It's National Frugal Day!!

So, it's officially Frugal Day! So, here are a few websites for coupons, along with a recipe for a frugal dessert using fruit leftover from last week. A tip for saving extra when you purchase things... If you have a store coupon for an item, go online and check to see if there's also a manufacturer's coupon. Most stores will allow you to use both, and you can save extra money when shopping for anything from toys to food items.

Also, if you have a smart phone, there are tons of coupon apps out there, Coupon Sherpa, Grocery Pal and Grocery IQ, just to name a few. Many stores have their own coupon apps as well, with the coupons bar coded so you can just show them the coupon on  your phone and they can scan them at checkout.

So, happy shopping! And happy eating the following Apple Galette. It's the easiest apple pie you'll ever make. If you want to make it even easier, buy a ready made pie crust, the kind in a roll, not in an aluminum pie plate. That's what I do, because I stink at making pie crust. Here's a photo. Unfortunately, I didn't get to photograph it before my family dug in, and this was all that's left. About a third of the pie. I think they liked it, though.

Apple Galette

For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t. salt
1/2 cup chilled butter, cut into pieces (one stick)
3 tablespoons ice water (or more, depending on your weather)

Mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Cut the butter in with a fork, or just dig your hands into it, crumbling the butter and flour up into tiny beads. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time (it really needs to be cold), and mix in with your hands until a soft dough begins to form. When you can make a ball with the dough, flatten it into a disk and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for at least a half hour. It's really important the butter and water be ice cold when making the dough, and try to prepare it as quickly as possible. You'll have a flakier dough this way.

The filling:
3 small apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 C sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 C water
1 T corn starch dissolved in 2 T water

Mix the first 4 ingredients together and allow to sit while the dough chills. Juices will be extracted from the apples. Pour into a saucepan, add 1/4 C water, bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook until very thick. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out the dough into a large circle, about 13-15 inches (or unroll your pre-made crust). It doesn't have to be beautiful, just kind of round. Place on a cookie sheet, pizza sheet or pizza stone. Spoon the apple mixture in the center, leaving about 3-4 inches all around the edge. Fold the edges toward the center, pinching any open edges together to hold in the juices. You should have an opening at the top of about 4 inches in diameter. Beat an egg with 2 T water. Brush on the pastry. Bake for around 30 minutes or until the crust is gold brown. Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with a glaze made of powdered sugar mixed with enough water or milk to make a thin paste. Eat! Great warm or cold, with our without ice cream.

Coupon Websites:

http://www.coupons.com/

http://www.thefrugalshopper.com/

http://www.couponmom.com/