Grandma’s Ranch Style Dressing Mix

If you have a sensitivity to preservatives or just like to save money making your own mixes, you'll enjoy this dressing mix.  We use it in Instant Pot recipes, crockpot recipes, or even mix it with Greek yogurt and use as salad dressing.  

Grandma’s Ranch Style Dressing Mix

2 tsp. garlic powder

8 tsp. onion powder

4 tsp. dried basil leaves

4 tsp. dried parsley leaves

1/2 tsp. pepper

4 tsp. salt

Mix and store.  Use a scant 2 T. in a recipe in place of 1 packet ranch dressing mix.  

If you use this, let us know how you liked it!

A favorite snack to keep our family regular without meds

Homemade air-popped popcorn is a great way to stay regular without costly or nasty tasting medicines.  

This is our favorite recipe.

1/2 cup unpopped kernels, popped = approx. 12-14 cups popcorn

1/4-1/3 cup unflavored coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

2-3 tbsp. nutritional yeast 

Pour the melted oil onto the popped popcorn.  Sprinkle the salt, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast over the popcorn.  Stir & serve!

Thankful for a lifetime of lessons and examples

I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately and how grateful I am for everything she taught me.  One of my earliest memories is of her telling someone, "I'm a bargain Betty."  I also have early memories of her sewing all our clothes, baking homemade bread, and making our dolls.

My mom is frugal, she loves a good bargain, and she can make ANYTHING.  She can cook, bake, sew, paint,  reupholster furniture, do stained glass, the list goes on!  What did I learn from this?

I learned that there wasn't anything I couldn't do if I decided to.  And I learned that she's my greatest resource. 

Thanks Mom!  You are my thankful post for the day.  :)

Make your own Whole Wheat Bread with your KitchenAid

Whole Wheat Bread large loaf (like Pampered Chef stoneware loaf pan size)

1 package or 1 tbsp. active-dry or instant yeast
1-4 tbsp. nonfat dry milk (more= finer texture)
1/3 cup white or brown sugar OR 3 tbsp. honey
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. gluten
3 1/3 cups whole wheat flour (hard white wheat is great!)
2 tsp. dough enhancer (consider this optional-- don't worry if you don't have any)
1-3 tbsp. vegetable oil (ie. safflower, canola, olive)
1 1/3 cups very warm water (approx. 110 degrees)

1.  Mix yeast, nonfat dry milk, sugar, salt, gluten, and about a third of the flour together.  Add vegetable oil and water; blend with electric mixer on low speed for about 5 minutes.  Slowly mix in more flour with wooden spoon until too stiff to stir.

2.  Knead dough 8 to 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Place in lightly greased bowl; turn to coat top; cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise until double in bulk, about 45 minutes.  (High-altitude will rise faster-- do NOT let overrise!)

3.  Form into loaf for 9x5-inch pan.  Grease pan.  Push dough into pan; pull out and turn over (greasing top).  Press back into pan.  Cover with clean towel or greased plastic wrap.  Let rise until double in bulk, about 45 minutes.  (High-altitude will rise faster-- do NOT let overrise!)

4. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 to 35 minutes, or until loaf is hollow sounding when tapped on bottom, or bottom of a metal pan sizzles when touched lightly with a damp finger.

Cloth Diapering Twin Toddlers and a Peach

In the 17 days that I have been cloth diapering the twins and Peach, I have spent $1.19 on detergent to wash them.

I used cloth for running errands and going to church.

I had to switch Peach to 6-9 month clothes and the twins to 24 month clothes to be able to fit their pants over their cloth-diapered tushies.

I have used a disposable diaper every night for each of them. That totals $9.18 for 17 days x 3 diapers. And now that I type that up, I realize it would've been cheaper to just wash their bedding if they wet out (which was the worry). 

I have not made my usual homemade disposable baby wipes. 

Instead I have made homemade baby wipe solution to use with flannel wipes. 
For approximately 22 wipes, some two-ply, some single ply, I added the following mixture:

2 tsp. baby oil
2 tsp. baby bath
1-2 drops of tea tree oil
and 2 cups of water heated to boiling in the microwave

Then I put them in one of three containers I normally put my disposable homemade wipes in, and have used them with much appreciation. There's no poking your finger through a flannel wipe when tackling a particularly poopy mess!

