Cut the cord

It is hard to believe, but this month marks one year of living without cable. As somebody who grew up as an avid television viewer, it is hard to believe that I managed to survive. Like many people watching their expenses increase while the paycheck remain stagnant, I was looking for ways to cut back on living expenses. One of the largest bills we had was from the blasted cable company. It angered me, because we always complained there was nothing good on, we hear various reports about how watching too much T.V. is not good for you, and it provided very little for amount it cost. Yet, we kept it month after month. When we moved, the cable bill did not come with us. We cut the cable! It wasn't easy at first as we transitioned to finding other forms of entertainment to fill the void but here are some things that we did.

Library Patron. We visit our local public library to not only checkout books, but videos, video games, and other multi-media as well. Our library rotates their videos and games with other libraries in the region, so the selection is never stale. We get to borrow from their selection for free. Yes, FREE! Of course, you have to watch out for late fees from some libraries, but it is still significantly cheaper than cable, and it is something you can easily avoid.

Games. We play games together. Okay, we're not gathered around a board game having family game night. It is primarily video games. My kids are using their brains trying to solve the puzzle and challenges presented by the game, which is a step up from just staring at the T.V. Plus, I don't have a reoccurring bill for the gaming console. With the ability to checkout games from the library, you can easily refresh your entertainment selection.

Internet. Some households consider the Internet as a luxury, while they still keep the cable bill. If I had to choose Internet or cable, I would keep the Internet. The Internet can help with homework, provide entertainment, help me stay in touch (hello Skype! and Facebook), help me with finding new recipes and provide a wealth of knowledge. Cable? Not so much. We kept the Internet to stream videos, allow me to complete online classes, read news, and to video chat with family members in different timezones. Fox, ABC and CBS let us stream our favorite T.V. programs with minimal commercials. We also watch a good bit of sporting events online as well. We just hook up our laptop to the T.V. using a HDMI cable.

Netflix or Amazon Prime. We subscribed to Netflix and are thinking about switching to Amazon Prime. Either way, they both provide us a vast entertainment selection. We dropped Netflix for a few months, since we were not watching it very much; however, we decided to pick them back up. Guess what? There was no hook-up or cancellation fee.  We could stop and start services when we wanted to, plus the monthly rate is still cheaper than a cable bill.

Hobbies. Without the usual past time of flipping through the channels and staring brain dead at the idiot box, we had to find other things to preoccupy our time. My husband and I got into cooking more and trying different recipes, with delicious results I may add. I crochet providing me more scarves, hats, and blankets. They make great gifts as well. My boys love to create intricate Lego vehicles. My husband loves to go running. Find something you are passionate about, or something that relaxes you. With a hobby  you will have something to show for your time, whether it good meals, better health, new doilies or a new Lego Starship. Cable cannot provide this.

Benefits.

More free time. Without television competing for my children's attention and distracting them, my kids have time to do their homework and other **gasp** educational pursuits. My oldest son read more this past year than he did in the previous two years. Before we got rid of cable, he would read because it was assigned reading. Now, he reads for pleasure. He is really into the "Diary of Wimpy Kid" and "Captain Underpants" series. For me, I have free time to work on my degree (college classes are online), write, blog (just not too much on this site), and spend time with my family.

Less advertisement and commercials. Since going cable free, my children see less commercials. It's great because I hear less whining from my kids about how they want the latest and greatest toy they had no idea they needed until the commercial came on.

Learning. The extra reading I've done taught me a great deal, such as how to live healthier, cook, crochet, sew and a new language. As I mentioned earlier, I am pursuing my college degree, so there is a good bit learning there. My oldest son started creating his own comic book, so he is learning on how to develop a story and write dialogue.

Lighter Chocolate Chip Muffin

In my quest to healthier cooking, I found Cooking Light. Admittedly, I use them a lot. I was really happy when they came out with Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. Finally, I could have a chocolate treat without all the guilt. Well...to be honest, they were okay. If you read the reviews, many people recommended adding more chocolate or some other alteration.

