Scrubbing pots and pans can be disgusting and take a lot of elbow grease if you let them go a long time without cleaning them. At my house we do a lot of frying and my frying pans always look the worse for wear. I always have good intentions of scrubbing the black off the bottom with each use, but those good intentions don’t always get followed through on. Before you know it, the entire bottom of the pan looks horrible!
Recently a friend told me a way to get the black off with only minimal scrubbing. It is extremely easy and can be used to clean more than just pots and pans. This same system can be used to clean grill racks, and your oven. For the pots and pans you need to do this outside. Take a large garbage bag and put the pans inside. Right before closing up the bag, put a cup of ammonia in the bag. You can just pour it in the bag or leave it in the measuring cup. I have done it both ways, but it is less messy if you leave the ammonia in the cup.
You need to leave the bag closed for twenty-four hours, then go back and take out the pans and wash them real good. Most of the caked on stains will come off fairly easy with a scrub pad. I was amazed at how new my pans looked once I finished cleaning them up. You can put the grill racks in the same bag if you have room and follow the same instructions.
For your oven, just put the cup of ammonia on the rack in the oven and leave closed for twenty-four hours. I hope that today’s tip will get your out of the kitchen sooner and make your pans shine!.
Finding cheap ways to decorate is one of my favorite things to do. I love making something look beautiful knowing I’ve spend only a few dollars! Decorating with candles is one of the ways you can achieve a glorious look without spending too much money.
Isn’t this picture above elegant? Taking cheap wine glasses bought as possibly a garage sale are filled with sand and a candle added to achieve this look. When you get tired of the color scheme, just change the color of candle.
Another way to decorate with candles is to group different sizes of candles all in a cluster. Take an uneven number such as three or five candles and cluster them on a shelf in front of a mirror. Or take a mirrored tray and cluster them on the tray. Either of these methods will put off an extra glow due to the reflection from the mirror.
If you have a special candle you want to last a long time, just put the candle in the refrigerator one hour before using and it will burn slower and last longer. When you are buying scented candles, don’t smell them from the top, smell them from the bottom. Some manufacturers only dip the top part of the candle in the scent and when you get towards the bottom the smell won’t be there. If you can smell the scent from the bottom, then the candle is scented all the way through.
I buy most of my candles at the dollar store just for decoration. If I want a really large candle for the scent, I pay more for it. Another cheap trick is to use fish tank gravel to put in the wine glasses and candle holders if you don’t have access to pretty white sand.
I love candles and would love to hear more ideas of how you decorate with candles, so be sure and comment.
Knowing your baking substitutes can save you a trip to the store. I know I hate being right in the middle of baking or cooking something and realize I am missing an ingredient. Today’s blog post is going to be small in writing but big in information. Below is a list a just some of the items you can use to substitute for other items when you are cooking. I have used most of these and they do work beautifully!
One tablespoon of cornstarch = Two tablespoons of all purpose flour
One teaspoon of baking powder = One half teaspoon of cream of tarter and one fourth teaspoon of baking soda
One cup of brown sugar= One cup white sugar and two tablespoons of molasses
One cup of sour cream= One cup of yogurt
One cup of butter milk = One cup of room temp milk and one tablespoon of vinegar
One clove garlic = One half teaspoon of garlic powder
Keep this printed out and put between the pages of one of your favorite cook books for future reference. Happy baking!
I used to hate to open up my bills and see that I was charged a $29.00 or $39.00 late charge, especially if it was only a day or two late! But to be honest with you, I was getting those late charges for one main reason. That reason was that I just didn’t have a regular time I sat down and paid bills and didn’t keep up with the exact due date. Basically, I was lazy. I would just be mad at myself after the fact because I had the money in the bank and could have avoided these late fees. It doesn’t help either that if you have too many of them they turn you in to the credit bureau as a “slow payer”. Thank goodness I figured out a way to fix this before that happened.
But before I figured out this new way, I tried telling my self that every Friday would be my bill paying day and I even bought a expandable folder to keep the unpaid bills in and was so proud that I was getting organized. But…..as you can probably guess, that lasted only about two weeks and I fell back into my old habits again.
