Today I gave a talk at the San Antonio Homeschool Conference and met so many great, friendly people!

Here’s a round up of links that I mentioned in my talk.

How to Make Laundry Soap for an HE (or Top Loader!) (note, the recipe I gave in my talk was for a 3.5 oz. bar of soap- this recipe is for a 7 oz. bar of soap, that’s why the quantities are doubled.)

More Frugal Clothes and Laundry

Food Stamp Challenge, 2009
Food Stamp Challenge, 2011
Crazy Cheap Cooking
Real Food, Frugal Food 

Take a look at the posts over there on the right sidebar, too!  Lots of info on how to save money because I never met a penny I didn’t pinch.

Stop by and say “hi” in the comments, and welcome to my “home” on the internet!  Let me know if there’s anything you’d like to learn more about or any questions you have about frugal living.

San Antonio Homeschool Conference originally appeared on Milehimama on May 19, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Mr R is home sick today.

Two days ago, he came home from school and told me his best friend had showed him his tonsils.

“His tonsils were HUGE, Mom!” R says.  ”And there was PUS coming out of them!”

I think I physically cringed.

Ok, first- ew.  Second- since I’m not a 13 year old boy, that is NOT cool.

Sore throat, pus and white spots, swollen tonsils?  That points to the Big Bad S- Strep.

Not only is Mr R home sick, but my throat is scratchy and a few more kids are going down.  I have to speak tonight and I’m speaking at the San Antonio Catholic Homeschooling Conference on Saturday (With Dr. Ray, WOOT!)

Strep?  REALLY?

So, I’m doing all I can to knock this thing out.  I’m taking zinc and garlic (and elderberry, in case it’s viral and not actually strep.)  I’m making juices with kiwi and kale.  I’ve got my spray bottle of alcohol and I’m not afraid to use it.

I’m going to be out of town, and I’m hoping the kids don’t all come down with strep over the weekend while I’m gone and doctor’s office is closed.

Any tips?  {PS, if you’re going to the conference, let me know!}

Big Tonsils Aren’t Cool originally appeared on Milehimama on May 17, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Our house has hardwood floors in the kitchen.

To be more precise, it has engineered hardwoods that are uneven, worn, scratched, and discolored.  You can see some of the messed up boards above- the finish is wearing unevenly.

I love shiny floors but I never could get more than a glimmer on the kitchen floor, no matter what I tried.  I even tried a bottle of commercial floor shine, which wore off after a few weeks and made a bigger mess.

I dreamed of getting a steam mop, but my floors are too damaged for those.

Then I discovered how to clean wood floors that natural, thrifty way.

Tea.

My floors tend to get pretty dirty, so I usually mop first with hot water and a splash of vinegar.  Wring out your mop well- hardwoods hate water.

Make a pot of very strong tea.  I boil a quart of water in a pot and add four tea bags.  You just need the regular, cheap, get-100-for-two-bucks kind.

I use my sink as a mop bucket.

The trick is to mop with the grain of the wood while the tea is still very hot.  See the steam in the above picture?  HOT.  For extra gloss and conditioning if you have scuffed or otherwise unsealed hardwood, add a teaspoon or two of olive oil to the tea.

Linking up!
Works for Me Wednesday

Shiny Floors Make Me Happy! originally appeared on Milehimama on May 15, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Miss C:  I can’t wait until puberty.

Me: Oh?

Miss C: Yes! Because then I will be a woman and I won’t fart anymore.

Me: ….

Miss C: You always say ladies don’t fart.

Miss C on… Growing Up originally appeared on Milehimama on May 14, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

So. Time Magazine. I’m sure you’ve seen the cover, it’s all over everywhere.

My thoughts, in no particular order:

The story is ostensibly about attachment parenting, but the cover pose is definitely not AP inspired.  Ironic.  Yeah, she’s breastfeeding a toddler but in the most unnatural (and non-ergonomic) way possible.

Nice, Time Magazine. Throw moms under the bus four days before Mother’s Day.  The headline tells you the story’s slant: Are You Mom Enough.  I suppose it’s supposed to show a contrast to those crazy moms who wear their babies and cosleep and all that Attachment Parenting Crazy Mothering.

