How to Use a Sock to Make an Easy, Cute Candle Cover

 

 

Do you have an old, boring candle sitting around the house?  Here's a neat way to dress up a boring candle or cover up an unattractive label. Personally, I hate candles with labels you can't easily remove.

 

The only materials you need are a jar candle, an old sock and a pair of scissors.

 

 

First, take an old sock, any sock will do. I used an old, brown trouser sock with a hole in the toe.  Cut off the foot portion of the sock. 



 

 

Now, slide the sock over the candle. The candle above is only half dressed. Try the sock on the candle, if too large, remove and trim off as much sock as needed to cover the candle fully.  

 

 

Voila! Instant designer candle!  Since I used an old trouser sock with a lace pattern, the candlelight shines through and looks quite lovely on my mantle.

 

 

Personally, I think these are cute enough to give as gifts. You do not have to use a trouser sock, use one of your husbands old dress socks or one of the kids cute patterned socks.  The thinner the sock material, the more light you will have to shine through the material but even an old wool sock would look cute.

 

I believe even the most craft-challenged among us can handle this project!

 

How to Make Homemade Trail Mix

Homemade Trail Mix

Last week, my husband and I took a little road trip out to Colorado.  Both of us have memories of going on vacation as children with lots of candy for the road.  I can't imagine how my parents endured long trips with small, sticky, sugar-high children not wearing seat belts and playing "slug bug" in the backseat. I think that's why my Dad always turned up the radio...to drown out the screaming.

Slug Bug was a road game where you slugged your travel companion every time you managed to spy a Volkswagen.  Since I am four years older than my sister, I always won.  So really Slug Bug was me just randomly hitting my baby sister and her crying. How much pain you must endure in childhood is so much dependent on birth order.

So, on this road trip I wanted to take some treats but wanted to keep the sugar content slightly lower than 100%.  I decided to make my own trail mix. Here is my recipe, as if you really need a trail mix recipe:

A bag of dried fruit from the dollar store...............................$1.00

A bag of M & M's from Wal-Mart.......................................$2.98

A bag of chex mix on sale with coupon from Dillon's..............$ .49

Almonds from Sam's, bought in bulk, about..........................$2.00

A bag of coconut from Wal-Mart.........................................$1.28

A bag of sunflower seeds from the dollar store......................$1.00

Half a box of raisins from Aldi's, about.................................$  .90

Total                                                                                    $9.65

This sounds expensive until you compare. Small bags of 6-8 ounces of Trail Mix cost between $3-5 and contain mostly oatmeal with a couple of nuts and maybe a chunk or two of dried fruit. Minus the m&m's, and substitute a little homemade granola for the chex mix (see previous post on how to make homemade granola) and this would actually be a pretty healthy treat.

The bowl pictured above holds 120 ounces or about fifteen 8 ounce bags worth of Trail Mix. When you are trying to save money, always ask yourself....Can I make it myself?

How to Make Perfect Pot Roast with Onions, Carrots & Potatoes

Growing up, I watched my Grandma make pot roast. Grandma would put the roast in a cast iron skillet, pile potato and maybe a little onion around the meat and toss on a little salt and pepper. The final touch was a swatch of aluminum foil she threw on top, a shiny roast hat.

So, I grew up making roast the same way. A lot of time it was dry and chewy so we drenched it in A-1 to rehydrate it. Or I put it in the crock pot with a bunch of water before I left for work for a 8-hour slow soak  and ended up with mushy meat.

I thought I didn't like meat. It wasn't the meat, it was my cooking.

Here's how to make a perfect roast. It's simple and it's easy.

Marinate overnight

First, marinate the meat overnight. This is cooking for real people. I just put the roast in a gallon size baggie with worchestershire sauce--nothing fancy. Worchestershire sauce is primarily malt vinegar, molasses and spices. If you don't have worchestershire sauce, use soy sauce or vinegar or lemon juice.

Add a rub for flavor and crust

After marinating overnight, take out the meat. Pat dry. Now over with spices. I like to use Butt Rub. Let meat sit for about an hour to bring back to room temperature before cooking. Cold meat won't cook evenly.

I did not name this product

Rubs add flavor. A rub is just a mix of salt, sugar and spices. It's even easy to make your own if you are not lazy. I am kind of lazy.

