Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for late May

Chicken in curried peanut sauce

Friday

Chicken in curried peanut sauce, with radish greens and celery
Brown rice
Green salad, with mock bleu cheese dressing
Rhubarb custard pie

Saturday

Assorted sandwiches (freebie today)
Fresh grapes and cherry tomatoes (freebie today)
Cole slaw (freebie today, extended with extra cabbage)
mushrooms sauteed in butter (freebie today)
Layer cake (freebie today)

Green salad with dried cranberries, with Rhubarb dressing, from Tuesday

Sunday

Ham and cheddar green quiche
Brown rice
Honey-mustard glazed carrots
Leftover cake

Tomato-Florentine soup

Monday

Tomato-florentine soup
Toasted cheese sandwiches
Green salad
Leftover cake

Meatballs, mushrooms and celery in gravy over rice

Tuesday

Meatballs, mushrooms, and celery in gravy, over
Brown rice
Sauteed Swiss chard
Green salad with rhubarb dressing

Wednesday's hot dog wrap, with potato and garden greens hash

Wednesday

Hot dogs in bread wraps
Hashed potatoes and garden greens in bacon fat
Brownies

having-a-bad-day brownies -- see one is missing already

Thursday

Refried bean, rice and cheese tacos
Oven-roasted carrots
Green salad with rhubarb dressing
Leftover brownies



We had so many delicious items on this week's menu. Starting at the top, the chicken and radish greens in curried peanut sauce. This meal came about as a way to disguise a huge pile of radish greens (they cooked down quite a bit, so they don't look like a huge pile, here). A garlicky, curried peanut butter sauce completely camouflaged the sharp flavor of the radish greens.

Next favorite would have to be the meatballs and celery in gravy over rice. I love meatballs. I feel like I get a much more beefy flavor and texture by making meatballs, as opposed to just frying ground beef into crumbles. The mushrooms were given to us last weekend. I made a fantastic cream of mushroom soup, for Sunday's lunch, with about half of the mushrooms. With the other half, I sauteed some for Saturday's dinner, and then used the last in the gravy for these meatballs.

Also that night, I made a batch of this rhubarb salad dressing to top a simple salad of green leaf lettuce and dried cranberries. Very delicious. This particular salad has been repeated in lunches a couple of times this week.

The night that I made the hot dog wraps I was in a bit of a conundrum as to how to prepare a mixture of radish greens and the last of the fall Swiss chard. I thought of hashing them along with potatoes, in bacon fat. Very yummy. First I cooked the potato cubes in the bacon fat, until well-browned, then added the shredded garden greens. I added a bit of onion powder and salt towards the end of cooking. Completely masked the green-y taste of all of those greens.

And those brownies -- well, I had quite a day on Wednesday, complete with over-flowing washing machine, and a clogged shower drain to unclog. It just wasn't my day. So, I did the most logical next thing. I took a batch of brownies out of the freezer, and topped them with a really decadent mint-chocolate frosting, combining a cocoa buttercream with peppermint melting wafers (leftover from Christmas clearance). The end frosting is more like a ganache, firm, but not hard. Like a piece of fudge, but with a brownie attached. I'd say that's a Win. Win!

Have a great weekend!

Toasted hot dog wraps, using slices of bread

I had a super busy day, yesterday. I was scrubbing the deck, cleaning the bathrooms, organizing a closet and doing a little gardening. I don't know what got into me!

I had nothing planned for dinner. I had cooked some beans, but I didn't really want to do anything with them. I decided to save them for tonight. But that still left me with nothing planned for yesterday's dinner.

I do my best menu-planning while I'm busy working away at something else. I start to think of what all is in the kitchen, what could go with what, and how to make it all tasty.

I knew I had hot dogs in the fridge. But I didn't want to take the time to bake any buns or make biscuit dough. Enter this 1950s-1960s budget family favorite -- hot dog wraps, using bread slices. My mom made these when I was very young. It's how I thought hot dogs were always served, until our family's finances improved. Then we were livin' the high life -- we had buns!

Anyways, I made these last night, like my mom's, but a bit healthier (I used homemade whole wheat bread, and much less butter).

These wraps work best with soft bread, like commercial sandwich bread. However, I do it with homemade bread, either freshly baked, or 1 day old. If I use 1 day old bread, I microwave each slice (one at a time) for 13 seconds, then work quickly to wrap the slice around the dog and secure.

