Shopping

I'm going to try a new way to "write" a grocery list.
I went on line to the web site of my closest grocery store and looked at their weekly specials.
Well, when I found an item I need, I click on it. It will write a list of the things you clicked on with the price and you can print it out. (you can also add things to the list, not prices but just things you need)
I went to the web site of another grocery store in my area and did the same thing. I clicked different items from the first list. Like both had dish washing liquid that I use on sale, but I had already clicked on it on the one store's site, so I didn't click on it on the second one I looked at.
And one store had other things I need on sale so I clicked on them.
I figure when I go to the store, the things that I want that I printed on one, if it's cheeper at the other store, then I'll know and be able to get the best deal. Hopefully.
I'll post how it goes after my trip.

Beauty Tip

Okay, I have feet so rough I can scratch an itch on my leg with my foot. Bad, I know, but the truth.
I also have a rough ankle. I tend to want to sit with my leg curled under me and that has made my ankle rough too. Which looks horrible, SO embarrassing. (said looking heavenward)
So, I was visiting a good friend of mine the other day and learned a neat way to help soften them.
I never would have thought of it in a million years and you only need 3 things, well 4 if you count both feet. Grin.

This is what you need:
The soft face washing pads (I took my son's)
Cream (not lotion, I'm using a cheap face cream that I don't like on my face)
and a pair of socks, if you need both feet done.









Okay, before you go to bed you want to rub your feet real good with the face wash cloth, leaving them moist. ( I do one at a time so they do stay moist)
Add a thin layer of the face cream and then on top of that just glob (great word) it on. Put your sock on and go to bed. Next morning, ta-da, softer feet.
If you have rough elbows, as I do that too, take an old clean sock and cut the toe out and use it for your elbow the same way as the socks.
Let me know if you try this and how it does for you. I couldn't believe how well it did.
See ya!
Oh, see the date on this picture? It's wrong, I just took this this morning, the 29th. I set that thing and it's still showing the wrong date. Why do you think that is? Oh, well maybe I'll have to look into that.

Cook once eat twice or more

I am getting into cooking once and making enough for two meals putting one in the freezer.
Here is the way I plan on doing it.

Spaghetti:
Here is the way I make baked spaghetti,

In large pot brown ground beef, when all the pink is gone, drain and put into bowl.
In the same pot add 1 whole jar of spaghetti sauce. In the same jar I add enough water to come to 3/4 up the jar. Add that to the sauce.
When sauce boils add spaghetti and cook till done.
Then add the cooked ground beef back into pot and let simmer a couple minutes so all the flavors marry up real good.
Pour into casserole dish and add shredded sharp chedder cheese (or your fav.) and then shredded mozzerella cheese.
Bake 350 for about 10-15 minutes or until cheese has melted.
If I'm not starving to death by this time, I'll put it on broil until the top is a little browned. This don't happen very often though cause I'm usually starving from the fragrance coming from the oven.
Take out and let set for as long as you can, for me it's usually 1 minute, long enough for me to get a bowl and dig in. I usually have homemade garlic toast too.
To freeze I will have to make two batches of this as it is usually wiped out in a matter of just a few minutes. I have 2 stocky men to feed ya know.

For the one to freeze, make it as normal just don't add the cheese.
The casserole dish will be lined with aluminum foil with extra for covering up.
Freeze for an hour or until frozen, take out of freezer and remove with aluminum foil, wrap with more foil and put into a freezer bag and back into the freezer. That way you still have your dish to use.
When you're ready to fix it to eat just put back into the same dish, add your cheeses and bake (after it defrostes) until cheeses are melted and is hot all through.
Time saver if you're in a pinch. Good if you're hungry. Yummy!!

Recipe for Homemade Laundry Detergent

1/3 bar Fels Naptha or Zote soap (I use 1/2 bar Zote cause I have dirty work clothes) Grated
1/2 cup Borax Powder
1/2 cup Arm and Hammer Washing Soda ( NOT BAKING SODA)
A bucket (I use a 5 gal. bucket)
Water

Put grated soap in sauce pan with 6 cups water, heat till soap melts.
Add washing soda and borax stirring until dissolved.
Pour 4 cups hot tap water into the bucket. Add soap mixture and stir.
Add another 22 cups water to the bucket, stir to combine.
Let set 12-24 hours.
It will jell up (some of it will) it will dissolve in the wash so there is no need to stir when using.The jell and liquid are the same, so no worries.
Use 1/2 cup per load.
Let me know what you think. You can also add essential oils if you want to have it scented.