Sear the Meat

Now pay attention. This is an important step. Heat a little oil in a skillet and throw in the meat. Ok, don't literally throw it in. Just place it in. I'm not sure how literal you are and don't want to be sued if you are splashed with hot oil.

Quickly, both sides

Sear the meat on one side, turn with tongs and sear on the other side. It only takes a couple of minutes per side. Don't use a knife, if you pierce the meat, all the lovely juice will leak out.

Bacon grease

I like to cook my roast in a dutch oven. Before placing the meat in the dish, I put a dollop of bacon grease in the bottom. You heard me...bacon grease. If you are a health nut, this blog might not be for you.

Wow! Good job!

Now, just step back and admire the work you have accomplished so far. You're doing great! Wouldn't the world be such a better place if we all talked to each other like we talk to two year olds?

Yes, more bacon grease

We are now going to do something else that will make your doctor cringe. Throw a little more bacon grease in a bowl. If you don't save your bacon grease, I don't know what to tell you except "start".  Use a garlic press and add a couple of cloves of garlic. Heat the mixture in the microwave until melted, about 30 seconds.

Peel vegetables

Try to convince your husband to peel and quarter 5-6 potatoes and one onion. It's ok to make promises you may not keep. He's probably use to it.

Coat with grease

Add some baby carrots and salt and pepper. Stir mixture until all the vegetables are coated with the bacon grease and garlic mixture.

Deglaze

Now we need to deglaze the pan. Deglaze means pour a very cold liquid into a very hot pan to loosen all the drippings. I like to use white wine. Take a drink, then pour a little in the pan. Take another drink. See, cooking is fun.

Add to meat

Pour the loosened brown gunk and drippings right on top of the roast. This is called flavor. It looks fabulous. Stick in the oven at 325 degrees for 2 1/2 hours. Sit around and enjoy the aroma while it cooks.

Ta da!

Cut against grain

Before cutting, stick a meat thermometer in it. It should read at least 160 degrees. Mine read 212 degrees. Let the meat sit for a few minutes and then cut against the grain. The meat was completely done but still moist and tender.

Unborn gravy

Now, back to the drippings and how to make gravy. If you can make good gravy, it really doesn't matter if you can cook. Gravy covers a multitude of mistakes.

Poor Cook Equalizer

Gravy is easy. Just add milk and cornstarch to the hot drippings. My trick is to add about 2 Tablespoons cornstarch to about a cup of milk (or cream). I put these two ingredients into a shakeable container. Shake until mixed well and then slowly add to the drippings. Continue to stir continuously over medium heat until the mixture thickens. Do not get distracted! This takes about 5-6 minutes. Try to control your ADHD tendencies or you will not have gravy for dinner.

Pour Liberally

This meal will make you look like a gourmet genius. That wasn't so hard now, was it?

Topeka Grocery Deals August 1-7, 2012

Hy-Vee Deals

What is a deal? It's only a deal if it's something you need and will use.  That is why I advocate only using coupons when you are purchasing products you need or will use within 3-4 months. You do not want to get in the habit of buying things just because you have a coupon.  I believe you will save more money by simply buying what is on sale and planning your weekly menu accordingly.

This week, Hy-Vee has sugar on sale for $1.98.  It's rare to find sugar under $2 so I bought two packages. Hy-Vee also has chicken breast on sale for $1.88 a pound. You guessed it, we will be eating a lot of chicken this week.  I stocked up on chicken a couple of weeks ago when Dillon's had chicken on sale for $1.88 a pound but went ahead and bought another couple of packages to replace what I have already used.

Farmland sausage is on sale for $1.33 a package (3 for $4).  I HATE when stores don't tell you the price per individual package in an effort to get you to buy more of the product. You will pay $1.33 a package regardless if you buy one or three or ten. Oh well, I guess that's why I took third grade math. You may remember this same sausage was on sale at Apple Market about a month ago for 98 cents. Still, $1.33 is a good price. I went ahead and bought four more packages to replace what I have used.

Sausage is one of the best meat values out there. Think about it...you can buy a pound of sausage for $1.33 or a pound of hamburger for somewhere between $3-4 a pound. Buy sausage and try substituting it in dishes where you normally use hamburger.  I personally think sausage is also way more flavorful than hamburger.

