Blizzard Bites in a Jar

Last week I posted instructions for Dreamsicle Cookies in a Jar.  These recipes in a jar make great, economical holiday gifts and this week I am posting another one from the really interesting website organizedhome.com.  This is one for people who aren't that crazy about cooking - all you have to do is melt some chocolate chips in the microwave and you're good to go!

Blizzard Bites in a Jar:

Ingredients:
1 c. RiceChex cereal
1 c. small pretzel twists
1/2 c. dry roasted peanuts
1/3 c. Craisins-type dried cranberries
1/3 c. coarsely-chopped dried pineapple
1 c. white chocolate chips
1 quart wide-mouth canning jar with lid and ring
1 small food storage bag

Layer the ingredients in the jar in the following manner:  Rice Chex, pretzels, peanuts, dried cranberries and dried pineapple.
Put the white chocolate chips in the storage bag and place on top on the ingredients.
Put the lid and ring on the jar and attach the instruction tag.

Instruction Tag:
Remove the white chocolate chips from jar.  Pour the other ingredients into a large bowl and mix.
Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for about 30 seconds, then stir till melted.  If more time is needed, check at 15 second intervals.  Pour the chocolate over the other ingredients and mix very thoroughly.  Spread in a single layer on wax paper and let cool.  Break into smaller pieces and store in air-tight container or food storage bags.

Dreamsicle Cookies in a Jar

With our economy still trying to bounce back, many of us are cutting back a little this holiday season.  One nice gift that just about everyone loves is the Recipe in a Jar.  This is where most of the ingredients for a nice soup or dessert is layered in a quart jar and topped with a pretty lid.  The instructions on how to prepare the recipe is attached.  There are numerous recipes out there, and just about all of them sound really good.  Today I am posting the instructions for Dreamsicle Cookies in a Jar, with thanks to the website organizedhome.com.

 Dreamsicle Cookies in a Jar: 

Ingredients:

1/2 c. Tang powdered orange drink

3/4 c. sugar

1 3/4 c. flour, sifted before measuring

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. baking powder

1 quart wide-mouth canning jar with lid and ring

1 1/2 c. vanilla baking chips

Stir together the flour, baking soda and baking powder.  Then layer the ingredients into the jar: Sugar, Tang, flour mixture then the vanilla chips. Tamp the first 3 layers firmly before adding the chips.

Here are the instructions to attach to the jar:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Empty jar into large bowl and add 1/2 c. softened butter, 1 slightly-beaten egg and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Mix until well-blended.

Form dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on slightly-greased baking sheet.  Bake for 12-14 minutes or until cookies are slightly browned.

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen.

How About Drying Some Apples?

A friend of mine opened up a package of dried apples at a recent meeting.  I know that apples are great for you, but they are hard to carry around and even more difficult to chomp on during a day-long meeting at work. Linda's apple chips had absolutely no ingredients except for the apple and a little lemon juice.  This is as good as eating an apple and much handier.  It got me thinking about drying some apples myself, and I'm planning on trying it in the next few days.  I have a dehydrator, but I may choose to just use the oven. 

In case you are interested in trying this for yourself, here are instructions for drying apples in an oven....

Tart apples hold their shape better than sweet ones.  I hear that Granny Smiths are excellent for drying.

While you peel, core and slice your apples, you will want to rest the slices in a bowl of water with some lemon juice or Fruit Fresh to keep them from turning brown.  The packaged apple chips that I saw had not been peeled, so I guess you can just leave the peel on if you want.  Slice the apples VERY thin and place them on a cookie sheet.  

Cook them at a low temperature, about 250 degrees, for 45 minutes or until crisp.  Store in a container in a dry place.  Good luck!

Time To Visit Your Farmers' Market!

Yep, it's that time of the year again - Cities all over the country are featuring their Farmers' Markets.  In Oklahoma our Farmers' Markets are typically open every Wednesday and Saturday, from April to October.  Various farmer's sell their produce, normally picked that morning, from tables or the backs of pick-ups, generally in a big parking lot provided by the city.

You get only produce that is in season and won't find food imported from other states or countries.  That's a good thing.  You can buy a lot of in-season fruit, go home and can jelly or jam, or just can the fresh fruit to use in the middle of the winter. 

