Recession Busters: Food, Fun & Frugality

While there are lots of things to do in Houston, the surrounding areas can be more of a challenge. For the most part, I'm not interested in driving into town to do stuff. I also stick close to home for eating out and don't go to expensive restaurants in the first place. Many of the suggestions may be good for families looking for things to do this summer, but not really my thing. The Houston Meetup Groups did find a couple of possibles in my area, but they don't seem to meet very often.

Looking at some of Clara's videos, I'm reminded of some of the stories by grandmother told about the depression. I kind of like the bread recipe, but would want to cut it down, I don't need 7 loaves of bread.

Looking for recipes, I found a vegetarian blog, vegetarian on the cheap, where the blogger has put up some of her recipes. Some are more complicated than I want to deal with, but there were a couple that looked good. One is TVP Sheperd's Pie and the other is Granola Bars. The basic info for the Granola Bars follows, she has more info in her blog.

So, pick one or several favorites from each group and get mixing. The recipe I used is geared towards my son’s taste - notice the absence of dried fruit. Go ahead make your own and share your favorite combinations.
Granola Bars: makes about 20
3 cups rolled oats = $1.38
½ cup shredded coconut = $0.30
½ cup pumpkin seeds = $0.48
1 cup walnuts = $1.89
½ cup almonds = $0.79
¼ cup flaxseeds = $0.12
1 teaspoon sea salt = $0.05
1 teaspoon cinnamon = $0.09
¼ cup agave nectar = $0.64
¼ cup peanut butter = $0.68
¼ cup dark brown sugar = $0.03

Total for 20 granola bars: $6.45 or $0.32 per granola bar
1. Heat oven to 325º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange oats, nuts, seeds and coconut shreds and toast for 15 minutes.
2. Combine the wet ingredients - agave nectar and peanut butter - with the flavorings salt, cinnamon - leave out stuff that would melt such as chocolate chips - and combine with the sugar - stir over a low heat until the sugar melts.
3. Combine the dry toasty ingredients with the guey ones and mix well. Spread out in a baking pan - so the mixture comes up about ¾ of an inch on the sides. If you like your granola bars thinner use a bigger pan or a smaller one of you like them chunkier. Press down well so there are no air pockets. Bake for 30 minutes.
4. After the baking sheet has cooled down completely - cut with a very sharp knife - pressing down with your weight to produce clean cuts. Enjoy!

She also has a cracker recipe using flaxseeds and Super Easy Bean Chili that would be good in winter.
She even has a recipe to make your own Automatic Dishwahing Detergent.


As far as what I've seen, the car dealers seem to be having some good deals. Store keep saying stuff is interest free for a long time. I'm not sure how this is any different that what it used to be and people are probably still buying more than they can afford. Memorial weekend is a tax free weekend for some air conditioners and other appliances. This may help some people out.

My main money savers are washing clothes in cold water, air drying clothes, don't run the A/C more than I have to and use fans to circulate the air. I try to shop for stuff on sale and try to make sure I really need it before I buy stuff. That said, I still eat out about once a week and go to the movies once or twice a month.