Yowza.

Yesterday was our first sign of relief as we only got up to 98 degrees. ONLY 98. There’s something wrong when you say, “Oh it’s only 98! Yay for 98!” Twisted weird. Wrong.

Today is miraculously, wonderfully, amazingly only supposed to get up to 89. Ok, that’s still hot but after two months since we’ve seen it last I am SO glad to see 89 again!

This summer has warped me, I tell you.. WARPED.

Maybe that’s because this summer we roughed it out without central air conditioning. (WITHOUT. A. C.) The reasoning for that being the unit was so old and inefficient and the ductwork under the house just as bad.. that last summer even with the air conditioner running non-stop our house still got up to indoor temperatures of 93-ish at the peak of summer. And we paid an arm and a leg for an air conditioning bill that we weren’t experiencing. We turned our unit off last fall (a time when our unit doesn’t run at all) and watched our electric bill drop in half.

Let me say that again.

We turned the central heat and air OFF, instead of just kicking it off and just not having it running, and our electric bill for a month that the unit usually doesn’t run at all was HALF what it was from the previous year.

There is something wrong with that unit.

We haven’t turned it on since.

It would be crazy to do so!!

So we survived the winter with space heaters (and did just fine) and then we survived this summer with 3 window units. One in the master bedroom, one in one kid bedroom (they all slept in one room) and one in the separate office/school room. The living room and kitchen? They still got hot. TOO HOT. We spent all our time in an air conditioned room and came out here as little as possible. (Kinda goes to show you how little space you actually need to live, doesn’t it?) Anyway, it worked. We survived. (And P.S. our highest electric bill of the summer was still only half from the year before. SHEESH.)

But now that the worst of the summer is behind us, now that we’ve melted and deep fried and lived to tell the tale, I find this wonderful, cheap, easy, simple solution: Space blankets and velcro.

S p a c e B l a n k e t s and V e l c r o. What are space blankets? Highly thin, heat reflective, durable, CHEAP emergency blankets that cost under $2.00 a piece. And we all know how inexpensive the peel and stick velcro is. I am truly tempted to go ahead and do this to our windows anyway.

I’ve been resisting the whole “tinfoil on the window” suggestion all summer … I guess the space blanket and velcro is just a little bit classier, or maybe after sweltering through the summer I’m more willing, I don’t know. But doesn’t it really sound like a good idea?? What do you think – would you do it?

It’s no secret flour is a major staple in any kitchen. And yet for the first many years of our marriage I rarely had it on hand.

But that’s beside the point.

As if you needed any further proof that you ought to keep plenty of flour on hand (or in case you do) here’s a list of some things you can do with plain ole’ all purpose flour.

Thirteen Things You Can Make With Flour

Edibles:

1. Flour tortillas
2. Pie crust
   
3. Graham Crackers
4. Crackers
   
5. Pancake and waffle mix
6. Soft breadsticks
7. Pita bread
8. Sopapillas

Non-edibles

1. Play Dough
2. Glue & paste
3. Air dry or bake clay
4. Finger Paint
5. Paper Mache

Did I mention these are SUPER cheap and frugal? Yeah, they are. =)

Speaking of things to make and do:

{Photo Source}

Wanna Know How?

5 Easy Steps to Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits

1. Set your oven at 400 degrees to pre-heat.

Does this really count as a step? I mean, really. All you have to do is turn the knob. Yet, it’s important to do this first so your oven is ready later. So yes, it’s a “real” step. Is this any indication of how easy this is going to be?? After that, gather your supplies:

2. Mix your ingredients.

With a butter knife – yes it matters – mix your dry ingredients (see down below) and buttermilk in a large bowl, cutting the buttermilk into the dough as you mix. The butter knife prevents the dough from getting mashed up and mixed too well and helps it form little “lumps.” The lumps are good, they’ll keep the biscuits nice and fluffy. If you mix it too well, the dough and the biscuits will be more dense later.

