Entertaining On The Cheap Part II

Angie Says:

Earlier I told you about a little get together that I was having. Everything went over really well (as long as you don't as about the pie. Just don't ask). In a couple of weeks I'm having another little crafty get together and thought that I should start thinking about what inexpensive but fantastic foods I might whip up.
It got me thinking about a certain recipe. I don't think that the show is on anymore but on the Food Network there was a show called Good Deal with Dave Lieberman where he showed you how to entertain on a budget. Even though his budget was often larger than what I would spend his ideas were fantastic. The following is an adaptation of one of his recipes.

Cannellini Bean, Red Onion, and Basil Salad

4 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 bunch arugula, thick stems removed, washed and dried
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
Handful washed basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon salt 20 grinds black pepper

Empty the cans of beans into a colander and rinse them briefly under cold water. Drain thoroughly and empty the colander into a large serving bowl. Toss the beans together with the red onion and arugula. Shake the olive oil, vinegar, chopped basil, salt and pepper in a sealable container until the salt is dissolved. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. It's best to make and dress the salad about an hour before you serve it. Let it stand at room temperature, tossing every time you think about it. Just before serving, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

So that is EXACTLY his recipe. You know that here in Alaska it's often hard to find certain food items. I hardly ever make this recipe with Cannellini beans because they're hard to find. I use navy beans and it's just as good. I also hardly ever find arugala so I just skip it. It's still very tasty and pretty inexpensive to make.

His recipe makes a lot (because it's for entertaining) so you can halve it, or quarter it really. In my book, it's just plain tasty.

A few things:

1. Make sure you rinse the beans and drain them well.

2. Make sure you're using a brand of canned beans that are still firm when you open them. Canned or not, they should still be fairly firm.

Sale alert!

Molly says:
I was at Walmart in Wasilla this weekend and saw tons of wedding favor boxes and invitation kits on clearance -- perhaps to make way for all the new Martha Stewart merchandise Walmart is now carrying. And it was good wedding stuff too. Not that tacky crap you see so much of. I bought several packages of small favor boxes, not for wedding stuff, but just to put in my stash of giftwrapping stuff for future gift-giving and -wrapping. They were a nice multi-purpose design, not to wedding-ish. 50 little favor boxes for $3. There were boxes of really pretty invites for the wedding and shower. Just tons of stuff that looked great -- I wish I could have found these back when I was in the market. The rack was in an odd spot in the store -- in a front corner amongst seasonal gardening stuff, so you might have a challenge finding it but it's worth the search.
Also, Lowe's had all its outdoor plants clearanced for half off. Trees were 75% off!

trim your grocery bill

Molly says:
MSN Money has some really good articles lately on spending less at the grocery store.
In this article, a woman answers the call to try to feed her family of four on $100 a week. You can read the full story at the link above. Some of the key things I got from her:
The average food stamp allowance for a family of 4 is $117 per week.
The U.S. Government consider $182 per week a moderate budget for a family of four with ages similar to the author's.
$100 per week came to $1.19 per meal per person.
To stick with a budget like that requires meticulous planning of each meal and snack and everyone in the family has to stick with the plan.
Buy enough food to cover all the meals for the week -- returning to the store later might lead to overspending on impulse buys.
Instead of steak, buy lean stew meat and cook it in stew or soup. The crockpot works wonders.
Add three bean-based meals each week.
In terms of meat, consider canned: salmon, clams, tuna, and chicken are great in casseroles, wraps, and pasta and rice.
Stockpile stuff when you see a sale.
Cheap and healthy snacks: raisins, popcorn (cooked on the stove, not the microwave), carrot sticks, pretzels, cheese, and bananas.
Check the article to see the results of their weeklong experiment.

staycations!

Molly says:
This article has a nice little round-up on travel deals here at home. I have my eye on at least two of them.

What to Do

Angie says:

Anchorage:

Wednesday:

Peter Cooper and Eric Brace in concert Free.
Sixteen noted authors to give nine evenings of free readings

Friday
Music in the Park: The Derry Aires- Free. I love this group


Saturday:
Saturday Cultural Series: cultural dancers, Schultz & Hammer with Mz. Lona Free.
Potter Marsh Grand Opening Free.
Dingy Sailboat Regatta Free.


Soldotna:

The fourth weekend in July, Soldotna celebrates its biggest event of the year - Progress Days. The main event is a parade with more than 100 participants. Other activities include art & crafts booths, car races, a rodeo, community barbecues and much more.
Free.

Homer:
June thru August –
Pratt Pods Art & Science programs, Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:00 pm at the Pratt Museum, 235-8635
The Object at Hand Mondays and Fridays 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm at the Pratt Museum. Meet with a Museum docent and take an even closer look at some of the unique objects in collections storage, 235-8635
Creatures of the Dock Tours Tuesday through Saturday. Center for Alaska Coastal Studies yurt on the Homer Spit, 235-6667
Weekly Children's Programs at Wynn Nature Center 235-6667 Pre-schoolers, Bio-kids (ages 5-10), Wynners Wilderness Survival (ages 7-10), and Wynners Passport Program (ages 8-12)
Alaska Wildlife Ranger-Led Talks & Walks Wednesdays and Fridays, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm at Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center, 235-6961
Wildlife & Birding Hotspots Sundays & Mondays, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center, 235-6961
Beachwalks Tuesdays, Thursdays & Saturdays, 11:00 am - 12:00 pm at Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center, 235-6961
Estuary Hikes Tuesdays & Thursdays, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm at Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center, 235-6961
Discovery Labs Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays, 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm at Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitor Center, 235-6961
Historical Harbor Walking Tours - Days and times TBD

Never running out of dinosuars: Priceless

Angie says:

Yesterday morning on our way to breakfast my husband and I noticed a man putting up a garage sale sign. A Sunday only garage sale? That would mean that not all of the good stuff was picked over on Saturday. The man was also driving away in an Escalade towards a very nice neighborhood. All signs of a super garage sale. We wolfed down our food and drove up a hillside (not THE Hillside for all you Anchorage people) for quite a long time. We finally reached the garage sale and it was the garage sale to end all garage sales. It was primarily little kids things but since several of our friend are now having children who will eventually come over to play we figure we should have something more child-friendly for them to play with than say the large display of antique cameras or my grandfather's military collection. The following is a list of what I aquired at this garage sale.

1. punch bowl and cups $2

2. lace tablecloth: $1

3. plastic pail with 5 sand digging tools: $1

4. Fisher-Price doctor set with all the pieces: $1

5. 2 giant floor puzzles of dinosaurs, jumbo pieces that are "easy clean"; $1

6. Giant box of 250 dinosaurs: $5

Free Entertainment

Angie Says:

Molly and I were talking today about our dogs. We are dog people. Molly was talking about how she can regale her husband with hilarous stories about Sadie and he just doesn't get how much entertainment she gets out of the dog. I can watch my dog for hours and just get a kick out of how dumb/smart/silly/weird she is. My husband pretends that he isn't as entertained but he his. As for free; well I guess as acident prone as she is she actually costs us more than the heating bill some months. Let's call her "worth the cost" entertainment, which is more than I can say for the cable.

Entertaining on the Cheap

I'm having a little get together this weekend. A little crafting time with the girls. My husband and I usually go all out when we host events. Not this time. I'm trying to be thrifty right? So, my guests are expecting spectacular but I don't' want to spend very much money. What to do?

I've decided to only use what I already have in the house to entertain. My inventory includes mozzarella, and pepperoni, canned diced tomatoes, a bit of red wine left over, and basil growing in my window=Pizza. It also includes some pasta, italian dressing and frozen peas=pasta salad. And for the finally I have flour, butter, and frozen fruit=pie.

A while ago I learned a very nice trick for canned tomatoes. If you have to use canned (and here in Alaska you usually do) a nice trick is to open the can, drain it (reserve the liquid if you need it later), place tomatoes in a roasting pan and on the center rack of the oven broil for 15-20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes until the tomatoes start to brown around the edges. Then remove the pan and add a bit of red wine and cook over medium heat for 2-3 minutes to deglaze the pan.
This sort of revives the tomatoes and gives it a much "fresher" taste. I dont' mind doing the extra work because I make a LOT of sauce and freeze it.

I'll give an update on how the party goes.

avoiding food waste

Molly says:
Angie's last post (see below) reminded me that I had this post knocking around in our drafts section so I thought I'd better get to publishing it.
I enjoyed this article about a study that estimated we throw away about 14% of the food we buy. There are lots of handy tips on using everything you buy. It advocates reducing waste, cutting costs and safeguarding health by shopping and eating smarter.
Don't buy more than you need. Check fridge often to see what needs to be used or frozen before it spoils. Shop with planned meals in mind. Only buy sale items you know you'll use -- food that's unhealthy or that you don't like is never a bargain no matter what the price.
This is a good article too, talking about how people in Britain are being encourged to return to World War II frugality. It probably wasn't much fun at the time, but I've always loved the idea of the ways in which people cut back during that time period. The masses coming together to grow vegetable gardens and give up many material goods.
My best food-using tip is to check your fridge or cabinet for something that's been sitting there for awhile, waiting for its moment to shine, and search online for a recipe based on that one ingredient, no matter how obscure. For instance, I just opened a little can of chipotle peppers in adobo, and I only needed a teaspoon and I have no idea what to do with the leftovers. The list of recipes is usually really interesting and I get all sorts of dishes I might not have thought to seek out on my own. For instance, these yummy-sounding cheddar burgers with balsamic onions and chipotle ketchup. Or this pan-fried red snapper with chipotle butter. 102 recipes at my fingertips all courtesy of a little can of chipotles.
OH and it that food you throw away is produce, be sure to dump it in a compost heap and not in your garbage can.

