Thanks for all the great feedback about creating a life that needs no escape. Just to clarify, that post was in no way meant to be anti-travel. I love to travel, and spent my 20s doing quite a bit of it. Since our son was born, we’ve significantly curtailed our traveling. We have no desire to travel without him, and he’s just as happy in his own sandbox, or at the park behind our house as he would be at a park a thousand miles away. And getting to the one behind our house is a lot less stressful! There’s nothing about traveling to far-away places that would impress our two-year-old, but once he’s older, we’ll definitely want to show him the world.
Rather than being anti-travel, that post was meant to instill a desire to make every day awesome, rather than living for the weekend or for vacation. If traveling is what makes you happy, then it should definitely be a part of your awesome life plan. But if it adds stress to your life (as it would for us if we tried it with a two-year-old), there may be better ways to spend time closer to home.
Today I want to share a couple of great recipes I’ve been loving lately. A few weeks ago, I came across this awesome recipe for three minute cookies. I used agave nectar instead of maple syrup, stevia instead of the sucanat, and chopped almonds instead of rice cereal (just because that’s what I had on hand). My guys loved them, and they’re so easy to make. It takes me about five minutes instead of three, but I’m not complaining!
My favorite part about the cookie recipe was the flax/chia/water substitute for an egg. I stopped buying eggs a year or so ago, and I’m thrilled to have found something that works just as well to hold things together (and flax and chia are always in my freezer. I buy them in bulk and we eat them everyday already). Over the weekend, I also decided to make spicy black bean burgers. We love them, but buying the frozen variety gets pretty expensive. I made a huge batch of black beans in the crock pot, and used this recipe to make burgers. Instead of the egg, I used a little water, a spoonful of ground flax seed, and a spoonful of chia seeds. The burgers turned out great, and cost very little to make (cooking your own dried beans is a great way to go, especially if you make a bunch of them in the crock pot and then store them in the fridge for the week, or the freezer if you’ll take a while to use them up). Both of my guys give two thumbs up to the cookies and the burgers, so give them a try!
Have a great Monday, and welcome Get Rich Slowly readers!
melinda says
Check out our blog Dollars To Donuts! Would love to feature any of your recipes on our site. Thanks.
Kim says
I love your blog. I’ve bookmarked it and will return. Your simple, yet rich, life appeals to me. Thanks to Get Rich Slowly for mentioning your site.
Michele says
Curious as to why you stopped eating eggs?
Dalia Kinsey says
I am all over those 3 minute cookies. I’ve tried flax seed and water as an egg substitute but not chia – thanks for the idea.
FrugalBabe says
Michele,
I can’t remember the exact news story I read, but this is the gist of it:
http://newsblaze.com/story/20090901124209rose.nb/topstory.html
I haven’t purchased eggs since.
The only way I would buy eggs in the future is if they came from a local farmer who has chickens scratching around in the dirt for bugs and laying eggs in nests. Raising a few chickens of our own is a possibility too, but somewhere in the distant future. We would never eat the chickens, but I have no problem with the idea of eating unfertilized eggs (no desire for a rooster) from my own yard. For now, I don’t think our HOA allows chickens, and I haven’t missed eggs at all.
Melissa says
I’m glad to hear that you are not anti-travel. I knew what you were trying to say in that post and I try to do that everyday. To make everyday awesome (as you say) I always try to make everyday awesome! Or as Jill Scott says “Living my life likes golden” (youtube the song if you haven’t heard it, you will like it).
I’ve also started to love cooking and I will try out your cookies. Anything that takes 3 minutes and tastes good is worth the try. It’s only 3 minutes! Thanks for sharing. btw, I’m new to your blog and have bookmarked it. I feel like we’re on the same wave length when it comes to how we spend our money by just reading your other posts. I’m looking forward to some more great posts. Have a great day!
Tiffany says
Hi! I’m a Get Rich Slowly Reader and i’m glad they mentioned your blog! I shall return!
Molly On Money says
Get the chickens! There’s not a more perfect food (in my opinion) than an egg from your very own backyard chicken…..yum!
Penniless Parenting says
Chickens aren’t so easy. We had four and didn’t have much success with them. After that article, I can understand why you’d want to give up eggs! Wow.
Is there a way to contact you, an email to reach you at?
Phyllis says
Would you mind sharing how you make black beans in the crock-pot? It’d be great to know how to make them using dried beans, rather than canned beans like all the recipes I have found.
Thanks so much for the egg substitute. I used ground flax since I didn’t have any chia and it worked out great.
FrugalBabe says
Penniless Parenting,
Don’t worry, there are no chickens in the near future for us. Our HOA doesn’t allow them for now anyway. Someday (like maybe ten years!) down the road if that rule gets changed we might consider it.
You can contact me at babe at frugalbabe dot com.
Phyllis,
Beans in the crock pot is super easy. Just rinse your dried beans (and make sure there aren’t any bits of rock or grit in with them) and put them in the crock pot (remember that they will expand quite a bit, so leave plenty of room). Cover them with water, at least a few inches above the top of the beans (they soak up a lot of water while they cook). Turn it on high and leave it for several hours. You can check on them after a few hours and see if they need more water – I usually end up adding water before they’re done. I usually end up with about the equivalent of five or six cans of beans whenever I do this, and I store them in the fridge and use them throughout the week. I buy my beans in 25 pound bags, and the savings is significant over buying them in cans. Beans are also great for cooking in a solar oven if you have one.
Sorry my directions are so imprecise… you might want to google that to get specific amounts and times ;) I pretty much wing it with everything I do in the kitchen, but that doesn’t always make it easy to explain to someone else!
Robyn @ Frugal 'n' Fit! says
I love Oh She Glows! I will have to try that 3 minute cookie recipe sometime.
Andy Hough says
Congrats on the prominent mention in the post at Get Rich Slowly. Hope you get lots of new readers.
FrugalBabe says
Thanks Andy!
Kendra says
Found your website via Get Rich Slowly. I’ve been digging around the archives. Great stuff here!
Just wanted to mention that there is an alternative to commercially produced eggs. I purchase eggs every week at the Farmers Market from a man who raises chickens as a hobby. No guilt and they taste better.