Author: Nicole

Hi thank you for stopping by. I am very excited to have you here. Pull up a chair and have a seat, this is the view from my side of the table.
Recipes

The do’s and don’ts of loading your dishwasher

Nicole
I found this article by Emily Hsieh, of Shine staff to be very interesting, and it explains why sometimes I have to re-wash things in my dishwasher. My husband loads the dishwasher just like hers. I guess I never thought about a proper technique for loading my dishwasher. Original article link.
My husband and I are divided when it comes to loading the dishwasher. My methodology is aimed at space efficiency: I line up all the plates on one side, all the cups on the other, and anything random/big in the middle. His technique, or lack of, is completely haphazard—he just throws things in the machine in the first empty spot he sees (which means only about half as many dishes fit). And as it turns out, as was reported in The New York Times, there is actually a science to this, and my approach could use some finessing too. Here are some pointers from the Consumer Reports Home and Garden blog to help your dishwasher perform at its best, and to prevent your dishes from chipping:
1.      Load large items at the sides and back of the dishwasher, so that they don’t block water and detergent from reaching other dishes.
2.     Place the dirtier side of dishes toward the center of the machine to provide more exposure to the spray. Don’t let dishes or utensils nest, or rest side by side, which can prevent water from reaching all surfaces.
3.     Use the top rack for plastic and delicate items that are dishwasher safe.
4.     Rest glassware on prongs to prevent breakage. And to prevent chipping, make sure that china, crystal, and stemware don’t touch other items. Don’t machine-wash brass, bronze, cast iron, disposable plastics, gold-colored flatware, gold-leaf china, hollow-handle knives, pewter, tin, or anything made of wood or with a wood handle. 
5.     Load silverware with handles down but place knives with the handles up. If your dishwasher has an open basket, mix spoons, forks, and knives to prevent them from sticking together.
6.     Place items with baked-on food facedown and toward the sprayer in the bottom rack.

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Recipes

1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

Nicole
I am always looking for ways to clean that don’t cost too much, and that are better for my family. I love how bleach cleans, but it doesn’t seem to like me. I sneeze like crazy using it. Molly passed this website on to me, and I wanted to share it with you. 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar
My favorite tips is:
Deodorize the garbage disposal by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal.

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Recipes

STOP! Drop that bread bag!

Nicole


We are notorious for letting bread get stale. We don’t each a lot of sandwich bread. We always have it, but it doesn’t always get eaten. My husband eats it when he makes a peanut butter sandwich, but that is pretty much it. Typically we eat everything else on other types of bread. I always feel guilty when I have a bag of bread that goes stale. I hate wasting food, and worse money.
I decided that wasn’t happening anymore we were spending too much money on things we were not eating. I wasn’t going to stop buying the bread because my husband likes to have it when the PB is calling his name. I had to think of alternative ways of preserving it, and I have. I often take the bread and dry it out beyond belief. It’s brick hard when I am done with it. A 400 degree oven for 15+ minutes can work wonders.
I make:
  • Bread crumbs (They are much better than anything you can buy in a store)
  • Stuffing (Any turkey would love this stuffing)
  • Croutons (A few spices, olive oil, garlic powder they become restaurant quality)
  • Toast (Sure why not?)
You can keep each one of these items for weeks with an air tight container. Why waste food you have already paid for, then turn around and pay for it again in the store in a new form like bread crumbs.

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Recipes

Magnifique’ Chicken Pot Pie

Nicole



I started with a recipe I found on Food.com. Once the pot pie filling was made I tasted it and I was pretty disappointed in how bland it tasted to me.

I decided that this recipe was just not going to cut it. It’s nothing personal against it’s creator I just needed more pazazz! Or as my Granny always said it really needed “doctoring up”! I looked through a ton of recipes to see what they were adding and I added a little of this and a little of that until I got potpie filling that actually has a great flavor! I made these pot pies in egg roll wrappers so they would turn out crisp with a gooey filling. To shape the pot pies I used cupcake pans. Excellent and fun!

Ingredients: 
  • 1/2 cup potato, diced
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced
  • 1/4 cup celery, diced
  • 1/2 cup carrot, diced
  • 1/4 cup melted margarine
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup half-and-half
  • 1/3 cup dry white wine
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/16 teaspoon sage
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon season salt
  • 2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
  • 1 package of egg roll wrappers

Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
  2. Sauté onion, celery, carrots and potatoes in margarine for 10 minutes.
  3. Add flour to sautéed mixture, stirring well, and cook one minute stirring constantly.
  4. Add broth, white wine, and half and half.
  5. Gradually stir into vegetable mixture.
  6. Stir in salt, pepper, garlic powder, sage, thyme, and season salt
  7. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly.
  8. Add Chicken and stir well
  9. At this point I allowed the filling to cool and I refrigerated it overnight. This allowed all the spices to mingle and get happy. You can certainly skip this step. I was using this as a make ahead meal.
  10. If you are putting this together at a later time you will need to heat up your pie filling bringing it to a bubble
  11. Using a cupcake pan take individual egg roll wrappers and place them in each cup laid out one at a time and full each cup with 1/4 cup of mixture. 
  12. Bring each egg roll wrapper corner to the middle and press together. They will seal up for the most park while they bake.
  13. When the are golden brown they are ready!!

Original Source

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