Living On A Dime

Tag: frugal cooking

  • Get Organized and Get Out Of Debt – Where Do I Begin?

    Get Organized and Get Out Of Debt – Where Do I Begin?

    Some of the most common goals people have are to get organized and get out of debt but it can be difficult to know how to start. These easy tips will help!

    It’s almost New Years Day and many of us are already starting to think about making resolutions. Most resolutions sound something like: “I’m going to eat healthy and lose weight“, “I’m going to get out of debt” or “I’m going to get organized.”

    These are great things to WANT to do but I’m afraid that about 90% of us won’t keep these resolutions. Here are a couple of things to think about that will hopefully give you greater success in keeping your resolutions.

    I can’t, in this one sitting, give you all the details about how to handle every situation but I can give you some things to think about that will help you in all of these areas. Then for more details check out LivingOnADime.com, or our e-books to help you in each specific area and to give you practical ways on how to accomplish what you want to do.

    It helps to understand why we do the things we do. Most of us want to lose weight and eat healthy on New Year’s Day because we have just spent the past month gorging ourselves so that we now feel bloated and sick and can’t fit into our clothes anymore. Like a pendulum that swings from one extreme to another, we think that the answer is to eat carrot sticks for the rest of our lives. That usually lasts about 3 days and then we give up.

    The same applies to the idea of getting out of debt. Most of us have just spent the past few weeks spending more money than we had planned and now we feel guilty. We’re determined that we are not going to spend a penny on anything. Then we will panic every time we have to buy something like food or gas because the price is so high.

    Then there is the thought of getting organized. Right now you are probably surrounded by a Christmas tree and decorations that are starting to accumulate a thin layer of dust, which is giving a dingy look to everything. The once bright and cheery look of the Christmas lights have dulled. The candles on the mantle have burned down to nubs and look more like they belong in a haunted house or in a horror movie.

    There is leftover wrapping paper strewn here and there. Piles of Christmas dinner platters and dishes sit on every counter. You close your eyes every time you open the fridge so you don’t have to look at the piles of leftovers inside it. Then there are all the mounds of new toys, clothes and gifts. How do you stuff them into the already full closet? No wonder you have the urge to clean and get organized. You wonder, “Where do I even start?” Getting organized is a way to give yourself a fresh start.

    As I’ve said before, too much of even a good thing can make us sick and frustrated.

    Here’s my point: You can get organized and do everything you resolve to do, but you need to pace yourself. It’s like running a long distance marathon. You don’t just shoot out of the starting line going as fast and hard as you can. You will never make the distance that way, so you pace yourself. In the same way, pace yourself in everything and do a small amount at a time, breaking things into manageable pieces.

    Have a plan, whether it is writing menus for good balanced meals for each week, making a budget or, even more important, being bold enough to write down and acknowledge what your debts are.  Make a plan. Plan where to cut your spending or to start to get organized, try making a list of 1-2 areas of your home you are going to organize each day.

    Next prepare. When you are preparing for a race, you would ask yourself, “Do I have the right shoes”, “Are there water stations?”, “Have I slowly worked my muscles into shape?”, “Am I prepared for some pain?” and “When it hits, will I not be afraid of it but keep going in spite of the discomfort?”  In the same way, you may have to spend some time preparing things like planning good meals or making sure you have cleaning supplies and boxes for when you start to get organized.

    Pace Yourself
    Plan
    Prepare

    One thing you must remember – discouragement and a sense of being overwhelmed will hit most of us once we start. Pacing will help but it is especially important to have a plan and be prepared when discouragement sets in so you can overcome it and keep going. Here are some things to think about when you start feeling discouraged:

    Have you ever looked up the definition of resolution? I did. It means to have firm determination, to be bold and steady and to reduce something to a simpler form. You need to be steady and pace yourself. Little by little and piece by piece, reduce your mess to something simpler and more manageable. You can’t accomplish any of it in a week or two. You took a long time to make the mess and you may have to take just as long to clean it up but like the tortoise in the tortoise and the hare, keep a slow but steady pace and you will win the race and succeed.

    Lastly, get up and do it. Stop blaming everyone and making excuses. You won’t even get out of the starting gate if you spend all your time standing there telling everyone why you can’t run. Even if you have a real excuse for not running then at least start taking baby steps and walk. You’ll at least be getting somewhere but if you just stand bemoaning your lot in life and how miserable the world is in these hard economic times, you will get nowhere.You may fall (or eat that piece of chocolate cake, spend more than you should have or leave dirty dishes in the sink one day) but pick yourself up, brush yourself off and keep going. The only thing that will keep you from getting there is if you stop (quit and give up), so keep at it.

    We will try to do the same and keep plugging along with ideas on how to accomplish all of the above. Now I must quit because I have a messy room that I really need to deal with today! : ) : )

    For more help with organizing, cleaning and laundry, take a look at our How To Organize And Clean Your Home e-books.

    [organizing]

  • 7 Ideas For An Easier Thanksgiving – Easy Tips

    7 Ideas For An Easier Thanksgiving – Easy Tips

    Try these easy Thanksgiving Tips and ideas to be better prepared for Thanksgiving! Prepare Thanksgiving meals easier and just get ready for the big day!

    Try these easy Thanksgiving tips and ideas to be better prepared for Thanksgiving! Prepare Thanksgiving meals easier and just get ready for the big day!

