Time for Change!

Hello friends!

Hmmmm...you may have noticed something new around here...perhaps a new blog title?  

Welcome to Frugal Girl on the Prairie!  

What is this all about?  Well, for a long time I've been looking for a CANADIAN perspective on all things "frugal" - and guess what?  It's not out there!  Sure, there a lots of great food bloggers from Canada! 

However, when looking for money saving ideas and living frugally in Canada, every place I found and looked at was essentially based out of the USA.  SO, here I am, stepping out and launching my own perspective!

What am I going to be writing about?  

Who doesn't love fresh, homemade bread?

Well, everything! I wanted to provide a CANADIAN point of view! I wanted a forum to share ideas about:

- homemaking

- cooking

- canning & preserving

- gardening

- recipes

- DIY projects

- crafts

- meal planning

- frugal living

- paying off debt

- everything in between

Bulk freezer cooking! mmm...meatballs!

SO, here we are!  

I am starting small - perhaps 1 or 2 posts each week - but will build!!!  I will have some AMAZING guest bloggers (fellow Frugal mama's who know their stuff!).  I hope to entertain, teach and hopefully help you in your quest of saving money and running a home here here in the Great White North! :)

fresh garden veggies & fruit!

Watch that garden grow!

#plantaholic

I have been so encouraged by positive comments from friends & family who show interest in my more traditional homemaker skills, so I hope this will bring all those ideas into one place.  

Canning fresh garden produce!

I love recipes. I love to be in the kitchen.  I love taking care of my home.  I love doing laundry & dishes (ok, well - not so much! haha) I love finding new ways of saving money and I love taking care of my family. 

I hope you come back each week to share this adventure with me.  Change can be a good thing. Time to follow my passion!  This is my personal invitation to you to join me on this journey.  

Will you come along for the ride?

See ya soon!

Jess

Healthy Baked Apple Chips!

Hello again!

I'm always looking for ways to make healthy, simple snacks at home and I found a few recipes for making baked apple chips!

First, I took a crisp, Granny Smith Apple and made very thin slices with my Tupperware Mandolin. Then, I made sure to remove any seeds.  I didn't core the apple first - just removed the seeds.

I laid out all the slices on a non-stick cooking mat and sprinkled with my custom made Apple Pie Spice from Do You Bake?.  My kitchen smells amazing when using this yummy spice blend.

I baked them in a 200F oven for about 2.5 hours, flipping them once about half way,  then turned the oven off and left it for another hour.

Don't these look amazing?

Crunchy and a perfect fall snack with no added sugar!  Of course, if you wanted to added Sinfully Cinnamon Spice for a sweeter topping, you certainly could!

I hope you enjoy making these - I sure did!

Until next time, 

Jess

Make Your Own Take Out - The Classic 'Za

Make Your Own Take Out! 

The concept isn't new - making your own versions of take-out and delivery fast food items so when the urge strikes, you have something on hand!

I recently wanted to have some ready-to-go pizzas in the freezer, but we are trying to avoid the supermarket versions that are laden with chemicals, preservatives, and ingredients you cannot pronounce!

I grabbed my 'Za kits and went to work in the kitchen to see what I could come up with.

The dough is super-easy to make - simply throw it in your breadmaker (if you have one!) with some water and olive oil and let the dough cycle run through.  If you don't have a breadmaker, its really easy to do by hand or mixer as well! 

Toppings - everyone in our house LOVES different topping combinations!  Ham & pineapple is a classic along with pepperoni & cheese (I love that I can purchase "naturals" or healthier, nitrate free versions of these items in my local grocery store!).  Veggies are always a great choice for pizza - and my fave combo is  BBQ chicken & pineapple!  Simply shred some cooked chicken breast and use your fave BBQ sauce as the sauce base!

Each of the Do You Bake? 'Za kits include the sauce seasoning as well!  Use some canned tomatoes (or fresh if you want!), add the sauce mix and set it in your slow cooker.  Cheeseburger pizza?  No problem!  The seasoning mix is for your ground beef - simply prep as directed while browning your beef.  Easy peasy.

So, I don't think I need to go into details on how to put together a pizza....hahaha.  Roll out dough into two circles, add desired sauce, toppings and of course the CHEESE! Mmmmmmm.....cheese.........drool.........

The last step was to flash freeze them - I put them in the freezer until frozen solid.  Then I took them out again, wrapped them with plastic wrap first, followed by a layer of aluminum foil. 

When I'm craving pizza, now I just grab one out of the freezer, pop it into the oven at 375F for about 1/2 an hour and presto! 

Homemade pizza with take-out convenience!

You can check out the full line of our 'Za kits on my website: www.doyoubake.com/jessicakaiser.

Now, I'm off to make some more 'Za's for the freezer!  

Enjoy!

Jess

Acorn Squash!

Hello!!

What to do with an acorn squash?  I had no idea, but bought one anyways!  Haha We are trying to purchase local, organic produce when possible and our local Coop Store provides a lot of choice.

Then I stumbled upon a post by Naturebox about roasting it up, so I decided to try it out and give it a Do You Bake? twist!

First, I cut the squash into thick slices.

I took all the seeds out of course!  Then I placed them on a cookie sheet, drizzled olive oil over the slices and sprinkled a bunch of Oh La La Garlic Bread seasoning over them.

I put them in the oven at 350F and roasted them until tender - about 20 minutes.  The result?  Tender, delicious, buttery squash!

I cut the skin off each cooked slice before serving of course!  What an easy dish to prepare!

I hope you try this dish out yourself sometime.  Enjoy!!

Jess