Crispy Bacon in the Oven

This is how I am going to be cooking bacon from now on!

I used this method to cook a pound of bacon today to use in a breakfast dish later this weekend.

The only amendment is that mine took closer to 30 minutes to meet my satisfaction, crispy-wise.

Homemade Colored Sugar Sprinkles

In a pinch for sprinkles when making these shortbread cookies last week, I followed this recipe for some homemade colored sugar.  It is so easy: 1/4 cup sugar + 5 drops food coloring.  Stir.  Then, shake.  And you're set!

I don't think the color is quite as vibrant as buying some premade, but for costing just pennies, it is great.  I will probably be making colored sugar sprinkles like this again!

Soaking Oats for a Beginner

Ew, doesn't the word soaking sound gross, especially when you are talking about food?  It makes me think... soggy.  I used to reason, Isn't it enough that I am eating oatmeal, do I really need to soak it to make it even healthier?  Then, one day when I was prepping to make these muffins (that I make almost every other week if you haven't noticed), I decided to let the oat/buttermilk mixture soak overnight.  And the result was delicious, smoother, less chewy muffins.

So I first came to appreciate the benefits of soaking for taste and texture, rather than health.  About the same time, our microwave went out.  So long oatmeal, you cheap, healthy breakfast.  I had been hearing about the benefits of soaking whole grains for awhile, mostly from Passionate Homemaking, and no more microwave was the perfect time to give it a shot.  I wanted to try Lindsay's recipe the cheapest, easiest way.  I followed directions, but I used lemon juice for the acid medium, and left out the wheat flour for simplicity.  If you read the comments following the recipe, you find that lemon juice, or even vinegar, are appropriate acid mediums as well.

So 1 and 1/2 cup oats, water to cover, lemon juice (just a splash, or it will be too tangy).  Shake it up and set out overnight.  Add more water in the morning to cook.  Takes about 5 to 10 minutes to be ready in the morning - I usually let it get going on the stovetop while I am getting something/someone else ready for the day nearby.  My husband likes his oatmeal much better this way.  It is creamy and not chewy.  You would think we used milk!  It really makes our oats go a lot further, too.  A cup and a half of dry oats will make plenty for 3 of us.  We typically add some combo of brown sugar/honey/tubinado/cinnamon/vanilla/peanut butter/banana/blueberries (but not all!) after cooking.  I have also found that if there are leftovers, gross as they may look, you can put them back in the sauce pan with a tad bit of water the next day and once they are heated through, will be good to go.  (We buy the old fashioned Quaker Oats, 9 lbs. for about $6 at Costco, and this lasts us awhile.)

I am a beginner when it comes to soaking grains. Recipes with oats are all I have tried so far.  And I don't have kefir or even buttermilk on hand, typically.  So I use water/lemon juice or milk/lemon juice (aka mock buttermilk).  These are the recipes I have tried so far, and have found them to be good for a beginner like me - relatively easy and delicious:

Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins (soak overnight instead of 5 minutes)
Soaked Oatmeal
Oatmeal Pancakes (This is my newest favorite pancake recipe.)

If you have aother recipe you think we would like, please feel free to share!

Toddler Tip

Maybe I'm the last one to figure this out.

If you have a toddler who is a messy eater and you

1. don't want them to ruin their clothes
2. don't have a long-sleeve, all-covering bib
3. don't want them 1/2 naked (for modestly or warmth reasons)

Just take off their shirt, turn in inside-out, and put it back on them while they eat. It greatly minimizes the risk of damaging stains on the right side of their clothing.

(Still use a bib over top if possible. See my tip for keeping a bib on if needed.)

Delicious Dinner

As I've mentioned before, we've been blessed these past 2 months with wonderful meals from family and friends. We are immensely thankful for the time (and money) they have saved us and the additional rest time for which they have allowed us to have. I think it is safe to say we have thorougly enjoyed them all and eaten every bite.

