We tried this in the PC Kitchen/Laboratory, and it works! Perishables that come home from the supermarket with you in plastic containers, such as cottage cheese and yogurt, should be stored in the fridge upside down once they are opened, for an amazingly prolonged shelf life. How does it work? The stuff plops to the top when placed upside down, creating a seal that keeps bacteria out longer than when you store it right side up. We couldn’t believe how long we kept a container of yogurt going–far past its throw-me-out date. (One caution: be careful to give your item a light slam on the table so the stuff plops back to the bottom before you open it.)
—the Editors, on February 5, 2010
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OK, it’s too late to save you money with this post THIS holiday season, as we’re about out of it as we write this. But save this one for the next time you say to yourself, “it’s about time I threw a swell soiree for friends…but a party is gosh-darned expensive.”
Not anymore friends—as long as you have a computer with a web camera (and most come with one now). We’ve been enjoying SKYPE parties the last few nights, reconnecting with old friends (the best kind!) while noshing on goodies and enjoying libations. SKYPE—in case you didn’t know—is a free (yes, free) way a software application that allows you to make voice calls over the Internet. If you are of a certain age, think of Jetsons-style phone/video package. It’s so much fun—and so much more than a phone call.
Let’s examine the upsides that a SKYPE party has over a conventional one:
- No house clean up necessary—before or after!
- No baby sitter to hire!
- No need to dress up (unless you want to—and we do recommend it just to be sure you’re in the party mood—but it’s optional).
- The only snacks you have to buy are those that YOU (and anyone in the room—spouse, dog, cat, etc.) will be consuming.
- No need to invite neighbors just to be courteous—they won’t even know you’re having a party!
- No chance of anyone driving home inebriated—you’re all home!
- Party winding down? No guests lingering at the door and taking forever to collect hats, boots, etc.
By the way,no web cam? They are reasonably inexpensive now at most stores that carry computer equipment—it should not set you back any more than you would spend on snacks for your typical non-cyber get together.
Our recommendation is start out small. Try it out first with your closest friends or family—you’ll be hooked! And you can eventually conference in others, until you are partying hearty (and cheaply!)
Enjoy! Tell us about VIRTUAL PARTIES you’ve thrown (or attended).
—the Editors, on December 16, 2009
Cheap Pleasures
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Homemade granola! We started down this road when we saw how much wheat filler, and we’re not talking healthy wheat germ, gets added to the store-bought stuff. So no matter how healthy it may appear on the box front, you’re paying a lot of money for some good things, plus (at best useless) filler. And you need to eat it fast, since it’s on the road to Stalesville very quickly.
If you’re now rolling your eyes (we can hear it!) at the thought of the time it takes to make your own granola, consider this: with this recipe you’re getting the heart-healthy benefits of slow-cooking oatmeal, without doing the slow-cooking every morning that’s necessary to create it. And the time you’ll need is not much, trust us–toss these ingredients together, throw it into a large baking dish, and then cozy it into the oven with something else that’s already cooking. Voila–tasty, healthy, cheap. Enough talk, get crackin’.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup heart healthy oil (except pure olive oil)
1/2-3/4 cup honey
1/2 cups of rolled oats (don’t get that instant junk, in fact, avoid it altogether, all the time)
1/2 cup of roasted or raw almonds
1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
Optional: 1/2-1 cup of dried fruit, some wheat germ, other nuts
Mix together your oats, almonds, sunflower and sesame seeds. Pour your oil (we use a blend of canola and light olive oil) into your mixing cup and swirl it around to coat the sides of the measuring cup before pouring it into the granola. Place your honey into the same cup to measure it, and the oil will help the honey slide out of the cup. Add honey to the granola and mix together. Put all of this into a large baking dish or onto a cookie sheet. Flatten down with a spatula and slide it into the oven, preheated to 350-400 degrees. Don’t wander away, you’ll need to turn it with the spatula every 15 minutes. Brown it, don’t burn it!
When it’s a nice, even brown, pull it out and add your dried fruit, etc. Serve with milk or soy beverage, plus some yogurt, if it’s at hand. (Other nice toppings include maple syrup and coconut, but we save these for special-occasion granola, as they can be a pricey addition.)
