How to Tell if an Egg Is Bad

 This popped up on my Facebook page.  I thought it would be good to share here.  

Can Anything Good Come Out of Having a Broken Microwave?

Humanity has lived without microwaves for 200,000 years.  Why, then, was it soooooo hard for us to live without a microwave for one week when our microwave broke a couple of weeks ago? How were we to defrost our frozen food?   How could we heat up our leftovers?  Was there anything good that could come out of having a broken microwave for a week?????

Surprising, something good did come out of having a broken microwave.  What was that, you ask?  It was the discovery of the air fryer.  Months ago, I had heard that an air frier was a must have.  So, an air frier I bought.  After I bought it, I tried cooking broccoli in it.  I wasn’t impressed.  I heard I could make french fries out of cut-up potatoes in my air fryer.  Once again, I wasn’t impressed.  So, in the back of my pantry shelf it sat for months. 

Now enter, my broken microwave.  After a failed attempt to heat up my leftover frozen enchiladas in a ziplock bag in boiling water, I remembered my air frier.  I took my soggy enchiladas out of the ziplock bag and stuck them into my air fryer.  It was love at first bite.  The enchiladas were crispy and delicious. The next night we heated up our leftover chicken tortilla casserole.  Once again, we were elated.  Another night we heated up our leftover homemade macaroni and cheese. Our mac and cheese never tasted better. We cooked some yummy butternut squash in our air fryer.

Let’s just say that now our air fryer has a new position on my pantry shelf.  

Front and center.

Here we are installing our new microwave after a week without one.

It's good to have a microwave back in our lives...

...along with our air fryer discovery that has revolutionized our cooking at the Magpad. 

Bug Spray

We'll be serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ for the next two years in Belize.  We heard that there a lots of bugs there and to bring some homemade bug spray along with Deep Insect Repellent.   I found this recipe for homemade bug spray here on DrAxe.com

Here is another recipe that I got from wellnessmama.com site:

Homemade Bug Spray Ingredients

Essential oils: choose from Citronella, Clove, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Tea Tree, Cajeput, Eucalyptus, Cedar, Catnip, Lavender, Mint

Natural Witch Hazel

Distilled or boiled Water

Vegetable glycerin (optional)

Homemade Bug Spray Instructions

Fill spray bottle (I used 8 ounce) 1/2 full with distilled or boiled water

Add witch hazel to fill almost to the top

Add 1/2 tsp vegetable glycerin if using

Add 30-50 drops of essential oils to desired scent. The more oils you use, the stronger the spray will be. My personal favorite mix is: Rosemary, Clove, Cajeput, Lavender, Cinnamon and Eucalyptus. It works great and smells good too!

Click here to watch a video that shows how to use a diffuser to repel bugs. 

Click here for the recipe for the above bug-repelling mason jars 

Our Winter Garden - Part 2

....Continuing the saga of our winter garden. You will recall here that we had some critters that enjoyed our previous winter garden. The animal control man suggested that we put down wire and replant. The wire prevents our little animal friends from digging up our tender seedlings. And it worked!

Scott preparing the wire

The garden plot after the seeds were planted

The seedlings growing through the chicken wire

Peas

Cilantro

Carrots

Picked lettuce ready to prepare for tonight's dinner

Below is a picture of our garden today. With the chicken wire down, it makes it so the raccoons are not able to dig up the plants. It also makes it hard to weed the garden. If you click on the picture, you'll notice that weeds are growing along the wooden fence, not lettuce.

Please pass the salad.

Slime

My friend, Julie, did a post about slime on her family blog.

Slime....It looked like fun, so I asked her for her recipe.

Here is it:

SLIME!

· water

· white glue (like Elmer's™)

· borax

· food coloring (unless you want uncolored white slime)

There are two components to slime. There is a borax and water solution and a glue, water, and food coloring solution. Prepare them separately.

· Mix 1 teaspoon borax in 1 cup of water. Stir until the borax is dissolved.

· In a separate container, mix 1/2 cup (4 oz) white glue with 1/2 cup water. Add food coloring, if desired.

After you have dissolved the borax and diluted the glue, you are ready to combine the two solutions. Stir one slime solution into the other. (I poured the water/borax into the glue solution.) Your slime will begin to polymerize immediately.

