Welcome to Parenting Cents!
This isn’t your parents’ personal finance site.
ParentingCents is a site about making smart choices without sacrificing your own sense of self.
Sure, we all want to save for our kids and get the best deals where possible. But not every parent has the time to create a mini-farm to grow all of his or her own produce, raise chickens, knit sweaters from scratch. We have busy lives and occasionally want a little time to ourselves, too. It’s about finding a balance.
On ParentingCents, we’ll share our parenting tips on lifestyle, education, travel and vacation and fashion and shopping – all with a personal finance twist.
You can find out more about who we are here. And thanks for stopping by!
Tomato Pie
As much as I loved the Food Network back in the days when we had cable, I could never really get into Paula Deen’s recipes because of all the mayonnaise. I don’t like mayonnaise. I don’t eat mayonnaise. I don’t buy mayonnaise. So when some friends started talking about a Paula Deen tomato pie recipe I didn’t think much of it. I have plenty of tomato pie recipes in my arsenal; some are eggy, some tart-like on puff pastry, and some like the cheese-less pizza tomato pies popular in Philly. But people kept talking about the Paula Deen recipe and I decided to put my mayonnaise issues aside and give it a go.
Her recipe is pretty straightforward: a pre-baked pie shell, cheese, green onions, tomatoes, basil and mayonnaise. Keeping with my “complicate everything” philosophy I tweaked the recipe using a homemade all-butter pie crust, homemade mayo, both Amish Paste and grape tomatoes from my garden, and caramelized red onions from my Red Earth Farm CSA along with the other ingredients. It was as good as everyone said it was. I just ate the crumbs off of the bottom of the pie pan taking a picture. Using the ingredients I had on hand- since I made the pie crust and mayo I didn’t have to actually buy anything special, the recipe is inexpensive and easy to make. I planned ahead and made the pie crust the day before to save time. It took about an hour start to finish, including the three minutes it took to whip up the mayo in my mini food processor.
Tomato Pie
One 9 inch pre-baked pie crust, store bought or homemade
3 or 4 tomatoes peeled, seeded and chopped ( or cherry tomatoes halved and squeezed to drain some of the moisture)
1/2 cup of green onion, chopped (or 2 red onions caramelized)
10 basil leaves, sliced
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 cups of shredded cheese ( I used one cup of Hillacres Pride cheddar, and one cup of shredded mozzarella- I bet it would be great with Pecorino Romano or Parmesan too)
salt, pepper, and hot sauce to tasteCombine the mayonnaise and cheeses with salt, pepper and hot sauce. It will be thick and gloopy. Layer the onions, tomatoes, and basil in the pre-baked pie crust. Spread the cheese mixture evenly across the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes or until browned.
7 Ways to Beat the Heat in the Kitchen
I’ve worked out a few strategies to get through the summer without breaking the bank. Follows are seven ways that I’ve found to beat the heat in the kitchen this summer:
- Invest in a rice cooker. We recently bought the an Oster Rice Cooker
- Have an indoor picnic. One of the easiest meals for me to make is also one of the favorites in our household. We often do a European-style dinner with cheeses, crackers and meats – it’s an indoor picnic! In addition to the staples, I supplement with a variety of fresh vegetables (favorites include cherry tomatoes, celery and carrot sticks and cucumber slices) and fresh fruits (whatever we can find in season). I use this as an opportunity to get rid of leftovers, too – whenever we have a few pieces of something like pizza that’s too little for a whole dinner, I’ll cut it into bite-size hors d’oeuvres pieces and put them on a tray. Easy, fast and no reheating required!
- Don’t be afraid to open a can. Canned foods have gotten a pretty awful reputation as of late which is unfortunate. While I agree that some canned foods can be high in sodium and over processed, there are some pretty decent options out there. Don’t overlook canned goods as a quick, cool fix for dinner. An easy, inexpensive option is a simple pasta salad made with tuna and fresh vegetables. You can also make a more upscale pasta with canned tuna; our family loves a variation similar to this recipe at Epicurious.
- Have breakfast for dinner. You know those eggs you throw together in 5 minutes in the morning? Or that oatmeal you made in the rice cooker (see #1)? Why not serve those dishes for dinner once in a while? My friend, Kristin, calls this “brinner” and serves it as her house just to shake things up. In addition to being a fun alternative to a more traditional dinner, breakfast tends to be less labor intensive than most dinner dishes – a quick dish tends to mean less heat on the stove. Or go completely oven free: chop up some fresh fruit to serve with a variety of cold cereals or turn on the waffle maker and cook up some buttermilk waffles. Your kids will love it, trust me.
