eBooks & More by Ria Stone

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

What to Buy: A Toaster Oven, a Blender or a French Coffee Press?

Ever since I found the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn in the early 1990s, I have enjoyed becoming a tightwad and becoming a tightwad has been enormously beneficial to me.

But, some decisions are hard for me.

Sometimes, when I try to save a few pesos on small purchases, I put myself into potentially dangerous situations, like wearing shoes with very worn soles on sidewalks with lots of cracks, holes, bumps, drops and old posts left sticking up. I have tripped at least three times and one was a bad fall. Now, I toss shoes that have worn soles and scour the city for shoe sales to replace the old ones.

Also, large purchases can put me in a quandary.

Because I am working on another edition of Recipes from the Kitchen of a Frugal Non-Cook, some recipes call for the use of a blender or oven. I have neither.

I work with a finicky two-burner electric stovetop and a microwave with one setting: high. So, I have been debating, do I get a blender or a toaster oven?

Getting a blender sounds like a luxury to me, whereas a toaster oven seems more practical.

I am leaning towards a toaster oven but do I get one with lots of features or a simple one? Do I get a convection oven? When I get into a quandary, I try to give myself time to make a decision.

But, what is also holding me back is not just spending the money but my new aversion to acquiring more "things."

After a lifetime of acquiring things, though most came from thrift stores & yard sales, it was a huge chore emptying my house, my room and my sister's storeroom of items, books in particular, that I could not part with. I don't want to do that again. All I could think of was how much time I spent sorting, packing, repacking, and disposing of items over and over, and over again.

Add in the fact, I like real coffee but have no coffee maker. Do I also buy a French Coffee press? I like the idea of getting the French Coffee Press because the ones I have seen range in size, price and style and it would be easy to use and easy to transport should I move.

But, then, there's the "hidden costs", like buying ground coffee and washing up. It sounds trivial but for a person who does not spend a lot of time in the kitchen, every task involved in cooking and cleaning is an effort.

Plus, caffeine now keeps me awake if I drink it after Noon. Instant coffee has worked fine for my morning cup of coffee. But, my guests would probably prefer real coffee. But, I don't really entertain that much. And the coffee press is not needed for my next RKFNC cookbook.

I also put off buying things because there are other things I "want", like taking a trip. I like to apply Amy's adage "Get Your Bang for the Buck" as part of my decision-making. I recently decided to cancel a trip because it would cost too much money for too little pleasure. So, now, I feel like I can afford a "little" trip and maybe a toaster oven.

But, after awhile I get frustrated and feel I must make a decision.

Luckily, I hate to shop and haven't been near a store in two weeks. But, the next time I go grocery shopping, those convection toaster ovens will be there.

On one hand, because I don't have a car, it's hard to shop for bargains but on the other hand, I am a good customer at the grocery store and it would be easy to return the toaster oven should it fail to work properly.

So many little decisions make up big decisions.

I even have to think about the value of the peso. Right now it's higher than it's been in four years, about 15 pesos for 1$US. Usually it runs about 12 pesos for 1$US. The savings comes from using less US$ to buy the same amount of pesos at an ATM.

But, I won't die without a toaster oven, a blender or a coffee press, so I have time to think about these purchases.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Peanut Butter, Cream & Grape Juice Popsicles

I found something to do with my failed Whipped Topping.

After successfully making Peanut Butter and Yogurt Popsicles, I got the idea to use that failed topping and make peanut butter & cream popsicles. Then, I got the idea to add grape juice.

Ingredients:
These are approximate estimates.

2 Tblspns Creamy peanut butter
2 cups cream or milk
1/3 cup grape juice

Process:
In a bowl, mix the ingredients. Mash peanut butter with a spoon against the edge of the bowl to mix it with the milk and juice. Continue to stir until mixture is fairly smooth.

The mixture will be like a soup.

Pour mixture into popsicle tray. Insert popsicle sticks or handles, or pour mixture into several small freezer containers with lids.

Freeze for 6-8 hours.

While these popsicles taste good, in the future, I think I will reduce the amount of cream and increase the amount of grape juice. Also, I will probably experiment with other mixtures and flavors.

Friday, March 20, 2015

It's Been a Month of Leftovers and Only One New Recipe - Easy Canned Oyster Sliders with Coleslaw

While I tried several recipes, most need a redo. But, I really enjoyed using three cheeses: mozzarella, feta, and parmesan together in many ways.

Been living off of a variety of leftovers and making quesadillas, grilled cheese sandwiches, wedge & chicken salads, potatoes, meatballs, sliders, chicken soup, rice, cabbage, breakfast & desserts, and experimenting with freezing items, and more. See list below.

Quesadillas

Peanut butter and apple slices
Three-cheeses & mushrooms

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Three cheeses & tomato
Three cheeses & mushrooms
Three cheeses & avocado slices

Wedge Salads

Topped three cheeses, grated carrot, sliced olives, avocado slices, tomato slices, onion slices
Topped with leftover shrimp in sauce
with a mustard vinaigrette
with cucumber-yogurt dressing

Potatoes

Baked potato
Potato cakes

Meatballs

with pasta

Meatballs came out good but I want to redo the recipe.

Sliders

Canned oyster sliders with coleslaw (See recipe below.)
Meatball sliders

Slaw & Chicken Salad

Chicken salad with rice, lettuce, tomato, grated carrot, diced onion, olives, & cucumber-yogurt dressing. Used frozen diced chicken.
Coleslaw

Cucumber-yogurt dressing is good but needs work.

 Chicken Soup
Made enough for 9 servings but recipe needs a redo.

Spanish Rice

Spanish rice and beans
Spanish rice, beans and fried egg

Fried Cabbage and Noodles

Plain
Topped with leftover carryout shrimp dish

Breakfast and Desserts

Apple Betty - failed but gave me an idea for making candy
Breakfast Banana Split: Banana, oatmeal, yogurt with nuts & honey
PB & yogurt popsicles
Whipped topping -- failed

PB & yogurt popsicles came out good but because I made multiple adjustments, I lost track of them, needs a redo.

Experiments

Freezing cabbage
Freezing chicken

Tried defrosted chicken in chicken salad. It was good but maybe would be better heated up a bit.

Blanched and froze 1/4 cabbage and now the....

Freezer is full.

Easy Canned Oyster Sliders with Coleslaw Recipe

Make coleslaw (see recipe in RKFNC)

1 can cooked oysters

4 small rolls

In a skillet, add oysters from can and cook away liquid.

Add spoonfuls of coleslaw onto rolls.

Add oysters.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

March 27, 2015 Book Signing Cancelled

Sorry

This event has been cancelled.

Future signings and readings will be posted soon.

Thanks for your interest.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Book Signing - Gina's Dream / El Sueño de Gina -- Cancelled

So Sorry, this event has been cancelled.

Future readings and listed will be posted soon.

Watch for more of Ria Stone's

Book Tour dates in April 2015

Friday, February 20, 2015

Options for Buying Gina's Dream/El Sueño de Gina (Dual Language Book) -- POD or eBook

Two difficulties presented themselves when I began to market Gina's Dream/El Sueño de Gina, a dual language book, I found that Amazon.com.mx does not ship physical books or support PODs and if you live outside the United States shipping charges and delivery times can be a deterrent. In addition, Gina's Dream/El Sueño de Gina the eBook is not listed on Amazon.mx yet.