Recycled Soup

When you're freezing and its a good thing...

2012-01-17T07:39:00.000-08:00

Today we will be focusing on purchasing and prefreezing meats & meals. The first thing you need to do is get your shopping on. I have a large deep freeze so I was able to hit up the local grocery store and purchase some pretty good deals. I came home with 20 lbs of ground beef, 2 boston butt roasts, 2 beef roasts, 2 packs of chicken quarters, 2 packs of pork chops a rack of ribs.

I focused on a different type of meat each day to prep and freeze. I did not do all this in one day, it was over the course of a week.

GROUND BEEF

My favorite product of recent is the 10 lb+ chubs of ground beef my local store has been carrying. You can go with their special sale ground beef which is $5 for less than 2 lbs of meat or you can pay $22.58 for 10.31 lbs. That's only $2.19 per lb, whereas the other is an average $2.50+ a lb or go to other stores and pay $2.99 a lb. I think not. I happened to come across two of these lovely money saving chubs on my last shopping trip and yes I snatched them both up.

They are restaurant quality meat and have less fat than your normal ground beef but a little more than the lean, but its way cheaper.

Once home, I separated each of the ground beef chubs into 8 equal chunks, about 1.2 lbs each, which gave me 16 equal pieces. 9 of those chunks went into quart ziplock bags to be frozen for later use.

1 1/2 chunks were sliced into 6 hamburger patties for premade burgers. I placed one patty on a piece of wax paper, covered it with another, used a rolling pin to flatten it a bit, then placed the 2nd patty on top of the wax paper, covered it with another piece and rolled it. They were all then placed in a gallon ziplock back for freezing.

2 1/2 chunks went into the Ice Queen for that nights dinner of meatloaf. The remaining 3 chunks were used to prep two different tomato sauces and stuffed pepper filling for freezing.

For the first sauce, I borrowed a recipe from my friend Kristin and it was made especially for me, as she uses bell pepper and onions. My husband will not eat either of those, hence why its labeled "Kristin's Sauce for Lesha."

Sweet Sausage
Powdered Italian Dressing mix
Garlic cloves
Diced Onion
Diced bell pepper
a can of tomato paste
2 big cans of crushed tomatoes
honey

There isn't really any measurement to this which made quite easy for me as I just tossed things in as I went along. I didn't have any sweet sausage, so I used ground beef instead and compensated by using atleast 2-3 tbs of honey to make it sweet.

Cook the sausage/beef and when its half way done add the garlic, onion, pepper and dressing mix. Cook until done, then drain off the fat before adding the other ingredients. I let this simmer for a few hours before bagging it to freeze.

In the future I plan to try the sweet sausage as this sauce was fantastic, the sweet with the veggies made it delicious. I will admit I ate some of it while it was cooking....just sauce by itself, it was that good!

Visit Survivor Mom for more recipes from Kristin and some helpful couponing advice.

My second sauce was also borrowed from a friend. Dana's recipe will be used for the husband and children who just don't appreciate the art of a sauce with veggies.

1 lb ground beef
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion (omitted by me)
1 tb basil
1 tsp oregano
2 tbs brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 can (29 oz) diced tomatoes
2 (6 oz) cans of tomato paste

Brown the meat with the garlic, drain fat. Add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer for atleast 45 minutes. Again I let this simmer for hours before bagging it. Another fantastic sauce that I will definitely be using again!

Obviously the stuffed peppers are for me as well, since my family wont eat peppers or onions in anything they certainly wont eat anything out of them. I made up a good amount of filling and prefroze two stuffed peppers just as an experiment to see if they freeze well.

My Stuffing

1 lb of ground beef
1/2 chopped onion
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup of tomato sauce
2 tsps Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
cheddar cheese

The first thing I did was blanch the peppers. Drop them into a pot of boiling water for about 2 minutes, making sure they remain firm. Pull them out and let cool on paper towels.

Cook the ground beef and onion until done, drain fat. Add in the cooked rice and seasonings. After the mixture cooled, I added in some cheddar cheese then stuff the bell peppers.

I bagged the remaining mixture in a quart ziplock bag, then let the stuffed peppers stand in the freezer on a cookie sheet to freeze slightly. Then I wrapped the peppers individually in plastic wrap, the prefreezing makes it so none of the mixture sticks to the plastic wrap. Then I stored each of them in a separate ziplock in the freezer.

For reheating, I will let thaw at room temperature, then warm in the oven, adding some tomato sauce and cheddar cheese to the top.

CHICKEN

I placed a pack of thawed chicken quarters in a pot of boiling water and another pack in the crock pot covered in water. I added in some seasonings (weber's garlic & herb) and let both simmer all day until the chicken fell off the bone.

Strain the chicken, reserving the broth and pull the skin and bones out. I tossed the chicken pieces into The Ice Queen and using the dough hook, I let it shred. I was able to get 4 quart bags of shredded chicken and two gallon bags of broth out of those two packs of chicken quarters (4 lbs each). I have used the shredded chicken for salads, soups, quesadillas, chicken salad sandwiches, and Chinese potstickers. The uses are unlimited.

PORK

For the pork, I did our usual BBQ rub, consisting of two things. Dry BBQ powder (Rendezvous seasoning) and mustard. Plain old yellow Mustard. First you rub the pork with the mustard then sprinkle on the seasoning. (We prep ribs the same way!)

Wrap the roast in foil and cook in a 200 degree oven for hours until the meat is cooked and fall apart tender. (usually 6-8) I usually do two roasts. One I shred and freeze and the other we have for that night's dinner. I freeze it alone and add homemade BBQ sauce (a la the Husband) to it when its served.

With the pork chops, I just freeze 4 chops in a gallon ziplock bags for easy thawing for a future night's dinner. Usually I end up with 4 packs of 4 from 2 large packs of chops.

BEEF

With the beef roast, I just crock pot it and cook it. Usually we eat the entire thing in one meal, Ive never prefroze any, though it would probably make for great stew meat for later use.

I do however save the broth for the purpose of soup or stew. Using two ice cube trays, I freeze individual cubes of broth, then store them in quart ziplock bags to add to soup stocks later on.

POTATOES

Using 2 bags of potatoes (3 lbs each), I decided to make up a few things for later use. My first experiment was Twice Baked Potatoes. Using my normal baked potato process, I drizzled olive oil on 12 potatoes, sprinkled on some kosher salt, wrapped in foil and baked at 200 degrees for about an hour. When the potatoes were done and cooled, I sliced each of them and spooned out the insides, tossing it into the Ice Queen. To the potatoes I added,

4 oz cream cheese
ranch dressing
salt n pepper
milk
green onions

Mix it all up real good, then using a frosting bag, I piped the filling into the potato halves and topped several of them with a slice of cheddar cheese & bacon bits. I placed all of them on a cookie sheet and stuck them in the freezer for about 30-45 minutes until the mixture and cheese was solid, then wrapped each half individually in plastic wrap before placing them in gallon ziplock bags.