Cosleeping? Awesome. It’s my tried and true solution of New Baby Sleep Deprivation Syndrome.  Baby J is 15 months old and though she puts herself to sleep in her own bed, she wakes every morning with her parents.  I know she probably won’t have firm memories of being snuggled awake, hugged and cuddled, but I do.  I can’t express in words how amazing it is to see my husband holding our baby daughter and loving her asleep or awake.  Those are memories I will store in my heart forever.

You know, this mothering gig is hard.  It’s hard if you have one child, it’s hard if you have nine children, it’s hard if you bottle feed, it’s hard if you nurse.  Why do we have to ignite a mommy war?

Oh, right.  To sell magazines.  I have to say, it’s a brilliant cover.  It’s all anyone can talk about today.  So, yay Time.  Mission accomplished.  Slam mothers and sell covers.  I bet someone got a bonus over that.

Time magazine is manufacturing outrage that a mother would nourish her toddler with her own body (oh my goodness, self sacrifice?  Doing what you think is best for your child, regardless of popular opinion?  Let’s shame those moms! Immediately!)  When will we as a society have an honest conversation about parents who do not sacrifice, parents who check out, parents who don’t actually care all that much about the best foods for their toddlers or spending time with their babies?   Wouldn’t it be more productive to investigate the causes and roots of mentally absent parents, and how we can change the outcome for their kids?

Why are we shocked by a mom nursing a 3 year old? I’m more shocked that she fits in skinny jeans.  I happen to be one of those moms who just cannot lose weight while nursing.  My body just hangs onto everything.  So, I have to say, looking good, mama!

I’m surprised that Women’s World or OK! Magazine haven’t done a spread on The Amazing Nursing Diet. Many, many women find breastfeeding to be the best weightloss program ever invented.  I wonder, if we reframed the nursing debate away from, you know, what is best for baby and instead concentrated on how great mom will look, if opinions would change.

If cosleeping were shown to reduce undereye bags and fatigue, and the increased sleep touted as the best natural energy supplement for new mothers, I’m sure we’d have no problem endorsing it.

The sad fact is that in America, nursing is tolerated (barely) and only then for about a year.  Even the WIC (Women, Infants, Children) program only supports nursing for the first 12 months; once baby turns 1, the breastfeeding mom receives no support and the baby is assigned jugs of homogenized whole milk.  The reason we have “lactivists”?  Because, sadly, moms often have to fight to nourish their baby as they see fit.

Seems to me they should have asked Michelle Obama for a quote.  After all, a baby who’s nursing at 3 isn’t drinking Cokes. And breastfed babies are much more likely to not be obese.  I think Michelle’s next campaign should be Let’s Nurse!

It is amazing to me that our culture tolerates pole dancing classes for toddlers, makeup artists for kindergarten pageants- but then thinks feeding a baby is too sexual.

Thoughts?  I know you have a reaction to this photo- it’s designed to elicit a strong response.  Share your opinion!

So. Time Magazine. originally appeared on Milehimama on May 10, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

You guys know that I participate in Works For Me Wednesday quite often.  I’ve been posting to that meme for years!

Well, they’ve collected the best tips and made it into a book, and a few of my posts made the book!  Whee!

There are over 800 tips in the book.

And just through tonight, 5/9/12, it’s on sale for 50% off.  Treat yourself for Mother’s Day, and get the whole thing for $4.  Use Works4Mom coupon code when ordering.

Hope some of the things that work for me will work for you!
Blogging with integrity- not only did I contribute several tips, I’m also an affiliate for the ebook.  A portion of every sale benefits Mercy House, which is a group home for unwed mothers in Kenya, where women are taught to care for and love their babies while learning skills to support themselves.

Works for Me Wednesday {ebook} originally appeared on Milehimama on May 9, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

HEB recently sent me a Primo Picks gift basket.  Primo Picks are nifty and cool things carried only at HEB stores.   There was some cool stuff in the basket, stuff I normally wouldn’t buy.

Stuff like Lemon Soda, made with organic lemons and real sugar.  Surprisingly good!  It tasted like a lemon drop, not too sour and not too sweet.

Husband dear immediately snatched up That Green Sauce and laid claim to the entire jar.  It’s ok. I know he’ll share with me. After the kids are in bed.

