Just because you call yourself frugal doesn’t mean you don’t want to have fun and be entertained. Having fun and being frugal is what this site is all about! You don’t have to spend a lot of cash to have fun. Here’s how to save money and enjoy movies – at home or in a theater.

How to Save Money and Enjoy the Movies

1. Go to the matinee showing :: Go to the first run theaters during the day and you’ll spend a lot less than going at night. Daytime dates can be very romantic especially if you go to lunch at a food cart and share.
2. Eat before going to the movies :: Let’s face it – movie theater food is bad for you. It’s also expensive. Skip the fattening food and eat at home, first. On a content tummy, we’re less likely to indulge on the bad for us food. Don’t forget to skip the drinks, too. You’ll be less thirsty if you don’t get the popcorn!
3. Go to a second-run theater :: Find a theater in your town that shows movies after they’ve been out for a while. This is a great way to enjoy the thrill of going to a theater but parting with much less cash.
4. Skip the theater and get it from the rental store :: While not many of these are left, our neighborhood has an excellent “mom and pop” video rental spot. Support a local business and go browse.
5. Check out movies from the library :: Don’t forget the local library for entertainment. Libraries have so many choices and the material can be checked out for longer than a video rental store.
6. Borrow movies from a neighbor :: This is especially helpful for families. Kids often want to watch movies again and there’s no reason everyone on the block needs to own the same movie. Swap and trade with your neighbors rather than buying or renting your own.
7. Host a movie night in your backyard :: Always fun in the summer, this is a great way to have friends over for super tasty microwave free popcorn and host a movie night outdoors. A white sheet hung between trees will do the trick. Find out who has a projector and share that, too.
8. Check garage sales :: Movies are often times on sale at garage or estate sales. For very little money, you could own the movie you were going to rent.
9. Check out RedBox :: For about $1, you can check out a DVD from a RedBox movie rental box. Search “RedBox promo code” in your favorite search engine and you can get the rental for free. This is my kids favorite way to rent movies these days. They ride their bikes to the store and check movies out themselves!

Not quite a movie, but a live backyard production of “Gilligan’s Island” instead.

Just because you’re frugal doesn’t mean you don’t want to have fun. Saving money and enjoying the movies is easy if you follow a few of these ideas. It’s very Go Gingham to be frugal and have fun. Try it!

What would you add to this list of money saving strategies while still enjoying the movies?

Go Gingham related links:

Ottoman slipcover hides shoes, socks and whatever else my kids stuff under there!
Meet Internet Girl she likes shiny objects and is easily distracted!
Parenting: Children’s Allowances
Social Networking and Parents Behaving Badly
Time tested family rules - who knew these would work?
Our weekly ritual - Technology Free Sundays

St. Bart’s is absolutely beautiful and the beach we traveled to for the day was completely deserted. I had never sunbathed topless before but thought to myself, “What better time to try out sunbathing topless than on my honeymoon?” I wasn’t a prude but had never actually been on a beach where topless sunbathing would have gone unnoticed. (After 4 home exchange trips to Europe and several trips to the Bahamas,  I have clearly embraced this method of appearing on the beach  – much to my children’s chagrin.)

How Bo Derek Crashed My Honeymoon

We spread out our blanket on the hot sand and got our books positioned overhead to block the afternoon sun. We were settling in for a little “reading in the sun until we had to jump in the water” session. After a short time of this honeymoon paradise, a couple walked up and dropped their items about 5 feet away from us. I was a little annoyed by this closeness. The beach was entirely empty and yet they plopped down closer to us than was necessary. They had the usual beach gear – blanket, towels, boom box, and snorkeling equipment. I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful and striking the woman was. I didn’t know if it was the hot Caribbean sun or because I was laying down, but she looked very familiar to me.

Wait – did I mention the boom box was blaring? (For those of you who are younger, a “boom box” is a carry around stereo that plays music. Music that came from a compact disc or cassette tape. It was 1990 for goodness sake! No one had even heard of an iPod or could dream of playing music on a cell phone.) Enough history lesson and back to the story -

This incredibly attractive couple had a boom box that had to be carried on a shoulder. It was large and the music was loud. They spread out their blanket on the burning hot sand,  positioned their boom box just so, and began to disrobe.

Me on our honeymoon, circa 1990. I learned a lot from Bo Derek!

I was still lying down but propped myself up on my elbows for the show. (I was definitely staring more than my polite new husband!) This woman began to take every stitch of clothing off. First her hat, then off came the pareo, sunglasses, and finally her bikini. She was buck-naked and believe me when I tell you – there was not a tan line in sight!

Next, out came the sunblock – although being 1990, I’m pretty sure it was Hawaiian Tropic Tanning Oil. The frenzy about skin cancer hadn’t started yet so we all were pretty greased up without blocking any of the sun’s harmful rays. (If my dermatologist is reading this, yes, I know, I should have been wearing sunblock but this is why I visit you regularly.)

Ignorance is bliss, isn’t it?

Back to the naked lady and the tanning oil – next, this woman started rubbing herself with oil and I mean it was a full body rub down. There wasn’t a spot on her body that she skipped. No wonder she didn’t have a tan line – she was an absolute professional when it came to being naked in the sun. I had a lot to learn from her!

As soon as the couple skipped off to the water with their snorkeling gear and nothing else, my husband and I looked at each other with wide eyes and wide mouths. Neither of us could believe who it was and the show we had just witnessed. We were both speechless until I broke the silence.

