Cheap Bastid Confesses...and Makes Bean Dip Too

Yes, it’s true. Cheap Bastid has a confession to make. Remember recently when CB wrote a post on “runs”? You know, making “emergency” runs for forgotten items or items you run out of like milk or diapers.

Well, Mrs. CB insists that I come clean. We have a decidedly non-Cheap Bastid habit, addiction, whatever you want to call it. We buy this every week at the grocery store and then make at least one if not two emergency “runs” per week to get some more.

Nothing is worse than running out of ice cream! Yes, the truth must come out. We go through 2 or 3 cartons a week. Here’s the thing, a half gallon of ice cream is now, at most, 1.75 quarts rather than the requisite 2 quarts that we learned in 4th grade is what constitutes a half gallon. OK, that’s not so bad, although I think it’s asinine that food makers reduce the size AND increase the price.

What’s scary is that each “serving” is rated at 130 calories—not bad for ice cream. But how much is a serving? I’m not sure exactly but according to the carton there are 14 servings in that 1.75 quart carton. Huh? We’re lucky to get 3 servings each. Are we over eating? Should this 1 carton really last us a week? According to that a serving is 1 good sized scoop. No way!

OK, so this is a guilty pleasure. But, the grocery store has it on “special” at $3.00 a carton. Yeah right! It’s advertised as buy 2 for $6 and save $.48. The only issue is that it’s been this price for the last 2 years! Hey Stater Bros.! That’s you’re regular price. Quit BSing me!

OK, so I can’t divert your attention by ranting and trying to cast blame on the grocery store. But, a guilty pleasure is fine. We love ice cream. Right now our favorite is Peanut Brittle. It’s creamy and tasty. We were into Moose Tracks for a while but now our loyalty has shifted a bit.

So, if you’ve got a guilty pleasure and you budget for it, go ahead and indulge yourself. I hate being the only one feeling guilty.

EMERGENCY UPDATE!!! EMERGENCY UPDATE!!!
Mrs. CB just got back from the store and an emergency ice cream run. They're out of Peanut Brittle ice cream!! The horror! Oh, the humanity!! So we're back to eating Moosetracks!
THIS HAS BEEN AN EMERGENCY CHEAP BASTID UPDATE!

Now who wants some Bean Dip?

For some reason we had a minor brain storm recently. We can make our own Bean Dip. Why spend $3 for a 9 ounce can of bean dip? This is tasty and even better, it’s cheap.

Ingredients:
1 16 oz. can refried beans
2 tablespoons mayonnaise or “salad dressing”
1 tablespoon chopped jalapeno

Dump everything into a food processor or blender. Mix thoroughly until creamy. Taste. Adjust “heat” by adding cayenne, habanero sauce, more jalapeno (to your own taste).

Add some cheese and pop in the microwave if you want for a little extra flavor.

Enjoy with your favorite like corn chips or tortilla chips. This is tasty! We made “Gringo Tacos” for dinner the other night and only had small (6 inch) corn tortillas on hand. A little smear of bean dip on the tortilla helped hold everything together and added to the taste.


And, the Cheap Bastid Test? Like I said, a can of Frito/Lay Bean Dip will set you back at least $3. The Can of refried beans was $.89 and I used about a dime’s worth of mayo and another dime’s worth of jalapenos. I made twice as much dip as the can of Frito/Lay for about 1/3 the price.

That’s the Cheap Bastid Way: Eat Good! Eat Cheap! Be Grateful!