March 10th 2009

Editorial

I can’t believe how warm it has gotten all of sudden. We were running around in tshirts and shorts yesterday. Of course it is going to cool down again, but for now, I’m enjoying the 80 degree weather. Unfortunately it is also making me spend less time on the computer to finish an exciting new project that I can’t wait to share with you. It’s not quite ready yet, but I should be able to tell you more about in a week or so.

HBHW reader Maureen asked me if I could ask everyone if they had any good St. Patrick’s Day Recipes. I have quite a few of them and am planning on putting a special Patty Day Edition together. If you have a recipe you would like to share, send it my way and I’ll be glad to include it. And of course keep an eye out for a special St. Patrick’s Day edition later this week.

That’s it for this week. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to email me at susanne@hillbillyhousewife.com

Warm Regards,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

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Inspirational Quote

“If a man could have half his wishes, he would double his troubles.” - Benjamin Franklin

Reader Question

My name is Josie. I was just wondering if you had any ideas, or recipes for a pork bone? I bought a pork shoulder, and I cut it up to make a stew. I never threw the bone away, because I felt bad and thought maybe there was something I could do with it.

Josie

Hi Josie,

I would stick it in a large pot with some dry pinto beans and cook it for extra flavor with the beans. If you don’t want to cook beans right now, you could freeze it until you’re ready to cook the beans, then thaw it for a day in the fridge before starting the beans. I’m sure it would add a lot of flavor to any type of hardy homemade soup as well.

Featured Article

This week’s featured article was written by my friend Tawra from LivingOnADime.com and I just posted it to the blog. The article is about frugal gardening and is jam-packed with tips and advice to grow your own fruits, vegetables and herbs without spending a fortune.

Frugal Gardening Tips

Frugal Tip – Make Your Own Cleaning Products

I have a confession to make… I used to spend a small fortune each year in cleaning products. I tried just about every new thing on the market, hoping it would make cleaning faster and easier. It wasn’t until we sat down and kept track of what we were spending where until I realized just how much money went to various cleaning products and gadgets (like the Swiffer sweeper for example…a mop or an old towel do a much better job cleaning my floors). I began experimenting with homemade cleaning products, and frankly, warm water, vinegar, baking soda and the occasional drop of Dawn Dishwashing Detergent for really greasy stuff, are about all I use these days.

(Poto Credit G & A Sattler)

Since we’re on the topic, here is a recipe for Laundry Detergent that fellow HBHW reader Deb emailed me. Enjoy!

I was given this recipe awhile ago by friend of family. It works great and have not paid for soap and saved tons of cash over time. I made mine and put into a large plastic square container that is used for storage in the garage instead of plastic bucket.

Here is the recipe for the laundry soap.

• 1/3 bar Fels Naptha soap
• 1/2 c washing soda
• 1/2 c borax

Grate the bar soap into saucepan. Add 6 cups water and heat until melted. Add soda and borax, stir until dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into bucket. Add soap mixture and sir. Add 1 gallon plus 6 cups water and stir. Let sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. Use 1/4-1/2 cup per load.

Enjoy. The bar soap is available at Smith’s. Possibly Albertson’s. I got mine at Smith’s. Take care. Deb

Frugal Tips From Our Readers

Re: rice in the crockpot (in case you wanted to hear more!) when I make dinner in the crockpot, I mix in uncooked white rice about 1/2 hour before I want dinner. With brown rice, I’d go for 1 hour beforehand to be sure. As with all things crockpot, it’s not the same as stovetop, but I find it to be an acceptable substitution.

Karen K.

I do have a tip to share. A few years back my Aunt suggested I stop cooking my lasagna noodles prior to preparation of Lasagna. I haven’t cooked a lasagna noodle since! Put them in raw. They cook beautifully, if you tend to like a “dryer” lasagna then I would use a little extra liquid but not much is needed. This is a great time saver and cleanup is much easier now.

Lisa

I have a friend who works in a cafeteria. She saves me the aluminum pans that dinner rolls come in. These will be perfect for packing and freezing my meals in. I am spreading the good word about the site. I have a feeling we’re going to go through some rough times before the economy gets better.