These are great snacks and can be heated easily in the microwave. They are perfect for my potato loving boy, Mason. He believes they are all his.

Next I decided to make some hashbrowns. I had done this before but it turned out horrid. Apparently you are supposed to cook the potatoes before you shred them, who knew? So I tossed 10 potatoes into a casserole dish with a lid and baked them for about an hour, then let them cool. After cooling, I peeled the skins off (quite easily!) and then using a cheese grater, shredded them up. It was so easy I couldn't believe I hadn't done it before...

I cooked some up for breakfast that morning and bagged up 3 more servings (for a family of 4) in quart ziplock bags. The process was the same as the twice baked. I spread the hashbrowns out on a cookie sheet and froze them first before putting them in the bags so that they didn't stick together.

That is all the freezing experimenting Ive done for now, but I do plan on doing more in the future. My next goal is to prep some casseroles to freeze as I am expecting a little one in June and I think already having meals on hand would be a blessing for me and a great help for the Husband.

Thanks for taking the time to read this entry, please comment and let me know some of the prefrozen meals you have prepared and link me to any blog entries you may have on the subject. We always give credit to any outside information we use in our blog here. Thanks so much!

Tis the season to be festively mental

2011-12-21T08:39:00.000-08:00

I love Christmas! The food, the decorations, the traditions, spending time with my family, the whole bit! Every year I challenge myself to make Christmas more fun and exciting for not only myself but my children.

We started two traditions this year, one being the use of an advent calendar, nothing too spiffy, just a store bought calendar with chocolate treats in it for daily consumption. (That is a tradition from my childhood that I enjoyed very much!) Maybe next year I can make my very own advent calender, we shall see. :)

We also began the Elf on a Shelf tradition, using homemade Elves (made by my wonderful mother) instead of the original Christmas elf. Our elves do their job quite fantastically, and the mischief they make brings joy and giggles to my boys on a daily basis. Watch for an entry about our Elves Dobby Jingles & Winky Twinkles to come after they return home on Christmas Eve.

But for now let's focus on fun crafts and the yummy food that is Christmas!

~*~*~*~*~.C.R.A.F.T.S. ~*~*~*~*~

Toilet Paper Roll Owls -from simple as that

an empty TP roll
paint
black marker

It's really simple and you can make them Christmacy if you like. You paint the TP roll whatever color you want or don't paint it. Owls are brown anyway right? Then you press in the sides on the top. Then add the detail with a black marker! Wah la.

Arn't they adorable?!

Toilet Paper Roll Ornaments -from Lady Anne

Tp rolls
scissors
glue
ribbon

Cut the TP rolls into pieces, paint each section, then glue them together!

I used a pipe cleaner to hold two together, then glued the rest onto them. Then I added some ribbon, sprayed them with a clear coat glaze and let my boys sprinkle glitter on them.

Toilet Paper Roll Mice- from Childmade

TP rolls (1 per mouse)
scissors
glue*
paint (I didnt paint mine)
eyes (I used googily)
a nose (I used a pom pom)
ribbon
tiny presents

I didnt bother taking pictures of the construction as the tutorial on Childmade is as detailed as it gets. The only thing I did differnt was use googily eyes instead of black pom poms and I didn't paint my mice. If you have lots of tp rolls, that is a great blog for many adorable TP crafts!

*Note: I started out using foam glue for this project and it worked well with the tp rolls, but when I went to make the nose & eyes, it wouldnt hold well, so I switched to a hot glue gun.

Toilet Paper Roll Crowns-by Creative Jewish Mom

Toilet paper rolls
glitter
fabric paint

Mine are simple, the original has more detailed directions and a nicer presentation, mine were a spur of the moment request. As I have mentioned we have Christmas Elves staying with us for the Holidays and they recently brought gifts for my boys for good behavior. The boys wanted to make something for them in return, so I did some searching and came across the crowns. I thought it would be perfect gifts for our little Elves.

I cut my toilet paper roll in half, then cut each piece open. After flattening it out, I drew a crown outline (quite badly...) and then cut it out. I then glued the seams together, making it smaller than the original roll as it needed to fit the tiny elves heads. :) Gave the boys some fabric paint and they created, then sprinkled on some glitter.

Dobby & Winky are quite pleased.

Egg Carton Bells- by Sidetracked Sarah

an egg carton
fabric paint
glitter
ribbon
jingle bells

Again I let the boys decorate with fabric paint and then sprinkle on some glitter. After it dried (takes hours, mine wasn't completely dry but I'm impatient, Id recommend 24 hours,) I poked a hole in the top with a tiny screwdriver.

Thread the ribbon onto the jingle bell and tie a knot. Then push the ends of the ribbon through through the inside of the carton and tie them together.

Ceremic Pot Santa- by Lesha (& Momma)

small ceramic pot, painted red
santa head
cotton balls.
red pipe cleaner
small ornaments

My mom gave me the ceremic pots, they were already painted. The santa heads were on old Christmas ornaments. I just grabbed some cotton balls and tiny ornaments and we glued it all together with hot glue. I pulled the cotton balls apart to make the trim on Santa's coat. Glue the head onto the bottom of the pot, add the cotton edging, glue a red pipe cleaner on each side (cut in half to make the arms look right), and add the tiny ornaments as gifts.

For the heads (I did not make them) it looks like wooden balls painted peach, drawn on faces, then some small white pom poms as the edge of his hat. A little bigger red pom poms above those with a red pipe cleaner folded in half and a white pom pom for the tip of his hat. The beard is made with a white pipe cleaner, folded and shaped to fit. You could just as well use some cotton.

These little guys were made by my mom, which is where the idea of making a Santa came from. Pots, pom poms, felt, sticks, and a few embellishments.

Plastic Cup Snow globe-by Lesha

clear plastic cup
foam
cotton balls
glitter
small decorations (we used tiny ornaments)
hot glue

Again I just threw this together with things I had. Here is where the initial idea for the snow globe came from, though I didn't follow directions. I just kinda made it up as I went along... I turned the cup upside down and traced around to make the bottom with foam.

I let the boys pull some cotton balls apart and glued it to the foam. Then they selected the decorations they liked and we glued those down. Add some loose glitter, put hotglue around the edges and press the cup onto the foam.

Button Christmas Trees- By Lesha

foam or construction paper (Green & Yellow)
buttons
glue
scissors
glitter

This is just something I thought of off the top of my head though Im sure many others have done the same thing. I took foam sheets and cut them into the shape of Christmas trees. Then I handed the boys some stick glue and some buttons. While they were gluing their buttons, I traced some stars onto yellow paper, using my cookie cutters.

When they were done, they thought it needed more sparkle so I gave them some glitter glue. Using regular glue and dry glitter would work just as well. They had a blast making these and my oldest insisted on making another one so he could give them to his teachers for christmas.