How much money have I saved by NOT using disposable diapers during the day?  $61.20 for 17 days.  I could save $1314 in a year doing this-- more if I stop using the nighttime one.  lol

Another benefit, my laundry has not fallen behind in the 17 days using cloth diapers.  Usually, I'm behind on laundry.

I have a nicely organized laundry room counter with my cloth diaper set-up.  Diapers ready and folded by size:  Twin size and Peach size, the container of wipes, and a spot also on the counter to do the changing. 

Having three in diapers means having a full-load of diapers to do daily.  This means the diaper pail isn't sitting around stinking up the bathroom, laundry room, or house for more than a day before being washed.

My hope?  I hope that cloth diapering the twins so exclusively will result in earlier potty-training than the typical for my boys (which is 3 1/2 fully trained).  If anything, I'm saving some good money.  Cloth diapering works for us!

Homemade Disposable Baby Wipes Tutorial

4/20/11 This is a revisited post updated with a breakdown of prices in parentheses next to the ingredients.  Prices may vary according to your area.  I recommend using the generic baby oil and shampoo but using quality paper towels.  Buy the paper towels in bulk (use your coupons too) for best prices.  Watch the sales.  Paper towels don't expire.  ;)  My cost for homemade wipes?  74 1/2 cents for a batch of 70 wipes.  So, YES, homemade wipes are cheaper than Wal-Mart wipes.

1/2 roll Quality Paper Towels    (58 1/2 cents for the half roll when bought in bulk)
1/2 Tbsp. Baby Shampoo or Baby Bath    (5 cents)
1/2 Tbsp. Baby Oil    (5 cents)
1 drop of Tea Tree Oil    (6 cents)
container for wipes
1 1/4 cups water

Start with some good quality paper towels like Bounty. Yes, this truly turns out FAR cheaper than store-bought baby wipes even with Bounty. It makes a difference.  Don't waste time and extra money by buying the cheap stuff.  I hear Viva is good too for wipes.

Unwrap them. We're doing a whole lot at once because we change a WHOLE lot of diapers in Pookieville. AND because I am all about efficiency. No sense getting the knife and cutting board out every three days when I need wipes again. And I do not make enough wipes to last a week. I'll get to that later.

 

Now get yourself a cutting board and a knife.  Do NOT use a serrated knife.  I made that mistake for YEARS (yeah, I'm s-l-o-w sometimes).  It causes a huge fluffy mess.  Even the electric serrated knife makes a mess.  Just use the knife your grandma gave you that ended up being your favorite knife even though it doesn't match any of your other knives.  You know the one. 

Cut it in half.  When cutting it sometimes makes a squeaky sound that upsets my chi. This is to be expected and does not lower the awesomeness of homemade wipes.

Now, I like to use purified or distilled water to lower the chances of anything growing.  And I heat it in the microwave in a glass measuring cup until it boils which is 2-3 minutes. 

 

Remove the paper tube from the center.  Just work it loose and pull it out.  It's a little easier if you wait until the roll is wet to pull out the center.  But soggy paper towel tube wigs me out.  I dunno.

 

Add 1/2 tbsp (1 1/2 tsp) baby shampoo/bath to the 1 1/4 cup of boiled water.

 

Add 1/2 tbsp. baby oil to the water/ baby bath mix.

Add 2-3 drops of tea tree oil (not to be taken internally by gremlins- or anyone)

Pour over the paper towels in container.

 

Watch out for the steam!

All done!

The tea tree oil helps prevent mildew from growing on the wipes.  But even with tea tree oil they will mildew in about a week (at least here on the central west coast).  So that's why we only do one-half roll at a time.  It's really fast once you've got the supplies close by.  I keep them on top my fridge and whip them together between doing dishes or cooking dinner. 

These are ready to use as soon as cool enough.  My kids love to hug the warm container.

