I know the new site is taking some getting used to so here is a short article on how to navigate it. Tawra

We are so excited! We have the new website/blog combo set up on our new site. Sadly that means we are going to be closing this one down to new posts.

We will be keeping it up until we can get the over 2000 posts moved to the new website. (Don’t worry it will take me well over a year (maybe two) to get it done so you can still find and read the old posts. )

To celebrate we are doing several giveaways this week. The first one for Dining On A Dime starts at midnight June 22. So run over to the new site www.LivingOnADime.com and sign up for the giveaway!

To read all the new posts we have, just check out  the “Recent Posts” section in the middle of the page. Feel free to still comment, the comments are at the bottom of the post.

If you are on our email updates just sign up on the new site for the email updates there on the right.

Thank-you all our faithful readers!  We really do appreciate your support! Hopefully the new site design will make it easier to find the tips and recipes you love.

Tawra

I just had to replace my shower curtain liner. You can wash them and I have but after a certain point you need to break down and get a new one. It was time for me to do this as much as I hate changing them. Equally as much I hate to throw mine out and I don’t. I thought some of you might like some ideas on how to use these wonderfully large chunks of plastic for things other then a shower curtain.

1. As a small tarp for over firewood.

2. To line your table or floor when your kids are doing a messy project.

3. For a bed liner when the grandkids come to visit and they aren’t quite potty trained.

4. Under your blanket on a picnic to keep it from getting damp.

5. In the trunk of your car to lay down when you haul things or to throw over your head if you are broke down in a rain storm with no umbrella.

6. Lay it on the ground when you are pruning rose bushes or pulling weeds. You can drag the whole thing to your compost pile or to toss the clippings.

7. Cut a hole in it for a poncho or to make a cover for kids when doing a messy job.

8. If you have one of those freak 2 min. summer rain storms, toss it over the clothes on your line to keep them from getting them wet. That way you don’t have to hurry and take everything off of the line.

9. Place under tents when camping or use to throw over camping things if it rains.

10. Cut into chunks and use for things like under the dog or cat bowl or under babies messy chairs.

11. You can cut and sew them into bibs or to sew on bibs you already have as a liner.

12. Use as a drop cloth when painting. Even buying a new one at the Dollar Tree would cost less then buying a regular drop cloth.

13. Use as a tent instead of sheets for the kids in the backyard or on the deck. If it rains it won’t matter because they can still stay out and play.

14. In a real pinch you can use it as a temporary covering for a broken window or to patch a leaky roof.

15. Sew them up to make beach or swimming bags to carry your wet suits. Some curtains have a perfect “beachy” look to them to make them really cute.

Jill

S’mores are amazing things. They can be eaten all year around for snacks or desserts and young and old alike love them. These ideas are especially good when the kids want some s’mores and you don’t have a piece of chocolate in the house.Here are some modern day twists on an old time favorite snack.

In a pinch you can use chocolate chips, or leftover Easter candy in place of the candy bar.

Or forget the chocolate all together. Spread a graham cracker with strawberry or raspberry jam add a roasted marshmallow and a slice or two of strawberry or even a slice of banana.

Use cinnamon grahams, spread with softened cream cheese and fruit.

This isn’t a s’more idea but I love to spread butter on my cinnamon grahams, topping with a second one and dunk them in my coffee for breakfast.

Chocolate grahams are great too spread with peanut butter and slices of banana.

Last but not least here is a good summer dessert you can make and keep handy in the freezer.

Ice Cream S’mores

9 grahams broken crosswise in half to make 18 squares

1 cup hot fudge sauce

2 cups mini marshmellows

1 pint (2 cups) chocolate ice cream, softened

Place 9 grahams in a foil lined 9 in square pan. Spread with 1/2 the fudge sauce, sprinkle with marshmallows, spread with ice cream, the rest of fudge sauce then cover with the rest of the grahams. Freeze overnight or for several hours. Take out of the freezer 10 mins. before serving then cut into squares.

You know there are certain things when it comes to cooking that are on my list of not too fun things to do so I try to avoid them when possible or find faster and easier ways to do them. Here’s a few things you may not like doing either and ways to do them which may be easier.

Chopping pickles for egg salad, tuna, potato salad etc.

I normally would just cut a pickle or two with my knife because the amount of time it takes to drag out a chopper then rinse it, let it dry and have to put it away seems like over kill to me for 1 little pickle but here is an even easier way.

Get out a bunch of pickles, chop them with a chopper, place in a jar or container and cover with a little juice. Then when you need a spoon full or two just scoop them out of the jar, pressing the spoon against the side of the jar to remove the juice. You have chopped pickles handy all the time.

Cracker Crumbs

For ages I have tossed crackers in a bag and crushed them with a rolling pin. I would usually end up with the bag getting a hole in it and having a big mess. (Believe it or not at the moment I don’t own a food processor or chopper)

Instead try placing your crackers in a wide mouth mug or small bowl. Use a narrower tumbler that fits in the first mug to crush your crackers or cereal for crumbs.