Hot dog wraps, using sliced bread

Generously butter a small baking dish. (For 5 wrapped hot dogs, I use an 8 X 8 inch pyrex baker.) Preheat oven to 375 F.

Lay 1 hot dog on 1 slice of bread, on the diagonal. Wrap the hot dog in the bread slice. Secure with 3 toothpicks, through the bread and the hot dog. Place in the buttered baking dish.

Bake for 15-17 minutes at 375 degrees F (less time if using commercial bread, 10-12 minutes total), until the outside dog-wraps are toasty, and the hot dog is hot. Remove the toothpicks before serving. The bread will hold its folded over shape, making a "bun".

Top with regular hot dog toppings.

Optional -- my mom used to add a slice of American cheese, and a smear of mustard, between the bread slice and the hot dog, before rolling up.

There you have it -- a busy afternoon. Need a quick, cheap and easy dinner. Hot dogs, but no buns.

I use my own whole wheat sandwich bread when I make these. But I think if you really want the full nostalgia factor, you've got to use fluffy, white sandwich bread, and butter each slice of bread before wrapping (just butter the outside of each slice), and the American cheese is practically mandatory!


Who, here, remembers these?

Do you keep emergency water on hand?

This is something we've not really done much of in the past. Maybe a couple of small bottles, here and there, but no real emergency-level amounts. We don't have tornados. We don't use a pump on a well. We're not in a rural area.

But we are in an earthquake zone. And I've always had this nagging feeling like I should be more prepared. So this spring, I've begun putting away some emergency water.

Whenever we empty a 2-liter or 64 oz bottle of soda or apple juice, I fill it with filtered water from the fridge. I then label and date the bottle and put it in the garage fridge. Of course, at our family's rate of consuming soda or bottled apple juice, this could take some time. But it's a start.

By dating the bottles, my plan is to pour out old water in 6 months and refill. (The discarded water can water plants or add to the laundry. It won't be wasted.)

I know. It's a plastic bottle not intended for reuse. But this is emergency water we're talking about. Enough water to get through a couple of days, not our usual supply of drinking water.

If a devastating earthquake does happen, at least we've been doing something to prepare for surviving in the aftermath.

edited: here's a site with information on emergency water storage: (link here).
According to this site, I probably should just use the tap water, and not the filtered tap water (our tap water is chlorinated). But, my tap water should keep for one year. There's good info at this site, in regards to how much bleach to add for water storage, whether or not you need to add bleach, and containers.

Spinach and tomatoes

I made a tomato-florentine soup last night for dinner. And in doing so, I was reminded of the importance of eating a little Vitamin C rich food, along with leafy green veggies.

Leafy greens, like spinach, are a fair source of iron. However, the iron in spinach is non-heme (as opposed to heme iron in meat). And non-heme iron is difficult to absorb on it's own. However, if you consume a little Vitamin C along with the non-heme iron food (in this case spinach), your body can more readily absorb the iron in the spinach.

There are many recipes which combine a Vitamin C food with spinach.

In many Mediterranean countries, cooked spinach is served dressed with olive oil and fresh-squeezed lemon juice. The lemon juice provides enough Vitamin C to help with the non-heme iron absorption.

There's a popular spinach salad, currently, that uses a dressing of olive oil, vinegar and pureed fresh strawberries. The strawberries are a good source of Vitamin C and aid in iron-absorption from the spinach in the salad.

I recently tasted a pasta salad that had fresh baby spinach and fresh cherry tomatoes in with the pasta and dressing. The cherry tomatoes (and all tomatoes) are a source of Vitamin C.

Italian cooking often times includes some spinach along with a tomato-based sauce. Florentine, or a la Florentine, is often synonymous with spinach-added (although not always, as in florentine cookies -- spinach in those would just be gross). Fresh or cooked tomatoes are often served in, or along side, Florentine dishes, such as whole tomatoes, stuffed with a mixture of spinach, bread crumbs, onions and cheese, known as Florentine Tomatoes.

The soup I made last night, Tomato-Florentine soup combined some leaves of fresh baby spinach, with the tomato puree from canned tomatoes. Canned tomatoes hold on to  a good amount of their Vitamin C, even after the canning process. 1 cup of canned, stewed, red tomatoes contains 34% of the US RDA of Vitamin C.