Anyway, Miss E saw a bottle of Memphis Barbecue sauce (no food dyes!) and got ambitious.  She begged- BEGGED-  me to let her cook dinner.  Shew, I don’t need any more prompting than that!  She made barbecue chickens (we’re a two chicken family), rice, and veggies.  Pretty darn tasty, and now the girl knows how to cook a chicken without giving everyone salmonella.  Win-win!

However, she’s still learning portion size and when you are cooking for 11 people, it can be quite a learning curve.  Leftovers? Yeah. Lots.

So, I decided to make a pasta salad.  Always a good way to use up leftover meat and veg and make a chicken stretch!  And, it was handy to have that bottle of barbecue sauce still around.

I’ll be hosting a Twitter party with HEB this Thursday, May 10 at 9pm CST.  Come over and say hi  (@milehimama), and be entered to win a gift card!  Join in using #HEBMoms, see you there!

Blogging with Integrity: HEB sent me a gift basket full of goodies.  They didn’t ask me to write about it but hey, who can’t use a new recipe using leftovers?  

Check out these other great Primo Picks posts!

Chicken Mango Pasta Salad {recipe} originally appeared on Milehimama on May 8, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

You guys know how much I like Sear’s warranty on kids clothes.  I buy almost all the boy’s clothes there just because of their Kidvantage program.

Well, they’re discontinuing it.  As of June 1, Kidvantage is cancelled.  Sears will still honor Kidvantage purchases made before that, if you keep your receipt but from now on if your kids bust a hole in their pants, you’re SOL.

Looks like it’s back to the Carter’s outlet for me, but I’m not sure about the big boys.

Where can you get durable, affordable clothes for teens and tweens?

Bye Bye Kidvantage originally appeared on Milehimama on May 8, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Two year olds are awesome.  They are bossy and clueless at the same time.  And everything is worth a conversation.

This afternoon, my two year old burst in on me in the bathroom. This is not an unusual occurrence, because she will seek me out to make sure she knows all my business.

A: “Mommy! Why are you n@ked?”  {clearly, Mother has lost her mind.}

 Me: “Because I’m taking a shower.”

A: “What?!? WHY are you taking a shower?”  {Unbelievable!}

Me: “Because I’m dirty.”

A: “Oh.”  {This answer stops this in her tracks.  The reasoning is so unexpected, yet so logical}

(ponders)

A: “You’re dirty? You a dirty birdie?”  {Hmmm. Gotta chew this over}

She gives me a squinty eye and nods her head decisively.

A: “Better take a shower.”

Later, after I was drying off, she turns to me with her hands on her hips.

A: “Mommy!  Look at this mess!”

…then she wiped the floor of the shower dry with a washcloth.

Moms with lots of littles, be encouraged.  It won’t always be this hard.  The hardest part is when you have more kids than hands and they are all under five.  It gets better! Someday you might even take a shower in the middle of the day!

Conversations with Allie {washing up} originally appeared on Milehimama on May 4, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Baby J needed new shoes.  She outgrew her old ones- not in length, but in girth.

She has fat feet.

Shopping for wee little baby shoes?  Love that.  Baby feet and baby socks and baby shoes make me squeeeee with happiness and talk in a ridiculous girly voice.

And?  They were on clearance.  Clearance is my favorite price point.

Watch for tornadoes and wicked witches, little one.

Ruby Slippers originally appeared on Milehimama on May 1, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

This week Hubs is starting a new diet.

The diet should be good but hubs chose the cold turkey approach to energy drinks instead of the weaning method.

The first morning is going as expected.  I got a text from him, he’s tired and can’t focus.  I might make him some of my Yerba Mate tea to tide him over.

However, the result is that he’s eating his own stuff, and not the family food.  In order to make it a little easier for him, I’m planning meals that he hates.  The stuff that I make that makes him groan.

I asked the kids, “What do I cook that you love and Daddy hates?” and four of them immediately answered “Salmon!”  Well, not salmon, but salmon patties (call them croquettes, they sound classier.)  I hated these as a kid but they’ve grown on me as an adult, but my kids love them.

The Husband Hates It Menu Plan

Monday:  Pork chops with black beans and sweet potatoes.  (Don’t think I haven’t noticed you picking the pork out and leaving the rest, hubs.)

Tuesday:  Sausage and gravy with biscuits (I personally love this, but the hubs? Not so much.)

