Thrifty Finds: Stoneware Soup Mugs

Rob and I went to an Estate Sale on the last day of the sale. Everything was 50% off. Way in the back of a kitchen cabinet, I found these two stoneware soup mugs. They aren’t vintage but I liked the retro inspired stripes. They would have been $1 each but since everything was half off, I paid a dollar for both of them. Yay!

Of course, I wanted to try out the soup mugs (after a run through the dishwasher). I made some four bean Minnestrone soup. I used Garbonzo, Great Nothern, Pinto, and Kidney Beans. We got 8 servings out the Minnestrone soup. Dinner one night and lunch for 3 days. I don’t think I’ll be making Minnestrone again for a month or two. I’m tired of it now.

Rich’s Coffee Rich

I recently received a coupon for Rich’s Coffee Rich. I was excited to try it out because I didn’t even know it was vegan! It is a non-dairy coffee creamer that can be found in the frozen food aisle. I found it at Meijer. Even though it does have hydrogenated oil in it, I liked it because it mixed smoothly with my coffee. I’ve tried using Silk Creamer and it never mixes well. I also think Coffee Rich would go over very well with people who aren’t vegan. The next time my parents come out to visit, I’ll make sure I have some for my mom to try out. I only used it in coffee this time but on the side of the package it showed you the ratio of Coffee Rich to water to make various “milk” substitutes. I’m going to have to try that out. Overall, I really liked Coffee Rich and thought it had a pleasant taste that didn’t overpower the coffee.

Coffee Rich:

Coffee and Coffee Rich in a vintage Fire King Mug. This is the same mug I blogged about all the way back in October 2006. I found it at an estate sale for a dollar.

And what goes great with coffee? Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake (which I will have to blog more about in a future post). I brought some into work with me today for my co-workers. Yesterday was very hectic at work and I find baked goods are a nice way to say thank you.

New Dining Room Light: Ikea Rutbo

The chandelier in the dining room was hideous. Just plain awful. An 80’s reject. Our house was built in 2002 and this was what the builder put in. We are the third owner and no one before us changed the light? As I’ve mentioned before, this year’s main project is working on the living/dining room. That chandelier had to go. Unfortunately, our dining room furniture is still at my parents’ house.  With no table underneath, this left plenty of chances to try and crack your head open on the horrible chandelier. I was sitting on the floor organizing my bookcase a few weeks ago and thought I was clear of it. Nope, I stood up and whacked my head so hard, it knocked all the “gold” trim pieces around the lights off. I was dizzy. I ended up with a bump on my head. I muttered numerous words of profanity.

I got so mad that I decided to go to Ikea on a Saturday….afternoon. I like Ikea but on a weekend afternoon? Trying to navigate around the carts, the ”I am just going to wander around aimlessly and slowly shoppers”, and of course the seemingly endless amount of children people bring to Ikea. It is my idea of hell but I persevered.

 I wanted something with a more updated look but with a paper shade so if I decide to go for round two, the worst I’ll do is rip my head right through the shade.  We settled on the Rutbo. It was $40 plus tax. Taking down the old light and putting up the Rutbo didn’t go as quickly as we had hoped. After some cursing, it was finally up. I don’t know why but dining room lights seem to bring out the worst in Rob and I. Overall, I like the Rutbo. It looks so much better than the old light and it was inexpensive.

Spicy Lemongrass Vegetables (Thai Food)

One of my favorite cookbooks is actually a Thai food cookbook.  It is “Thai Vegetarian Cooking” by Vatcharin Bhumichitr. I bought mine used about two years ago at Half Price books. It might be out of print now so check at your local library (I love inter-library loans).  I decided to try making Spicy Lemongrass Vegetables for dinner. It is not a saucy style entrée and frankly, it  probably doesn’t look like much more than a simple stir fry, but the taste! It’s fabulous. I made a few adjustments such as using a handful of fresh Thai chiles for dried ones. It is seasoned with a great mix of chiles, galangal, shallots, garlic, and freshly grated coconut. Yum! In addition to the tofu, I used baby corn, mushrooms, green beans (no long beans at Caputo’s this time), broccoli, and carrots and served it over Jasmine rice.

Rob called this entrée ”addicting” as in he just wanted to keep eating more and more of it. We both took some leftovers for lunch the next day and it reheated very well.  I’m always thrilled when I find another dish that reheats well for lunch. I am not a big fan of leftovers (Rob loves them) so it is always a challenge finding new foods that I will eat the next day for lunch. I like variety and get bored eating the same foods over and over for lunch.

I did find a poorly spaced version of the recipe online HERE.

If you like Thai Food, I recommend that you seek out this cookbook. I haven’t had a bad recipe from it yet.

Earth Balance and Peanut Butter Drops

Rob has been asking me when I was going to make Peanut Butter Drops again. I haven’t made them in a while but I finally had the perfect excuse to make them. I was contacted by Earth Balance and asked if I would review their products on my blog. I said absolutely because I use Earth Balance spread all the time and I would love to try their peanut butter and almond butter. They sent me a few coupons and off to Whole Foods we went.  Unfortunately, Whole Foods was sold out of the regular peanut butter and almond butter. However, I was able to get the Earth Balance Crunchy Peanut Butter:

I also picked up another container of Earth Balance:

The Earth Balance Peanut Butter is so tasty. I had a good-sized spoonful to test it out and it was yummy. I like it because it is no-stir and you do not have to refrigerate it. They do add flaxseed and also a bit of agave nectar to the peanut butter so I would just slightly adjust the sweetener in any baked goods you might use it in. The peanut butter also had a nice texture and had plenty of peanut bits in it for a nice crunchy bite.  I would definitely get this again! As for the Earth Balance spread,  it is always on my shopping list.  I use it for  baking and cooking. For toast, I really like the whipped  Earth Balance.

I decided to make Peanut Butter Drops because  I use both Earth Balance spread and peanut butter in it.  The recipe I use is from the  Compassionate Cook: Please don’t Eat the Animals by Ingrid Newkirk. Peanut Butter Drops are one of Rob’s favorite sweets.

Peanut Butter Drops

1/4 cup Earth Balance
2 cups sugar (adjust to your taste)
1/2 cup soy milk
3 cups rolled oats
5 Tbsp. peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Line a cookie sheet with foil or waxed paper.

Melt the margarine in a large saucepan over low heat. Add the sugar and soy milk, and increase the heat to medium. Bring the mixture to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat; add the oats, peanut butter, and vanilla; and mix vigorously.

Drop the mixture by spoonfuls on to the cookie sheet and let stand until firm.

Makes 2 to 3 dozen.

The mixture will be pretty gooey at first. Don’t worry. They will firm up. If the mixture seems too wet, you can always stir in a few more oats.

Peanut Butter Drops cooling on wax paper. It usually takes a couple of hours for them to firm up:

Ready to eat: