Rite Aid Deal Look Ahead Sale Starting 4/1

A freebie is still a freebie, great to get these for free! I'd reuse the up to get some milk.

After the Caramelized Onions... I made Veggie Soup

So I hate hate cleaning dishes so whenever I can reuse the pot for another recipe I do! Cause I am that lazy.  Plus I discovered this buy accident some of the taste in not washed pot remains.  So in this case I wanted the Caramelized Onion Flavor to infuse into my Soup.  Keep in mind, I am not big fan of rich and overly flavored soups.  This is more of a Veggie Broth super healthy and low in fat.

Ingredients

 I used 3 cups of the leftover water from boiling my Veggie Pasta.

2 Carrot Sticks - Chopped 

2 Celery Sticks - Chopped

2 Peeled Potato- Chopped

1 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Teaspoon Adobo Powder

Directions:

Toss everything in Crockpot.  Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.  Salt to taste.

Keep in mind the less salt you add the better and this is super low fat and high in vitamins.  You are not adding anything bad or artificial really. It's like eating veggies in a comforting way.

Variations

If you add just a little bit of the Caramelized Onions the whole soup will change flavor.  So yummi and magical.

Like I said before I hate the overly seasoned soups, so if you find this soup too bland you can instead use it as a soup extender for a broth like Canned Soup like Italian Wedding Soup from Campbell's. And you instantly can double the quality of your soup this way.

Caramelized Onions Easy Disaster Free Method

So I have been reading Kathleen Flinn's "The Kitchen Counter Cooking School" and in one of her chapters she says that one of the easiest ways to add lots of flavor to a dish is by using Caramelized Onions!! She's a Le Cordon Bleu graduate so when she described how she'd make big batches and even freeze them.. I was kinda shocked.  I just didn't expect that from a Le Cordon Bleu graduate.  But that must mean Caramelized Onions retain their quality really well after being frozen !!!

I've never been able and patient enough to successfully make them on stove top because you literally have to be at the stove for about 40 minutes constantly at attention.  And this is why I love love my Crockpot since its a great way to slowly cook something.  I did a test batch and it worked!!!!!!!! It filled the kitchen with the most amazing aroma while cooking and I didn't burn it!!!

Easy Disaster Free : Caramelized Onions

Ingredients:

4 Onions

 1/3 Stick Butter

Directions

Peel off your Onion really well. I'm naturally frugal so I made the mistake of trying to slide the top layer with some skin and that portion burned.

Chop your onions up to your shape preference, (try to cut up same size so they can cook evenly).

Toss in all your Onions into the Slow Cooker.

And slice your butter thinly to put on top of onions.  

Cover and cook on high for about 4 hours or low for about 8 hours.

They will be done when you see them brown and reduced at least to 1/3of  its original volume.

Take them out with slotted spoons so you can leave liquid in Crockpot (I'm going to use the leftover for making soup).

You can serve immediately or put them in freezer/fridge for storage after they have cooled down.

Note: I am actually going to reduce the butter next time to 1/4. 

I love this!! Carmelized Onions are so delish!!!!!! And this is a great way to reduce food waste (sometimes I forgot to use all my Onions since they come in big bag). Also it takes about 5 minutes of actual work... you just have to chop the onions and add slices of butter in your Crockpot.  

Kabocha Squash aka Japanese Pumpkin

What is Kabocha Squash aka Japanese Pumpkin?  It's a squash that tastes nuttier than a sweet potato and sweeter than a butternut squash.

Why did I buy it at $.98/lb ? Typically they weigh about 2-3 lbs so it can cost you about $3 for a whole pumpkin which is more of the expensive side but it's so worth it!!!!!!

- ONE cup is about 40 calories!

- One cup is about 7g's of Carb's which is less than half of what a butternut squash offers for the same amount of squash.

So .. on top of being super low calorie, a lower carb squash alternative its packed with beta carotenes, vitamins and fiber!!!

And best part its so easy to cook.

You cut the Kaboocha in half and scoop out the seeds.

Then continue to slice how you like...

And then you steam it for about 20 minutes.  When its done its so soft and still has retained moistness.  You can easy just eat with the skin.  Or cut off skin. 

After I steamed ..I easily ate it all... No sugar needed, it actually tastes good as is.  

***The second half I wanted to try baking in the oven.

It came out super dry and not even soft.  I think I was  suppose to wrap it all in Foil like you do with Sweet Potato's but I got lazy.  So to rescue this I re-steamed and mashed with spoon and mixed it with a Brown Rice Porridge and a teaspoon of brown sugar.  And I mixed it together to get Kabocha Brown Rice Porridge.  