If you're interested in making a pot of Tomato-Florentine Soup, here's what I use:

• canned or fresh tomato puree, the liquid from canned tomatoes, tomato paste along with water or stock, or chunks of tomatoes blended in the soup with an immersion blender, or any combination of these tomato products to make a soup consistency
• chicken or vegetable stock (or just water if that's all I've got)
• onions or onion powder
• minced celery or celery seed
• a bit of garlic powder or minced fresh garlic
• dried oregano
• olive oil
• fresh or frozen spinach
• salt and pepper to taste
• *optional* at the last minute, I add some cooked garbanzo beans for added protein, and cooked penne pasta, and top with grated Parmesan

If the soup tastes "flat" try adding a bit more onion powder, garlic powder, oregano and a pinch of salt.

While fresh tomatoes are still months away, in my garden. From mid-May through June, I usually have a lot of baby spinach. Fortunately, canned tomato products are very affordable, even on a tight budget.


When I was little, Popeye cartoons were very popular. My mom would cajole us into eating our spinach by singing the "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man" song. She'd remind us of how Popeye would squeeze open a can of spinach and gulp it down. Of course, with what I know now, Popeye really should have been chasing his cans of spinach with a glass of tomato juice.

Shopping my own home for fabric to make summer pj shorts

One of my daughters's summer pajama shorts are ripped to shreds, literally. The holes appear to be taking up more of the shorts than the actual fabric.

With summer just around the corner, she is desperately needing new pj shorts. Pajama shorts are even quicker to sew than pj pants (yes, Cap't Obvious). They require a little over a yard of fabric and 2 feet of elastic for a women's size small. Even so, when I need some materials for a project, I shop what I have at home, before even setting foot in a store.

Here's a question for you -- what has literally yards of elastic and oodles of soft cottony fabric? I'll give you a hint, it used to be on my bed, and was patched many times.

Yes, that fitted, California King, white cotton sheet is the perfect item for a pair of pajama shorts. (I blogged about patching it here.) Although the body of that sheet was too thin to use, there was more than enough good fabric on the sheet to cut out the fronts and backs of the shorts. The part of the fitted sheet that hugs the sides of the mattress was in excellent condition. And the elastic on that sheet was the kind inside of a casing (not sewn to the edge). A bonus! No need to buy elastic for this project, either! And I have plenty of thread on hand.

I used the pattern that I use for my daughters' and my own pajama pants, only I folded under the legs of the pattern, to make one for shorts. (I had previously made a reduced-size pattern to use for my daughters, who are more petite than me.)

I wanted to add something pretty along the hem. After a thorough search of my trimming's box, I came up with nothing suitable. So, I used a machine edging stitch in lavender thread, making a sweet little scalloped edge to the shorts. Added a little lavender bow at the waistline to mark the front. These shorts were knocked out in about 2 and 1/2 hours on Sunday afternoon. They were free. And they put some fabric with life still in it, to good use.


Shopping my own home for materials and supplies saves me money, of course, but I really love that it gives a purpose to something I might have otherwise discarded.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for May

Tostados on Friday

Friday

Tostados -- home-fried corn tortillas, medley of pinto beans, brown rice and olives in spicy sauce, topped with cheddar, lettuce, shredded carrot and dressing of mayo and homemade salsa
Canned green beans sauteed with oil and salsa
Choice of brownie or pumpkin bread for dessert

Saturday

Scrambled eggs and cheese
Spaghetti noodles in leftover sauce from meatballs last week
Vegetable medley of diced carrots, frozen peas, 1 small potato chopped, butter and onion powder
Brownies/pumpkin bread

Sunday

Pigs in blankets, using marked-down Lil Smokies (99 cents/package) and scratch biscuit dough
Carrot sticks
Dried cranberries
Fresh, steamed asparagus (saved the butt ends for soup)
Brownies

Monday

Meatball-vegetable soup, using lots of scraps from the fridge
Toasted Cheddar cheese sandwiches
Pumpkin bread slices with cream cheese

Tuesday

Leftover soup (minus the meatballs), pureed with the immersion blender, really tasty
Yorkshire pudding
Blackberry-rhubarb-vanilla crisp

Wednesday

Black bean and cheese tacos
Green salad
Roasted carrot sticks
Dried cranberries

Thursday

Easy rice bake
Oven-roasted canned tomatoes
Pumpkin bread
Rhubarb custard pie


It was another hodge-podge week. It seemed like every night I was just throwing stuff together, without any real menu idea. I'm in a bit of a slump with meals, and more into the home decorating thing this week. I suppose that is good in itself. I took care of some challenging, to me, things this week.