Wednesday:  Chickpea burgers

Thursday:  Grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup

Friday:  Salmon croquettes

Weekend: Tuna Casserole, Dal

Here’s the super simple recipe- mix a can of salmon with bread or cracker crumbs, chopped green onion (or onion powder), and an egg.  Form into patties and fry until golden browned.

Is there a dish you love that your husband hates?

Linking up!

Menu Plan Monday 

My Husband Won’t Eat This Stuff {menu plan monday} originally appeared on Milehimama on April 30, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Well, since you guys have been so awesome at answering my purse dilemma and printer questions, I have one more thing I want your opinion on:

Roku.

Do you have it?  Do you love it?

I can buy a Roku and a year of Amazon Prime for the price of two months of cable.  And I think I’ve finally convinced the Husband.

We were cable free for a year and a half, then Comcast changed their rates and bundles so that I could get digital cable for just $20 more than the cost of our internet.  Well, they raised rates and raised rates and now we are paying an obscene amount.

I think we’ve resigned ourselves to the fact that we won’t be able to watch Game of Thrones until next year when the season 2 DVD comes out.

Anything I should know?  Tips, tricks?

Roku? originally appeared on Milehimama on April 29, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

I need a new printer.  I have an inkjet all in one and it doesn’t feed right and drives me nuts with the ink usage.

I think I’m finally ready for a laser printer.

But when I start looking at the ads, my eyes start glaze over.  There’s not really any way to compare apples to apples.  It’s hard to find real life reviews or reliability reports.  Frustrating!

I know you guys are computer savvy.  Do you have a printer you love, or a printer warning story?
Tell me what to look for, what brands are good, what to stay away from!

My needs:

Black and white, or maybe color?  I’m not sure I need a color laser printer.  I mainly print worksheets, text docs, and coupons. In fact, I’ve had my inkjet set on “black and white” only for quite a while.  I never print photos.

Wireless capability. Ideally, I’d love to keep it in the school room so I can print stuff off for the kids at the touch of a button.    Right now, if I want a worksheet or reference page, I have to take my laptop downstairs, plug the printer into it, print (handfeeding each sheet), then go back upstairs (where our school room is.) So, I mostly just skip it.

Scan and copy, maybe fax.  Not a must have, but it sure is nice. I do like being able to use my current machine as a copier.

Help me, readers, you’re my only hope!

I Hate Shopping for Printers originally appeared on Milehimama on April 27, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Vitacost is offering free shipping just for today!

I order most of our vitamins and supplements online.  It’s easier and it’s cheaper.  I do a lot of my research online, and I like just being able to click “add to cart” while it’s fresh in my mind.  When I go into Vitamin Shoppe, it’s a little overwhelming and I forget half my research- am I looking for folate? Folic Acid?  Which one had the good reviews again?  Not to mention, I won’t step foot in a health store if I have the little kids with me.  I learned that lesson the hard way.

So, if you need vitamins, supplements, or pet supplies take a look and see if Vitacost will save you money!

Blogging with Integrity- I get a referral bonus if you sign up for Vitacost through my link, and you’ll get $10 off your first purchase.  $10 credit plus free shipping is a great deal!

Vitacost- Free Shipping plus $10 New Customers originally appeared on Milehimama on April 24, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

This?  Not so useful anymore.  It put in good service, but now it’s a sad, mangled beast that needs to be sent to the greener pastures of the kid’s dress up bin.

Some women have cute shoes for every occasion and purses to match.

That’s not me.  I have two pairs of orthopedic shoes and I’m one of those women who has one purse they take everywhere.  Yes, I’m secretly 70 years old.  Since it’s my constant faithful companion, it has to be just right.

It’s okay, they’re cute orthopedic shoes.

I’m a loyalist to the end.  But even I have to admit it’s time for a new purse.  The front zipper broke.  One of the kids tried to cut the strap with my pinking shears.

The lining tore, so now what goes in might never come out.  (But, bonus, it has a hidden compartment now.)

Sigh.  I hate change.  Also, I’m cheap and I’m not willing to drop three figures on a name brand handbag.  My last one came from Target.

I went to Sam Moon, which is like a Claire’s on steroids.  Seriously, it’s HUGE and it boasts the largest handbag selection around. Easily 400 different purses. Sadly, most of them were ugly.  Several had gotten into a fight with a Bedazzler and lost.  I struck out at Target, too.