This post is linked at http://www.lifeasmom.com/ , Tales from Bloggeritaville, My Coupon Teacher, Finding Fabulous, 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven

Homemade Gatorade

Just before our vacation, I read someone else's Works for Me Wednesday post about making your own Gatorade.  I actually read a couple different recipes.  But this particular one they got from Children's Memorial Hospital.  I figured, since I have the ingredients for that recipe AND it comes from a reputable source, I'd try it. 

Since you all know that we've been flying through baby wipes and toilet paper the last two weeks, this recipe has certainly come in handy. 

We have tried Cherry, Grape, Pink Lemonade, and Tropical Punch Kool-aid flavors to make homemade Gatorade.  They all taste like "The real thing."  I don't care for the Pink Lemonade one as much as the others.  But then again, I never liked the lemon-lime Gatorade either.

The weather has also been quite warm and this has been keeping the little people hydrated sans high fructose corn syrup.

Try it yourself!  It works for us!  It's Frugal!  Toss it in the Tip Jar!

To make a 2-quart pitcher for about 25 cents:


1 packet of Kool-aid (unsweetened)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 quarts of water


Mix.  Chill.  Serve.

Has she updated yet??

Tired of reading this?  Yeah, me too.  Things are calming down a bit.  I'll be back Monday when Pookieville should be out of the toilet. 

And since it's still Friday, for a few hours more, you can revisit this post on homemade baby wipes.  It's never too late to start living a little more frugal.  And what could be more appropriate after a full week of um... previously mentioned activity? 

No need to "wipe out" your bank account with costly store bought wipes.  har har  These wipes work out to a fraction of the cost of even the cheapest warehouse company store-bought wipes.

Baby Wipes Tutorial

Toothpaste, a handy thing to own.

This blob needs no introduction.

I do it myself!

I loathe handing over the tube of toothpaste to my children.  But eventually they will learn how to use it properly.  And by properly I mean not squeeze it from the middle and accidently (or was it an accident) get it on the wall.  "Properly" also means not filling it with water and intentionally squirting it all over the bathroom.  So, as of now, they are grounded from kid toothpaste.  The only kid toothpaste they will come into possession of is from the dentist. 

Now I buy them AIM toothpaste for 80¢ at the commissary.  It's too minty for them to want to eat.  And if they're going to paste everything in the bathroom, it's not going to cost me a fortune.  Did you know, toothpaste can help clean up scuffs and scrapes?  Of course, I won't tell my kids that I'm going to use the wasted toothpaste to buff and shine the bathroom. I DO make them clean up the majority of it themselves.

Toothpaste is also fabulous for shining up the gold and diamonds on my wedding ring.  That's especially handy since I can't get it off my finger to save my life.  Toothpaste works for me! 

By the way, the pictures are from the master bathroom in our old house.  I've been meaning to post it for a while. 

No Gremlins were harmed in the making of this post.

Family Vacation Prep

Next week we are going on a super fun family vacation!  We will be traveling 800 miles to our first ever family reunion for my side of the family.  That's my parents, my siblings, and our kids. 

But before we go to the family reunion, we are taking the kids to Sea World. 

Some necessities for going on vacation with 6 and a half kids under 8 1/2?  Zoloft.  And lots of it.  Just kidding!

I started my list:

Water.


Playpens.


diapers.

Music, not just this kind.


Games.

Magna Doodles.

Audio Books to listen to.

Pre-rationed snacks in ziploc bags.

I referred to this awesome post, about driving with kids, from Kristen at We are THAT Family.  I've referred to her post multiple times during my preparation.

Yesterday, after we went bowling for Bun's birthday, we went to the library to look for books on CD and tape for Danny and me to listen to on the trip to help us stay awake.  Then we decided that it might be fun for the kids to listen to books also.

I asked a library employee where I could locate the children's audio books.  I was directed to a section labeled "Playaways." 

He said, "You can check the battery right here to make sure it's working and just plug it in to any headset."

I was like, "Oh, okay."  Hmm... I'll just ask Danny what these new-fangled contraptions are and what kind of music player they go in.  He's pretty up-to-date on that sort of thing.

The library employee continued to explain how handy these "Playaways" are for travel on planes and car trips, etc. 

So, I finally just said, "What do these plug into again?"

He said, "Any earphones or headset should plug right into it.  You just press 'play' to play or pause, this button forwards to the next track, you can speed up the book to play it fast..." he continued.

Then I forgot to use my library voice.

"Danny!  Check this out!  All you have to do is plug in headphones and listen!  Isn't that amazing?!  We should checkout a bunch!"

We checked out ten books on playaways and this one of gross and silly songs.  They sell these new-fangled thingamajigs on Amazon and probably other places too.  But check your library-- that's the frugal thing to do!

 The employee told me that these things are often sent with troops going overseas.  They are also great for when you're jogging and that they're virtually indestructible so you can hand them over to your kids to use.

That's good.  Because I bought four new kid-head-size headphones for the trip.  I expect peaceful driving. 

Knock-knock Who's there? Banana. Banana who?

Bananas are a wonderful fruit filled with potassium.  The best way to absorb it is with a glass of milk. 

Milk and bananas are my 3 year old's favorite foods.  But if you have a banana addiction like my little Gremlin does, you may find it difficult to wait for the bananas to ripen. 

Putting your green bananas in a paper bag helps them ripen faster and hide them from the banana-addict in your home.  This works for me!

Did you also know that you can freeze bananas?  When the bananas go on sale for 25¢ a pound buy as many as your freezer will hold. 

They are great for milkshakes, banana bread, and banana muffins.

If you're using them in a recipe for bread or muffins, you can even freeze them in the peel.  The peel will turn black, but the banana inside will be fine.  Warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds and cut or open the end and squeeze it into a bowl like a tube of toothpaste.

If you're using frozen bananas for milkshakes, it's easiest if you break apart the bananas in small sections about 1 to 1 1/2 inches.  Freeze in a freezer container or ziploc bag.  Label, date, and freeze.  When it's milkshake time you can have a richer milkshake without adding ice by using your frozen bananas.

Also bananas fix your problem.  If you're um... stopped up, they unstop you.  And if you are a bit too um... free-flowin', they help reverse that too.  So, pick a bunch of bananas today to take home!

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If you have some advice on how to deal with a bully, please click on this post to leave your comment.

If you want an awesome whole wheat banana bread recipe, come back Friday. 






There are no affiliate links in this post. But if any banana companies would like me to sing their praises again in exchange for say a year supply of bananas, I'd be more than happy to do so.

Frugal Fridays with the Kiddie Hobgoblin Theater

As you know, we have six kids.  We cannot afford to hire a babysitter whenever we have the desire to watch a movie together.  It would be far cheaper to buy the actual movie than to hire a sitter. 

And having six kids eight and under, not even the oldest is old enough to be left home alone; so we don't have a built-in sitter yet either.

Enter the Kiddie Hobgoblin Theater.

At least bi-monthly (ahem, weekly nowadays), Danny will rent a children's movie from the Shoppette or the Red Box thing, or borrow from the library. 

We usually bribe the children earlier in the day to nap with promises of the Kiddie Hobgoblin Theater.  We figure, if they're going to be staying up late, a nap wouldn't hurt.

The Kiddie Hobgoblin Theater is just a fun way for them to get extra excited about watching a kid movie knowing that we aren't watching it with them.  It's just for kiddie hobgoblins like themselves.  And of course it's a completely safe, parent-approved movie that is 99% of the time rated G.

We line the four oldest kids up on the couch each with their favorite blanket, a cereal bowl full of popcorn and occasionally a handful of animal crackers or a couple candies that they purchased at the Kiddie Hobgoblin Theater (the dining table) with hugs as currency.

We toss a couple babies in the playpen with a handful of soft toys.

Then Danny and I plug our headphones into the laptop and sit on the other couch and watch something free like the latest episode of Lost, or a new release we've been waiting for from the Shoppette or Red Box thing.

Kid movie:  $.99
non-kid movie:  $.99 or free
bag of microwave popcorn:  $.50 (unless we're out and then we use the air popper which is MUCH cheaper)
bag of animal crackers or candy $1.50

Total with the Kiddie Hobgoblin Theater:  $3.98

Going rate for babysitting on the central west coast:  $2.50 a kid per hour

$2.50 a kid per hour x a half dozen hobgoblins x treats for the sitter x movie in a theater x gas money =

Total to go out on a date: 

$28,456.73






This post is linked to Frugal Fridays and Thrifty Thursdays, and Thrifty Thursdays in Bloggeritaville.

