Cloth Feminine Hygeine Pads

Women, I know that talking about our monthly is something we were told to keep to ourselves and to never discuss with "men" but really, it is a fact of life and can be an expensive endeavor for people on a tight budget to cover.

Several years ago, I learned how to make eco-friendly sanitary pads for "that time of the month." I found a tutorial and pattern online and made several, and they work surprisingly well. Now that I have gone through the "Big M," I no longer need them, thankfully.

Once I had read somewhere that girls in developing countries oftentimes miss school because there is a lack of available supplies (too expensive or just not able to purchase) so I wanted to make a bunch to send to the school our church sponsors in Haiti. Several ladies from church helped cut out some parts, but I lacked the absorbent core (old towels or cotton cloth) so I never got them done.

A few weeks back, one of my senior girls mentioned the very same thing to me- "Did you know there are girls who can't go to school when they have their periods?" she asked, indignantly. And I explained that yes I did and that I had started to make some for that reason. So for her senior project she has decided to pick up where I left off, and we are making the pads with the help of staff (donating supplies) and her friends (who are learning to sew with my help). My church has agreed to send the finished products to Haiti, so I am happy that this project, once tucked into my closet, has been reborn. Here is a link to the original pattern I use from a fellow blogspot blogger

http://sewinpeace.blogspot.com/2013/08/feminine-cloth-pad-tutorial.html 

Cleaning Copper-Bottom Kettles

I have several copper bottom "Revere-ware" kettles which I received as gifts when first starting out on my own. Love them, but they do tend to tarnish.

There is a simple recipe for shining up a copper bottom pan:

Salt and Vinegar + bit of elbow grease. That's it!

 Sprinkle salt on the bottom of the kettle. Add some vinegar to a paper towel or other scrubbing device and start working in a circular motion.

 Just plain white vinegar works fine.

 This is Himalayan salt, but just any normal  granulated salt works.

 Keep scrubbing in a circular motion, adding more salt and vinegar as needed.

Was able to remove most of the burnt on food and discoloration before my arm decided it had had enough of a workout for one day.

Just rinse when done and dry with a towel. Easy as pie. :)

Pineapple Chunks from fresh Pineapple!

If you are like me, you love fresh pineapple, but might feel a bit daunted by the thought of cutting one up. I used to shy away from cutting them up, just opting to purchase already sliced and diced pineapple at extremely high prices.

But really, it is not that hard. I will show you my step-by-step process to this delicious and healthy snack.

Choose a pineapple by the smell. I usually smell the base (the most yellow end) and if I can detect a nice pineapple smell, I buy it. I know some people say that if you pull on the top and if the leaves? pull out easily, then it is ripe, but I have not always found that this equates a sweet pineapple. To me, the smell test is most reliable. Make sure there are no soft spots.

Using a sharp knife and a cutting board to protect your counter-top, cut off the base about  1/2 -1 inch up, and do the same for the top.

I attempted to "grow" the top but became bored with it and threw it out. Perhaps another time.

I usually stand the pineapple on its base and slice it down the center.

And then again slice the halves into quarters.

 Now comes the time to slice off the hard inner core. Sometimes this is a bit tricky, but you can usually see that the core is a slightly different shade of yellow and is much firmer than the flesh. I do not always slice enough of the core off, leaving a hard, chewy spot on my chunks.

 I halve the quarters now, so I end up with eight pieces (wedges?) of pineapple. They still have the outer prickly rind on, so that is the next thing to remove!

 It is actually easier to lay the pieces flat, but for the photo I stood one up to show how to slice off the rind. You want to go about 1/2 inch in or more to get all of the seed spots off. Some extra trimming may be required. Discard the rind and core pieces.

 Line up your pineapple wedges (disregard the piece in the front where I had a sample...I could not help myself!) so they are ready for cutting.

 Slice off the "chunks" as uniformly as you can. It is not a contest! Be sure to sample a few, just to make certain they are edible.









Another angle....

Voila! Pineapple Chunks.
Store in an airtight container in the fridge for one to two days (if they last that long!) You can also use them in fruit kebabs (with other fruits such as melon, grapes, kiwi, or whatever you like), or on pizza with some ham or Canadian bacon. I just like to nibble on them for a snack. Enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Cherries!

Also called "Bon Bon Cookies," this recipe was one my mother always made at Christmastime....and I would sneak into the freezer and eat them frozen (for which I caught quite the scoldings.)

While you can omit the cherries and use chopped walnuts instead, our family preferred the cherry version.

Chocolate Covered Cherries (or Bon Bon Cookies- by Carol Meyer)

2 lbs (453 grams)  powdered sugar
1 large package (198g) of sweetened shredded coconut
1- 14oz (397g) can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick (114g) butter, melted (no substitutions!)
1- 10 (283g)ounce jar of stemless maraschino cherries, drained, dried, and chopped fine * there are dye-free options available on the market.

Mix together in a large bowl, stirring well. Roll into 1 inch- (25cm) -balls and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for one hour.






In a double boiler, melt 1 large package of chocolate chips (I prefer Enjoylife brand, as they are soy free, but you can use whichever you like) and -if you choose not to temper your chocolate- you can add 1-2 ounces (15-30ml) melted paraffin or baking wax.*
(*That is how the original recipe is written, but since paraffin is a petroleum product, I am more apt not to use it. There are many online sites which tell you how to temper chocolate for coating candies, so that paraffin is not necessary. Here is one I found: http://www.thekitchn.com
/how-to-temper-chocolate-without-a-thermometer-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-196475  )



Dip each ball into the chocolate mixture- I poke them with toothpicks and then hold the cold candy over the chocolate and dip/spoon the mixture over the entire piece. Then place the finished candy back onto parchment paper. Store in an air-tight container in a cool spot. (You can refrigerate or freeze, but the chocolate might grey/dull). 