Delores B

Here are a couple of websites that might interest you or the homeschoolers that read your website and newsletters. www.enchantedlearning.com is available for personal at home memberships at $20.00 a year and you can get access to the site before paying a membership fee to see if it is something that interests you, they have a variety of activities for kids, and some preschool items as well as craft ideas. www.50states.com is also another great site, which has a variety of facts collected about each of the 50 states. Both of these sites are great for kids to find some rainy day fun or just to fill in the blanks, and give them something to do and they have fun learning at the same time, as well as making it easier on mom to assist them in doing a research project. These are something to encourage parents to share with their public schools as well because they can get access to one at a school membership for www.enchantedlearning.com for $75 for a year for all of the classrooms.

Have fun and hope you enjoy!

Kimber

Instead of buying those packets of cornbread mix I make my own. I buy self raising meal at the store and then make up my packets of 1 1/2 cups of meal for each pkg. I put this in the cheaper storage bags. When I want to make my corn bread I pop out the packet and add one egg and milk. This make 6 corn muffins. I buy the store brand 5 lb for around 2.00 and it makes lots of pkgs.
Joyce from Oklahoma

Featured Recipe

This week’s recipe is a Peach Crisp. I just love the flavor of it and it makes such an easy and delicious dessert. If you want to “dress it up” a bit for company, just serve it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

Reader Recipe

I think this is the first time every, that I didn’t get any random reader recipes via email. If you have one to share, send it my way. Just email it to susanne@hillbillyhousewife.com.

I’m Looking For?

This section is going to be all about you. If you are looking for a particular recipe or a tip on how to do something, email it to me and I will post it in an upcoming newsletter. I’ll give you my input and will also post any suggestions other readers of the newsletter come up with. So take a moment to write me your questions and of course if you have a tip or idea for any question posted in this section feel free to send me that as well.

Here’s this week’s requests:

Would you have such a recipe in your files? I had one from a fellow cook who was on TV, named Mad Coyote Joe in Phoenix and Cave Creek, AZ. In moving to Nebraska, I lost it. Hope you can find it for me.
Mike K

We are on a tight food budget, and doing pretty well, but one thing I have simply hated to give up is Fage brand Greek 2% yogurt. This stuff is delicious, makes a healthy and filling snack or even a quick “Mom meal” in an emergency. But it costs over $4 per 15 ounce tub, and BJ’s does not carry it. Do you have a good recipe for making greek style (strained) yogurt?
Nancy Bea

I am looking for a simple quick way to make package county gravy like you buy in the store. I have looked online and have not found it yet. I would love to make up several pkgs and keep in my pantry.
Joyce from Oklahoma

I recently bought some powdered cheese from my bulk food store and I was wondering if you had any recipes that would use powdered cheese. (other than mac and cheese)
Becky

And here are last issue’s requests followed by the recipes and ideas submitted since then:

I had baked fennel at a resturant that was delicious and assumed I could find recipies for this on the web. No such luck. It was very moist and lightly seasoned. Any ideas how to make this would be much appreciated. – Marilyn B

We love fennel. It’s way too expensive down here and I’ve not been successful growing it but we eat it whenever we can, baked and as a salad!
Here’s our recipe:
Cut off all the green tops of the fennel so you have the bulb. Cut In wedges about 1/2″-3/4″ thick and be sure to remove the core. Boil in salted water for 2-3 minutes (or microwave in an inch of water covered for a few minutes). Just till a bit tender.
Make a white sauce: 1/2 cup butter melted in a saucepan; add 1 cup flour and whisk vigorously, then keep stirring on heat for a couple minutes to remove the flour taste. Now dump in 4 cups milk and whisk to remove lumps. Keep cooking on med and whisking and scraping the bottom so you won’t have lumps. Add 1 to 1-1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg or so for flavor. When big bubbles come to the top it’s done. Add a cup (2 handfuls) of Parmesan. Stir.
Now place the fennel in a Pyrex dish not too deep and pour the sauce over. Heat in the oven till browned on top! I put another sprinkling of Parmesan on top before baking. Yum!
If you don’t have much fennel halve the white sauce or save it for an Alfredo sauce!
For a great salad just slice up the fennel and toss with sliced onion, maybe a couple raisins or sliced oranges even, salt, olive oil and lemon juice! Yum!
And while on the subject, try sicilian orange salad! It’s an old family recipe. Cut up oranges in bite sized pieces, add thin sliced green onion, dress with salt, olive oil and cider vinegar! Best if it sits 30 min or so. My whole family adores this! Sounds weird, but it’s amazing!
Buon appetito!
Dia In Texas.