I want to share one meal in particular with you not only because it was a delicous dinner, but because I think it was a somewhat refreshing idea... different from the typical 9x13 casserole. Two friends from my work put this meal together for us:

• 1 pound of Beef Brisket, purchased ready from a local barbeque joint
• Wheat Rolls (We made BBQ beef sandwiches with these.)
• Pan of Cheesy Potatoes
• Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Feta, & Walnut Salad
• Strawberries, Blueberries, & Chopped Cantelope
• Blondie Brownies

It was so yummy, we just had to make it last for two meals! Thanks Ashley and Cheri!

Recent Meals

...or what we've eaten the last few weeks, once we were home from the hospital.

By the way, am I the ONLY one who likes hospital food? You get to order what you want with the TV remote! :) Come on, people, it's fun! And they give you so many little plates, and you don't have to wash any! I am easy to please, I guess.

Anyways, this is to help me remember some dinners that are good for delivering/freezing. These are nothing fancy, but they all tasted good!

Blessings from others:
Pasta with meat and sauce, salad, cheesy bread, cookies
Southwest casserole with cornbread biscuits, salad
Chicken enchiladas, rice, brownies
Deli sandwiches, chips, watermelon, oatmeal brownies
Pizza
Burritos

Made ourselves: (some fresh, some frozen previously)
Tater-tot casserole, corn
Chicken pasta primavera with sauce, bread
Taco salad
Chicken Pot Pie (I love this recipe. I left out the celery seed from the crust because I didn't have it.)
Baked Chicken, sweet corn, salad, bread, brownies

Freezer inventory:
2 Chicken Casseroles
Burritos
Meats
Beans
Veggies
Breads
Juices
Cookies

We have had a lot of brownies, but they are all SO good, I don't mind. Sometime, I will have to share my mother-in-law's oatmeal brownie recipe. Sounds healthy, but I guarantee, they are not. They are a chocolate lovers dream. I've had the recipe for several years and I can't believe I've never made them. She brought some to our house last week, and now I am going to have to find an excuse to make them myself in the near future. The recipe is forthcoming!

Preparing Sweet Corn

Fresh corn on the cob... We've eaten a lot of it this week. Here are two things I learned and one thing I discovered:

1. According to the lady I buy it from, she will clean the corn and put it in ziplocs in the fridge, and they will eat off of it all week.

2. You can put it in a pot, cover it with water, bring it to a full boil and then remove it, and it will be perfectly done.

3. When fixing mulitple cobs, I melted butter, poured it over the drained corn in the pot, added salt, and shook it up. (Easier than individually buttering and salting 8 half-cobs.)

Photo from stockvault.net

I Soaked Some Grains!

This is one of those things I have read about, but never had the time to try. Maybe because those recipes that include soaking grains seem more complicated, and I like things simple.

Well, the other day I was making a double batch of these Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins with Raisins (except mine were without raisins). I wanted to make them fresh on Saturday morning. We like these muffins for breakfasts because they are moist and slightly sweet without being too sweet. On Friday night, I decided to get stuff ready for the morning. The easy recipe includes oats and buttermilk and says to mix and let sit for 5 minutes while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This time I was using mock buttermilk (a combo of lemon juice and milk). I thought, hey, instead of just 5 minutes, how about I let them sit overnight (actually soak the grains for 12 hours!) and mix up the rest of the ingredients in the morning? So that's what I did.

I didn't really notice a difference in the end result of the baked muffins. They may have been a little fluffier than before. But I was pretty excited to know that I had soaked grains for the first time ever! And it was easy!

Puree and Freeze

Kitchen tip for today:

If you have fresh vegetables that you are not going to get around to eating before they spoil, go ahead and cook and puree them. Then, freeze the puree to be used later in various recipes (like those from Deceptively Delicious). Or just improvise on your own! Katie acutally sneaks kale into her pasta sauce. I have not tried that one! I have made beet puree. This tip is especially helpful for those veggies that come in a CSA box that you don't really think you'd EVER eat on their own.