“That’s it. We’re leaving,” I said.

“What? Why? Shouldn’t we stay and keep an eye on their things? What about their boom box? Shouldn’t we make sure no one takes it?” were just a few of the many responses I heard from my husband.

Okay, really? Who was he trying to kid here?

The thought of having to witness Bo Derek bouncing out of the water all greased up and wet without a tan line in sight was going to be too much for me. It was definitely going to be too much for my 23-year-old husband!

I had to repeat myself, “Nope. Not happening. We’re leaving!” Books packed, blanket rolled, tanning oil shoved into the backpack and into our little mini Moke car we went. Neither of us could believe our chance meeting. Or luck. Or that Bo Derek had crashed our honeymoon!

We looked for Bo Derek and her husband, John, around St. Bart’s the rest of our trip but never ran into them.

She is definitely a “10.”

Where did you spend your honeymoon? Any celebrity run-ins while traveling stories?

Go Gingham related links:

Why I love to home swap – it’s free!
Save money on your next trip: before and during
Travel packing tips with a PDF chart are here
Frugal family summer fun activities can be found here
Want to keep food costs low while traveling? Try these tips!
Headed to the Pacific Northwest? You’ll want to hit these spots.
Home swapping and eating like a local – foodies will love this!

Yes, every garden needs a little gingham! You know I love gingham, right?

My yard is pretty small and the amount of space I have to grow vegetables is not very large. This keeps me on the lookout for more spots to grow food and start gardening. Maximizing growing space in a small yard takes a bit of creativity and a keen eye. If you’re on the lookout for more areas to start a garden so that you can grow more of your own food, these 5 spots are ready to be discovered.

5 Spots to Start a Garden

1. Look up: “Sky gardening” as I like to call it. Green beans love to climb and a ladder may be necessary for harvesting. You don’t need much ground space but climbers like to go up. Staking the plants is key so find a source for inexpensive materials. Ask a neighbor who has bamboo growing in their yard when harvest time is!
2. South side and sunny: Any spot that faces south and gets afternoon sun is a good location. Look for walkways or driveways where you can line up pots. Pots can be inexpensive or free plastic ones. My neighbor gave me his plastic ones when he planted small trees.
3. Replace hedges with vegetables or fruit trees: Slowly replacing non-edible plants with edible ones is my gardening goal and this keeps the project easy. By not taking on too much – I’m ripping out the entire laurel hedge today! – it’s more a manageable job and it can be a process.
4. Raised beds: Adding raised beds to a grassy area takes a morning of work but results in a summer of fresh vegetables. Make sure to use non-pressure treated wood (no chemical leaching) for your building project.
5. Flowers need greens: Add a spinach plant to your flower pots! Every pot of flowers needs a little greenery. Add spinach or arugula and those pretty pots of flowers can have something edible in them, too.

A tour of my garden with additional space…

This a walkway along a porch that faces south. Plastic pots were given to me by my neighbors and would have otherwise been recycled.

And by the end of summer they filled in nicely. It was a great spot for peppers and tomatoes.

By the end of summer, this walkway was productive growing space.

“Sky gardening” works for green beans in this spot that used to be a hedge.

Pole beans grow up and salad greens “mesclun mix” get planted below in this very small space.

By the end of the season, my husband had to use a ladder to pick the green beans.

Hubby on ladder picking green beans for dinner!

This was an unused spot on the south side of our house.

South side and next to the house – tomatoes love to grow here!

It produced so many tomatoes last year that my regular staking methods tipped over and I ended up with a tangled – but delicious – tomato mess! Start saving your eggshells for planting with your tomatoes, too.

Tomatoes gone wild – they even grew underneath the wood siding!

All of my flower pots get a little greenery. Lettuce and flowers look pretty together.

Every pot of flowers gets lettuce, spinach or other green. Eat those veggies!

Whether your yard is large or small, look around for places to maximize your vegetable growing space. It takes a bit of creativity and a keen eye but if your goal is to grow more food, be on the lookout! These 5 spots to start a garden are probably in your yard. Go look! You’ll be eating fresh vegetables from your “farm” this summer.

What’s growing in your garden right now? Inspired to find new spots to grow food?

Go Gingham related links:

I also like to save seeds and re-use those in my garden!
How to stake tomato plants – a very stylishly frugal method!
Why my tomato plants are happy – what I plant with them
My non-gardener-gardening-strategy – yes, non gardeners can fake it
Three easy herbs to grow – you won’t be able to kill these, I promise!
Easy grids for your garden - get square foot gardening!
Composting tips - add richness to your soil with scraps from the kitchen

More related links:

Amy from “Frugal Mama” has a list of edible flowers you’ll want to check out. Flowers that you can eat – a win-win in the garden!

Rita from “This Sorta Old Life” is sharing her “lawn to garden” conversion. She claims she doesn’t know what she’s doing but it looks professional to me.

I like the food I cook and eat to have lots of color, lots of health, and lots of taste. Whenever we have a meal that consists of brown rice, roasted cauliflower, and oven roasted whole chicken, it all tastes great and is healthy but it all sort of melds together in a shade of beige. When I look down at my plate, I want to see some color. This salad is my kind of real food – tasty, fresh, healthy, and lots of color.

Asian shrimp noodle salad

Chopped peanuts are a tasty addition in this salad, too. Serve on the side if allergies are an issue.