Meanwhile I’ve been using a different purse that I had stashed around and oh! I miss my purse.  I miss the pocket for my water bottle.  I miss that it was big enough to hold my wallet and a diaper and a snack.  I miss the rings that connected the strap, because that’s where I always clip my keys. It was just the right size.  Big enough to hold my junk, but not so big that I could overload it and make it weight 300 lbs.

So, internetz, tell me where should I look on my quest for the perfect, affordable purse?

Purse Problems originally appeared on Milehimama on April 23, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

I’m a natural kind of gal.  And I’m cheap.  Around the house, I tend to use homemade cleaners.  I have spray bottles of vinegar and bleach.  I make laundry soap for our HE washer.  We have rags instead of paper towels, and yes I even have reusable baby wipes on hand. We’re all cozy and green and crunchy like.  (Green- as in the dollars I save!)

But if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that cleaning my stove is my housewife kryptonite.   I’ve tried natural cleaning I found on Pinterest. Fail.  Vinegar? Fail. I’ve soaked the burners in ammonia, and set pans of it inside the oven overnight.  I even tried using Tide (got that tip from How Clean is Your House.) Meh.

Well, we have a self cleaning oven.  But, it takes hours and heats up the house. Also, I just don’t think it cleans the oven that well.

Fast forward to Easter.  We dye eggs. Lots and lots of eggs – I usually boil up 5-6 dozen in the hopes of getting at least 4 dozen uncracked ones (that’s 6 each for the kids to color).  Well, that takes freaking forever. So when I saw that my friend Melissa bakes hers, I thought- GENIUS!

So I baked a dozen eggs, just to try. And oh, my friends.  They came out of the oven spotted and brown. Because that’s how dirty my oven was.  It was disgusting. (For what it’s worth, the baking worked great and they tasted fine once the eggs were peeled.)

Something had to be done.   I was desperate.  My stove burners were black and brown and the inside of my oven was a horrible mess.

So I tried something new.

And it worked.   It was so easy.  The inside of my oven is beautiful now (or it will be after I figure out how to get the racks back inside.
I did say it was the EASIEST cleaning method.  You spray, you go to bed, in the morning you simply wipe it away.  Could. Not. Be. Easier.  Unless som

I know.  I should hang my head in shame, having succumbed to the siren song of modern technology and chemicals.  But, sometimes I just need the stove to be clean.  Sometimes I just need it done, quickly, easily, with a minimum of fuss.

And I’m not going to feel guilty about it, and that’s okay.

Do you have any dirty little housekeeping secrets?  {Pun totally intended!}

Linking up!

Works for Me Wednesday

Absolute EASIEST Stovetop Cleaning Method originally appeared on Milehimama on April 17, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Well, mom-bashing is in the news again.  Today, it’s Obama friend and Democratic party strategist Hilary Rosen, who put down Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann.

According to Hilary Rosen, Ann can’t possibly know that women are concerned about the economy.  As Rosen puts it, “His wife has actually never worked a day in her life.   She’s never dealt with economic issues”  See, silly Ann Romney is a – gasp- stay at home mom (SAHM).

BWAH HA HA.

Ms. Rosen, your ignorance is showing. I think in many ways, families with a stay at home parent are even more keenly aware of economic issues.  After all, they tend to be one-income families, and a job loss is utterly devastating when it’s the only money coming in.

Really, Ms. Rosen?  Unless a woman is validated with a W-2, she is unworthy and unable to hold an opinion on economic matters?  Way to set feminism back 100 years.

I’ve never met a SAHM who was not acutely aware of budget, cost of goods, and basic economic principles.  When you are a one income family, trying to care for children, you learn about numbers and cash flow real quick.

Hypocrites?

I’d also like to point out the hypocrisy of our culture’s attitudes toward stay at home parenting.  

If you say you’re a SAHM, you get told “oh I couldn’t do that with the little kids all day”.  But if you tell people you are a kindergarten teacher, they say “What a great career! You must love your job!”

If you tell people you are a SAHM, they think you are wasting your life with household drudgery.  But if you tell them you are a professional organizer, they’ll want to hire you and beg you for tips.

If you tell people you are a SAHM, making your family meals every day, they will say “I could never cook/meal plan/coupon/come up with something every night.”  Tell them that you are a chef, and those same people are impressed and may even start using you to name drop.