The slime will become hard to stir after you mix the borax and glue solutions. Try to mix it up as much as you can, then remove it from the bowl and finish mixing it by hand. It's okay if there is some colored water remaining in the bowl.

Store your slime in a sealed ziplock bag, preferably in the refrigerator. Insect pests will leave slime alone because borax is a natural pesticide, but you'll want to chill the slime to prevent mold growth if you live in an area with high mold count. The main danger to your slime is evaporation, so keep it sealed when you're not using it.

Thanks, Julie for the recipe.

A New Recipe Blog Link

I just stumbled across another great blog. It's called: Fun with Food Storage, Finances and More.

The web address is: http://positivelyprepared.blogspot.com/ or you can click here to get to it.

The blog has links to and posts about:

• Food storage lesson
• Dave Ramsey's financial advice
• Emergency preparedness ideas
• Canning tips
• Delicious recipies

I will also put link to the site on the side of this blog.

Thanks Katie and Lori for the great blog.

Why Eat Together?

When we were in Utah last week for the Thanksgiving holiday, the Deseret News had an excellent article entitled: It's Time for Dinner (with family) by Carolyn Campbell . I would suggest that you click onto the link and read the whole article.

Here is a little section of the article that I thought was interesting:

So why eat together?

Family bonding

Eating a family meal creates an environment that fosters conversation. During dinner, the family has the opportunity to spend time together, author Janet Peterson says.

"Because they are sitting down together at the table, looking across at each other, it is a level playing field, with the parents not standing taller than the children, which creates a more relaxed atmosphere," she says.

Saving money

"Restaurants are in the business to make money," Peterson said. "Their labors, real estate and profit margin all cost. If they don't make money, they don't stay in business." She says if you multiply the average of $812 spent annually per person on eating out, it doesn't take a CPA to tell you that it's costly, especially for a family with children.

"Restaurant prices in recent years have risen slightly faster than inflation, making it even more expensive to eat away from home," Peterson says.

Healthier meals

A study published in the British Archives of Family Medicine found that having a family dinner was not only associated with a healthier way of eating, but also had a positive effect on the family's physical and emotional health.

The study reported that those who ate dinner with their families were more likely to eat five portions of fruit and vegetables daily. The home-cooked meal is more likely to contain a variety of food groups. Milk or water is more likely to be served, and less soda pop or high fat foods are typically offered.

Commercially prepared foods are notoriously high in sugar, starch and fat, although some restaurants do list low-fat items on their menus, says Peterson. She adds that home cooking allows a family to select healthful ingredients, tailor meals to suit their own particular nutritional needs and tastes, serve portions appropriate to age and activity level, and monitor methods of preparation.

We also eat more when we eat out.

"Everything is super-sized," Peterson says. "Restaurant portions continue to increase. The usual restaurant plate used to be 10 inches in diameter and now it is 12 inches."

Learning

Preschool children who eat with the family have better language skills, according to the Rockford Clinic. Dinner-time conversation exposes them to a broader vocabulary, especially as they listen to adults and older children. Eating together as a family can teach good communications skills, such as listening patiently and expressing one's opinion in a respectful manner.

According to researchers at the University of Illinois, children age 7-11 who did well on school achievement tests ate the majority of their meals and snacks with their families.

One study points out how family dinners are strong preventative medicine. Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, reported: "Intensive research and teen surveys have consistently revealed that the more often children eat dinner with their parents, the less likely they are to smoke, drink or use illegal drugs."

Family tradition

Food served at the family table helps shape and give lasting meaning to our cultural heritage, says Katherine Carson, associate professor of food science at Pennsylvania State College.

"Positive food memories created during childhood are cherished for life," she says.

Peterson adds that food provides a connection among families.

Homemade Eye Glass Cleaning Spray

1 cup of water

1/4 cup vinegar

1/8 cup rubbing alcohol

2 drops of dish soap

Combine above ingredients and fill into a spray bottle.

To clean glasses:

Spray both sides of each lens and rub clean with a soft cloth. Never use paper towels, toilet paper or kleenex as they contain harsh abrasives that will scratch your lenses.