Salad: Ingredients

• 1 pound whole wheat pasta (linguine or other long type)
• 2 pounds shrimp, frozen (salad type, fully cooked wild and sustainably harvested)
• 2 red peppers, seeds removed and chopped
• 1 bunch green onions,chopped (use both green and white parts)
• 3 large carrots, shredded (about 3 to 4 cups)
• 1/2 cup sesame seeds, toasted

Dressing: Ingredients

• 1 small knob of ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 lime, zest and juice (zest first and then juice)
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 cup cilantro, loosely packed
• 1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 3/4 cup canola oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoon rooster sauce (chili garlic sauce by Huy Fong Foods)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce, low sodium
• 1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

1. Cook pasta in a large pot and drain it. Return it to large pot.
2. Add frozen shrimp to drained pasta (this is cooling the pasta and thawing the shrimp).
3. Stir pasta and shrimp mixture occasionally to break up shrimp.
4. Remove tops and insides from red peppers.
5. Prepare vegetables and add to pasta and shrimp.
6. Toss salad and prepare dressing (this can be done in a food processor or blender).
7. Add dressing to salad and toss.
8. Adjust seasoning and enjoy.

Notes for this recipe:

• I use my food processor to shred the carrots and after adding them to the pasta, I make the dressing in the bowl and pulse it until smooth. Don’t clean out the carrot remnants before making the dressing.
• Want to make it gluten free? Substitute the whole wheat pasta with rice pasta or rice sticks. Go easy on the stirring the rice sticks because they can break down.
• Toast the sesame seeds in a large skillet on medium and stir them while they brown. Don’t ignore them and let them burn. Yes, I speak from experience.
• If you don’t want the sugar, substitute honey or mirin, which is a sweet rice wine. Adjust quantity to taste.
• Enjoy this with chop sticks but feel free to grab a spoon, too!

A PDF version of this recipe is available here: Asian Shrimp Noodle Salad with Sesame Seeds

What’s your favorite pasta salad to make? Have you ever burned sesame seeds?

Go Gingham related links:

Why I cook with pork – several reasons – and one involves sweat
Just say no to baby carrots!
Go Gingham food philosophy – yes, there is one
New to cooking at home? Fear not!
11 reasons to meal plan every week – save money, save time and reduce food waste
How our freezer gets used - what I keep in our freezer and how I utilize the space

The winner of the $100 gift card to New Seasons Market is:

Comment # 42 ~ Marlynn!

Marlynn’s comment was, “I follow @GoGingham on Twitter!”

Congratulations! Look for an email in your in-box with the details. New Seasons Market will mail you the $100 gift card. Have a Happy Mother’s Day!

Thank you to everyone who entered and to New Seasons Market for sponsoring this giveaway.

This is a sponsored giveaway. If you’d like to read my disclosure policy, please check here.

A reader contacted me recently asking for tips because her husband recently lost his job. Unfortunately, I have experience with this situation since this month marks 5-years since my husband lost his job. His last full-time job was with a start-up company that was equity funded and in 2008, with the economy coming to a halt, his company wasn’t able to get their last round of financing.

Suddenly finding yourself or your spouse unemployed is never easy and it means it’s time to get creative, roll up your sleeves, and make lemonade. Having less income and more time at home, thanks to unemployment, has a way of making you more creative.

Tips for the newly unemployed

Where to begin?

First, make a list of all of your expenses and see what you can cut out completely or reduce. Use the same methods described in “Budgeting and How to Track Expenses” for the nitty-gritty details on how to track your spending.

For my family, the expenses we cut were meals at restaurants, good wine, and organic vegetable delivery. (Yes, I enjoyed organic produce being delivered to my home but really – I can buy vegetables and fruit myself!) Once you adjust to living without, you’ll find that it’s easy and you’ll cut more. I usually suggest starting slow with cutting back on spending but when it’s a sudden change like unemployment, you’ve got to buckle down and cut quickly.

How do we afford our mortgage while my husband is unemployed?

Since you still have your job, see if you can get your mortgage company to refinance your mortgage for you. Ask them about a longer term loan with a lower interest rate and no additional fees. Explain your situation and that your husband lost his job. Banks and mortgage lenders would rather work with customers than risk having another foreclosure on their hands. Ask to speak to a manager and be polite but firm.

How do I help our kids change their expectations about our lowered income?

Sit down with your kids and tell them in a way that’s easy for them to understand. Explain what’s going on and what it will mean for your family. Kids need to see how parents roll up their sleeves and work together to get through tough times. This is a learning situation. Your kids will learn from you how to work together with a spouse or partner on how to get through tough times. Tough times happen to all of us and you and your husband will be modeling, “This is how we make lemonade out of lemons.” This making of lemonade is an important skill for all of us.

There’s also the benefit of your husband being home. When my husband lost his job in 2008, my kids both enjoyed having their dad around more. He and I both work from home now and we have both found “creative employment opportunities” that have left us with less income but more time together. This “time together” is what we view as our greatest luxury in life.

What does your family do for low-cost entertainment?

Here are a few to get your started. As soon as you see how easy it is to have fun and spend very little, you’ll be amazed!