I find the prices to be very comparable to grocery store prices, and the quality is much, much better.   You might find a worm or two in the fresh corn, but you won't normally find pesticides.  I consider the worm to be a trade-off that's well worth it.

Become a locavore - buy your vegetables locally from farmers that are invested in your community.  You will taste the difference!

Are We Done With The Snow????

Hello, hope you are having a wonderful Wednesday!  It's looking like we may be finally crawling out of the long, hard winter and racing headlong into Spring.  Sunday, after minus 30 degrees temps only a few days ago, the weather was a little better, 68 degrees.  So I went shopping, played 18 holes of disc golf, picked up some topsoil at the local nursery and even managed to get half of my onions in the ground!

Yes, it's time to start getting our gardens ready and planting early season plants like onions and, in a couple of weeks, potatoes and other goodies.  I'm hoping that we don't see any more snow in Oklahoma, but that's never a sure thing until late March or April.

After a particularly hard winter here, Spring will be especially welcome this year.  It's a good time to start thinking about the jellies and jams you want to can, and the recipes that will showcase your fresh vegetables.  And don't forget to visit your farmers' markets that will be opening up around April!

Let's Get Ready To Garden!

Are we sick of winter yet?  In Oklahoma, onions and other cooler weather plants go into the ground in February and potatoes follow closely behind, so it's time to turn our thoughts to the garden.

Here are a few quick and easy tips to make your gardening experience a little easier this year....

1.  Put a bar of soap into a little mesh bag and tie it around the outdoor faucet.  After gardening, use it to wash the dirt off your hands.

2.  Take a clothespin along when you are cutting or trimming roses and grasp the thorny stem with the pin, not your fingers.

3.  Save a pair of old pantyhose, cut them up and use them to tie your tomatoes and other plants that need to be staked.  They make great ties, and they don't injure the plants.

4.  Want a natural weed-killer that won't hurt your plants?  Here's the recipe:  1 oz. of inexpensive gin, 1 oz. of vinegar and 8 oz. of water.  Give the weeds a nice dose of this and they'll wilt and die.

Now if someone can just come up with a remedy to keep squirrels away from my mom's apricot trees, things would be perfect.

How About A Few Home Remedies?

Sometimes you need quick action and you don't have the right medication or the proper name-brand cleaner in your house.  Here are a few "in a pinch" remedies using items that are usually in most everyone's cabinet....

1.  Splinter - Use your bottle of white Elmer's Glue-All.  Pour it on the splinter, let it dry and then peel it off your skin.  The splinter should stick to the glue and be pulled right out.

2.  Skin blemish - Before bed, cover it with honey and put an adhesive bandage like Band-Aid over it.  It should be much better in the morning because the honey speeds healing and kills bacteria.  It also keeps the skin sterile.

3.  Arthritis in your hands or fingers - Try oatmeal - Mix 2 cups of oats and a cup of water and cook in the microwave for a minute.  Let it cool a little, then apply the warm oatmeal to your hands.  It provides a soothing relief to arthritis.

4.  Broken blister - Pull out the Listerine.  Dab it on the blister to disinfect it.  Might burn a little, but you're tough, right?

5.  Muscle ache from the flu - Horseradish to the rescue!  A tablespoon of horseradish mixed with a cup of olive oil provides a terrific massage oil after you let it set for about 30 minutes.

  I'll be back in a week or so with a few more home remedies....

Loving Cast-Iron Cookware

I love my cast-iron cookware.  There are so many benefits to using cast-iron that I don't really know where to start....

For one, cast-iron is healthy.  Eating food cooked with cast iron adds trace amounts of iron, which we all need.  (There are certain rare diseases where iron in the system is actually detrimental - if you have one of these, then you wouldn't want any extra iron in your system).  Many physicians actually recommend switching to cast iron to their enemic patients.

Many foods taste better when cooked with cast iron.  No kidding.  Try cornbread cooked in a cast-iron skillet.  You'll fall in love.  And once you eat an egg cooked in a cast-iron skillet, you'll never want an egg cooked in anything else. 

Cast-iron is almost indestructible.  I use a Griswold Good Health skillet that was made in the 1920's.  It belonged to my grandmother, and it only gets better with age and use.

