Living On A Dime Newsletter - St Patrick's Fun - March 13, 2008 Hi guys, Today's newsletter contains tips and recipes to add a little more fun to St. Patrick's Day. Check out the website at http://www.LivingOnADime.com ! Mike has re-arranged the articles so they are easier to find using the indexes on the left side of the page. Check it out and make sure you haven't missed anything! Have a great rest of the week and weekend and Happy early St. Patrick's Day! Tawra http://www.LivingOnADime.com ******************************* Today's Tips: Since Monday is St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd share some tips and recipes to add to the St. Patty's Day fun! * Add green food coloring to almost any food for a very unusual "green" meal. * Surprise your kids by adding a few drops of green food coloring to the milk in their cereal. For even more fun, have a pitcher of green milk sitting in the fridge for them to grab for when they get up in the morning. * Try making green oatmeal or cream of wheat. * Start fun traditions like having everyone wear green on St. Patrick's Day or making shamrocks for them to wear. It doesn't take much to get into the spirit of things, but it can make a fun and memorable time! * This next tip is more for Easter but I am giving it to you now so you can get your eggs in plenty of time to use them. When it comes to hard boiling eggs, fresher is not better. You will hear all kinds of tips to make it easier to peel your eggs, but the only real thing that I have found that makes a difference is the freshness of the eggs. I have tested this over and over and finally came to the answer when we had our own chickens for a while. In order to have hard boiled eggs that I could peel easily, I had to set them aside in the fridge and let them get "old" about two weeks. I tested it again the other day I took 6 eggs that I had bought fresh and 6 eggs that were older and cooked them all together. When I went to peel them, the shells on the old ones slid right off, but I couldn't get the newer ones peeled at all. Instead of giving you a menu this week, I am going to give you some "green" dishes. No, not earth friendly "green" but "wearing of the green" or in this case "eating of the green". Pick some of these foods for your special St. Patty's Day meal. * Green Fruits: kiwi, green grapes, honeydew, green apples * Green Veggies: Broccoli, green peppers, Brussels sprouts, green beans, peas, asparagus * Green Meats: I advise you to stay away from any green meats unless you want to spend some time in the hospital HA! HA! But you can serve corned beef (fresh, of course ;-). * Green Drinks: Serve lime kool aid or add some green food coloring to lemonade or milk. See below for a special Irish slush. ******************************* Check out Dining On A Dime, your Frugal Encyclopedia! Dining On A Dime helps you: * Keep more of your money. * Make great home cooking * Satisfy picky eaters * Save when cleaning * Learn to make gift baskets Try Dining on a Dime and start saving today! Learn more at http://www.livingonadime.com/books/doddesc.htm ******************************* Today's Recipes *St. Patrick's Slush 2 (3 oz.) pkgs. lime gelatin 2 cups boiling water 2 cups cold water 2 quarts lime sherbet 4 cups ginger ale or lemon lime soda, chilled Dissolve gelatin into boiling water. Add cold water and sherbet. Freeze 4-5 hours until set. Remove from the freezer 45 minutes before serving. Place 1 cup of slush mixture in each glass with about 1/2 cup of soda. * Lime Fluff 1 pkg. unsweetened lime soft drink mix 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping 1 chocolate cookie or graham cracker crust Mix drink mix and milk, fold in whipped topping and place into crust. Cover and chill. You can make this without the crust and try different flavors of soft drink mix. You could use red for Valentine's Day, orange for Halloween and so on. * Cool Gelatin Salad 1 (3 oz.) pkg. lemon gelatin 1 (3 oz.) pkg. lime gelatin 1 cup boiling water 1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 package large curd cottage cheese 1 cup mayonnaise 1 (15 oz.) can crushed pineapple in heavy syrup Dissolve gelatin in boiling water. Pour in remaining ingredients and chill. ******************************* From A Reader: "Tawra~~ I just love your newsletter. I learn a lot, and always look forward to reading it. Just wanted to tell you to keep up the good work!! Thanks so much for making my life better. :)" ~Erin M. & Family ******************************* The Living On A Dime Newsletter Is Published By: Kellam Media and Publishing, Inc. PO Box 844, Andover, KS 67002