simple, thrifty pleasures

I have just discovered a great site (I'm sure you will want to check it out!!) "Motherload: The Mom Advice Blog", where Amy has nominated me for the Frugal Subversive Award. Amy has some great tips and ideas, and I can't wait to read through her archives!

Yesterday, before I heard from Amy, I actually had thrift and simple pleasures on my mind. I had cut some late summer roses from my bushes and placed them in my ($1 garage sale) tureen. I set them on my ($5 yard sale) table in the sunroom near the ($3 yard sale) cement urn, along with a found nest, a (library sale) book, and (flea market) silver candlestick.

Looking at it made me happy ~ thriftiness can be beautiful!

Sitting down to dinner ~ Shepherd's Pie & a garden salad ~ I thought how good it was, how a little rosemary, garlic, and onion could turn ground meat & potatoes into something so tasty.

Thriftiness can be delicious.

Shepherd's Pie

• 1 tbsp olive & 1 tbsp butter
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 pound ground meat
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3/4 c. beef broth (or water)
• salt to taste
• freshly ground pepper
• potatoes~mashed with some cream cheese or sour cream
• grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In skillet heat olive oil & butter. Cook onions & garlic. Add meat & rosemary and cook til browned. Remove from pan and drain fat. Melt 2 tbsp butter in pan and stir in flour. Cook until smooth and blended, then add broth. Stir and cook until thickened; cooking at least five minutes. Add meat mixture; stir, add salt & pepper. Spoon into a 1 1/2 or 2 quart casserole. Cover evenly with mashed potatoes. Bake 35 minutes ~ during last 5 minutes top with grated cheese.

And, if you are needing any sewing patterns JoAnn Fabrics has Butterick patterns for 1.99 this week. I don't plan on getting to this for awhile, but was happy to be able to pick it up while on sale.