Scott cleans his glasses every day, sometimes twice, so he asked if I could find a recipe for a cleaning solution for his glasses.

The above recipe is a combination of two recipes that I got off the Internet. It takes pennies to make this compared to the cost of picking up something from the store.

Someone's been eating my.......

You all remember the story of Goldie Locks and the Three Bears.... Someone had been intruding on the poor bear family and ate their porridge, sat in their chairs, and slept in their beds.

I can relate to the bear family because someone has been eating my winter garden of peas, carrots, and lettuce. The tender sprouts were growing so nicely. It was a little unnerving to get up each morning and see my tender plants plucked and dug right out of the ground. Ugh!

I called our city's animal control and they said if I caught the critter, they would release him into the hills. My neighbor came to the rescue with the trap and advice. The little critter was caught red handed and is now roaming the hills above the beautiful city of Duarte. We'll see if he has a mate, and if he does, hopefully we'll be able to reunite them soon.


You can read part II of this saga by clicking here

Another Recipe for Happiness....

...Be grateful for the beautiful things in your life.

Click here to see the video

Click on the image below to see the music

Business Cards

What gift do you give your mom on her 54th birthday?

Blog business cards.

Thanks Renee! No more writing down my blog address on a scrap piece of paper when someone asks me for a copy of a recipe.

Tub and Shower Spray

I saw this in the paper from Mary Hunt's column entitled: Ordinary Ingredients Can Produce Magic Results .
debtproofliving.com

If you haven't experienced the power of original blue Dawn plus white vinegar, you are in for a treat. Remove the top of a plastic spray bottle, and fill half of it with white vinegar. Carefully heat it in the microwave until the vinegar is hot, taking care not to melt the bottle.

Fill the rest of the bottle with blue Dawn liquid dishwashing soap. Apply the top tightly. Gently shake the bottle to mix. That's it. You now have a powerful cleaning product that will melt soap scum and tub and shower buildup and clean sinks, appliances, and just about anything else. Just spray it on, scrub, rinse and be amazed. For tough soap scum buildup, spray the mixture on and allow it to sit as long as overnight. The scrub and rinse.

9/17/10 I made this and used it to clean my tub and stovetop. I thought that 50/50 ratio of Dawn to white vinegar is too strong on the Dawn. I since have tried a 5% Dawn to 95% vinegar ratio and it worked a lot better. The other way was just too soapy.

Weed Killer

I saw this in the paper from Mary Hunt's column entitled: Ordinary Ingredients Can Produce Magic Results .
debtproofliving.com

Here's a recipe for weed-killer that has the power of Roundup for a fraction of the price. Mix 2 cups of ordinary table salt into 1 gallon of white vinegar that has 5 percent acidity. Add 8 drops of liquid dish washing soap.

Label it, and keep it out of the reach of children. This is not toxic, but it will kill any and all vegetation, even the good stuff, so be careful where you spray it.

Another caution: Spraying this multiple times in the same area will sterilize the soil so that nothing will grow there for a long time. It is ideal for killing weeds that grow between cracks in your sidewalk and other areas where you don't want vegetation.

I think I'll whip me up a batch and spray the brick path in my front yard!

Another New Recipe Blog

Lisa discovered another new recipe blog that I will include on my blog list. It is called, Favorite Family Recipes.

http://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/

or click here to go to it.

Happy cooking!

Table Center Piece

We had a work party at our house this this past week. I used these flower blooms from our yard as table center pieces. I was happy with the way they turned out and you can't beat the price....free! (You could also use canning jars with raffia bows to put the flowers in.)

Does any one know the name of the flowers? They are always in bloom around the 4th of July and make great center pieces this time of year.

Julie Cole let me know that this type of flower is called, agapantha. She said, "They come in purple and white....once you grow them, the 'bulbs' multiply. They are easy to separate and then you have more. Very easy to grow." Thanks, Julie for the information!

Whipped Cream

Ingredients:

* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1/4 cup powdered sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

Preparation:

Whip cream until almost stiff. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until cream holds peaks. Spread over top of cooled pie or dollop on bread pudding, gingerbread, cobblers, or other desserts.

