March Reading: Bookin' It Update

I enjoyed my March reading! I completed Jonni McCoy's Miserly Moms and two books on Bulgaria (my country of the month), all of which I borrowed from the library.

Miserly Moms: The copy I picked up from the library was (as you can see) dated, but this was a pretty good read. After reading frugal blogs for a good year now, much of the information in Jonni's book was not new to me.
There are newer editions of this book now available, and the prices (of budgets, household items, food) listed in an updated version would be more accurate.


However, here are some things I learned/got out of this book:

• My new taco seasoning recipe! I've tried this, and it's a keeper. She also lists lots of other recipes for making things at home that one would typically buy at the store, like ranch dressing mix. This was one of my favorite parts of the book.

• When it comes to decreasing your grocery budget (which is what a huge chunk of this book is about), there were two things that Jonni recommended that I have not done and would like to try. That was 1) making a target price list for grocery items and 2) Looking up local farmer's markets/dairys/farms, etc for finding cheap, local produce.

The other two books I read this month were on Bulgaria. Two other friends of mine studied this country with me last month, and at the beginning of April the three of us got together and talked about what we had learned. It was a ton of fun and I learned so much through our conversation (we are doing it again this month--on Russia!). I made a Bulgarian dish to bring...fried sweet cheese balls. Say what??!? Yes, I know it sounds strange. It was a mixture of flour, cottage cheese, and eggs fried in a pan with shallow oil, and then drizzled with homemade syrup. They were actually better than I expected....like a mix between a pancake and a biscuit...with a little added protein. :)

Up for this month are books on Russia--yes, I know we bit off a lot to chew here--and I have also started Andrew Murray's classic on prayer (instead of the book by Richard Foster).

~Alicia

March Reading: Bookin' It Update