4 Sweet Sisters

I've deciced to link up with the Shabby Nest for this post. Read here and fly over and enjoy all the frugality there ! I started thinking about this post months ago and have just not gotten around to it. Back in winter sometime our 2nd microwave went on the fritz (we've had 2 in 7 years-different models). Maybe it was due to poor quality or maybe it was because of all the rice bag wraps we were heating up before bed. I tend to think it was the first though. Our first thought when this happened was google it up and check the best deal on a microwaves. We did and found one for about $160 new from one of the box store. We would have to take the money out of our emergency fund and we were okay with that. I mean not having a microwave is an emergency in the biggest way! Right? Uh, no. I'll admit for about 5 minutes or so it was (ya know when we were googling). But then I decided to try and live without a micro. for a week and see how we did. The week turned into two and I star...

Today is a double whammy. I wanted to show you how wonderfully yummy School Girl's bread turned and it's Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family . My thought is: they learn to make it and I don't have too! Fresh ground whole wheat flour. As simple as flipping a switch! See how easy. Preparing the yeast. Milk makes for a tender crumb. Honey and Olive Oil A lot of flour. Mom's inspection. A little dough. Wah La! Beautiful girl and delicious bread. She made 2 loaves of sandwich bread, 1 loaf of cinnamon raisin and a batch of french boule. WFMW Aprons! I use camp dry spray to repel liquids and messes. Just spray it on a new or clean apron and hang outside to dry for a day or two. Helps keep aprons looking great much longer! So get some new cute aprons and keep your cute clothes drom getting ruined! Do you wear aprons and how often? julie

Today is a quickie. We had produce co-op and I got so many yummy looking green and red peppers. Just last week I was craving roasted red peppers and garlic. So today was the day! Directions for Roasted Red Peppers (works with all peppers): Wash peppers Place on a cookie Set oven to broil (I broil on high) Place peppers under broiler Let peppers char on every side (rotating as needed) including the tops and bottoms Place hot peppers in paper bag and let cool 20 to 40 minutes Peel black skins off and slice pepper as wanted Directions for Roasted Garlic: I use a glass pie plate Peel outer skins off garlic Slice just the tops off Drizzle or pour olive oil over garlic Sprinkle with a bit of salt Bake at 385 ( just a random temp) for about 45 minutes Take out and cool while peeling the peppers. So easy and doesn't take much time. I then mash the yummy garlic and a pinch of salt to tatse. I then layer roasted peppers and roasted garlic. I was doing a bit of tasting at this point! The garl...

It's been a long time since I've done a Works For Me Wednesday post. It's not that I don't have anything to offer up. It's that I can't remember when it comes time to post it. So without further ado let me show you! Thank you to my very brave husband, Superman. We don't call him a superhero for nothing. He also believes in this concept a lot! Ye old Nette . Has anyone ever used a nette pot? I tried and hated it. It felt like I was diving into the deep end of the pool and depositing most of the water in my sinuses. It would hurt like the dickens ( what exactly is a dickens?). Superman informed that I had the wrong technique. So I tried again with no success. So a year has gone by and I've been sneezing like crazy for a couple of months. Rarely do I ever sneeze. I decided to give the pot another go. Superman was right! My technique was all wrong. Here is Superman's Technique: use sea salt warm water shower (easiest place w/no clean up) tip your hea...

Okay, you'll never believe what I purchased for this school year! It uses batteries ( C or D i think). Comes with a built in microphone. It takes a big plastic cartridges that have some long stringy thin plastic inside... Give Up? A tape recorder. Yup, we are tired of all this progress stuff around here. With mp3, mp4, and recordable cd's that change size, style and color as the wind blows, we (i) have decided it's time to go back to our Pioneering Roots! Remember making tapes off the radio and singing crazy songs with friends to pretend you could be part of a band? Oh, you never did that... Well, I have one on you and it was preparing me for my new audio career as a talking book. Here's the scoop on my plans (yes there is a method to my chaos). Since I will be schooling children (mine) in High School, Middle School, Grammar School and kindergarten this year. I need a little help with some of the school chores that only I can do. So for now I plan to tape our new Read- ...

Today is WFMW over at We Are That Family . So I'm chimming in with something small. We use one of those scrubbing bubble sprayers in our shower, but the replacement bottles get a bit pricey. Anyway, I tried making my own version (frugal failure) and I didn't want to pay $4 to $6 a bottle for the other stuff. So we put the unit away. I went back to spraying Tilex or other products like that. The box stores have their own versions for around $1.50. Well it just dawned on me ( i mean it's been almost a year), why not put that stuff in my sprayer machine? We did! It works beautifully. No more scrubbing for me yippee! Do you have anything that works for you? Share it over at We Are That Family or just with me if you like. julie

It's another Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family and I'm joining in. Let's start of with 911. I'm truly blessed we have this service in our community! Here's the scoop. Around 10:30 this morning we arrived home from swim team. The family has all been under the weather so Superman was with us. Just down the street from our home he says (rather loudly and very controlled), "What is going on at our house?" Huh? I'm looking all around trying to figure out what he is talking about. Then as we get closer I see 4 police cars then a couple of undercover vehicles.... We pull up just in front of our home and an Officer says,"Sir stay in your vehicle and back it down the street". Superman responds by letting him know one of our Chickadees was in the home. He said that he knew. 6 Officers, GUNS DRAWN start up our front steps to the entry. While other Officers were behind the house ready and waiting. I cannot describe what was goin...

It's another WFMW post. Click on WE ARE THAT FAMILY for a whole bunch of useful tips! As I stated above mine is hanging onions. I arrived home from a meeting last night to find School Girl and Superman hanging them so nicely in our garage. This freaked Urban Girl out who stated that this is only okay to do if we lived in the country, but not for us suburb folks! A couple of books I read said to hag them so the skins could dry. I know someone is laughing out there because we have probably got it all wrong?? Help if your laughing- I'll gladly take constructive advice! As you can see by the pics the onions didn't exactly bulb. I've never been able to get them to do it. I MUST be planting them wrong?? Again, any advice? Well, they are still somewhat usable. When the tips are young I pull a bunch for cooking and use the green parts for dehydrating. Great for soups and such. I think I've mentioned it somewhere before? Anyhoo... It Works For Me, and I didn't h...

Has anyone ever tried Pomona fruit pectin? I usually use Sure Jell Low Sugar but I can't find it locally. I've tried the Ball No Sugar but my stores seem to be out of it also....Hmmm. I live in suburbia and I can't find pectin! Any help on different types like Pomona etc would be appreciated. I think I'm going to have to order online. I'm also having trouble getting lids. Help! I need a bit of advice on pectin. julie

Today's installment of Works For Me Wednesday: Storing Fresh Eggs, but first School Girl asked that I show her Star Wars eggs! L to R: Princess Leah, Jabba , Darth Vador , Luke, Hansolo , C3PO, R2D2, and Chubakka . On to today's subject. We just bought our first store eggs for dying. It's been almost 5 months since I' ve had to do this. So needless to say my store egg cartons were shot and we were starting to lose eggs on the floor. What a mess! So here's what I came up with. They are deli meat keepers from Tupperware and come with egg trays! Each box holds 24 eggs and are they sturdy. They are also easy to clean and help me keep track of what needs to be used first. Here's what I do: The orange container is for freshly laid eggs. Eggs go into this container, but they don't come out until the at least 1 tray from the gray container is empty. I then slide the trays forward in the gray container to make room for a tray from the orange container to go in ...

Bread dough that can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and pulled out and baked fresh as you need it! That Works for Me! AND..... You don't have to knead it!! That really works for me! I was taking a breather this weekend and perusing a bunch of magazines that had been sent our way. I came across a FABULOUS recipe for French Boule . Artisian bread (you know that fancy stuff from the bakery). It was in an old Mother Earth News Magazine. I headed straight to the kitchen. I mixed together: 6cups warm water 3 tablespoons yeast 3 tabalespoons sea salt 13 cups of whole wheat flour (you can use unbleached white or all purpose- you may even get a better rise than I get with WW flour) You'll also need corn meal and a pizza stone for baking. I mixed it all together really well. You can use a mixer if you want, but by hand works. DO NOT KNEAD!!!! Let rise in a loosely covered bowl for 2 to 5 hours. I do about 2 1/2. Transfer bread to a covered bowl/dish for store in fridge. *...

We've been using a surprisingly wonderful face wash for about 6 months. Guess What it is? Olive & Castor Oil! I was really surprised at how well it works and you can customize the formula to you own needs. For people with T-zone, dry or oily conditions. At www.theoilcleansingmethod.com/ they give all the details. I used an old facial cleanser bottle and tweaked the instructions to fit our needs. -15% Castor oil -85% olive oil -Shake and place in shower with wash cloth. - Gently rub 1 to 2 pumpfuls into face, neck, ears etc. (before you get in) -Use the warmth of shower to open pores. -Heat wash cloth with water, place on face for a minute or so. Then gently rub off excess oil, make up and dirt. Like I said, we've been using this for 6 months or so. In that time I've had only 1 blemish ( I'm a t-zone). My face is so much smoother and softer and this is all I do. No more 3 parts, no extra lotions! The above recipe has worked well for dry and t-zone. So we only h...

Don't laugh (okay you can if you want to). But this little megaphone really works for me! Superman and I have joked about getting one for a long time. We've picked them up at sales and put them back down. You see we live in a 2 story home and I feel like I'm always yelling down the stairs for someone. Then if a door is closed we're tap dancing on the floors to get the chickadees attention. (So now you know my dirty little secret.) . I hate yelling and I really don't want it in my life. So sure enough we were at a tool store's side walk sale and found this for $5.99. I've used it quite a bit and I think it will come in handy when it's my turn to run Park / P.E. Day. I wish I had it this fall. (I used a whistle which was a big help.) So now I can just call a Chickadees and not feel like I'm always yelling. That REALLY works for me! Check out a ton of other useful tips at http://www.wearethatfamily.com/ - It's Works For Me Wednesday! julie