Swamp-Gator

~~Copied from HBHW~~ Got the sniffles or your head is hurting? No need to head to one of the mega drug stores and pay a fortune in over-the-counter medications. Many of the ailments that plague us and our kids on a regular basis can be treated with some frugal homemade remedies.Disclaimer – I am not a health care professional, just a regular person sharing some old-fashioned tips. Use at your own risk. When in doubt, please see your doctor or other health care professional with any questions or concerns. Headache As soon as you start to feel a headache coming on, drink a big glass of cool water. Headaches are often a sign of dehydration in which case the liquid will help better than an aspirin. If you don’t catch it in time, or the water didn’t help, try wetting a cloth and adding a few drops of mint oil to it. Lay the cool, wet cloth over your forehead, close your eyes and relax for a few minutes. Cough Heat some milk and stir a spoon full of honey in it and sip slowly. Right before bed, when coughing usually gets worse, you may want to take a spoon full of honey. It will coat the throat and stop the cough – Don’t give raw honey to children under the age of 2 though. Get some Vicks (generic works fine) Rub, rub it on the bottom of your feet and put on a pair of socks. Then hop in the bed. The coughing should stop within about 15 minutes. Get a cold, wet washcloth and put it on over your throat, then cover it with a dry towel. Cold Good old fashioned chicken soup is always my first choice. Be sure to breath in the steam from the hot soup… it’ll help open up your sinuses. Another excellent remedy is to take the juice of a lemon and mix it with a cup of hot water and honey to taste. The honey will sooth a sore throat, the steam coming out of the cup will make your sinuses feel better and the vitamin C in the lemon helps your immune system. Other than that plenty of fluids and rest should get you better in no time. Sore Throat Gargle with either garlic tea (press up to 6 cloves of garlic into some very warm water), or sage tea (steep sage leaves in boiling water for a few minutes… take the sage out and allow the tea to cool a bit. Keep your throat covered with a cloth or scarf. Drink some hot milk with honey to sooth the throat. Ear Ache Chop up a piece of onion, wrap it in some cheese cloth or a thin kitchen towel and place it on the ear. This works best if you’re laying on your side with the hurt ear up and then lay the onion on it. Insect Bite Get a solid deodorant stick and rub it on the insect bite. Chew some parsley and put it on the bite. Takes the sting out within a few seconds. Poison Ivy / Oak Rash Take the rind of a watermelon and rub it on the rash. Nausea Drink some warm peppermint tea, eat some licorice or eat some ginger. Gingersnaps and candied ginger work well. Fever Get in a slightly cool bath. The cool water will help get your body temperature down. Alternatively you can make cool towel compresses. Dip a hand towel in cool water, wring it out and wrap it around your calves. Cover it with a larger dry towel. Repeat for the other leg. Rewet the towels with cool water as needed. Make some linden flower tea and sip about 4 cups a day to get your fever down. I’m sure there are plenty more homemade remedies out there that our mothers and grandmothers have relied on for years and years. Feel free to share the ones you know of as a comment below. Comments: For cough and sore throat problem one can take a peace of ginger and roast it on fire for few minutes. Than add some black pepper powder and some honey to it and than keep it in your mouth and keep taking its taste like a toffee. Okay, so I had an absolutely horrible sinus infection. Our money’s low, and I didn’t want to have to go to the doctor’s office to be told what I already know. None of the medicines I took were working, and I’ve always loved natural cures. Well, I found out about oil pulling. I’ll admit, I was apprehensive, but 30 seconds into the “pulling” I could start to breathe. A few minutes, and my nose was clear! Check out this site: http://www.oilpulling.com/ One thing that I have have seen heal earaches is just putting a clove of garlic in the ear. Take the skin off of the clove, you may want to cut it in 1/2, and place it in the ear. Don’t leave it for too long, it WILL burn your skin. (You may want to try it on the inside of your arm.) Just about 3-5 minutes should be good, it won’t burn until you take it out, so take it out BEFORE it starts burning. My Greatgrandma always gives me a honey/lemon mixture when I have a cold/cough. Squeeze a 1/2 a lemon in a little bowl, and put 2-3 spoonfuls of honey in, then eat. It tastes weird, but you can adjust the amounts to taste. (The flavor grows on you) For ‘stings’, mosquito to bee , use the inside-white part-of a banana peel. Rub over the bite or sting. Takes the itch and redness away. For an upset stomach or colic, fennel seed tea works wonders. Boil a cup of water with a teaspoon of fennel seeds (from the spice dept of the grocery store). Boil for three minutes or four minutes, strain the seeds, and cool. When luke-warm, sweeten with a teaspoon of clear Karo and drink. Adults can drink this hot, too. It’s always best to ask the doctor or nurse practitioner before giving to an infant. You already know to apply cold water to burns, and even about ice when it’s necessary. Still, once you’re done with that, you often have the issue of scarring. For burns, once we’re done with cooling them down, especially small burns on the hand, my husband’s family has always dabbed on a bit of white toothpaste. You put it on and it does nothing for the pain, but the next day, the scarring you expect just doesn’t happen. I’ve always scarred from small burns when frying with oil, but since I married my husband and learned about the toothpaste, my hands have gotten prettier. (smile) To get rid of hiccups, eat a small spoonful of peanut butter! Abcess gums / sore tooth – This worked wonders for me – place dry tea bags in the area. Or mix white vinegar with sage (I used ground sage as that was all I had). Warm the vinegar and then mix in a couple teaspoons. I soaked a cotton ball in this and then placed the cotton ball on the affected area. I have lots of sinus drainage that causes sore or scratchy throat. I have found that fresh not canned pinnapple helps me. It is for me like it disolves all the gunk in the back of my throat. I agree with Betty on the pineapple disolving sinus drainage. I have also, found that Pineapple takes down swelling of any kind in the body. I drink the juice every 2 hours until swelling goes down. for the pepper bug spray, it is fresh(or frozen) hot peppers that are run thru a blender then strained and the juice is added to water. about three peppers to a galon of water I think… I use tiger balm for my recurring sinus infections. when i start to feel the infection, I rub a tiny amount on my sinuses at bed time and when I wake up, the pain is gone. I have decreased the number of infections i get yearly by using this stuff! I used to get them every month or so, and now it’s down to about every three months, sometimes four. It also works on migrain headaches. just rub on the back of the neck and the temples, then take a nap… An easy and cheap cure for an ear ache is a few drops of warmed oil directly in to the sore ear and keep your head turned. Also for a long time i didnt have health insurance and i was proned to ear infections, if the oil treatment didnt work i would put fill my ear with perioxide and keep changing it until i didnt hear it bubbling, for me it worked every time. For sore throat, gargle with salt water (about a tsp or so of salt in the glass). For a cough you can suck on any hard candy, not just a cough drop, to help stop the coughing. For allergic reaction to bee stings, use seasoned meat tenderizer and water. Mix it into a thick paste, and apply to the sting site. It works within minutes. We have done this for more than 25 years and it works every time. We have always used schillings or adolphs, but it has to be the seasoned kind. Without it, my son has to use an eppipen within 4 minutes. Or a natural remedy is a sinus rinse. You can either by a netti pot or a sinus rinse bottle. Works wonderful for allergies and colds and nips sinus infections in the bud. When my kids have a sore throat, we use either a warm salt water gargle, or take some honey. It seems to work (although they usually choose the honey for some reason…) Honey also works to cure the hiccups, as does drinking from the wrong side of a glass (turn your head upside down to do it). I know, it looks stupid, but it works. Before Imodium and Kaopectate (sp?) my mother would mix up a spoonful of cornstarch in some cold water (less than 1/2 cup) for us to drink. Hold your nose, it tastes bad, but it works. You can drink some after each bout of diarrhea. Soothes the tummy, too. Gargle salt water and put a warm wet rag on you throat for a sore throat my famialy has done it for years Wes hillbillys frum missoui and a Missouri hillbilly ain’t never wrong