    7 Ideas For An Easier Thanksgiving – Easy Tips

    • This is just a little reminder to take your turkey out to start thawing on Saturday if it is about a 20 pound turkey. I would start thawing any turkey on Sunday at the latest. I like to have my turkey thawed at least a day or two ahead of time so I can get it all prepared, in the pan and ready to just pull out and stick in the oven. I have so many things to do the day before Thanksgiving that this is one less thing to worry about.
    • For all you new or inexperienced cooks be sure to take out the “guts” or giblets as most people call them and the neck, which are usually stuffed inside of the turkey.
    • If you need to dry bread for your stuffing, lay the bread out this weekend so it will get good and dry. Break it up, place it in the bowl you are going to be mixing it in and have that much done ahead of time.
    • This weekend, wash and iron your linens for the table and get your silverware and dishes organized.
    • On Wednesday, do as much as you can so you’re not doing it all at the last minute. Clean the veggies for the relish dish and salads or side dishes. If you are making something like a sweet potato casserole get it all prepared so that all you have to do on Thanksgiving is pop it in the oven.
    • If you don’t want to be mashing potatoes two minutes before you sit down, mash them and place them in a crockpot on low to keep warm. You can keep them in the crockpot beautifully for one hour but no more. Beyond that, they get “yucky” quickly.

    Most of all, for you new cooks or those of you cooking your first Thanksgiving dinner, don’t panic. It is really no more difficult than any other regular meal, except that you are probably preparing more of everything. If you are really nervous, do a trial run this weekend. Practice by roasting a chicken and making mashed potatoes, one or two sides and a dessert. It’s just like a mini Thanksgiving.

    If something goes wrong (and most of us have had something go wrong once in a while), just laugh about it. Usually, it is the Thanksgiving everyone will remember with fond, happy memories. It will give you something to tell your future daughter in law, granddaughter or daughter about.

    I remember being so scared my first Thanksgiving cooking alone. My friend who was older and who was going to be one of my guests told me how on her first Thanksgiving everything was perfect. The table looked great and everyone was laughing, joking and enjoying the food but half way through the meal she noticed something – she had forgotten the turkey.

    She had set it on top of the fridge to move it out of the way for a minute and had left it there. Either no one noticed or they were too polite to say anything. Things may happen, but don’t panic – Thanksgiving wasn’t meant to be perfect– just a time of fun, enjoying being with friends and family.

    For lots of quick and easy recipes and tips about scratch cooking and frugal living, take a look at our cookbooks!

    [dining]

  • 10 Ways To Use Buttermilk And Sour Milk For Cooking And Baking!

    10 Ways To Use Buttermilk And Sour Milk For Cooking And Baking!

    Buttermilk and sour milk are versatile ingredients that add flavor and richness to a variety of dishes! In this guide, you’ll find 10 easy and creative ways to use buttermilk and sour milk in your cooking.

    Buttermilk and sour milk are versatile ingredients that add flavor and richness to a variety of dishes! In this guide, you’ll find 10 easy and creative ways to use buttermilk and sour milk in your cooking and baking.

    Readers’ Homemade Buttermilk Questions Answered

    We get many questions about buttermilk and our homemade buttermilk recipe like, “How do I use homemade buttermilk?” “What if I don’t have any buttermilk to start it?” and so on, so I thought I would try to clear up some of the confusion about making your own buttermilk today.

    • Yes you can freeze buttermilk. It is like milk though you must shake it well after freezing because it separates. You may not want to use it for drinking though because texture is different.
    • Dried buttermilk in the can works great. I use it all the time. It has an almost forever shelf life if unopened and it lasts almost as long when opened.
    • You can use buttermilk in place of milk in recipes but you must be careful if those recipes have baking powder in them. It messes up the leavening in the recipe. If you want, you can still use it. You just need to replace each 2 tsp. of baking powder with 1/2 tsp. of baking soda.
    • You can interchange yogurt, sour cream and buttermilk in  most recipes. If you need your recipe to be looser, you can use 1/4 cup milk plus 3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream in place of buttermilk.
    • Let 2-3 tsp. of lemon juice or vinegar set in a cup of milk for 10 minutes to make sour milk. Be sure to put the vinegar or juice in the cup first and then add enough milk to make a cup.
    • Buttermilk and sour milk really shouldn’t be interchanged if you can help it. You can do it but it will sometimes change the texture of what you are making.

    -Jill

    Today I made some homemade buttermilk. Homemade buttermilk is the simplest thing to make! I had some milk that was left out and became sour. Mike in his ever efficient manner made sure that we all knew it was sour. (see picture :-)

    Here's how I made homemade buttermilk starting with markdown buttermilk in the grocery store.

    At the grocery store today, I found some buttermilk marked down for .39 so I grabbed it up and made some buttermilk. It will be done in the morning, just in time for pancakes. Here’s the buttermilk recipe if you would like to try it. It works best with whole milk but it will work with skim. It will just be runnier. This time I just dumped the buttermilk into the milk container because I had already used some of the milk for biscuits.

    -Tawra

    One of our readers asked why it is okay to set out buttermilk and let it sour, but the sour milk in her child’s sippy cup is bad for her child.

    Many people think sour milk and buttermilk are the same but they are different.

    • Buttermilk used to be the watery stuff leftover from making butter. These days, it is made by adding a lactic acid bacteria to regular pasteurized milk.
    • Sour milk is made by adding vinegar and lemon juice to regular milk to make it sour.
    • Spoiled milk is milk that has just been left out and has gone bad, like the milk in a child’s sippy cup.

    To make homemade buttermilk, the recipe says to add 1-2 cups of buttermilk you already have to regular milk and let it sit out. The acid bacteria in the original buttermilk is what makes the difference. This isn’t a perfect example but it is kind of like the good bacteria and the bad bacteria in your stomach. You need the good bacteria to kill off the bad and to keep you healthy. It is the same type of thing. The bacteria in the buttermilk that you add to the milk keeps the bad bacteria at bay. Regular milk gone sour doesn’t have that acid in it, so you get nothing but bad bacteria in spoiled milk.

