting point for nearly any leftovers you have on hand. The soup also freezes well.