The Tightwads are Back (Via a threat to our cush job)

For those of you who didn't previously enjoy our family newsletter, we ran a regular column about things you can do to squeeze more out of your money. We call it our Tightwad tidbit, and I'm including one below.

We've been quite comfortable with our Dave Ramsey cash budget for 2 years now. But, the Union at Royal's workplace is threatening his job. (He refuses to join the Union or sign anything agreeing to support the Union.) So, he has been threatened twice now that he will be fired- soon.

On that note, our tightwad tendencies came rushing back in, and our budget suddenly got a LOT more modest. We are saving all excess cash for the ominous unemployment on the horizon.

Just at the right moment, my Mom shared a recipe with me that we have found delicious and infinitely more palatable than oatmeal. (My girls love oatmeal sweetened with jam, but I would rather skip breakfast than eat it.) I hope this little blessing can come in handy for you, too. It really tastes good, inspite of being cheap and healthful. Go figure!

The TMM Tightwad TIdbit for 2007 #1

Cheap and delicious breakfast (actually pleases picky eater Mom, 1 yr old, 4 yr old, and Big Daddy)

1/2 cup *cracked wheat berries
Just under 1 Cup Water
2 Tbsp light brown sugar

1. Add water and wheat to bowl.
2. Microwave for 2-3 minutes. Watch, it will "grow" over the edge like oatmeal.
3. Stir and leave in microwave to thicken. Approx. 3 minutes, or enough time to do your daughter's hair and brush your teeth, or empty your dishwasher, or load your dishwasher, etc.
4. Stir in brown sugar, and feed to family when cool enough to eat. I usually find after the thickening period, that it is cool enough. This yields one serving. If I make four servings, I sometimes still don't get any after the girls are done eating. (My girls really have appetites.)


*Cracked wheat: how do you get it?

As a mormon, we buy wheat berries in 100 lb bags for dirt cheap from the local Bishop's storehouse (because we like to have food on hand for emergencies). I'm talking about $0.25/lb dirt cheap. If you are non-mormon, email me and I'll try to hook you up with a local "provider". You can buy wheat from health food stores, but it is usually at about %500 markup.

*Cracked wheat: how do you crack it?

Take wheat berries and put them through a hand mill (hand crank wheat grinder) at a very coarse setting. It is about half way between whole wheat berries and flour. The wheat berries should look like they are cut into thirds or so.

You can also put them in a blender and experiment with the amount of time.

I think some electric wheat grinders also have very coarse settings that would work.