~~copied from HBHW~~ Frugal StaplesEver wonder how our ancestors always seemed to have food on the table even in lean times? When we are visiting the grocery store every week to the tune of hundreds of dollars, we long to know their secret. In fact it isn’t a secret at all. It is actually good planning and preparation on their part. Once we realize this and begin doing as they did, we too will see our dollar stretch further. The items that we have on hand are what determine how far our food will go. Filling your cabinets or pantry with a few useful staples can be the difference between a trip to the grocery store each and every week versus once or twice a month. Stocking just a few choice items is all you need to create wonderful meals. Flour Flour is a starter item for many recipes. You can add it to some water and make gravy in the pan for many meat dishes. Flour is used to make bread (biscuits, rolls, loaves) and to coat chicken. It can also be used to coat a round or square cake pan to prevent the cake from sticking. Of course, one of the favorite uses for flour is in cookie recipes that make scrumptious desserts. Rice My husband loves rice so much that we once bought a fifty pound bag from a grocery store in his hometown. Fifty pounds! Rice is a side dish, but it doesn’t have to be plain. It can be jazzed up with veggies to accompany dinner. My mother uses leftover rice for a dessert called sweet rice. Just add evaporated milk and some sugar to a bowl of rice and warm it in the microwave. It is a tasty treat for after dinner. Another popular dessert is rice pudding. Rice can also be mixed with leftover meat and a cream soup to form a casserole. Rice has many uses and your sure to find a few that your family will love. Pasta There are many different pasta choices and all have great uses. Manicotti can be stuffed with tomato sauce and cheeses. Macaroni can be used to make a creamy salad and also is great combined with cheese or spaghetti sauce. Spiral pasta is used in many different pasta salads. Spaghetti can be used in a casserole topped with cheese or in the traditional way with tomato sauce and meat. Spices There are other ways to season food besides salt and pepper. In fact, many spices taste better than salt. Even diehard salt-a-holics won’t miss the salt in foods if other seasonings are used. Cayenne pepper, chili powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, oregano, and garlic powder are all useful tools in your flavor arsenal to give foods a fresh new taste. Beans There go those beans again. Beans can top your salad (edamame), make an awesome dip (black beans), and go well with grilled foods (baked beans). They provide a good source of protein with very little fat. Beans are good in soups, stews, and over rice for a simple yet filling meal. Do you have these staples in your kitchen? You can probably think of several more that will enhance your pantry and save money. Start with these and grow your own list of basic kitchen staples that are versatile and economical. Comments: look at emergency essintals.com they have lots of dried goods. i know they have cheese. I appreciate the list and would add, Cocoa for brownies (add some nuts and choc chips!), for home made hot chocolate – read the ingredience in the prepared cocoa mixes, scary stuff. Also I can make anything chocolaty with cocoa, like those cookies or dipping fruit in or dressing up other desserts. I also love real farm eggs – even if they are more – egg omelettes, fried rice, for the potato or pasta salads, eggs are fast and cheep! LOL. I buy as large a bag of potatoes as I can get too. creamy potato soup with veggies (carrots, celery, onions, bok choy) with shredded cheddar cheese on top is delicious and filling, plus baked potatoes stuffed with whatever is a nice side and crock pots love potatoes,. veggies (don’t forget the onions) with just a little bit of meat for a stew. In fact, just cutting back on meat is better – so if you do buy meat buy good quality like Sirloin roast (to make into steaks, stew meats, and then just roast the rest for sandwiches, etc.) or chicken breast (if it’s on sale) and frozen prawns can be very cheap sometimes, when it is I buy 5 bags for fetticine alfredo, prawns and dips or add it to a soup. Canned tomatoes (I don’t know about the odd white stuff coating the cans now) but I love to make tomato, garlic, italian seasoning with celery and onion – that’s it Other staples besides what is listed above.. Powdered milk. I keep this on hand because I don’t always drink milk and need it for recipes and cooking. Corn Meal. Another staple for making various things like cornbread, coating foods for frying and making cornmeal mush and polenta. It is cheap and can be made into many other