Of course, if you have extra fruit, prepare and chop. Then, freeze until later for use in smoothies! I have done this several times recently with mangos.

This is kind of a no-brainer tip. But, it is a good reminder to me to try to find a way to use everything and let nothing go to waste! Visit Tammy for more tips.

Why Coconut Oil?

If you are wondering why I am wanting to buy a gallon of coconut oil, read on...

Ever since I read this article (and some of it's enclosed links), I've been intrigued. I have bought some small jars of coconut oil occasionally at Whole Foods, but that really isn't very economical in the long run. I have found good results using it as a replacement for vegetable or canola oil. I'd like to have enough to use it as a skin moisturizer, as well. So, after trying it out in small portions, I like it enough to go for the gallon, which is a better price in the long run. (Yes, there is coconut oil at Wal-Mart. But I tried it once, and it just wasn't the same quality. It made me want to barf. But maybe that's because I had morning sickness.)

Additionally, what I've learned from these books also supports the use of coconut oil over other more processed, manufactured oils.

Basically, it is another step our quest to eat more whole, natural foods. Or another step in being weird, as my husband says :)

(And if any of you that know you live close want to go in on an order with me, let me know, maybe we can save on shipping??)

Green Bags (for produce)

Ever since we've been getting our weekly organic produce delivery, I've been using Green Bags. As soon I can, I place each piece of produce in it's own bag and stick it in the fridge. (The only exceptions are apples, oranges, pears, and mangos, which I just put loose in the fruit drawer.)

The Green Bags help keep the fruits and vegetables fresh and good throughout the following week, when we incorporate them into our menu plan.

At first, I didn't think these bags appeared very eco-friendly, but after reading Lindsay's great review, I decided to give them a try. I had a box of them that had been given to me sitting in the drawer, so there was nothing to lose! Guess what. They really do work!

I will keep using these since they minimize spoilage and help me maximize the money we spend on good, fresh, quality food. They're not free, but they are a smart buy in my book!

Check out more frugal tips here.

Cheap & Easy Produce Wash

When I read this tip in my inbox yesterday, I couldn't help but think "That is perfect for Thrifty Green Thursday!"

It says the best way to wash your fruits and veggies is with a 3:1 solution of water and white vinegar. Mix in a spray bottle, spray the produce, and rinse. How easy!

Maybe I've been living underground because I didn't know this. I've just used water before, but this is super cheap, so I'll have to try it. I want to get rid of any pesticides or nasty bacteria!

If you would like to receive the Ideal Bite daily tips via email, please go here to sign-up.

And go visit The Green Baby Guide for Thrifty Green Thursday!

Shrove Tuesday

I had heard about the free pancakes today at IHOP, but hadn't realized why. Today is Shrove Tuesday. In keeping with tradition, I think we might have pancakes for dinner tonight!

Visit Tammy for more kitchen tips!

Heart-shaped Toad-in-a-Hole

We have not been in the mood for many desserts or candy lately (shockingly), so here's my planned "something special" contribution for Valentine's Day:

I just suddenly started receiving Martha Stewart Living (which I've always wanted). To whoever it is from - thank you!

Using Up the Spinach

About a week and a half ago, I bought one of those giant clear plastic things of fresh organic baby spinach at Costco. I was wanting some and thought it was a pretty good price at only 4 or 5 dollars. Over the course of the following week, I tried to be creative to take advantage of the fresh (rather than frozen) spinach and not waste any of it. My husband, who is not a huge spinach fan, but will eat it, even said (with no prompting) he had enjoyed they ways it was fixed.

Here's how we ate it:

• Spinach-Veggie Wraps for lunches
• Mixed with iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and avocados for a green salad
• Tomato & Spinach Pasta Toss for dinner (with chicken instead of sausage)
• Marinated with wheat rotini, tomatoes, carrot slices, and parmesan dressing* in a cold pasta salad for lunches

Can you tell we had a lot of tomatoes, too? I think spinach and tomatoes are great together.