Speaking of teachers, I found this cute idea on Pinterest of a frame with the teacher's initial made with crayons, I thought that it would be great for my son's PreK teachers.

Crayon Initial Frame- From Keeping Up With The Comptons

a box of crayons (I used 21 for two frames)
a frame
a sharp knife
glue
printer & paper

First you type up the teacher's initial in Word (or some other type of program), make it a big size Font, (I used Century Gothic at 400) underneath it, type their name in a smaller font (I used 36) Print out 2 copies just in case. Then get a cutting board and get ready to cut some crayons. Its really not as simple as you'd think it is, trust me!

Most of the crayons need to be cut at a slant so that they fit the letter correctly. You just kind of have to eyeball it and learn from trial and error.

I recommend having all pieces cut before beginning the gluing process, to make sure they are going to fit correctly. With the "A" I was able to use two whole crayons for the center, which is the first part I glued so that everything else would line up properly. The K was alittle more difficult.

His teachers just raved about them!

Stone's School Crafts

I did not make these but I wanted to include them as they are tooo cute! I was able to use Pinterest to find some instructions for anyone who would like to create these crafts.

Footprint/Handprint Reindeer

Instructions found at Oopsey Daisy

Paper Plate Tree

Instructions found at A Little Learning For Two

~*~*~*~*~.F.O.O.D.~*~*~*~*~

My Grandmother has her christmas dinner every year, the sunday before christmas so that all of my sisters and our familes are able to join in the festivities. Grandmother usually makes the big things, i.e Turkey, Ham and what not, while the rest of us bring sides. This year I was in charge of deviled eggs (as usual!), a veggie tray and the Green Beans I made last year (soooo yummy! Im not a fan of green beans either!)

As you've probably seen on most of my entries, I like to complicate things, so I just can't make regular deviled eggs or throw some veggies on a platter. Just take a look at my Thanksgiving veggie tray....

Turkey Veggie Tray

Thus I began my research and ofcourse I couldn't find anything for Christmasy deviled eggs aside from the usual paprika sprinkle, but then I got an idea, though I wasn't certain it would work or if it would be appetizing to the eye but I went with it anyway. Must experiment...can't help...myself.

Basic Deviled Egg Recipe

12 hard boiled eggs
4 tbs of Mayo
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp white vinegar
2 tsp of mustard
1 tsp of salt
paprika
My additions: bacon bits, green onions & cheddar cheese

You know the drill, boil the eggs, put them in ice water to cool, then peel them. After you get your eggs cooked & peeled, you slice them and take the yolk out. I tossed all the yolks into the Ice Queen (My kitchen aid, if ya didnt know). Add the other ingredients and let it mix up real good.

This is where my idea comes in.... while it was mixing...I added a few drops of green food coloring. That's right green eggs, it is Christmas right? After it was done, I spooned the mixture into one of my frosting bags, (you can use a ziplock bag, just snip the corner!) Using a star frosting tip I piped the mixture into the egg. I sprinkled on some bacon bits, diced green onion and paprika. Then I sliced up some thin pieces of chedder cheese and used my tiny fondant star cutter to make little stars.

I was afraid no one would eat them because they were green, but I was dead wrong! They were gobbled up immediately! I didn't taste them as I am anti-mayo, but I got rave reviews.

Christmas Veggie Tray- from Betty Crocker

-stick pretzels
-cauliflower
-broccoli
-grape tomatoes
-cheddar cheese (my own addition)

Broccoli looks like trees right? Duh. Tomatoes? Christmas balls. Pretzels for the trunk of the tree. Cauliflower for a snowy border! Cheese, you ask? Why its for the star of course! The original recipe states yellow bell pepper.. but I wanted my tree to be spectacular, so I sliced up some cheddar cheese and using a star cookie cutter, I made the topper and added some smaller cheese stars as decorations.

Serve with the dip of your choice!

Green Bean Bundles a la Brennay- from Food.com

3 (14 1/2 ounce) cans of green beans*
10 slices of bacon
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup melted butter
1/2 tsp garlic salt*
1 dash soy sauce.
toothpicks

*Notes: I use frozen green beans, I hate canned. I use garlic powder & kosher salt instead of the garlic salt. 1/4 tsp of each.

This recipe was shared with me by my friend Brenna whom I lovingly refer to as Brennay. My boys love green beans and bacon so I thought this was just perfect. I made them last year and it was a big hit! Quite fattening, but its only Christmas once a year , right?

First you need to cut your bacon into pieces, halfs or thirds depending on the length of each of your slices and the thickness of your green bean bundles. Take 6-8 green beans and wrap a piece of bacon around it, secure it with a toothpick. Take the brown sugar, melted butter, garlic, salt, and soy sauce and mix it until the brown sugar dissolves. Arrange your bundles in a 9x13 inch baking dish and pour the marinade over it. Refridgerate over night. Cook in a preheated oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

I was able to get 16 bundles from one 12 oz bag of frozen whole green beans and I should have double the recipe as these disappeared quite quickly.

Hope you enjoyed my ramblings!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Pour ~ Shake ~ Curse ~ Repeat.

2011-12-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

"When you're experimenting you have to try many things before you get what you want, and you may go days getting nothing but exhaustion." ~ Fred Astaire

Since Homemade Laundry Detergent was so successful I thought why not try dishwasher detergent? Little did I know it was going to take weeks of experimenting to concoct the perfect recipe, but eventually I nailed it and then some.

Before testing out a homemade detergent, might I suggest the simple (yet disgusting!) task of cleaning your dishwasher, as detailed on, "The Quick & The Hungry". You will be amazed at what you find, and even if you don't plan on using a homemade detergent, I would just about guarantee this process will help your dishwasher run much better.

As for the homemade detergent, I tested out several different recipes,with similar ingredients, washing soda, baking soda, vinegar, borax, lemon juice, kosher salt, etc.. I tried 2 versions of powdered detergent, Powder#1 and Powder#2.

I learned quickly that anything powder would leave residue on my glasses, so I went with this liquid version, Liquid Homemade Dishwasher Detergent I. Still the residue remained, clouding up my dishes. I even went as far as to test the liquid laundry detergent from the last entry in the dishwasher and while it cleaned the dishes, it also left the cloudy residue. I used white vinegar in the rinse compartment on all test runs.

Test Container--Using Liquid Detergent #1

It then became apparent to me that perhaps it was the borax/washing soda/baking soda that was causing the residue effect, so using the same website, I attempted the very last recipe, Liquid Homemade Detergent II. The only one I had seen in all my searching that used liquid ingredients only.

Powder-less Dishwasher Detergent

1 cup liquid castile soap
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Now here's where my issue comes in. (There's always atleast one!) I had been searching for liquid Castile soap for quite some time and was unable to find it anywhere in my local area. I was at the grocery store (E.W. James & Sons) one afternoon and just so happened to see a bar of Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap nestled neatly beside the Lava soap on the very bottom shelf of the cleaners aisle.

