SWEET SEPTEMBER SAVINGS SOLUTIONS
The children have been back to school for at least a week now, in most cases. September is the most holy month this year, as Rosh HaShanah ("the head of the year' -- that is, New Year's) and Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), not to mention Sukkot (the feast of booths, when families dine al fresco) all fall within September this particular year. (The Jewish, lunar, calendar shifts in reference to the Western, Gregorian calendar.) Why not place in such a propitious month new modes of saving money?
A cutie that I heard the other day:
There are three kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can’t. Whoops! I meant four.
I told you how to shred cups of chicken in a prior blog (inaugural, on August 19, 2004), but I omitted to tell you the yield you can expect. If you have roasted a 3-1/2 pound chicken, you should get 5 cups. If you have roasted 3 “quarter-chickens” (3 legs with 3 thighs, weighing in total about 2-1/2 pounds), you should get about 3-1/2 cups. Additionally, I should have told you to place the roasted chicken in the fridge overnight BEFORE starting to shred it, so that you can easily remove the fat.
To get 6 large mugs of tea out of one teabag (such as orange Pekoe, a black tea widely sold under the Lipton ™ name), you’ll need a teapot that will hold 1-1/2 quarts (6 cups). Take the paper off the teabag. Place the bag in the pot, and pour 6 cups of boiling water over it. Shut the teapot firmly. Steep for 5 minutes or to taste. Once you have served the 3 large mugs, & the teapot is empty, boil another 6 cups of water; pour it into the teapot; steep, & serve. (You can try to get another 3 mugs’ use out of the same teabag, but I find that the paper disintegrates by then. Tea bags are ever so much cheaper than loose tea, so that I find them to be worthwhile purchases, even though I also have a teaball for loose tea.)
If you buy a “natural” (no trans-fats) brand of peanut butter like Laura Scudder’s ™, pour off the oil on top into a bottle that you can hold the peanut oil in for Asian cooking. Use a funnel. (If you actually purchase peanut oil because you often cook Thai or other Asian food, just top off its bottle with the extra.)
A clean pipecleaner is just the ticket for cleaning: (1) between keys on a computer or typewriter keyboard, or (2) the area around the bobbin of a sewing machine, which is called the “race.”
You can do 2 cleaning jobs at once, by using your broom to scrub out your bathtub. (Use a scouring powder.-- Baking soda or Barkeeper’s Friend ™ are gentle.)
You can still enjoy pierced earrings when you have lost 1 of the pair – just turn the 1 that remains into a thumbtack.
Lotion manufacturers seem to make their bottles hard to squeeze on purpose, to make consumers buy more quickly. Here are 2 hints. First, use both hands to apply the lotion exactly where you want it, for example, on your leg. Secondly, when that no longer works, take a utility knife and cut away the top portion of the bottle. Wrap the bottle in a plastic bag to prevent having the lotion’s drying out, & scoop your fingers inside to get some lotion out.
You will find keeping one serratesd knife, measuring between 8 inches and a foot long including the handle, as a quite handy crafts knife.. Make a sheath for it out of cardboard, & keep it out of reach of your children.
Here's a new recipe for all you hungry readers. It's filling, cheap, & delicious, ready for early fall. What more could you desire to feed your hungry family?
Terrine of Eggplant with Spaghetti & Chicken:
1 large eggplant, about 2-1/2 lbs., chopped into 1” cubes. (Only cut away the brown stem portion. Keep the skin on; all the good phytochemicals are demonstrated by that bright purple exterior.)
8 oz spaghetti, broken into thirds & placed in a small bowl
2 eggs, beaten
6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz water
½ large or 1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c chicken, shredded
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp EACH of the following: salt, chervil (or parsley for a more robust taste), basil, oregano, & sage (1 tsp assumes dried herbs, which you should crush before using. You’d need 1 T for fresh herbs.)
You’ll need a Dutch oven – a 4 qt or larger pot that can go from stovetop to oven.
Bring 3 qts of water to a rolling boil in the Dutch oven – by covering the Dutch oven, you’ll save energy. When water is boiling rapidly, uncover, put in the spaghetti, & stir. Then put in the eggplant & stir thoroughly (the eggplant will cook down substantially). Cook for 9 minutes & drain in a colander.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add all the other ingredients (except the eggplant & spaghetti). Mix thoroughly. Pour the eggplant & spaghetti back into the Dutch oven. Pour the other ingredients over the eggplant & spaghetti. Mix thoroughly (this could take 3-5 minutes.).
Bake about 20 minutes, uncovered, or until a skewer set in the middle of the casserole comes out clean.
When you store the leftovers – the recipe makes 5 hearty servings – be sure not to use plastic containers, as tomato stains plastic.
Until next week, Yours in thrift, Deb
A cutie that I heard the other day:
There are three kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can’t. Whoops! I meant four.
I told you how to shred cups of chicken in a prior blog (inaugural, on August 19, 2004), but I omitted to tell you the yield you can expect. If you have roasted a 3-1/2 pound chicken, you should get 5 cups. If you have roasted 3 “quarter-chickens” (3 legs with 3 thighs, weighing in total about 2-1/2 pounds), you should get about 3-1/2 cups. Additionally, I should have told you to place the roasted chicken in the fridge overnight BEFORE starting to shred it, so that you can easily remove the fat.
To get 6 large mugs of tea out of one teabag (such as orange Pekoe, a black tea widely sold under the Lipton ™ name), you’ll need a teapot that will hold 1-1/2 quarts (6 cups). Take the paper off the teabag. Place the bag in the pot, and pour 6 cups of boiling water over it. Shut the teapot firmly. Steep for 5 minutes or to taste. Once you have served the 3 large mugs, & the teapot is empty, boil another 6 cups of water; pour it into the teapot; steep, & serve. (You can try to get another 3 mugs’ use out of the same teabag, but I find that the paper disintegrates by then. Tea bags are ever so much cheaper than loose tea, so that I find them to be worthwhile purchases, even though I also have a teaball for loose tea.)
If you buy a “natural” (no trans-fats) brand of peanut butter like Laura Scudder’s ™, pour off the oil on top into a bottle that you can hold the peanut oil in for Asian cooking. Use a funnel. (If you actually purchase peanut oil because you often cook Thai or other Asian food, just top off its bottle with the extra.)
A clean pipecleaner is just the ticket for cleaning: (1) between keys on a computer or typewriter keyboard, or (2) the area around the bobbin of a sewing machine, which is called the “race.”
You can do 2 cleaning jobs at once, by using your broom to scrub out your bathtub. (Use a scouring powder.-- Baking soda or Barkeeper’s Friend ™ are gentle.)
You can still enjoy pierced earrings when you have lost 1 of the pair – just turn the 1 that remains into a thumbtack.
Lotion manufacturers seem to make their bottles hard to squeeze on purpose, to make consumers buy more quickly. Here are 2 hints. First, use both hands to apply the lotion exactly where you want it, for example, on your leg. Secondly, when that no longer works, take a utility knife and cut away the top portion of the bottle. Wrap the bottle in a plastic bag to prevent having the lotion’s drying out, & scoop your fingers inside to get some lotion out.
You will find keeping one serratesd knife, measuring between 8 inches and a foot long including the handle, as a quite handy crafts knife.. Make a sheath for it out of cardboard, & keep it out of reach of your children.
Here's a new recipe for all you hungry readers. It's filling, cheap, & delicious, ready for early fall. What more could you desire to feed your hungry family?
Terrine of Eggplant with Spaghetti & Chicken:
1 large eggplant, about 2-1/2 lbs., chopped into 1” cubes. (Only cut away the brown stem portion. Keep the skin on; all the good phytochemicals are demonstrated by that bright purple exterior.)
8 oz spaghetti, broken into thirds & placed in a small bowl
2 eggs, beaten
6 oz can tomato paste
6 oz water
½ large or 1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 c chicken, shredded
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
1 tsp EACH of the following: salt, chervil (or parsley for a more robust taste), basil, oregano, & sage (1 tsp assumes dried herbs, which you should crush before using. You’d need 1 T for fresh herbs.)
You’ll need a Dutch oven – a 4 qt or larger pot that can go from stovetop to oven.
Bring 3 qts of water to a rolling boil in the Dutch oven – by covering the Dutch oven, you’ll save energy. When water is boiling rapidly, uncover, put in the spaghetti, & stir. Then put in the eggplant & stir thoroughly (the eggplant will cook down substantially). Cook for 9 minutes & drain in a colander.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add all the other ingredients (except the eggplant & spaghetti). Mix thoroughly. Pour the eggplant & spaghetti back into the Dutch oven. Pour the other ingredients over the eggplant & spaghetti. Mix thoroughly (this could take 3-5 minutes.).
Bake about 20 minutes, uncovered, or until a skewer set in the middle of the casserole comes out clean.
When you store the leftovers – the recipe makes 5 hearty servings – be sure not to use plastic containers, as tomato stains plastic.
Until next week, Yours in thrift, Deb
posted by THE PENNY ORCHID -- "Thrift with Flair" at 7:35 PM
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