WFMW - Date Night, the Frugal Way

We swear by date nights. The Grumps & I both recognize the importance of designating time that is ours, and ours alone. As tough as it is to do in today's hectic life - balancing 2 full time jobs, a side business, house chores, family obligations, friends, and finances - we've managed to schedule, and pretty well keep to, 2 date nights a month.



Sometimes, date nights involve big things - a fancy dinner out, drinks & dancing at our favorite bar, a concert, etc. But MOST times, we keep it low key, and low cost. Some of our favorite, and most frugal, date nights have been:

• fishing at the local pier (we already have all the gear, and bait is REALLY cheap)
• cooking together and eating on our patio, with the phones turned OFF
• watching a movie from netflix, or catching up on some of our favorite shows on the DVR
• grabbing a $5 pizza & eating it on the patio while chatting about our plans, dreams, etc
• pouring a couple of cocktails and spending an evening in front of a bonfire
  
  

That's what Works For Us. Head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas.

WFMW, 5 Ingredient or Less Recipes

Shannon over @ Rocks In My Dryer is doing a themed edition of Works For Me Wednesday. This time, she wants our best quick & easy recipes. Here are a few of mine (or other peoples that I've found). And, as always, head on over for more WFMW tips!

Strawberry Fruit Dip:

• 1 8-oz. container of your favorite strawberry yogurt
• 1 cup strawberry jam
• 1 8-oz. tub of “Cool Whip”-type whipped topping (any style),thawed

1. Blend together with a spoon
2. Serve with strawberries, bananas and other fresh fruit, graham crackers, angel food cake or pound cake, or brownie squares.

Bobby Flay's Parmesan Crusted Portobello Mushrooms

• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
• Salt and coarsely ground black pepper
• 4 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
• Olive oil, for brushing

1. Heat grill to medium-low.
2. Combine Parmesan, thyme and salt and pepper in a small bowl.
3. Brush mushrooms with oil on both sides and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Place the mushrooms, cap side down and cook until golden, about 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Turn over and continue grilling until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes longer.
6. When the mushrooms are cooked through, carefully divide the cheese mixture over the top of the mushrooms. Close the cover of the grill and cook until the cheese has melted.

Onion Casserole

• 5 large sweet onions, cut into 1/4 inch slices and separated into rings
• 1/4 cup margarine
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 10 buttery crackers

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Melt the margarine in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir until tender.
4. Turn off the heat, and stir in the sour cream and Parmesan cheese.
5. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and crumble the crackers over the top.
6. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is browned and the sauce is bubbly.

Chicken Stir-Fry with Rice & Teriyaki Veggies

• 8oz (or so) chicken breast, cubed
• 1 box chicken flavored Rice-A-Roni
• 1 box Green Giant frozen veggies in Teriyaki sauce
• butter or margarine
• olive oil

1. Prepare Rice-A-Roni per package instructions.
2. Brown chicken in olive oil in non-stick skillet.
3. Microwave veggies per package instructions, but about 30 seconds less.
4. Combine veggies & sauce with cooked chicken in skillet.
5. Serve over rice.

Taco Soup

• 6 cans of any bean
• 2 cans of any tomato
• 4 cans of any vegetable
• 2 packets of powdered Hidden Valley Ranch dressing
• 2 packets of taco seasoning

1. Open all cans
2. Dump into pan (you may want to rinse some of the beans. if so, you made need to add some water)
3. Add seasoning packets
4. Simmer till smells done
5. Serve with cheese, sour cream, corn chips... whatever

Berstler Special

• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 large potatoes, diced (you want the potatoes & onions similar in size)
• 1/2 stick of butter
• 5 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1/2 lb chopped ham
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I prefer cheddar)
• salt & pepper to taste

1. brown potatoes & onions in butter over medium-high heat (about 10 mins), adding salt & pepper to taste
2. toss in ham & cook another couple minutes
3. add eggs, stirring well
4. when eggs are cooked the way you like them, add the cheese. turn off heat, cover skillet, and let cheese melt (only takes a couple minutes)