Castile Bar Soap

It wasn't the Dr Brommer's Castile that Ive read about everywhere but it was the only Castile I could find and at $1.39 a bar it was worth a try. I figured with water and a little heat I could make a liquid version. Experimentation is my thing.

The first thing I did was grate the soap into my S.O.P. (Soap Only Pot) I then added 2 cups of water and let it simmer, making sure to stir it frequently. It took awhile for it to melt down completely but I didn't want to turn it up and have it stick to the pot.

Converting Castile Bar to liquid.

1 4oz bar of Castile Soap
2 cups of water.

Grate the soap into a pot. Add the water. Heat on the stove top til soap is dissolved. At this point I wasn't sure if the soap would thicken or if I'd just made a pot of clear liquid, but it was an experiment, one that eventually paid off quite nicely!

After the liquid castile was finished, I poured it into a measuring cup, it made exactly 2 cups of liquid(I was afraid the heating would evaporate it). Taking a cup of the castile and mixing it up with the other ingredients from the recipe above, I made exactly two cups of dishwasher detergent. I mixed it in an old powerade container and shook it up. Using the other 1 cup of castile, I mixed up this recipe for dish soap.

Dish Soap

1 cup of liquid Castile Soap
1/4 cup of water
1 Tb of vinegar

You know you love my writing.

Mix it up and put it in a container. I used an old Lemon Juice container. The dishwasher detergent was white and foamy liquid. The dish soap was a thick & clear gel. The only difference is the amount and type of liquid added to each. I.e. the dishwasher detergent had more water & vinegar plus lemon juice added.

24 hrs later they both thickened up ALOT. But once again I was disappointed as the liquid dishwashing detergent left the same residue on the dishes. This led me to believe that my theory of the powders were dead wrong. So again I searched for more recipes. I came across one on Natural and Organic Products & Recipes that had one ingredient that I had yet to use. Citric Acid.

Found in the Canning Section

I had used lemonade powder in past tests because its citric acid properties is supposedly the same. It had no effect what so ever, so I did alittle research and found that a .15 oz packet of sugar-free lemonade has about .03 of citric acid, as well as Maltodextrin (a sweetner?!), salt, calcium phosphate, natural flavor, ascorbic acid, artificial flavor, artificial color and a preservative. (which is what citric acid is?!?)

This Recipe makes 158 oz (average) which is about 19 cups. It uses a total of 3.6 oz of lemon kool aid, which if you recall only has about .03 oz of citric acid per .15 oz. 3.6 oz of kool aid=.108oz of citric acid.

A 5 oz container of pure citric acid contains the acid itself with less than 2% silicon dioxide which is merely an anticaking ingredient. The recipe I used calls for 1 cup of acid, which is 8 oz. 8 oz verses .108 oz....?

Citric Acid Dishwasher Detergent

2 cups Washing Soda
2 cups Borax
1 cup Kosher Salt
1 cup Citric Acid

If you were to multiply the ingredients to make the complete 19 cups as the lemonade recipe calls for you'd use about 5 cups each washing soda & borax, then 4 cups each salt & citric acid.

Lemonade Recipe:
19 cups with .108 oz of citric acid

Citric Acid Recipe:
18 cups with 32 oz of citric acid.

There is a big difference that obviously sets pure citric acid as the winner, though it is more expensive at $4 for 5 oz. You'd spend $8 to make a whole cup. As always, I halfed the recipe for my test run and recommend you do the same so that you dont spend the money if the detergent doesnt work for you.

Now the question you are asking is, "Did it work?"

Test Container- Using Citric Acid Recipe

Praise Merlin it certainly did! Obviously Citric Acid in pure form is the key to the perfect Dishwasher Detergent.

Now let's go back to the Homemade Dish Soap. I only made it to test it out...and it works wonderfully. It suds up real nice and has a fresh clean scent. Its just...well I already had a 64 oz container of dish soap so I didnt actually need it. Allow me to randomly go off on a tangent and brag for a moment.

When we moved into this house, we replaced alot of the old fixtures (the house is over 100 years old), one was the kitchen faucet. The sprayer had been completely removed and like my dishwasher (also added by us), I could not see my life without a sprayer.

I found an awesome set where the sprayer pulled down from the faucet itself and it came with a soap dispenser, which magically fit right where the old sprayer had been. The soap dispenser came with a plactic container that you fill with soap and screw onto the dispenser from under the sink. It wasn't easy to do at all but I loved being able to dispense soap as I needed.

The plastic container broke not long after being put it and the husband said he'd get me a new one. Months went by and I had to squeeze soap from a bottle. (Oh poor poor me!) Well one day the husband had a brilliant idea, which sometimes scares me especially when it comes to my daily routines, but I encouraged his project as he planned to fix my soap dispenser. He worked diligently under the sink for about half an hour and when he was done, showed me that the soap dispenser was now working again!

Now this may not seem like a big thing as he probably just replaced the crap plastic, right? Wrong. Instead he rigged a tube to the dispenser that led under the sink and into a 64 oz soap bottle. No more refilling the plastic bottle, no more breaking plastic crap! Its pure genius really.

Anyway back to the topic....Homemade dish soap. I decided to see what else I could use it for. I needed some degreaser and didn't have the ingredients on hand to make some of the recipes that I had come across so I decided to do my own experimenting.

I poured the homemade dish soap into a spray bottle, it was probably about 1/2 cup and it was seriously thick at that point. I filled the bottle with hot water and shook it up real good, then I let it sit for a while to make sure it wasn't going to go all thick again. After a few hours it remained in a thin liquid form, so I set out to find a mess.

The Husband had made chili that day as well as a mess that I just can not understand how it came to be. The stove top was completely covered in sauce drippings and splatters, so I sprayed it down with my "degreaser" and let it set long enough to switch clothes from the washer to the dryer. Then I took a regular dish towel and wiped across it. I was immediately amazed.

I now have no need to look for a degreaser recipe as I have found the perfect cleaner. I added some fresh apple essential oils and anytime I clean, my house smells like fresh apples, its most awesome!

Fresh Apple All Purpose Cleaner

2 cups liquid Castile soap (See bar to liquid conversion at the beginning, if needed)
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup white vinegar
a few drops of fresh apple essential oil (or whatever fragrance you prefer!)

Put it all in a spray bottle and shake it up!

Note: All my soap didn't fit in one container, I had to put some in another bottle for future use. If you find your cleaner has thicken, it needs more water. You can add to the bottle and shake or you can dump it all out into your S.O.P, add water and heat it again.

We hope you found this blog entry useful. Please leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

Adventures In Laundering....Part 2

2011-12-08T08:32:00.001-08:00

While I still have tons of powdered laundry detergent left, I decided to test out a liquid version, found on the lovely blog, Why Not Sew? I halfed the original recipe as I didnt have a 2 gallon pot.

