Growing your own scallions

This is not a new idea. Several others have made youtube videos about growing (by StarofParis) or regrowing (by TeeRiddle) scallions from the stumps. If you click on the links in the previous sentence, they will take you to their videos. Both of them are pretty good and give you step-by-step instructions on how to do this. I know that scallions are not the most expensive thing in the supermarket but it's just nice to be able to have fresh scallions whenever you need them. I often have to create uses for all the scallions that come in a bunch. Home-grown scallions don't take up space in the fridge and won't rot. It's also cool to be able to cut a fresh scallion and chop it up to throw on your wonton noodle soup. Just make sure you water them on a regular basis and you won't have to buy scallions for about a year.

The basic steps are:
1. Buy a bunch of scallions that still have the roots attached.
2. After using the scallion, plant the stump with the roots attached in a pot of soil (if you drink coffee, save the grounds and mix it in with the soil).
3. Water it.
4. Let it grow. It should take a week or two to see the green parts emerge. Just water them at least every other day and be patient.

Here are a couple of pictures of the ones I recently planted:

Lone scallion growing in the pot on the right

Added some new scallion stumps

Only 5 days later

10 days later - they grow very fast!

Frugal Living (in general)

This blog is about living frugally (but well). In case anyone needs a stronger foundation for this kind of lifestyle, here's a great link: 7 Habits of Highly Frugal People. It's a summary of the book by that title. While I'm not trying to say that college won't lead to a higher salary (so that you can stop living frugally), there are reasons to continue living frugally even if you do end up making a generous salary after graduation. It's all about creating a nice cushion in your bank account so that you never really have to worry about money when you need it. Here are my reasons for living frugally (even if you can afford not to):

1. Save money for a rainy day --- Just think about all the people who have recently lost their jobs because of the economy. Many of them probably had high-paying jobs before they were laid-off. The ones who lived frugally are probably enjoying a nice "sabbatical" while they wait for a job opening. The thing about living frugally is that you will never worry about losing your job or about having enough money if the economy starts sucking because your savings account will always have a nice "cushion".

2. Being frugal is not the same as being "cheap" --- Being "cheap" is when you try to get discounts on things that cost only a buck or deprive yourself because you don't want to let go of your money. Being frugal is just shopping for the right prices and knowing where and how to do that. For a more official definition, the Free Dictionary defines frugal as, "practising economy; living without waste; thrifty". Economists like talking about maximizing utility. Being frugal is maximizing your dollar and not wasting it. If you make frugal living a habit, you won't have to say 'no' to going to a nice restaurant with your friends or getting that pair of shoes that you need for an important interview because your bank account will have a cushion. Also, if you're cooking your own meals and not eating at restaurants on a regular basis, the times you do go will be that much more enjoyable. If you get good enough at cooking, your own meals might even start tasting better than the restaurant meals!

3. It's good for the environment --- For every thing or service you save on, there's probably a benefit to the environment too. I'm not saying that everyone in the world seriously gives a sh*t about the environment, but if you do, living frugally will put less waste out there. Everything you buy has some kind of packaging that ends up either in the garbage or in the recycling bin. Yes, recycling is "good" but it also takes energy to process that recycling. This is why I love going to thrift stores - it maximizes my money but at the same time, I'm consuming something that would have gone to a landfill otherwise.

For more information on what materialism does to people, check out this video:

4. Never feel deprived --- Perhaps this one's a little more zen than some of my readers want to see, but living frugally is very much like vegetarianism. It's a way of thinking that non-frugal people might think is somehow depriving but it really isn't. I'm sure vegetarians don't miss meat after they get used to it. Similarly, I have everything I want, even though most of my possessions are second-hand and I spend less money than most of my friends. It's about re-prioritizing your desires so that your money goes where it needs to go. Restaurant meals might feel like a necessity until you realize that you can make the same thing at home and it's healthier, tastes better, and costs much less.

I'm not going to pretend that this post is going to convert everyone to "frugalism" overnight, but there are compelling reasons for doing so in a crappy economy. The working poor and many college students need to be frugal by necessity but it doesn't mean that others can't be frugal too. If we all think about what we're buying and how it affects our environment, maybe the planet will last longer. Think of frugalism as an all encompassing consumption diet - it will make you and the planet feel better.