The result was a super light, low calorie, high fiber comfort food.  Asian people in particular love eating porridge for breakfast and when their sick because its really easy to digest.

**NOTE --- This would be a great emergency, meal to have in the freezer in case you get sick or feel like something warm and healthy.  Porridge is suppose to be mushy so reheating after freezing in Microwave would be super easy!!! Or could tosh it in stove top with some additional water and recook. And its great to make for a friend coming out of surgery... I heard that Korean Newbie mom's eat a bunch of Kabocha after giving birth to reduce their swelling.

6 items or less challenge Week 6 Complete

Whoppeee!!!!!!!!! I hope my posts really show you guys how possible it is to create 30 different looks with just 6 pieces !!!To be honest the most difficult thing about this challenge was blogging it and getting the pictures by myself.  The creation of the looks has been the best part and I'm really excited to do this again with another set of clothes.

Jacks 99 Cent Store 34 Street Grocery Haul

For Groceries as a New Yorker the secret to cheap cheap groceries is Jacks 99 Cent Store near the 34 STREET train station. Seriously if you want to eat top quality foods without couponing etc just go to Jacks 99 Cent Store!!!

Look at my entire haul Hirshire Italian Sausage , 2 packs of Turkey Breast,  Frozen Barramundi Fish (I know this is what WHOLE FOODS carries) , 3 Packs of Whole Wheat Bread and 1 Pack of Raisin Cinnamon Bread, Saltines and Coconut Macroons and I forgot to take picture of the huge Coconut Water I got.  Everything cost me total of $14.79!!!!!!!

Lately, I haven't been able to catch their Whole Wheat Bread deals so when I saw it was totally filled with breads today at cost of $1.29!!!!!!!!! I went crazy and got 4 packs.  I'm going to freeze 3 packs because Whole Wheat Bread is just so freaking expensive.  At a regular supermarket the lowest price is $1.99 and that is seriously rare! Usually I get them on sale for $2.50 so $1.29 is crazy cheap for Whole Wheat Bread!!!!!!

So if you want to stock on some staples and have your unlimited metrocard totally get to Cheap Jacks. Notable things I just didn't buy was they had quart sized milk, half and half for $.99, Brie Cheese for $1.29, Activia 4 pack Yogurt for $1.29 (keep in mind on sale at Pathmark it's $2.50 ), adorable mini hot dogs for pigs in the blanket.  They also have a more gourmet food section on the 3rd floor yummo I finally found my second source for Mascapone Cheese in NYC-- Cheap Jacks they pretty much have the two varieites they have at Whole Foods (identical) for $3.49 and $4.49.  And Smoke Salmon Packs for $4.99 !!!!

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 30}

And we're at the end of the road...

I layered the cardigan below the sweater to create a dark base throughout.  I pulled the cardigan up to create a peter pan like collar so that it would alter the pink sweaters V-neck.

Rite Aid Look Ahead March 25 Sale : Free Panty Liners

Hurry and print the $1 off coupon for Kotex so you can get it for free this Sunday!
Link to Kotex Coupon
You could also go to coupons.com to print a $.50 off coupon for Carefree Pantyliners making them $.50

And I posted the Revlon deal because their Lip Butters are like seriously suppose to be the cheap almost identical substitute to Dior ADDICT Highshine Lipstick!!!!! Ekkk I know, I was slow on the boat so yea I'm gonna grab some even though its not free :(

Pathmark Sale starting tommorrow 3/23

The Oats are back on sale at my stockpile price of $1.....AND my favorite brand of Whole Wheat bread is also at it's lowest price ever of $1.99...man I wished I knew someone over 55 so they could get use their monday 5% off coupon for senior citizens .

Best Healthy** Brownies Ever !!!!!!!! And super cheap to make!!!

Can you believe that these have no OIL, Butter or EGGS!!!!  Instead its packed with a ton of fiber and protein!!!!!  These are amazing and going to become my new baking staple.....Black Bean Brownies!! Like OMG right they are amazing!!!! Based on the bean content alone this one batch of brownies has at least 30g of protein and 30 g of fiber!!!  This is like the most genius thing ever!!!!!!! 

And as a FrugalNYCGirl ..it only cost me less than $.70 to make.  But for everyone else even without coupons you can probably make this for $1.50 which is ridiculously cheap for the fiber and protein alone!!!!

