Great Household Tips from Moms to Moms...

Everyday Cheapskate

Good Tips Jog the Memory
02/17/2010

---

My favorite tips submitted by readers are the ones that are not only useful, but also entertaining. Today’s first tip made me laugh as I imagined the tipster looking high and low for her car keys, failing to remember for a moment that she’d put them into the refrigerator. It occurs to me that the refrigerator, at work or home, makes for a great “key keeper.” It’s just quirky enough that it might work to prevent the problem of the lost keys.

NEVER FORGET. To save time after work when I need only a few items, I go to the grocery store on my lunch hour. I put the groceries into the refrigerator at work. So I don’t forget to take them home, I put my car keys into the bag with the groceries. Forgetting to grab the groceries is no problem, since my keys are with them. Diane, Oregon

CLEVER NUT. To chop nuts, measure the amount to be chopped into a small plastic bag and seal or fold over one end, leaving just a small corner for air to escape. Pound the nuts in the bag on a cutting board with a wooden or metal meat tenderizer. This saves time and eliminates clean up because you just pour the nuts into the recipe and throw away the bag!Sally P., Ohio

BACON SECRET. To keep your bacon from shrinking when you fry it, roll it in flour and place it in a nonstick skillet. Fry over low heat. You will be amazed how the bacon will keep its shape and size as it cooks. Sue C., West Virginia

BANANA JAM. Instead of throwing bananas out once they turn brown, I slice them into a small casserole dish, sprinkle them with one or two tablespoons of lemon juice, dot with a few tablespoons of butter, add two or three tablespoons of brown sugar and a handful each of chocolate chips and marshmallows. I cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake it for about 20 minutes, stirring half way through. Served in dessert cups with a dollop of whipped cream, my kids think this is a delicious treat! Amanda P., e-mail

CRACKER SAVER. If you open packages of crackers and find they have gone stale, just spread them on a cookie sheet and pop them into the oven on broil. Watch them carefully for a few minutes, and when they start to turn a little brown they are crisp again, perfect for eating. Diane, e-mail
©Copyright 2010 Mary Hunt
Everyday Cheapskate is a Registered Trademark

Helping Kids Succeed

I am certified in the unique process of Kolbe. This amazing education allows me have insight into individuals, helping them understand how they are created and further how to best succeed at being themselves. Kathy Kolbe defines success as the freedom to be oneself! I have included the Kolbe website for your further exploration, I am also available to answer any questions or offer assistance.

With our kids, even from the very youngest age, we Moms want to provide them with the tools they need to be successful at anything they do; whether this be learning to pick up their own toys or speak in public, we want to empower them to problem solve, have an inner confidence, and to be able to handle life as it comes at them.

There is a great advantage to life when we truly understand how we were created and our individual MO's (modus operandi).  This knowledge helps us willingly enter life's situations that will propel us in a positive direction and will also help us avoid those situations that only bring us frustration.  Giving our kids the experience of these truths strengthens their ability to make good choices and sharpens their problem solving skills, these are invaluable tools for their life-long "Tool Kit".

As a parent, having this insight also helps immensely with those "what's wrong with my child?" moments that we all have when they don't don't act (or react) the way we think they should. I find I have much more grace towards my kids because I believe that I understand them and various struggles they encounter. On the other hand I can also direct my accountability of them to specific areas that are of concern. It helps keep our focus on their life as a whole journey, not get caught up in the moments of crisis and to stay the course of what we believe to be God's plan for each of our kids.

I encourage every family to invite the Kolbe Wisdom into their lives and experience the true freedom that it brings and to help our kids succeed!

Precious Family Recipes

One of the most precious gifts I was ever given was a family cookbook. Now, my kids are nowhere near the age of getting married, but it's never too early to think about some special things in their future. While organizing my loose-leaf recipe pages, you know the ones you tear out of magazines because they look so good but you never get around to making them? Yah, those. I put the ones that I REALLY am going to make into my Recipe binder, which was bursting at the seems with old favorites, family heirlooms, and 

those yet untried; it was too many!

I purchased a new binder just for those family favorites, ones that have a story behind them or have been passed down and covered them with sheet protectors. Now, I can also record the origins and special notes as I cook these family recipes in preparation for one day passing them on to my kids for their own "Family Heritage Cookbook", what a precious gift!

One advantage to clearing these out of the old recipe binder, was I made more room to store those recipes I have yet to explore and discovered many that I put on this week's menu with a renewed commitment to test the untested, maybe there is a future "Family Fav" yet to be discovered!