Frugal Friday: Day-After-Mashed-Potatoes Potato Skins

What do people usually do when they are making a batch of mashed potatoes? They usually use a potato peeler to remove the skins and then they boil the potato pieces. What a waste of nutrients and those yummy skins! You lose some of the water-soluble vitamins from the potatoes in the cooking water (which you pour down the sink) and you lose all the fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals from the potato skins (which you throw away).

But here's a frugal Friday solution...Cook the potatoes in the microwave instead, then cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the soft potato (for the mashed potatoes). The potato skins can then be used to make a side dish or appetizer the next day! I actually do this every time I make mashed potatoes.

Here's a recipe that you can try the day after you make mashed potatoes - Pesto Provolone Potato Skins. Of course you can also make the traditional potato skins with cheddar cheese and top it with turkey bacon broken into pieces and chopped green onions.

PESTO PROVOLONE POTATO SKINS

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

10 russet potato skins (5 russet potatoes cooked in the microwave and then cut in half lengthwise with a majority of the potato flesh scooped out)
About 2 teaspoons canola oil
2 1/2 tablespoons pesto
3 to 4 ounces sliced or shredded reduced fat provolone
3 green onions, white and part green, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450-degrees.
2. Place the potato skin halves on a nonstick cookie sheet, skin-side down and brush the inside of each potato half lightly with canola oil using a silicon brush. Bake potato skins in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly brown.
3. Spread about 3/4-teaspoon pesto inside each potato skin. Place 1/3 to 1/2 of a provolone slice (or a heaping tablespoon of shredded provolone) in each potato half.
4. Bake potato skins until the cheese is bubbly, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle chopped green onions over the top of the potato skins and serve!

Yield: 10 potato skins (5 servings of 2 skins each)

Nutrition Information per 2 potato skins: 182 calories, 8.5 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 2.2 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 3.5 g fiber, 255 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 39 percent.

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Frugal Friday: Get a Nutrient-Packed Breakfast For A Buck!

Slow cooked oatmeal made from scratch, served with brown sugar crumble and a choice of bananas, blueberries and blackberries or apple cinnamon...hungry for breakfast yet? Well, until the end of March, you can get steel cut oatmeal with real fruit for one dollar at Jamba Juice (a smoothie chain based on the west coast). They are calling it their "Oatmeal-fueled Stimulus Plan."

Here's the catch...you have to visit the website, www.oatmealforabuck.com and print out the coupon.

I probably don't have to tell you that oatmeal is a great breakfast choice - it's a good source of fiber and protein, so it tends to keep you satisfied through the morning. The fruit topping and brown sugar crumble will be sure to satisfy your morning sweet tooth too (if you have one).

The suggested price of the oatmeal is $2.95 - so during the month of March you are saving 2 dollars!

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Frugal Friday: 3 Tips to Save Energy (and Money)

Saving energy can mean saving money. Here are a few ways to save in your kitchen.

The Best Way To Heat Food.
If you need to warm up or defrost small amounts of food, use a microwave instead of the stove to save energy. Microwave ovens use around 50 percent less energy than conventional ovens do. For large meals, however, the stove is usually more efficient. But in the summer, using a microwave causes less heat to be released into the kitchen, which might save money on air conditioning.

Do The Dollar Bill Test.
Don't keep the refrigerator door open any longer than you need to. Close it to keep the cold air inside! Also, make sure the door closes securely. There is a rubber-like seal around the door that you can test. Just close the door on a dollar bill, and then see how easy it is to pull out. If the dollar slides out easily, the door is probably leaking cold air from inside.

Got A Second Refrigerator?
Is there an old refrigerator sitting in the garage or someplace else at home? Old refrigerators are real energy hogs! An old refrigerator could be costing your family as much as $120 a year to operate. Consider taking it out of commission if you don't really need this extra refrigerator or keep in mind that one large refrigerator is cheaper to run than two smaller ones.

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Frugal Friday: Are Americans Crazy for Coffee?

We could save 60 million a day by switching to a top-rated coffee!

Are Americans crazy for their coffee? Okay, I already know the answer...it's an unapologetic, "YES!" Many people I know call it their "drug of choice." They are referring to the caffeine in coffee of course. And when I pony up to the coffee bar and order a "decaf nonfat latte no whip," the barista usually looks up at me with disdain and tells me they call it the "why bother."

The phones are ringing off the hook at the Consumer Reports press office this week and it's all because they published ratings of ground Colombian coffee in their March 2009 issue. The house editor, Bob Markovich told me they've never had such a huge response to an article. Just another sign that Americans are crazy for coffee.

I'm guessing the phones are also ringing off the hook for the top-rated caffeinated coffee which also happens to be one of the most reasonably priced - Eight O'Clock Coffee 100% Colombian.

Here's the part that blew me away...Consumer Reports estimates that Americans drink 400 million cups of coffee per day. Excuse me? What? That's right, baby! We are crazy for our coffee. So if we hypothetically switch from a coffee that costs 30 cents a cup to a top-rated coffee that costs 15 cents a cup (like the Eight O'Clock brand rated as #1)...we could collectively save around 60 million dollars a day! Imagine that.

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Frugal Friday - Frequent Buyer Cards Pay Off

I've got those frequent buyer cards for everything from sandwiches and pretzels to coffee drinks and pizza. I'm here to say, "They do pay off!" As long as the card is for something you normally buy or do, like order pizza every Friday night, it will be worth keeping all those cards. They definitely bulk up and complicate the wallet situation though, so I've come up with a solution.

Use one of your coin type purses to keep all of your frequent buyer cards in one place. That way, when you are at that store, you'll know right where to go in your purse to get the card.

Last Christmas, I gave each of my sisters and mother one of these coin purses and explained that there was "method in my madness." After describing my "system" they have kept it up ever since. Go get those free sandwiches and pizzas and burritos! It's worth the little bit of trouble of keeping the cards with you.

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Frugal Friday: Washing Dishes the "Green" Way

Photo Credit: Brooke Raymond

According to researchers who are paid to study such things, a load of dishes cleaned in a dishwasher uses 37 percent LESS water than washing dishes by hand! However, if you fill up one side of the sink with soapy water and the other side with rinse water - and if you don't let the faucet run - you'll use half as much water as a dishwasher does. Doing the dishes this way can save enough water for a five-minute shower!

If you do use a dishwasher, it also conserves energy and water if you wait until you have a completely full dishwasher to run it (instead of a partly filled dishwasher). This way you are getting the biggest bang for your buck of running it...one load of a full dishwasher uses less energy and water as running two loads of a half-full dishwasher.

Also, many dishwashers now have an "economy" cycle option. So if your dishwasher has this option, give it a whirl. Use it and save!

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