I had to come up with something that would work for me and finally I did. If you are having this same problem then you need to give this a try also. A lot of people pay their bills online and I was one of those.(makes it even worse that I could not keep up) But just like paying them by check you still have to know when to send the bill in to get it there on time. Then one day when I was paying the bills online, it hit me. When you pay your bills online there is a little calendar next to the bill you are paying that tells you what day the bank will be able to cut the check and send it out. What I didn’t know is that you can “hand pick” the date for anytime in the future.
There are two ways to use this calendar. If you have a bill that is the exact same amount each and every month you can set up your account to pay this reocurring bill every month and you never have to worry about it again. Except for being sure you have money in the bank!
The other way, and the one that has saved me from late fees is this. Once a week when the bills come in I just enter the amounts into my online bill payer and tell the system what day of the month I wish the bill to be paid. It’s kind of a “set it and forget it” bill paying. Bills always come to the house a week or so early, so i never have to worry about being late or hurrying to get them into the system. By doing this, it takes the pressure off of me that I might be missing or forgetting something. I love it and think you will too. If you have never paid your bills online, you need to try it. It is completely safe and saves you time and money. The bank pays the postage. What could be better than that?
Today I’d like to share with you another way to save money and keep from throwing away food that can be used. Below is a video with step by step instructions of how to make your own croutons. It’s very informative and made me want to go right to the kitchen and get started. I’m always throwing away bread that gets to dried out or old. Take a look and let me know what you think!
So many people have New Year’s Resolutions each year that get them excited about the up and coming year, however many people set the goals too high and don’t quite meet them. It’s okay not to get every single goal completed as long as you are working toward that goal.
My thought is a “New Year – New Life”. I want changes that will last and make my life easier and happier. Four of the top ten New Year’s Resolutions are
More Time with Friends and Family
To Lose Weight
To Quit Smoking
To Get Out Of Debt
Those are really good resolutions to set but most people stop there. Take each and every resolution you have and break it down into attainable parts. Make a road map to success and follow along the trail no matter how hard it is. Reaching the goal will be well worth the struggle.
To make your resolutions or goals for this year sit down and make a list of the things in your life that bother you, frustrate you, or things you would like to change or achieve. This is a great place to start. For instance, getting out of debt…..a resolution most people can relate to. You may think you have no money to save because you are living paycheck to paycheck. Start where you can. Use websites just like this one to learn how to save or make money at home. Do some research and you will find answers. Most of those answers will be complete FREE!
Start small and build up. The more small things you save on the larger your pool of income savings will be. Make your own laundry soap. Five gallons for under $3.00 instead of paying $6.00 or more for one container. The link to that recipe is right here on this blog in Helpful Kitchen Hints.
Want to make easy and quick holiday candy and treats? The holidays are almost upon us and it’s the time of year we start thinking about making home made candies and other treats. I always wanted to make candy but was not so sure I could do it. Most of us just buy candy at the store and put it out for our guest.
Last year I met someone who told me a easy and quick way to make some holiday treats. They are pretty much“dummy proof”. They would have to be since I made them and they were wonderful!
The first one is for people who like nuts. You start with Chocolate Almond Bark which can be bought at any grocery store. The nice thing about Almond Bark is that it’s cheap. For about $2.47 you can by a large package of it. Put the almond bark in a large bowl and microwave for a couple of minutes. It may not look like it is soft, but take a wooden or plastic spoon and stir. You will probably see that it is completely melted.
Next take your favorite kind of nuts and stir in until most of the chocolate almond bark is used. If I don’t have pecans(my favorite) on hand I buy peanuts. I usually buy the extremely large can because it’s cheaper to buy in bulk that way. It takes about ½ of the large can to one package of chocolate almond bark.
Simply stir the nuts real good into the bark mixture and then spread out over a cookie sheet. You may put wax paper down if your pan is old. Once the cookie sheet is completely filled out with the candy you put it in the freezer for about twenty minutes. After twenty minutes you must break the candy up into the size pieces you want and store in a freezer bag or decorative tin. It’s delicious.
The next holiday treat is made with White Almond Bark. It can be bought at the store also for the same price as the chocolate. This time take pretzels, or chex mix and stir into the melted white almond bark. It’s the same principle just different ingredients. Add some nuts it you are like me and love nuts.
Use your imagination to come up with other easy and quick holiday candy and treats. Your family will love you for it! Again, on the white almond bark treat, just put in the freezer for twenty minutes and then you are all set to store or serve.
Making candy and treats this way is so very easy, taste so good, and makes you feel like a five star chef. Good luck and happy holidays. Leave comments on some of your ideas to use the almond bark to share with our readers.
Coupon Codes are what online shoppers, that are savvy, are using. Basically they are digital coupons that entitle the purchaser of the product it goes with, either a significant discount or free shipping.
They consist of numbers and letters that consumers can use when purchasing from an online shopping cart. Some merchants have these coupon codes right on their own website, however others are a little harder to find. Affiliate sites will have a list of 200 or more merchants for you to look at.
If you want to know if the item you are trying to purchase has a coupon code you look at the website for the merchant first, then if none, you can use google or yahoo to find them.
Coupon codes are good to use at anytime of the year, but for gift and holiday shopping they are superb! For instance, the other day I saw one for Victoria Secret. If you shop online with them you would get free shipping if the order is over $50.00. Who can’t spend $50.00 or more in that store!
Shopping online is such a good way to save money on fuel and to be able to search competitors for the best prices. The part that shoppers don’t like is that the shipping is sometimes kind of high. Coupon codes take care of that expense and make shopping online a real frugal way to shop.
Listed below are a few websites where you can find coupon codes.
Fuel cost can be crazy now a days and we want to get the best mileage for our dollar so below are some tips on how to save on fuel.
Buy a car with a better gas mileage.
Don’t drive so fast – just five miles per hour can deduct as much as five miles per gallon!
Warm the car up a couple of minutes before dashing out of the driveway
Check tire pressure at least once a month. Low tires can cause you to lose a mile a gallon
One of the best ways to save on fuel is to plan your trips. For instance….when I have lots of errands to run I map out the course I’m going to go in so I don’t have to backtrack and waste gas. I also don’t run to the store for every little thing. If it’s something I don’t have to have ,then I wait until my next trip to town. So you need an onion to cook supper with and don’t have one…well, either use onion flakes, leave the onion out or try a different recipe.
When I go to town to do all my errands I take an ice chest with me so if I need to pick up groceries I can keep them cold or frozen until I get home. I live a long way from town so this saves me making another trip to town to run my errands. Start paying attention to all the useless trips you make and see if you can combine them to save fuel.
These small things can save you up to $50.00 per month and around my house that is a water bill.
In today’s economy, bargain holidays that save time and money are what most people are hoping and reaching for. There are still a lot of people that have to live paycheck to paycheck and getting ready for the holidays can be quite stressful. Below are some ideas that may save you time and money and help you have a bargain holiday season.
Do some of your shopping online. Saves fuel,time and standing in line.
Prepare meal menus and do chores weeks ahead of time in order to look for bargains.
Don’t agree to attend every holiday party. It takes time and money for clothes and food.
Set a budget for food and presents and stick to it.
If the family is agreeable, draw names for everyone except the children.
Make homemade gifts. People love them and appreciate them more than bought gifts
Guy cards and wrapping paper and gift bags at dollar stores.
Send e-cards to friends and family with email addresses.
I personally make Christmas gifts ever year for my family and then usually buy something small to go along with it. They can’t wait each year to see what I will make. Last year I made knitted neck scarfs. I don’t know how to knit but bought a loom for $10.00 and made them real easy. They looked great.
This year I am making jewelry for them out of polymer clay. I have a friend who is teaching me how. Its fun to do and really lets me use the creative side of my brain.
Whatever you do this year to have your bargain holidays, just remember to think and plan ahead, and you will have a stress free and frugal holiday.
Please feel free to comment with your ideas for saving time and money for the holidays!
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February 5, 2010 | Posted by admin 
Categories: Kitchen Wisdom | 
Tags: cleaning, cooking, kitchen | 
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