Using soyflour instead of eggs

Eggs have gotten rather spendy lately, so if you’d like to save a little money when you bake coffee cake or muffins or fry up a pile of flapjacks its easy enough to replace each egg with a heaping (but not too heaping) tablespoon of soy flour and a few tablespoons of water.

Obviously, this doesn’t work for recipes like omelets or quiches or french toast where the whole point of the egg is its egginess, but it works very well for quick breads and cookies (especially if you are catering to a vegan friend as commercial egg replacement in the carton is *not* necessarily vegan friendly) and even meatloaf (I tried it– it’s very good, but don’t invite your vegan friends over for that one.)

Speaking of meat loaf, if you are using a ground meat like turkey or chicken, add a little extra soy flour to the recipe (about 2 tsp per pound) and it will help keep the meat in a cohesive loaf (as opposed to a meat crumble as ground chicken is often wont to do.)

Refocusing a room

When a room is too cluttered it loses its purpose. Dining rooms cannot be dined in, bedrooms start looking more like storage areas and playrooms than places to retreat from the world, and craft rooms become extended catchall closets.

There are a few different methods for addressing this problem. Flylady has the steady decluttering method, making a daily practice of removing so many items from a room and doing small tasks until the room is clean. For many people this is a very good method, and it does have its advantages in the long run as once the room is decluttered her method continues as a maintenance routine.

However, there are times where we just need to be in it for the instant gratification, my method (adapted from Vicki Enkoff’s method for cleaning art studios) falls into the instant intense gratification category.

First things first, make sure that you have the time (4 hours will take care of a large very squalorous room if you keep at it, double the time if you actually plan on addressing some of the mess, or plan on cleaning carpets and walls.)

Second make a nice pot of coffee, a pitcher of lemonade or iced tea, or a 6 pack of your favorite libation; you’re taking on a big job and deserve to treat yourself right.

Next get some boxes, totes and garbage bags. Fill them up and take everything out of the room. Move everything into another room, including the furniture, computers, and shelves. Everything goes. Keep a trash bin handy for things that you no longer want, broken items, and trash. Do not make the mistake of putting all of your books or papers in one large box, break heavy things up into smaller containers (you’ll find them later, I promise.) If there is a closet, purge that completely as well. Take all the pictures off the walls and put them in the other room.

Next sweep, vacuum, steam, dust, wipe, squeegee, or polish any remaining surfaces. Touch up paint if you’re so inclined. Bask in the glory of your accomplishment. Do not make direct eye contact with the new stacks of squalor that have formed in the living room. This might be a good time to have a drink and eat something light. It’s also an excellent time to extend your arms and twirl around.

Now move the furniture, one piece at a time, nearly to the doorway of the room. Before taking anything into the room, dust or vacuum it, clean the casters on office chairs, and tighten any loose screws or bolts on everything else. Now put it where you want it. Do this with each piece of furniture and arrange things just as you like them.

Know when to say when, once you like your arrangement stop putting furniture back into the room. Decide if you’re going to sell, give away or use that furniture in another room– but don’t move it back into the room that you’ve just purged if you don’t want it in there. Or if it’s something that is absolutely necessary (like a filing cabinet) find a place for it that is out of sight (like in that closet!)

The last step is the stuff step. Take a large empty box and a trash bin to the doorway of your newly cleaned room. Open one of the bags or boxes of stuff, if you find something that you must keep and can put away in your clean room put it away now. If it is something that should go in the garbage or can be given to charity put it in the proper receptacle.

If the stuff is mostly laundry this last part can be spread over several days, same as above but with the addition of a laundry basket. If it’s clean and keepable, then put it away. If it’s not usable to you put it in the charity box, or the garbage bin. If it’s keepable and needs cleaning put it in the laundry basket. Run the laundry as soon as the basket is full, take a break while the washer and dryer are running, and as soon as the clothes are ready put them away, then restart the process.

Have fun and happy decluttering!

Happiness and lard

First I talk about smoking cigarettes on the cheap, and now I’m advocating lard. Yes. Lard.