Treasure Hunting at thrift stores

It's amazing what you can find at places like Goodwill, Salvation Army, or Boomerang's (thrift store in the Boston area). Twenty years ago, I would have been called a cheapskate, but now, I'm "green" or "environmentally conscious". Perhaps thrift stores would be more popular and trendy if we called them "eco-friendly stores". Whatever. The point of this blog is to help my fellow poor students live well on very little money. Thrift store shopping is very important in this endeavor because you can save a lot of money from the time you move into your first apartment or dorm. It should be your first stop for household decor and supplies. Whatever you can't find at the thrift store, you get at a regular store. If you go to the regular stores first, you'll probably find the same thing at the thrift store for a fraction of the cost and slap your forehead while yelling "DOH!"

The stuff you can get at a thrift store can be divided into 4 main categories: appliances, dining, clothes & shoes, and books. In this series, I'll show you what I've found in the past 10 years at various thrift stores in the Boston area. The videos will feature some of the best items.

Appliances and Cooking tools

Here's proof!

GE Convection Toaster Oven

The popcorn popper that I used in previous posts on roasting coffee was from the Goodwill. I got that for only $6. More recently, I found this GE convection toaster oven for only about $10! When I bought it, I didn't know that it was a convection model and just thought I was getting a great deal on a huge toaster oven. As I was baking some bread in it, I heard it make some noise coming from the oven. As you know, toaster ovens are not supposed to make noise! So, I googled the toaster oven and found out that it was a convection toaster oven. The noise was the fan that blows the hot air around inside. For more on this appliance, check out my future blog post on maximizing your toaster oven.

Kitchen utensils are another great surprise that you might find in the housewares section. I found a garlic press, a potato ricer, various spatulas, and more. The quality is usually going to be pretty good because the person who has donated it has already used it and the utensil has therefore stood the test of time. The crappy utensils break before they ever make it into a thrift store.

Finally, baking pans and cooking vessels (i.e. pots & pans) of all kinds can be found in most thrift stores. Why pay $10 for a muffin pan when you can get it for $3 at the Goodwill? However, you need to check the pans carefully for scratches. Teflon pans that have scratches and rust spots will probably add some small flakes of teflon or metal to your baked goods - not cool! Stainless steel pans are usually the best bet because it's pretty hard to damage those.

Dining - Dishes and Silverware
Most of my dishes came from Boomerang's. Recently, I found a crystal mug that retails for $48. At the Goodwill, it was just any mug, so it cost me 60 cents. Unfortunately, crystal contains lead oxide, so I can't use it on a daily basis. However, I've bought quite a lot of glasses and mugs from Boomerang's and have a cupboard full of great drinking vessels. Most of my plates are stoneware. If you take some time to look around thrift stores for plates, you could probably stock up your dish cupboards with better quality plates, cups, glasses, and dishes than if you  went to a regular store AND pay much less.

Clothes and Shoes
If you have free time to look through all the racks, you can pick up most of your wardrobe if you visit 2 or 3 thrift stores. It's unlikely that you'll find everything you need at one store because the selection at each store is so random and the sizes are not always accurate because a large size from a ten-year-old shirt is not the same as a large size today. It's a time consuming process to try on all the clothes there, so try to think about what you want before you go there. That way, if you don't find it, you can move on to the next store. Just make sure you throw the clothes in the wash before you wear them.

You can find things that are better quality at thrift stores.

Shoes are another crap shoot and you need to inspect those carefully. Check the heels to see how worn out they are. I've found Doc Martens that were not worn out much at all. If you know how to shine shoes, a pair of leather shoes that look old and worn can be transformed into a pair of shiny shoes that look almost as good as new. I guess those 5 years of military service taught me something useful after all...

Books
You probably won't find all the textbooks that you need but if you're a philosophy major, it's very possible that you might find something by Chomsky or Nietzsche on the shelves. I've also found a Durkheim book and some supplementary books that came in handy. However, if you're looking for fun reading, there are usually plenty of used novels, travel guides, cook books, and autobiographies. Amazon charges $4 for shipping. Books at thrift stores range from $1 to $3 at most places.

Once you get past the funky smell of the clothes and the fact that the items were once owned by someone else, thrift shopping might just become your healthiest addiction because you'll realize that it's just not necessary to spend more money on stuff at regular stores. Some of the highest quality items in my house are from Boomerang's and the Goodwill.

Home coffee-roasting results

Now that I've tried to roast my own beans and had a cup of coffee made from those beans, it's time to review the results. But first, I'd like to show you my popcorn pumper making popcorn. If you get an air popper from the thrift store, it's probably a good idea to try and make popcorn with it first to make sure that it works.

Ok, so now that you know that I used a working popcorn maker, here are the results of my coffee-roasting experiments.

