Wednesday, January 29, 2014

DIY Liquid Handsoap


It's soap-week at our house!

Just when I ran out of laundry detergent, I was running low on liquid hand soap. I've become a fan of liquid hand-soap; it's just so much more attractive than the slimy bars. But they're expensive! Boy!

Fortunately I'm a researcher and I found several recipes for making my own liquid hand soap. If it was expensive and/or time-intensive, I probably wouldn't do it. However, it's not expensive nor time-consuming. 

I'm sharing my own version. 

Saturday, January 25, 2014

DIY Laundry Detergent: Update






Everyone should try making their own laundry detergent. DIY Natural is a great site for inspiration. They have an actual cost breakdown which promotes the benefit of making their own. This my version of a DIY Laundry Detergent, which does a very good and safe job on most garments.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

How Much Stuff is Enough?


 

Ah - the fashion days are long gone. Entire paychecks disappearing over a weekend? That's been over for a long while. I can now proudly travel with a backpack and toothbrush. I can predict my outfit for tomorrow. I gladly shop in thrift stores and happily accept hand-me-downs. But not everyone is on my boat or traveling my path.

For example, my daughter pores over magazines and her eyes glisten in joy when we are at the mall and buying not one, but three, fancy t-shirts. I remember those days. There's a messy happiness in being young, sitting among a pile of memories and emotions - striking a pose and giggling with moon-eyes over pop stars.

Now I think, how much do I need? What is necessary? Everything else is wasted space or wasted money. Sometimes both.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Waste Not, Want Not: Scrap Chicken Soup in Crock-Pot

Roasted chicken bones
Sad veggies, just past their prime
Water to cover
Salt and Pepper

Put all in a Crockpot on low for at least 8 hours. Set it and forget it.

You'll have to spend time later straining the bones and the veggies out (I don't care for soft veggies in my soup but they do add a nice flavor to the broth) Tip: put a colander inside a larger pot and pour crockpot contents  into it. Remove colander. Later you can add diced potatoes, (better-looking) veggies, and/rice or pasta to make a soup or use as a base for another dish, like rice pilaf.


Suggestion: you can compost the cooked veggies. If you have a bokashi composter, you can compost the whole thing!





Friday, January 3, 2014

Inexpensive Gift Ideas: Downsizing Gift Giving

Wordle Cloud of the Internet Marketing Blog - ...
(Photo credit: DavidErickson)

English: Gift, card and flower shop, Formby De...
English: Gift, card and flower shop, Formby Derbyshires.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our debt-laden society is partly the result of over-spending out of misguided love. We are inundated with pleas from commercials and media-driven values of costly clothes or toys. An occasional gift which is extravagant might be acceptable, and the rarity of it will also highlight the value of the gift. But, for the most part, birthday and holiday gifts needn't be expensive, and for the non-crafters, they also don't have to be home-made. It's just a matter of re-focusing on the thought and the recipient. We need to down-size our gift giving habits so we can right-size our values and our finances.

Un-Birthday Parties

English: Screenshot of Alice from the trailer ...
English: Screenshot of Alice from the trailer for the Disney film Alice in Wonderland (1951). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Johns Inc Birthday_party
English: Johns Inc Birthday_party (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Christmas, New Year's, and Thanksgiving aren't the only things that happen around November through January. Babies are born, too. This means there are birthdays, and typically, birthdays belonging to the holiday time slot get the short shrift treatment.  An infamous result is the combination "Christmas-birthday" present. I have a friend whose birthday is on the fifth of January and she remembers as a child how she often got the combo-gift.  We both agreed that it was stretching it a bit, since it was a full week after Christmas. I am not advocating for extravagance and I am sympathetic for those who have limited budgets yet with a little thoughtfulness, you can make a childhood sore point an opportunity for unusual fun.

The holiday birthday children are sometimes a bit disappointed, and you may choose, as the adult in their life, to bring a little cheer in their life with an un-birthday party.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Turkey Tettrazini

Tettrazini
Tettrazini (Photo credit: thy khuĂȘ)

A great use for that holiday turkey in your freezer... still.
You'll need:

·       2 cups cubed turkey (or chicken)

Turkey Enchiladas, Original or Creamy Style

Enchilada, rice, and beans.
Enchilada, rice, and beans. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Got turkey? Got vegetable leftovers? Got enchiladas, baby!

Original Turkey Enchiladas

·       About 2 ½ cups diced, cooked turkey

·       1 dozen corn or flour tortillas

·       1 (28 oz.) can red or green enchilada sauce

·       (1/2 cup to 1 cup fresh or cooked vegetables)

·       2 cups shredded cheese

Turkey with Red Wine Sauce

Coq au Vin & Tagliatelle
Coq au Vin & Tagliatelle (Photo credit: JaBB)


A turkey spin on a French classic, Coq au Vin.







Dinde (Turkey) au Vin
  • 2-3  bacon slices
  • 1 large yellow onion, sliced
  • About 3-4 cups of chopped, cooked turkey
  • About 1/2 lb mushrooms, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

(Hunter's) Turkey Chasseur-Style

Turkey Chasseur


Slow Turkey Crossing
Slow Turkey Crossing (Photo credits: www.roadtrafficsigns.com)
Technically, you should use the wine to deglaze the turkey pan and then use that as the basis for this sauce, so this isn’t a true Chasseur sauce. It’s designed to be thrown together with holiday leftovers.

·       2-3 cups chopped, cooked turkey

·       1 tablespoon butter

(Leftover) Champagne Sauce

Blue Champagne
Blue Champagne (Photo credit: Drunken Monkey)
Champagne Sauce for Chicken or Turkey
If you add the mushrooms, you can call this a Champignon (French for mushroom) sauce… or., if you get really good at making it, maybe a Champion Champignon Champagne Sauce.

·       2 tbsp. butter

·       2 tsp. flour

·       1 c. whipping cream or half and half or milk

·       1/3 c. champagne

Champagne Cake

Champagne Mumm
Champagne Mumm (Photo credit: dpotera)

English: A cake.
English: A cake. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)












A great way to use up that last bit of bubbly.
·       1 box white cake mix
·       1 ¼ cups champagne, room temperature
·       1/3 cup vegetable oil
·       3 egg whites
Pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Grease or spray the bottoms and sides of two 8- or 9-inch round cake pans with cooking oil. Sprinkle the bottoms and sides with some flour.
In large bowl, stir together cake mix and 1 1/4 cups champagne. Add oil and egg whites. Beat with electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes. Pour into pans.
 

Bake as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch rounds. Remove cakes from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Frost cake in your preferred method.
 




 
Enhanced by Zemanta

(Almond &) Champagne Frosting

Blue Champagne
Blue Champagne (Photo credit: Drunken Monkey)

If you still have leftover champagne for the party, here's a quick addition to your Champagne Cake.





Almonds
Almonds (Photo credit: Shelby PDX)













(Almond &) Champagne Frosting:

·       1/2 cup butter, softened

·       4 cups powdered sugar

·       1/4 cup champagne, room temperature

·       1 teaspoon vanilla

·       (1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring)

·       (Slivered almonds)
In medium bowl, beat frosting ingredients with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Use frosting on a cooled cake. Scatter almonds over frosted cake
Enhanced by Zemanta