Frugal Friends’ Friday!

“Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without!”

Today is our last Frugal Friends’ Friday of the Christmas Season! These readers have shared their tips on how to make gift giving a meaningful and inexpensive gesture. What have I gathered from these tips? People LOVE to both receive and give the gift of cookies!

“Don’t buy gifts…make them!” – Brian, Fort Mill SC

-This guy is a higher-up in finance at a major bank. Don’t believe that there are people in your family you just *can’t* make a gift for

“Every year I make sugar cookies for an entire branch of my family- I have an awesome recipe, and the kids and I take time to really decorate them- Martha Stewart style…I found some cookie cutters shaped simply- mittens and snowflakes..and its all very inexpensive.” – Angie, Jamestown OH

“One year I gave everyone in my family a tin filled with homemade cookies, about 10 different varieties. I had bought the tins when they were on clearance after the holiday the year before. To personalize it more, I made a cookbook with the recipes of the cookies in the tin. Just used a 3 prong folder and used Christmas labels to decorate the front. Everyone said it was the best gift ever. Also, this year, we have bought a little something every pay period, mostly from the clearance sections. We already have my son’s Christmas done.”  – Sara, Staunton VA

We are giving out Candied Pecans as some of our Christmas presents. They are so easy and yummy! Here is the recipe:

Candied Pecans

2 egg whites

2 tsp water

1 tsp vanilla

1 lb pecan halves

1 cup sugar (we prefer natural cane sugar, like “sugar in the raw” but any granulated sugar will work!)

3/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 ground cinnamon (up to 1 tsp, to taste)

parchment paper

Preheat oven to 250F. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. I try to make sure there is parchment paper even going up the edges on all sides, to make clean up easier.

First, whip up the egg whites, water and vanilla until frothy (2-3 minutes with my Kitchen Aid mixer). Then mix together sugar, salt and cinnamon in a separate bowl- set aside. Pour your pecans into the frothy egg mixture and fold them in until evenly coated. Sprinkle sugar mixture into pecans and stir in, until also evenly coated. Spread coated pecans into the parchment lined pan and bake at 250F for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. I will occasionally let them cook for one more 15 minute segment if they don’t seem “done”. We like ours crunchy!

Enjoy and have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Here’s to living- Happier, healthier, more FRUGAL lives!

~Frugalmegan~