Chicken & Broccoli Pasta

• 1lb pasta shape of your choice (I like penne rigate, with the ridges)
• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4" cubes
• 3 garlic cloves, diced or pressed
• 2 handfuls frozen chopped broccoli
• extra virgin olive oil
• parmesan cheese

1. Put water on to boil for pasta. Once you have a rolling boil, add pasta.
2. In deep, 10-12" skillet, place approximately 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat entire bottom of pan). Add garlic to oil.
3. Add chicken, and brown thoroughly.
4. Remove pasta from water about 1 minute before it's completely cooked. Add pasta to skillet with chicken, oil, & garlic.
5. Add frozen broccoli to skillet. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, until broccoli is warmed throughout, stirring frequently.
6. If dish seems dry, add more oil & toss to coat.
7. Garnish with parmesan (or other grated) cheese, salt & pepper to taste

DaMamma's Pineapple Angel Food Cake

• 1 20oz can crushed pineapple in juice
• packaged Angel Food cake mix (use brand name)

1. Bake cake as directed on packaged mix, substituting pineapple & juice for liquids in directions.

Jiffy Corn Souffle

• 1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix
• 1 can cream corn
• 1 can regular corn, drained
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. sour cream
• 1 stick butter

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Melt butter.
3. Add slightly beaten eggs and sour cream.
4. Add corn; stir.
5. Add mix; stir again.
6. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

Broccoli Bake

• 2 16oz packages frozen broccoli cuts
• 1 stick butter or margarine
• 1 sleeve Ritz crackers
• Velveeta or American cheese, sliced (or any other cheese you like)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Place frozen broccoli in colander & run cool water over it to partially thaw. Let drain.
3. Melt butter.
4. Crush crackers into crumbs.
5. Combine crackers crumbs & butter in bowl.
6. Place broccoli in even layer in 9x13 glass baking dish.
7. Place even layer of cheese slices over top of broccoli layer.
8. Top with cracker crumbs & butter mixture.
9. Bake for 30 minutes.

Mac & Tuna Salad

• 1 lb shaped pasta of your choice (I use small shells)
• 3-4 celery sticks, diced
• 2 60z cans tuna packed in water
• miracle whip to taste (I use at least 3-4 heaping tbls)
• salt & pepper to taste

1. Cook pasta fully. Rinse with cool water until pasta is chilled.
2. Mix in rest of ingredients.

WFMW - Self Employment & Rental Income Organization

With the popularity of online, consulting, and work-from-home jobs, as well as the slump in the housing market (and thus homeowners becoming landlords), many people are going to need a new tax form or 2, and a way to track the new income and expenses.


Grumpy & I found ourselves in that very situation in 2007, with the "opening" of his repair business. That man, I swear, can fix anything. He developed an invoice template using Excel, and I developed a very simple income & expense tracking system.


The income side of it is pretty easy. Just a list of the money he made, the date he received payment, a small description of the job, and a reference to the customer. The expense sheet is just as straightforward, but with a little more detail. I'm still tracking the date & a description of the expenditure, but instead of simply listing the money spent, I've added in some columns to my sheet to categorize the expenses.


For a self-employment or business in the home situation, you can check out Federal Tax Form Schedule C, and create columns for the expenses that pertain to your business. You can do the same thing for a rental property, but use the expenses from Schedule E. Simply create a totalling formula for each of your columns, and you've got a handy-dandy summary to transfer to your tax return.


The key (for me), is to enter transactions into the spreadsheet as they occur. It helps us to stay aware of how well we're doing with the business, and it saves me 3 or 4 solid hours of work at tax time.


I'd also recommend printing a copy of your spreadsheet at the end of the year, and keeping it with all of your backup documentation, with your tax return. If you have a CPA prepare your taxes, you can also give them your printed spreadsheet to work from.


Finally, don't forget to create a new spreadsheet for each tax year. I do mine all in the same file, so that it's easy to reference prior year's activity. Simply use the copy function (right click on the tab name at the bottom of the Excel file) to add a new, pre-formatted sheet. Delete the prior year's info, and you're ready to go!

For more handy Works for Me Wednesday tips, head over to Rocks in my Dryer.