Thrifty, Healthy Eats: Easy DIY Almond Milk

Almond milk is a delicious alternative to dairy milk. I like a splash of this creamy, sweet "milk" in my tea and oatmeal. The best part- it's incredibly simple to mix up a batch! (In my case, it was easier than walking to the store for some milk. Ha!)

First, gather your ingredients. You can use a vanilla bean instead of vanilla extract, it will give your milk that extra kick of delicious vanilla flavor. You can use any and as much sweetener as you like. I like to use two packets of stevia, a healthy plant-derived zero calorie sweetener that doesn't affect blood sugar levels. I like to soak my almonds overnight before I blend them up.

Blend together all of your ingredients. Once done, pour the mixture through your fine mesh strainer. This will separate the blended "milk" from the remaining pulp.

The messiest part of this process is squeezing the milk out of the remaining pulp. Pour the pulp into your cheese cloth and squeeze and squeeze until the pulp is bone dry. I save the dry pulp in the fridge for future recipes.

Behold the product of your labors, a delicious pitcher of sweet, creamy almond milk for your munching needs. I'd stopped buying milk a while back when I abandoned my cereal-for-every-meal days and love this alternative!

Good luck! Do you make or buy fun milk alternatives? Any other thrifty, easy recipes to share?

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Frugal Lunch for the Busy Professional

When you're at the office for 10-12 hours per day, a healthy and beautiful lunch brightens up the day. I've been uninspired to pack lunch, but Just Bento's  simple Rice Cooker Frittata recipe has me inspired to cook again!

Here's the simple dish fresh out of the rice cooker. I basically followed The Recipe Instructions by wilting the vegetables I had on hand (zukini, yellow squash, bok choy, asparagus, mushroom) and tossing them into the olive oil greased rice cooker along with 6 beaten eggs, salt, and pepper.

Soon after I easily extracted a delicious frittata with a nice spongy texture, better than oven cooked ones I've tried before.

Here it sits at the office, awaiting lunch time when it will be happily consumed with green tea. My "lunch bag"(first picture in this post) holds my bento lunches and accommodates a couple of fruits or other snacks, too. I love being frugal and packing my own lunch.


A Note on Thriftcore's Content: If you look at my projects list on my portfolio you'll see a rogue's gallery of ventures that keep me busy from 6AM to Midnight. My energy and optimism has fizzled and as I write this I feel my life force draining. The paramedics might find my skeletal remains soon, my bony fingers still gripping the keyboard, frozen in my last agonizing moments of living...

I have some good content on the way. Detailed frugal tutorials, inspirational room transformations, it's all coming and I've been working on it all behind the scenes for weeks. I can't wait to debut it all, so continue to check back because some good-ass articles with plenty of research and editing behind them are on the way!

This post linked at: The Happiness Project / New Nostalgia / Silly Little Sparrow / Today's Creative Blog / Review Retreat / Craft Edition / Tuesday Tagalong

The Thrifty Date and Women: Maxim's Unauthorized Guide

 Yes men, you too could be owners of this lovely lifelike blow up doll. Ur, we mean, a real lady. With a soul and a pulse and EVERYTHING. 


Would you like to:
•    Meet and seduce the women most men only fantasize about?
•    Make the woman of your dreams forget every other man she's met?
•    Understand her secret desires and learn how to fulfill them?
•    Turn your relationship into the most exciting adventure of your life?

This is what Women: Maxim's Unauthorized Guide promises the reader. I recently found this book while packing and I like it. It's unintentional comedy.

As a quick, funny background on this book, my friend Sam purchased it for his friend. His friend was terrified of Women so the book was a gag gift. I wanted to deliver it to him but he was scared of me, so I didn't.

The book contains common sense tips like "Take showers and wear deodorant, hygiene is important," and "We know she talks a lot but actually listen to what the bitch says occasionally, it will greatly increase you chances to sex her." (My words, not theirs) But I'm certain a lot of this doesn't apply to the thrifty female population. It's my duty to quickly debunk some of the common myths perpetuated by this kind of publication.


1.    A good date involves a chick flick and vanilla scented candles.
That sounds like an endurance test, not a date. I actually hate watching chick flicks. I'd prefer beer, cartoons, and horror movies.

2.    All females like a romantic dinner.
A thrifty female balks at the unnecessary expense that comes with an implied "romantic dinner". Also, doesn't this type of dinner make dating awkward for "first dates"? Thrift females are casual.

3.    Females like "Chick Shows" and "Chick Music".
The book goes into a "Chick Pop Culture Crash Course". I'm actually not familiar with anything listed. I've never seen "When Harry Met Sally", "Friends", "Pretty in Pink", "Ally McBeal", or even heard of "Lilith Fair". Can’t we just watch Batman: The Animated Series or Ren & Stimpy?

4.    All females like sparkly things.
A thrift female doesn't like fancy jewelry. Some females would prefer something you made as a gift, or even some batman comic books. Most of all, a thrift female merely desires your company. Really.

5.    All women are subconsciously planning their weddings.
Huge elaborate weddings are an obscene waste of money in the eyes of a thrift female. Even as someone who's worked as a wedding photographer I can't see myself having a wedding. It's money better spent elsewhere and I honestly think weddings are boring. I can't be the only one!

 

I hope I've never unintentionally looked this flirtatiously at any man alive. If I have, I apologize.

It's not quite fair for me to judge this book as I'm not only a thrifty female but I not a "woman". I do not mentally think of myself as a woman, female certainly, but definitely not a "woman"! What do my fellow thrift females think about the general perception of females in books like Women: Maxim's Unauthorized Guide?

I also ranted about this fun little book over on my personal blog Van's Story Time.