I told you I'd let you know how the homemade

Well, I told you I'd let you know how the homemade laundry detergent is doing with my laundry. As far as I can tell it it doing just fine. The clothes are getting clean anyway.
I didn't add fragrance so it don't have that Gain smell that I like so well, but they are clean and it only costs pennies per load to do.
I also made the fabric softener and I don't care for it much. It calls for white vinegar in the recipe and I don't like that smell. The clothes don't smell like vinegar, but I do miss the Downy smell, but here again it is only pennies per load. They smell fresh not perfumed which is better, I'm sure.

Canning Squash For Frying

Our squash is coming in in leaps and bounds. We have eaten some fresh from the garden and shared some with friends and family. Now I am getting to can some for breading and frying this winter. It is so good to open a can of squash in the dead of winter and fry them up for supper.

Here's how to do it:

Wash and remove bad spots, if you have any, ours were perfect right off the vine.

Cut into 1/4 inch rings and pack in jars. I will use a butter knife to "guide" some of them into the place I want them to be so I can get more in. Add 1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp salt for pints)

In a medium size sauce pan, combine:

4-4 1/2 cup water

1/4 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

1/4 cup Sugar

(This will be enough for 3 quarts or 6 pints)

Bring to a boil and pour into jars. I run the butter knife around the inside, carefully, to get the air bubbles out.

Clean the rims of the jars, seal and hot bath for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes set out and wait for the wonderful sound of it sealing.

When you're ready to cook, rinse 3-4 times bread and fry as normal. I will fry one layer at a time and they are awesome good. Takes a while, but worth it. I will be canning more as they come out of the garden.

What a differance 12 days make

What a differance 12 days make with the ginger root I planted. It is growing in leaps and bounds. I can't wait to see if it will ever get the flower on it it will be so beautiful. You will notice the date stamped on the pic, well it's wrong!! I took that pic just this morning and it is the 29th not the 28th. I need to reset the date on my camera. That is on my "list" of things to do. : )

baked squash

I am going to go ahead and share the recipe for stuffed squash. Ours in coming in fast and yours may be too. This is a delicious way to use the smaller ones. YUMMY

6 small to medium squash
2-3 cups ritz crackers, crumbled
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 small onion chopped fine
1/2 sweet bell pepper chopped fine
3 tablesoppns mince parsley
salt and pepper to taste
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter
parmesan cheese, or cheese of choice for topping

Wash and cut off ends of squash, DO NOT PEEL. Cook squash in boiling, salted water for 5-6 minutes or longer if you want them real tender. Cut in half lengthwise adn remove pulp with a spoon. Put the shells in a baking dish.
Combine pulp, cracker crumbs, cheese, onion, peppers, parsley, salt, pepper, and the beaten eggs. Mix lightly and fill the shells with mixture and dot with butter. Sprinkle with more cheese of your choice and bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

These are so good my mouth is watering right now, sorry for all the water on the page, but I just love these. Let me know if you try it and what you think. Ya' know, if you like them as well as I do. Oh, yeah!!!

laundry detergent

Well, I just made my first batch of laundry detergent. I will let you know how that does with the next wash that I do with it. I have to let it set 12-24 hours, so it will be a day at least before I'll know.

Ginger, taters, and squash

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged, so I figured I better get on the ball.
I did plant the ginger root that I bought at the grocery store and to my surprise, It is growing!!
I have two very pretty green "stalks" growing in the pot. I am so excited! If I could find the wire to my digital camera I'd share a photo with you,but it is in "you can't find me" land. : (
J and my potatoes are growing out of this world. We planted ours when the signs were in the feet and someone told me that if you plant taters in the sign of the feet, you'll have toes.
This may be true, but we'll see. I hope we don't have all vine and no taters. I'll let you know how that goes.
We have harvested 5 NICE squash out of the garden. I love them baked with filling. I will share the recipe for this later on. It is so good too.