If you tell people you are a SAHM and just had a stomach virus run through the family, they will pity you, and shake their heads at what a waste your life has become.  But if you tell them you are a nurse’s aide, or a volunteer at the hospital, they will tell you how wonderful it is that you help sick people.

Oh, and by the way, almost every time I mention I’m a SAHM with 9 children, whomever I’m speaking with says “I could never do that.”

Because it’s “not work” to stay at home full time, right?

Worthless contributions?

Is the Obama administration really so far removed from reality that they think stay at home mothers contribute nothing economically?  Really?

Here are just a few ways I help our family economically by being a stay at home mom.

- No missing work to care for sick children.  There are no man hours lost because of an emergency parent teacher conference, or because the school has a holiday.

- I am able to feed my family for under $2 per person per day.  I’m also able to more easily avoid the processed foods and trans fats that have been correlated to our nation’s obesity problem.

- I can take my children to the doctor during regular hours, saving the extra expense of urgent care or Saturday clinics.  Also, they are rarely sick which I think is in part because they aren’t in daycare (which face it, are often germ factories, even in the most hygienically oriented centers.  It’s just not possible to sanitize toys and equipment between each child, or prevent kids from sneezing on each other.)

- We save a fortune on daycare costs, while ensuring a high level of caring, loving, personalized child care.

- I am a homeschooler, so I save our government up to $12,000 per child (according to the Cato Institute).  Because I stay at home and homeschool, $60,000 is available for other people’s children.  And I pay for all of our books and materials MYSELF.  I don’t even get the Teacher Tax Credit that paid teachers get for spending money on learning materials.

-Non homeschooling parents still save the school money. Who do you think the room mothers are?  Who are the school volunteers?  Who are the chaperones for field trips?

- We’re also saving the environment.  Our family has one vehicle.  There are no exhaust emissions caused by my commute to work or from dry cleaning my professional clothes.

And as for “never working a day in her life”?  I wonder if Ms. Rosen would be up for the challenge of caring, feeding, and clothing 5 children just for a weekend? I doubt it.

Haven’t we moved beyond mom bashing?  What do you think it will take for society in general to acknowledge the contribution of moms (and stay at home dads, too)?

SAHMS Don’t Know Economics? Think Again. originally appeared on Milehimama on April 12, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Got ham?  Need to know what to do with it now?  Here’s a week’s worth of recipes to help you use up that porker.

Ham is a budget’s best friend.  You can buy one ham for $10 and eat for a week.

It was a comfort in those succeeding days to sit up and contemplate the majestic panorama of mountains and valleys spread out below us and eat ham and hard boiled eggs while our spiritual natures reveled alternately in rainbows, thunderstorms, and peerless sunsets.

Nothing helps scenery like ham and eggs. - Mark Twain

DAY 1: Cook your ham and eat it. It is ridiculously easy to roast a ham. Put it in a pan, maybe add some water, put it in the oven, check on it some hours later. A meat thermometer helps.  Glaze if you must – there are tons of recipes online.

Now, for the leftovers.  If you don’t actually want to eat ham for a week, you can cube it for casseroles and freeze it.

DAY 2: Ham sandwiches, of course.  There are many variations on the ham sandwich, from straight up cold cuts to ham salad to fancy Croque Monsieur (make a sandwich, batter it, and deep fry).  Hot ham and cheese is always a hit around here.

DAY 3: Easter Pie.   Think Shepherd’s pie, but with ham.  It’s a great way to use up leftover mashed potatoes, asparagus, or other holiday meal trimmings.  You can use my Turkey Pot Pie recipe, just substitute ham for the turkey, toss in your leftover veggies, and use mashed potatoes for the top crust (though the biscuits would be yummy, too!)  Don’t forget the cheese!

DAY 4: Ham and eggs, classic.  Cut up the ham and either make omelets or a quiche.  Use plenty of veggies and top with cheese to make it hearty enough for a lunch or dinner.

DAY 5: Scalloped potatoes. This isn’t a side dish, but a hearty main dish casserole.

DAY 6: Ham and noodles.  Your ham should be looking pretty bare by now.  Chop up all of the leftover bits and add pasta.  You can add the ham to your favorite macaroni and cheese recipe, pasta carbonara, or make a cream sauce to serve over fettucine.  I love it with peas.