Creamy Alfredo

Several years ago my sister gave me her recipe for creamy Alfredo sauce. While it does take a bit of patience and especially to cook it on a low heat so that the milk/cream does not curdle, it is well worth the effort.

Pancetta

For this I used some fresh Pancetta- Italian bacon- and fried it up in my cast iron pan. It does not really brown much, so fry it for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

* I also sauteed a can of sliced mushrooms too.

Parmesan Cheese

Fresh Parmesan cheese- I used about 1/2 plus a couple tablespoons of this in the recipe. (honestly did not measure, but used about 1/3 of the carton. Removed from fridge and set aside while I prepared the sauce.

spaghetti pasta noodles

 Organic- gluten free quinoa and brown rice spaghetti. You can use whatever pasta you like. I made about half of this package for a weeks worth of meals for myself.  (approx 5 servings) Boil noodles until done to your likeness- I prefer al dente, not mushy.  Drain and toss with a TBSP of olive oil to keep from sticking.

* I also added 1/3 cup petite peas to the water just at the end and then drained with the rest. 

 I did not take pictures of the beginning. For this recipe, take 6 tablespoons of butter (not margarine) and melt it slowly on low heat in a cast iron pan. (or nonstick, if you prefer.) To this I slowly added 1 1/4 cup of warmed Half and Half*
By slowly I mean a few TBSP's at a time, stirring constantly on LOW heat. This is very important as you do not want this to boil...as it will curdle and ruin your whole dish!  Adding all of half and half took at least 5 minutes or more.






 
(*skim will not work...whole milk, cream, or half and half are what I recommend.)

Now turn off heat and add about 1 tsp of fresh ground pepper, and the Parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is completely incorporated/melted.  Pour this over your prepared pasta, add the Pancetta, peas, and mushrooms (if using).  You could also use green beans or asparagus if you want. 

Yum! comfort food! Serve with a tossed salad or garlic toast if you wish.

Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

What does one do when they wake up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday? Start perusing Facebook on the kindle in bed, of course. As it happens the first recipe I came across, posted by my friend, was one I had already planned on making this weekend. However, a comment caught my eye, written by a former cook at the Cracker Barrel restaurants, and she said the recipe was incorrect- they did not use sour cream in the recipe!  For years I had been faithfully making it this way, so when the actual recipe was put in the thread, I knew I must try it.


So...without further ado.... here is allegedly the original Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole recipe, as told by someone online who might know more than the rest of us! (I am not posting names as I would not want to get anyone in trouble, but another person said it had been published in People magazine once too.)

Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole

1 stick of butter-melted
1 can cream of chicken soup
10 cups of frozen shredded potatoes
Chopped onion ( 1 put in about 1/4 cup)
Black pepper (1-2 tsp)
8 ounces of shredded Colby cheese and about a cup more sprinkled on top


Mix all together and put in a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle with the extra Colby cheese and bake 20-30 minutes at 375 or until browning and slightly crispy along the edges.

Cast of Characters- I am gluten-free, so I use a gf Cream of Chicken soup. Also, did not have frozen hashed browns so the refrigerated fresh will have to do.

Mixed it all together in a big bowl before pouring into a greased (sprayed) baking dish.

That's it! I can smell it baking right now, and anticipating the cheesy potatoey goodness! Just the thing for a cold Sunday morning in late November. 

Enjoy!



p.s. check my Facebook page out at https://www.facebook.com/RusticFroggie/

Vacuum Cleaner Maintenance 101

Vacuum Cleaner Maintenance 101- Recently my vacuum cleaner decided to try to suck up one of my scatter rugs, which caused it to slip the belt. This happens from time to time, but it does give me a good excuse to clean out the threads and hair wound up in the roller at the same time.

Now my vacuum is an OLDIE- meaning it is not bagless (which I do not care for, as dumping out the "dust and debris" causes more issues with airborne allergens, in my opinion) and has relatively few working parts to mess with. I actually found my vacuum on a curbside during a city wide clean up day, at least 10 years ago. The previous owner- presumably male, given it had a playboy bunny sticker on it- decided it was broken and tossed it. Actually, the belt had slipped and they had appeared to have sucked up a pen, causing a log jam of gunk. Once cleared and cleaned, and sticker removed, belt replaced, it has worked perfectly fine ever since.

But I digress... here is my step by step pictorial guide to changing out the belt and cleaning the roller of your vacuum. If you have a newer model, I am not certain what the inner workings looks like, but would hope that they all have similar abilities to general repair. Check with your owner's manual if you do decide to take matters into your own hands.

Unplug your vacuum and tip it on the back side revealing the base.

Locate screws holding the covering plate on the bottom and remove with a screwdriver. (usually a Phillips head)







In my case there were four screws to remove...

Remove the base plate and set aside.

Note the belt is not broken, just slipped off. You can replace broken belts in a similar manner. Every belt is a different size so make sure you are buying the correct one for your specific machine.

 Using a scissors, trim off threads and hair wound up in the roller.

Yuck!

Locate the bottom of the belt. I had to remove the roller bar in order to reattach the belt. It was hard to get a photo, but I basically pulled the roller gently toward me and then used the screw driver to help hook/guide the belt back onto the attachment rod. 

Note that it is attached to a metal rod sticking out.

Replace the roller bar, pulling the belt tight. My roller bar has fitted notches to guide the piece in securely.

Now that it is all attached (see arrow) I screwed the protective base plate back on, and voila! my vacuum was once again "fully operational."

Back together...and yes, the outline of the sticker is still on there. I never got around to removing it with rubbing alcohol.