cheapsk8

Last night we had BBQ tofu again (definitely one of my favorites), sauteed broccoli with a little bit of onion to add flavor, and homemade mango sherbet. The sherbet was the brainstorming combination of "Those mangoes are going to go to waste" and "I want to try my hand at a frozen dessert", as well as an approximation of all the recipes I could find for "Mango Sherbet" and "Mango Sorbet". But it worked. I added about 1 1/2 tablespoons of amaretto so that it wouldn't freeze as hard. I'd read to add vodka or tequila (several recipes have different preferences) but I just used what we'd lost in the back of the freezer. Amaretto wasn't a bad choice at all. There was the tiniest dash of ginger. Hi-C doesn't care for ginger much, so it was a minimal addition, but it was slightly, notably perfect. I also used lemon juice rather than lime, because I was using what was on hand, but lime would've also been really tasty.

Subbed in fat free yogurt for the cream, agave nectar for the white sugar, no eggs and voila!
What sounds like some sort of slightly (heavily?) experimental health food binge was sweet and satisfying, and oh so good! I froze it in a shallow pan, stirring every hour or so, then transferred it to a dish to store it in, although there's not much left after a night of snuggling up on the couch with the kitties and the mr. watching back to back Boston Legal episodes. (Didn't I say I love me some Shat??)

Other ways to save:
Working out in the garden, I haven't invested any more money, just a little work.
I still don't "get" the $64 tomato. Hmm, I did purchase the audio book version of The Omnivore's Dilemma, though, for $9.99. When I listen to it, the voice reminds me of Steve Martin doing one of his stand up routines, so I keep waiting for the big joke. There's a whole lot of irony in all of that. It's making my head hurt.
Frugal Living thread on YGG.
I've been working up the courage to go get some discarded bamboo to build a trellis. I see it on my way home everyday, where the power company chopped it down to keep it from interfering with the power lines, but I've been apprehensive to go get it. It's scattered all over the place like a giant game of pick-up sticks. I need to go get that, don't I?? There's also a small roll of chicken wire someone threw in the woods near my house. I should go claim that, too, I think.
The DIY series on Design Sponge is great (and by great I mean radical, maybe even gnarly!)
Know what you have and use it. That seems to be the biggest rule I've been following lately, but I'm learning how having so much stuff breeds the need to buy more stuff--simply because I don't know what I have.