Original Recipe-Liquid Laundry Soap

1 bar of soap
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of washing soda

Yields 2 Gallons.

Lesha's Test Try

1/2 bar of Fels Napa Soap
1/2 cup of Borax
1/2 cup of Washing Soda
1 oz of essential oils (Optional)

Yields 1 Gallon

Grate the soap into your S.O.P, (Soap Only Pot.) and add a 1/2 gallon of water, cook until the soap dissolves. Add the Borax & Washing Soda, bring to a boil, it will thicken. Turn off the heat and add 1/2 gallon of cold water & essential oil. Mix well and pour into a gallon container (A milk jug works perfectly.) I poured mine into my old detergent container. Use 1/2 cup per load.

Notes: After a few hours, this detergent thickened ALOT. So much that it wouldn't come through the spout on my detergent bottle. Next time I am going to use 1/4 bar of soap to the halfed ingredients to see if it makes it a bit thinner.

Breakdown cost of the original liquid recipe.

1 box of Washing Soda ($4) is approximately 6.5 cups (55 oz box)
1 box of Borax ($4) is approximately 9.5 cups (76 oz box)
3 bars of Fels Napa($3, $1 each)

Total: $12.00

Using the original recipe, 1 cup of each makes 2 gallons of detergent. Using almost all the washing soda (6 cups) and 6 cups of the borax, and 3 bars of soap (1/2 bar per 2 gallons) you can make 12 gallons of detergent.

That's 192 cups. At a 1/2 cup a load, you can get 384 loads of laundry for $12 (without the addition of the essential oils) That's $.03125 per load of laundry.

This version worked just as well as our powdered version in which $25 (minus oils) gets you 3.5 gallons (that's 56 cups.) At 1/8 cup per load, you get 448 loads of laundry. That's $.0558 per load of laundry.

If you double the liquid recipe, you are paying $24 for 768 loads of laundry. That's 320 more loads of laundry for practically the same price as the powdered.

~Liquid~ For~ The~ Win~

Laundry Stain Remover

If you've been using Fels Napha for your laundry detergent, I'm sure you've seen the stain removing details on the back of the bar. Mamy tested it out in our first Laundering entry and it works wonders.

However I'm lazy, or quite possibly brilliant. I decided it was just too much work to rub the soap into the stain and wet it with water. (just toooooooo many steps!! ) So I decided to take the concept and premake it, though this does add more steps to the initial prep process. But you only have to do it once, no more scrubbing with a bar of soap and wetting the fabric, just dip, rub and go on with it.

I took my 1/4 bar of soap Id been using for the scrubbing and grated it into a half pint mason jar. Then I filled the jar with boiling water just to cover the soap.

Put the top on it, shake it up real good, continue to shake it up everytime you walk back into the room until the soap dissolves.

About 3 hours or less later, I had a little jar of gel.

I just had to test it. I took my 4 year olds shirt from school, that had been in the laundry for a few days, it had food stains on it from lunch, no idea what exactly it is....

I dipped into the gel, rubbed it on the shirt, not a scrub just a deep rub to it. Took like 5 seconds. Let it sit for about 10 minutes and tossed it into the wash.

Taaaaaaaa Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

Later I did some research to find, I'm not the only brilliant mommy out there. Google it, there are several recipes out there, but this one works for me.

Coming soon: My Trials & Tribulations of Homemade Dishwasher Detergent.

Furry Feeding Frenzy

2011-11-10T11:24:00.000-08:00

If you have pets (I have a zoo!), you know that providing healthy food and snacks for them can be quite costly. While snacks are not necessarily important for dogs & cats, they provide much needed vitamins and minerals for rodents such as rabbits and guinea pigs whose diet includes pellet food, roughage (timothy hay) and a variety of fruits & vegetables.

Princess Socko & Mr. Chalkie Bunny

When feeding vegetables to rodents, it is wise to research what types are healthy and harmful to the specific type you own. Always do a quick search to make sure the vegetable or fruit isnt harmful to your pet. Just because it is green doesn't mean its good for them. An example would be Iceberg Lettuce, one of the main causes of digestion issues. You think rabbit, you think lettuce, right? Wrong. Only the dark green leaves like that of Romaine lettuce is good for them. Here's a good list of healthy foods.

Veggies and fruits are considered snacks to most rodents and is something they crave more than anything. Princess Socko can hear a carrot bag rattle from a mile away and she'll let you know it promptly. Fruits are given less often as the sugar is not needed (very much accepted) and can be harmful if given too much. While store bought snacks claim to provide a source of vegetables & fruits, they also use honey as a means to bind the treat together.

Honey is not good for rodents and I wouldn't recommend feeding it to them. Aside from honey, most store bought treats contain nuts & seeds, while both piggies and rabbits enjoy those types of treats they are quite fattening. What's even worse is that seeds and nuts are a common choking hazard for guinea pigs and smaller rodents.

With all that said ( I tend to ramble alot...) I have researched various ways to prepare homemade snacks for my rodent babies and found this simple recipe makes for the perfect amount of healthly & sweet.

Chalko Tasties

2 mashed bananas*
2 carrots shredded
3 tbs oats
1/2 cup oat flour (made myself by grinding up some oats)**

*Squeezing the banana inside the peel with your hand works wonderfully and slides out effortlessly into your mixing bowl.

**In place of the "oat flour" you can use grinded pellet food for that particular pet. (It is not recommended to feed guinea pigs, rabbit food or vice versa.)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix banana, carrots & oats, then add in oat flour and mix well.

Using a cookie dough scoop, form the "dough" into little balls and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Cook for 15-20 minutes or until firm. Let cool completely and serve. Store in an airtight container or ziplock bag in the refrigerator.

Freezing Tip: After the cooling process place the cookie sheet of snacks into your deep freeze and chill until completely frozen. Then remove the snacks and seal them in a plastic bag. This method (props to my mother in law on this one!) ensures that each snack is individually frozen thus allowing them not to stick together when stored in one container.

Storage Tip: You can also use your food dehydrator for these instead of serving them fresh. While Chalkie Bunny enjoys them both ways, The Princess prefers the dried version.

Enjoying their tasties.

Background Notes: Princess Socko Nug Nug (as named by my then 2 yr old, Stone) was rescued from a local pet store where her owners had brought her in for being "too old" and not wanted. :( I had gone in that day to buy some fish for my 30 gallon aquarium and came home with a guinea pig. I couldn't help myself.

That holds true for Mr. Chalkie Bunny, who was the last baby rabbit being sold as a feeder rabbit. The naive non hunter in myself had no clue what that meant until my dear husband explained that the sweet innocent baby bunny was going to be someone's dinner. Thankfully he was the only one left or I would have had my hands full today.

Moving along.....