Leftover Hater: Yeah, That’s Right, I’m Talkin To You

Angie says-

The thing about two people writing one blog is that sometimes, I'll log in, all ready to post my awesome tips for saving you money and there, sitting in the Edit Posts list is a Draft that Molly is working on about the same darn thing. What can I say? Great minds think alike. I got all jazzed up to write about food waste and then saw that draft. So, I'll just stick to the topic of leftovers, which some people dread. Personally, I love leftovers so I have a hard time sympathizing with leftover haters. I think that most food is better the next day, plus I'm lazy, so to me leftovers are a beacon of light in my fridge at the end of a long day when I'm too tired and/or lazy to cook. But, for all of you leftover haters this post is for you:

My friend is one of you leftover haters, so I thought I’d do a bit on leftovers since they’re such a money saver.
First, if you eat lunch out everyday and spent only $5 you’d be spending about $1300 a year for lunch. That’s a lotta steak and I like steak. So taking your lunch is a wise thing to do.
Second, Each American household throws away 470 pounds of food a year! Seriously. What a waste! It’s a waste of landfill space and a waste of money.

The following article is from The Simple Dollar and offers some good tips.
My first thought when I think of leftovers is “Eww… they save money, but… ewww….” so the first thing I did was make a list of the things that bothered me about leftovers:
1. I just had this stuff yesterday. I don’t particularly want to have the same thing I had for dinner again the next day for lunch every single day.
2. It’s messy. I don’t usually cook sandwiches, if you know what I’m saying. I like sauces and things that aren’t … neat. Thus, transporting them back and forth to work can be a mess if I’m not careful.
3. It takes effort in the morning when I’m already busy. Usually, I’m rushing around feeding my son breakfast with one hand and shaving with the other in the morning. I don’t have time to deal with leftovers.
4. Reheated food sucks. It often becomes homogeneous and bland on the second heating.
That’s a pretty negative list for someone who is trying to convert fully to the brown bag club. So, I tackled these issues one at a time.
1. I take leftovers not the next day but the day after that. This gives me a gap of four meals between a repeated meal, which means that I won’t be grumbling about having what I just had for supper the night before.
2. I use a series of meal-ready Tupperware containers. On the top of each container, I write a weekday on it. When I put the meal into Tupperware, I find the one marked for the day I intend to eat it, fill it up with a solid meal sized portion, and put it in the fridge.
3. I prepare the meals at night. Each night after dinner, I put the meals into the appropriately dated Tupperware containers and put them on the fridge, then I take my lunch bag, put the Tupperware container marked for the next day in it (along with a jar of milk and a fruit) and stick that in the fridge. The next morning, I just grab my lunch bag and run.
4. I include a “spice bag.” Whenever I use spices to prepare a meal, I put a little bit extra into a “spice bag,” a tiny Ziploc bag. I seal this up good and toss it on top of the Tupperware container before I seal it. Then, when I go to heat the meal up, I pop off the lid, dump the contents of the spice bag on top, stir them in a bit, and heat them up. Boom, suddenly the meal has recaptured some serious flavor!
These four tactics have made the cost-saving measure of taking leftovers to work much more palatable and have made me appreciate home-cooked meals all the more. Now, I can just microwave a great meal at work and spend my lunch break doing more fulfilling things than standing in line for some greasy fast food - and also enjoy the jingle of money in my pocket.


That's a pretty good article and I think it sums up what's behind a lot of leftover hating. I know that a lot of people don’t reheat their food properly, making it bland and or tough. Every day at work I see people microwaving meals in a fashion that would make your leftovers pretty gross. If you’re reheating chicken in the microwave soak a paper towel in water to cover it while it reheats. This is actually a good tip for most meat that you reheat, it doesn’t become dry. Also, if you’re making beef that can be cooked separately, such as burgers or steak, cook the extra that you’re making for the next day a bit more rare than you usually would. That way the microwave doesn’t overcook it, while you’re reheating the next day. One more thing: don’t forget to cover your food while microwaving it, or you’ll earn the wrath of your co-workers for spattering the microwave with your burrito.
Speaking of burritos, they make fantastic next day meals. The key to reheating is to turn the plate frequently so that the center gets hot.