things. Cooking Oil and Crisco… Nuff said? Sugar….. Nuff said? Cous Cous…. It is a nice change from making rice or potato as a side dish. It is cheap and you can do so many things with this. Powdered Egg Substitute.. For when I run out of eggs and need to have eggs to cook with in a recipe. This is a life saver! I could probably go on, but you get the gist of it. As long as it is dry, and has a long shelf life we keep a good supply of it on hand. I cook from scratch and rotate stock in our pantry One of the cheapest and quickest things to make is FIDEO. You can get a bag for about 65 cents, or if you go to the mexican food aisle, 35 cents. There are 2 ways of making it, like a soup, or like a spaghetti. You can adjust my recipe by adding less water to make it spaghetti like. First, I crush the bag while its closed to break up the noodles. Then, I brown the fideo lightly in a pan with about 2 tbsp cooking oil. After it browns, I add about 2 1/2 cups of water and a small can of tomato sauce. I also put salt, some garlic powder, and a small chicken buiollon cube. You can adjust the seasonings to your taste. While its boiling, get a spoon, and taste the soup. At that point, this is what your fideo will taste like. If you need to add a few more dashes of anything, this is your chance. I let it boil for a minute or two, and then I lower the flame and cover it. Within about 5 minutes, the noodles are soft and ready to be eaten. It cooks very quickly, so keep your eye on it. I love to add grated sharp cheddar cheese for protein. For my husband, I’ll also add a pound of ground beef that was flavored with garlic powder. He loves it. If I have a lot of company, and everyone is starting to look hungry, I make 2 bags and feed about 10 people for under a dollar. You can also use this recipe for macaroni, alphabet and shell pasta. It’s very hearty. Oatmeal, grits, rice, sugar, powdered milk, powdered buttermilk, flour, cornmeal, molasses(make your own brown sugar)anything canned. dried beans etc…and of course anything you have canned yourself!!! Think country and waaaay tooo far from the store. My Grands kept everything in the storm celler. Check out http://www.barryfarm.com/our_store.htm, They have a ton of dried veggies, spices, fruit, and cheese. Plus, they have tons of different types of grains, flours, sugars, etc. I also keep a variety of nuts on hand in bulk, popcorn, and dried herbs that I’ve either grown and dried myself or bought in bulk. I use these dried herbs to make my own vegetable broth mix and other dry rubs.Coffee beans in bulk which I keep in the freezer and grind as needed. Try Winco (stands for Washington-Idaho-Nevada-California-Oregon…kinda obvious where they are.) They have a large selection of bulk foods, and if you plan ahead a bit (call them 48 hours before you shop) you can get their bulk foods in BULK – in the original packaging, at up to 25% less then their already low bulk food prices (most of which equals or exceeds Costco prices.) You don’t have to call for Oatmeal, Rice and AP flour – they have those bags on hand, but if you want, say, powdered milk, beans, brown sugar, baking soda, or parmesan cheese, even, you need to call in advance. I gave up my Costco membership after discovering Winco. They’re that good. All I have to do is buy paper goods, meats and fruit at Cash n Carry, and I’m set. Hope this helps. I am from the south so I vote for Grits, baking soda, baking powder, yeast and vinegar to keep on hand in the pantry. The flour and cornmeal would be hard to make into much without these things. I can think of hundreds of things to make with these ingredients and the rice, flour, beans, cornmeal, sugar, salt, pasta and spices. Think about what they made in the 1800’s! Pancakes, hoe cakes, breads, cakes, cookies, baked beans, rice and beans, bean patties, bean soup, dumplings, hoppin’ john, gumbo’s, and many other dishes. Add in some meat, eggs and fresh garden vegetables and they ate very well. They just didn’t have Hamburger helper or frozen dinners but convenience food for them was to go out to the garden and pick a few vegetables like squash or onions or to go to the root cellar to get their carrots, apples, and potatoes in the winter and spring. They were in hog heaven to be pulling a ham out of the meat shed in the winter. They could eat for a week or two on one small ham. Meat was rarely a large part of the meal. It was a treat. Today we are all backwards with our cooking and purchases. Me included. We need to all learn the old ways of purchasing the basics and being creative with them and having the family meal together as the important part of day. Our families would be much better off, I believe. Sorry for the history lesson. Shirley http://www.barryfarm.com/our_store.htm

