The Monroe Evening News office has several potlucks throughout the year for various occasions - and today is one of those luncheons.
Actually, I’ve got several potlucks and picnics with friends and family to plan for during the next several weeks. How can you deal with time crunches and avoid running to the bakery, deli or […]

What’s for dinner tonight?

Pork riblets from the June Angel Food Ministries box, simmered all day in a Crock-Pot with Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce.
Bush’s baked beans.
Corn bread made from scratch.
Milk from the June Angel Food Ministries box.

Those baked beans and barbecue sauce were purchased on sales in recent weeks. And corn bread made from scratch […]

This post about birthday cupcakes has nothing to do with living on a budget, except my sister who made the cupcakes adapted the directions that both of us saw in a magazine to the candy and ingredients she found at a good price.
It’s tiny cupcakes designed like pieces of sushi. My sister cut out pound […]

I can cook on a camp stove.
Here’s proof: my dinner tonight. A can of gumbo soup.

This camp stove was purchased with a gift card to Cabela’s that my parents gave us for Christmas one year. The Big Blackout of August 2003, which caused us to lose power for 10 hours, inspired my selections: a camping […]

When the electricity goes off, there’s no microwave, toaster, slow-cooker, tabletop grill, stovetop or oven available to cook food.
What are you going to serve for dinner?
My neighbors went out to eat last night, and I went out for ice cream. But that’s only a temporary reprieve.
Most local residents have backyard or tailgate gas grills - […]

The power at my home in Monroe browned out about 8:30 p.m. Monday because of the storms. (See blog reports at Behind the Headlines.)
There was a trickle of power for several hours, enough to provide an Internet connection for my laptop computer and my husband’s iPhone. We also had enough reserve power to keep our […]

Budget dinners do NOT have to be boring dinners. Here’s what I cooked up tonight: Chicken nachos.
I took some of the chicken legs that I got from my March Angel Food Ministries order and boiled them down with onion powder, garlic powder and poultry seasoning in my Crock-pot this afternoon. Result: shredded chicken, which […]

What’s for breakfast today? Homemade egg on muffin. I’ve heard the idea before, but it’s the first time I tried it. Worked very well.
Here’s the trick: you need a cookie cutter or muffin cutter in the shape of your muffin. Put that in your fry pan. (I learned you want to put cooking spray on […]

My mom stopped by my home an hour ago to drop off my first Angel Food Ministries order.
If you’re not familiar with it, go to the web site and look over the details. It’s a bulk food purchase program open to anyone of any income level.
There are currently no drop-off locations in the city of […]

I blogged last week about Fat Tuesday fun on a budget. Following up …
This photo is from a Mardis Gras party that was held at my church for the Sunday School children. These are jelly-filled donut holes (timbits) from Tim Hortons that the teachers and staff served at the end of the party.
I called them […]