Day 7: Now you’re down to bone.  Time for beans!  You can make a ham bone soup, or we love black eyed peas.  Any recipe for Hoppin’ John should work.  I linked my fave recipe on my sidebar: Blackeyed Peas and Collards.

We love potatoes around here, but you could also make a ham casserole using rice, ham, and peas.  Make a white sauce, add ham, veggies, and cooked rice.  Stir in some sharp cheddar.

What’s your favorite ham recipe?

Leftover Ham Menu Plan originally appeared on Milehimama on April 9, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Easter is right around the corner, and you know what that means!

Deviled eggs.  And egg salad.  And any other hard boiled egg recipe you can dig up.  My mother in law used to put it in her meatloaf.  True story.

But peeling all those eggs is a pain.  Often, by the time I finish my eggs look like they got into an accident with an egg grater. They’re lumpy, bumpy, and sometimes I even tear holes in the white part, trying to get that darn peel off.  Peeling under water helps, as does using older eggs for hard boiled eggs.

Thanks to Pinterest, I found the easiest way EVER to peel a hardboiled egg.  Seriously, how did I NOT know about this before?

Cut your egg in half with a sharp knife.  (Tip: squeeze the egg halves together while you cut.)

Then scoop out the egg with a spoon.

Yes!  Prepare your eggs just like an avocado for beautiful, smooth egg whites and to save a ton of time!

One more egg tip- I don’t have an egg slicer, so I just use my cheese grater.  Makes perfect “chopped” eggs for egg salad or to top chef salads.

This has been your Pinterest Report.  (Yes! I’m back on Pinterest, hooray!) Peeling eggs with a spoon- WORKS!

Linking up!
Works for Me Wednesday 

Easiest Way to Peel Hardboiled Eggs {Tip} originally appeared on Milehimama on April 4, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com

Today we have a guest post from a friend who tweets as MarginFades.  In this recipe, she shows how flexible Indian style cooking is.  She cooks just like I do- using a recipe as “inspiration” but making the dish my own.

As a kid, if I ever lost my appetite due to illness (or had a stomach ache after too much of a meal-spoiling snack), my dad would always entice me to eat just a few spoons of the day’s dal. “Try some ‘dal-soup,’ you’ll feel better,” he’d encourage.

Whether it was masoor, garbanzo or black-eyed pea ghugni, or cholar dal, I’d always acquiesce and have a small bowl. With a handful of rice, it made a complete protein – and even a minute bowl of ‘dal-soup’ is enough to nourish without upsetting a tender stomach.

I’m also a huge fan of vegetables that most people relegate to the sidelines: cabbage and cauliflower are among my favorites, and the curries of both are fairly simple to make. Perhaps it’s the flavors imparted by the spices that make the dishes delicious: even my spouse – a confirmed carnivore when we first met – is a huge fan of the curried cauliflower with potatoes and peas that my mom and I make. With some powdered cumin, turmeric, and salt, aloo gobi (or phulkopir torkari, as it’s called in my family) is simple and amazing.

Though I enjoy the cooking process, life doesn’t allow me much time to devote to fresh-cooked meals – so I like finding creative ways to make my favorites. Imagine my delight at discovering that Debbie Koenig, author of “ Parents Need to Eat Too: Nap-Friendly Recipes, One-Handed Meals, and Time-Saving Kitchen Tricks for New Parents neatly combines two of my favorite dishes into one. Even better, it’s a crockpot recipe.

Debbie’s recipe is “Aloo Dal Gobi (Indian-Style Potato, Split Pea, and Cauliflower Stew)” and can befound on pg. 146 of her new cookbook. The prevailing flavor in her recipe is curry powder, which she readily acknowledges isn’t quite authentic. That’s OK – neither is cooking the two together, but it’s an amazing meld of two traditional South Asian recipes! For my own recipe, I simplified my mom’s recipes for chola dal and aloo gobi, borrowed Debbie’s genius cooking process, and named it after my dad’s propensity to dub all dals as “dal-soup.”

I used what I had in my pantry and fridge.  There are additional ingredients in Debbie’s version that I have not included here, since I did not substitute anything for them.