~~Copied from HBHW~~ There are so many different types of apples, it makes it hard to choose. If you’re at the store, the farmers market or picking your own apples at an orchard, it’s good to have a basic idea of what apple works well for what. Not every kind is good for eating plain or baking into a pie. The list below has some of the most commonly found apples in the US. It is by no means an extensive list, but a great place to start.Cortland This is a great baking apple with bright red skin and juice white flesh. They are slightly tart and don’t tend to discolor too quickly. Great addition to pies and cobblers. Crispin These are large apples with a yellow-green skin. They are juicy and crisp with a sweet flavor that lends itself to baking and making apple sauce. Empire Empire apples are a cross between McIntosh and Red Delicious. This is a great apple that works for just about anything including baking. They are also delicious for slicing and eating and even freeze well. Gala Glala apples are one of my favorite eating apples. They also make great apple sauce. I don’t recommend using them in baking. They tend to fall apart very quickly. They have a yellow skin with red striping. Golden Delicious If you are only going to keep one type of apple around, make it golden delicious. They have a mild but sweet flavor that tastes great if the apple is eaten fresh or baked. These apples also keep their shape well during baking, making them perfect for pies. Granny Smith This is one of the most popular apples around and for good reason. They are bright green and have a nice sour flavor. They are perfect for eating raw and hold up well in pies and crisps. I recommend combining them with some other apples (like golden delicious) for baking pies. Honeycrisp This is a fairly new apple variety that’s crisp and juicy. I love the honey-sweet flavor and use them quite a bit in pies and apple sauce. Ida Red This is a very old apple variety. Ida Reds keep their shape during baking and even freeze well. I use them for baking and in apple sauce. Jonagold These apples are a blend of Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples. They are best eaten fresh or used in apple sauce. Jonathan These apples are perfect for baking pies and cakes. They hold their shape well and have a nice crisp flavor. They don’t tend to be very sweet so adjust sugar as needed in baking. Macoun I have a bit of a hard time finding these apples at the grocery store. They are best eaten raw and have a pretty white flesh that pairs very well with sharp cheeses. McIntosh My favorite way to eat a good McIntosh apple is right from the tree. Since they break up easily when cooked, they are perfect for apple sauces but won’t hold up in a cake or pie. Red Delicious Don’t try to cook or bake with these. They are meant for eating as is. Winesap This is a firm but sweet apple that holds up well in baking and makes a great addition to your apple sauce as well.

