August 13, 2007

Zesty Sloppy JoesIn a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook the ground beef and green pepper over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste and seasonings. Bring meat mixture to a boil.

 

Polly's Texan Tuna SaladThe deli near my office has a killer tuna salad sandwich, tastes fantastic and kills the wallet! So I decided to do some culinary detective work and figure out how to make it at home to help resist the temptation to buy that $6 sandwich. The last ingredient took me forever to figure out!

 

Korean Meat MarinadeCan be soaked overnight. I usually marinate it for about 8 hours with a frozen steak in it. Can be used for pork or chicken cooked on the grill, baked or broiled.

 

Watermelon IceIn a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water; let stand for 2 minutes. Microwave on high for 40 seconds; stir. Let stand for 2 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.

 

Golden Lemon Bread In a large mixing bowl, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk.

 

Caramel SquaresMelt butter and sugar. Add salt and corn syrup. Slowly add milk. Heat to 245 degrees F (or hard ball stage). Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour into greased 9x9 inch pan. Cut into squares when cool and wrap each piece in plastic wrap.

 

Busy Day Chocolate CakeAdd shortening to hot water. Set aside to melt shortening. Put all other ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add hot water, shortening mixture. Beat with electric mixer until smooth. pour into greased and floured 8 inch pan.

 

Popsicle Stick Tree OrnamentHere's a cute tree ornament that is made from buttons, Popsicle sticks, and a little ribbon. Take 2 Popsicle sticks and form an x and glue where the two sticks connect. Take other 2 and form a + and glue where two sticks connect.

 

Recycling Last Year's School SuppliesIt's time to go back to school which means it's an expensive time for parents. Besides buying new clothes and school supplies, time is spent cleaning out last years' things to make way for the new. Try to use some of the old to make the new and save some money.

 

Ask For School Uniforms On FreecycleOne thing you could do to get uniforms, jackets and such is to put a post up on Freecycle or a Yahoo group. We have one here in Jefferson Parish, which is like a county. Maybe you can check to see if you have one in your town or area.

 

Early Preparation for Garage SalesI have several boxes set up in the garage for our annual garage sale. They are labeled: toys, clothes, housewares, books, and misc. I keep a package of price stickers and a pen handy.

 

Stamps: A Thoughtful Gift For Recently BereavedThis is not a money saving tip or a 'green' one. When my sister's husband, an avid grower of beautiful roses, passed away several years ago, I purchased several books of commemorative postage stamps with roses. She was able to use them for the notes one is expected to send at a time of bereavement.

 

Use Same Colored Primer For Painting Dark WallsWhen you are faced with painting walls that are a dark colour, instead of painting the walls with just white Primer, add the same colour in the Primer that you intend to paint the walls. This will save a lot of time and money in painting the walls a second or even a third coat.

 

Recycled Yarn ToteI made a yarn tote from an empty container of pretzel mix, you can too. I bought the full container for $3.00 and knew just what I would use it for.

 

New Jersey Charity OrganizationsHere is a list of New Jersey Charity Organizations that may be able to help. They are listed by name, number and then county.

 

Phlox "David"My phlox "David", so pure and simple looking.

 

Lemon Essential Oil for a Room FreshenerOne of the best room fresheners I have used is lemon essential oil. I bought a small bottle for under $5 at the health food store. It seems pricey but a very little bit goes a long way.

 

Read the Instructions When Cleaning AppliancesI just found the instructions to our Bunn coffee maker (after 7 years). The round piece where the water comes out, actually screws out! I found so much lime/calcium deposits that I could just rinse out. All these years I've been using vinegar to clean out my coffee maker, only to have it clog up the following week.

 

Izzy (Domestic House Cat)Izzy is about 1 year and is a domestic house cat. I got her from a friend. She loves to chase a laser light, and play with her babies.

 

Making A Patterned Rug With Clothing DyeI had an old off white throw rug size 5x10 feet. I took 3 spray bottles. I filled one spray bottle with green RIT dye and a tablespoon of salt, and a tablespoon of laundry detergent.

 

Help With HP Printer & Windows Vista?My computer is a Windows Vista. My copier is an HP Deskjet D1341. Sometimes when I try to copy something it says "offline" and won't print. Then suddenly it starts copying and won't stop. It just made 10 copies of "Busy Day Chocolate Cake". This thing is wasting inkjets and paper. Why does it do this and how do I get it to stop? By the way, it didn't come with an instruction manual, just a diagram showing how to hook it up and a big, fat booklet of other expensive products I can buy from the company. Thanks for any help.

 

Searching For Surname "Tolley"?I am looking for people whose surname is "Tolley". Same as me.

 

Removing Bed From Sofa?My couch/sofa bed is old but still looks great and would be easy to slip cover but no one likes the pull out bed. Can I remove the sofa bed inside and still have a usable couch? Thanks,

 

Pumpkins Turning Orange Early?My pumpkins have already turned orange. Will they last if I leave them on the vine until Halloween, or will they rot before then? I don't want to pick them yet, as the whole reason I planted them was for Halloween.

 

Removing Paint From Gazebo Curtains & Canopy?My partner was painting the fence with green fence paint and the paint accidentally splattered onto my neighbors gazebo curtains and canopy which are cream. How can I get it out? I feel really awful.

 

Advice For a Wallpapering Camper?I'm wanting to paper a small camper. At the moment, it has a vinyl wall covering. I'm planning on removing the wall covering which is similar to contact paper with a hairdryer as suggested on this site. My question... If I leave the adhesive that is still on the walls, will wallpaper pasted with vinyl adhesive adhere to the existing residue, or should I plan on removing it also?

 

Taper Candle Molds?I am looking for 1/2 inch taper candle molds. They must be 1/2 inch on the bottom, and can be any length. Thank you.

 

Cloths For Swiffer Mops?Where can I get cloths to fit my Swiffer mop? It is 161/2 by 41/2 in size.

 

Major Split in Poplar Tree?I have a big beautiful poplar tree in my back yard. It is the only shade that we receive but I have a problem. There is a major split going right down the middle of the trunk right down to the ground.

 

Cooking Chicken Legs on a Gas Grill?I make chicken drumsticks on the outdoor gas grill. First I boil it in water until its done, and then I spray the racks well on my outdoor gas grill with PAM and heat the grill. The problem I am having is, when I put the chicken on the grill and turn the drumsticks to brown the other side, the chicken sticks to the grill rack.

 

Making Inexpensive Wall Hooks?I am looking for a way to make fairly inexpensive and unique wall hooks rather than using the typical store-bought ones. An example of this would be the hand models used for displaying jewelry (expensive, even on eBay!) Any ideas?

 

Reusing Wornout Capri Pants?I have a pair of black linen capri pants that tore across the rear yesterday. This is the second tear in these pants, and the linen just seems very worn, so I don't think they're worth patching again.

 

Preventing Sludge Buildup In Sewer Pipe?We just had to have our sewage line cleaned out (city sewer) and they said that there is still a lot of sludge in the pipe. Is there a way to keep sludge from building up? Is there a product to use to "clean" the sewage pipe?

 

How To Clean Eyeglasses?I am looking for tips for cleaning eyeglasses.