    The same is true with sour milk. Vinegar or acid kills bad bacteria in the milk. That is why canned pickles last so long– because the acid in them keep the bacteria away longer.

    You can interchange buttermilk and sour milk in a recipe but there is a difference between the two. Often, the difference is in the texture, so when a recipe calls for buttermilk I usually try to use buttermilk and not just make my own sour milk with vinegar (although I do use sour milk in some recipes).

    Buttermilk pancakes or biscuits come out slightly fluffier using buttermilk than when you substitute sour milk. That’s why they’re not called Sour Milk Pancakes. ;-)

    [dining]

  • Zucchini Slaw Recipe – Great Way To Use Garden Leftovers!

    Zucchini Slaw Recipe – Great Way To Use Garden Leftovers!

    Overwhelmed with zucchini? Try this quick, easy and delicious zucchini slaw recipe, a twist on coleslaw that will help you use those garden leftovers!

    This easy zucchini slaw transforms garden-fresh zucchini into a delicious coleslaw. With just four simple ingredients, you can whip it up in no time and make the most of your zucchini harvest!

    Zucchini Slaw Recipe

    From: Norma

    As I was shredding zucchini to put in the freezer, my 12 year old grandson asked, “I wonder what that would taste like made into slaw”. So he got a carrot and we made zucchini slaw. It was awesome!

    So here is our easy Zucchini Slaw recipe:

    Print

    Easy Zucchini Slaw Recipe

    This easy zucchini slaw transforms garden-fresh zucchini into a delicious coleslaw. With just four simple ingredients, you can whip it up in no time and make the most of your zucchini harvest!
    Print Recipe

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    This easy zucchini slaw transforms garden-fresh zucchini into a delicious coleslaw. With just four simple ingredients, you can whip it up in no time and make the most of your zucchini harvest!

    Ingredients

    2 medium zucchini
    1 large carrot
    Miracle Whip (add it until you like it)
    salt and pepper to taste
    1 Tbsp. milk

    Instructions

    1. Shred the zucchini and carrot using a box grater.
    2. Pour into a mixing bowl.
    3. Add Miracle Whip, salt, pepper and milk.
    4. Mix well.
    5. Chill.

    Notes

    If you like, you can just make your favorite coleslaw recipe and use zucchini instead of cabbage. (If you have picky eaters, this is a good way to sneak in zucchini.)

    I tried this zucchini slaw recipe and it was yummy! I also tried making it with our garlic salad sauce. Yum! This is a great way to use leftover garden zucchini!

    -Tawra

    [dining]

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  • One Trick To Cut Kitchen Cleaning In HALF! Make Cleaning Easier!

    One Trick To Cut Kitchen Cleaning In HALF! Make Cleaning Easier!

    Here are some useful tips that will make cleaning easier in your kitchen and the rest of the house! Try them and save not only money but on cleaning aggravation!

    Here are some useful tips that will make cleaning easier in your kitchen and the rest of the house! Try them and save not only money but on cleaning aggravation!

    One Trick To Cut Kitchen Cleaning In HALF and make cleaning easier!

    I did a couple of small things today that I thought might help you make cleaning easier in your home. Here are some quick cleaning ideas:

    I see so many people with these plastic scrapers always scraping away at kitchen counters and it never really dawned on me that I have never had to use one before. I didn’t know why until today.

    One of the key rules of professional cleaners is to let your cleaning products do the work for you. I didn’t realize it but my mom taught me this many years ago when I started doing dishes. I always rinse my dirty dishes and then place as many dishes as I can into the hot soapy water in the sink.

    Before I start washing my dishes, I take my super wet and soapy dish rag and run it quickly over all the kitchen counter tops and the stove. I’m not really wiping it, I’m just getting a nice film of soapy water on it.

    Then I wash my dishes. When I’m done, I thoroughly wring out my dish rag and re-wipe the counters. When I do it this way, every bit of pancake batter, syrup and honey wipes right up. This works every time and I never have to scrape my kitchen counters.

    I don’t do this every time I do dishes. If we only have sandwiches I know there is probably not much sticky stuff on the counter so I wash the dishes without focusing so much on the counters ahead of time.

    Years later, this practice worked for me even better because it forced me to put all the dishes into the sink and get my counters cleared. When I had unexpected customers or company, even though the dishes weren’t done, the counters all looked cleared and nice.

    I also had to clean my trash can today. I took it outside, filled it full with soapy water and a little Clorox bleach. I placed the lid and a broom that needed to be cleaned into the water and let them soak for a couple of hours. Later, I went out and all I had to do was rinse them. I didn’t even need a rag or anything. All that nasty sticky stuff that gets in the bottom of the trash can just dissolved away. When you can, let things soak.

    -Jill

    Jill, I just want to say, YOU WERE RIGHT!!! You mentioned how wiping down counters with soapy water eliminates the need for scrubbing and scrapers and will make cleaning easier. Well, I’ve needed to clean the dreaded microwave for a while now. Every time I’d heat something in it I’d cringe and put off cleaning it because of all the food stuck to the inside.

    Well, I took your advice. I got my dish rag nice and soapy and wiped down the entire microwave first. Then I went over to the sink and wiped down the glass microwave plate with hot soapy water and let it sit, too. Then I went back to the microwave and really started cleaning. Everything came off quite easily.

    After finishing rinsing the plate, I realized that this “dreaded task” only took five minutes. Who knew?

    Thanks! Sarah

    Mom always says the best cleaner is hot soapy water. Use it more and you will save more!!! :-)

          -Tawra

    Hot soapy water and soaking work wonders!

          -Jill

    [organizing]

  • Save Money At After Halloween Sales

    Save Money At After Halloween Sales

    After Halloween sales can be a great time to pick up a few things at a discount that can help you save for other occasions. Here are a few tips to help you!