3. Knead your dough until it just comes together.

Keeping in mind that you still don’t want to overmix, turn your “dough” (though at this point it will resemble a bowl of gravel sized  lumps) onto a.) a floured surface or b.) a floured baking sheet or pizza pan. I just dump it straight onto my pizza pan that I’m going to be baking on because it’s less clean up. Gently knead it and press it together until it just comes together. The dough should not be overly sticky or wet. You may need to add small amounts of flour as you knead to keep the dough from sticking to your hands or the baking sheet. As soon as it stops falling apart into little lumps and stays together in in one big main lump, stop kneading.

4. Roll out the dough and slice it.

Now you need to prep your dough for baking. You may need to pick up your dough and shake some of the excess flour off of your baking sheet. Center your ball of dough and slightly flatten it with your hand. Add a sprinkle of flour and roll it with your rolling pin, about an inch to an inch and a half thick. Don’t worry, it will rise a lot! You can either roll it round, or you can try to roll it out in a squareish shape. I like to pick up my disc of dough and flip it over to ensure that the biscuits don’t stick to my baking sheet. Using my pizza cutter, (it slides through the dough without sticking!) I slice the dough into pieces. And that’s it. I don’t separate the pieces before baking – they’ll bake up nicely and pull apart easily later.

I bake my biscuits on a pizza pan like this:

5. Bake and enjoy.

Again, does this really count as a step? Well.. you gotta bake them so I suppose it does. =) Bake the biscuits at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes (or just until the tops start to brown a little bit.) They don’t need to brown much. Go ahead, crack one open! See how steamy and fluffy they are? You can just slide your little metal spatula under one of the pre-cut biscuits and lift it up out of there. How much easier could it be? Serve them up with a side of bacon and top them off with some good pepper or sausage gravy and enjoy. Or, if you prefer, slather with some butter and your favorite jam. Either way, you won’t be disappointed.

A few more tips to help you through it…

• You can either use this recipe for Copycat KFC Buttermilk Biscuits or you can use Pioneer Brand Baking Mix and follow the recipe on the box (subbing milk with buttermilk and adding a pinch of salt.) I have tried and tested both of these too many times to count. In my opinion the Pioneer brand baking mix has the best performance results and is one of the few things I splurge on rather than buying store brand.
• It’s important to use good baking powder. If your baking powder is old, your biscuits won’t rise well or at all.
• I substitute butter for lard! Wouldn’t you??
• Yes, buttermilk is a must. Believe me, I won’t go near the stuff outside of baking, but for baking purposes it’s “the bomb.” For some reason I don’t have a scienctific explanation for, buttermilk makes things fluffier.
• If you’d prefer, you can mix the dough and lightly press into a round, disposable, aluminum cake pan. Slice and bake as normal. This would be a great way to include some homemeade biscuits with a meal for a sick friend!

Homemade buttermilk biscuits work for me and now they can work for you too! Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Kristen @ We Are THAT Family!

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Menu Plan Monday this week actually starts with Tuesday’s menu this week. Today we just made some of whatever was in the pantry. Normally I wouldn’t be able to do that. Usually I buy groceries one week at a time, and when we get to the end of the week, there’s pretty much nothing left.

The last two months or so I’ve been over-shopping a little at the grocery store, spending about 20-30$ more than my normal weekly amount and coming home with enough food (and other necessary items) for about two weeks instead of one – minus some additional fresh fruit and veggies that needs to be bought for the second week. That’s partially because I’m making many things from scratch – yogurt, bread, tortillas, pizza dough, pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc. Since I do, I can stock up more on the (cheaper) basic items that I use to make each of these – milk, flour, tomato sauce – instead of the more expensive ‘specialty’ items.

Included in that bill is a little bit of stocking up for the pantry and the freezer. I’ve been buying extra canned veggies and fruits, peanut butter, rice, beans, flour, sugar, tea bags (definitely a necessity, right?), salsa, seasonings & spices, crackers, oatmeal, canned meats, block cheeses (you can freeze those, you know), pasta, tomato sauce, etc, etc. Each week I rotate the different things I buy extra and don’t buy some things entirely. Sure, I use a little of my extra each week, but I keep adding more than I’m using and my collection is growing.