One of my favorite shows on the Food Network is Quick Fix Meals. I don't always like some of her tips but what I do love is that she shows you how to buy one cut of meat that can be for two separate meals that taste totally different.

We'll post again later on eliminating food and money waste. If you have any tips, let us know.

Sale alert!

Molly says:
This week Fred Meyer has all its gardening plants on sale for 50% off. I got some sweet-looking herbs for $2 each and they're the best I've seen all season. My favorite is a variegated sage that looks good enough to eat. Which is what you do with sage anyway, but you know what I mean.
And! If you need pots to put those bargain plants in, head on over to JoAnn Fabric and take a look at all their gardening stuff. It's on sale for 60% off. They have some of the best prices around on gardening pots and trellises and other tchotkes. Back at the beginning of the gardening season, I was lamenting how darned expensive all this stuff was. Little did I know the "end of season" sales would happen a mere month later.
The bargain hunter in me isn't complaining, but come on, people. It's July!

On Splurging

Angie says:

I agree with Molly on the meat issue. My husband feels that he NEEDS meat but fortunately he will eat tofu and veggies if they're sufficiently altered to form more than something that looks like just a side dish. If you're splurging on meat, you might be able to have less of it in a week. Still, you want protein in your diet. The following is a recipe that I altered from 101 Cookbooks and it is VERY filling as a breakfast. It's got a ton of good things in it and the portions are easily altered.

Brown Rice Bowl
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 red onion finely chopped
2 pinches of salt
1 pinch of chili powder (adjust to taste)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon finely minced garlic
3/4 cup extra-firm tofu (1/4 inch dice)
1/2 cup-1 cup chopped fresh cilantro ( I love cilantro so I add a full cup).
2-3 cups pre-cooked whole grain rice (I make a lot of this and freeze it in small bags)
4 eggs

Fill a wide mouthed sauce pan with 3-4 inches of water and bring to a simmer

Separately, warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Stir in the onion, salt, cumin, and chili powder. Let the onions soften up a bit. GENTLY stir in the tofu- let it heat up and brown a bit. Now stir in the garlic. Cook a few minutes. Stir in pre-cooked rice and saute until hot. Remove from heat. Add cilantro. Taste for seasoning as well, you might want salt or more cumin.

Now gently crack each egg into a well oiled ramekin. Lower ramekin into simmering water. Lightly salt and pepper egg. You could use this time to add a tiny bit of garlic powder or chili powder if the rice mixture wasn’t seasoned enough. Cover pan with a translucent lid. Cook until the whites have become almost opaque. Cook longer if you like your egg a bit more done. Remove ramekin from water with tongs. Immediately remove with a small silicone spatula. Divide rice mixture into 4 bowls, place egg on top of each. Add more cilantro if desired. Let each person break the egg over their own rice.


What I do, because I don’t have time to make this before work, is to make everything the night before. Place rice mixture into small containers. Cook the eggs less than you would normally and place one egg on top of the rice. Refrigerate overnight. When I get to work the next morning I microwave it for about 30 seconds or less and it’s ready to eat.

a post about splurging.

Molly says:
This is a post about splurging -- strange, I know, for a blog about all-things-thrifty. But I'm on this email list for a fabulous restaurant I visited while in Portland a few months ago, Simpatica Dining Hall. It's a wonderful place -- local foods, their own butcher shop and charcuterie, they're open for only brunch and dinner on the weekends. If I had a restaurant, I'd want it to be just like this. If you're in Portland and you go to one restaurant, be sure it's this one.
Or Apizza Scholls.
Not only was the food at Simpatica out of this world, it was also very affordable. Their most recent email newsletter really resonated with me. It's all about buying quality rather than quantity, and if you can only afford a little bit of quality, that's ok.
Excerpt from the newsletter from Ben Dyer, one of the founders of Simpatica:

"Before I talk about this week's menus, I wanted to spend a little bit of time on one of my favorite places, my soapbox. As some of you may have heard, Fred Meyer/Kroger issued a huge recall of some 5.3 MILLION lbs. of tainted (E. Coli) ground beef last week, right before the holiday weekend. I received a lot of questions from customers, mostly regarding what I thought about it. I decided I would include those thoughts into this week's email. Now, I realize for most of you that I'll be preaching to the choir, but still, maybe some of you can bring this up in conversation amongst your friends, or even just mull over what I'm about to say. I am often struck by Americans' attitude toward the consumption of meat. Many Americans seem to hold the belief that daily meat consumption is on par with some sort of god-given right. That meat should be plentiful, and that meat should be cheap. Most people don't care where their meat comes from, just so long as it's inexpensive. This level of consumption has forced/enabled many companies to produce their meat, especially beef, pork and chicken, at a much lower standard of animal well-being and a need to do it cheaply as possible. So am I surprised that an event like what happened last week came to pass? Not at all. Perhaps the American populace needs to take a long, hard look at what they put into their bodies, and what sort of practices are used to raise the food they consume. My reaction to these events is twofold. First, this is yet another example of why people should support their local butcher and treat themselves to a higher quality product. Unfortunately, and I know this better than almost anyone, a higher quality product is more expensive, as a higher level of care and love is needed to produce a healthier, happier animal. Which leads me to my second point, and this one may seem very strange coming from a butcher... maybe the high level of meat consumption is not the self-evident right most of us have been led to believe. I'm pretty sure there was no clause in the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights that referred to meat consumption. Maybe eating meat should be more of a special occasion. Instead of eating some crappy meat everyday, maybe you should eat something that costs two or three times as much (but with a quality at a much higher level of magnitude) once every two or three days. It may be more expensive, but it's not going to make you drop dead (or give you Mad Cow disease). Plus it tastes better. Just a thought. But really, aren't you worth it? I think so."

Avoiding food waste

Molly says:

I enjoyed this article about a study that estimated we throw away about 14% of the food we buy. There are lots of handy tips on using everything you buy. It advocates reducing waste, cutting costs and safeguarding health by shopping and eating smarter.

Don't buy more than you need. Check fridge often to see what needs to be used or frozen before it spoils. Shop with planned meals in mind. Only buy sale items you know you'll use -- food that's unhealthy or that you don't like is never a bargain no matter what the price.

This is a good article too, talking about how people in Britain are being encourged to return to World War II frugality. It probably wasn't much fun at the time, but I've always loved the idea of the ways in which people cut back during that time period. The masses coming together to grow vegetable gardens and give up many material goods.
OH and it that food you throw away is produce, be sure to dump it in a compost heap and not in your garbage can.

Denali Road Lottery

Molly says:
Looking for a cheap get-away this late-summer/early-fall? There's still a few weeks to throw your hat in the ring for the Denali Road Lottery. On four days in September, the National Park Service will allow 400 vehicles per day to drive into the park -- usually only buses are allowed so it would be quite the occasion to be a chosen one. One entry per person, $10 per person. If you win (or should I say WHEN you win) you can pack your car full of people to chip in on gas money and have yourself a nice little staycation, visiting a place people spend big bucks to travel to each summer. More info and instructions available at the link above.

Don't Do It!

Angie says:
Molly's post about not wasting your money got me thinking about other things people waste their money on. One of them is eating at Snow City Cafe here in town. You know it: that super trendy downtown spot, known for great food, uber trendy staff and cute t-shirts. What it's NOT known for is it's outrageously high prices, lack of spice in food, and horrible, horrible service. The service is seriously some of the worst in town. That being said take a look at their menu. Let's take the breakfast a go-go sandwich. It's tasty, and quite large for an breakfast sandwich but basically, just eggs, and cheese on bread, no special spices or ingrediants. Lets say you go in, wait the long wait, order a BAGG and a latte. You, my friend have just unwittingly racked up an $11 breakfast for eggs and coffee, $11.50 if you choose the bagel instead of the english muffin and $14 if you want the hashbrowns. That's way, way too high of a price to pay for what is. Just do yourself a favor and make it at home.

expensr

Molly says:
One of my favorite online penny-pinching tools is http://www.expensr.com/. It's a free online budget tracker that helps you answer the question, "Where did all my money go?" Sure you can scribble everything on a legal pad but I just love online tracking tools. It makes everything seem so much more official. There's lots of other sites just like it and I didn't take the time to check all of them out, but I found this one early in my search and decided to stick to it.
Expensr has spots to enter paychecks, bills, groceries, clothing, entertainment, and any other category you can come up with. Once you get some entries in, the site generates cool pie charts showing exactly where your money's going. I love a pie chart.
Supposedly, the site can link into your online bank account and import your deposits and expenses automatically, but I don't know about that ... it makes me a little antsy to think about giving that sort of access to a website so I do it all by hand each morning, accounting for the previous day.
The site says, "Your odds of becoming a millionaire are similar to your odds of filing for bankruptcy." See how much of your money goes to food or gas. Then compare your spending with similar people. For instance, see if you spend more or less on groceries than other people in your age group.
Create budgets to stay on track and use our forecasting tools to avoid any financial surprises.
It's all free, easy-to-use, and takes only a couple of minutes each day.