• Embrace the library :: Because we don’t have paid television or cable TV, cell phones, or a video game system, (I had to change this because my kids recently purchased a game system for themselves with their own money), we get all of our in-home entertainment from the library. Books, DVDs, music, and even sheet music are available to check out.
• Play games :: Get together with friends and other families for game nights. Play charades or a board game and enjoy a homemade dessert or brownies. Check out “Play According to Hoyle – Hoyle’s Rules of Games” from the library. It has every game you can imagine and rules for how to play.
• Go camping or home swapping :: Whatever you do, don’t pay for hotels while vacationing. You can also go for a hike or a leisurely walk and pack a picnic. Walks and hikes cost nothing and can be so refreshing when focusing on finances! Be a tourist in your own city or town and go explore.
• Cook at home :: My husband and I haven’t been out to dinner by ourselves in a restaurant since he lost his job in 2008 and while at first I thought I would miss fancy dinners out, I don’t at all. We do occasionally go out to lunch, which I now think is more romantic. Added bonus: when our kids were younger and in school, there was no babysitter to pay.

It’s hard to be in this situation when you don’t expect it. Suddenly finding your spouse or yourself unemployed means it’s time to get creative, roll up your sleeves, and make lemonade! Try focusing less on convenience and more on low cost. Work together as a family on your joint goal of lowering your expenses. You may find it brings your family closer. Get kids involved with money saving ideas, too. You may be surprised at what they’re willing to give up – or what they’re willing to figure out how to pay for themselves.

Good luck to you and your family.

Do you have any tips to add to this list? How do you cut expenses quickly?

Go Gingham related links:

Tried and true investing strategies – a question asked by Annie of Plenty Perfect
Just balance that checkbook! You can do it!
Frugal living is the key to saving
How finances figure in frugality
Budgeting and how to track expenses – Part 1
Budgeting and how to track expenses – Part 2
Budgeting and how to track expenses – Part 3

Our home exchange home was beautiful! We wanted to stay longer.

Our most recent home exchange adventure, over spring break, was to Victoria, British Columbia. It’s an incredibly beautiful and cosmopolitan city for its relatively small size. It’s also very easy to get around the downtown area whether you’re on a bike, walking or driving. We had our car with us on this home swap (as we drove from our house to Victoria) and on the days we did drive into the downtown area, parking spots were plentiful.

Our home exchange partners, Jack and Brannan, were gracious and welcoming with a “Welcome to Victoria” package for us. Their home was beautiful, centrally located, and minutes from the downtown and inner harbor area as well as the stoic Craigdarroch Castle and Government House Gardens.

Our hosts had a lovely welcome package for us.

We had bicycles which we used to ride from their home to the Galloping Goose trail. It’s a fun, flat ride that we enjoyed with a picnic lunch.

Camera comes out and teens offer to take pictures or they turn away.

Our big splurge was lunch out at “Red Fish, Blue Fish” which is located on the water in the inner harbor. Go off the menu and ask for the fried pickles. You won’t be sorry. Lunch was so tasty and the fish is all sustainably caught. There is outdoor seating along the water and the restaurant kitchen is in an up-cycled cargo container.

The restaurant was built from an upcycled storage container.

It seems to always happen on our home exchanges that some item accidentally gets broken. Honestly, I wish I could tell you that my kids are responsible for breaking the most items but usually it’s me! I ended up breaking not 1, but 2 glasses. From now on, I’m allowed only “sturdy” glassware and not fancy wine glasses or otherwise.

It was a beautiful week of weather in Victoria and I can’t say enough about the natural beauty surrounding the city or the ease with which we got around. The only downside of the trip? Our car had to be pushed off the ferry. The starter broke while we were there but luckily it’s a stick-shift and we were able to “pop the clutch” and head home!

 Did you travel anywhere for spring break? Still wish you had a spring break???

Go Gingham related links:

Getting ready for a home exchange tips and house warming gift ideas
Meal planning while on vacation and meal planning while camping
Our San Francisco home exchange -Part I, Part II and
Part III
Save money on your next trip: before and during
Travel packing tips with a PDF chart are here
Want to keep food costs low while traveling? Try these tips!
Home swapping and eating like a local – foodies will love this!

This is a sponsored giveaway.

Hello readers! I’m so excited about this Mother’s Day giveaway. New Seasons Market, based in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, is giving one lucky Go Gingham reader a $100 gift card to spend at one of their stores. The idea is to make a special Mother’s Day meal whether that’s in the form of a picnic basket to enjoy at a park or to make a lovely brunch and invite all the “Mothers” in your life over for a celebration. You can also use it to buy your own groceries and we won’t tell dear ol’ mum!

New Seasons carries locally grown fruits and vegetables as well as sustainably raised fish and meats. Every week, I pour over the ad that comes in our newspaper to check out what their specials are.

Their stores are centrally located around the Portland area and have flowers and vegetable starts so you grow your own food, too.

New Seasons Market has also recently been recognized by Zero Waste Alliance as a Zero Waste company. I especially love that they’re making a real effort to get food that would normally be wasted and connecting with Urban Gleaners to get food to folks who are hungry and need it. They’re using their powers for good!

Here’s how to enter the drawing for a $100 gift card to New Seasons Market…

• Answer the following question: breakfast, brunch or dinner – what’s your favorite meal time celebration?
• Like New Seasons Market on Facebook
• Like Go Gingham on Facebook
• Follow New Seasons Market on Twitter
• Follow Go Gingham on Twitter
• Follow New Seasons Market on Instagram
• Follow Go Gingham on Instagram
• Sign up to receive Go Gingham updates by email
• Follow Go Gingham on Pinterest
• Re-Tweet the giveaway on Twitter

You may enter up to 10 times and I hope you do! Each “comment” is an entry. Please don’t tell me in one comment, “I follow you on Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.” That can count as 3 entries but you have to leave it in separate comments. (PS if you follow me in all those places already, THANK YOU!!)