On the up-side with regards to cooking, I have a small dinner party coming up in June, and I got that menu planned. My son's girlfriend's parents are coming to dinner (ACK!!). We've never met them, so I'm a bit nervous. Outside of cooking holiday meals, like turkey and ham dinners, I'm not terribly proficient at dinner party cooking. But I came up with a menu, that uses a lot of what we have on hand already, and will hopefully be very delicious. Just curious, if you had to come up with a dinner party menu, using mostly what you have in stock right now, what would you prepare?

I hope you all had a great week. What was on your menu this past week?

You know this, right? the tough ends of asparagus

Asparagus is a rather pricey vegetable. So I like to make sure that I use as close to every last bit that I can.

But those tough ends can be a problem, just as they are. I do the thing I think we all do, snap the stems to break off the tough ends, then steam or roast the tender parts.

I hang on to the tough ends to use in soups and casseroles. I use a vegetable peeler to remove the tough skin on the those ends. Without the skin, the asparagus ends are tender enough for chopping and adding to casseroles or soup. And the amount of waste is reduced to a small amount of skin from the bottom ends of the stalks.

And I even save the liquid from steaming the long stalks. I pour it into my fridge jar of veggie liquids to add to the next pot of soup. (The liquid in this jar, above, is a combination of asparagus steaming liquid and the liquid from a can of green beans. It was added to a soup that I made on Monday.)

Anyways, I splurged a bit on Sunday, and bought 2/3 pound of fresh asparagus at $1.88/lb, to have with dinner, and I was reminded of peeling the tough ends.

Sometimes organization isn't as "organized" as you'd think

the "chicken scratching" at the top of each receipt indicates when I recently
completed a survey, and when my next survey opportunity will open up

My "method" for tracking fuel reward questionnaire opportunities my seem somewhat haphazard. But it's been working for me for a couple of years, now.

One grocery chain encourages its customers to fill out online surveys concerning their shopping experience. As a reward, you earn 50 bonus fuel reward points. The drawback is you can only partake in one survey for points every 7 days, and each receipt's survey offer is only good for 7 days past the shopping. 

If I shopped on a very regular basis, this wouldn't be such a problem. Filling out the surveys might become a regular task for a particular day of the week. But I shop at this store when I happen to be in that area. Sometimes I shop just 4 or 5 days after the last visit. And I can't fill out a survey just yet, when I might be thinking of it, as 7 days has not elapsed since my last shopping trip.

I've come up with a system, of sorts. I keep the current receipts on the table right next to where I store my laptop. Organization experts would probably recommend keeping these receipts on a desk, right? I don't happen to use a desk daily. And if I'm not carefully tracking when the next opportunity to fill out a survey opens up, I could miss it altogether.

As this is an online survey, I need to use my laptop. By keeping the current receipt right next to the laptop, I see it daily and am reminded of the survey, every morning.

when I fill out the survey for this receipt, I will note that date, at the top

To track the survey window, I make some briefs notes at the top of each receipt. I first consult the previous receipt to see when I took the last survey. I then date the current receipt with the "do" date. After I complete the survey, I record the date I completed the survey, and whether it was in the AM or the PM. The previous receipt is filed in my folder of receipts, and this current one becomes the one sitting next to the laptop, to tell me when another survey opportunity will open up.

(I make the two notations --when to do, and when did-- because sometimes life just gets in the way, and I don't fill out the survey as promptly as I'd like.)

I suppose many organization experts would tell me to write this information down on a calendar or in an appointment reminder. I suppose I could. But that would make extra work for me, and may just be enough "extra" work to prevent me from doing any of this. If I've learned anything about myself it's this, make something more complicated than it needs to be and I'll surely drop all of it.

My solution is as simple as I can make it, yet still be effective. It works for me, and has for quite a while now. It's what I think of as haphazard organization.

The refrigerator salad bar

I love salad bars. They were my favorite type of restaurant when I was younger. I loved having so many items to choose from, to fill my plate. And now, my two daughters also love salad bars.

We do something, here at our house, to replicate that restaurant salad bar. I've created a constantly changing salad bar in my fridge.

There's the basis for most salads, the leafy greens. I'm trying to keep the salad spinner filled with leafy greens from our garden, all washed, torn and ready to eat. This week, is a combination of green leaf lettuce and baby spinach. If the greens are ever all taken for the day, everyone in the family knows they can simply go out to the garden and pick a few leaves.