As I said it is not necessary to give snacks to dogs or cats, (mine would disagree) snacks are useful for praising good behavior or overall making for a much loved mommy. I will not lie and say that my furries (and others, told you I had a zoo!) are not spoiled beyond reason. In my home they are not pets, they are furry (some scaly) family members and you can't tell them otherwise.

In addition to our rodent furries, we also house two dogs, Casper (a boxer/pointer mix, rescue) and Fluff (a bischon frise/cocker spaniel purebred mutt of fluffiness) as well as two cats, The Bob (a stray that never left) and Princess Tink. (a precious girl in need of a safe home.)

Now what dog doesnt love dog biscuits of any kind? I know my two really love those peanut butter biscuits, but I decided why buy them when I could make them and know exactly what was going into them. I searched for homemade peanut butter dog treats and found a wonderful blog called Come On, ilene! that had just the recipe I was looking for. Peanut Buttery & healthy.

1 cup of oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling beef broth
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 tsp sugar
1 beef bouillon cube, mashed into granules
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg, beaten (2 for a softer treat)
3 cups whole wheat flour.

Now I didn't have beef broth as the recipe stated, so I put a cup of water and a beef bouillon cube into a pot and the cube dissolved as it came to a boil.

Pour the oats, margarine & boiling broth into a mixing bowl and let it soften, about 10 minutes. Stir in the other ingredients, except the flour. Mix well, then add the flour one cup at a time until a soft dough forms. I used the dough hook on my kitchen aid (aka The Ice Queen) so there was no need to "knead".

Roll the dough out about 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Using any shaped cookie cut, make several cuts into your dough. I was able to reknead and reroll several times and ended up with 120+ dog bones.

Taste Tested & Doggie Approved

Casper and The Fluff as usual love a good dog biscuit, but one of their favorite treats are Frosty Paws, doggie ice cream goodness. These little goodies are quite spendy for the amount that you get, so thanks to my fantastic sister in law, April, I was shown a recipe to make my very own. Special thanks to Brett Winn, the original creator of this special frozen treat.

Frozen Dog Treats

32 oz plain yogurt
1 mashed ripe banana
2 tbs of peanut butter
2 tbs of honey

Mix all ingredients together. Pour some of the batter into a ziplock bag and snip the end. (just a little snip will do.) Squeeze filling into ice cube trays (you can also use egg cartons), I used two full size ice trays and one mini cube tray.

I had a tiny bit of batter left so I gave it to The Fluff for a bit of taste testing.

100% Fluff approved.

Put your trays in the freezer and chill until firm. I let mine set overnight to ensure they were well frozen before moving them to a gallon ziplock to store in the deep freeze.

Now for the kitties. I dont know about your cats but mine LOVE cheese, but really who doesnt love cheese? The Bob has been known on several occasions to snatch some cheese cubes off the counter! With that said I went in search of some cheesy cat treats and came across Pet Place. They have several different variations of cat treats, but I chose to make the Savory Cheese Treats for my cheesy kitties. (Or as my BFF would say Quesoy Gatos!)

Ultimate Cat Stars (as named by Mason, age 3 )

3/4 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup shredded cheese
5 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sour cream or plain yogurt
1/4 cup cornmeal
chicken broth

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the first 5 ingredients in your mixer. Add chicken broth until a dough ball forms. (Again using The Ice Queen's dough hook) Roll the dough out on a heavily floured surface, as it is quite sticky, about 1/4 of an inch.

Bob just knew.

Grease a baking sheet, I used foil and cooking spray, this makes the treats slide right off the pan into a bowl when finished.

Using a tiny cookie cutter, cut out desired shapes. You can also use a pizza cutter and make tiny squares. This makes alot of treats, I stopped counting after 200 tiny stars.

Some of the treats stuck in the cutter, so I used the stopper part of a medicine dropper to push it free right onto the cookie sheet. Place in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, watch carefully as they may burn.

Tink thought they smelled divine.

With the leftover dough, I rekneaded & rolled it out several times and was able to make 38 dog bone shaped treats as well. With the tiny bit of leftover, I used a pizza cutter to make small squares. Waste Not Want not. Store them in an air tight container or ziplock bag.

The cheesy treats were the biggest hit, loved by both the dogs & the cats. It takes alot to make Bob beg!

I hope your furry friends enjoy these recipes as much as mine have! If you have no pets of your own these treats would be a wonderful gift for a pet loving friend. Just bag or bottle them up and add a festive bow!

Please leave a comment and let me know what they think!

Adventures in Laundering... Clothes That Is!

2011-11-08T10:35:00.000-08:00

In an endevor to save money, my husband and I decided to make our own laundry detergent. Even though I am an avid couponer and sale watcher, I still spend entirely too much money on laundry supplies.

I do about 6 or 7 loads of laundry every 3 days! I stil haven't figured out how a family of 4 manages to go through that many clothes, but add that up and that's about 70 loads of laundry a month. Somtimes it's more if we need uniforms or special attire or someone is sick. Meaning? That's a heck of alot of detergent and fabric softener!

Not to mention, the water bill and the electricity used (next year my husband is making me a clothes line!). So, we have to save somewhere. And, that somewhere has to be with the laundry supplies themselves.

So, at my husband's suggesting, I began researching homemade laundry detergent. Together, we settled on a recipe we felt we could easily manage and afford.

Together we went to WalMart and bought the standard supplies. Then, for a little extra smell good, some essential oils. After smelling many not so smell good oils, we settled on the Linen scent... ya know, because we're cleaning linens and such.

The detergent itself does not have much of a fragrance. We wanted the fresh clean scent. Lesha suggested we buy essential oils because she's been using it in her homemade fabric softener for quite some time, now.

My husband and I measured and mixed ingriedents. Meaning I measured and poured the powedered parts while he grated the soap! :) He did the "hard" part, which turned out not to be so hard at all!

After shaking our bucket, we decided to test it out on a load of towels. We decided on the towels for our test load in case anything bleached or got eaten alive it wasn't our clothes.

Well, not only did the towels come out smelling great, they were extremely clean! It was better than Tide, Gain, Purex, All, or any other detergent my husband and I wasted money on before. And, they smell so much fresher!

When I told some people about our experiment, they thought we were crazy. Especially after I told them it cost us about $25.00 to get it started, $30.00 if you count the essential oils.

But, let's consider this, shall we? If you're paying $20.oo for Tide, $15.00 for All, $20.00 for Gain, or $8-10.00 for Purex for only 60-96 loads, you're paying about 3 times the amount for laundry detergent as I am!

I paid $30.00 for about 3 1/2 gallons of powdered detergent that only takes 1/8 cup per full load of laundry. Which means? I can do more laundry for my $30.00 than you can for your $30.00. And, with those savings? I buy more diapers for my 11 month old. (Diapers are one thing you won't watch me try to get around economically too often. I refuse to use cloth diapers... its just not my thing.)