You could also do a large amount in a food processor all at once. Store in a large airtight container with a scoop and you have them handy and ready when you need them. This is especially good for graham cracker crumbs if you make a lot of pie crusts or to use in your recipes for other things.

Cutting Meat

I used a knife for years to cube up all kinds of my meat until I discovered kitchen shears or even a nice pair of strong scissors. I now cut my meat with them and it takes up half the time and I don’t have a cutting board to clean afterwards. Also if you are cutting up something like steak into cubes have it slightly frozen. It cuts easier.

Jill

Well, I decided to color my hair yesterday. I sort of forgot that I didn’t have my clarifying shampoo when I went to the pool on Monday so I think there was some chlorine left in my hair and it turned orange! Augh!!!

After posting on facebook about it my brother ever so kindly made the above picture of what he was sure I looked like.

Thankfully I called Clairol and all I have to do is get a slightly darker shade and mix
1 oz. color
1 oz developer
1 oz of mild shampoo

then let it sit for up to 20 minutes checking every 5 to see when it’s the right color. Shampoo and move on with life.

Yeah!!! I don’t have to be stuck with orange hair for the rest of the summer!

Tawra

I read this quote in Guideposts magazine one day and thought it too good to pass up.

“A bad attitude is like a flat tire. If you don’t change it, you’ll never go anywhere.”

Here is an example of what I mean. Over the years we get an amazing amount of mail from people who are really upset with us because our book, Dining on a Dime, isn’t a vegetarian cookbook or a diabetic cookbook or a wheat free cookbook etc. If we had a book for every food “problem” each person had we would have written more books then the library of Congress has.

One day we had to laugh because we first received a very nasty e mail from someone who was so angry because we didn’t take into consideration all of those with …. and she listed about 4 different allergy and food problems she had. What was so funny was just a few hours later we received an e mail from a woman who couldn’t thank us enough for our cookbook. She said it was the first cookbook she had ever used that the recipes were such she could easily adapt them to her family’s many food allergies and then proceeded to list all the same things that the woman in our earlier negative e mail had listed.

It was one of the most perfect of examples of different attitudes for the same situation. Most of you probably don’t know it but I am left handed. I have had to live in a right handed world all my life. Only you other lefties will understand it does pose a problem once in awhile but I don’t usually even give it a second thought. I adapt.

I don’t expect the whole world (the majority) to change their way because of my “difference” I just do the best I can. It in a way has made me a better person because I at times have to get creative or learn to do things in a different and maybe even better way. We all have some little “handicap” we have to live with, some bigger then others, the ones who succeed in spite of their handicap whether a food allergy, debt, loss of job etc are usually the ones who have the right attitude.

Stop looking at your flat tire and ranting and raving about how it isn’t fair that there is no one to help you change it or that the street sweeper hadn’t come down that road to sweep that nail away. Just get out your owners manual, open the trunk, pull out your spare and get busy changing it. You don’t have a spare? Then start walking.

Although before you do anything I would pray like crazy for God to help. I don’t know how many times I have done just that and before I knew it several big hunky guys were there to help. :)  Now don’t get me wrong I didn’t always get big hunky guys there have been a few tow truck drivers which I could tell had been working in 100 degree weather for several days in the same clothes and they sure loved chewing their tobacco but I was so grateful to see them they looked as good to me as any hunk would have.  Once again it’s all in how you look at things.

So if you feel like you are getting no where maybe you have a flat tire in your mind which needs to changing. Get out the tools you need and/or start walking you will get there one way or another if you try.

Jill

I talked about composting a few days back, then we had a question from Stephanie which I thought might help some of you others. She was hesitating in starting a composting pile because she had heard they could smell. Also she was wondering if I had to stir my pile all the time etc.

Tawra is the compost expert but I thought I would answer this because Tawra does stir hers and does all the “proper things” to hers mainly because she has a huge garden and yard normally and it is very important part of her life. I on the other hand am just an average person who does composting on a smaller scale which I think many of you would like to do.

Here is an answer to her question.

I’m afraid I am a very laid back composer if there is such a thing. I just toss my things in a small corner of the yard, adding to it when I feel like it and never touch it until I need to get some soil from it. I know all the proper stirring, layer and everything else that you are suppose to do to it but I never do any of that and I still get compose so I figure why mess with all those things when I get compose without doing them.

As far as the smell I too have heard people say that but I have never noticed a problem with it. I did once smell my compose pile the day after I put something on it but the next day the smell was gone and that was the only time I have ever smelt anything.(I can’t remember where I was living at the time which could have made a difference)

Partly I think it is because I am not real excessive with my compose. I will add a few banana peels, egg shells things like that every few days or once a week then I mostly put on it grass clipping, dead flowers and leaves. Sometimes I will add paper towels or napkins but not huge amounts of those things. I am not sure if that is the difference or what.

What I would do if you are concerned with smell is find a corner away from the house and for 2 weeks place some things in a pile and see what happens. Worse case is at the end of that time you will just have to scoop it up and place it in the trash or you might find it works great.