I also bought two Kraft Parmesan grated cheese for $3.69 a container. There was a 50 cent coupon attached to each container (Hy-Vee doubles coupons up to $1 on Tuesday and Thursday) bringing the final price down to $2.69 each. I have been out of Parmesan cheese for a long time because I refused to pay $4 or $5 for it. As consumers, our biggest weapon is to refuse to buy a product when the price becomes outrageous.

Other good deals at Hy-Vee this week included Colgate toothpaste for 77 cents, Suave or V05 shampoo/conditioner for 77 cents, Chef Boyardee pasta for 79 cents and Breyers ice cream for $1.99. Of course, it's only a deal if you like and need it.

A lot of chicken

I decided to bake and then shred all the chicken I bought at Hy-Vee to use in various recipes throughout the week. It saves money to bake the chicken all at once rather than run the oven three or four different times. The biggest savings is probably in only heating up your house once, saving money off your air conditioning bill.

Dillon's

I didn't find many deals at Dillon's this week. I did purchase a bunch of discounted brown sugar for 59 cents a box and a roast for under nine dollars. Highlighers are still 99 cents, notebooks 19 cents and crayola crayons for 29 cents. Buy enough to last all year.

Aldi's

I ran into Aldi's with a friend. I hadn't been to Aldi's in a couple of weeks. I purchased the above bananas for $1.37 (44 cents a pound), the baby carrots were 49 cents a package and the almonds were $2.49.

I have noticed the price of bananas has steadily been increasing. The average price seems to be around 54 cents a pound. So what's the big deal...we're only talking about a dime. Think of it this way, I saved 30 cents buying the bananas at Aldi's, rather than Wal-Mart. I buy about 3 pounds of bananas every week. 52 weeks x 30 cents = $15.60 saved over the course of a year. Dimes add up.

A pound of baby carrots at Wal-Mart is approximately $1.78. At Aldi's, they are 49 cents. I saved $1.29. If I bought even one package of carrots a month, I would save $15.48 over a year's time.

The last time I bought almonds at Dillon's I paid $1.65 for 2 ounces. This 6 ounce bag at Aldi's cost $2.49. To buy the same amount of almond's at Dillon's would have cost $4.95 or 83 cents an ounce. The Aldi's almonds cost 42 cents an ounce.

People ask me all the time how I save so much money on groceries. When I tell them, they are a little disappointed. It takes some effort to save money. There isn't a "trick" to it. 

Salsa

Last night's dinner included fresh salsa. Salsa is so simple to make and incredibly delicious. Here's how I make mine:

Half of an onion
Half of a green pepper
3 cloves garlic.
1/4 teaspoon red pepper (I like mild)
1/2 to 1 teaspoon cumin (add 1/2 teaspoon, add more if desired)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
squeeze in half a lime
salt and pepper to taste (I use sea salt)
fill the rest of the food processor with tomatoes, probably about 4-6 or in this case a bunch of cherry tomatoes.

Pulse and you have great fresh salsa which goes great with almost everything and is low calorie.

Ban Insipid Store Bought Jar Salsa



Baked Chicken

  The finished baked product. I seasoned a couple of the breasts and left the rest unseasoned.

Oh, the recipe possibilities!

I am attempting to cut down on eating out as much as possible. I went to lunch with a friend yesterday and it cost $11 without even ordering a drink. I always carry little packets of Crystal Light to add to water or just ask for extra lemon to add a little flavor. The average restaurant drink (tea, lemonade, soda) costs anywhere from $2-3 dollars. One drink out a week (average of $2.50) will add up to $130 a year.

I find I want to eat out the most when I am tired or don't have a meal planned. This is why planning ahead is so important. But sometimes you just want to get out. I will be researching and posting any great restaurant values I find.  Any ideas?

Menu Board

One of the most commented on things in my home is my menu board.  This old chalkboard belonged to my mother-in-law. With nine children, she used it to keep track of her brood's comings and goings. I hung it on the side of my refrigerator to keep track of meals. One day, my husband wrote, "The King's Menu" at the top of the board. His point was that we eat like "Kings" not that he is "King".  I thought it was cute and never erased it, though some of my feminist friends have eyed it with suspicion.

When a meal is sub-par, my husband likes to complain we are eating like landed gentry, still good but not as good as the King's table.

Here is this week's menu:

Shredded chicken, black bean & cheese tortilla
BBQ chicken pizza
Roast with roasted potatoes, onion & carrots
Quesadillas
Roast beef sandwiches
Leftover pizza or Chicken pot pie
One night planned out

Simple, easy & cheap

Last night's meal was simple and delicious. Shredded chicken, black beans, sour cream, shredded cheese and fresh salsa rolled up in a tortilla.

