Monday, January 29, 2018

Cut Down That Cable Bill or Frugal Television

My husband and I sat down in December to discuss our cable bill.  It kept getting larger and larger, while the cable company kept reducing the number of stations we received.  We realized that our family was rarely turning on the television and were, instead, watching PBS, Netflix and Amazon Prime on our devices.

So, time to cut the cable and up our internet speed, which are both from the same provider.  This cut our bill in half, but left us without television.  My husband went searching and we decided to buy a flat antenna that you tape to your window and connect to the television.  We ended up paying $35 for a Weingard antenna.



First we used a website https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps or https://www.antennaweb.org/Address to see how many channels we would receive and which direction the antenna would need to be facing.

The antenna was super easy to install and we now get 65 channels.  Our house sits on top of a bluff and we receive more channels than most people.  Our reception is good and we are very happy with our "free" cable.

God Bless,
Pam



Thursday, January 18, 2018

The Frugal Kitchen: Kimchi Fried Rice

Life is getting back to normal.  All medical emergencies are over and the Christmas decorations are back in the attic.  Here is an easy quick meal that can be prepped ahead and takes just minutes to toss in the wok.  All of the ingredients were purchased at my local Publix.


INGREDIENTS:

4 cups of precooked rice
1 cup kimchi
1 cup shredded carrot
any other vegetable that you enjoy, just keep the pieces small
1 Tbsp. finely chopped ginger
1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
1 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. mirin, rice wine
3 eggs, beaten
1 egg per person, fried

Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin and set aside.  In a hot wok add the oil, then the garlic and ginger.  After a minute add the vegetables and toss until they are partially cooked.  Add the kimchi, mix, then drizzle half the soy sauce mixture over the top.  Add beaten egg and mix until the egg is almost done.  Add the rice, mix well, add the rest of the soy sauce mixture, and mix again.  Serve in a bowl with a fried egg on top.

Use a traditional Korean spoon to eat.
This whole process takes less than fifteen minutes and the result is delicious.  If your family isn't familiar with kimchi this is a nice way to introduce it to them.

God bless,
Pam