Cheese n' Buckets

I have 2 mini-Frugal Friday tips for y'all today. 

1.  If you use Sharp Cheddar in a recipe that you normally use medium or mild in, you will need much less.  Taco places do this with their tacos and you still get great flavor.  I'm not a fan of eating a hunk of sharp cheddar by itself (as I might with colby jack or mozzarella), but using it shredded in a recipe?  No problem!

2.  Get free food storage buckets from bakeries and delis.  I have heard about this tip for over a decade.  And I never tried it myself until a couple weeks ago.  At our commissary on base, the bakery and deli throw out empty buckets on a very regular basis.  In 10 days I picked up 6.  Sure, they had frosting bits on the side and pickle juice in the deli one which caused MAJOR cravings for me, but they were FREE.  Who doesn't love free?

They're the same type of buckets that I use to store my wheat, rice, legumes, and rolled oats for long-term storage.  They keep bugs out.  But these ones are FREEEEE.

They're great to sit on while putting away all your groceries in the fridge.

They're a good size to hold your emergency 72-hour kit.

They make great diaper pails.  If you are using a wet diaper pail, please use a secure lid to prevent infants and children from accidental drowning. 

When labeled accordingly, "Beans & Lentils" they are awesome for storing stocking stuffers in.  No child is going to try to figure out the bucket lid remover to get to beans and lentils.

Visit LifeasMom.com for many more frugal tips that smart readers like yourself are sharing.  Please leave a comment and let me know if you're participating too so I can read your handy tip!

Making your OWN homemade pizza

Sorry, I couldn't figure out the blogger option to make this into a scratch-n-sniff sticker. 

This here is homemade combination pizza with one side being the fantastic green bell pepper, LOADS of sliced fresh mushrooms, shredded mozzarella and pepperoni slices side, and the other side being Gabbers friendly - no mushrooms, no bell peppers. 

How do you make sure you don't accidentally throw off the balance of the universe and egads! serve your Gabbers bell peppers and mushrooms? 

You put one sliced mushroom on the mushroom side and one sliced olive on the olive side (both being on top the pepperoni) to identify it correctly.  

Time to make your own homemade pizza.  First of all, start with a decent dough.  This dough is what we use.  We like it.  It works great.  It's pretty inexpensive. 

You can even prepare the dry ingredients weeks and weeks ahead of time and save in the freezer in quart containers. This will make pizza night prep even easier.

Now you need a good sauce.  Please do not use a jar of spaghetti sauce-- unless you want it to taste like the pizza in elementary school.  Use Mom's recipe. 

Sauce:

one 8-ounce can tomato sauce

one 6-ounce can tomato paste

1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)

1 teaspoon oregano or 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 clove of garlic, peeled and crushed

1/8 teaspoon crushed dried hot red chili peppers (optional)

Warm all ingredients together in a covered saucepan over lowest heat about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Keep warm until ready to use.  Makes enough sauce for 2 to 3 pizzas.

It's easy, it's frugal, and freezes well.

I like to make a big batch and freeze it for future use. This way I only take the time to make it once, but use it on a dozen pizzas.

Assembling Pizza:

1.  Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

2.  Divide dough in half.

3.  Roll each piece of dough on a very lightly floured surface until it is about 12 to 14 inches in diameter (about the size of your pizza pan).  (NOTE:  Do not make dough too thin in the middle.)

4.  Pick up dough carefully, folding it over your arm.  Gently place dough onto pizza pan, being careful not to press dough into pan.  Form crust by rolling edge of dough, again being careful not to press dough into pizza pan.

5.  Spread sauce onto dough very carefully.  (NOTE:  Too much sauce will allow cheese to slide off after pizza is cooked.)  Evenly spread shredded (or thinly sliced) mozzarella cheese (6 ounces maximum per pizza) onto pizza.  If desired, sprinkle parmesan cheese over mozzarella.

