Don’t laugh at me but I am not a gardener.   I will, however, try to grow my own herbs and spices this summer.  I loved cooking with fresh basil and bay leaves in my Lasagna Soup and Lindsey was very encouraging.

So try growing something this summer with your kids.  I bet they will have a ball.  And Lindsey is right, if they help you grow it, I bet they will help you eat it too!  What a great way to get some veggies in your kids without a fight.

Last night I tried a great soup from Family Fun Magazine.  It was a great lasagna soup.  It took about an hour from start to finish but it was souper easy! No pun intended.  Both Turkey Butt and Little Man loved it.  Turkey Butt’s job was putting the cheese mixture on the bottom of the bowl and then putting the mozzarella on top.  She loved it.  I had never chopped herbs before.  I had alwasy used dried herbs but I have a fantastic small processor and use it for everything.  It made quick work of both the onions and the basil.  Hope you enjoy it.

So my family loves pork tenderloin.  It is already seasoned and tenderized.  All I have to do is stick it in the oven and voila! In 30 minutes, I have a delicious protein and I didn’t even have to do anything to it.  I love that.  But normally, I wait until Food Lion puts their’s on sale BOGO.  Then they are only $4 a piece.  I can swing that.  So when I was at Wal-Mart today, I noticed that they had their Smithfield Pork Tenderloins for $3.97.  That was the recgular price so I bought 3 …

• a garlic and herb,
• a teriyaki,
• and a rotisserie

My family will be very happy tomorrow and I will have a quick dinner on days when I don’t get home until 6:30.

So I was at Wal-Mart today <UUGGHH!!> and was comparing chicken broth.  I usually buy the carton broth as it is usually cheaper.  But to day I noticed that it was $.06 or twice the unit price as the can.  I was shocked to realize that the difference was so much.  I got the cheaper version which was actually not the Wal-Mart Brand at all.  So my chicken broth was $.031 per oz instead of $.06.

You need to keep this in mind at the bulk stores as well like Sam’s Club and Costco.  Take that calculator and watch your per unit cost.  It won’t take long to figure out the good deals from the same savings.

I jsut went and bought the ingredients for my rice casserole this morning.  When I totalled it up, I spent less around $2.70 for all the ingredients for my rice casserole, which will easily feed a family of 6.  I thought I would share it with you in case you are tight on funds this year and need an idea or two to save money and yet eat well.

• 1 can Beef Consume - $.99
• 1 can French Onion - $.99
• 1/2 cup butter - $.40 (the original recipe called for 1 stick of butter but I try to cut it in half)
• 1 cup rice - $.30
• 1jar/can mushrooms ( I have to leave this out since my wonderful husband thinks they taste like dirt.  I married him anyway:)

Here is the hard part … Dump it all in a bowl and bake it at 350 degrees for an hour.

Hope you like it.  It is a family tradition at our house.  I also hope you enjoy your family this Thanksgiving.  Our family will be missing a very important  member this year and I hope only to cry a few times.

Happy Thanksgiving from Karen and I.  We are so very thankful for all of you.

I love a bleached sink.  I love the idea of a clean sink.  I admit I have a sink fettish!  My entire house can be a mess (and usually is) but my kitchen sink has to be clean.  This Thursday Cleaning challenge is uber easy.  Just fill your kitchen sink with hot water and a cup of bleach and walk away.  Don’t even think about it for 10 minutes.  Then just drain and rinse.  Uber Easy.

We have used the same dishes since we got married 10 1/2 years ago.  Our pfaltzgraff pattern has since been retired and my husband has made the comment lately that they are stained and chipped.  You can’t really replace them and I said they were great!  Yes, I would love to upgrade but I have other things to spend my money on.

So I was curious, how long have you had your dishes?  Do you replace them when you redo your kitchen or do you use the same pattern all year round?  Just curious.  Tell us both in a comment and vote in the poll.  Looking forward to hearing from you.

I love honey.  It is an all natural food that is pure and can be eaten straight out of the comb.  I will add not to give it to your infants less than 1 year due to the pollens in the honey.  But did you know there are tons of healthy benefits from honey?  And it’s cheap!  Here are a few that I found are great.

1. Hot Totties for a cold and cough - 1/3 lemon juice, 1/3 whiskey, and 1/3 honey; heat it and drink a shot every 6 hours
2. Cough - 1 tsp when needed
3. Laxative - Put some in your drink to cleanse your colon
4. Protectant - Bug bites and small cuts can be protected by putting honey directly on the wound to keep dirt and germs out until you can treat it.
5. Calcium - Some studies have shown that honey can help you retain calcium.
6. Sedative -Ok this is a stretch but put some honey in a cup of warm milk helps you sleep.
7. Hangover Helper - Put a few tablespoons on bread to help speed up the metabolism of alcohol.
8. Eczema - Use honey soap to reduce eczema
9. Fights bacteria - Honey evidently inhibits bacterial growth
10. Healthy - Great source of Antioxidants

So enjoy eating honey every day, multiple times a day with no worries.  Use it instead of sugar to sweeten your drinks.  It has fewer calories and more benefits than sugar.  AND it’s cheaper.

I had heard it before and finally had the opportunity to put it into practice.  I love the foaming dishwashing detergent when I have to wash my pots and pans but I hate to pay full price for that form as it is much more expensive.  But if you buy the regular dishwashing soap and then put a mixture of 1.4 regular dishwashing soap and 3.4 water, then you have the magic formula for foaming dishwashing detergent, only much cheaper.

I know I should have been packing, but a person needs a little down time, right?  Anyway, I stumbled across an article at lifehacker about refurbishing your appliances with stainless steel contact paper. 

I’m sorry, but I just can’t wrap my mind around this one.  Contact paper?  Really?  Has anyone else seen just how ugly and tacky this stuff can be?   ;)  When I think of contact paper, I still have terrible memories.  I remember going over to someone’s apartment and seeing their nice solid wood cabinet doors covered with flowered contact paper.  It was SO UGLY!!!!!  To each his own, I guess.

I suppose it’s possible that the stainless steel contact paper is thick and durable and is nice quality.  It would definitely be a more frugal option than replacing your appliances.  In case you’re interested, here’s a tutorial.

Has anyone seen this stuff?  I’m curious to know.

photo source