Details, details…

• Giveaway ends on Friday, May 10th, 2013 at 9am (PST) and will be announced via email and in a post.
• Winner to be chosen using random number generator.
• Gift card will be mailed to winner by New Seasons Market.
• If you’re reading this post in your email in-box, you have to click over to Go Gingham to leave a comment. You can’t hit the “reply button” and have it count.
• This is a local contest so if you live outside of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area, by all means enter and then visit Portland this summer!
• Open to residents of the U.S. only. Sorry international readers.
• Your privacy matters to me. Your email address will not be shared.

By the way, my husband is not allowed to enter. He just asked me if he could win. No, Sweetie, you may not.

Thank you to New Seasons Market for sponsoring this giveaway.

This is a sponsored giveaway. If you’d like to read my disclosure policy, please check here.

Go Gingham related links:

Kid’s birthday party gifts that are budget friendly and very sweet
Frugal gift ideas for teachers – lovely and homemade
How to handle the group gift for teachers – bowing out gracefully
Frugal and easy gifts to give – very easy
Frugal and green wedding gifts – simple gifts with an upgrade element, too
Wrapping paper alternatives – old maps!
Mother’s Day gift giving – frugal and fancy gifts to give

The winner of the Harry and David Mother’s Day “Tower of Treats Deluxe” giveaway is:

Deeanna with comment number 43!  Congratulations, Deeanna!

Look for an email with all of the details in your in-box.

Thanks to everyone for entering and to Harry and David for the giveaway!

Would you like to help me with a research project I’m working on? Please? It’s a short survey – 6 questions. It only takes a few minutes.

Thank you in advance for your input. I’ll keep you posted on the results!!

Spinach and dandelions from the garden. Dandelion weeds, that is.

Even though I meal plan every week (for many reasons – here are 11 reasons why I do it), I don’t meal plan for a month at a time – I’m only sharing it once-a-month here. With a busy family schedule and teenagers who are always springing a “Oh, didn’t I tell you???” on their parents, I can only think about meals in weekly chunks of time. Even with a plan, I flip-flop dinners and proclaim, “You can eat that for breakfast after all!” My meal plans give us a framework, guidance, and are reminders to take stuff out of the freezer when necessary.

While our family of 4 eats at home or packs lunches for practically every meal, the only meal we all sit down and eat together is at dinner. My husband and I have made nightly family dinners a priority so we’re able to connect and talk with our teenagers uninterrupted and face-to-face.

I wish I could tell you that dinners last more than 8 minutes 42 seconds but on most nights, they don’t. We’re like every other family – trying to get our kids to talk about their day and share more than 1-syllable answers about school or other activities.

Dinner also gives us a moment each day to give thanks and pray for others.

Monthly Meal Plan

I meal plan at the beginning of each week, before heading to the grocery store. Weekly meal planning saves money, reduces food waste, and keeps me from saying, “Let’s go out to eat!” If you need more reasons to meal plan every week, check HERE. Both of my kids cook dinner once-a-week and do the clean-up after the meal. If you want to learn how to pull that off at your house, check HERE. If you’re looking for more meal planning ideas, check HERE.

Baby bok choy is easy to roast in the oven and tastes delish!

This meal plan is from Monday, March 11, 2013 to Sunday, March 17, 2013.

Monday: pinto beans and Mexican pulled pork (from freezer) over brown rice with fresh tomato salsa

Tuesday: grilled cheese sandwiches and homemade tomato soup

Wednesday: ground pork and sautéed cabbage

Thursday: scrambled eggs with veggies

Friday: shrimp and clam sauce over whole wheat pasta with green salad

Saturday: stir fry spicy chicken with green beans and orange sauce (my son made dinner this night)

Sunday: green onion pancakes with green peas (my daughter made dinner this night)

This meal plan is from Monday, March 18, 2013 Sunday, March 24, 2013.

Monday: pinto beans (from freezer) and cheese burritos with fresh tomato salsa

Tuesday: spicy hummus, carrot sticks and toast

Wednesday: oven roasted whole chicken, roasted carrots and onions and brown rice

Thursday: curry chicken salad sandwiches

Friday: fish, brown rice, green salad

Saturday: pulled pork and cole slaw sliders (my son made dinner this night)

Sunday: whole wheat pasta with pan seared scallops and green salad (my daughter made dinner this night)

This meal plan is from Monday, March 25, 2013 to Sunday, March 31, 2013.

We were in Victoria, British Columbia during this week. I brought whole wheat pasta, brown rice, quinoa, and frozen pizza dough with us and we shopped at the local market for other items. (Yes, there is a vacation meal planner HERE.)

Monday: pork chops on grill, quinoa and Asian spiced cole slaw

Tuesday: grilled teriyaki chicken, brown rice and grilled bok choy

Wednesday: whole wheat pasta with garlic/olive oil and green salad (my son made dinner this night)

Thursday: oven roasted potatoes and oven roasted cauliflower

Friday: homemade pizza with mushrooms and onions – leftover smoked salmon spread was the “sauce” used on the pizza! (my daughter made dinner this night)

Saturday: pinto beans (from freezer) and cheese burritos and green salad

Sunday: Asian carrot salad

This meal plan is from Monday, April 1, 2013 to Sunday, April 7, 2013.