    After Halloween sales can be a great time to pick up a few things at a discount that can help you save for other occasions. Here are a few tips to help you!

    Save Money At After Halloween Sales

    Don’t forget to go to the after Halloween sales to get some great bargains on candy and other items. You can get many other things at after Halloween sales besides candy:

    • Packages of little toys for party favors.
    • Cupcake wrappers. Cupcake cups with pumpkins can be used all the way through Thanksgiving and if it is just for your family, most kids don’t mind if their cupcakes have a pumpkin wrapper on it, even in January.
    • Candles and candle holders
    • Napkins and disposable tablecloths

     

    hallween decorations - creative pumpkins

    Do you have a graduation coming at the end of the school year and the school colors include black? Buy your plates, napkins, streamers and party favors now. Look for bargains on these types of products after every holiday. If the school colors are red, you can find great stuff after Christmas or Valentine’s Day, silver after New Year’s Eve, green after St. Patrick’s day and so on.

    Get costumes for next year or pick up odds and ends if your kids like play acting or drama. We always kept a costume box. It had a lot of basics, including a black cape, sword, cowboy hat, cowboy vest, clown wig and nose, black gloves, etc.

    You might be surprised about what you find. One year the store had 24 bag packages of lunch chips for a dollar. This was cheaper than it would cost for me to package them up myself. Happy Hunting!

    -Jill

     

  • Easy Meal Planning Ideas! Planning Proper Meals

    Easy Meal Planning Ideas! Planning Proper Meals

    Here are some easy meal planning ideas to help you save money and time! Many people find planning meals daunting but meal planning can actually be easy! These tips and ideas will help you get started!

    Meal planning ideas to save money and time! Many people find it daunting but it can actually be easy! These tips will help you get started!

    We get so many questions over and over about meals and meal planning. While I was looking up something to answer one reader’s question about meal planning, I came across some notes I had written years ago from a class I had taken.

    This statement I wrote is clear, simple and pretty much covers everything you need to know when preparing a meal.

    Meal Planning 101

    Meals should be planned, be regular, be on time, taste good, be nutritious, fit within your budget, smell good and be attractive.

    It might help to write this statement out and keep it in your kitchen somewhere or with your coupons and meal planning things. Then, as you plan your meals, you can go quickly go over the list and see if your meal satisfies all or most of these points.

    If you remember the above statement, that is all you really need to know about meal planning but I decided to add a little detail to it to give you some ideas about what that statement means.

    Planned – Meal planning helps to save money and eliminates the last minute stress of wondering “What am I making tonight for dinner?!” This is the key to all meal planning and probably will save you more money than anything else. If you plan at least a week’s worth of menus. At least plan the night before or that morning what you will have.

    Regular – We often know we need nutritious meals but sometimes don’t realize that having meals on a regular basis really helps our digestive system function better. That means part of good meal planning is picking a time to have dinner close to the same time each day.

    Having regular meals also helps our families emotionally. We are built to like consistency in our lives, especially children. There is something comforting in knowing no matter what frustrating things happened throughout the day, when your family arrives home, there is one constant in their lives – dinner. If you don’t think this is true, try it for a week or two. Then stop doing it and see how your family reacts. Make setting a regular meal time part of your meal planning.

    On time – Getting meals prepared on time can be a little tricky for new cooks. It takes a little practice but you can learn to do it. Start preparing the food that will take the longest to cook first. Then work on the next longest and so on. Also, do as much ahead of time as possible. This goes for everyone. Brand new cooks may want to set the table long before even beginning the meal because it is one less thing to deal with but later, with practice, you can usually set the table while you are waiting for something to cook on the stove. With practice, you will also get to the point where you can toss a salad while you are waiting for the potatoes to cook but this all comes with time. While you are learning, keep your meals simple and composed of just a few easy dishes.

    Taste Good – Pick foods your family likes and learn to cook them. I know this can be a meal planning challenge for some of us. Some people have a harder time learning to cook than others in the same way that some are better at gardening or sewing but you really need to try the best you can to learn some basics.

    It may take a little work but you need to find foods that taste good. You may have to try different brands and varieties of the food. This may mean learning things like being fresh doesn’t always mean something tastes better. Most of the time I can’t tell any difference when I use frozen or fresh broccoli in my cooked foods but I can tell a difference between the brands of frozen broccoli I buy. To save money, use frozen foods if you can’t tell a difference and use the savings to buy fresh foods where you really can tell a difference.

    Be nutritious – I have touched on this a lot in other articles but basically this means you need to learn about nutrients and what your family needs. Study. We grab anything that has organic or healthy written on the label but many of us couldn’t tell you what main foods are more rich in iron or vitamin B. If you are that concerned about your family’s health and insist that you must eat organic, at least learn how many calories and what nutrients are in the food. Read a book or do some research on the Internet. Don’t just read labels.

    Fit your budget – This is simple. You may want to have steak for dinner but your budget only allows chicken, so chicken it is. Staying within your budget when meal planning will help you avoid overspending.

    Smell Good – You truly use all of your senses when you eat. If your family can’t get the food past their noses, it won’t make it into their mouths. Also, food smells have a strong impact on people emotionally, especially when the smells are connected with home and family. Consider how often you hear an adult talk about memories of home and half of the time they mention some smell they remember.

    Be Attractive – Like I mentioned above, we use all of our senses. If the meal doesn’t look good or looks “gross”, they won’t eat it. This should be an important consideration in your meal planning. Don’t forget to use lots of different colored food. Not only does this help with eye appeal but it also is an easy way to know you are giving your family a more nutritionally balanced meal. Many different colors means well balanced. Don’t forget to use different shapes and textures of food, too.