Well, it's been a long time since I blogged, so I figured I better get on the ball.I did plant the ginger root that I bought at the grocery store and to my surprise, itis growing!!I have two pretty green "stalks" growing in the pot. I am so excited! I finally foundthe wire to my digital camera so I can share the photo. It had been hiding in "You can'tfind me." land. :( But now I have found it. Whoo-hoo. :)J and my potatoes are growing out of this world. We planted ours when the signs were in the feet and someone told me that if you plant taters in the sign of the feet, you'll have toes.This may be true, but we'll see. I hope we don't have all vine and no taters. I'll letyou know how that goes.We have harvested 5 NICE squash out of the garden. I love them baked with filling. I willshare the recipe for that later on too. It is so good too.

Tire Taters

Well, this year we are having a contest, of sorts, around here. Hubby planted taters (potatoes) in a tire in the garden. Our kiddo and I planted some by the side of the house in a tire.
Well we both have had to add two tires to the pile. He planted his earlier than J (kiddo) and I did ours.
We are running neck in neck with the growth of the vines.
I'll let you know just how well they both do after harvest time.
The way J and I did was softened the earth real good where we would put our first tire. We used a low rider tire that we got from our local tire shop for FREE!! They were glad to get rid of it cause they have to pay to have it disposed of.
After we softened the earth and laid down the tire with the hole over the soft earth we added enough potting soil to plant our seed taters. Then we waited until they were about 8 inches tall and added another tire and enough soil to cover them, leaving 3 inches to reach for the sun. Making sure to fill in the inner part of the tire where the rain would gather and cause wiggle tails.
That also gives the taters more room to grow.
You can add as many tires as you want, but we are stopping at 3.
I'll have to keep you up to date on this excursion.

Growing your own

I found out that you can grow your own ginger root for cooking. I know most of you already know this, but I didn't.
Go to the grocery store and buy yourself a ginger root and plant it in a pot, keep it moist (not drenched) and in a sunny place and it will grow. It has to stay warm though so don't put your pot outside if it's below 40 degrees. Youtube tells more at this site. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6REPBZWCQso
Also if you have a garlic clove that has the green growing, don't throw it away you can plant that in your garden or in a pot in the house and grow your own garlic. You can plant one that has not got the green too. Once again youtube is where I saw this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kq1iLFrlHzk

Taters

I thought I'd share a new (to me anyway) way to fix potatoes.
Peel and half long ways, (according to how big) cut the halves in two or into thirds if they are a bigger tater. Making about 2 inch pieces.
Rinsh off a couple times to get rid of some of the starch.
Cover with water and boil until done, (I add salt when it starts to boil) but not soft like you would make mashed.
Drain off the water, add 1-2 tablespoons butter, 2-3 tablespoons sour cream, and about a tablespoon (more if you like) dried parsley flakes (smush in hand to release more flavor before adding).
Let it sit so the butter melts and then, I shake the pan to coat. I have also used a plastic spoon to give them a little stir, but I like to shake them, helps wear off pent up anger.:)
I have to make a ton of these cause hubby LOVES them. He always says I don't make enough.
That makes me feel good, like a big burp after a big meal.
As my beautiful neice says....peace out!

What's coming up

Happy Memorial Day!!
Today is going to be a laid back sorta day. Hubby is at work and son is asleep. I will be waking him soon for breakfast. We will be having pan cakes and eggs. Cholesterol filled, I know it's bad, but we don't do that much.

Since our garden is planted and the green is showing through, it won't be long until time to harvest and start canning and freezing. Whoo hoo. I so enjoy that part of this season.
I will be posting directions on how to "can" not freeze, squash to fry as you would fresh out of the garden. Thanks to my dear friend Brenda I now can do that and it is DELICIOUS!! I will also be posting how to freeze okra to fry. So come back and check it out. There will be other's that I will be posting. How to can potatoes for frying, freezing french fries for frying, so come back and check it out.

Wanted to blog

Wanted to blog for a long time. I just stumbled upon how to start. I will be learning as I go. I hope I can find my way back after I leave.