Monday: fish, brown rice and green salad

Tuesday: Asian shrimp noodle salad

Wednesday: Asian shrimp noodle salad (leftovers)

Thursday: split pea soup with shredded carrots and homemade broth (made with ham bone)

Friday: split pea soup with shredded carrots and homemade broth (made with ham bone) leftovers

Saturday: olives, tomatoes and ground pork over whole wheat pasta (my daughter made dinner this night)

Sunday: pan seared and breaded chicken breasts, oven roasted potatoes and green salad (my son made dinner this night)

This meal plan is from Monday, April 8, 2013 to Sunday, April 14, 2013.

Monday: fish, brown rice and oven roasted broccoli

Tuesday: Mediterranean quinoa salad

Wednesday: Mediterranean quinoa salad (leftovers) and green salad

Thursday: pinto bean (from freezer) and cheese burritos with fresh tomato salsa

Friday: “surf and turf” lobster, steak and green salad (no, this wasn’t a family meal but a romantic meal for my husband and me! We skipped the expensive restaurant and cooked at home.)

Saturday: whole wheat pasta with garlic/olive oil and carrots (my daughter made dinner this night)

Sunday: pork steaks, brown rice and oven roasted broccoli (my son made dinner this night)

This meal plan is from Monday, April 15, 2013 to Sunday, April 21, 2013.

Monday: whole wheat pasta with 3 types of mushrooms and green salad

Tuesday: pan seared fish, red quinoa and green salad

Wednesday: pinto beans (from freezer), red quinoa (leftovers) and fresh tomato salsa

Thursday: oven roasted whole chicken, green salad and garlic bread (my daughter made dinner this night)

Friday: chicken curry salad (made with leftovers) and homemade chicken broth was made the next day!

Saturday: Asian shrimp noodle salad

Sunday: Asian shrimp noodle salad (leftovers) in rice paper wraps (my son made dinner this night)

This meal plan is from Monday, April 22, 2013 to Sunday, April 28, 2013.

Monday: homemade pizza with spinach, onions and mushrooms

Tuesday: asparagus, mushrooms, carrots and beef stir fry served over quinoa

Wednesday: fish, quinoa, and edamame beans (my son made dinner this night)

Thursday: scrambled eggs, pinto beans, corn tortillas and fresh tomato salsa

Friday: Mexican pulled pork, pinto beans, corn tortillas and fresh tomato salsa

Saturday: Mexican pulled pork, pinto beans, corn tortillas and fresh tomato salsa (leftovers)

Sunday: Creamy shrimp over whole wheat pasta with green salad (my daughter made dinner this night)

Do you meal plan for a month or for a week? What’s your routine for planning meals? What do you think of me posting meal plans once-a-month only?

Go Gingham related links:

New to cooking at home? Fear not!
How we keep food waste to a minimum
Confessions of a leftover food lover - that would be me!
Take the night off and let your kids cook dinner every week
How our freezer gets used – ways to organize and optimize

More related links:

Need more reasons to cook at home? Watch this excellent interview with Michael Pollan. Home cooks, unite!

I have collected recipes for over 40 years and have quite a few!! Also cookbooks!! They are overwhelming my kitchen and book cases!! Help!! Please before my hubby starts to burn them!!

Oh my do I feel your pain! I share your love of exclamation points, too!! I had to do this several years ago and it was hard. A major purge is in order.

How to Organize Recipes and Cookbooks

Before beginning this project, make yourself a nice drink like a cup of coffee or tea. And, make sure to wear clothing that can get dirty! After 40-years of collecting, you’re going to need a refreshment and once your bookshelves are empty, you’ll likely want to clean them, too.

Let’s start with the books…

First, clear them ALL off your bookshelves and put them in the middle of the room. Next, make 2 piles:

• Keep
• Giveaway

How many to keep? Pick out 7-10 of your favorite cookbooks and then plan to give the rest away. Tell your husband there is no need to burn books. The cookbooks can go to your local second-hand store that accepts donations. Make sure to ask for a receipt so you can use the donation on next year’s taxes. You could also invite friends and relatives over for a “cookbook giveaway” party and send the books home with new owners. Another option is to pass them along yourself, giving them to those who you think might enjoy them.

Now, onto the recipes themselves…

Get all of your clippings and printed recipes and sort by food type (main dish, side, vegetarian, etc.) and recycle all duplicates and similar ones. Once you have an idea of how many recipes you want to keep, check HERE for tips on setting on binders for your recipes.

If all of this sorting seems too overwhelming, consider recycling the whole lot of them. With the internet and so many excellent food blogging sites, it might be very freeing for you to start completely over. I give you permission to do this if you promise to recycle them! 40+ years of collecting is a long time. If you have the urge to purge, go for it! (My apologies for the rhyming but I couldn’t resist.)

One thing that has really helped me when I find a recipe that sounds good, I put on the brakes and do the following:

I read the recipe again and ask myself the following:

• Is this similar to something I already have?
• Am I really going to make this?
• How many recipes and cookbooks do I really need?

Be strong. You can do it!! Good luck.

What do you collect that needs sorting or purging? Are you a clipper of recipes? Or a collector of cookbooks?

Go Gingham related links:

National Match-Up Day: A step-by-step on how to clean and organize your food storage containers!
I love to collect chairs! Yes, chairs!!
A free chair – that was rejected!
Wrapping presents with free maps makes for pretty gifts
Green and frugal living – the sweet spot where green and frugal meet

Mother’s Day is right around the corner so it seems like a good time to have a giveaway or two, don’t you think?

