Spice up your life!

oh, hi there.

i have something very important to tell you:  you might be spending way too much for spices and herbs!

i feel like i have this very special knowledge that i have to get out into the world.  There is an aisle in your grocery store where the herbs and spices are super inexpensive.  And that aisle looks a lot like this:

it’s usually tucked in near the hispanic food section.  (or if you’re at Lucky’s in Oakland, it’s in the farthest back corner flanked by some fake plants and the employee entrance to the seafood section).  what i’m getting at, is that these spices are probably hiding from you.

but they’re well worth the search because every last one of them is under a buck.

let’s do some comparison shopping.  cumin: one of my most favorite spices (mmm, guacamole).  Safeway.com reports that the cheapest plastic bottle of the stuff is $3.49!  Now, we look around for the bagged spices and…

79¢!  can you believe it?

Now, they don’t have every flavor of spice, and if you’re tricking out your fancy fancy spice rack for the first time, by all means buy some nice bottles.  Just don’t forget the bagged spices when your supplies are running low.  69¢ to refill the oregano?!  yes, please!

secret bonus: here is another really powerful spice that’s well worth dropping 75¢ (it’s secret, because it is only available to folks who can read italics).

Couch Surfing!

Summer is here!  Time to start planning a fabulous vacation!  Of course, a great getaway can be super spendy, but it doesn’t have to be.  And that is where couchsurfing.org comes in.  On couchsurfing.org you can find free lodging just about anywhere in the the world.  Woah, yeah, i said it… FREE LODGING ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!  That’s a huge chunk of the vacay budget that you can just knock out of the equation.  It sounds too good to be true, but it is absolutely true.

This is how it works:  Friendly folks all over the world offer up their couches and fill out profiles that you can browse to find the perfect place to stay.  Couchsurfing.org currently lists 834,377 couches in 232 countries!  Just shoot off an email and if the host is free during the days you’re looking to stay with them, and they like the looks of your profile, you’ve got a free place to rest your head.

Now, you can check their website for more specifics, but I want to just share my super experiences with couchsurfing/hosting:

One weekend two friends and I decided to make the drive from Portland (where we lived, at the time) to Seattle.  It was Thursday night and we decided to drive up the next day!  We browsed around couchsurfing.org and found some friendly looking hosts that had been recommended highly by other couchsurfers, and sent out a few emails.  We received a quick reply from Robin, who was not too busy in the coming days and happy to have us.  A few emails later and we had the logistics all worked out, Robin’s phone number in hand, and we headed off toward the great wet north.  As we drove closer to Robin’s house we called to report our ETA and mentioned our plans to head into downtown for the evening.  When we arrived at Robin’s place she had a map showing the route from her house to downtown all printed out for us, with points of interest circled.  Couchsurfing hosts are super at making recommendations for awesome things to see and do (and eat) in their home-cities!  That’s just how sweet couchsurfing hosts are.  For little more than gas money and the price of a beautiful flower bouquet we picked out at Pike’s Place Market to show our gratitude to Robin, we had a fantastic weekend (of course we spent money on food, but we would have had to eat if we sat at home all weekend too).

A free place to stay is stellar, but if you don’t have the time for a getaway, consider hosting couchsurfers!  It’s loads of fun.

After our great couchsurfing experience in Seattle,  my roommates and I listed our apartment and our lovely gold velvet couch on couchsurfing.org.  In the next couple months we hosted a several couchsurfers, and always had a blast.  It’s always fun to meet new folks and travelers tend to come with a lot of fascinating tales of where they’ve been and where they’re going.  It’s also fun to be the expert on your hometown, ready to recommend your favorite restaurant or park.  And here’s a BONUS: on more than one occasion, we had couchsurfers offer to cook a meal for our apartment to repay our hospitality!  A lovely canadian couple cooked us a top notch curry.  One dude, got in our apartment’s fancy start-of-autumn dinner and contributed a delicious veggy/cheesy dish that knocked our socks off.

I think I’ve set a new record for gratuitous use of the exclamation point with this post, but that’s just how enthusiatic I am about couchsurfing!  Check it out.  No, seriously, check it out.