    Meal planning is one of those jobs we tend to let go because we don’t consider them as important or as pressing as other things– kind of like folding clothes and putting them away. We can get them washed and dried but not folded and put away. But doing these things and following through with them can really make our lives easier and get rid of a lot of stress and always saves us money.

    Rethink some things in your life that you are letting slide including your meal planning. You might be surprised a what a difference changing a few things will make.

    -Jill

    [dining]

  • Quick and Easy Homemade Breakfast in 15 Minutes Or Less!

    Quick and Easy Homemade Breakfast in 15 Minutes Or Less!

    Do you feel too overwhelmed to make breakfast? By planning ahead and getting organized, you can have an easy homemade breakfast in 15 minutes or less!

    Here are some great tips for how to make a quick and easy homemade breakfast in 15 minutes or less! A better breakfast that's just as fast or faster than the drive-thru and a lot cheaper!

    Quick and Easy Homemade Breakfast in 15 Minutes Or Less!

    I just finished writing a future newsletter about breakfast and I realized one of the reasons we don’t often eat breakfast is because we have difficulty managing time. Not only is it important to time things to get them done quickly but, when it comes to breakfast preparation, it is important to get everything done at the same time, too. This can sometimes be a big challenge to a beginning cook, but practice makes perfect.

    Here are some helpful tips along with a simple menu I will use for my example:

    Sausage
    Eggs, scrambled
    Toast
    Coffee

    If time is truly tight, then get as much done ahead of time as possible.

    Things to do the night before:

    (All of this should take not more than 5-10 minutes.)

    1. Put the coffee and water in the pot.
    2. If it comes in a roll, slice the sausage into patties.
    3. Put the eggs in a bowl, mixed and ready to go.
    4. Set the bread and butter by the toaster.
    5. Place the pan or griddle on the stove ready for sausage and eggs and stage the oil for cooking by the pans.
    6. Set the table.

    Things to do in the morning:

    1. Start the coffee.
    2. Put the sausage patties in the pans and start cooking them.
    3. Pop the toast in the toaster.
    4. Flip sausages and start cooking the eggs.
    5. Butter toast, stir eggs, dish up sausages and dish up eggs.

    Voila! You’re done!

    Of course, this process can vary from person to person. I’m sure some of us do it differently and I do it differently on some days, too. The point is to think through the order in which you will do things.

    • Start your longest cooking items or things that can be just popped into a pan and need no attention first.
    • Look for areas where you can save time. For example, don’t make trips back and forth to the refrigerator. Get everything you need out at one time and put it all back at one time.
    • Mix and stir items as closely to the things you are cooking on the stove so you don’t have to run back and forth. For example, if you are cutting up a bowl of fruit, cut it near the stove area so you can easily stop and flip the bacon.
    • Write down a list of quick and easy breakfasts to make. For example, place oatmeal in the crock pot overnight, have Egg McMuffins ready to warm and have homemade waffles made and ready to pop in the toaster.
    • Again, do as much as you can ahead of time, like having the table set the night before.

    Most breakfasts for a family of 4 can be made in 15 minutes or less if you are organized. You might find everyone more excited about getting up in the morning and getting dressed if they wake up to the smell of something yummy cooking in the kitchen.

     

    Try these breakfast ideas for your family:

    • Breakfast bowls
    • Breakfast burritos
    • Fresh fruit
    • Oatmeal with fruit
    • Toast with jelly or bacon
    • Breakfast sandwiches
    • Eggs, scrambled, poached or to your taste
    • Hard-boiled eggs
    • Apples, cut into quarters, with core removed
    • Bagels
    • Muffins
    • Dried apples or bananas
    • Oranges, peeled and quartered
    • Pumpkin bread
    • Banana bread
    • Zucchini bread
    • Bananas
    • Crackers and cheese
    • Celery sticks, spread with peanut butter
    • Cheese
    • Homemade granola bars
    • Beef jerky
    • Tortillas with cream cheese
    • Peanut butter snacks
    • Yogurt with fruit or wheat germ added
    • Milk
    • Chocolate milk
    • Homemade hot chocolate
    • Creamy Orange Shake
    • Smoothies 
    • Apples, quartered and cored with 1 tsp. peanut butter on each quarter
    • Bananas sliced in half and spread with peanut butter
    • Bread or toast cut into quarters and spread with jelly, jam, peanut butter, spiced honey or honey butter
    • Crackers spread with peanut butter and jelly or jam
    • Place some peanut butter and honey on a pancake and roll up for a snack. This is great for leftover pancakes.

     

    Many of these easy breakfast ideas and more are from our cookbooks!

    [dining]

     

  • Quick And Easy Banana Split Recipes – Easy Desserts!

    Quick And Easy Banana Split Recipes – Easy Desserts!

    Homemade banana splits are wonderful cool desserts for hot summer days! Try these banana split recipes and ideas and please the whole family! (more…)

  • Dream Laundry Room Ideas

    Dream Laundry Room Ideas

    Dream Laundry Room Ideas

    Dream Laundry Room Ideas

    From: Cindy M
    This is an idea for handling laundry/clothes that I wish I would have used when my kids were still at home. It would require a good-size laundry room but save a lot of bedroom space. There would be cubbies for everyone – socks, underwear, t-shirts, jeans, anything foldable would go in the cubbies – being folded straight out of the dryer. This would eliminate the need for dressers in the bedroom and the space they would take up. Hanging clothes could either go on a rack in the laundry room if space allows, or in the bedroom closets.