Then there's all of the toppings. It changes from week to week. Sometimes it incorporates leftovers that need using. That last little bit of cooked veggies, stale bread made into croutons, an open jar of pickles or some olives. I try to keep a couple of protein sources in there, too, like cooked garbanzo beans, peeled boiled eggs, shredded cheese, or toasted nuts or seeds. And lots of raw veggies, like shredded carrots, tomatoes, sliced cucumber or celery, shredded cabbage, or radish slices. And sometimes, I add some chicken salad, turkey salad, potato salad, pasta salad, 3 bean salad, or egg salad.

For a long time, the salad bar ingredients were rather haphazardly kept in various parts of the fridge. This year, I finally got smart and corralled them all in a plastic, easy to wash, lightweight to lift, but sturdy to support and hold, shoebox. Family members can simply grab the salad bar box, the salad spinner of greens and the dressing. I keep most of the ingredients in glass or plastic jars (see-through is the key to get those items eaten), and items like the croutons and nuts/seeds in ziploc baggies, resting on top.

I keep at least one bottle of homemade dressing next to the salad bar in the fridge.

Having all of the ingredients washed, peeled, chopped, sliced or mixed, and ready to use, makes for very easy to throw together snacks and lunches. It's a great way to make sure we're grabbing healthy stuff, using what's in the garden, and taking care of leftovers. And then, towards the end of each week, I can use up those stragglers, the last odds and ends, in a pot of soup, or a large salad for the family.

This week's salad bar has leafy greens, shredded carrot, sliced celery, sliced olives, cooked garbanzo beans, an open jar of mild pepper rings, peeled boiled eggs (they're more likely to get used if I peel them), shredded cabbage, whole wheat croutons and sunflower seeds, with a dressing of homemade vinaigrette.

Mid-month means it's time for me to start making out next month's grocery list

So, yes, we're only 2 weeks into the month, and I'm already planning next month's shopping.

I begin the planning early, not because I'll be making menu plans 2 weeks ahead of the coming month, but because:

• by really planning my shopping, down to the last detail, I save money, lot's of money
• I add items to my list, as I cook and notice we're running low, this gives me 2 weeks to plan where to get the best deal on many items
• it gives me time to take inventory of some of the frequently used items, but might be overlooked as needing replacements -- shampoo, toothpaste, lightbulbs, vitamins, toothbrushes
• I have several stores I only hit once per month, and I don't want to backtrack later in the month, saving both time and gas
• each store has it's own "deal" items, priced lower than the other stores in the area and I want to take advantage of that
• one store is my bulk-buying store as they sell 50-lb sacks of some of my basics -- Cash & Carry. I limit going to Cash & Carry to just one or two times per month.
• one store I only go to once per month, even though it's super close -- Dollar Tree. I find DT to be a spending trap for me, too many hard-to-resist things there.
• one store gives me a 10% discount for being over 55, but only one day per month
• another store is now my go-to store for bulk bin purchases, but due to distance from my house, I only go there once per month

Every month, around the 15th, I get out a new sheet of paper, put a few headings (names of stores) on it, and clip to the fridge door. This is my shopping list. Items needed go under the appropriate store-heading.

Everyone in the family knows to write down items specific to their needs (like razors and hairbrushes). And when I notice we're running low on something, I write that down.

By beginning 2 weeks before the new month, I know I will take the time needed to seek out, and plan for, purchases at close to their lowest price in my town. I have time to identify "best" regular prices as well as check for coupons and sale/discount prices. I don't always get the very lowest price, but I do well enough that our budget and spending remains pretty low.

It sounds like a lot of work, but it's not. In fact, I believe I save time, by not forgetting items, which I always did when hastily making out my shopping lists.