A deal-and-a-half for the Valley kids

Molly says:
Students 18 and younger can ride free this summer on MASCOT, the Matanuska-Susitna area's public transportation system. Ask bus drivers for a pass. The free passes, courtesy of the Mat-Su Health Foundation, are only good on MASCOT's Palmer and Wasilla routes. Perfect for getting back and forth to those summer jobs, the library, the movies, etc. For more information about schedules and service areas, go to http://www.matsutransit.com/.

Freecycle Deal of the Day

Angie Says:

Here is the freecycle deal of the day.

This is a big, mostly working, outdoor hot tub with cedar siding. Seats 4 comfortably. Lid probably needs to be replaced. Plumbing is tight and the heater works, but we had an over-temperature event last fall & I mothballed it thereafter. Likely cause is a faulty thermostat, a replaceable part for about $300. When we were using it, it cost about $1/day in the summer and $2/day in the winter to keep it heated. We've decided not to fix it because A) we didn't use it often enough to justify the operating costs and B) we have two small children and we don't need the anxiety of wondering if they're getting into the tub when they're playing in the back yard.That's the good news. The bad news is that I have no idea how to get it out of our yard. It's got to be quite heavy, and it looks just too big to take out our one gate. It'll be a challenge and a project to move. Who wants to take it home?

Frugal Fun

Angie says:
Pondering what you can do this weekend? Looking for something affordable that won't leave you looking to take a bribe from an oil company just to pay for it? Here are a few sugguestions.


In Anchorage

Attention: according to my sources (office gossip that is) due to the holiday last Friday, the First Friday Art will be this Friday.

At the Library:

These are just some of the items this week

Brown Bag Opera Series—Join us
for an hour filled with insights on Donizetti’s
comedy Don Pasquale. Co-sponsored with
Anchorage Opera.
Assembly Chambers, Loussac, Level 1
Friday, April 11, noon

Mother Goose
20 minutes of nursery rhymes,
songs and fingerplays for infants,
birth-18 months and their caregivers.
Z.J. Loussac Public Library
Thursdays, 10:30am
Fridays, 2:30pm
Lapsit
20 minutes of short stories, songs
and lots of repetition for children
3 & under and their caregivers.
Z.J. Loussac Public Library
Tuesdays, 10:30am & 11:30am
Wednesdays, 10:30am
Thursdays, 7pm
Fridays, 10:30am
Chugiak-Eagle River Branch Library
Fridays, 10:15am
Scott & Wesley Gerrish Branch
Saturdays, 11am (until April 12)

Movies:

Bear Tooth Theatre: Speed Racer, Made of Honor, The Dark Cyrstal, Street Kings, Nim's Island, Flight of the Red Balloon and Zombie Strippers. (Really? Zombie Strippers?)
Movies for Your Mind (Somewhat less expensive than a regular movie) El ViolinMexico drama in Spanish with English subtitles. 98 minutesMPAA RATING: Not rated (violence and language)

For Families:
Eagle River Bear Paw Festival This is an all weekend event and a lot of fun for kids and adults. The parking used to be a huge issue but now they have a free shuttle service on Saturday and this on Friday. ALSO FOR ADULTS: On Sunday there is this, if you need flowers still for your house/yard. This is the MOST inexpensive way to do it. I highly suggest coming early for this event as the really fantastic hanging baskets go quickly.

Children's Story Time at Title Wave Books: 1pm Saturdays


Music in the Park: 9th Army Band - Jammin' Salmon Dixie Band : July 11th Noon-1pm.

Friday Night at the Zoo with Lisa Good : No additional charge past admission, annual passes apply.

Saturday Cultural Series: Cultural dancers, Ursula Gould and Medicine Dream : July 12, Noon-4pm

Other Stuff:

Joshua Davis and the AJW Jazz Quintet Concert : ONLY $1 FOR STUDENTS! July 11th 7:30-9:30
Rev. Poor Child at Acoustic Saturday Series : Snow Goose Restaurant Free. 9pm


North of Anchorage:
Talkeetna Moose Dropping Festival This looks like a lot of fun so here's a bit more info on it.

Vendor Booths with Arts & Crafts & Food
Kid Zone with the famous Children's Moose Toss Game
Moose Drop Dropping Raffle Tickets
Live Music... all day at the Village Park Pavillion
Festival Parade
Moose on Parade Art Auction
5K Fun Run/Walk
Mountain Mother Contest
Softball Tournament
Festival T-Shirts for sale at the Museum and booth

South of Anchorage

In Seward there is this

In Homer this weekend:

http://www.akcoastalstudies.org/naturetours.htm

fabulosity!