Fat is a flavor vehicle. The problem with going low-fat in any recipe is you're messing with the vehicle that delivers and develops the flavor. Also, fat provides forgiveness in baking by keeping things moist, even if you leave it in the oven just a little beyond the finish stage. When you remove some of the fat, you need to compensate for flavor some where else.

After reading a few books on baking (I have more time to read since we no longer have cable, which I guess is a different frugal post all together), I learned that the secret to enhancing the flavor of chocolate is a cup of java. Vanilla helps too, but the original recipe already includes that. Thinking I could do better, I tinkered with the recipe to provide my version of a healthier chocolate chocolate chip muffin, and I think I succeeded. My family really likes these muffins over the original recipe, despite the fact I reduced the sugar and increased the fiber. Healthy can be tasty!

Note: My recipe calls for dark brown sugar. You can use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar adds a bit more flavor. Remember, since we reduce the fat, we need to compensate for flavor in other places. Rolled oats increases the fiber without adding to the calorie count or deminishing the flavor.

Lighter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Serving size: 1 muffins. Yields: 12 muffins.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 tbsp red wine
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coffee
2 eggs
 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions: Set eggs out to warm up to room temp. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly coat the muffin tin with cooking oil. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, mix the rolled oats and coffee together, then set aside.

In a medium size bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda together. Add chocolate chips, except for 2 tablespoons of chips (this will be used for the topping later). Mix well and then set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, apple sauce, red wine, and vanilla extract. Make sure to break down any brown sugar lumps. Add the eggs, and whisk the liquid mix for  2-3 minutes. Add the rolled oats and coffee mixture. Stir until well mixed.

Add the dry ingredients. Stir to incorporate the dry ingredients, but care should be taken to not over mix. Do not stir more than 15 times.

Spoon mixture into the muffin tin. Place on the oven middle rack and bake for 10-12 minutes. The muffins are done when you stick a tooth-pick down the middle and it comes out clean. Do not leave the muffins in too long, since they're more susceptible to drying out due to the decrease in fat. During the last minute add the remaining 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips to the tops.

Once done, let cool for 5-10 minutes before eating.

Nutrition Information for one muffin:
Calories: 177 (tastier & shaved 12 calories off the original)
Fat Total: 8.5 g
Saturated: 2.5 g
Cholesterol: 31 mg
Sodium 164 mg
Carbohydrate: 30 g
Fiber: 3 g (increased the fiber)
Sugar: 11 g
Protein: 3.5 g

Pie Crust Cookies

I have a slight problem. I made pie crust following the recipe below, which made a fabulous pie crust, if I do say so myself, for my pumpkin pie.

 

2 1/2 cup white flour

1 cup cold butter (cut up)

2 tbsp cold water

 

Instructions: In medium size bowl, add flour and butter. Cut butter into the flour until it is a crumbly mixture. Sprinkle water over mixture and create a ball out of it. When a well you have a well formed ball of dough, place in fridge for 15-30 minutes to make the dough easier to work with.

You may be asking yourself, um...so what's the problem? Well the recipe is great if your pie required two pie crusts (upper and bottom), but a traditional pumpkin pie only needs one. This left me with a whole lot of left over pie crust. It seemed like a shame to throw it away since I'm a firm believer in "waste not, want not."

What to do?

Make pie crust cookies. Stay with me. What are the basic ingredients in short bread cookies? Flour and butter. The left over pie dough already has butter and flour, so I just had to add the remaining cookie ingredients.

1/2 pie pie dough from above recipe
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract (I really like vanilla!)
1/4 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small food processor or grinder, pulse the coconut flakes and walnuts to create a powder like substance. Add the coconut/walnut powder, vanilla extract, and sugar to the left over pie dough. Knead these ingredients together for about 5 minutes. Create small balls out of the dough (about 1 1/2 in diameter), place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet, and press down the ball to flatten it some. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.

Makes approximately  1 1/2 dozen.