Leftover chicken & broth

The rest of the shredded chicken I divided into three equal packages to use throughout the week. I also saved the chicken broth from cooking the chicken. A can of chicken broth costs $1 and is not near as flavorful as the real thing. Having the chicken already cooked will make it very easy to throw together this week's meals and keep me on track to not spend money on eating out.

Bon Appetit!

How to Make Homemade Granola

Making your own granola is easy, tastes better than anything you can buy in the store and is less expensive.  It took me about three batches to get this recipe perfect.  Follow along below for step-by-step instructions and tips on making absolute fabulous granola. 





Start with five cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats. The cheapest I have found are sold at Aldi's. There are four different kinds of oatmeal. Irish or Steel-Cut are oats in their most natural form, are coarse and chewy. They take about 30 minutes to cook. Rolled or Old-Fashioned oats are more processed and rolled thinner so they will cook faster, usually in about five minutes. They are also creamier.  Quick cook oatmeal is rolled even thinner and cooks in about three minutes (for those of you who really can't wait the additional two minutes). Instant oatmeal is the most processed of all oatmeals, and is ready in well, an instant. For granola, we want Rolled or Old-Fashioned oats.

Next, add one cup wheat germ. Wheat germ comes from the small part of the wheat kernal that germinates (thus germ) to form wheat grass. Wheat germ has a slightly sweet, nutty flavor and contains more nutrients per ounce than any other vegetable or grain. Wheat germ contains 23 nutrients including A, B1, B3 and E and more potassium and iron than any other food. It also has more protein than many meats.

Now add one cup Flax Seed.  I buy mine at Wal-Mart in the baking section. It's fairly cheap. Flax seed is the same plant linen cloth comes from. Flax seed is also has a nutty taste with a hint of spice.  I add flax seed because it is high in fiber and omega-3 fatty acids which help control cholestrol.

Add about a cup of nuts. I use almonds just because they are cheapest but you can use any kind. I used about one and half of these little packages. 

Add two Tablespoons of cinnamon. Cinnamon comes from the inner bark of several trees of the cinnamomum genus which are native only to the island of Sri Lanka. About 90% of the world's cinnamon still comes from Sri Lanka.

Add two cups shredded coconut (one package). Technically, coconut is not a nut at all, it's a one-seeded drupe (a fruit with a hard stony covering enclosing the seed--others include peaches and olives).

Add one cup brown sugar.  I don't know anything about brown sugar.



Stir all the dry ingredients together. 

Next, measure one cup honey into a large measuring cup or bowl. 

Add, one and half cups oil to the honey.  I prefer olive oil but any oil will do. Extra-virgin olive oil is the purest, highest quality oil. Light olive oil is less pure and has a lighter flavor. "Light" means less flavor, not less calories.

Most oils are all-purpose and have a neutral flavor.  Vegetable oil is a usually a blend of several oils including corn, palm, sunflower and soybean--mostly soybean.

Canola oil is made from rapeseed (a plant in the mustard family). Rapeseed oil was widely used in the eighteenth century as lamp oil but not as a food product due to it's high erucic acid content (45-50%). Erucic acid is a known toxin. Then, in the 1970's, the plant was genetically modified by some Canadian scientists to bring down the erucic acid content of the plant to around 2%. Canola stands for Canadian Oil, Low Acid. Some people use leftover canola oil in their oil lamps.

Heat the oil and honey together until blended. I usually just microwave the mixture for a couple of minutes in my large, glass measuring cup pictured above. Then, pour the mixture over the dry ingredients. Stir well.

The mixture will be pretty wet.

Spray a large pan with cooking spray. It needs to be at least an inch deep. This makes a lot of granola so you may need more than one pan.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Place pan inside oven on a middle shelf. You want a low, slow heat.

You will need to stir the mixture every 20-25 minutes. The mixture will need to bake about 45 minutes or so.

Next, add one cup raisins, cranberries or any other dried fruit to the baked mixture. Raisins are best. Stir together. Put back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

Total bake time is around an hour. The longer you bake the crunchier the granola. The mixture will look and feel a little wet or sticky still, it will harden as it cools. Let mixture stand until cool. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks. This granola is great alone or on yogurt or ice cream.