Molly says:
Sometimes, the best way to avoid overspending is to cut out the crap. That's especially true when it comes to clothes. Don't buy stuff that's overly-trendy because it'll be 'out' in no time. Don't buy stuff you won't wear even if it's on clearance. My husband taught me that one, surprisingly enough. Early in our relationship, I came home from Costco with a gigantic package of celery, more celery than two people could eat in a year, unless we were the ants-on-a-log type, which we're not. He asked me what the hell I was gonna do with all that celery. Well, I don't know, it was just such a good deal, I mean this much celery would cost so much more in a regular grocery store. "Molly," he told me. "It's only a good deal if you use it all."
Sage advice.
If you're out and about in search of sweet deals on clothing, my best piece of advice would be to not buy these:

The Fabulosity (trademarked!) High-Waisted Skinny Jean. Angie and I spotted it at lunch today while sailing through JCPenney to get to the rest of the mall. Here's the backs of these babies:

Betcha want a piece of that action, don't you. It's sights like these that make me think the end is nigh.

$58! Really?

As we were sailing through JCP, I spotted them, came to an abrupt halt, and circled back to show Angie, who instantly lamented she didn't have her camera but then consoled herself with the knowledge she could come back later and document them for posterity because "those aren't sellin' anytime soon."

If only that were true, girlfriend. If only that were true.

Is Frugal the New Black

Molly says:
Here's an excellent article from msnbc.com about how more and more people are becoming thriftier and thriftier. Embrace the simple life and pinch those pennies, people!
I think I get carried away by frugality sometimes though -- this morning I found a quarter on the sidewalk (a whole quarter!) and skipped along, gleefully thinking about how I wouldn't have to pay a quarter of my own to tip the barista for my morning americano.

On the Cheap

Angie says:
With the price of gas going up so quickly it's hard to budget, what items are one week, they aren't the next. We've noticed that many of the "budget" recipes out there are unhealthy as well. We're going to prove to you that you can cook on a budget AND be healthy at the same time. From time to time we'll post recipes that meet both of these requirements. If you have any of your own please feel free to send them along. Today I'll be sharing a meal that I like to make. This recipe might seem a little expensive but since it makes so much it goes a long way and can be frozen quite well. This stew has enough meat in it to fill anyone one up. Also, living in Alaska also means not always finding the exact thing that recipes call for. If you can't find cannellini beans use white navy beans. They're just as tasty but because they're smaller add them for just the last five minutes.



Chicken Stew with Tomatos and White Beans (adapted from epicurious.com)



4 bacon slices, chopped

6 chicken thighs with skin and bones (about 2 1/2 pounds)

All purpose flour

1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cups)

5 garlic cloves, minced2 14 1/2-ounce cans stewed tomatoes

1 14 1/2-ounce can low-salt chicken broth

3/4 cup dry red wine

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 15-ounce cans cannellini (white kidney beans), drained and rinsed.



Here are the instructions that the recipe gives. Then I'll give you the way that I do it.



Cook chopped bacon in heavy large pot over medium-high heat until crisp. Using slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper towel. Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour, shaking off excess. Add to drippings in pot and sauté until brown, about 3 minutes per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer chicken to large bowl. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons drippings from pot. Add chopped onion and minced garlic to pot; sauté 4 minutes. Add bacon, stewed tomatoes, chicken broth, red wine, basil and oregano. Bring to boil, scraping up browned bits. Return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add cannellini; simmer 10 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.



I make this on Sunday nights because Sunday mornings I make a big breakfast for my husband and it usually includes bacon. Also, then I don't have to cook on Monday night because it makes so much. I just cook four extra pieces of bacon and save 2 tsp. of the drippings to make this later at night. You could even make the bacon a day head. It's just flavoring and doesn't need to be crisp.



You don't have to get bone in/skin on chicken thighs. I buy them because they're often less expensive than boneless/skinless, however, I do recommend that you stick with thigh meat. It's just better in this. The recipe wants you to leave the bones in and skin on but it's a little to rustic for my taste. I debone and deskin and then save the bones in the freezer for soup later (because as my husband would say about me: you're a crazy lady; a real, live crazy lady). I also cut up the thighs into smaller pieces because it makes it easier to eat and also gives the illusion of there being more meat than there is.



Follow the recipe instructions after this, making sure to dredge the chicken as it makes a big flavor difference.