Aloo Dal

1 small head of fresh cauliflower (gobi), chopped into florets

2 medium potatoes (aloo), peeled and chopped into ½ inch pieces

1 cup dried yellow split peas (chola) – sorted and rinsed

2 onions, finely chopped

turmeric powder (for dusting the cauliflower florets)

2 tsp. cumin powder

1 tbsp. grated fresh powdered ginger

2 tsp. onion seed (nigella, also jeere/jeera)

2 dried red peppers

1 tbsp. mustard oil or vegetable oil (see note, below)

4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth or tepid water

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

1 cup frozen green peas, rinsed

A handful of cilantro, chopped and red onion shavings for garnish

Preparation

- Sort and rinse the yellow split peas.

- Cut the cauliflower into golf ball sized florets. In a colander, rinse the florets, allow them to drain relatively dry – then dust them with turmeric and salt. Toss until the florets are evenly coated.

- Rinse the frozen peas. In a colander, dust with turmeric and toss until the peas are evenly coated.

- In a small bowl, combine the cumin, onion seed, ginger powder and the whole dried red peppers with the mustard oil. With a cover over the bowl, heat in the microwave in short bursts (30 seconds to 1 minute), until the oil bubbles and the spices release some aroma.

—

1. Line the bottom of the slow cooker first with the yellow-split peas, then the cauliflower florets. Pour the bowl of spices in warmed mustard oil over the cauliflower. Layer the frozen peas over the cauliflower. (ed. note: add the potatoes here, or roast/pan fry them and use as a garnish for texture)

2. Pour the warmed water or chicken stock gently around the sides of the crockpot. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours on high.

3. Serve in a bowl with chopped cilantro and shavings of red onion to garnish. Enjoy!

Notes

Every recipe deserves a good taste test (for lunch…and dinner…and lunch again!) – here’s what I enjoyed about the recipe, and a few things I would change when I make it again:

- I used a non-programmable 3 quart Rival crockpot purchased over ten years ago, like this one. It has two settings, high and low. I started cooking the recipe on ‘high.’

- 2 hours into the process, the cauliflower had already started disintegrating. Given the nature of Debbie Koenig’s book, this makes sense – pureed, this would make a great recipe for babies. I like the texture of cauliflower, so I might cut the florets larger next time so they retain their structure. I would also consider starting the crock-pot on “high” and switching it to “low” once the liquid came to a sustained boil.

- Speaking of mustard oil: it’s quite sharp and pungent – if you prefer a milder flavor, try ghee or vegetable oil. Also, this dish was mild to my taste. I typically use a lot more of each spice for a dish authentic to my family’s kitchen. Feel free to adjust spice proportions according to your own family’s taste.

- My spouse is a convert to cauliflower: he’ll happily eat it sautéed in a dry version of the phulkopir torkari / aloo gobi that I grew up eating, as a healthier substitute to his previous fried food craves. For a garnish, I had some extra cauliflower florets that I tossed with the spice/oil mixture then roasted in the toaster oven. For a variation, I might use the roasted cauliflower florets in the main dish, instead of as a garnish.

- You’ll notice the aloo (potato) of the “aloo gobi” portion of the dish got left out of this recipe: the potatoes I had at home had withered beyond use. That’s why I have the word in parentheses in the heading – my recipe’s not strictly correct as written, but not writing “aloo” it makes no sense, because the dish simply is always made with both aloo and gobi.

Just like the cauliflower, I can’t help salivating at the thought of oven-roasted mini-potato cubes drizzled just with mustard oil and salt as a garnish to this dish – not to mention trying the oven-roasted potatoes before adding them to the crockpot.

- While most of the split yellow peas softened and absorbed the spice’s flavors, some of them did not. I’d consider using Milehimama’s quick-soak process the next time I make this dish, and stirring the contents of the crockpot more often (every hour or so, after it comes to a boil).

- I ate this as a main dish served over brown rice, since it had achieved the consistency of a stew. My husband thought it would make a great “cream of” soup – so he pureed it and ate it as such. He liked it!

- As an alternative to cilantro and onion, another garnish could be toasted coconut flakes – coconut is a variation on the spices used to make cholar dal.

Aloo Dal – Indian potato, cauliflower and peas for the crockpot {Guest Post} originally appeared on Milehimama on March 29, 2012. If you see this posted on any other site, please let me know! Leave me a comment on www.milehimama.com