So, if you'd like to try the tried and true detergent here's your recipe:

12 cups Borax
8 cups washing soda
8 cups baking soda
8 cups shaved Fels-Naptha Bar or Ivory Bar soap

Mix together in a large bucket. Use 1/8 cup per each load

(My husband and I added approximately 2.5 oz of essential oils to our to give it a fresh scent as the detergent itselt does not have a frangrance.)

The basic ingredients.

Note: If you're having problems locating the ingredients for the detergent, look down. We found all the supplies on the very bottom shelf, all neatly stocked next to each other. Retailers have found that if you place to more expensive brands at eye level, the consumer spends more money. Look down for better savings!

The essential oil was found in at Walmart in the craft department.

The finished product.

Lesha's Note: I didn't have enough baking soda to make this and fabric softener this time but I wanted to try it. So I found another recipe that's much smaller and quite similar. 1 bar of Fels Naptha soap (grated.), 1 1/4 cup borax and 1 1/4 cup washing soda. I grated the soap into an ice cream bucket, added the fragrance to that (about 5 cap fulls), stirred it up and then added the powdered ingredients.

Make sure to mix it up each time you do a load of laundry the fragrance accumulates at the top.

Just as with the laundry detergent, my husband and I decided to try to make our own liquid fabric softener in our continued effort to save more money. Lesha swears by it, as she has been making her own for quite some time.

After researching (you'll find that I do quite a bit of that), we discovered we already had everything for the basic recipe at home! Lesha suggested, as she did with the detergent, to add essential oils for fragrance. So, we bought Linen scent to give our laundry the fresh, clean smell.

We tested the fabric softener, just as we did the detergent, on the towels. Again, this is to prevent any damage to our clothes while we experiment. We were hoping for the ourstanding results we recieved with the detergent. The fabric softener did what the name claims... it softened the fabric. It just didn't seem, to me, that it did as great a job as my favorite national brands: Downy and Gain.

However, with an overal price tag of about $2.00 a bottle, I decided to try again. (My husband put the softener in the load of towels, I decided to try with the white load.) This time, the laundry came out perfect! The third load I tried it on, the colors, also came out perfect! I don't know if my husband just didn't use enough with the towels or if it wasn't mixed as well. After the colored clothes came out perfectly softened and smelling nice, I was completely sold on the homemade softener!

I highly reccommend this to anyone trying to save some money! It works just as well as the pricey national labels!

Just a fair warning: if not mixed properly it will explode! Just ask my husband! ;)

The recipe is as follows:

2 cups white vinegar
2 cups baking soda
4 cups cold water
2.5 oz of your favorite essential oil (optional)

Mix 2 cups vinegar with 2 cups baking soda in an old fabric softener bottle. Make sure it still has a lid!

Add 4 cups cold water to the vinegar and baking soda gradually as it fizzes. Swish the mixture around carefully to evenly miss.

Lesha's Note: In order to prevent explosions. (So sorry I didn't mention to the hubs. lol) I add 1cup of baking soda, 1 cup of vinegar, 2 cups of water, let it fizz. Add the second cup of soda, second cup of vinegar and the last two cups of water, let it fizz. cap it (loosely or it will explode), shake gently, open, add the fragrance, close loosely and shake lightly. ) My softener is in an old snuggle container that has a cap and a spout, I always keep the cap lose until the vinegar & soda are done fizzing. Its also a good pratice to shake the softener prior to each use to ensure a nice mixture of ingredients.

Pour 1/4 cup into your washing machine at the beginning of the rinse cycle.

*To add a simple touch of frangrance, I suggest 2.5 oz of your favorite essential oils. Though this step is completely optional.

If you're wanting to "make" your own fabric softener sheets, it's really easy too! Simply sprinkle some of your liquid fabric softener onto a washcloth and throw into the dryer. You're clothes come out soft, smelling clean, and static free! It's that easy!

Lesha's Note: You can also soak a dish towel in the fabric softener, wring it out, let it dry overnight and toss it into the dryer with the clothes. Can be used several times before resoaking and beginning the process again.

For those of you that have messy children like we do, you'll notice you go through a lot of stain remover. After all, clothes are expensive and we try to keep our clothes as clean and spot free as possible.

We made our own stain remover with water and baking soda. This, however, did not work well for us. However, what I did find that worked was this:

Dampen the stain on the clothing and rub a Fels-Naptha bar onto the stain. Let it sit 1 minute and throw into the wash. The directions are on the Fels-Naptha bar as a pre-treater. I've, honestly, never seen results like I have since using the Fels-Naptha bar!

One bottle of Spray and Wash or Shout, seriously, only lasted 2 laundry days. That's it! (Keep in mind, I have an 11 month old and a 7 year old, they make lots of stains!). And, when I do laundry ever 3 days, that's a lot of pretreater I've wasted my money on. And the results? Simply mediocre. Sometimes that stains came out, sometimes they didn't. With the Fels-Naptha bar every stain has come out! And, so far I've used the bar for 4 laundry days. And, it looks like I have about 100 laundry days left in the bar. So, for 97cents, I say this is the best dollar I've ever spent!

Just to show you how well it works, my 11 month old daughter had a chocolate cupcake with purple frosting at her first Halloween party. She was wearing a white shirt. (I know, not smart on my part, right?) Needless to say, purple frosting ended up all over the place... very little of which ended up in her mouth.

Here are the before and after pictures (and the stain sat on the shirt for 4 days):

Before

After

Using the Fels-Naptha bar requires a little more time, however, I have found that the results are well worth the "elbow grease" used.

So, I hope you have all learned a few ways to save on your laundry supplies. With just a few simple ingredients, most of which you probably already have on hand, you can make the best detergents, softeners, and stain removers!

Not only will you save your money by using these tips, but you'll save your clothes as well!

Happy Laundering!

Halloween Tricks & Treats

2011-10-31T11:27:00.000-07:00

Holidays are always the best time for creating, as you can guarantee you'll be invited to a party in which you will be asked to bring goodies. For my son's PreK class Halloween party this year I was in charge of bringing fruit & dip. Obviously I couldn't just bring some cut up apples and caramel dip, no because I have to be complicated at all times. After vigorous searching through Pinterest (best time killer ever!) I came across several cute apple ideas and settled on something simple. Cookie cutter cored apple slices.

Originally featured in Jewels of a Child

Now I was late on finding this and wasn't able to purchase the proper tools to make such a cute design, so I had to get crafty. I thought long and hard about what I could use to cut the core out to attempt to make a pumpkin shape in my apple slices and suddenly it hit me.

Frosting Tips! As a cake decorator I had plenty of those around. After various trial and error I decided to go with a large 2D tip (the base) for the pumpkin and a 104 petal tip for the stem. I bought a bag of apples and washed them up real nice, then sliced them from the top down. Each apple gave me about 5-6 slices.

Then I cored each slice with the 2D tip and followed up with the 104 petal tip (wider side up) producing a rather decent image of a pumpkin.