The obvious benefit of this is that we CAN scrounge around for things in the pantry when it’s time to go to the store and we haven’t yet. The other benefit is that, being self-employed, when we have a week of slow business, I’ve got extras stocked up to eat out of if we need to. It’s not only smart, but it makes me feel a whole lot better with December coming (which is often a slow month for us in the computer business – people are off spending their money on Christmas presents instead of fixing their computers!)

So anyway, on to the menu, right

Tuesday (gonna do a lot of cleaning so keeping it light):

• Breakfast ~ Cereal, Fruit, OJ
• Lunch ~ Sandwiches, Chips
• Snack ~ Veggies, Ranch
• Supper ~ Salisbury steak, Steamed Squash, Black Eyed Peas, Salad

Wednesday:

• Breakfast ~ Truck Stop Buttermilk Pancakes, Fruit
• Lunch ~ Baked Potatoes
• Snack ~ Yogurt & Fruit
• Supper ~ Chicken Soft Tacos, Spanish Rice, Beans

Thursday:

• Breakfast ~ Eggs, Bacon, Toast
• Lunch ~ Nacho Supremes
• Snack ~ Pretzels, Fruit, Cheese
• Supper ~ Pasta & Red Sauce, Slow Cooker Meatballs, Salad

Friday (my little boy’s 3rd bday!):

• Breakfast ~ Chef LaLa’s French Toast, Turkey Bacon, Fruit
• Lunch ~ Hot dogs, Chips, Pickle
• Snack (small bday party at BK)
• Supper ~ Glazed Meatloaf, Homemade Mac N Cheese, Ranch Beans, Dinner Rolls

Saturday:

• Breakfast ~ Biscuits & Gravy, Turkey Bacon
• Lunch ~ Tuna Salad Sandwiches, Sliced Veggies, Chips
• Snack ~ Sliced apples, peanut butter, graham crackers
• Supper ~ (celebration at MILs house) Taco Soup, Bday Cake, Ice Cream

Sunday:

• Breakfast ~ Yogurt, Fruit
• Lunch ~ Crockpot Chili & Cornbread
• Snack ~ Orange Wedges, Homemade Pretzels, Raisins
• Supper ~ Calzones, Salad

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura the Org Junkie!

I’m discovering that I really like making things from scratch.

1. They taste better than boxed or frozen things.
2. It’s frugal.
3. It fulfills some inner homemaker need deep within.

This past year I’ve learned how to make:

• Chocolate Chip Granola Bars
• Homemade bread
• Pizza dough
• Buttermilk biscuits
• Soft pretzels
• Bagels
• Flour tortillas

They’re all so easy. (Especially if you have a bread machine to make the dough, but even if you don’t.) The pretzels and bagels are basically the same process, you just divide the dough into different sized pieces and shape them accordingly. The dough for those and the pizza are made in the bread machine. But for the biscuits and tortillas I’ve learned the art of kneading and rolling. And guess what – I got the hang of it!

I’ve learned to make other things, too.

• pico de gallo
• taco seasoning
• pancakes (from scratch- no boxed mix!)
• alfredo sauce
• gravy nah, still working on that one

Not only do I feel like I’m becoming a better cook, my family seems to prefer the homemade version for most of those.

My daughter told me the other day that my biscuits rock and she never wants me to make the others again.

Last time I made Alfredo sauce I used a Knorr package mix – and my hubby commented I must’ve purchased a cheap brand or something because it wasn’t quite right. (He doesn’t know I usually make a homemade lower fat version!)

The kids love it when I make granola bars, and everyone raved about the flour tortillas.

Oh, sure, it only took me 30 years of life, 10 years of married cooking, and several months of bad experiments to get here, but now that I’m starting to get the hang of this, well.. it’s nice to feel it finally working for me!

Works for Me Wednesday is hosted by Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer.

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