I made this for dinner last night. Fairly quick and easy (especially since I used canned tomatoes and canned corn). It came out delicious. This probably has 4-6 servings. If you wanted to make more, you could probably add another can of beans and some cooked rice. Cheap and healthy too.
1 c chopped onions
1 T olive oil
1 c chopped tomatoes OR 1 can diced tomatoes drained
1 1/2 c fresh or frozen corn OR 1 can whole kernel corn drained
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 T fresh lime juice
1 t salt (optional)
1/2 t ground black pepper
2 c rinsed, stemmed, and chopped Swiss chard or spinach*
2 c crushed baked tortilla chips
8 oz (or so) grated fat-free sharp Cheddar Cheese
2 c salsa
1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Saute onions in oil until translucent.
3. Stir in the tomatoes, corn, black beans, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Saute for 5 – 10 mins. or until heated through.
4. Prepare your casserole dish (I used a 9″ round deep casserole dish) with a coating of cooking spray.
5. Spread half of the chips on the bottom. Spoon sauteed veggies over the chips. If you used canned vegetables, there will be quite a bit of liquid left in the pan. Don’t pour it all in or your meal will come out soggy. Sprinkle 2/3 of the cheese over that. Arrange the greens over the cheese and spoon half of the salsa on top of it. Then, sprinkle the rest of the chips, salsa, and cheese.
6. Bake for about 35 – 40 mins, or until it is beginning to brown.
Oh and my confession–I didn’t actually measure anything, I just eyeballed it. But then I never measure anything when I am cooking–baking is a whole nother story
Tell me I’m not alone. This time of year gives me the itch every year. I start thinking about crocheting and quilting and all the other lovely crafts I could make to give for Christmas gifts this year. It always happens at the end of October. The temperature drops, hot tea becomes a nightly ritual, we start watching movies again, I get the urge to bake bread, and then I start having visions splendid of homemade Christmas.
This year I have been forced to check myself. Between getting ready for a baby and (potentially) buying a house and moving, I think I have enough on my plate between now and the end of the year. All this chaos only reinforces the necessity of having a simple, frugal Christmas.
Personally, I think that the time between Halloween and New Years is the most expensive time of the year. There is always extra baking, holiday parties, gifts, travel, not to mention normal expenses like heating and winter clothes. While it’s probably too late to cross stitch Christmas stockings for all your kids, it’s not too late to plan a simple Christmas.
What do you have planned to cut back on Christmas spending and enjoy simple Holidays? What traditions will you revive this year to make a frugal Christmas even more meaningful? Do you have any ideas for quick and easy homemade gifts? Post your comments. I’m eager to hear.
As the golds of autumn begin to trade out for the grays of winter and night time lows have dropped well below freezing, it’s time for me to admit that I need to begin winterizing our house. The purpose of winterizing is to stop the leaks and save some cash on our winter heating bill. My personal challenge this year is that we still have an offer out on a house and are unsure whether we will be in our current apartment 6 months (or more) or 6 weeks. Since we are hopeful of moving soon, I don’t want to spend a lot of money winterizing someone else’s apartment/duplex. At the same time, if we are going to be here all winter, I would like to take some steps to cut heating and energy costs. Balance is the key.
Mission: Close off unused rooms rather than paying to heat them all winter
Guest rooms, spare bedrooms, the junk room, your college kid’s old bedroom–chances are you have at least one room in your house that rarely gets used. There are several quick and frugal ways to close off these rooms so you don’t pay to heat space you are not using.
Easiest: Just close the heater vent and keep the door closed.
Most heater vents have a tab that you can open or close the vent. This strategy is most useful for a room that will be used occasionally throughout the winter because this quick fix can be quickly undone too(Perhaps a guest room when you know you will be hosting the family Christmas, or a craft room that only gets used once or twice a month).
Easy: Use clear packaging tape over a closed heater vent
Even with a closed heater vent, you will probably hear a whistling sound as some air escapes into the room. To solve this problem, we put clear packaging tape over the vent and completely sealed the vent. This is another quick fix and super easy to undo/redo if you need to use the room later in the year. We used clear packaging tape, but I imagine most any kind of tape would work well. The clear tape is nice because it doesn’t show up as really obvious if someone does peak into the room.
A bit more complicated: Pull off the vent register, add cardboard and insulation to seal off
The most complicated method (although still very simple) is to remove the vent register (this usually is held in place by 2 phillips head screws). Inside the vent push in some insulting material then add a piece of cardboard or cardstock cut to the size of the vent and replace the register. Some good suggestions for insulating material include leftover insulation from your house, pillow filler (batting), or perhaps just an old t-shirt. The insulation will further reduce heat-transfer into the room. This is the most complicated fix, but it still will only take 5-10 minutes. I would only do it in a room that I knew I wouldn’t be using all winter. This is a good solution if you have a big house and all your kids have moved out.
Final Notes and a Warning
The goal of this project is to stop heating the rooms that you are not using. My only warning is this: If you live in an area where the temperature gets cold enough to freeze water pipes, please take appropriate cautions.
