Making Cents Of It All

Apple cider vinegar is easy to make you just need to make it in advance of when you need it because it does take a while. Ingredients * apple scraps (cores and peels) * 2 cups of filtered or bottled water * 2 Tablespoons of cane sugar Directions I use a sterilized quart jar. Fill the jar 3/4 of the way with the apple scraps. Dissolve the sugar into the water. Pour the water over the apple scraps into the jar. Make sure the scraps are completely submerged. If they are not they will mold. Use something on top to keep them submerged. I use a shot glass or glass bowl. Take a coffee filter and put it over the top. Use a canning ring or a rubber band to keep it in place. It needs air so do not put a solid cover on top. Date the coffee filter if you are going to do more then one batch. Store in a dark place that it will not get knocked over. After 4 weeks, strain the apple pieces out. Put them into the compost. Cover the jar again with a coffee filter and put it back into a dark pla...

I have been going through the pantry cleaning and organizing it. I do it at least once a year. Things get moved around and this is a great way for me to check everything.  I came across a few cans of soup that expired the end of 2018. Hubby was traveling this week so it was a good time to make broccoli cheddar chicken. It is one of my favorites. Unfortunately now that I am on a low sodium diet, I don't make it often.  I steamed a head of broccoli that is cut up.  I cut up a pound of chicken breast and put it all in a casserole dish. I add 2 cans of soup with a can of water(I use the water from the boiled broccoli). I cook at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. I then add some cheddar cheese on top and cook for 5 more minutes. We love cheese.  I make homemade mashed potatoes with it. It is so good.  The kids are happy to eat any leftovers. I would but I have to watch my salt.   No one died from using the cans even though the...

I got 2 cabbages on sale this week for 17¢ a pound. It was time to make coleslaw. - shredded cabbage (I used a 2.5 pound one) - 3 carrots shredded - 1 cup mayo - 1/4 cup sugar - 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar - 2 Tablespoons lemon juice - 1 Tablespoon prepared horseradish - 1/2 teaspoon onion powder - 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard - 1/2 teaspoon celery salt - 1/2 teaspoon salt - 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper Mix everything together except the cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Make sure the sugar dissolves. Fold in the cabbage and carrots. Store in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. I like to leave it over night so that everything marinates really well. Enjoy!

It was Hubby's birthday and he wanted a carrot cake. This is his favorite one.  4 eggs 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 3 cups grated carrots 1 cup chopped pecans ( I used walnuts) 1/2 cup raisins (optional) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl beat eggs, oil, sugar and vanilla together Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon Chop nuts if desired Stir in carrots, raisins and nuts. Pour evenly into 2 round pans Bake for 40 minutes. Let it cool in pans for 10 minutes and then remove cakes from pans.When fully cooled, frost  as desired. I added nuts to the top also. I use Duncan Hines vanilla frosting because it is dairy free and our favorite. I always have the ingredients in my pantry so it it easy to make for any occasion....

It was Hubby's birthday last week and we celebrated it several days. He loves carrot cake so I made him a dairy free one. YD does not like carrot cake so I didn't have to try and make a dairy free, gluten free one. Can you figure out how old he is? I made Hubby french toast with lots of bacon for breakfast and burgers with homemade waffle fries for dinner. The birthday person gets to pick what is on the menu on their birthday in our house. My son was treating Hubby to lunch on his birthday, so YD and I were having leftovers. Unfortunately, the restaurant they wanted was closed that day. So they had leftovers too. My son gave him an IOU for lunch another day. Hubby got lots of wonderful gifts. My sister took us out to eat during the week since she wouldn't be around on his actual birthday. Hubby really got spoiled this year. I pulled a turkey out of the freezer. It was one of the 39¢ ones I got around Thanksgiving. It was 20+ pounds. We did the full Th...

I was running low on bread crumbs. I went to my freezers and started pulling out bread that I could make breadcrumbs with. Thanks to my son's job, there is never a shortage of bread items in our house. I grabbed Italian bread and lots of bagels. I used plain, sesame, poppy and everything bagels. They work well as bread crumbs. I turned the oven to 400 degrees and started cutting everything up.   I then layed them out on cookie sheets. They went into the oven for 15 minutes. They were toasted when they came out. Into the food processor they went. After a minute I had crumbs. I then sift mine. We like fine bread crumbs The big chunks are put back on a cookie sheet and go back into the oven for another 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn them. Burnt breadcrumbs are not good.  Then I put them back into the food processor. When I have a large quantity of fine bread crumbs I pour them into a container. I use old nut or herb...

If you have ever read any of my  Friday Freebies  posts, you know my son brings home lots of bread and bagels from work. I am trying to use more of what I have instead of buying processed foods. Hubby and I are trying to watch our weight/lose some so I have been making lots of salads. Hubby is allergic to dairy(butter, milk, cheese) and lots of croutons that you buy in the store contain dairy. I used to make croutons all of the time but have been lazy about it in the last few years. Not any more.  I took one of the plain bagels and cut in in half. I then cut in into slices Then I cut it into cubes.  I put them into a covered container.  I added olive oil, parsley, garlic powder and onion powder. I covered it up and shook it. I then put them on a cookie sheet. I baked them at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. They came out perfect! We had a big salad for dinner. I put out lots of toppings so every...