Trial 1:

my set-up on the balcony

Bag of green Sumatra beans

I took the scrap beans from the bottoms of the three burlap sacks and topped them off with the Sumatra Mandheling beans. The popcorn pumper has a half-cup measuring scoop that's also part of the cover. I used that to measure 1/2 cup of green coffee beans to use. Since I didn't want my whole apartment to smell like roasted coffee, I did this outside on the balcony by plugging the machine into a power strip, which was plugged into the wall just inside the window. This turned out to be a good idea because the chaff that went flying made a bit of a mess. The mistake was leaving the cover off the popcorn pumper. This meant that the temperature did not reach the right temperature and the beans didn't get to a nice color, even after 12 minutes. So, I cooled them off anyway. I went into the kitchen and thought that putting the beans on a sheet and toasting them in the toaster oven might be a good idea. I did that for about 5 minutes (until I heard some crackling sounds) and took them out to cool. That's how I roasted the beans you see in the picture below. As you can see, it's a light roast.

Fresh light roast, smelled great after 24 hours.

Nice thick layer of crema on top

Fresh espresso with thick layer of crema

The next day, I brewed this in a simple Cuisinart 4-cup drip brew machine with a paper filter to taste "normal" coffee. Then, I brewed a crema coffee with my espresso maker. I added soy creamer to both. The regular coffee tasted like Dunkin' Donuts coffee, which is pretty good when it's fresh. However, I usually drink a dark roast, so this was just not to my liking. The crema coffee was very nice with a thick layer of crema (check out the pictures above). However, the next time, I will try to roast the coffee a little darker, maybe until I see some oils on the surface.

Trial 2:

This time, I put the cover on the popcorn pumper and went on the balcony again. It was a little warmer outside, so I was hoping that using a cover and the warmer ambient temperature might help me create a darker roast. I also decided to take my camera outside and film the process at intervals. I didn't film the whole thing because watching coffee roast is like watching your dryer spin your clothes around and around. It's not great footage. Here's a video summary of what I did:

Even though the weather was better and I got the roast a little darker in the popcorn pumper, I didn't want to wait around for more than 20 minutes. So, I finished them off in the toaster oven again for a few minutes (until I started hearing crackling and saw a bit of smoke coming out of the toaster oven) and got some dark oily beans. As you can see in the picture below, I got a "mixed" or uneven roast, meaning that some beans were roasted darker than others. I'd also like to caution you that the smoke doesn't smell great. If you try the toaster oven finishing method, make sure the windows are open. The whole process of roasting coffee does not create a nice smell for your home. It's not awful but it's not the same smell as you get when you grind the finished beans, which smells great.

Uneven roast

Uneven roast on the left (Trial 2), light roast on the right (Trial 1)

Trial 2 roast on the tray, Trial 1 roast in the jar

Trial 3:

After reviewing the video of the roasting process in trial 2, I thought that the beans might have been spinning a little too quickly. So, for this trial, I decided to add more beans, until they spun a little slower in the popcorn pumper. It turned out very nicely this time and I did not have to use my toaster oven. I got the beans to a nice dark roast but not enough to get oils. The solution for getting a reasonably even dark roast was to put more coffee in the chamber - up to the point where the metal meets the plastic (in the Popcorn Pumper). However, it was not much more than the 1/2 cup that I used in Trial 2. Maybe 1/4 cup more was all that I needed to put in. The whole roasting process took about 13 to 14 minutes for a medium-dark roast with no oils on the surface. After roasting, the volume came to about 1 cup. Here's a short video of the roast:

This video is also featured on Popcorn Hot Air Popper

Save money on popcorn and roast your own coffee beans with an air popper.

Popcorn is one of those snacks that can be bought in several forms. You can get it pre-popped in a bag, sprinkled with cheese, in microwavable packages, or just the plain popping corn either in bulk or packaged. The pre-popped stuff is the most expensive (by weight) and the plain popping corn is the cheapest. It might seem like a hassle to pop the corn every time you want a snack, but if you eat it regularly, get an air popper from your local thrift store for $6 or less and save yourself a ton of money. Besides, it really doesn't take much more time than the microwaving a bag of popcorn and you won't get scorched popcorn with an air popper. It's also easier to adjust the amount of butter and salt. If you look on the ingredient labels of those microwave popcorn bags, it's kinda yucky. Personally, I don't use my popcorn poppers for making popcorn (see below). However, in case anyone reading this actually uses their popcorn poppers for making popcorn, some models have a removable cup on top of the lid to measure the amount of kernels to put into the machine. If there is no cup, use about 1/3 cup of kernels. Turn the machine on and stop it when there are no more kernels. Cool?