    I have to admit this would be my dream laundry room! Since my laundry room barely has room for me stand in I dream of this type of a laundry room everyday! LOL Tawra

    My dream laundry room would have an eight foot long and four foot deep table that is the perfect height to fold my clothes on easily with the cubbies and rods above it to place things as I fold them. It also would have a place to keep the ironing board up all the time with a rod and cubbies by it to hang the clothes on. Last but not least it would have a rack to hang all those things like dirty dish rags or towels which need to dry before you dump them in the hamper.

    To be honest I love laundry so much I wouldn’t mind dedicating one whole floor to a laundry room. I wonder if more people would enjoy doing it if they didn’t have to do it all in a little 5×3 closet all the time. Cooking and doing laundry are two of the main “have to do” things done in a home and yet they always make theses little tiny rooms to do it in but we create these bathrooms that are so big you could play tennis in them.

    I mean how much room do you need to sit on a toilet or stand at a sink to wash your face??? They give you an 8 foot vanity just to brush your hair and put on make up and often don’t give you even one foot of space to fold clothes.

    They even are now giving you an area in the bathroom so you can have a couch to sit and read on. I’m sorry but I can think of much more pleasant places I would rather read then laying and looking at a toilet that 4 male members of my family just used.  Makes no sense to me. Although if you are a mom with 4 little ones under the age of 5 that might be your only place to relax. : ) : )

    Jill

  • Turn School Supplies Into Christmas Gifts

    Turn School Supplies Into Christmas Gifts

    Just before school, when school supplies are on sale, is a good time to stock up on lots of little gifts that will be great for Christmas! (more…)

  • 2 Recipes To Clean Burned Pots and Pans

    2 Recipes To Clean Burned Pots and Pans

    Do your pots and pans look like they’ve been to war? It can be a challenge to clean burned pots and pans, but these easy recipes and tips make it easier! (more…)

  • Roast with Cranberry Sauce and Leftovers

    Roast with Cranberry Sauce and Leftovers

    cranberry sauce roast

    Roast with Cranberry Sauce and Leftovers

    From: Shelley
    I loved your recipe for the cranberry roast (see below). It was awesome. The next day, I heated the leftover roast and gravy added about a tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/2 a bag of broccoli florets. I served that over ramen noodles and it made a wonderful broccoli beef type dish.

    A lot cheaper than take out!

          -Shelley

     

    Cranberry Roast

    1 pkg. dry onion soup mix
    1 (3lb) roast
    1 can (16 oz) cranberry sauce

    Pour soup mix in a crockpot. Add roast and top with cranberry sauce. Cover and cook for 8 hours. To thicken gravy, mix 1 Tbsp. cornstarch and water and add to gravy. You can add carrots and potatoes 4 hours into cooking.

     

    Photo By: matthewreid

  • Frijoles a la charra

    Frijoles a la charra

    pinto bean burrito recipe

    Frijoles a la charra

    From Lindsey F.

    Heat 6 cans of pinto beans with half a can of water over medium high heat, until hot. (It’s ok if it boils.) Add a sprinkle of dried cilantro and a can of tomatoes with green chilies.  Stir and serve with tortillas or corn bread.

     

    If I was a bean eater I would try this because it sounds so good and easy. Super inexpensive too. I will definitely give this to my daughter-in-law who loves beans.

          -Jill

     

    Photo By: Jason Lam

  • Hash Brown Bake

    Hash Brown Bake

    Delicious Hash Brown Bake

    This recipe is a great quick and easy way to use leftovers! You can add fried sausage, crumbled bacon or diced ham to this recipe and use it for breakfast. If you have leftover hamburger, toss it or some veggies in for dinner.

    Years ago, one of the mainstays of people’s diets was hash, which is all the leftovers from the previous day thrown together with some finely diced or grated potatoes and fried in a pan. I wonder if that is why they are called “hash” browns because it was what everyone used for hash?

          -Jill

     

    Hash Brown Bake

    2 lbs. frozen hash browns (slightly thawed)
    1/2 cup melted butter
    1/2 tsp. salt
    1/4 tsp. pepper
    1/2 cup chopped onion
    1 can cream of chicken or celery soup
    8 oz. sour cream
    2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
    3/4 cup crushed potato chips

    Combine all except 1/2 cup cheese and potato chips. Place in a 9×13 baking dish. Cover with remaining cheese and potato chips. Bake for 1 1/4 hours at 350°.

    For more money saving recipes and tips, check out the Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

    photo by:  lindstorm

  • Easy Ground Meat Sandwiches

    Easy Ground Meat Sandwiches

    Easy Ground Meat Sandwiches - An Easy Way To Use Leftovers

    Don’t waste that leftover meat! Try making these easy meat sandwiches, which can be a tasty way to use leftover meat or take advantage of sale prices. (more…)

  • Homemade Chow-Chow Relish

    Homemade Chow-Chow Relish

    Canning Jars

    This recipe calls for a  box of brown sugar. That is the only way you could get brown sugar years ago so a lot of older recipes are written this way. A box of brown sugar is 1 pound, 16 oz. or 2 1/3 cups.

     

    Chow-Chow Relish

    1 medium cabbage
    4 medium onions
    3 green peppers
    2 red or hot peppers (I used red)
    3 Tbsp. salt
    1 Tbsp. mustard seed
    1 Tbsp. turmeric
    5 medium tomatoes (not quite ripe)
    2 cups cider vinegar
    1 box brown sugar

    Wash 9-10 pint jars in hot soapy water. Sterilize jars by boiling in water for 10 minutes. Keep jars hot until ready to fill. Using a food processor, grind all the ingredients except tomatoes, vinegar and brown sugar. Chop tomatoes by hand. Mix all ingredients (except the vinegar and sugar). Let stand for 30 minutes and strain excess water if necessary. In a large pot, add vegetables, 2 cups cider vinegar and 1 box of brown sugar. Cook until mixture boils. Place in jars and process for 30 minutes in a boiling water bath. Note: Makes 9-10 pints, and is absolutely fabulous on hot dogs!!