I have a deep and abiding loathing of margarine. It’s bad, unhealthy, the taste and texture is wrong, and it screws up recipes. Butter and lard are far superior. Lard more so than even butter in most cases.

Now, all 125 pounds of me can come out of the lard closet and explain why lard is better than hydrogenated vegetable oils.

Mainly because lard is not hydrogenated vegetable oil. It is a solid waxy fat that is washed of salt and rendered from porcine (aka pig) abdomen fat. It doesn’t have a distinct taste or smell, and when melted should be completely clear bearing a light gold color. The containers sold at Walmart and local grocery stores are usually Armour brand and should be avoided unless there are no other alternatives (as they are partially hydrogenated and a pure shocking white– newbie lard!)

While I’m not advocating any sort of diet, I will say that hydrogenated vegetable oil doesn’t seem to suck for baking goods until you compare those baked goods with those made with lard. Lard makes for lighter, moist breads and perfectly crisp flavorful cookies– hydrogenated vegetable oils don’t. If you prefer that lovely buttery taste in pie crusts and cookies, blend 1/2 butter and 1/2 lard– I swear the lard enhances the buttery flavor.

Lard also excels in price, about $2 less than Crisco per pound, $2.30 less than margarine, and about $4.20 less than butter. Also there is no need to refrigerate lard, so long as the container is free from contamination, it can be snapped closed and kept in the pantry or cupboard.

Lard was the cooking fat of choice right up until the 1940s and quite possibly the reason why most modern homemakers cookies and pie crusts don’t taste nearly as good as great-grandma’s is because with the advent of margarine we’ve forsaken lard.

The best proof will be your taste buds, buy some lard (not the newbie lard, go to the butcher and see if they sell prepared lard without the hydrogenation, if not check the farmers markets or check with your favorite search engine.) Then do a side by side comparison with your favorite cookie or bread recipe.

Recipe: Spiced mashed potatoes

First, I think we should note that this is probably one of the best, completely vegan, recipes if you are into that sort of thing, and does not require gravy or sauce of any sort to impart flavor. It is however, not low carb. By using garlic instead of onion or by adding a handful of walnuts or sunflower seeds to the potatoes while they are simmering you can vary this recipe to your hearts delight. Olive oil will give a more golden color than sunflower oil.

Servings 2 (large)

Ingredients (all to flavor, and texture preference, increase to your hearts delight) 2 large peeled white potatoes or 4 medium sized unpeeled red (or new) potatoes, 3 tbl sp olive or sunflower oil, 3 tbl sp diced red onion, 1/2 tsp basil (dried, use considerably more if fresh), 1/4 diced olives (black or green according to preference), 1/4 cup diced bell pepper (any color) and salt (to taste.)

Cut the potatoes into thick slices (about 1/2 inch each), in a medium sauce pan cover slices with water and bring to a simmer.

In a skillet heat oil to medium high. Put all of the other ingredients into the oil and fry just slightly. Remove from heat, leave uncovered and set aside.

When potatoes are soft enough to smash with a fork, drain water. Mash potatoes to your preferred consistency. Pour the fried ingredients (including the oil) over the potatoes. Add salt if needed. Garnish with olives or slices of bell pepper, serve hot.

Large batches can be made ahead of time and frozen, also makes a good stuffing for twice baked potatoes.

Apples!

I so love apple butter. There was a place just outside of Astoria, Oregon that had the most divine apple butter road side stand, when I was a kid we’d always stop by, leaving our money in a jar (it was honor system) and go home happy. I haven’t been up that way in years, I imagine that the stand is long gone and the orchard behind it has changed hands at least a few times.

But the taste remains. Small red pie apples, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

I make my own apple butter now, usually from the green Granny smith variety of apples, a little honey, cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. It’s not complicated, and doesn’t take that much patience and is definitely worth the effort.

First, find a good deal on apples. If you aren’t familiar with the apples you’re buying don’t worry, you can always tweak the recipe with some sugar or lemon to come up with the flavor you most prefer. If you want to have some fun, mix different apples together for a unique treat.