Being from an “old time” Italian family, we roast fennel all the time. It’s great for digestion and tummy aches as well as tasting great! It has tons of health benefits as well. Here’s my recipe for roasting it.
Roasted Fennel Recipe
2 fennel bulbs – rinse, drain, slice off 1/4 ” of bottom, quarter whole bulb
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line a baking sheet with foil and lay fennel in single layer
Drizzle with olive oil
Drizzle with balsamic vinegar
Sprinkle with desired seasoning – garlic powder, Italian seasoning, cracked blk pepper
Roast for 15-20 min. until the fennel caramelizes
I always take advantage of the hot oven and roast some garlic, onions or whatever veggies I may have.
Janie

I have a cleaning question. How do you get melted crayon off of clothing or upholstery? – Erica T.

Many, many years ago I came across a nun with a brown paper bag and an iron in a Catholic church and couldn’t help but ask what she was doing. So she showed me where there were numerous candle drippings (melted wax just like crayons) on the carpet & linens. She then laid the brown paper bag over the hardened drippings and proceded to iron the bag. The iron melted and pulled the wax out of everything and the brown paper absorbed it all. It can be time consuming depending on the size of the mess, but it really does work magnificently! And yes, it does work on crayon mess too!
Kim H.

To remove melted crayon from clothing or upholstery place a paper towel over it and then iron on “warm” setting. The wax will seep into the paper towel. Repeat with a clean section of paper towel as many times as necessary.
Jennifer C.

The method for dealing with candle wax is to place a clean piece of brown paper (like from a lunchbag) over the wax, then use a dry clothing iron (not on steam!) to melt the wax into the paper and off the clothes/couch. I would think that would work for crayons, too.
Karen K

CRAYON REMOVAL

Fabrics:

Place the article of clothing with your childs beautiful art work between paper towels.

Press it with a warm iron.

Repeat this process with a new paper towel.

Then clean with dry-cleaning solvent.

Wallpaper:

Put a commercial spot remover on the surface.

Let it dry.

Then simply brush the crayon off.

Wood Furniture, Furniture Fabrics, Floors, Carpet:

Spray on shaving cream.

Then wipe off your childrens handy work with a paper towel.
Maureen

This is for Erica T. who was looking fo a solution to get crayon off sofa—I while back I was living in an apartment and vaccuming carpets when I knocked over a lit candle. Wax went everywhere so I am asumming this might work for you as well: I wet a white dish towel damp and wrung out, laid it over spot, then took iron to the towel. It soaked it all back through and stayed on the towel. This was a red candle and left a slight stain but was easily removed with a spot cleaner for carpet. Hope this is your solution~Jen

Jeniffer S

In response to the lady who wants to get melted crayon off of clothes and upholstery: I have had great success getting crayon out of clothes by rubbing GOOP(or any hand degreaser sold at the automotive store) into the crayon spots (clothes must be dry). Make sure the stains are well saturated, rub at them a bit, then wash like normal. I’ve never had to deal with upholstery. Since all of my stains have been caused by vagrant crayons in the clothes dryer, this does work on dried in stains.
Heather M

For the lady looking to remove melted crayons, put a paper towel on the crayon, place a warm iron over it, this should take off most of the melted crayon. May have to turn up the heat on the iron, & keep changing the paper towel. If it leaves a stain from the color of the crayon, have to check with someone on removing the color. My husband was a janitor for our church. We used this method to remove candle wax on the pews from a Christmas Eve Service. Hope this helps.

I have been looking for a recipe for Caramel Cobbler. I have checked numerous websites and have come up with nothing. I was wondering if you could help me out. – Janet H.

