Frugal Food and the Skinny Protocol Diet

The mechanic and I are starting a new diet plan.  This time we are working on getting the good bacteria is our gut and saying adios to the bad stuff.  I'm not totally convinced about the whole premise of the book, but the mechanic bought it and wants to try.  I'm just glad that it has a money-back guarantee.  At any rate, it meant buying a lot of food that we don't normally purchase like the pricey fermented kind.  I printed out the food list, ate a brownie and got to researching the alternatives.

Sauerkraut and yogurt are high on the list of what we should be eating for their awesome probiotics.  Here in Alaska they are high- ticket items.  A smallish jar of  sauerkraut will cost us about $6 and a good quality yogurt is about the same.  I know there are cheaper options out there but I want the stuff that is still alive and not laden with sugar.  Come to find out making sauerkraut is not hard, or expensive and yogurt is even easier.

I started making the yogurt today, in my crock pot and it should be ready tomorrow.  It will only cost me the price of a half gallon of milk, or in Alaska speak, $3.00.  I will try to make the sauerkraut tomorrow, but it will take a couple of weeks before it is ready for us.

Another food on the list is oatmeal.  Awhile ago I bought a 50# bag of steel cut oats and have been ignoring it.  Today the mechanic hauled it into the kitchen for me and I made us a pot of it for dinner, yep, that's for dinner, oatmeal.  I decided to be frugal and use my wonder oven to cook it.  If you haven't looked into using a wonder oven, I highly recommend it.  It is the absolute best at cooking grains (think rice that doesn't leave a scorched layer on the bottom of your pot).  It also perfectly boils potatoes and eggs and saves us a ton of propane.

My wonder oven cooking steel cut oats.

The rest of the 5o# bag I processed into smaller bags with the foodsaver and will add it into our food storage pantry.

50 pounds of steel cut oats processed for storage.

In other frugalness, I knitted up a pair of fingerless gloves for my MIL's birthday next month.  It is a super easy loom pattern and I was able to find a scrap ball of yarn.  I think they turned out super adorable and total cost was about $1 and only about an hour to make.

Lovin' life in a frugal way!

The China Challenge - The Knifty Knitter Fail

I am feeling so disappointed in myself, I broke down and bought something Made in China.  Actually, I lacked the willpower to return something I bought recently, which somehow seems worse.

Recently I was cruising through a blog site and saw an easy pattern for some really warm mittens.  Everyone knows, when you live in Alaska, you really need warm mittens.  They were made on a Knifty Knitter loom that I didn't have,  but have been wanting for awhile.  Those mittens pushed me off the fence and I started shopping for the loom.  First, I looked for used ones on eBay, but with shipping it was expensive and they didn't include the loom hook or instructions.  I switched my search over to Amazon and found a pack of 4 different sizes for less of a cost than one used one.  Can you say temptation?

In fairness, I zoomed on to the pictures and tried my best to find the "Made In" area.  I even googled it, but to no avail, I could not positively figure out where the looms were made in.  With trepidation, I ordered them, saying to myself that, just maybe, they were made in the Philippines or Vietnam.  NOPE, I opened the box, and after a minute of hunting, in tiny print, mixed in with the french instructions there it was, Fabrique in China.  Uggghhh!

By now, you have figured out that I kept the looms.  Buying used ones just didn't make financial sense to me.  I'm trying to justify it and I can make some good arguments with myself but it is still a fail.

My first project - not the mitten pattern that caused me to buy the looms, an easier pattern for my first go at it.  I made the pair in about 2 hours and spent $3.99 on the yarn.  If one bought the yarn on sale, or used a coupon, the cost would by half.  In an Alaskan store, you could easily spend over $10 for a pair like this.

Looming isn't new to me.  I've been looming socks for about a year now and find it the easiest of crafts to do.  I think the new looms will be easy for Stormy to one day learn on.

Here is a pair of wool socks I'm making on the KB sock loom.  These are for Stormy to wear under her rubber boots, once spring breakup hits up here.  A pair of socks takes me about a month to make and the cost of the wool is expensive, around $6.99.  I could probably buy her cheaper socks but I love being able to custom make them.

I have already picked out my next project.  A hooded cowl that I think is just brilliant.  I have many jackets that do not have a hood and this is a perfect solution.  I can also see it as another layer while hiking and foraging this spring and fall.  I expect this project to take a couple of days and cost me roughly $7 in yarn.

As far as my challenge goes,  I'm going to keep with it and try to keep my China dollars under $20 for the year.  

Lovin' Life with warm mitts on my hands and disappointment in my heart.

The China Challenge

Total Days China Free - 0

Total spent - $15.84