Of petroleum jelly, worms, & creamed spinach
Gossip kills 3: the speaker, the spoken of, & the listener. – Samuel ben Nachman
HOUSEHOLD HINTS:
Here are 2 uses for petroleum jelly, which you may know better under the brand name of Vasoline®:
Avoid buying more glue, honey, or anything else that has a cap that sticks to the bottle. Once you DO have the tube or bottle open, spread a little petroleum jelly over the threads of the cap.
At bath time, keep the soap out of Baby’s – or Fido’s – eyes by rubbing a thin layer of the jelly around the perimeters of his eyes – making sure, of course, that you don’t get too close to his eyes themselves!
Use a cooling rack – generally for the purposes of cooling baked goods – as a partial shelf in your fridge. In this way, you can make the most of your fridge space using this “double-decker.”
Burning your home-made muffins is like burning money. This happens particularly often when some of the cups are empty. Here’s how to avoid that outcome. Just fill any empty cups halfway with water!
MEASURE the amount of water you need to brew a cup of tea, herbal tea, or coffee. I measure 12 oz out for a mug of brewed coffee. Doing this saves money on energy costs, whether you use a range, an automatic coffeepot, or a microwave oven.
When you bring radishes home from the market, cut off the greens before storing the radishes. Wash & dry the radishes, & then place them in a covered plastic container. It’s best to line the container with a piece of paper toweling. The radishes will last much longer.
Make worms work for you! In addition to their obvious use as fishing tackle, the worms can also till your soil before you plant a garden. Just lay 10 sheets of newspaper over each area of your intended garden plot. Set on top of the papers about 2 inches of kitchen scraps (produce & coffee grounds only, please). Water the garden plot twice a week gently, with a watering can. Wait a month altogether. Make holes directly through the mulch with a small shovel or a spade, & then plant. There will be earthworms all through your garden plot!
Do you wear plastic-lensed eyeglasses? If they become scratched, here’s a potential fix. Apply a small amount of furniture polish to each side of the lens. Wipe dry with a clean, soft cloth such as a chamois. It often does the trick!
If you think ahead to your funeral, you can save your family hundreds or potentially a couple of thousand dollars. Look in the Yellow Pages to find a local memorial society or office of the Funeral Consumer Alliance. Those associations will help you to save big.
A good resource for those looking to furnish a home for the 1st time (read: newlyweds), for that ONE item that will give the living room punch, is the back rooms of a local interior designer.
Many people try to restrict their decorative planting to perennials, in order to save the money that new plants would cost each year. But, did you know that if you let certain annuals go to seed at the end of the season, they will generally flower again next year? These plants are Johnny-jump-ups, marigolds, petunias, poppies, & sweet alyssum.
To reduce your car’s gasoline costs, take off or out of the car everything you don’t need now. In particular, if you have a roof rack, it certainly doesn’t need to be on the car all of the time.
RECIPE:
Southwestern Creamed Spinach:
Spinach, chopped, thawed frozen (10 oz)
Onion, 1 medium or ½ large, chopped
Garlic, 3 cloves, minced
Peppers of your choice:
Jalapeno pepper, 2 medium, minced, if you want a spicy-hot result OR
Jalapeno pepper, 1 medium, minced , if you want a medium-spicy result
(Wear gloves while handling jalapenos. Remove the seeds & veins.) OR
Bell pepper, 1 small, if you do not want any heat
Canola oil, 3 T
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a Dutch oven, saute the veggies in the oil for 10 minutes. Remove the veggies from the Dutch oven
1 T canola oil
2 T flour
2 c milk
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Brown the flour in the oil in the Dutch oven. Add the milk in 3 parts (about 2/3 c each part). Stir until you see small bubbles at the perimeter. Add the cheese. Stir thoroughly, & continue to stir until the cheese sauce thickens.
Stir in veggies. Bake for 40 minutes or until browned. (There will be some liquid left in the Dutch oven when you remove it from the range’s oven, but that will solidify as the spinach cools.) Serves 3.
HOUSEHOLD HINTS:
Here are 2 uses for petroleum jelly, which you may know better under the brand name of Vasoline®:
Avoid buying more glue, honey, or anything else that has a cap that sticks to the bottle. Once you DO have the tube or bottle open, spread a little petroleum jelly over the threads of the cap.
At bath time, keep the soap out of Baby’s – or Fido’s – eyes by rubbing a thin layer of the jelly around the perimeters of his eyes – making sure, of course, that you don’t get too close to his eyes themselves!
Use a cooling rack – generally for the purposes of cooling baked goods – as a partial shelf in your fridge. In this way, you can make the most of your fridge space using this “double-decker.”
Burning your home-made muffins is like burning money. This happens particularly often when some of the cups are empty. Here’s how to avoid that outcome. Just fill any empty cups halfway with water!
MEASURE the amount of water you need to brew a cup of tea, herbal tea, or coffee. I measure 12 oz out for a mug of brewed coffee. Doing this saves money on energy costs, whether you use a range, an automatic coffeepot, or a microwave oven.
When you bring radishes home from the market, cut off the greens before storing the radishes. Wash & dry the radishes, & then place them in a covered plastic container. It’s best to line the container with a piece of paper toweling. The radishes will last much longer.
Make worms work for you! In addition to their obvious use as fishing tackle, the worms can also till your soil before you plant a garden. Just lay 10 sheets of newspaper over each area of your intended garden plot. Set on top of the papers about 2 inches of kitchen scraps (produce & coffee grounds only, please). Water the garden plot twice a week gently, with a watering can. Wait a month altogether. Make holes directly through the mulch with a small shovel or a spade, & then plant. There will be earthworms all through your garden plot!
Do you wear plastic-lensed eyeglasses? If they become scratched, here’s a potential fix. Apply a small amount of furniture polish to each side of the lens. Wipe dry with a clean, soft cloth such as a chamois. It often does the trick!
If you think ahead to your funeral, you can save your family hundreds or potentially a couple of thousand dollars. Look in the Yellow Pages to find a local memorial society or office of the Funeral Consumer Alliance. Those associations will help you to save big.
A good resource for those looking to furnish a home for the 1st time (read: newlyweds), for that ONE item that will give the living room punch, is the back rooms of a local interior designer.
Many people try to restrict their decorative planting to perennials, in order to save the money that new plants would cost each year. But, did you know that if you let certain annuals go to seed at the end of the season, they will generally flower again next year? These plants are Johnny-jump-ups, marigolds, petunias, poppies, & sweet alyssum.
To reduce your car’s gasoline costs, take off or out of the car everything you don’t need now. In particular, if you have a roof rack, it certainly doesn’t need to be on the car all of the time.
RECIPE:
Southwestern Creamed Spinach:
Spinach, chopped, thawed frozen (10 oz)
Onion, 1 medium or ½ large, chopped
Garlic, 3 cloves, minced
Peppers of your choice:
Jalapeno pepper, 2 medium, minced, if you want a spicy-hot result OR
Jalapeno pepper, 1 medium, minced , if you want a medium-spicy result
(Wear gloves while handling jalapenos. Remove the seeds & veins.) OR
Bell pepper, 1 small, if you do not want any heat
Canola oil, 3 T
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Using a Dutch oven, saute the veggies in the oil for 10 minutes. Remove the veggies from the Dutch oven
1 T canola oil
2 T flour
2 c milk
4 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
Brown the flour in the oil in the Dutch oven. Add the milk in 3 parts (about 2/3 c each part). Stir until you see small bubbles at the perimeter. Add the cheese. Stir thoroughly, & continue to stir until the cheese sauce thickens.
Stir in veggies. Bake for 40 minutes or until browned. (There will be some liquid left in the Dutch oven when you remove it from the range’s oven, but that will solidify as the spinach cools.) Serves 3.
posted by THE PENNY ORCHID -- "Thrift with Flair" at 2:20 PM
<< Home