Now add your favorite toppings!  Try not to use thick-sliced pepperoni; it makes for a greasy pizza.  Make sure if you do use pepperoni, it's on the top layer. 

Our favorite toppings:

sliced mushrooms- I prefer fresh but will used canned versus none at all

sliced black olives

sweet onions

pepperoni

green bell peppers

mozzarella

Jimmy Dean sausage (browned and crumbled first)

Bake for about 7 to 15 minutes or when crust starts browning and cheese in the middle of the pizza is bubbly. 

Remove pizza from oven, slide pizza from pan onto serving pan or large cutting board.  Slice and serve.

TIP:  Pizza pans with holes in the bottom will allow crust to have a better texture and not be soggy.  I'm not a fan of using pizza stones.    

 What's on YOUR pizza?

This post is linked at:  LifeasMom's Frugal Friday and Frugalicious Friday

What's grosser than gross?

When you finish eating a bowl of rice and the last one crawls away. 

Does that take you back to Jr. High?  Now that you're thoroughly grossed out I'm going to tell you how brown rice can be dinnertime's best friend.

Rice is cheap.  Chee-eap.  And I am a frugal fanatic.  So it didn't take long for our friendship to blossom. 
Did you know you can freeze rice?  Freezing brown rice is especially handy in individual serving sizes.  If you have leftover rice at the end of dinner, just scoop it into a freezer-safe container or zippered bag and FREEZE. 

Since I rarely have the need to make a single serving of rice, I thought I'd emphasize freezing in meal-size servings for your family. 

Brown rice tends to be drier than white rice and chewier.  Freezing it and rewarming gives it the time it needs to soften up-- but not turn it to mush. 

If it seems dry as you're reheating it, just add a little water.  Start with a tablespoon and see if you need more. 

Rice does not last long in our humidity.  It gets weird and turns slimy.  Then I get so freaked out by slimy smelly rice that I don't end up making it for months.

I cook up two cups more than we need for a meal and freeze the leftovers in 1 qt. Ziploc containers. 

If you have a rice pot, it's way easy. If you're making rice on the stove top, just make a little more. You'll be surprised at how having a staple like rice already made and in the freezer speeds up dinner prep.
One stress-free day, don't laugh it happens sometimes, I made a FULL pot of brown rice just for the purpose of freezing.  Then I divvyed it up, washed the pot, and made ANOTHER pot of brown rice.  It's been a dinner rescuer many times.


A few meals made easier in our home with frozen rice:

Chicken soup with rice
Fast beans (a family favorite)
Creamed Tuna on Rice
Canned Salmon and rice (another family favorite)

Sausage Casserole
This recipe is from my mother-in-law.  I have varied it slightly to the likes of my family.  The original recipe has sausage, onion, celery, rice, and noodle soup.

1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage
1 large onion chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups finely chopped or sliced celery
1 carrot grated
1 cup sliced mushrooms (or chopped if you have a food snob)

2 cups brown rice cooked
2 packages Lipton Noodle soup
3 cups water


1.  In a large skillet or 4 qt. casserole pan (stovetop safe), brown the sausage, onion, celery, carrot, and mushrooms.  Drain any grease.

2.  In a separate pan bring the 3 cups of water to a boil.  Add the noodle soup and cook for 7 minutes.  Remove from heat.  You can do this at the same time as the first step if you're coordinated.

3.  Mix all the ingredients together (including the rice).

4.  Serve!  If you like it a little more cooked (less-liquidy) bake it in the oven at 350 for 20 minutes.





This post is linked at Coupon Teacher's Thifty Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Frugal Friday, and Frugalicious Friday.

No-frills FAST meat!

Last night as I was getting ready to brown close to 6 lbs. of ground beef and 4 cups of chopped onion I realized my stoneware bar pan would overflow with grease when it started cooking down.  So I took out a little more than a quarter of it and put it in my round stoneware pan.  The plan was to alternate the two pans between the racks in the oven.

But then I had a lightbulb moment.  No not that kind of lightbulb moment.  An AHA! moment.

I put that round stoneware pan (I think it's called the Deep Dish Baker) in the microwave with three coffee filters on top to prevent splattered microwave carnage, and nuked it about 5 minutes. 

