Ya’ll, this is way easier than you think. And came together with ingredients I had on hand. I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner tonight, but I didn’t want to do anything fancy, and I had a few ingredients in my fridge I wanted to use up.

Here’s what you will need:

• extra firm tofu
• frozen veggies
• rice (can be a few days old or fresh, I used two cups uncooked and made fresh rice as there was none in the fridge already cooked
• soy sauce, turmeric, salt and pepper, sesame oil, garlic powder, vegan butter or oil

First you have to mash up the block of tofu. I used a fork to break it into pieces, then used a potato masher to really get the job done. Think little tiny pieces. I dusted it with turmeric, salt and pepper and garlic powder, and mixed it all up. This makes the tofu LOOK like egg (that matters to some people) but doesn’t do a whole lot in regards to the taste.

Next, add the vegan butter to the pan along side the tofu. You want to give the tofu a few minutes to brown up in some spots. Move the tofu to one side of the pan and add the rice. Toss in any frozen or fresh veggies you want.

Next I added a SMALL drizzle of sesame oil (it has a strong taste so you really don’t need much) and a hearty addition of soy sauce. Mix it all up and let it sit while cooking for a few minutes, stir up and let sit again. This will allow little bits to get browned and yummy.

That’s literally it. It was so easy. And so stinking tasty. It makes enough to have a few meals now and store some in the freezer for another night when I don’t feel cooking. (I kinda got lax about making freezer dinners this winter. Normally by now my chest freezer is full of soups and stews and other things so that I don’t have to make them during the warm summer months. This year it looks like I’ll need to keep batch cooking thorough the spring to fill my freezer to where I’d like it to be.)

Borrowing from Katy Wolk-Stanley on this one! If you haven’t already, I highly recommend the blog The Non Consumer Advocate

Katy writes about five frugal things she did today, or yesterday, or any day really, all while providing for her family. I wanted to borrow her idea for today!

1. Some friends invited me out for happy hour on Friday to a new Cuban restaurant. I tried an aperol spritz for the first time (it definitely lived up to the hype!) and indulged in the Cuban Chicken Noodle Soup. And let me tell you, SO GOOD! I knew I could recreate it easily at home. (I realize going out with friends isn’t frugal necessarily. But we ordered from the happy hour menu, and the chance to visit with a close friend before she leaves for Africa for a month was well worth the minimal expense) ANYWAY, I picked up a whole chicken at Costco for a mere $5 to make the soup. I had all the other ingredients at home. And I easily made enough soup for 8 individual dinners. So I’d call that a win!
2. I filled up my gas tank from Fred Meyer Gas, using points from grocery shopping. This saved me about 40 cents a gallon.
3. I took my dogs to the vet. Now, I realize that this doesn’t sound cheap (and really, it isn’t) however, I make sure they get their annual vaccines as well as a yearly checkup just to be safe. I would much rather have them seen on a regular basis so we don’t miss anything major. My one dog got his regular shots, and the other got medication for his skin allergies. This saves me in the long run because keeping up on health is important for our furry friends too!
4. I stayed over at my nephew’s house Saturday night. It was his dad’s birthday, and my gift to him was a night out with his best friends. It cost me nothing to stay in with the little one for the night, and he got to celebrate his birthday without a 4 year old in tow. Win/Win
5. I made a grocery list for the week so that I could cook all my own lunches and dinners, saving me oodles of cash. It would be so easy in rainy Portland Oregon to order in soup for every meal. That’s why I plan out all my lunches and dinners in order to save money. I plan on cooking a full mean twice this week (soup and enchiladas) and each will produce 3 lunches and 3 dinners. This will save me so much in the long run and I really love cooking!

So you tell me, what are five frugal things you did this week?