Cast-iron is highly collectible.  There are some brands that are more collectible than others, but all of the old, American-made pieces are sought-after.

Cast-iron is affordable.  New cast-iron manufactured by a top brand such as Lodge and made in America (where there are rules and regulations on how it must be made) can be purchased at such places as Bass Pro Shops and some Ace Hardware stores, as well as online.  Compared to "designer" cookware, cast-iron is very inexpensive, with pre-seasoned skillets usually going for $20-30.00. 

The older cast-iron, which I prefer, can be picked up for a song at farm sales and garage sales.  There are simple ways to restore these old pieces, so long as they are not pitted or misshapen from years of neglect.

I will continue to post information about cast-iron cooking and cookware, as well as some recipes that are great for cast-iron.  I hope that some of you will try it out - you won't be sorry!

What Can You Do With A Steel Wool Soap Pad?

Hello....Most of us have a box of SOS pads or other brand of steel wool pads with the soap already built in.  You might be surprised to find that there are many uses to these little pads.  Here are just a few ways that you can use steel wool soap pads....

1.  You can plug up a mouse hole with it.  Now, lots of people know this, but some may not.  Neither Mickey nor Minnie Mouse will chew through a steel wool pad to get in the house.

2.  You can stuff a pincushion with it.  Use it to stuff a home-made pin cushion and it will keep your pins and needles shiny and sharp.

3.  You can tighten up a screw with it.  Take a few strands from a pad and wind them around the threads of the screw to make it nice and tight.

4.  You can clean your golf clubs with it.  Again, quite a few people, especially guys, know this one.

5.  You can clean your sneakers with it.  Wet it and rub gently to get your sneakers super-clean.

6.  You can patch a hole in the sheetrock with it.  Yep, stuff it in the crack or hole, then plaster over it.

7.  You can remove crayon marks from wallpaper with it.  Be very gentle when you do this.

Those are mine - Do you have more uses for these pads?  If so, please comment and let us know!

Save Money By Using An Old-Fashioned Clothesline!

The old-fashioned clothesline is back in style for drying clothes. Electric clothes dryers have their place, but many people are going back to the outdoor clothesline for cleaner, fresher-smelling clothes.

Each time you can use a clothesline rather than drying a load of clothes, you save money and help the environment. What could be better??

The following are a few tips to make your old-fashioned clothesline drying a success:

If you don’t have a backyard, you can still dry clothes without a dryer. Use a tension curtain rod in your laundry room to hang clothes to dry. You obviously won’t be able to dry as many pieces this way, but it will come in handy for clothing that cannot be put into the dryer, for example, a piece of clothing that says “hang to dry”.

If you have an outdoor clothesline, wipe it down now and then with a wet rag to keep it clean. A dirty line will soil your clean clothes.

Don’t spin all of the water out of the clothes that you are going to dry on the line, since wrinkles set into clothes that are completely spun. Instead, stop the washer about halfway through the spin cycle, then take your clothes out to the line.

The best clothes to hang on the line are white clothes, since the sun will make them even whiter. It’s better than the best bleach! For your darker clothing, hang them out of the bright sunlight, since they will eventually fade in the sun.

Hang pants by the cuffs. The weight will pull out the wrinkles and eliminate the need for ironing. If you are hanging a heavy dress or coat, use two hangers since the item will be very heavy. Hook the hangers on the clothesline in opposite directions and this will keep the item from blowing off the line.

Don’t leave your clothes on the line longer than necessary, since sunlight is not easy on fabric and will eventually weaken it.

Large, thick comforters should be dried in a clothes dryer because they take forever to line-dry and you might run into a mold or mildew situation. Other bedding such as sheets, however, are great for line-drying and smell wonderful when finished.

Warning!!
When removing the clothes from your clothesline, make sure there are no uninvited guests. I was once stung by a wasp that was on a dish towel that I removed from the line and threw over my shoulder!

If You Want To Save Money, Time Your Purchases!

When you need to purchase an item, do you go right out and buy it?  If you are willing to wait to make your purchases, you can save some money by spending your money during months when stores generally run good sales on certain items.

During difficult economic times (such as right now) you can get great buys on big-ticket items and luxury purchases.