Here's the RECIPE for Cheap, Healthy Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients

1 Box Brownie Mix

1/2 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

5/8 Cup Water or Old Coffee

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

16 oz cooked Black Beans

Directions:

Put all Dry Ingredients in mixing bowl.

And lightly stir/ mix dry ingredients.

Take Black Beans and liquid (coffee) and put in blender or food processor. **if using canned beans rinse well to get rid of salty taste of some canned beans.

Blend till smooth or to your desired consistency.  

Then mix all the wet and dry ingredients together.  And pour batter into oiled baking pan or foil lined pan.  Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes (for some reason this bakes really quick).  Test for readiness with toothpick.

 I used Foil because in the past I've had brownie batter be the worse kind for sticking so using foil.. I literally just pull the ends of the foil to transport the Brownie.  And it didn't stick, no mess and easy clean up.

I actually used a cake pan because I don't have a square brownie pan and it turned out great!

When you cut the ends to make a square you get four biscotti shaped brownies. Super cute for next day breakfast or afternoon tea presentation.

The rest I just cut up into 16 mini squares

Perfect for wrapping up in plastic wrap to bring for lunches or a quick powerful snack.  They really keep you full.  Even though there brownies, they really act like an expensive protein bar and you get a ton for such a low cost to make these.  Each small square packs at least 2 g's of protein and 2 g's of fiber.  If you check the wrappers of your other expensive snack bars you'd be shocked.

The texture I like for brownies is more cake-like than fudge so that's why I added the Whole Wheat Flour and  Baking Powder.  The Whole Wheat Flour robbed some of the chocolate flavor, but that was fine for me because I think my sweet tooth has really decreased its sugar tolerance.    This recipe is not going to produce those super high sugar fudgey brownies you get from lil debbies (which really no ONE really but kids can eat these days).  This recipe for me will be a staple because it lets me indulge a chocolate craving in a super healthy, low calorie, high protein and fiber way.  Not to mention it really FILLS you up and is super super frugal recipe !!!

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 29}

This outfit uses same exact pieces as outfit 10.  The difference is that the splitter is moved lower and instead of looping ends to the neck you loop to tie at the waist.

6 items or less challenge Week 5 Complete

Week 5 Complete!!!!

When I look back at week 5's outfits, it really doesn't seems like I'm wearing the same thing over and over.  I think tights really break up the outfits.

How much does a dry ONE pound bag of Black Beans yield?

I've always wanted to know but have been to lazy to answer this question.  I've really become obsessed with adding Black Beans into my meals.  One reason is I can not stress enough how healthy black beans are! The other is Target still has a ONE pound bag of dry black beans at $.76 !!!!  Which is the cheapest you'll find anywhere in NYC!!!!

So I finally decided to find out how much a bag yields to figure out if it would ever be worth it to buy the canned beans.  So I first soaked them overnight in water.

Then cooked them in boiling water for an hour.

Strained the liquids from the beans

This is how much beans are created after cooked!

This is just another reason why I love my LockNLock containers, I have one that is exactly 16 oz aka 1 lb so that I can easily measure the beans.

Batch # 1

Batch # 2

Batch # 3 

Last Batch is about 1/3

So the answer is ONE lb dry bag of Black Beans yields about 3.33 lb of actual cooked beans!!!!!  Or about $.23/ lb if you buy yours at Target while they have there Black Beans priced so low!!!!

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 28}

Can you see what a difference a simple scarf makes. I actually got this scarf at the Housing Works Shop the Bag sale and it literally cost me way less than a $1 and I hadn't had a chance to wear it because of all my clutter.  I love how it quickly creates this Boticelli Palate and vibe instanlty to my outfit.  For that reason, I think I'm definately packing this scarf with me.

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 27}

This is outfit 11 with a different necklace.

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 26}

This is pretty much outfit 18 just with a different belt.  See what a difference a belt makes.

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 25}

I can't believe I never thought to create this outfit before, its super cool because its super neutral tons throughout.  And I know my cheap camera thats nearly broken can't pick up that the jacket's tubing is actually silver.

Jamba Juice Coupons

So funny I was just thinking the other day how I wished there were more Jamba Juice coupons!! You can get them now at LINK

6 items or less challenge {Outfit 24}

   

The camera doesn't do this style justice, you can see it but its creates this super tight at the waist fitted layered cardigan.  It almost looks like a super fitted blazer .