The Broke Girl Blog
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homemaking

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In Lifestyle

How to: Spring Clean!

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Hi Guys! I know, this is a terribly grandma-ish thing to be writing about BUT spring cleaning is just one of those adult things that I feel like our parents took care of and often-times even though the kids helped, we didn’t always learn how to do everything, or in the correct order. I’ve done this process for my house twice now, and it works really well while not being too overboard on time investment. This post has nothing to do with organization, just the cleaning/sanitizing side of spring cleaning that is often ignored for the instant gratification of clearing out a closet. If you’re looking to undertake a full-scale spring clean of your home, here is the step-by-step guide you need to start the new season off on the right foot! You can apply these steps to each room one by one, or you can do all the steps…

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In Food

Quarantine Cooking: Beef Barley Soup

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Remember that Sunday roast? We used those leftovers for this, but you can use leftover roast beef lunch meat or steak as well! This is the perfect freezer soup, or you can have it for dinner with a crusty loaf of bread and butter. Beef and barley soup is a hearty, homey soup that will help use up your leftovers to avoid food waste, and pantry staples like carrots, onions, garlic and barley. Beef and Barley Soup Your chopped beef leftovers 1 Onion, chopped 3 carrots, chopped (If you don’t have carrots, add frozen peas and carrots at the end.) 3 celery ribs including the leaves, chopped 1 garlic clove, minced 1/2 cup barley (pot or pearl) 1 large can diced tomatoes 3-4 boxes of beef stock (be mindful of what stock you buy, we use low or no salt so we don’t have to worry about it getting too…

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In Affordable Decor

New Homeowner Gift Guide

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Hey guys! It’s that time of year… everyone is buying a new house or getting into their first home! I find my friends that are renting prefer to make moves in the summer too, since winter can be a much messier time to move here in Edmonton. That really just results in a load of housewarmings and “new place barbeques” where bringing a small gift is often somewhat expected. I’ll be honest. My go-to gift for a new home or new marriage is usually a bottle of wine and a kitchen fire extinguisher. Two things every house needs, right? But sometimes it’s fun to think outside the box and grab a friend something practical or beautiful to make their new space a little easier, or homier. Life is always so expensive right after you’ve moved or bought a new home, and a thoughtful gift that is totally frivolous is always…

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In cheap eats

Vegan Veggie Curry

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Hey guys! Since one of my very best friends is now vegan, I’ve been hanging out with her and doing food prep days periodically and ending up with some vegan freezer meals! Curries are not something I typically make vegan since I like to use jarred curry paste, but believe it or not you can get vegan curry paste in a jar! Who knew?! We used Patak’s Mild Curry Paste. I didn’t grow up in a family that ate a lot of Indian food, not even westernized Indian food (I’m looking at you, most butter chicken). Any, really, except for samosas! Indian food was something I really realized I liked on a food tour in college, as well as through friend’s mum’s cooking it! When I was finishing my BBA, I remember vividly one of my colleague’s mum bringing in chicken biryani and nearly dying of happiness it was so…

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In cheap eats

How to Make Corn Stock

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Hey Guys! In my quest to share how to make more out of nothing, I’m continuing the “almost free” stock series with this post- how to make corn stock. Everything in this stock is literally a kitchen scrap that was either carefully saved by myself or my mom and frozen until I had a day where I could make corn stock. Believe it or not, I have 12 cups of stock still from this batch that I made in December and I have enough fixings for another big batch of stock. Go me, right? I love to make stock in my giant crock pot (#lazy, just keeping it real), but you could easily do this in a stock pot, too! I’ve linked some suggestions in the Shop the Post section below, from a fancier crock pot that’s programmable to a more affordable option that is manual, some awesome stock pots…

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In cheap eats

Easy Marinara

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Hello! Tomatoes are easily one of my favorite things! I love fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, tomato salads, soups and sauces! Recently uncooked tomatoes have been giving me some sort of weird heartburn, so I have been cooking my tomatoes in different ways so I still get my “fix”. Since I also love pasta, an easy roasted tomato marinara seemed like just what I needed to make. This is a super affordable post which is surprising given that we’re using ten fresh tomatoes, and while you can definitely buy cans of tomato sauce for cheaper, but honestly this was so delicious that it felt fully worth the extra money. I also used a can of tomato sauce to make my roasted tomatoes go further so keep that option in mind as well! Roasted Tomato Marinara and Spaghetti $0.92 per serving or $5.50 for six  Ten tomatoes (five romas and 5 vine ripened)…

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In cheap eats

How to: Make Chicken Stock

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Hey guys! I wanted to do a quick post about how I make my chicken stock for zero dollars! This sounds crazy, I know, but I take rotisserie chicken carcasses from family members and friends, herbs from mine and my mum’s herb gardens, the ends of my veggies (I freeze them when I chop them up) and regular pantry staples. Even if you don’t have access to free chicken carcasses or herbs, keep in mind that chicken carcasses are food waste you’d throw out otherwise. A rotisserie chicken is often cheaper than a roaster chicken! Not only do you get 4 meals (or so) from it, you can make stock which can be the base of other meals as well. I like to make my stock in my crock pot. I love that I can turn it on and (mostly) forget about it. I put it on high for 4-6 hours…

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In Affordable Decor

How I Spent $660 to Furnish and Decorate my Living Room

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Hey all! I’m really excited to be writing this post today.  I have been waiting for the right moment to show you all my living room decor and I think this is it! I’ll start by saying,  I spent a grand total of  $660 furnishing and decorating this space.  While it is NOT complete by any means (I want to add a cosy rug to help dampen noise echo,  organize my TV stand better,  and get a piece of art for above the TV), I think it looks great and I’m so happy and proud of how its turned out. So how did I spend so little?  Well let me tell you first what I actually bought in here! The coffee table ($315, made by a local craftsman),  lamps ($160, Costco),  small chairs (second hand, $60), patterned pillows (16.95 x’s 2, grey pillows ($12.97 x’s 2) and side tables ($65 total at Homesense)…

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In Luxury Meals

Steak and Goat Cheese Salad

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Hello! This post is an example of how to turn a few strips of leftover steak into an amazing meal that feels both light and satisfying. In the summer I just love salads, meal salads, and will take any excuse to make one! I’m currently trying to grow lettuce outside my front door, but I’m not having too much luck sadly. That said, you can grab 6 heads of lettuce right now for $4.98 and go wild! That’s what I had done when I made this salad. Yes, this meal is just 47 cents off of what I try to eat for on a daily basis, but every now and again a (still affordable) treat should be had. And sometimes those steak leftovers languish and never really live again in an exciting way, so this is an awesome option to do justice by them. Steak and Goat Cheese Salad Serves one…

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