The time of the year and day of the week can make a big difference on the prices you pay for certain items.

The following is a list of items that generally are priced lower in certain months….

Buy these in January:

Sports equipment, furniture and bicycles.

Buy these in February:

MP3 players, stereo equipment, televisions, cameras.

Buy these in March:

All winter clothing. This is when stores clear their space of winter clothes to make room for spring duds. You may find nice wool suits and other clothing for up to 80% off the regular retail price.

Buy these in April or May:

Pots, pans, any kind of kitchen items.

Buy these in June:

Furniture, MP3 players, stereo equipment, televisions, cameras.

Buy these in July:

Furniture, computers, computer equipment.

Buy these in August:

School supplies and office supplies. Also, my state of Oklahoma has a tax-free back-to- school weekend during this month, when school supplies and most clothing is sale-tax-free. Stores run sales on these items to coincide with the special week-end. If your state has this, be sure and take advantage of it.

Buy these in September:

Cars, summer clothes (as in March, stores are clearing their space for the upcoming season of clothing, and you can get some terrific deals).

Buy these in October:

Pots, pans, any kind of kitchen items, trees and shrubs.

Buy these in November:

Pots, pans, any kind of kitchen items, wedding dresses. Also, take advantage of the great deals on Black Friday, the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Buy these in December:

New cars, champagne.

If you are able to time your purchases, you will save some money and feel better about your purchases.

Happy shopping!!

Cut Your Gasoline Costs And Save Some Bucks!

Most of us drive our cars every day and fill the tanks with gas much too often. With gas prices fluctuating wildly over the last couple of years, it’s clear that anything we can do to cut our gas costs will save us big bucks in the long run.

Some things, like driving slower, are common sense solutions, but there are a more options that are less-known, and this article addresses those.

Here are eight simple ways to drive your way to cost savings….

1.  Tighten your gas cap….

Always ensure that your cap clicks into place. This means that the cap is tight and your gasoline won’t evaporate. Gasoline costs too much to allow it to evaporate into the air. Also, a friend of mine took her SUV to the dealership because the “Service Engine Soon” light was one. It was caused by the gasoline cap not being clicked into place. So, not tightening her gasoline cap cost her much more than just evaporated gasoline.

2.  Avoid premium gasoline….

Most cars are engineered to run perfectly fine on regular gasoline. Paying more the premium is like pouring your money down the drain.

3.  Purchase your gasoline at the coolest time of the day….

Usually early morning or night purchases are best. When it’s warm, gasoline expands and gas pumps charge by volume, so you will get more gasoline for the money if you fill up when it’s cooler.

4.  Fill your tank less….

Fill up only when you have a quarter tank or less of gasoline (or if you notice gas prices have dropped). The lighter your car, the better gasoline mileage it will get, and a tank of gasoline is very heavy, to drive more when your car is lighter and resist the temptation to fill up at a half-tank. Again, the exception to this rule is if you notice that the price has dropped and you want to take advantage of that.

5.  Don’t idle….

Idling for a minute or more wastes a lot of gasoline. It costs less to turn off the engine and restart the car if you are waiting for more than a minute.

6.  Shut off the air conditioning….

Air conditioning uses gasoline. If you shut off the air conditioning 5 or 10 minutes before you arrive at your destination, you will save a little money. In the Spring and Fall seasons, turn off the air conditioning and use the “outside air” option on your system, if available.

7.  Don’t warm up….

It’s unnecessary to warm up your car for more than 30 seconds on cold days, and it’s a big gas waster. The only things you accomplish by warming up your car are air pollution and wasting money. So, let your car warm up while you are putting on your seat belt, and that will be sufficient.

8.  Steer away from left turns….

Waiting to turn left wastes gasoline, and left turns are more dangerous than right turns. UPS drivers are trained to take routes that avoid left turns, and you should, too.

So, with a little extra attention you can cut your gasoline costs and help the environment as well.

Happy driving!

Save Money On Your Winter Energy Costs

When winter winds start blowing, our energy costs threaten to skyrocket. Every little bit that we can conserve will help our pocketbooks and our environment.

Here are some steps to take that will lower your energy bill this winter.