     

    photo by:spin spin

  • Creamy Pumpkin Cupcakes and Philly Apple Crumble

    Creamy Pumpkin Cupcakes and Philly Apple Crumble

    Apples and Pumpkins make the perfect fall deserts. This Creamy Pumpkin Cupcakes Recipe and Philly Apple Crumble recipe are two easy and delicious options! (more…)

  • Time and Money Saving Tips and Ideas

    Time and Money Saving Tips and Ideas

    Time and Money Saving Tips and Ideas

    Here is an odd collection of tips that you might find useful:

    This morning I went to buy eggs. I usually try to get them on sale but couldn’t find any. Since I needed the eggs right then, I had no choice but to pay full price, so I bought a carton of medium eggs.

    Sometimes we automatically buy the large eggs (we do that with so many things) thinking that they are the best but for my purpose (baking), the medium eggs worked just fine and they were cheaper.

    If you are having trouble with a recipe being extra sticky or not quite right in some other way, you might change your egg size and see if that helps.

    Another thing I did this morning was hang my clothes out. After writing an e-book about laundry and how to hang clothes on the line I didn’t think I had missed anything. As I was hanging some T-shirts on the clothesline, I noticed that one of them was sagging in the middle, so I pinned it on the line and I re did it. You need to hang the items taut on the line, not stretched too tight but not sagging. This helps get rid of much of the wrinkling that some of us experience. Sometimes we tend to let our clothes sag in the middle to give us more clothesline space but don’t do this. It’ll only make more work for you.

    Here are some more useful miscellaneous ideas:

    • If you lose the plug for your bathtub, use a golf ball. If it happens to get dislodged, it just rolls right back into place.
    • Rub hair conditioner on your shower curtain rod to make your shower curtain slide more smoothly.
    • Wipe up those spills. I know I sound like a parrot but if you spill something on your stove top, clean it right away. If you turn on a burner or  your oven, the mess bakes and hardens on the stove. I recently heard about a new way of doing finger nail polish and guess what they use to make it harden and stick more firmly? -Heat. The same principle works with your stove, so don’t wait to wipe up the mess.

    I hope some of these ideas help make your day go more “smoothly”. : ) Have a super day everyone!

          -Jill

    Photo By: Brenda Gottsabend

  • Apple Barn Soup Menu – Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

    Apple Barn Soup Menu – Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

    Apple Barn Soup - Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe

    Easy Vegetable Soup Recipe and Menu

    Tips:

    If you don’t have time to make cornbread or are out of crackers when serving soup, serve it with some of your favorite seasoned croutons.

    It is so easy to make your own croutons. You can use any old, dried bread you want but tougher breads like French bread work best. This is a good way to use things like leftover hamburger buns, bagels or dinner rolls.

    All croutons store well an airtight containers for a couple of weeks.

    (more…)

  • Organizing Kids’ Schoolwork

    Organizing Kids’ Schoolwork

    How To Organize Your Children’s Schoolwork

    School has started in many places, which means more mounds of paper clutter to keep under control. Here are some tips to help keep all of that school paperwork from multiplying, reproducing and generally taking over your home and your life.

    • Set a certain time and place to go through your kids’ backpacks and paperwork each day. Use this time to sign all those papers you need to sign, mark upcoming meetings or events on the calendar and sort through everything.

      The best time and place to organize schoolwork will vary for each family. For us, it was best to do it the moment the kids walked through the door while it was fresh on their minds. I would have a snack ready for them, they would explain the papers to me and while I was dealing with them (signing, writing on the calendar or admiring their handiwork), they would tell me about their day.

      Then I would return everything that needed to go back into their backpacks, trash the rest or put it in a special place or folder. This helps prevent things from getting tossed on the counter or table where they are eventually lost or forgotten.

    • Of course you will need a calendar and/or small bulletin board or dry erase board.

      My calendar has very large squares where I simply mark what needs to be done. If there is something very important that I must not forget no matter what, I mark it in red, but I write everything else in pencil in case I need to change it. Then I can just erase it and make the necessary changes.

      There have been times when I used a purple pen if I wanted the kids to remember something. I read about a study which found that people will remember things better when marked in purple.

      Use different colored markers or pens for different things. For example, one child’s events will all be in green, all dentist appointments are in blue or whatever works best for you.

    • If there are special papers that go with an event, I either paper clip them to the calendar page, pin them to a small bulletin board or place them in a folder, making a star on the calendar so I know to look on the bulletin board or in the folder for the paper that goes with the event.

      All my events seem to fit fine on one large square of a calendar. If your events don’t fit, you might need to look at changing a few things in your life and cutting back on some things. This could be a sign you are too busy.

    • There are many many fancy and expensive calendar systems out there. I personally find them to be more confusing and more work than they are worth but if they work for you, use one.

      I know that some of you who work away from home need day planners and other organization systems but that is another whole subject that I deal with in my e book Plan It, Then Do It.

    • Another system some people like is to have a folder for each child with special papers in it. For example, if one child is having a class party, I will mark the class party on the calendar but then place the paper with all the info about it in the folder. Once again, I would place a star by the event to remind me more info is in the folder. Once a week these folders should be sorted through so they don’t get cluttered.

    • Always keep folders of any kind in an upright position in a holder. Most folders or papers that are laid in a horizontal position get forgotten, lost, piled on or not used.

    • KEEP IT SIMPLE. This could be the most important point of all. If it is complicated and too involved  neither you or your family won’t bother to use it. Sometimes it isn’t our families which are the problem but the system we choice to use. Just because it comes highly endorsed  by a famous organizer or some such does not mean it will work for you so don’t fight it and try something different.