I love this idea! If I ever get to thev place where I can have a big dog again, I will put this idea to good use. SG

~~Copied from HBHW~~ Sometimes recipes call for fresh eggs or older eggs. There are some things that just work out better depending on the age of your eggs. For example, if you’re making poached eggs, you want to make sure you’re using eggs that are as fresh as possible. If you’re making hard boiled eggs on the other hand, you don’t want them to be too fresh or it will be hard to peel them. Unless you get your eggs fresh from a farm, it’s hard to tell exactly how old they are. My favorite thing to do is to submerge the egg in a glass bowl in some water. A 2 cup measuring cup works great for this. Fill it with water and then gently submerge the egg. If the egg is fresh, it will lay on the bottom of the dish, usually flat on it’s side. If the egg is older, air bubbles start to form inside and the egg will stand upright in the water or even float to the top. I couldn't copy all of the article because her link was inactive, so the rest is my note on the subject...... Having been a chicken for a few years, I learned a lot from my birds and their eggs too. If an egg floats to the top of the water, I never attempt to use it, I throw it out or put it in the compost pilen for use in the garden. A bit off subject but a useful tidbit just the same.......... When wishing to hatch eggs, always look at the small end of the egg. If it is pretty round, you should hatch a hen. The more pointed it is, the more likelihood that you will hatch a rooster. Now this is not 100% accurate but it will help cut down on your rooster to hen ratio a quite a bit. The eggs I found hardest to sex were the araucana eggs. I had to learn to use a quick glance method and trust my instincts. I did good as long as I did that method with them every time. SG

Not nuts, sound fun and a good budgeter of your time.