I almost always start with a big bowl of ice water and a few table spoons of salt, peel and core the apples (ideally at least 1 pound.) Once that’s done you can start cooking down. In a large sauce pan simmer a quart of water (more or less doesn’t really mater), start putting apples in, and turn down the heat a little (just enough to prevent the sugars in the apples from caramelizing, as the apples turn to pulp and the water evaporates keep adding apples. Cook down as much as humanly possible without going insane (for me this is about an hour) have a book or crossword puzzle to entertain you. Take an ordinary table spoon and use your mixing spoon to drizzle a little sauce on it, taste. If it’s too bitter add sugar, brown sugar, honey or corn syrup; if it’s too sweet add some lemon juice or citric acid powder.

When the apple butter reaches the desired consistency season to taste with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. Freeze or can according to preference.

Now, some people make apple butter so that it’s barely any thicker than apple sauce, I’m not going to say that’s at all wrong, because it is a matter of taste. However, thicker apple butter doesn’t make toast at all soggy, so the consistency I go for is rather thick. Thicker apple butter takes more time, so if you must leave the kitchen, just pour what you have into a crockpot and set it to low or medium. It should be fine while you’re away.

If you want to make your apple butter just a little less humble for gift giving, make a batch of caramel and alternate layers of caramel and apple butter. It’s extremely rich, and when heated makes a fantastic topping for baked cheese cake or ice cream.

Steal this website

I spent this morning reawakening my inner rebel by reading Abbie Hoffman’s Steal this Book. To be sure I don’t believe theft and vandalism are to be encouraged for any reason, but what is left is a guide on being resourceful outside of the conventional box.

In a way this website is modeled after the same idea, the idea that a mom doesn’t have to have a job to have a life. The idea that food isn’t always at the grocery store, and that the schools don’t always know what is best for all children. I’ve been really negligent when it came to this blog, and for that I’m sorry, because these are the ideas that stack up as *good* in my book.

What I’ve been facing is a crisis of sorts, that crisis is time. With my school schedule looming in the near future, preparing my home for winter, squirreling away the last of the garden, and home educating the kids, it keeps a soul busy.

The more I think about it the more I think we should not protest commercialism or capitalism-at-any-cost. We should simply just do more making, more growing, and more adapting than buying. Eventually someone has to get the point, someone has to catch on that we can’t be run around like sheep, eating the grain we’re told to eat.

more than messy handwriting

Dysgraphia is in the realm of learning disorder, Wikipedia sums it up well in the first sentence: “… a deficiency in the ability to write, regardless of the ability to read, not due to intellectual impairment.”

The spacing and formation of letters (as well as the omitting of words and characters completely) isn’t limited to the adjectives “shaky” or “sloppy” that would be a gross understatement.

In my son’s case it looks as if he’s trying to imitate a ransom note cut from different magazines and glued down blindfolded. Backwards. Standing on his head. With both hands tied behind his back.

At this point I need to mention that I’m terribly disappointed that he wasn’t tested for this particular learning disorder when he was tested for every other learning disorder in the known universe.

We were told he just doesn’t like to practice his letters and to push him to practice more. Of course this leads to a downward spiral where he’s simply focusing on the shape and spacing of the letters and not learning anything at all about writing. When we finally found out what was going on the advice changed.

Turns out that extended periods of practice is counter productive for people with dysgraphia. The advice we were given was to have him trace the alphabet on a regular basis and do as much to teach him grammar and spelling without writing. This is where touch typing comes in handy, as does spoken quizzes and having him make visual presentations using models and photographs.

Obviously this didn’t work in so well with the Charlotte Mason method where copy work is really essential to grammar and spelling skills, as is essaying and creative writing.

The problem with avoiding writing is that writing by hand is so essential to most methods of teaching (both in home ed and in a more formal environment) so it takes some time to not only adapt to a different learning style, but to get the student back up to speed on some basics that have been missed due to the handwriting issues.