Serve with Caramel dip.

Mamy took a different approach on treats, one that kids (and myself) love the most, CHOCOLATE! Using a recipe found on Taste of Home, Mamy created these adorable little spider cookies.

1 package (18-1/4 oz) chocolate fudge cake mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
1 can (16 oz) chocolate frosting
Shoestring black licorice, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces
1/4 cup red hot candies

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, butter and egg (dough will be stiff). Shape into 1 inch balls. Please 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until set. Cook for one minute before removing from pans to wire racks.

Spread a heaping teaspoonful of frosting over the bottom of half of the cookies. Place licorice pieces on each side of the cookies for spider legs; top with remaining cookies. For eyes, attach two red hot candies with frosting to the top of the spider.

Mamy's Notes: In order to make the creepy spiders less fattening, I used light butter, sugar free cake mix and sugar free frosting (both made with splenda). Instead of black licorice I used red because the store was out and the eyes were made with M&Ms instead of red hots.

For my Grandmother's church gathering I was asked to compete in the Pumpkin carving contest, so without any debate on carving ideas I searched for an owl pumpkin as I am absolutely inlove with owls! I think they are just too adorable and currently I am awaiting my invitation to Hogwarts.

Originally created by Brett Bara

After a bit of searching I came across this amazing design. Looks complicated right? Ofcourse, its me I can't do simple!

I free handed the design onto my pumpkin and within two hours, I had an extremely awesome replica of this little cutie with whom I named Pigwidgeon. (Potter fan? Guilty.)

Pigwidgeon

Pigwidgeon received lots of money during the contest which was all donated to a local children's home. He was created using carving tools that can be purchased at Walmart, they come in a kit with stencils (which obviously I didn't use!) . His wings were were created with a peeler also found in the kit.

Hope you enjoyed our Halloween Tricks & Treats and we hope all of you have a Happy and Safe Halloween!

Mucho love,
Lesha & The Mamy

"I'll be here...."

2011-10-29T08:09:00.000-07:00

The famous phrase of a very creative and loving woman whom we call Mom. It was our dearly departed Mom who created REAL recycled soup by throwing whatever leftovers she could find in the fridge into a pot. With the addition of broth and various seasonings, a soup was created, coining the term "Recycled Soup." Mom wasn't the most extravagant of cooks but she made some of the tastiest meals we've ever had. Thankfully she always made sure to write down her creations in a special cookbook that she dedicated to her "girls." Before this book, we couldn't even boil lasagna noodles without burning them. (Well Mamy couldn't!)

Mom's Holy Grail of cookbooks is and always will be a true treasure to each of us. The only problem with this special book is that there is only one in existence and we constantly argue over whose home is blessed by its presence on any given day. The cookbook has dedications to each of Mom's "girls" Amy (Mamy) and Manda, her actually daughters, as well as Lesha, Kelly and Cyndi her adopted daughters. Randomly, each of us share the same middle name of "Louise," atleast we did in Mom's little world.

My(Me as in Lesha) most favorite recipe is titled, "My Very Secret Chili." I can actually hear Mom saying this in my head right this moment.

"Guess what I made today?" Mom said as I walked into her house without knocking.

"What's that Mom?" I asked slightly nervous, as with mom there is no telling what she made.

"My....very...secret....chili....." Mom replied after a few seconds of suspenseful silence.

A styrofoam bowl, some cheese and few crackers later I would be cuddled up on the couch trying to stay awake to watch Mom's excitement over Oprah giving away yet another car.

Chili is by far one of my most favorite foods. It should be a food group on its own, seriously. I love just about all kinds of chili with Mom's and my very own daddy's recipes (Which is top secret as I have the only written recipe in existence) being my top two. They are both different yet utter perfection in their own special way. Mom's chili is by far the only chili I've ever had that tastes like chili without the extra addition of chili powder or other spices. Its all in the can!

Mom's Very Secret Chili

3 lbs ground beef
6 cans of chili beans
6 cans of diced tomatoes
1 large chopped onion
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 can of diced tomatoes with chilies (Rotel)

Cook the ground beef, chopped onion and diced bell peppers in a large pan. In a large pot, combine beans and tomatoes. Drain fat from the meat mixture and add to the bean/tomato pot. When hot, its ready to eat.

Sometimes Mom put mushrooms in the chili as well and though I am by far not a mushroom fan I ate them because well... come on it was Mom's chili, it would have been sacrilegious not too. When I make this for my family, I omit the onions and peppers as the husband isn't fond of them. Sometimes I make two pots, one with the veggies and one without.

Mom's recipes, always simple yet satisfying!! Another family dinner hit, one most requested at Mamy's house, is Mom's Meatloaf.

Anyone who knows me, Mamy, knows I'm the world's pickiest eater. So, Mom made alot of things quite simple, as we found that I like simple flavors for the most part. But, Mom had her favorite things, too. Most of which were not my favorite. But, she would always think about me when she cooked. Sometimes she took pieces of meals and held them aside for me while she flavored or cooked the rest of the meal to the family's liking. Sometimes she had me make something for myself. And, other times, she would make two versions of the same meal.

Meatloaf was one of the meals I did not like. Regardless of who made it or how it was made. But, it was simple and cheap to make, so it was staple in our home. Mom got creative and decided to try to alter different recipes she'd tried to make it so that I could eat it. After all, my family was on a tight budget, so eating cheaply was a must. Finally, she found a version everyone loved... including me.

So, Mom lovingly cooked meatloaf for the family and then halfed it. Half was the way you see the recipe following this caption. Half was altered to my liking: plain and simple. I want to share the original version of the recipe with you, as it was one of her best meals. Following it I'll share a few notes about what she did to make it so her picky eater could eat also.

Best Meatloaf Ever! (It's Mine)

2-3 lbs ground beef
1/4 lb saltines-one pack
French Fry Seasoning (or any seasoning salt)
2 eggs
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Ketchup
1 medium onion, chopped.
1 bell pepper, chopped.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put crackers in a gallon zip lock bag and roll out with a rolling pin or a soup can. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Form into a loaf and place in a bread pan or other baking pan.

As you can see, Mom's meatloaf recipe is quite simple.

For my half, she simply omitted the onion and bell pepper.

Today, I make my family the same meatloaf my mother made me. It gets rave reviews everytime, and requested over and over again.

(mine is mess. it looks better in a loaf pan.. my husband asked I make it in this dish... he said the loaf pan makes it too thick. and my son requested half have no ketchup topping, because he's weird and doesn't like ketchup on anything made with ground beef... )

Sometimes simply made is the best made. And, Mom's meatloaf is the best!

I hope you try to make these recipes for your family. Lesha and I promise that you'll enjoy them. Don't be surprised when you see more of Mom's recipes spotlighted. In the meantime: Bon Appitite!

Rest in Peace Mom, we got this!