Copied from HBHWWe’re having some of the coldest days we’ve had all winter right now and it is very windy as well. As a result, the heat keeps running a lot more than usual and I really don’t want to see the bill next month. The tip below for insulating drafty windows for little money couldn’t have come at a better time. Here’s a great frugal tip from a fellow HBHW reader: I live in a trailer house with the metal ‘sandwich’ windows that have a wide gap between the inside and the storm window. Cold air leaks in around the deteriorating frames really bad despite caulk so I got a package of cheap styrofoam insulation, some of it was even free, just ask a store if they get it in their boxes of freight. Most are happy to get rid of it. Then I cut it in strips about 1/8 to 1/16 wider than my gap so that the styrofoam would have tension on it and stay put. I squished it in and it held nice and snug blocking of most of the draft and since it is smooth and white it just looks like the painted frame. To further insulate my drafty windows I put a layer of bubble wrap inside before I closed the window then covered with clear vinyl. The effect, while time consuming, was well worth the effort and only cost me about $6 to do my whole house. This did not include the price of the vinyl and strips because I got them last year. They are the reusable kind. Another investment of about $14 that saved me a bunch over having to buy several boxes of the kind you put on with a hair dryer and are much more efficient.

I got in the shower this morning and noticed that my shower head was starting to get pretty clogged. It happens every six months or and after much trial and error, I came up with a quick and easy way to get it cleaned. It’s very simple, doesn’t take a bunch of elbow grease and most importantly no expensive or harsh cleaners.Here what you’ll need … and yes, I realize this list sounds a little MacGyver at first, but keep reading. I promise it will start to make sense in a minute. · plastic bag · rubber band · white vinegar · an old tooth brush Make sure you pick a plastic bag that’s wide enough that you can easily slip it over your shower head. The idea is to put the bag (filled with vinegar) around the shower head and secure it with the rubber band). Fill your bag with enough white vinegar that the bottom of your shower head is completely immersed in the vinegar when you put the bag around it. I find it helps to put the rubber band on the shower head first, then a slip on the vinegar filled bag and pull the rubber band over the edge of the bag to keep it secure. Or if your shower head is easily removed, take it off and pop it in a small bowl filled with the vinegar. Allow it to soak for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove the bag, pour out the vinegar and rise the shower head with clean water. Much of what’s clogging it should be coming off already. Take your tooth brush and gently brush away any other build-up and clogs. Rinse with more water and you’re done. ~~Copied feom HBHW~~

There’s nothing worse than having a nice loaf of bread starting to bake in the oven or the breadmaker, only to discover that it isn’t rising properly because your yeast is less than fresh.There’s a simple test you can do to see if your yeast still rises properly. All you need is a 2 cup glass measuring up, some warm water, sugar and your dry yeast. This works for packets of yeast as well as that jar of breadmaker yeast you’ve had hanging out in the back of the fridge. If you have it, a thermometer will come in handy too. Best of all, you can use the yeast from this taste in your baking right away. You’re just giving it a little head start with this simple test. Yeast Freshness Test· Pour 1/2 cup of warm water into your glass measuring cup. You want the water to be pretty warm, but not hot. If you have a thermometer handy, aim for 110F. · Add one tsp of sugar and stir until it’s dissolved. · Pour in one 1/4oz packet of dry yeast, or 2 1/4 tsp breadmaker yeast and stir until combined. · Allow the yeast to sit and proof for 10 minutes. It will start to bubble up. · Fresh yeast will bubble up to the 1 cup marking. If your yeast bubbles up to the 1 cup level, go ahead and use it in your recipe, omitting the 1/2 cup of liquid from the original recipe. If the yeast doesn’t bubble up to at least close to the 1 cup level, discard it and go get a fresh batch at the store.