Companies, large and small, have at least one person designated as the one to order supplies for the operation. It's efficient, with both money and time. I guess you could say that in addition to all of my other titles, I'm also the Supply Manager for our household.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for mid-spring

Friday

Swiss chard and radish green quiche
Brown rice
French bread
Oven-roasted carrots
Brownies

Saturday

Hummus on fry bread
Carrots and celery sticks
Dried cranberries
Brownies

Sunday

Roasted hotdogs and homemade buns
Green salad
Rhubarb-blackberry gelatin
Leftover pasta salad from lunch
S'mores

Monday

Grilled ham and cheddar on rye sandwiches
Cole slaw
Leftover rhubarb-blackberry gelatin
Cheesecake "bites" (one of two slices of cheesecake given to me, divided 5 ways)

Tuesday

Ham and egg fried rice, with cabbage and radishes
Rhubarb-blackberry sauce

Wednesday

Radish green and ham quiche
Pumpkin bread
Garden salad
Leftover brown rice

Thursday

Spaghetti and meatballs
Garden salad
Toasted garlic rye bread
more Cheesecake "bites"

Such a busy week. Making meals was not high on my priority list. But I got it done, nonetheless.

The garden is beginning to look really amazing. The lettuce is larger than I've ever grown. So we've been eating a lot of garden salads. The nights that we don't have a green salad are not because there isn't lettuce to pick, but because I just don't have time to pick, wash and dry the lettuce. On Thursday, I picked lettuce, twice. Once for lunch for two of us, and a second time for dinner. I'm on the second round of radishes now. When these are all pulled out, I'll need that space for another vegetable, so these are our last radishes. Any that didn't form roots were still used for their greens. Next week, we should begin to use the fresh spinach.

I didn't have a favorite meal this week, for what was eaten. But I did have one favorite dinner for where it was eaten. One of my daughters had a performance on Wednesday evening. So I met up with the other daughter, on campus beforehand, and we had a picnic on the grass for our dinner. It was a sunny late afternoon, and such a pleasant spot for a picnic. The company, the location and the entertainment to follow were what made that meal special.

How about you? Were there any special suppers this past week at your place?

This is the week I get all of those remaining "Easter eggs" into the freezer

These are the eggs that I bought the week before Easter, for 99 cents per dozen, at Target. there was no limit, so I bought 20 dozen. Yes, you read that correctly, 20 dozen. I have this teensy problem of when I see a bargain, I get a little bit carried away, and really stock up. So long as I can do something to preserve the item I've stocked up on, it won't go to waste, and will save money in the long haul.

But, I've got to get all of the eggs that I bought into the freezer in the next couple of days. They're a bit passed the sell-by date. So . . .

I've been freezing eggs, one at a time. In a muffin tin, lined with squares of plastic wrap, I've frozen some of them. There's one egg on the far right that got a little messy, when the plastic slipped into the tin before I filled it completely with egg. I straightened the plastic, as best I could and continued filling. It'll be a bit harder to remove from the tin than the others, but should be okay.

I've also frozen bunches of eggs in containers, 3, 4 and 5 at a time. This is the simplest, and will be just right for many recipes. I mark the tops of the containers, so I know if there's salt or sugar added, how many eggs, and when I froze them. And if what I need is 3 eggs, but all I have is 4-egg quantities, I can thaw a 4-egg container, measure out 3 eggs (3 tablespoons per egg), and keep the last egg in the fridge for a couple of days, until needed. Thawed eggs remain "safe" for cooking, about 2 to 3 days in the fridge.

I've frozen eggs as pre-made, individual slices of frittata -- great for breakfasts or quick lunches. I use parchment paper to separate each portion. (They do tend to glom together, when frozen, due to the moisture.)

I've frozen eggs as loaves of pumpkin bread. A 2-loaf batch uses 4 eggs. Pumpkin bread freezes nicely. I'll be making several loaves of pumpkin bread this week, both to use the eggs, and use some of the pumpkin.

And I've frozen eggs as ready-made dinners, in the form of quiche.

My daily goal is to freeze about 1  1/2 dozen eggs, in some form or other. If I stick to this goal, I'll have gone through all of the eggs that I bought the week before Easter, giving me a nice supply of usable eggs for cooking and baking, as well as some ready-made items in the freezer.

Anyone else out there still using up eggs from the pre-Easter stock-up? According to the USDA, eggs remain safe to use in cooking for 3 to 5 weeks post the sell-by date. For more information on freezing eggs, here's a post I wrote a couple of years ago.

I have no idea how the Kohl's in my area is staying in business, and other topics

Because they're certainly not making anything from my shopping. Yes, another $10 off coupon. I took it to Kohl's last week, shopped around for a bit, and settled on a pair of new slippers for myself.

Regularly $24. On sale for $12. With coupon, just $2 and tax.

Some oatmeal that languished in the refrigerator all last week was put through the food processor with milk, egg and oil, and became . . .

a batch of waffles for the freezer. It seems no one wanted oatmeal, but are now very pleased to have waffles.

