Sunday, August 05, 2007

Lizzie's Livin' Large-

DD's childhood chum has a new job. As a budding journalist, Liz's assignment is to live for 30 days spending 5.00 per day. I've pretty much made up my mind that no one actually has any money until they turn 25, and she's only 23. If you have frugal tips (and I know you guys do), help the kid out!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beans and rice got me through some very rough times. So did house-sitting, live/eat for free for a few days. Do bars still have happy hour buffets? We used to go and eat and order water.
ScullyKnits

Olive Macgonagall said...

A friend's mother went to Religious services for the coffee hour afterwards.

I have a plethora of things you can do with legumes. Cuban rice and beans, leaving out all the really tasty parts like the onion and the pepper will still be edible. Canalini beans and spinach with some Oregano, refried beans at 50 cents a can...you get the drift. Eliminating spending for beverages also helps - drink tapwater. In fact, you can also put water in your cereal, but I wouldn't, because cereal is too expensive. For breakfast, rice or oatmeal. The boxed macaroni does not actually require milk, either. Water works fine, even without margarine, although you can get that pretty cheap on sale.

The thing is planning ahead. When there is not the luxury of buying a bottle of water you have to have thought ahead and brought one - same for lunch, etc.

Does this also cover her carfare???

T from Elann

LisaW. said...

ummm..if she is single...she can do what I did in my old college days...had a poster that read "Will Date For Food!" met some "interesting" people that way and maybe she can even wrangle transport too :)

smariek said...

Wow, that's a tough assignment!

I can't help but think of the movie "The Terminal" with Tom Hanks, where he takes those ketchup/mustard packets and squeezes them onto those square saltine crackers. lol.

Here's a recipe I saved many years ago, it'll feed an army, and it doesn't cost much. I've made it for a potluck and it was a hit. This is a post by Dumarest on the Home Cooking About.com Forum.

MUJADDARAH [based loosely on Khayat "Food from the Arab World"]
2 Cup Lentils
1 Cup Rice
3/4 Cup Olive oil [at least this much]
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Cumin seed, whole, lightly toasted
2 Cup Onion, chopped

Cook the lentils, covered with water, until they crush easily when pressed against the side of the pan. Keep the water level visible during this cooking time, which will be 1 hour or less [quite short time for some lentil types, but as much as the hour for some, watch and test for completion].

At this time, add the rice and more water to cover. Cook until the rice is done.

Meanwhile [while the lentils are cooking] chop the onion - as much as you would like, and fry in the olive oil until largely charred. YES, charred, black and burnt.

Add the onions and oil to the lentils/rice, with the salt and cumin, and stir well. If desired, fry up a few more onions to sprinkle over the top for decoration, and drizzle with olive oil. Let cool.

Best served at room temperature, and the longer it stands before serving the more the flavors blend and the better it tastes. {note by wife - this recipe amount will feed an army]. Make it a day or two in advance, store in the refrigerator, bring out and let warm up before serving. This is a dish perfect for potluck suppers, for buffet, to take on a picnic.

Legend is that mujaddarah is the 'Mess of Pottage' for which Esau sold his birthright to Jacob. This particular method was learned from Marie Jabbra, our cleaning lady in Beirut, a Syrian Christian refugee from Ataturk's Turkey in the 1920's.

MORROS Y CRISTIANOS

This is an original from Jo. It is the same recipe as above, but use black beans [dried black beans not canned] in place of lentils. Cuban, in that it is a creation to match the black beans and rice we had in the Cuban restaurants in Miami. Black beans do not have to be soaked overnight, but the cooking time may be a bit longer than lentils [follow the directions for testing]. For a more fancy Cuban dish [which we have also had in Miami] fry up about 1/2 pound of pork diced in olive oil and add together with the onions.

junior_goddess said...

Truthfully, I read her first column. A new one is out tomorrow. Gas doesn't count, because it just can't.

Wow, Marie, you are one lentil eating son of a gun! Holy Schmoly!

Mark loves Cuban food-maybe I should try this.

B