    Well I will sign off for now. I am looking at the piles of paper on my own desk and think I might need to take a break, practice what I preach and clear my desk. : )

          -Jill

     

    Photo By: magma666

  • Inexpensive Lunch

    Inexpensive Lunch

    Inexpensive Lunch

    Hi Tawra,

    I just wanted to add a less expensive, and just as delicious option to your Hot Doggie Roll Ups recipe.  Use buttered bread instead of the canned biscuits or crescent rolls. Butter a slice of bread on one side, place a hot dog (I like to precook mine first) diagonally across the UNBUTTERED side, bring the two corners up over the hot dog and secure with a toothpick.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  My mother-in-law made these for her children years ago, but she called them “Weiny Winks”!

    Thanks for a great newsletter!
    Kathy C.

     

     photo by: stevenepolo

  • Fancy Inexpensive Dinner Breads

    Fancy Inexpensive Dinner Breads

    canned regrigerator biscuits in bundt pan

    FANCY SCHMANCY dinner breads cheap…

    Use a decoratively shaped Bundt pan,

    a stick of butter or margarine,

    3 cans of biscuits (jumbo or regular) (you could use frozen dinner roll too)

    seasonings to suit the meal…for instance, serving Italian?  Use basil and Parmesan cheese

    Melt butter or margarine in bottom of Bundt pan evenly. Sprinkle seasonings. Then put biscuits in on end, like stacking dimes, one at a time, to allow seasonings and butter to ooze between each one. Bake as directed on the can. Then simply turn out onto a serving plate, and VOILA! –a beautiful bread ring.  You can use cheddar cheese and jalapeno for Mexican…brown sugar and cinnamon for pull apart cinnabuns…rosemary and olive oil and olives for Italian or Greek… ANY assortment you can think of… dried tomatoes and olive oil… try it!

    -Vicky B.

    All I can say is yum! I am going to have to try this one!

    Tawra

     

    Photo By: C Jill Reed

  • Saving Cooking Disasters

    Saving Cooking Disasters

    Saving Cooking Disasters

    I happened to think of a couple of things today that might help you for Thanksgiving and for any of the other holidays, too.

    First, if you haven’t already done it, clean out your refrigerator today. You really should clean your refrigerator before you go buy everything for your dinner but if you haven’t done it yet, do it now. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to stuff leftovers into an already full fridge when you have a house full of company over, so clean it now. If you can, leave a certain shelf for the things you are going to store before and after Thanksgiving dinner.

    Fixing Cooking Boo Boos:

    • If you didn’t cook your turkey with our recipe, it may come out too dry. Don’t panic. Just slice it, lay it on a platter and pour gravy over it. Then serve.
    • If your stuffing is too dry, once again, add some turkey brot or gravy to it.
    • If a side dish burns and sticks to the bottom of the pot, carefully pour it out of the pot, being sure not to scrape the bottom of the pan or any of the food stuck to it. You can save quite a bit this way.
    • If your dinner rolls burn, carefully slice off the bottoms. If all of the bottoms are gone, people will think that is just the way they are supposed to be.
    • If the crust on your pumpkin pie doesn’t turn out, scrape out the filling and place it in a nice serving dish. Cover it with lots of whipped topping sprinkled with a little cinnamon and call it Pumpkin custard.

    Let’s Talk Turkey

    I don’t think there is anything more dismal looking then a picked over turkey carcass. Usually, I am so tired from making the meal, being hostess and cleaning up that having to face the turkey carcass can almost put me over the edge. What I finally learned is not to do anything with it on Thanksgiving day. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, we pick at it all day long, making sandwiches and other things. Later I pick off the last of the big chunks.

    I usually cook my turkey wrapped in foil or in a disposable pan so, when I’m done, I just wrap the foil around the turkey or gently shape the disposable pan around it. Then I stick it all in a couple of plastic bags, pop it in the freezer and forget it for a couple of weeks. Often I wait until January when I bring out the turkey remains and toss the carcass into a large pot for soup. That’s when it gets it’s final picking over.

    If any of you have tips about how to fix Thanksgiving cooking boo boos for our beginning cooks and even some of us old timers, feel free to post. You may be the one to save someone’s Thanksgiving. : )

           -Jill

    We just received this today from a reader and thought it was perfect to add here.

    From Cindy:

    I had just made your pecan pie muffin recipe and popped it into the oven. I checked another recipe site (not as good as yours!) and many commenters said their muffins stuck to the pans and that they had to make it over again with flour, oil, Baker’s Joy or whatever.

    I thought “Great! I need these for a bake sale tomorrow. Just my luck– They’ll be stuck in the pan and unusable.” So when I took the pan out of the oven I immediately ran a sharp knife around the sides and popped the muffins out. It worked just fine. I can see, though, that if you left them in the pan to cool they probably would stick. They’re very good. Thanks for the recipe and Happy Thanksgiving!

     

    This is a good place to give everyone a heads up that if you bake anything  sticky, sugary or syrupy, you’ll want to get it out of the pan immediately before it cools. I put a sticky topping on my cinnamon rolls so I have another pan ready to “dump” them on to the minute they come out of the oven.

    Be careful with things like pecan pies and don’t fill them so full that they spill over the top and onto the edge because you will spend most of the day chiseling and trying to get a piece of pie out of the pan.

    Of course, when it comes to pecan pie, I would find a way to get it out of the pan and into my mouth, even going as far as sucking on the pan if I have to. Yum! : ) : )

    No matter what you make, a good rule of thumb is that if it is sticky and touches the pan it is like brushing on glue so either grease it very well or get it out of the pan quickly.

          -Jill

     

    photos by: toomanythoughts and technodad