Keepin’ it Classy: Recesh worthy home decór.

Just because money is scarce, it doesn’t mean Jack B. Nimble should have to give up his death-defying  hobby.

Likewise, your lovely home doesn’t have to go to shambles.  Luckily, for just about three bucks you can class up your abode and give Jack something to jump about.  It’s time for a new set of DIY candlesticks!

Don’t worry, you won’t need any crystal cutting skills or silversmithing experience.  Just foam board and a sharp x-acto knife (also, paper, scissors, and a pencil are handy).

Got ‘em? Great. Let’s go!

Step one: Make a candlestick pattern. Fold a piece of paper in half, draw half a candlestick (along the seem) and cut it out for a perfectly symmetrical candlestick pattern. (not feeling designy? no prob. here, use my pattern: candlestick pdf).

Step two: Trace that shape onto a piece of foam board four times. (We’re making a set of two candlesticks here, and you need two halves to make each whole).

Step three: Cut it out!  Well, cut them out… the four candlestick shapes. Here’s where having a sharp x-acto knife come in handy.

Step four: Cut a 1/4 inch slit out of the top half of two of your candlestick pieces and the bottom half of the other two. Like so: 

Step five: Assemble away! Just slip together piece one and piece two. Voilá. Lovely!

Now just put in some beautiful candles (i got mine at a dollar store, where they were two for a dollar).

In just a matter of minutes you can have your very own fancy-pants candlesticks!  Also, these candlesticks make wonderful gifts.  You can even disassemble them and send them through the mail to a far away friend!

p.s.  If you try this out, email me photos, or post a link to your photos in the comments.  I’d love to see them!

An Ode to Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

I would like to take a minute to sing the praises of the Grilled Cheese Sandwich.  The perfect recesh lunch.  It’s crazy delicious AND so inexpensive!  Let me break it down for you:

•Two slices of bread 20¢ (and that’s the good kind, you can usually find decent bread for $2 a loaf)
•2 oz. of cheddar cheeze 56¢ (or less, for two generic brand american singles, fancy!*)
•margarine 4¢ (8¢ for butter, if you’re classy like that)

your basic GCS is just 80¢!

extras: an egg 21¢, a slice of turkey 40¢, half an onion (carmelized first, of course) 34¢, a slice of bacon 22¢, half a tomato and some mustard 50¢.

for just over a buck you can have a fabulous lunch!

allow me to inspire you with two tales about my best grilled cheese sandwich experiences in recent history.

A couple of weeks ago, I was house/cat-sitting for my brother.  (There’s a perfect recesh survival scheme if I ever heard one: house/cat-sitting = free food from my bro’s fridge, and my bro’s fridge = fancy food).  So I had access to some nice wheat bread, muenster cheese slices, sliced turkey with herbs already on it, and actual butter.  The cheese melted to stringy perfection and the slightly heated herby turkey was just mmmm.  It was so delish, Bix, the cat looked super jealous!

And now, the tale of the sandwich in that mouth-watering photo up-top there.  That, my friends, is the main course from one of the most delightful meals of my life.  I was in Seattle with my dear friends Raul and Keighty.  We were looking for cheap food near pikes market (it’s tourist-ville.  $10 crumpets? no thanks), when Raul spotted “Restautrant”.  (the place had an actual name on their menus, but we chose to call it by the name on the sign outside).  Keighty and I had identical meals: a cheese and egg sandwich grilled to gooey perfection, and a rootbeer float that came as a glass full of ice cream and a can of rootbeer, yum.  It was a delightful meal and our bills each came in at under five dollars!

Well, now you’ve heard what i have to say about the gloriousness of the perfect GCS.  You absolutely MUST czech this out:

10 of the most magnificent GCSs ever!
(complete with inspirational photos and recipes)

* i know that cheese singles are fancy, because as a child we only got to have them at grandma’s house, and they come individually wrapped!  that is fance!

p.s. what are your fave GCS recipes? comment, please. i’m always up for trying a new form of melted cheese on toasty bread.