When both pans were done, I just kept thinking, why have I NEVER done this before?!  Holy moly that saves time! Hurray I have my Works-For-Me-Wednesday post!

A long time ago, when baby number 4 was in utero, I posted about how I cook large quantities of meat at a time.   Feel free to read it.

I'm going to hit on the main points here and if you have questions, just leave a comment.

Why cook a lot at once?  Isn't that a pain?

1.  Usually, you can buy meat at a better rate per pound when you buy large packages. 

2.  After cooking up a 3-10 lbs. or so at a time and dividing into approximately 3/4 lb. baggies, you will have your meat ready when you need it.  This makes dinnertime so much easier having skipped the step of browning the meat (and we add onion) and washing the skillet, spoon, and collander.  And your hair doesn't smell like hamburger grease that night.

3.  Cooking a lot at once means sticking it all in a pan with edges and in the oven or now I know, the microwave-- if it's microwave safe of course. 

4.  It's hardly any extra work than cooking a single pound.

What kind of pans work for this?

Bar pans (cookie sheet with edges), 9 x 13 pans, loaf pans, muffin pans, mini-loaf pan, circle, ovan, square casserole dishes. 

1.  Glass are more likely to burn.

2.  Metal and non-stick pans work great in the oven.

3.  Stoneware is my personal favorite because it helps it season the stoneware as it cooks and it's also microwave safe. 

Use a pan with edges.  You do not want the grease that comes from cooking down meat to flow off the edges and all over your oven.  or microwave.  So, use a pan with edges. 

My totally organized, artsy, and  frugal coupon-queen sister, Leslie, told me about a woman she knows who couldn't stand the smell of meat cooking when she was pregnant.  Sound familiar?  This woman was able to benefit from the loving efforts of her hubby.  He went to his mom's house, cooked it all up, divided it, and brought it home to freeze.  How freaking awesome is that?!

What kind of meats are you planning on cooking in the microwave?

Ground beef and ground sausage (Jimmy Dean) come to mind.  I'm still thinking I'll use the oven for mass cooking chicken.  And I am not a fan of microwaved bacon.  So I'll stick to cooking that in the oven chopped up in the bar pan and saving the grease of course. 




This post is also linked at Tuesday Tips and Tuesday's Tip Jar.

Fleece Diaper Pockets Tutorial

Fleece diaper pockets are a frugal semi-crunchy mama’s dream.  They work much better than just a fleece liner because they won’t bunch up.  The fleece pulls the wetness inside the diaper and the baby feels dry longer. 

When changing the diaper, just pull the diaper and doubler out of the fleece and toss them all in the diaper pail together.  If it’s poopy, pull the diaper and doubler out and all you have to rinse is the fleece pocket.  A lightweight fleece pocket is so much easier to rinse than a big-ole poopy prefold.

Look for remnants of fleece to make these pockets.  I actually bought the fleece for $4.44 a yard at Wal-Mart and got 14 out of each yard.  With tax, it's still less than 30 cents a piece. 

Gather your supplies:  Fleece, measuring tape or ruler, scissors, diaper, cover, and doubler.

Lay your prefolded diaper on the fleece to get an idea of how big to sew the fleece diaper pocket.  Allow for an extra half inch around. 

Cut a piece big enough to fold it in half sideways. ←→ Also make sure your stretch is ←this way→.  Fleece only stretches one direction.  This is very important that you make sure it goes sideways.  It is a hassle to try to stuff a fleece pocket when the stretch is going the other way.  I did that once and ended up chucking that pocket because it was so dang annoying.

Sew a straight stitch along the top and down one side (not the folded side).

Turn right side out.

 

Now stuff it.  mwahaha.  *ahem*

All stuffed.

Place stuffed fleece pocket in cover.  I prefer Proraps. 

Put on Tater, or whatever cute baby you have laying around your house. 

So comfy!  I think I might just . . . ahh! 

Spare fleece pockets and one already stuffed diaper, just in case.

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This post is linked at Thrifty Thursdays, Frugal Fridays, My Coupon Teacher’s Thrifty Thursdays, and Frugalicious Friday. and Homemaker Mondays, and A Soft Place to Land.