Showing posts with label Domestic Diva. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Domestic Diva. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Taco Time!
8:00 AM | Posted by
Heidi-rose |
A few months ago, I saw this interesting contraption going around on my sister and brother-in law's facebook page. I had no idea what it was, so the next time I saw her I asked her what it was. That is when she introduced me to my newest favorite kitchen product, Tupperware move over, ha!
Here they are on their first new years together!The Taco Press! Here is it in its full glory, made just for me by my brother-in-law who has real skills!
We made our first homemade taco's last night, and they were delicious! I mean so very melt in your mouth good. Andrew scarfed his down, and Matt definitely approved too!
My original thought in making these myself was, we could make them inexpensively compared to the organic ones we buy now, but when I put them in my mouth, all I could think was how delicious they were.
So here is how I made them.
Ingredients:
2 cups flour ~ I prefer half a whole wheat and half white flour mix
4 Tablespoons butter
1/3-1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
I combined the flour in a bowl then cut in the cold butter, think pie dough making here. I used my Quick Chef Pro chopper but you could use two butter knives. It blended perfectly. Then I added water slowly until the dough is a little thinner and tackier than pie dough.
Placing a lump of dough the size of two tablespoons inside gallon size baggie (that had one seam cut open I put it in the taco press, press down as hard as you can and whalaa a nice thin taco.
I pan fried them with a little vegetable oil for less than 30 seconds on each side. They were crisp on the outside, and just a bit soft on the inside. We served the usual insides of meat, vegetables, and fixin's, it was a great meal. It was healthy, frugal, and delicious!
Warning Frugal Nerd Alert!
Because I am a bit of a frugal nerd here is how my cost comparison broke down for the taco's
Organic soft tacos: $2.79 for a 10 count package = .27 per taco
Homemade soft tacos: $.70 for 12 tacos = .06 per taco
Ok so that doesn't look like much savings right? Well saving cents makes cents! Actually I have another post about changing behaviors to save cents that add up quickly to many dollars coming soon.
Thinking about it we eat lots of tacos in this house. So lets just say we eat...
10 tacos per week x 53 weeks a year = 147.87 is what we would spend on store bought tacos and my homemade tacos that would cost us 31.80, which saves us 116.07 a year. Yep I am a nerd but the cents do really add up!
Submitted by Elizabeth (Abeth78) from NorthMetroDCMommies.com
{Originally published on The Whimsical Housewife blog on April 30th, 2011}
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Friday, June 3, 2011
5 uses of vinegar
 |
| Picture curtsey of the Great Jenny McRocks |
How To Use Vinegar Around The House:
Do you want to know how to use up that white vinegar you bought to color eggs with this year? Here are some ways to use it around the house as a cleaner, disinfectant, odor remover, blemish treatment, stain remover, and fabric softener. There are many other ways you can use vinegar as well but these are a few ways that Traci (izzysmom7) and her family use vinegar around their house.
1. As a cleaner/disinfectant: Do you want to freshen up the water lines in your coffee maker? Run a cup of vinegar and two cups of water through the maker. If the maker hasn't been used in awhile run a few cups of vinegar through, discard, and then run a few cups of water through. Make a solution of vinegar and water and use it to clean your counter tops, floors, or any surfaces you need to disinfect. My family and I use full strength vinegar to remove hard water and lime stains in the showers/bathrooms.
Do you want to know how to use up that white vinegar you bought to color eggs with this year? Here are some ways to use it around the house as a cleaner, disinfectant, odor remover, blemish treatment, stain remover, and fabric softener. There are many other ways you can use vinegar as well but these are a few ways that Traci (izzysmom7) and her family use vinegar around their house.
1. As a cleaner/disinfectant: Do you want to freshen up the water lines in your coffee maker? Run a cup of vinegar and two cups of water through the maker. If the maker hasn't been used in awhile run a few cups of vinegar through, discard, and then run a few cups of water through. Make a solution of vinegar and water and use it to clean your counter tops, floors, or any surfaces you need to disinfect. My family and I use full strength vinegar to remove hard water and lime stains in the showers/bathrooms.
2. Odor Remover: Ever come across an odor in a room of your house and not been able to remove it with the typical household odor sprays? Place some apple cider vinegar in a bowl in the room and in a few days the room will be fresh and clean smelling again. My daughter and husband often have allergic reactions to candles and sprays, this has been a great alternative for them. If you want something to use the apple cider vinegar for when you are not removing odors, ask me to share my pulled pork BBQ recipe with you.
3. Blemish Treatment: Do you have a teenager or do you yourself suffer from acne? Nothing is worse than waking up in the morning before you start your day to find a blemish staring back at you in the mirror. When I was in college a friend told me to try placing some vinegar in a bowl, then use a cotton swab to add it to the blemishes. I let it sit for thirty minutes and then rinsed with lukewarm water. No blemish treatment will instantly remove our unwanted blemishes, but this method is a green way to help treat them. I suffer from dry skin so I recommend applying a good moisturizer after the vinegar treatment if you do as well.
4. Stain Remover: How many of your little ones love to stain their clothes with some of those impossible stains? My child prides herself in finding those impossible stains. While I do have stain removers in my house, one day I had more stains than remover. I went to the web to see if there was something I had around the house to help with a pizza sauce stain. I found out that vinegar and baking soda would do the trick. It will smell strong as the baking soda and vinegar bubbles and fizzes but it will remove your stain. Wash your clothes after each treatment the same way you would if you used a store bought cleaner. Extra Tip: If it is a stubborn stain that the above treatment will not remove, place your stained garment(s) out in the sun. The great outdoors will not only give your clothes a fresh smell but the sun will act as a bleach, helping to remove your stains.
5. Fabric Softener: Use 1 to 2 ounces of vinegar in the rinse cycle while doing laundry. It will help remove the soap residue and soften your clothes. You could also place the vinegar in a softener ball as well. Extra Tip: Do you use dryer fabric softener sheets and wonder how to remove the residue they create over time on your dryer lint trap? All you need is some vinegar (more or less depending on the last time you cleaned the trap), water, a scrubbing pad and some elbow grease (may need to scrub harder if you haven't cleaned the trap in a bit). You will the know the trap is clean once the water no longer clings to the top of the trap and flows through it.
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