I would suggest though to have some variety to your pile. Don’t just place all fruit peels and egg shells but pile on grass clippings and or leaves too.

Often people make these things so complicated with rules and ways that things must be done that we don’t want to even bother to try or it gets soooo confusing. I say keep it simple. You don’t have to start out composting every little thing. Just do a little and as you get the feel for what you are doing start doing more.

Hope this helps.
Jill

To those of you from the South you may find this post a little funny because sweetened ice tea is an everyday ordinary thing for most in the South and some of you were weened on the stuff. There’s a whole generation of adults though who don’t know about sweetened ice tea because sugar was put on the “bad food” list when they were growing up but surprise, surprise it is now once again ok to use sugar in our drinks. Yeahhhh!!!! Everyone is jumping on the band wagon to buy it at the fast food places and of course in the bottles.

I cringe every time I see someone pay through the nose to buy sweetened ice tea when it is so easy to make and cost only pennies for a pitcher full. So to help you save some money on what maybe becoming your favorite drink or still an old favorite here is my recipe for sweetened ice tea. I will warn you even though I am not officially a true Southerner I drink mine so sweet it will curl your hair. You can adjust the sugar if you want but try it this way first and see what you think.

Part of the secret to good ice tea is having the sugar properly dissolved. Just adding sugar to regular unsweetened cold tea doesn’t get it so this is where this recipe will help you. Some people make a simple syrup and all to help dissolve the sugar but you don’t have to go to all that trouble because the way my recipe is it makes it’s own simple syrup with the tea.

Sweetened Ice Tea

2 quarts water

3 regular size tea bags

3/4 cup sugar

Boil part of the water, about 3 cups. This doesn’t have to be exact or measured just enough so that when you pour it over the tea bags and sugar it will cover them well. While the water is boiling throw  the tea bags and sugar into a 2 quart pitcher. After the water boils pour over tea bags and sugar cover and let steep for at least 5 mins. if you are in a hurry. I let mind sit for 30 mins or more until I remember that I made it. Then I gently stir it. You don’t want to break the tea bags. Add more cold water up to the 2 quart line. Chill

Now if I am serving mine over ice, which is the way I love it, I will only add water to the 1 1/2 quart line instead of 2 quarts. Of course after you try it you can adjust the sugar and water to your preference.

One last thing. I sometimes will use 2 regular flavored tea bags and one flavored like peach, or raspberry. This adds just the right amount of flavor to it and of course if you like lemon toss a slice in.

Jill

I watch many decorating show. Sometimes they are more like horror shows when I hear how much they spend on decorating a room. Often they spend as much to decorate one room (not remodel) as much as I spent for my house. Even the ones which claim they will show us how to decorate on a shoe string shocks me.

You don’t need to spend thousands to redecorate your rooms.  With winter gone and summer officially here it is nice to have something light, fresh and different for those warm days ahead.

Here are a few ideas to help get you started.

~ Pack away all heavy winter throws.

~ Roll up your rugs. Except for rugs you have by the door to control the dirt from being tracked in put rugs away for the summer. Not only does this change the look of your room making it look cooler but it will save wear and tear on your rugs. Since you are using them 5-6 months less they will last longer.

~ Change your flower arrangement on your dining room or kitchen table. You don’t need a lot. A bowl of fruit or even one single vase with a flower from your garden will look nice and be a change.

~ Rearrange your furniture. Even changing a couple of end tables or chairs can make a big difference or switch out furniture from other rooms and use them in different places or ways.

~ Pack away your heavy comforter. In the summer I just use white sheets with a bright colored light weight blanket folded across the foot of my bed. I just happen to have had some white pillow cases which have a small amount of crochet on the edge in the same color as the blanket with 2 throw pillows which I had in another room that match it perfectly. It cost me nothing.

~ It’s summer so you can have fun. Mix and match your sheets using different colors.

~ Remove some of your knick knacks. Better yet keep your knick knacks divided, some for winter and some for summer and change them out.

~ Get out the paint. It may not be free but it doesn’t have to cost much. Instead of doing a whole room just get a quart and paint an accent wall, the trim in a room or an old piece of furniture to change things. Don’t forget to check out your local recycling center for tons of free paint and many other things or go to Lowe’s or a paint store and look for clearance paints. They have lots of paints people decided they didn’t like but you may just love which cost only a couple of dollars.

~ Change your throw pillows by wrapping them in chunks of fabric you have or even colorful towels. I change my pillows so often I don’t even sew them covers any more. I just wrap it around the pillow and either tie or pin it in the back. Or take a plain pillow that you have on your bed and pin some of your favorite broaches to it for some pretty bling.

~ Even something as simple as changing the magazines or books on your coffee table can make a nice change.

This is of course just the tip of the ice burg and hopefully just helps you to get the creative juices flowing. Relax have fun. Just because that lamp has set there for 10 years doesn’t mean you can’t move it now.

Jill