Air poppers - not just for popcorn!
If you think an air popper only does one thing, you're wrong. It actually doubles as a coffee roaster, if you get the right kind of air popper. Look for the Poppery or Popcorn Pumper. It's important that you use the right type of air popper for roasting coffee. The point of roasting your own coffee is not really to save money because 5 pounds of green coffee will produce only about 4 pounds of roasted coffee. The advantage of roasting your own beans is that you know that will have the freshest coffee in your cup. The stuff you get at the store might have been there for months.

Anyway, we were talking about roasting coffee in a popcorn maker, right? Here's a very in-depth video of the whole process:

However, if you don't want to make the modifications, roast the coffee outside and remove the lid of the popper as this guy did:

Note: if you remove the lid, you can't do this outside in cold temperatures because the coffee won't get up to the right temperature for roasting. The lid is actually necessary to keep the heat in.

Sweet Maria's has a video too. They also have a list of the best air poppers to use.

This fellow in this video uses a "chimney" instead of the popcorn pumper lid. I'm not sure where he got it but it seems like a good idea. He also shows the entire roasting process and narrates it throughout:

And, one last resource, which is very detailed, with pictures and all that:

Coffee Geek

Empty burlap sack ($1.50)

Where do you get green coffee beans? In the Boston area, there are two places that definitely have green coffee beans:

1. the South End Food Emporium on Columbus Ave. (at W. Newton St.). However, they only have Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans (I asked the guy and he said they were Yirgacheffe beans). The advantage of going there is that you can get as much or little as you want because the beans are in a container in front of the cashier and you fill your own bag. They weigh it for you and it's $5.99 a pound (as of May 2012). They also have injera bread, in case you're into Ethiopian bread. 
2. Polcari's in the North End, at 105 Salem Street, which is parallel to Hanover. In August 2012, the two types they had were Ugandan ($8/lb) and Colombian ($6.50/lb). They also have a lot of other great things like teas and spices. I ended up buying red tea and Dutch cocoa on impulse! 

 If you want more varieties in smaller bags (e.g. 1 lb), Sweet Maria's is the online place to go. Their prices are reasonable and they have some other products that might interest you. However, if you want to save a little more money, Coffee Bean Direct has 5 lb bags for great prices. For example, the Sumatra is only $5.60/lb [check their website for the most recent prices!]. However, if you'd like to have freshly roasted coffee, save more money, and don't care what kind of coffee beans you're getting, their Poor Man's Blend green coffee is only about $23 for 5 pounds (plus shipping). That's as cheap as you can get for green coffee beans. If you buy that blend roasted, it's $5.65/lb. I haven't tried it yet. If anyone has, please let me know what you think of it. The fact that it's only $1 more per pound for Sumatra green beans makes it difficult for me to justify getting a bag of unknown origin beans. To make the shipping cost worth it, check out their amazing selection of loose teas, tea pouches, and other things (e.g. empty burlap sacks for $1.50 each). The shipping doesn't go much higher than $11, so if you can get a bunch of friends to order stuff with you in one shipment, that will save you even more dough. If you drink a lot of tea, you can save quite a bit of money by buying 2 pounds at a time. Their roasted coffees are good too, in case you don't want to bother with roasting your own coffee. They don't roast the beans until you place your order, so the coffee is very fresh. I've been buying from them for over 5 years and they've been awesome! Their facility is in New Jersey, so if you order from Boston, it usually takes only 2 to 4 days to ship your order. I recently ordered a bag of green Sumatra beans and a couple of burlap sacks on a Monday and got the shipment in on Wednesday. If you want roasted coffee, it'll probably be an extra day or two. [Helpful note about the burlap sacks: to remove the smell from them, soak them in hot water and air dry them (outside if possible).]

Ok, so back to the air popper. Another reason for getting the air popper at a thrift store is that any warranty is going to be void if you get it new. So, why waste the money on a new popper? Just plug the machine in at the thrift store to make sure it turns on. If it does, get it. If you try to roast coffee at home, make sure to take precautions like making sure that you can unplug the popper easily in case anything goes wrong. If you're going to roast on the porch, use a power strip with an on/off switch. Read the Coffee Geek's directions and you should be ok. I also have a blog post with a video on roasting coffee in a Popcorn Pumper.

5 lbs of green Sumatra coffee beans and a few free beans I found at the bottom of the burlap sacks!

My first batch of home-roasted coffee beans - used a Popcorn Pumper and the toaster oven to finish them off.