I’m chiming in (a day early) on the buzz and excitement related to religion and personal finance. My best friend of twenty-five years, Paul, and his wife, Libby, write about frugal living, family, arts, crafts, mechanics, and religion at The Full Cup.

Full Fup Ban

From left to right are Paul, Gabriel, Ezra, and Libby. Libby recently wrote about a simple frugal corn bread recipe. Adapted from the More-With-Less Cookbook, a Mennonite book devoted to frugal, simple food…

Wonderful Tasty Cornbread great with honey
Preheat to 400 F.

Mix in a bowl:
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour (I used 3/4 whole wheat, 1/4 white)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup dry milk powder

Make a well in the mound and add:
2 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup oil

Stir just until smooth. Pour into an oiled pan and bake till nice and brown (half and hour-ish). Serve hot with butter, syrup, honey, or milk. With frugality in mind, I used all powdered milk, instead of fresh, as the original recipe had it. I also added molasses, which I love in my bread.

A PieLibby also has some ideas about hand picking and baking fresh produce. I recommend her mouth-watering pie recipe article from earlier this month. I can almost taste and smell the aroma as it was cooling on the window ledge in their 1920s bungalow situated on a corner lot in central Saint Paul, MN overlooking their spacious neighborhood garden.