When I grew up, I learned how to make whipped cream by watching my mom put in a glug of vanilla and a bit of powdered sugar into the whipping cream. Several people have asked me how to make whipped cream, so I looked it up on the Internet and posted it here. Beware: if you whip the cream too much you'll turn it into butter. I think every cook has done that at least once. (I have) When ever a recipe calls for cool whip, I'll usually use whipped cream instead. Cool whip is too fake for me.

Lunches

Click on the above newspaper and read the letter to the editor: Lunches by Mom

In case you can't read the article, this is what it says:

Lunches by Mom

The Guest View article by Trulie Ankerbery about school lunches caught my eye. (May 5) She said, “Millions of families do not have the funds to send their children to school with nutritious homemade lunches.”

I disagree with that statement.

It is possible to make nutritious homemade lunches for a minimal cost with a little time, effort, and planning. My six children are living proof of that. We don’t need another government program feeding our children their school lunches.

What we need is mothers and fathers taking care of their families.

Added Aug, 2023

In 2014 my daughter wrote an essay about, "The Power of Lunches".  Click here to go to our family blog where I posted her essay.  It was a payday for me. 

Play-Dough Recipe

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 tsp cream of tarter
1 cup water
Few drops of food coloring
1 Tbs. oil

Mix dry ingredients. Mix water, food coloring and oil. Combine. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with large spoon until the dough pulls away from the sides of pan and forms a ball. This takes only about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

Remove to counter with a little flour on it and knead until smooth. This makes a soft dough that keeps it's shape when molded.

It will dry out but not enough to make things like jewelry. If kept in a plastic bag or airtight container in the refrigerator, it will keep for many months.

I used this recipe a lot when my kids were little. You can give the kids a rolling pin, cookie cutters, and plastic knives to use when they play with the play-dough. Add a Disney CD or other children's music and they'll be entertained for hours.

Another fun activity to do with kids that will keep them entertained for hours on a summer afternoon is to give them a paint brush (from the dollar store) and a bucket of water and have them "paint" outside. They can "paint" the sidewalk, fence, garage wall, etc.

Benefits of Meal Time

I stumbled on another good recipe blog. It is called:

http://familyeatstogether.blogspot.com/

Click here to go the the site.

I'll also put a link to this site on My Blog List.

Speaking of meal time, there is all kinds of research that talks about the benefits of eating meals together as a family. Click here for a good article on the subject.

Freezer Jam

There are a couple of signs that let us know when spring is here at the Mag Pad.  One, is when the flowers on our front hill are in bloom. (click onto the picture to get a better view of the flowers)

Another sign of spring is when we replenish our strawberry jam supply.

Making homemade freezer jam is so easy. Just follow the directions that come in the Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin box for freezer strawberry jam. I buy the Sure-Jell Fruit Pectin box from Smart and Final along with the 8 oz plastic containers that I put the jam in. You can be sure we always make enough jam to last us until next the spring.

Please pass the peanut butter and jelly sandwich. (made with homemade strawberry jam, of course!)

March 18, 2024

The last few times I bought the Sure-Jell package, the paper with  recipe isn't included inside the box, so I found the recipe online here.  

Ingredients

• 2 cups crushed strawberries (buy 1 qt. fully ripe strawberries)
• 4 cups sugar, measured into separate bowl
• 3/4 cup water
• 1 pkg SURE-JELL Fruit Pectin 

Instructions

Step 1

Rinse 5 (1-cup) plastic containers and lids with boiling water. Dry thoroughly. Remove and discard strawberry stems. Crush strawberries thoroughly, 1 cup at a time. Measure exactly 2 cups prepared fruit into large bowl. Stir in sugar. Let stand 10 min., stirring occasionally.

Step 2

Mix water and pectin in small saucepan. Bring to boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Continue boiling and stirring 1 min. Add to fruit mixture; stir 3 min. or until most the sugar is dissolved. (A few sugar crystals may remain.)

Step 3

Fill containers immediately to within 1/2 inch of tops. Wipe off top edges of containers; immediately cover with lids. Let stand at room temperature 24 hours. Jam is now ready to use. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks or in freezer up to 1 year. (If frozen, thaw in refrigerator before using.)