Store in an airtight container.
This recipe is meant as a suggested guideline. Try different ingredients and see what works for you. You can use apple sauce instead of oil, for instance; or brown sugar might stand in for honey. Our favorite dried fruits are pineapples and dates, but raisins and cranberries are also tasty.
Anyway you make it, the result is versatile as well: breakfast, snack, ice cream topping–along with the benefits of eating sunflower seeds, oats, and nuts.
Bon appetit!
—the Editors, on September 11, 2009
Cheap eats
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We at Cheapskate, adopted a grooming tip offered by Meryl Streep (who wouldn’t??). About a year ago, we started shampooing our hair less often, after we heard an interviewer ask her what hair product made her hair so shiny and healthy looking. She gave away her secret–reluctantly. La Streep said it was due to the fact that she didn’t shampoo as often as most other people do. Hey, healthier hair, AND save on a grooming product? We were THERE. After that, we only shampooed every other day–maybe even every three days. But we felt a bit oily and stringy by about day two and a half. And ready to go back to a daily shampoo regimen.
The key to beautiful hair...without shampoo!
So back to the Cheapskate Lab, Grooming Division, for us. Now after experimenting with, get this, not using shampoo at all, for several weeks, we’re ready to proselytize on the virtues of (drumroll please) NO SHAMPOO. Ever. As in, never. We’ve sworn it off. It’s an expensive rip-off product from which big corporations reap huge profits. Even worse, the stuff in that (plastic!) bottle that you need to replace month after month is pretty much a toxic stew of poly-syllabic chemicals. It’s designed to strip out the natural oils produced by your scalp, making you feel temporarily clean. In the meantime, the (possibly carcinogenic) sudsing agents added in get you hooked on the idea that to get your hair really clean, you need lots of bubbles. (A great article on just what it is that constitutes your average bottle of shampoo, recently published by salon.com, is a must-read for all consumers: What’s Really In Your Shampoo).
Ready to eschew the scam that is shampoo, but want to be able to leave the house with head held high, and no hat? Here’s the program that works best for us:
1) Water, lots of it. You can rinse your mop top all you like, every time you shower if you want to, and even massage your scalp while rinsing. This feels especially nice on days when you’ve been to the outside working and sweating, gone to the beach, etc.
2) Once a week, a tiny amount of dishwashing liquid from the health food store or organics section of the supermarket is all you need to feel super-clean. Look for detergent that is made from no more than four ingredients, and has no phosphates. Alternatively, you might try a product like castile soap, or Burt’s Bees’ shampoo bars. Some non-shampooers also swear by a follow-up apple-cidar vinegar rinse, but we haven’t tried this yet.
3) Purchase a 100% boar bristle “finishing brush” and use it daily on your (dry) hair. This is how you will re-distribute the oils evenly throughout your hair, and, trust us, you will have Meryl Streep-worthy hair after your first session (think of all those old movies and tv shows that show women brushing their hair before bed–this is what they were doing). By the way, the brush (shown in the accompanying illustration here) won’t set you back any more than around $8 at a drug or big-box store, and should last a very long time.
Happy, healthy hair to all…Please write in with your non-shampoo solutions for a clean (non-toxic) head!
—the Editors, on August 20, 2009
Cheap Haircuts
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Enjoy your soy...on the cheap
Alert reader Wanda sent in a recipe for making your own soy beverage (often called soy “milk”). Store bought soy beverages are expensive compared to this easy to make home-brewed version, and you can sweeten (or not!) to your own taste. Enjoy!
1. Soak 1 cup of soybeans overnight.
2. Drain beans and put them in a blender topped with a litre and of water.
3. Turn on blender (low setting is good enough) and blend for three minutes.
4. Strain through a cheesecloth or fine seive into a large pot. (The pulp, called okara, can be added to any bread recipe, half a cup per loaf, without any other adjustments. Makes a nice, moist, high protein bread.)
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for ten minutes.
6. Pour into a pitcher, adding half a litre of water.
Optional: a dash of salt, honey to taste, flavourings, or cornstarch (add one or two tablespoons at the blender stage) as thickener.
—the Editors, on July 11, 2009
Cheap eats
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