How one man’s trash, can put money in your pocket.

Hey All.  Sorry for the recent lack of posts. I’ve been busy scheming.  Today I would like to share my latest scheme with you.

It’s all about upcycling.

I first considered the idea when I saw it on a super clev post on the blog The Slacker Method.  They suggested getting some cheap thing at a garage sale, fixing it up, and selling it on craigslist fo a nice li’l profit.

Fast forward a few weeks, i was running in my neighborhood and i passed this little gem: 

it just looked so sad. with it’s middle drawer so sunken in, and wheels on only three feet.  i thought about it the rest of the run home, then turned around, walked the couple blocks back to it, and rescued it. Those three wheels may have made it comically lop-sided, but they sure were handy for wheeling the little guy back to Lee Crest.

In the days that followed i made a trip to ACE hardware for sand paper, paint, a four inch wide paint roller (cute!), and a little piece of wood to fix the sunken in drawer situation. It was tough to give up some of my hard earned money at the hardware store, but i knew i would have fun painting (also, the money i spent wasn’t too “hard earned.” It was from my last money making scheme: doing some usability testing for a start-up).

So i spent a few hours over the next few days sanding, painting, and listening to podcasts.  I used plates and cups and a pencil-on-a-string to draw circles on it, and i painted those in too.  It turned out pretty cute, if i do say so myself.

And, in fact, I did say so myself… in my “Super Cute Dresser!” craigslist ad.  I got an email that very night, and the next morning a lovely little family showed up to take it home for their new baby’s room.  I made back my supply money, and then some!

So if you’ve got some time on your hands, and some creativity in your heart… Upcycle.  It’s fun and fun-ding my next several trip down to the coffee house.

p.s. got a recesh survival scheme of your own? comment away!

more fricken! (that’s free chicken)

welcome back to the all free chicken, all the time blog.  i mean the photos of lokate holding food blog.  only kidding, this is still ReceshBreak!  I just have to let you know that today’s free chicken deal at el pollo loco is more than just free chicken.  It’s free tortillas (your choice of flour or corn) and unfettered access to their salsa bar!

that’s a whole meal people!  yesterdays kfc free piece of chicken was good, but today’s free meal was amazing.  i’m not normally into eating chicken with the bones and all, but i found it kind of fun to assemble my little chicken tacos.  yum, yum.  this offer is good until 8pm tonight (4.28.9), it’s not too late!

dinner plans tonight?

i know this is last minute, but i had to do some research before i brought you this news.  KFC is giving out a free piece of chicken to everone who walks through their doors, TODAY ONLY!

by “research” i mean, i walked down to my local KFC and tried it out.  sure enough, they will give you a piece of their new grilled chicken just for being there.  it’s that kind of chicken that’s on the bones and you get all dirty trying to eat it… but it was pretty tasty.

so, if you have no dinner plans tonight… pick up a piece, just don’t forget to grab a napkin or two (or more, take them home, use them later…)

if you’re reading this post april 28th or later, don’t worry i can still help you out with those dinner plans… mmm.

UPDATE: word on the street (actually, on my facebook page, thanks mom!) is that El Pollo Loco is giving out free chicken tomorrow! and according to their website you get free tortillas with your free chicken!  Holy smokes!  I am so there!

Podcasts (the internet’s greatest secret treasure)

i’m here! i know i haven’t blogged in a while, and honestly, i was letting this silly recesh get me down… and me down = lazy.  lame right?  So, i’m here to tell you about something i really truly love, and it’s FREE and it’s entertaining and it’s gettin’ me through this recesh, and it’s podcasts!

