Cheater, Cheater, Creamer Eater *PLUS* BONUS Picture of My Doggies Playing in the Snow

Have I blogged about this before?  Too bad.  Here it comes again.  One of my favorite things to do is repeat myself.  I like to get the most bang-for-my-buck from my store of frugal knowledge.

Plus, I just did this today, so I need to blog about daily frugal stuff I do.  And also, my method has changed slightly, I think.  So this is by way of being an update.  But the old version will pop up on the bottom of this page, if you’re interested in comparing the posts.

Today I used up the last of my favorite French Vanilla coffee creamer. I need to make some more.

I got out my recipe. It is what I call a “cheat.” It is a cheat because I’m “cheating” and making my own. Also, the ingredients are “cheats”, too.

It’s easy to make with staple ingredients that you may have on hand in the pantry. Here is the recipe for that (I got it somewhere on the internet. I didn’t come up with this on my own. But I also didn’t write down where I got it from. Oops. But, it seems like this is a pretty common, well-known recipe floating around on the web. So who knows who invented it):

Mix together in a blender 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 1/2 cups milk, and 1 tablespoon Vanilla.

But what do you do if you don’t have some of these ingredients? Then you have to kick it up a Frugal notch, that’s what.

Now things get a little more interesting.  Now you need to do this: Mix in a blender 1/2 cup hot water, 1 cup fake (cheaper) Splenda-alternative Altern, 1 cup dry milk, 3/4 cup liquid milk, and 1 TBSP vanilla.

Then pour the result into an empty, clean, re-cycled Coffe Mate container.

Oh, wait a minute, I got the recipe for sweetened condensed milk from the Hillbilly Housewife blog.  Thanks!

I even made the Vanilla myself, a year-and-a-half-ago.  I made it because I had some vanilla beans and my husband  had some vodka and gin he decided he didn’t  like.  He was never going to drink it.  What a waste.  So I stuck a vanilla bean in each bottle, and let it sit for about three months.  Now I have the best vanilla ever.  And I can keep it going for almost forever, too.  I just have to top the bottles off with more vodka and gin whenever it gets low.

Woo, it is really snowing here in North-Central Texas.  This is the most snow I have seen since I’ve lived here.  So as promised here is a picture of the kids playing in the snow today:

They are trying to pick up a tennis ball.  Good luck, little doggies.