Cream of tartar isn’t something I usually keep around. There are only a few recipes that need it and without fail, I’ll have everything else in the house when I’m getting ready to make something that calls for it. It’s great for stiffening egg whites and also called for as a leavening agent in some baked goods. Since getting a little jar of the powder doesn’t warrant a trip to the store, I’ve been looking for alternatives to use. Thankfully it is easily replaced with common household items. Here’s what do do when you find yourself in the same predicament and need to replace the cream of tartar in a recipe. Stiffening Egg Whites While cream of tartar is your best choice for stiffening egg whites, white vinegar or lemon juice do the trick almost as well. Add 1/4 tsp of either liquid per egg white and beat until stiff peaks form. I have not noticed a change in flavor due to the vinegar or lemon juice. In Baked Goods Recipes for baked goods sometimes call for both baking soda and cream of tartar as leavening agents. You can use a full tsp of baking powder to replace 1/3 tsp baking soda and 2/3 tsp cream of tartar. Bake as usual.

Cream of tartar isn’t something I usually keep around. There are only a few recipes that need it and without fail, I’ll have everything else in the house when I’m getting ready to make something that calls for it. It’s great for stiffening egg whites and also called for as a leavening agent in some baked goods. Since getting a little jar of the powder doesn’t warrant a trip to the store, I’ve been looking for alternatives to use. Thankfully it is easily replaced with common household items. Here’s what do do when you find yourself in the same predicament and need to replace the cream of tartar in a recipe. Stiffening Egg Whites While cream of tartar is your best choice for stiffening egg whites, white vinegar or lemon juice do the trick almost as well. Add 1/4 tsp of either liquid per egg white and beat until stiff peaks form. I have not noticed a change in flavor due to the vinegar or lemon juice. In Baked Goods Recipes for baked goods sometimes call for both baking soda and cream of tartar as leavening agents. You can use a full tsp of baking powder to replace 1/3 tsp baking soda and 2/3 tsp cream of tartar. Bake as usual.

Is My Baking Powder Or Baking Soda Still Good? We all end up having baking soda and baking powder sitting in the pantry. And sometimes you’re not sure exactly how long that box or canister has been around. Before you start baking with it, test it to make sure it’s still good and will do the job. You don’t want to spend a lot of time and ingredients on a cake, a bread or whatever you’re baking and not have it rise. Testing your baking soda and baking powder to see if they are still good is quick and easy to do. Here’s how. Testing Baking Powder Get a glass of hot water and drop a little of the baking powder in the water. If it starts to bubble up, it’ll work just fine in your baking. Testing Baking Soda For baking soda, we need an acid to confirm it’s working. As a side note, baking soda will not do much in your baked goods unless there’s also an acid like buttermilk present. For the is test, pour some vinegar into a small glass, bowl or cup. Spoon a little baking soda in. If the mixture starts forming bubbles, your baking soda is still active. Hope this helps you determine if your baking soda or baking powder are still good. While expiration dates on containers are helpful, I prefer to do these little tests if I’m not sure the powder or soda are up to the job of making my baked goods rise. if you want to keep your baking powder “good” …… when buying a new pkg… put it in the freezer (in a ziplock bag in case of spills). I don’t use mine much, and its over 2yrs old now and still works great. You save frustration and $$$

Homemade Worcestershire SauceWho knew homemade Worcestershire sauce could be this easy! YIELD: 3/4 cup TOTAL TIME: 5 minutes INGREDIENTS:1 small peeled clove fresh garlic 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar 2 tablespoons Fish Sauce 2 tablespoons Honey 1 tablespoon Molasses 1 tablespoon Tamarind Paste 1/2 teaspoon Onion Powder 1/4 teaspoon Chili Powder 1/4 teaspoon Ground Clove DIRECTIONS:In a bowl with a pour spout, squeeze the garlic clove through a garlic press. Add in vinegar, fish sauce, honey, molasses, tamarind paste, onion powder, chili powder and ground clove. Whisk until combined. Pour into a jar or container with a snug fitting lid. Refrigerate and shake before using. Should last up to 2 months. ·

Thank you, now I have some good ideas to play with. I have 103 of frozen wings to make a little of all your ideas. Thank you much... SG

Hello everyone I got a really great deal on 5 of chicken wings. It has been years since I fixed wings. Does anyone have any flavorful recipies they could share with mke? I want something with a blend of spices (not necessarily hot), that offers a burst of flavor to the meat. Thank you all in advance... SG