There is a recipe right on the hillbilly housewife site called caramel dumplings. (http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/carameldumplings.htm) When I made this, is reminded me very much of my grandmother’s caramel cobbler that she used to make. You may want to try to make it and see if this is the dish you are looking for.
Amiyrah

I just read your newsletter and saw the request for the CARAMEL COBBLER–I am not sure if this is what they were looking for but it is delicious.

CARAMEL PEAR PUDDING
mix: 1 cup flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Beat in: 1/2 cup milk until smooth

Stir in: 4-6 pears peeled and cut in 1/2″ cubes
1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

Spoon into ungreased 2 quart baking dish

In another bowl combine:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup boiling water

Pour over batter. Do not stir. Bake uncovered 375 degrees for 45-50 min.

Ranch Pudding (Caramel Cobbler)

Here’s a quick and easy dessert that is a cross between a caramel cobbler and the Hot Fudge Pudding Cake.

Ranch Pudding

1 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 1/4 cups Bisquick
1 cup raisins or chopped dates
1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix 1 cup brown sugar, water and butter in saucepan; boil 5 minutes. Pour into 8-inch square pan.
Mix remaining ingredients in bowl. Spoon batter on top of sugar mixture. Bake 45 minutes.
Serve warm with whipped cream.
Maureen

I think I may have the recipe that Janet H. is looking for. In Canada we call it Cottage Pudding. I have sent along a very old recipe for this that my family really enjoys.

COTTAGE PUDDING

1 ½ cup flour

½ tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

¾ cup milk

Just dump the lot in a bowl and mix really well. Bring to a boil ¾ cup of water and ¾ cup of Maple syrup. Pour into a greased 9” square pan or a casserole dish and then pour in the batter. Bake at 350oF for 55 – 60 min.

NOTES: Very good. This is a Self-saucing pudding. For a really good pudding DOUBLE the sauce and put it in a large casserole.

For the Maple syrup you can use the artificial stuff or the home-made version if you do not have the real thing, all will work very well.
Deb. C.
Years ago I made a fruit salad that had (among other things) vanilla instant pudding and crushed pineapples. I have lost the recipe. Can your readers help? – Amy

My mom used to make this same salad. It was a favorite of many friends and family. Since my mom passed away I haven’t found the recipe. However, I believe it uses the juice from mandrine oranges and pineapple in place of the liquid for the pudding. Make sure you use cooked pudding. My mom used strawberries, mandrine oranges, pineapple, blueberries, and bananas in her salad. I think I might have try to make this myself. Sounds yummy. I hope this is what she is looking for.
Laurie

Inspirational Story

THE WORLD IS A PUZZLE

There was a man who had a little boy that he loved very much. Everyday after work the man would come home and play with the little boy. He would always spend all of his extra time playing with the little boy.

One night, while the man was at work, he realized that he had extra work to do for the evening, and that he wouldn’t be able to play with his little boy. But, he wanted to be able to give the boy something to keep him busy. So, looking around his office, he saw a magazine with a large map of the world on the cover. He got an idea. He removed the map, and then patiently tore it up into small pieces. Then he put all the pieces in his coat pocket.

When he got home, the little boy came running to him and was ready to play. The man explained that he had extra work to do and couldn’t play just now, but he led the little boy into the dining room, and taking out all the pieces of the map, he spread them on the table. He explained that it was a map of the world, and that by the time he could put it back together, his extra work would be finished, and they could both play. Surely this would keep the child busy for hours, he thought.

About half an hour later the boy came to the man and said, “Okay, it’s finished. Can we play now.?”

The man was surprised, saying, “That’s impossible. Let’s go see.” And sure enough, there was the picture of the world, all put together, every piece in it’s place.

The man said, “That’s amazing ! How did you do that ?” The boy said, “It was simple. On the back of the page was a picture of a man. When I put the man together the whole world fell into place.”

Final Thought

That’s it for this edition of the Hillbilly Housewife Newsletter. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading it as I had creating it for you. I also hope that you have found the information helpful and useful. And by all means feel free to forward the newsletter to family and friends or even better, encourage them to subscribe to it.

Do you have a question, a tip, a recipe or a story you’d like to share with us? Email it to me and I’ll include it in a future issue. Can’t wait to see what you have to say.

Warm Wishes,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

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