This one is from Harry and David and is called the “Mother’s Day Tower of Treats Gift Deluxe” and it is! Here’s what comes in a tower of treats:

• 5 Royal Riviera Pears
• Milk Chocolate Moose Munch Popcorn (6 oz.)
• 4 Lemon Lavender Cookies (0.32 oz. each)
• Raspberry Galettes (5.25 oz.)
• Original Baklava (5 oz.)
• Dark Chocolate Cherries (4.5 oz.)
• Chocolate Toffee Almonds (6 oz.)
• Assorted Chocolate Truffles (4 oz.)

All individually wrapped in beautiful decorative boxes.

Here’s what you have to do to enter:

• Leave a comment telling me how you like to be treated on Mother’s Day or how you like to treat your mother?
• Like Harry and David on Facebook
• Like Go Gingham on Facebook
• Follow Harry and David on Twitter
• Follow Go Gingham on Twitter
• Sign up to receive Go Gingham updates by email
• Follow Go Gingham on Pinterest
• Follow Go Gingham on Instagram
• Re-tweet the giveaway on Twitter

You may enter up to 9 times and I hope you do!

Details, details…

• Giveaway ends on Thursday, May 2nd, 2013 at 9am (PST) and will be announced via email and in a post.
• Winner to be chosen using random number generator.
• Gift basket will be shipped to winner.
• If you’re reading this post in your email in-box, you have to click over to my site to leave a comment. You can’t hit the “reply button” and have it count.
• This contest is open to all residents of the U.S. only. Sorry international readers!

Good luck!

Harry and David did not compensate me for this giveaway but they did send me one of these gifts as a thank you. It was delicious and the boxes and ribbons are all getting re-used. Thanks, Harry and David!

Go Gingham related links:

Kid’s birthday party gifts that are budget friendly and very sweet
Frugal gift ideas for teachers – lovely and homemade
How to handle the group gift for teachers – bowing out gracefully
Frugal and easy gifts to give – very easy
Frugal and green wedding gifts – simple gifts with an upgrade element, too
Wrapping paper alternatives – old maps!
Mother’s Day gift giving – frugal and fancy gifts to give

One of the many things I love about our dinner group is seeing everyone’s beautiful homes. With 4 couples in our ongoing rotating supper club, we get to dine in a friend’s home regularly and we also get to see progress of everyone’s house and garden projects. There are always house projects, aren’t there?

Our dinner group met in February at Robin and Greg’s home. They have lived in their mid-century home for 7 (or is it 8?) years now. They used to live 7 houses away from us but now it’s about 7 blocks away. We let them stay in dinner group even though they moved. The other couples in our group live on our block so everyone is within walking distance or bike riding distance. Or carpooling/driving distance when it rains – which it does sometimes in Portland!

I love how it’s decoration is eclectic and reflects the era of the house as well as Robin and Greg’s taste and style.

Why is it that every party begins in the kitchen?! Their kitchen is small like mine but is completely efficient and holds 8 adults easily.

We all had to exit the kitchen and had appetizers by the fire.

Next, dinner was served at the dining room table.

It’s always festive when the dishes are passed around in a flurry of conversation and checking to make sure you got every dish and sauce passed to you.

And the glorious, delicious dessert which was a fallen chocolate cake.

Here’s the menu:

• Appetizers: fresh salsa, guacamole, and sour cream chipotle sauce with homemade tortilla chips (we brought this assortment)
• Drinks: were various but included a classic margarita following this recipe from Real Simple
• Main course: pork chile verde with red chile salsa from Epicurious (our hosts made this)
• Salad: fresh and colorful -  Bobby Flay’s green onion slaw with lime juice and honey added to the dressing (another couple brought this)
• Dessert: fallen chocolate cake from Bon Appetit (the final couple brought this)

Our dinner group rotates houses or hosts and it’s “pot-luck” style so everyone shares in the work – and in the fun. You’ll find more about our dinner group HERE along with other entertaining tips. We’re meeting again soon and as always, I can’t wait!

What’s your favorite dish to bring to a “pot-luck” dinner party?

Go Gingham related links:

How to organize a dinner group – why not start one? It’s frugal, fancy & fun!
Last summer’s dinner group gather is here and the appetizer we brought is here
Our dinner group followed Bon Appetit’s menu last fall
The last time we hosted diner group – in between decorating seasons
Dinner group in spring – well, it felt like winter
The appetizer – white bean dip – brought for dinner group

With my backyard chickens back in the swing of laying eggs for spring, I have lots of eggs, which means lots of egg shells. I use them in several ways and you can, too.

1. Plant
2. Grind
3. Toast
4. Compost

How to Use Egg Shells in Garden

Here are 4-quick ways to use egg shells in the garden:

1. Plant

Sprinkle crushed egg shells around plant bases to keep slugs off of your tender plants. Make sure the egg shells are crushed up nice and small (read: sharp!) so that those pesky slugs and other garden munchers get hurt and “hurry” away from your plants. It’s important to make sure that plant leaves are not touching the ground and providing an easy way for slugs to get onto your plants.

You can also use sharp gravel at the base of plants to achieve the same effect – just in case you don’t like the egg shell look. These egg shells are at the base of an artichoke plant.

Egg shells at the base of my artichoke plant keep slimy-slugs off my veggies!