i called them a secret treasure (up there in the title) because some people just don’t seem to know how truely super they are.  if you’re already down with the p-casts, you can skip this p-graph.  i’m about to get all explainy.  what’s a podcast?  podcasts are mp3s (sound files) that you can download for free and listen to on your computer or on your ipod and they generally feature people talking.  who? anyone! can make a podcast and put it up online for you to download for free.  most of my favorite podcasts are radio shows that they record and put online.  why not just listen to the radio? because if i have the shows on my ipod i can listen to them whenever i want to.  they are great entertainment for when you are walking to the store, sitting on the bus, getting ready in the morning… i even like to do the dishes after dinner (i know, right…) because it gives me a few minutes to listen to my podcasts.  so, lastly how do you get these magical gems?  if you use itunes it’s super easy, just go to the itunes store and look under the audio podcasts section and you can search around for something that strikes your fancy.  you can also usually download a p-cast straight from its coresponding website.   there are approximately one bafillion podcasts in the world.

to help you find the very best, i would like to recommend my personal faves:

Long-time producer Jen "Flash" Andrews, Sean DeTore (Japan's #1 mixer) and your host Luke Burbank.

tbtl (the show that is possibly Too Beautiful To Live) is a nighttime radio show from seattle that i just can’t get enough of.  Jen, Luke, and Sean talk about anything and everything.  From waterbeds (what happened to them?), to what music they want played at their funerals, and even baby ninjas.  Every night they go through the news events of the day and declare them awesome (rawr!) or not awesome (come on!).

this american life is a public radio show where every week they choose a theme, and bring you a variety of stories on that theme… (are you hearing ira’s voice yet)?  It’s great story telling!  Some weeks it’s so funny, sometimes dramatic, always tons of fun.  itunes will only let you download the most recent episode, but their website lets you stream every episode they’ve ever had!

wait, wait, don’t tell me is a news quiz where panelists and call-in listeners answer questions about the week’s news.  Paula Poundstone is sometimes one of the panelists, so pretty much it’s a news quiz and a laugh riot.

raul and jerry enjoyed this dinner party at apt. #81

the dinner party download is “the show that helps you win your next dinner party.”  Every week they give you a joke to break the ice, hints about interesting news stories to bring up, a few history facts to make you sound smart, cocktail ideas and more!  I don’t go to many dinner parties, but i always listen to this p-cast.

the relevant podcast is made by the folks who make relevant magazine.  they talk about funny news stories and have musical guest come in and play songs.  They are the reason i know about Pigeon John.

and now: a note about gratitude (also free, also awesome).  Maria/Julie Andrews isn’t lying.  When you feel down, cause i don’t know, maybe you find yourself in the middle of some sort of recesh maybe… simply remember your favorite things and then you won’t feel so bad.  Thanks for letting me share my favorite podcasts with you!  What are your faves?

✩tbtl photo used by permission from the lovely Jen Andrews (no relation to Julie…), thanks lady!

Five Dollar Fiesta!

I went to Lucky’s determined to pick-up a $5 meal for three (ani, brian and me again). Lucky for me, the produce was all crazy on sale. So i decided to make Taco Salad!  It’s easy to make and delish!

How did i make a top-notch salad for just 5 bucks?  Some stellar deals and one secret ingrede*!  Let me break it down for you:
Lettuce (great sale)!                 .79
2 smallish Tomatoes                .32
green onions                              .39
1 can chili beans*                      .99
1 cheddar cheese snack stick  .59
1 li’l bag of fritos                        .99
the smallest sour cream          .99
taco bell hot sauce packets      FREE

grand total 5.06!

oh! i know, six cents over budget.  but you can probably find that between the couch cushions, or you could charge each of your dinner guests 3¢, or you could tap dance outside of the grocery store and put out your hat ’till you collect six cents.

okay, so now that you have your beautiful ingredes, assemble away!  It’s only a matter of chop, chop, chopping up the lettuce (not the whole thing.  We used just over half, that means more salad soon!), tomatoes, green onions, and cheese stick (ani found it way too small to grate.  her chopping skillz were stellar).  If you happen to have a real chunk of cheese around you can just grate some of it up.  Now, my fave ingrede THE CHILI BEANS, just drain the can into a colander. You can give them a little rinse if you want.  They will still retain their chili-y flavor and give you some protein.  Finally, throw that salad together, top with some fritos! don’t forget the sour cream (i love that stuff) and bust out those taco bell hot sauce packets that have been sitting in your fridge forever.  (seriously, if you’ve ever been to taco bell you know, they give you about seventeen packets of hot sauce for each taco you order.  If you’ve never been to taco bell, I’m so sorry).