I also had plans to put some of the fresh spinach on sandwiches with chicken salad and to have some with pizza, but it was pretty much gone before that could happen. I've seen lots of other recipes using spinach out there, too, so if you have a favorite, please share!

*If you aren't adverse to conventional salad dressing, I think Kraft's Caesar Vinagrette with Parmesan tastes exactly like the Olive Garden's dressing.

Visit Tammy's Recipes for more kitchen tips!

Menu Planning for Us

It is all about balance.

In order to keep costs in check:

• I try to balance more expensive with less expensive meals in the same week.

And for my sanity:

• I try to balance labor intensive meals with some non-labor intensive meals.
  

I can't balance it all, all the time, but these are some goals for which I strive.

Go here to read about my grocery shopping tactics (and how they have evolved over the years).

Go here for more Frugal Friday tips.

Oranges for Toddlers (and Moms)

I like to eat clementines. They are quick and easy to peel.

I like oranges, too. But I don't like to peel them. It takes a long time and there is too much white peel left for my daughter to eat them that way. My favorite way to eat them is with a spoon, like grapefruit, but they are tedious to fix that way if you slice around each segment to loosen it, like I prefer. Then you still have the juice to contend with. Or, when I slice them in "smiles" like we used to eat them at soccer half-times when I was a kid, I end up just sucking out the juice and leaving the flesh.

So how should I eat my oranges?

My latest method is to slice across the orange, like slicing a tomato, so the pieces are circles. Then, it is pretty easy to open up the circle and eat the flesh inside without getting too messy. It is also pretty easy for me to open up the circle and separate and pull out the segments for a little kid to eat without having too much white peel still attached. This is the easiest and most efficient way for my 17 month old and I to eat oranges together at breakfast or lunchtime. Least amount of effort and mess. Nearly all the edible parts eaten. Works for me!

What a silly topic to write about: how to eat oranges!

Photo from stockvault.net

Bulk Storage

For easy access to an ingredient that was purchased in bulk, I store a small quantity of it in a clean, re-purposed container.

Example: Flour in an oatmeal cannister.

More Thrifty Green Thursday and Frugal Friday posts...

Brown Sugar Substitute

Last night I made some Vanilla Scented Granola. It's my new favorite granola.

I reduced the white sugar from 2 T. to 1 T. Also, in an attempt to make it more frugal, I left out the 1 cup of almonds and added 1 more cup of oats in its place.

However, my challenge was replacing the brown sugar. Not in an attempt to make the recipe healthier or cheaper, but simply because I am out of brown sugar this week...

So I did what I always do, and googled it.

I learned that you can make your own brown sugar by mixing 1 and 1/2 T. molasses with 1 cup white sugar to equal 1 cup of light brown sugar.

Surprisingly, I found molasses in cupboard. I put the molasses in with the other liquid ingredients, and put the white sugar in with they dry ingredients like usual. It seemed to work just fine.

Well, now I know I can continue to do some baking with brown sugar this week, even if I don't make it to the grocery store before the weekend. Now if only I had a substitution for the chocolate chips I've already eaten...

(Another brown sugar substitute I tried was white sugar mixed with maple flavoring. It worked well on the Pumpkin Streusel Muffins. --I had maple flavoring leftover from making P.W.'s Cinnamon Rolls last winter.)

Visit Tammy's Recipes for more tips!

Italian Dressing

It is the all-star. I love using Italian salad dressing (preferably MSG free!) on chicken. It makes a fabulous marinade before baking or grilling. Even if I don't think to marinate the chicken ahead of time, it still works to just pour a little over chicken before I bake it in the oven. Tonight when I made Chinese Chicken Salad, I baked the chicken this way and it turned out great.

For more kitchen tips, visit Tammy's Recipes!