Gathering Up the Fragments

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I read a book a few years ago called, The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Childs. It was written in 1828 and some things are no longer applicable. However, there were many wonderful nuggets that are useful for today.

One of the quotes in the book was, "The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of the gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials."

I have found this so true in working to make my dollars stretch further. In the area of food, if I have the mentality that the little bits don't count than I will find that not only do I waste quite a bit of food but I throw my and my husband's hard earned money away. I will also spend more of my precious time shopping if I don't make our food stretch further.

One of the ways I gathered up the fragments this week is shown in the pizza above. I made spaghetti sauce on Sunday for dinner. We had it for leftovers on Monday night. On Wednesday, Nathan, Emily and I had it for lunch. There was about 1 cup of sauce left. Many years ago I would have thrown it out. However, I used it for sauce on one pizza.

I pulled a package of chicken breast out of the freezer on Tuesday. We had chicken fajitas with all but 2 of the breasts. Then I used half of one for Dan's lunch the next day. Today I took the final 1 and 1/2 pieces and grilled them and used them on one of the pizzas.

Have you found a way to gather up the fragments in your own home? Any tips you would care to share?

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