Tip: I also often add chopped red potatos to make it the meal seem heartier for my husband. And in the winter I swap the basil out for 1 TBS of dried rosemary. Also, because it's Alaska and fresh herbs are hard to find and expensive as well I often use dried basil and use 2 TBS.

I make biscuits to go with this and I think that in the end the entire meal cost me about 3-4 dollars per person.

People Mover Complaints

Angie says-
While on the bus this morning I couldn't help but overhear people complaining about the new bus routes. People mover has been a lot busier since gas has gone up. That makes me happy, that should mean more routes right? Well, you'd be wrong if you thought that. In general, I like the municipality of Anchorage. When you call city offices people are knowledgable, helpful and cheerful. Things run pretty smoothy in terms of governmental red tape. Not people mover though. The following is a rundown on how People Mover has been run for a very, very long time: There aren't enough people who ride the bus so People Mover cuts bus runs. People don't ride the bus because it takes over two hours to get across town due to lack of routes. People Mover cuts more routes because people aren't riding the bus. People don't ride the bus because you can't get where you need to get by riding it. The vicious cycle keeps going on like that. In a city the size of Anchorage you should be able to buy tokens or a bus pass just about anywhere. You can't. You can buy your bus pass only in a few places and its a pain to do so. There are no token/pass boxes at all.
Back to my point, you would think with increased ridership that People Mover would be adding buses. They aren't, they're removing some "less popular routes" and just moving buses. So it's back to the same ol same ol of not being able to get where you need to be because People Mover is either slow or doesn't even go there.
If you have comments, or complaints for People Mover, you can direct them here:

You can send your thoughts to customer service by mail, phone, fax or e-mail: Customer Service Phone: (907) 343-6544 700 W. 6th Avenue #109 Fax: (907) 343-4042 Anchorage, Alaska 99501 E-mail: WWTD@muni.org

Welcome to Thrift

Angie says-

A few friends of mine would define thrift as the ability to be incredibly cheap. I on the other hand prefer economical management as a better definition. My friend and I have decided that living on the cheap doesn't have to be an awful experience so we have built this FREE website to demonstrate that you can live in well and not spend a fortune. For my first posting I'd like to talk about one of the best ways that I save money. I take the bus. Now, for those of you who live or have lived in Alaska you know that this is no small feat. Our bus system is unreliable, and difficult to manage. Buses run late, buses don't run often, buses don't run where you need them to, and buses take too long because the routes are too complex. However, about a year ago I started riding the bus to work. I live in Eagle River, 19 miles away from my work. When our second car died permanently, I decided that we could do without it and looked at the bus schedule. The bus runs 1 block away from my house and goes almost to the doorstep of my work. All for $50 per month. It does take longer to ride this route (the 102) but not by much. I average an extra 20 or 30 minutes a day in my commute now, but I also don't have to drive the winter roads or fight traffic, or pay for oil changes as often, or pay for very much gas. Here are things that you will need to have if you are planning on riding the bus on this route.

1. A couple of books, you may as well get some reading done.

2. Some sort of music device and headphones that are noise canceling. This is because the bus is loud on the highway and to be honest, some people are loud on the bus and headphones keeps them from talking to you.

3. A sense of humor. You can't get angry at every little thing that people do on the bus. Just laugh and shake your head.

While the commute is longer I actually get so much more done in my day that I feel cheated on time if I have to drive. I read books and the paper, I embroider, I write letters, and I'm fortunate enough to own a portable DVD player that we got for our wedding. I have a Netflix account and have caught up on tons of movies and shows that I missed but wanted to watch. I see others doing Sudoku or the crossword every morning. Yesterday a woman commented to me that she had to drive into work last week for the first time in years and she was grouchy all day because she wasn't able to do her Sudoku puzzle that day. Morning habits are hard to break.

When I first started riding the bus I hated it, but then I bought some nice headphones that do some noise canceling (they were 30 bucks I think), and now I'm happy because I don't have to pay attention to the woman behind me telling another passenger about her cat's illness, or worry about the old letch in the aisle next to me try to talk to me. Now, it's just a calm ride in a sea of horrible morning and afternoon traffic. I fill up my car twice a month rather than twice a week.

Now, if I had to ride the bus to work in Anchorage, I'm still not sure that I would do it if I had more than one transfer. This is because a lot of the routes in Anchorage not only have more than one transfer but they run late so you miss your connecting bus. This wouldn't be a problem if the buses ran every 10 minutes but a lot of them run only once an hour. This being said, there are still a few nice, direct routes around town. You can check them out here. Keep in mind that in a week or so, the schedule is set to change.