And, one last thing. Can you guess which upcoming holiday I'm thinking about? Give you a hint -- the star will only make sense for an American summer holiday.

Getting 3-year old spots out of white carpeting for pennies

These unsightly spots were partially hidden beneath the edge of a sofa.

I'm unsure what they were originally. They appeared shortly after having some guests over, for a holiday dinner (kids all went to the living room to play Monopoly while adults lingered at the table). It could be sparkling apple cider, but I'm not at all certain. Anyways, I had tried liquid dish detergent to no avail. My intent had always been to buy a commercial carpet spot and stain remover.

One day, last week, I thought to try some ordinary, drugstore 3% solution, hydrogen peroxide. I dribbled tiny amounts from the cap of the bottle, onto each spot. I very gently rubbed with a cotton t-shirt rag. And then reapplied the hydrogen peroxide a couple more times. I only used about 2 tablespoons of the hydrogen peroxide, in total.

When it appeared that the spots were sufficiently removed, I blotted the area with a paper napkin.

Spots are gone. Carpet looks great, again. It's hard to believe that this carpeting is now 21 years old.

We've very recently rearranged some furniture in the living room, and this area of the carpet was in full view. Taking care of those spots is one more item to check off of my list.

Happy Monday!

It was a whirlwind weekend, for me. A lot packed into just 2 days. But it all worked out. I had one daughter to pick up late in the evening on Friday, and another daughter to send off for an Astronomy overnighter, the next afternoon. I always feel at loose ends when my children are coming/going/missing from family meal times, on the weekend. But by Sunday, mid-morning, all 3 were back together, to help me celebrate Mother's Day.

Saturday morning was my Mother's Day time with just my daughters. The 3 of us had a breakfast pastry freebie on our Panera cards, each, to use soon. As well, we each had Starbuck's cards to use, it was a beautiful morning, and our local mall has a lovely outdoor area. You can guess where we spent our morning on Saturday. A lovely all-girls outing, for virtually no-cost, but the gas. And even with the gas used, we combined this outing with an errand to get a gift card for my brother's birthday and fill-up the car with gas for the month, not far from the mall. And alas, all of the birthday freebies are now used up for the year.

Sunday was an equally lovely day (although the weather turned inclement), in that my son's girlfriend came home from church with us for a nice lunch, made and provided by my daughters. I was able to just sit in the living room talking with my son and GF, while someone else made lunch. The daughter gone on the overnighter made a stop by the grocery store on her way home the next day, and picked up deli salads, some blueberries, crackers and sausage. I had made a pitcher of lemonade for the fridge, and had 1 box of Girl Scout cookies in the pantry, to add to the mix. It was a leisurely sit-down repast in the dining room for the 6 of us.

Then by evening, the weather cleared up just long enough to roast hotdogs and make s'mores around the fire in the fire ring. My son and I were able to spend some time just chatting, late into the evening, as the fire died down and the sprinkles picked up.

Time with all of my kids is what I wanted most for Mother's Day. And that is what they gave me.

My posting will be back on track tomorrow morning. Have a wonderful Monday!

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for early May

shoestring sweet potato fries, my new obsession

Friday

Bean and chicken burritos, using leftover refried beans, cheddar cheese and chicken enchilada filling from freezer
Leftover brown rice, topped with enchilada sauce from freezer
Carrot and celery sticks
Rhubarb-blackberry sauce


Saturday

Clean-out-the-fridge-and-freezer soup (using liquid from thawed frozen spinach, olive juice, mushrooms past their prime, bottom of celery bunch, 1 cup of Mexican chicken soup found in the freezer, rinsings from the skillet that I fried hamburgers in, (after I drained the fat I rinse the skillet with water and froze that flavored water), last 2 carrots, 1 potato, tomato paste, herbs, some Swiss chard from garden)
Sweet potato shoestring fries (oh my, homemade and fresh out of the hot oil, these are soooo good)
Apple wedges


Sunday

Little smokies in homemade barbeque sauce
Rye bread and butter
Green salad
Pumpkin chiffon pie

Monday

Teriyaki chicken and vegetables (Swiss chard, celery cores, frozen peas and chive blossoms)
Brown rice
Green salad
Leftover pumpkin pie