- Use a crock pot. I’ve been a fan of the slow cooker/crock pot for as long as I can remember. My mom used to throw Sunday dinner in the crock pot just before we left for church. When we got back, we were ready to eat. It’s an amazing concept. Don’t get fooled into thinking it’s only for soups and stews: there’s practically nothing that you can’t make in a crock pot from casseroles to desserts and it won’t heat up the house.
- Rely on a quick bread. I make a lot of bread. I no longer use a bread maker to do it (though I’m not judge-y if you do, I just find it easier not to), I use our KitchenAid Stand Mixer
to knead the bread and then let it rise on the counter before popping it in the oven. But breads in the oven tend to take at least half an hour to 45 minutes – a great way to heat the house in winter but not so welcome in summer. I refused to take my husband up on his suggestion to buy bread all summer and instead, switched over to quick breads. A bread like Naan (my 7 year old’s favorite) only needs 5-8 minutes in the oven. Other flatbreads require similar timing – freshly baked bread in a fraction of the time!
- Think outside of the box. Rethink the way that you view food. Soup doesn’t have to be hot – try a chilled gazpacho. Similarly, pasta can be served cold or room temperature. Leftover steak or chicken can be served cold on a salad. And cold sesame noodles make a great main dish. Don’t be afraid to try new flavors and new, chilled twists on favorite dishes.
Those are a few tips from my kitchen. Now, you tell me: how do you beat the heat in the kitchen?
Family Traditions
It’s funny how cutting back on expenses can sometimes reap unexpected rewards…
In our case, we spend way too much money eating out. There are a host of reasons. I work, my husband works and the kids are busy with after school activities. It has become very easy to swing by one of our local eateries and grab a quick bite – far easier than dashing home to cook. It has also become a huge money suck: eating out is one of our biggest expenses.
To be fair, I love to cook but I also enjoy eating out. The kids consider it a nice treat, too. As a result, I think it has taken some of the shine off of eating at home. And that needed to change. So I tried to think about how I could make eating at home fun for the kids – and for me – again. The answer? Make it a family tradition.
Now, every week, we have Pancake Sunday at the house. Every Sunday that we’re at home (and even when we’re on vacation when we could swing it), we make pancakes. I usually rely on my handy dandy King Arthur “Simple but Perfect Pancake” recipe but I try to vary what I make depending on my mood and the season. Sometimes, the variations are a hit (kids loved the pumpkin and maple pancakes) while other times, they’re a flop (thumbs down on the potato and onion pancakes). Sides could be anything from berries to bacon – or nothing at all. The one constant: pancakes.
It has become a lovely family tradition.
The savings are also pretty significant. Today, I glimpsed at the brunch menu at our local eatery. At $18.95 each for adults and $9.95 each for kids, with tax and tip, that works out to nearly $85. At our local diner, we can get by with about half of that. But the ingredients for pancakes are just a few dollars. And the time with the family: priceless.
Do you have any family traditions that double as a cost-cutting measure?
Tuesday Tax Tip: Contacts, Glasses and Other Deductible Medical Expenses
Most taxpayers understand that the cost of visits to the eye doctor are considered medical expenses. But what about contacts and glasses? Those costs can really add up, especially if you’re buying them for the whole family (my entire family of five wore them).
Here’s the answer: if you itemize your deductions, you may include the cost of contacts and glasses as medical expenses in addition to the cost of your visit. You can also include the cost of getting to and from your visit, including the costs of transit, mileage and parking. Click here for a list of additional medical expenses which may be deductible.
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Each Tuesday, I’ll post a family-related tax tip. It’s not meant to be too much to digest, just a tasty little tax morsel. If you have a suggestion for a future tip or a topic you’d like to see covered, drop me a note.
Contributors
Kelly Phillips Erb is a founding attorney of The Erb Law Firm, PC, in Philadelphia, PA, where she focuses on tax law for businesses and families. Kelly authors the popular tax blog, taxgirl, recognized by the ABA Journal as one of the top 100 legal blogs for each of the last few years. Kelly was previously a featured contributor for AOL’s WalletPop and has contributed to Time.com, Forbes.com and other popular sites. Kelly is also a mom to three children, so she can add “dinosaur expert” and “princess dress designer” to her resume.
What do you do? I’m a mom, tax lawyer, coffee drinker, runner, manic blogger, baker and iPod addict (I also make a mean Halloween costume). What I am not, it seems, is a sleeper.
