Tips to Help Manage Your Household

I have always enjoyed sharing tips to make life easier in your home.

Hope these help make an improved difference in your life...

My favorite tip has always been.... place a cup of water - along with about 2 T. lemon juice - in a glass cup and microwave for atleast 5 minutes.  Keep the door shut - the steam will moisten the splatters, and you should be able to easily wipe  it clean.   Your microwave will smell lemony fresh.

When using your hand mixer - place your bowl in the sink to mix.  The splatters in the sink are much easier to clean than to have them all over
your cupboard and counter.

Ziploc Omelets

We had these omelets for a family brunch not long ago and they were such a hit! They'd be the perfect breakfast for your next camping trip!

Ziploc Omelets

This works great! It's good for when you're alone or all your family is together, and can be enjoyed over an open fire cookout.

Have your guests write their names on a quart size ziploc FREEZER bag with a permanent marker. Crack 2 eggs into the bag (not more than 2). Mash with your hands

.

Put out a variety of ingredients such as: ham, prepared bacon, onions, cheeses, tomatoes, hash browns, salsa, etc.

Each guest adds prepared ingredients of their choice to their bag and mix well with your hand.

Make sure you get all the air out of the bag and zip it up.

Place the bags into rollling, boiling water for exactly 13 minutes. (Pan needs to be deep enough so bags are floating, and not touching bottom of pan) You can cook 6 - 8 omelets at once in a large pot. If you are fixing more omelets - make another pot of boiling water.

Open the bags and the omelet will roll out easily. Be prepared for fun and everyone to be amazed.

As a Bonus - Taste of Home offers this great Summer Camping Guide for your next camping trip!

I'm Just a Flag Waving American

What a glorious 4th of July! Trust your celebration of our nation's birthday was as filled with patriotism as mine was.

We attended the parade in the little town close to where I grew up. It's just a 'podunk' kind of town, but many years ago, one of my mom's friends began a July 4th celebration by having the town kids decorate their bicycles, and it has grown into the largest parade in our county. It was an hour and 15 minutes long! Every town in our county is represented with fire engines, rescue vehicles, tractors, old vehicles, horses, the local school band, and kids on bikes.

Cars were lined up for over half a mile in several directions outside of town...amazing! Folks from all over the county come to be a part of this special celebration!

My favorite part was when the (first) flag was brought through at the front of the parade, everyone stood, put their hands over their hearts, and pledged allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Hundreds and hundreds of us at once!

It sure did make me proud to be an American...one from a hometown where it's a good thing to show our patriotism!!

Just gotta love these Small Towns of the good ole USA!

May God bless you and may God bless America!

photo credit: Dru Brumfield

Happy Birthday America!

I've been wanting to share some ideas to help you add special touches to your July 4th celebration, so I decided I would just share this part of my latest newspaper column in the Leader Enterprise......

My mind has been spinning with numerous recipe ideas to help you celebrate the upcoming birthday of our nation on July 4th.

I decorated this cake with jelly beans to look like 'Old Glory". A pretzel rod was used for the pole, but you could also use a black licorice stick.

It’s easy enough to use a purchased pound cake - lay slices of it in the bottom of a rectangular dish, top with blueberries and strawberries, and then whipped topping, and decorate the top like a flag, with more blueberries and strawberries. Or you can bake a cake from a mix, in a 9" X 13" pan, and decorate it likewise.

You can layer berries with pudding or whipped topping in a bowl, and decorate the top with an outline of blueberries in a star shape, and fill the inside with strawberries, or raspberries, if you prefer. Or just make layers in parfait cups for individual servings.

I love the idea of using the store-bought cake rolls to make ‘dynamite’. Use a little string of licorice to make a wick -Stack a few together and tie with a piece of licorice - to add a ‘blast’ to your holiday.

Bake cupcakes (we love them in ice cream cones) and sprinkle the frosting with red, white & blue edible decorations. Or just celebrate with a McDonald’s healthy yogurt/fruit parfait. I enjoy them often!

If you want more ideas, go to this link for some cool patriotic menu ideas...

For Taste of Home's Top 10 Patriotic dessert recipes....

Whatever you decide to do, make it simple and fun and enjoy yourself as we have so much to be thankful for. We can always be grateful to live in the land of the free and home of the brave, and be proud of our country! Let’s not hesitate to throw a big birthday party for the good ole USA!

May God bless America!

Tips to help with Recipe Organization

I LOVE RECIPES.

I love reading them - I love collecting them - I love sharing them - I love making them!

I have sooo many recipes and need to have an 'extra' day in my life to get things organized as I'd like. There are times when I get totally frustrated, because I have Too Many Recipes, and can't find the one I'm looking for.

But I do have some thoughts for organizing your recipes that I want to share.

If you have many cookbooks, have you considered the idea of making a 'recipe file' with the name of the cookbook, the recipe name and page number? I have often kept a list in front of the cookbooks with the recipes I want to try, along with the page number. It helps save me time looking, but what works for one, may not be good for another.

I have a recipe drawer - this is where I keep my most used/new recipes. If it's out of sight, it's so often out of mind, so it's something I go through often.

I use the small flimsy-cover photo albums, and have them labeled with different topics: 9 x 13 desserts, appetizers, 'real food', microwave - whatever you use most, to keep recipes handy. I stand them up on end in the front of the drawer, so they're easily accessible and to view.

I do love the 'make your own' cookbooks - with sections for holding magazine (rectangular) recipes. It helps me clear out the recipe magazines that pile up in my kitchen.

I also keep folders in the drawer - color coded - and store favorite recipes in them. I have one just for 'Favorites from Friends" and write on the manilla folder, which recipe from which gal, because they often get shared too.

I have a friend who tries a new recipe nearly every day of her life and I often get to be a part of taste testing. She sometimes, leaves a sample at my door - and I don't have to wonder who has dropped it off. She keeps a 3-ring binder with recipes/pictures and it's wonderful to go through. I have learned from her, to always write on a recipe what I thought of it, but if it isn't a 'keeper', it gets pitched. I do LOVE recipes - and it's easy to get frustrated if you don't have a system.

Hope some of these ideas make things easier for you in the kitchen.