I’m not sure I have any expertise in this area beyond my own experience but my advice is that if you suspect your child is not writing because of dysgraphia, seek out a learning specialist as soon as possible and ask for a full evaluation.

school supplies

My son’s friend just received his list of school supplies that he *must have* before returning to public school in the fall. We only ever went through this process twice (once for kindergarten and once for first grade) and yet, we don’t miss it one bit.

I would have to say that for homeschooling parents one of the great joys in life is avoiding all stores that stock office supplies and childrens clothes during the back to school season. One (public school) mother told me that back to school shopping was (I’m quoting here) “an important formative experience.”

Forgive my innocence in such things. I was unaware that seeing one’s mother engage in mortal combat over the last 64 count crayon pack of a certain brand in the entire county was an important formative experience. Mea culpa.

I have nothing against public school parents, I just enjoy a bit of irony when the opportunity arises.

Okay, ironic moment over.

Please excuse me as I must go cry over the cost of this years text books now.

Craft book secret

One of the best, and in some ways worst, sources of inspiration comes from extremely dated crafting books. And by extremely dated, if the colors recommended are gold, fuchsia and olive, it’s probably from the 70’s.

My frugal vintage craft book secret; local Goodwill outlets. The outlets are different from Goodwill stores in that all the stuff (except furniture and some appliances) gets dumped in huge bins. The advantage is that you purchase stuff by the pound, and books for about $0.50 a piece, magazines for even less. The disadvantage is that what you find is likely to be in pretty rough condition and you have to really sort to get to the treasures.

Some days the book bins will offer only a thin leaflet or two with cross-stitch patterns, but other days will give up an armful of books on soap making, knitting, embroidery, and Christmas crafts. Yesterday I found the proverbial armful, with some very vintage gems and even a full bag of spanish moss.

Some tips for enjoying the experience:

1. Dress as if you are going to go to work at a recycling center, things get broken and spilled in the bins, many things are quite dirty, so leave the pretty clothes at home and wear something sturdy.
2. Bring gloves with you. Again, things are a bit dirty and there can be broken bits of glass or plastic (although most of the time the employees are good about removing the most dangerous stuff.)

Be prepared for some competitive shoppers, many of the regulars stock antique and thrift stores with their finds and they are not always the most polite of people (however there are many more friendly people, it’s just that the rude ones are more noticeable.)

If I were buying the same books at a regular Goodwill store I would have spent about $30-35, at the outlet my total came to a whopping $5.15. If you have an outlet nearby it’s certainly worth the inconvenience or unpleasantness (after you’ve got your bearings its much more fun and exciting.)

Felt fortune cookies

I originally posted this project on the website in 2003, even though the project is pictured as Christmas themed it can be done in any color combination according to the whims of the maker. These fortune cookies go faster than the real thing, I made full one hundred of them and used them as decorations for our Christmas tree in two evenings. Later I made a smaller set of 2 dozen and used them instead of hang tags on Christmas gifts, they were a great hit.

Gather up wool or craft felt, ribbons or paper strips, embellishments (I used bells and ribbons) and a hot glue gun with craft glue. First cut out felt circles, the ones I used are approximately 2&1/2 inches in diameter. Then cut the fortunes (I used decorative ribbon in this example, but if you are making gift tags you can use paper to write the recipients name on) to three inches long. Precut any cord used for hanging and have the embellishments handy.

Gently fold the felt circle in half and unfold. Apply the hot glue in a line following the curve of the circle a few inches parallel to the fold

Fold over again without creasing the spine of the cookie and align the edges. Give the glue a minute to cool and then slip the “fortune” into place.

Slip your fingers into the open tips of the cookie and bring them together, this forms the classic shape of the fortune cookie. Glue into place being careful to not put your fingers directly over the glue, even through felt it’s very hot. If you are going to add embellishments or a hang cord, do it during this step with the same dot of glue, simply inserting the pieces where desired.

Pictured is the cookie with a bell and ribbons in place.

Tie the ribbons and fluff the cookie into shape gently. Bask in the glory that is a beautiful crafty accomplishment.