Nifty Thrifty Life

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Pizza and a Movie Night

It is a tradition around here that every Friday night is Pizza and a Movie Night. This has evolved over time, it started out as a going out event, we would catch an early show and grab some dinner (this was when we only had one child and lots of eager babysitters). Then as Maya got older and Wren came along it became a stay at home night where we would order a pizza and rent a DVD. Now that we are living on a one income budget, we either borrow a movie from the local library (they have a pretty decent selection, believe it or not) or we get something from Netflix and make our own homemade pizza. There is even the occasional blanket fort that is built in the living room and popcorn every once in a while.

Maya looks forward to this night all week long. I don't think it has much to do with the movie or the pizza, but for her, its more about the special family time that takes us out of the ordinary day to day. In fact, we all love this tradition and I love that it has evolved into something thrifty.

Our made from scratch, whole wheat pizzas are much healthier than the delivery pies we used to devour. And they cost a fraction of the price. Simplemom.net is a great resource for all kinds of thrifty advice, and their post on pizza making got me started in this money saving direction. These days I mostly use a whole wheat pizza crust recipe (follows) with Tsh's recommended homemade pizza sauce. So yummy!

This beloved family tradition now cost us less than $10 a week! Compare that to the roughly $50.00 spent going out for dinner and a movie or even $30.00 for ordering delivery and renting a flick. Oh, how I love thriftiness!

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

2/3 Cup Milk

1/4 Cup Oil

1 1/4 Cup Flour

3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1 tsp. Salt

Pre-heat oven at 425 degrees.

Mix Dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add milk and oil to dry ingredients. Stir with fork until mixture forms a ball. Mix with hands and then knead 10 times on a lightly floured surface. Press into a 14 inch pizza pan. Add toppings and back at 425 degrees for 12-14 minutes.

Bonnie's Granola

I have warm and fuzzy memories of helping my mom make this granola as a kid. We ate it constantly and I still do. Although I've made a few changes to the recipe, it isn't too far from the original. My mom adapted the recipe from an old vegetarian cook book and made it so often that everyone referred to it as Bonnie's Granola.  It ends up as a chewy sort of granola that has big, delicious chunks of goodness throughout. I'm not sure what the calorie count is on this. But,  it is made from whole, healthy ingredients and it has got to be healthier than most store bought granola.

Making granola from scratch will most certainly save you some grocery money. And if you are able to buy your ingredients in bulk it is deliciously thrifty. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have!

Bonnie's Granola

5 Cups Oats

1 Cup Dry Milk

1 Cup Flax Meal

1 Cup Oat Bran

1 Cup Wheat Germ

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

1 TBSP Cinnamon

1 Cup Chopped Nuts (I use slices almonds)

1 Cup Canola Oil

1 Cup Honey

1 TBSP Vanilla

1 Cup Dried Fruit (I use dried cranberries)

Preheat oven at 250 degrees F. Mix dry ingredients (except dried fruit) in a large roasting pan. In a medium size bowl, mix oil, honey, and vanilla. Pout liquids over dry ingredients and mix well.

Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. When its done, remove from oven and add dried fruit. Let cool completely. Store in an air tight container.