2. Grind

Mix egg shells with fish scraps or fish heads ground up and drop a cup into the hole you dig to plant with your tomato plants. (My tomato planting routine can be found HERE.) Make sure to dig deep holes for your tomato plants so that the egg shells and fish scraps are buried deep beneath the surface. This will keep critters from digging in your garden! These will break down by the end of the season, fertilize your plant and you’ll be left with wonderful soil for the following year.

Not appetizing to me but my tomato plants love it! Fish heads and egg shells.

3. Toast

Crush egg shells and toast them to feed to backyard chickens. Placing them on a baking tray on low in the toaster oven works well. Chickens need calcium, which egg shells are rich in. The reason the shells need toasting is so that chickens don’t get a taste for egg shells. We don’t want chickens eating their precious eggs! This process smells somewhat so be ready to have your window or doors open.

(You can also give your backyard chickens crushed oyster shell which can be purchased at a feed store.)

4. Compost

Add crushed egg shells to your compost bin to put nutrients back into your soil. When eggs get used in the kitchen, we toss them into our compost pail that we keep on the kitchen counter. It gets emptied into our compost bins outside and ends up back in the soil.

Be sure to crunch up small first, before adding them to your compost bin, to speed the decomposition. You’ll find egg shells scattered around your vegetable patch if they don’t get crunched up.

Beautiful rich soil straight from my compost bin. Notice the brown egg shells?

Those are my quick and easy uses for egg shells in the garden.

What do you use egg shells for? Any tips for keeping slugs away?

Go Gingham related links:

Egg salad sandwiches – this is the best ever! I promise
How to hard boil eggs – it’s easy and takes 10 minutes for perfection
Brownies – with whole wheat flour, eggs, and yogurt – practically health food
Egg strata that gets assembled at night and baked the next day – delicious!

Remember when I told you that if you roast a chicken at home you can feed your family 3 times? The first night, you enjoy the homemade oven roasted chicken. The next night, you dine on a simple curry chicken salad. Then, you make homemade chicken broth and use the broth in a soup. Or, you can use this tasty broth and make flavorful brown rice or quinoa. The possibilities are endless.

The best way to start is to roast the chicken carcass first, just like I did for our Thanksgiving turkey. For the record, I rarely take the time to roast the carcass first when making homemade chicken broth, but it still tastes great. I’m usually in a hurry (or is it that I’m lazy?) in the kitchen. If you have extra time, roast it. If you’re like me and simply would rather not buy chicken broth at the grocery store, read on!

The nice thing about following this method for making homemade chicken broth is that you can do this with chicken you’ve oven roasted yourself at home by following the directions HERE or you can make broth from a store bought roasted chicken. Either version works fine. This is more of a method and less of a recipe.

I keep a plastic bag filled with vegetable scraps in my kitchen freezer. Anytime I’m chopping onions, cutting off carrot tops or celery ends, I toss them in this bag and keep it stored in the freezer until I’m ready to make broth. This keeping of vegetable scraps ready to go into broth is also an easy way to make a vegetarian broth as well.

Freezer bag filled with veggie scraps makes for good broth!

Sometimes I add chicken bones or the carcass to the freezer bag and wait until I’ve got a big batch before I make broth. Or, I make it when I need it for a recipe. Or, I do it when I feel like.

I also toss in cheese rinds to the freezer bag. They add a nice flavor to the broth. .

Cheese rinds can get tossed into the broth, too.

Once I’m ready to make broth, I empty the vegetable scraps and chicken bones into a large stock-pot.

Next, I fill the pot with water and completely cover the vegetables and bones with water.

To the pot filled with water, I add pepper, red pepper flakes, Tabasco (couple shakes), Old Bay, thyme (fresh or dried) and maybe a little salt. You can also add 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar.

Cover it with a lid and bring the pot to a boil. After it’s boiling, turn the stove down to low and let it simmer, with the lid on, for 2 or more hours.

After 2 or so hours, let it cool until you can pour it without burning yourself.

Congratulations, you have now made chicken broth!

After the pot has cooled, I pour it through a sieve to get the big pieces out. It helps to do this pouring in the sink because it can splash and be rather messy. I’ll either pour it directly into the jars for storing or, first, into a large (4 cup +) measuring cup, then into the storing containers.

If you live in Portland or other areas that allow you to compost food scraps, the scraps get placed directly into my yard debris composting bin collected by our garbage hauler.

Next, I pour the broth into jars. Make sure to leave plenty of head space at the top of the jars. When liquids freeze, they expand and glass jars can break.

Pouring the broth into jars can be messy.

And label the jars. When I don’t label the jars, I’m always annoyed with myself. I brought a gift of homemade applesauce to our friends recently and had to say, “This is either applesauce or chicken broth.” When it’s frozen, they look the same.

Then, I freeze the jars and have them on hand to quickly cook with. When I need broth, I take the broth out of the freezer a day or two ahead of time so it can thaw completely.

By just stashing vegetable scraps and holding onto your chicken bones or carcass, you can make delicious homemade chicken broth with your leftovers! It’s easy, good for you, and costs a lot less than buying broth at the grocery store.

Do you make your own broth? Inspired to try it at home?

Go Gingham related links:

New to cooking at home? Fear not!
How we keep food waste to a minimum
Confessions of a leftover food lover - that would be me!

One final note:

When I do purchase chicken broth, I like to use Pacific Foods brand chicken broth or Costco’s version Kirkland Signature chicken broth (I have a love/hate thing with Costco).