Switch the direction of your ceiling fan... Hot air rises, and changing your fan direction to counter-clockwise will push the hot air down into the room. When summer rolls around, changing it back to clockwise will pull the hot air up and away from you.

Laundry....Save up your laundry to fill up the washer. Smaller loads go through the same number of steps as large ones. Yes, you might conserve a little water by using small loads, but washing smaller loads more often rather than large loads less often will cost you in the long run.Use cold water to wash your clothing when possible, and always use cold water for the rinse.

Close the doors.... Particularly closet doors. Closing the doors to all rooms and closets will keep the house warmer.

Take showers...Taking showers rather than baths not only conserves water, but conserves energy as well. A shower generally uses about 10 gallons of water, but a bath takes 20-25 gallons. The shorter the shower, the better - both for your energy costs and your health.

While you're in the bathroom, be sure and turn off the faucet while you're brushing your teeth.

Dishwashing...Let your dishes air-dry by turning off your dishwasher before the drying cycle starts. Partially opening the dishwasher door after you turn it off speeds up the drying process, and you might want to use a product such as Jet-Dry to minimize spotting.

Use a humidifier....You will be much more comfortable during the dry winter months and you get an added bonus - Because moist air holds heat, your home will be warmer and your furnace will have less work to do.

You might also consider using a de-humidifier in the summer because, well, moist air holds heat.

When you heat up the oven for a meal, leave the door open a little afterward so that the heat won't be wasted. Only do this if you don't have little kids or pets that might get burned.

Lower the thermostat when everyone is out of the house at work or school.

Also lower the thermostat when bedtime arrives - It's much easier to sleep when the house is cooler, and you can always put on another blanket.

Clean the filters....Furnace filters should be cleaned or replaced every month, and lint filters in clothes dryers should be cleaned after every use.

If you have a traditional fireplace, invest in a glass, fitted screen to keep out the cold. Be sure the damper is always closed tightly. You might also consider converting your wood-burning fireplace to gas. Fireplaces are notorious energy-wasters, but I love the smell of a fireplace in the winter and can't bear to convert it to gas.

Learn to crochet. Make your family some nice afghans to cuddle up in while watching television or playing video games, and turn the thermostat down.

There are plenty of other steps that can be taken to lower your heating bills in the winter. I didn't even touch winterizing your home in this article. If you can get into the habit of doing even a few of these, you will notice a difference in your bills this winter.

Save Money With Your Used Dryer Sheets!

Dryer sheets are little rectangles of wonder. Not only do they soften your clothes and remove static, they will work hard for you even after their original purpose is complete.

Don't let your hard-working dryer sheets go to an early grave, er, landfill - Repurpose them and squeeze every penny out of your investment that you can.

The first thing you must do is figure out how to save your sheets. A good method is to put an empty container, such as a tissue box, on top of your dryer and drop the used sheets in the container after each load of clothes.

When packing for a trip, stuff a used sheet into each shoe. Not only will it make your shoes and luggage smell great, you can also use the sheet to dust off and shine your shoes after your wear them.

In the winter, we get a lot of shocks from static electricity. Stuff a used sheet into your pocket during the winter and kiss the shocks goodbye.

Used dryer sheets make terrific dashboard wipes for your trusty automobile. Not only does it make the dashboard shiny, it will repel dust and dirt, too.

You probably already know this, but throwing a used dryer sheet into your dresser drawer will make it smell great.

Put a couple of used dryer sheets under the seats of your car. Your car will smell nice and fresh, and you will save tons of money that you would spend for car fresheners.

Use a sheet to wipe the dust from things that normally attract it, such as television screens, blinds and those pesky ceiling fan blades. It will help repel the dust, and who likes dust?

Pull out your used dryer sheets when packing small items such as Christmas ornaments, and wrap them in the sheets. They're nice and soft, and won't scratch or hurt your little treasures.

When you have nasty, baked-on food in your pans, used dryer sheet to the rescue! Fill the pan with hot water and a dryer sheet and leave it alone overnight. In the morning, the food will go slip-sliding away....

Recycling items is always a good thing, and re-using these little dryer sheets will save you some bucks as well as help the environment.

How do you save money and help the environment? Please comment and let us know!