Tuesday

Homemade chicken soup, using simmered chicken bones from night before, radish leaves, pumpkin, barley, onion powder, garlic granules, garden sage, canned green beans and broken spaghetti noodles
Garlic toast
Garden salad of lettuce, radish and chive blossoms

Wednesday

Leftover soup form night before
Three bean salad (I had canned green beans, pinto beans and garbanzo beans ready)
Cheese toast

Thursday

Swiss chard and cheddar quiche (Swiss chard in the garden will bolt soon, so that's on my list to use, plus I added the leaves of the radishes from the salad)
Garden salad of lettuce and radishes
French bread (need bread for Friday's lunches, so baking French bread, Thursday afternoon killed two birds)
Scratch brownies (we needed a treat around here, and I'd just bought more sugar. Yep, we were completely and totally out of sugar until Thursday)



Nothing fancy this past week (like there's ever anything fancy around here, ha ha). Just a lot of basic, humble meals.

Cinco de Mayo's dinner was anything but Mexican. Oh well. Did anyone here do anything especially festive for Cinco e Mayo?

And speaking of holiday feasts, etc -- what are everyone's Mother's Day plans? We're planning a cook-out for dinner, with hotdogs (bought cheap with Senior Discount this week), buns that I have in the freezer, a fruited gelatin salad, a garden salad, and s'mores for dessert. I told the kids I just wanted a casual afternoon, maybe get out the croquet set, and hang out in the backyard, weather permitting.

I hope you enjoy Mother's Day. Have a great weekend!

Sourdough Rye Bread

This recipe makes two large, oblong loaves of rye. It's a multi-step recipe, first creating a rye sourdough starter, and then extending the starter to a sponge, and finally to the dough. I find it best to begin early on day one, in order to bake by late afternoon on day two. The sourdough starter is for flavor more than leaven. Yeast is still used, which insures a good rise to the loaves. If you're buying rye four by the pound, this recipe requires about 1  1/4 to 1  1/2 lbs. (I bought rye flour at WinCo in the bulk bins.)

Day One

In a large glass or ceramic bowl, stir together:
1/2 cup rye flour
1/4 cup room temp water
1  1/4 teaspoons yeast

Cover tightly. (I use a sheet of plastic wrap, top with a plate.) Place in a warm location, about 80 degrees F, for 24 hours. In my house, that warm location is the oven, with the door closed, and light on.

Day Two

Early the next morning, stir in:
1 cup of warm water
1 cup of rye flour

Cover tightly, set in warm place for about 4 hours.

First Sponge

Stir in:
3/4 teaspoon yeast

Mix well with:
1  3/4 cups rye flour

Cover tightly, set in warm place for about 2 hours, to ferment.

Second Sponge

Stir into first sponge:
1 cup warm water, then,
1/2 teaspoon yeast, then,
1  3/4 cup rye flour
1  3/4 cup all-purpose flour

Cover with a damp towel, set in warm place for another 2 hours.

Dough

To the sponge, stir in:
3/4 cup warm water
3 teaspoons salt
1 to  1  1/2 tablespoons caraway seed
1  3/4 cups all-purpose flour

Allow to rest, covered with a damp towel for about 15 minutes.

Turn dough onto a well-floured surface (or into a stand mixer with dough hook). Knead in:
between 1 to 2 cups of all-purpose flour, until you have a stiff dough.

Shape into 2 long loaves and place on a buttered baking sheet. Allow to rise for about an hour, until not quite double in bulk. Don't allow it to rise too much, as it can cause the loaves to flatten.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (non-convection). Bake loaves for 1 hour.

After removing from oven, spread with butter while still warm. Cool on a rack.

Comments:

Because of the time needed to bake sourdough rye, I prefer to make 2 loaves at a time, and freeze the second loaf. But this recipe can also be halved, and does well.

If you don't like so heavy of a rye flavor, you can also substitute about 1 cup of all-purpose flour for 1 cup of the rye flour called for in the second sponge, and still have a respectable rye loaf.

If you prefer, a salt glaze is more traditional than the buttered top. To salt-glaze the loaves,  combine 1 teaspoon salt with 1/2 cup of water and brush over loaves, after baking, while still warm from the oven.

Depending on how early I get started on Day Two,  I can have this ready for the dinner table (beginning around 6 or 7 AM).


I'll type up the recipe for Sweet Swedish Rye Bread in a couple of days. It calls for fennel seed, anise seed (although I usually just use anise), orange zest and molasses, which go well with the rye flavor.