Just look at this yumtastic salad!  Keep in mind this is just an idea that can be modified in about infinity ways.  Green onions not on sale this week? no problem.  You could dig up the extra carrots you have left over from MnCnT night and grate some of those into the salad.  Anytime’s a great time to clean out the produce drawer into a bowl and smother it in sour cream, fritos, and chili beans!

Even ani was a little less bothered by the fact that, yet again, I have my camera pointing in her direction, because this time it means she gets to be having taco salad!

Pop Corn Fun!

I am going to share one of my absolute favorite discoveries of the past year. Popping popcorn on the stove! Last summer i found myself sharing an apartment with a roommate who was firmly anti-microwave, which is how i discovered that corn popped on the stove is not only so much more tasty than the soggy microwave bagged kind, it is considerably cheaper! Cheap and Delish! Sounds like the perfect recesh treat.

Now, my variety of stove popped corn is the sweet kind (some call it kettle corn). It is soo good! How good? Let’s just say i’ve been known to make myself a pot-full and eat the entire batch for lunch! (warning: that is not actually healthy).

The ingredes:
1/3 cup yellow popcorn
1/3 cup sugar (regular type)
2 Tbsp. veg or canola oil
< 1 tsp. salt

a note about these amounts: this recipe is the perfect amount for the size pot that i use (you can see it in those pictures there). I used to use 1/2 cup popcorn and 1/2 cup sugar and slightly more oil and salt, because i had a bigger pot. What i’m saying is, the amounts are pretty flexible, just remember 1:1 popcorn to sugar (some recipes use less sugar, but they are crazy).

Also, i find it helpful the measure out the ingredes ahead of time.

Step 1: Put 2 Tbsp. of oil and three “test kernels” of popcorn in the bottom of a medium sized pot. The oil should just coat the bottom of the pot and not cover the kernels (that would be way too much…).  Now, put the lid on and turn on the heat.  I set my current stove to 6 (out of 10), you don’t want it too hot, but you also don’t want to sit around all night waiting for the corn to pop… So I guess, i will declare, set your stove to medium high.

Step 2: As soon as a test kernel pops, add in the rest of the popcorn and all the sugar.  I pour the popcorn in first, then sprinkle the sugar in evenly over the kernels.  Return the lid onto the pot.  The kernels will not start popping immediately, because the popcorn and sugar have cooled down the oil a little…

Step 3: Shake, shake, shake.  Initially shake the pot about every 10 seconds.  Once the popcorn starts popping big time, shake it every 3 seconds.  Just keep shaking away and the popcorn will do its thing.  Keep this up, until you go 3 seconds with no new pops.





Step 4: Pull the pot off the stove and sprinkle in the 1/2 teaspoon of salt (you can always add more later, if its not salty enough, but it’s a big bummer if your popcorn is over salted).  Then put the lid back on and give it some more good shakes.

Step 5: Dump your popcorn into a bowl, and walk away.  This is the hardest but most important step.  When you transfer the popcorn to the bowl it is still very sticky and hot.  When you come back in five minutes it is much cooler and crispy!  Just give it a little stir and the individual pieces will break apart.  Now all that’s left to do is eat up!

Going to the movies is so terribly spendy ($10 ticket + crazy pricey snacks!) yuk. This popcorn is so yummy, you might just grow to prefer borrowing a DVD from a neighbor (it’s free-er than renting!) and making yourself this irresistible popcorn.

Today, I bought a heaping cup of popcorn kernels (from a bin at a produce store) and it cost me 88¢! That’s just 29¢ a batch.  A 5 lb. bag of sugar gives you about 11.25 cups for about $2.50, so for our batch of popcorn we use just 7¢ of sugar!  Add in the pennies worth of salt and oil and you have a totally super treat for about 40¢.  That is crazy.  If you have two friends over and make two batches, all three of you can eat yourselves sick for less than a dollar!  mmm.