Today's Tightwad Tip

The other day I made a lap through Sam's Club. They have excellent rotisserie chickens, so I bought two - one for dinner and one on speculation! For once in my life, I pulled all the chicken off the bones when it was cool enough to handle and not after procrastinating for 3 days while it languished in the fridge. I highly recommend this - it was way easier. I put the chicken into 2 zip lock bags and then for curiosity's sake, weighed them. I had just under two pounds of cooked, ready-to-use chicken, for about $2.50/pound. It's now in the freezer, waiting for creativity to strike. Considering that I didn't have to cook it, plus it's a mixture of white and dark meat, I thought it was a bargain.

Dump Cake!!!

My new favorite website is The Pioneer Woman. If you haven't yet, check it out. It is loaded with great recipes and photos, and is wonderfully written. One of her recent recipes was Dump Cake. I couldn't resist, so bought a can of cherry pie filling and some margarine and tried it Tuesday night. The scent brought Little Man's father in from outside, wondering what I was doing. Yesterday, Little Man's father asked if we could make a batch for him to take to work, so last night, I made a cherry one for him and an apple pie filling version for me. We are both very popular right now with our co-workers! Anyhow, here's the recipe, with credit to the Pioneer Woman.

Dump Cake

1 can cherry pie filling
1 can crushed pineapple
1 box yellow cake mix (white works, too)
1 stick margarine
1/2 stick butter
Whipped Cream

Dump cherry pie filling and crushed pineapple into baking dish. Stir together. Sprinkle cake mix over the top of the fruit. Slice margarine and butter and distribute over the surface of the cake mix. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Top with whipped cream and enjoy!

Hypertufa Mushrooms

Last fall we had our 4th (or was it 5th?) hypertufa party. In case you've never heard of it, hypertufa is a mixture of portland cement, vermiculite (or perlite) and peat moss. It is used to make containers for planting, or in my case - mushrooms! Anyhow, here's my share of the haul - 7 mushrooms and 3 planters. The mushroom caps were molded over a cereal bowl. The tall containers were molded over a popcorn bowl and the shorter container was molded over a round serving bowl.

Homemade Yogurt

Last fall I read "French Women Don't Get Fat". If you can get past the "French women are wonderful and the rest of us poor slobs are clueless" stuff, the author has some good points. She advocates eating food that is seasonal and available locally, enjoying the work of shopping and food preparation, and savoring good food. One of her most important points is adjusting your eating on a meal to meal basis, rather than thinking that if you pig out on a meal, the day (or weekend or week!) is shot, therefore an eating free-for-all is unavoidable.

Another point is her love of homemade yogurt. She included recipes for making yogurt with and without a yogurt maker, which sent me on a quest. After reading the reviews (mixed) of yogurt makers on Amazon.com (an amazing consumer reference), I googled homemade yogurt. One source (sorry, I have no idea where or who) said that the best information they had ever read about homemade yogurt was in the Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyczyn. Since I just happen to have that book, I checked it out. (In the complete edition, the article starts on page 718.) In true Frugal Zealot fashion, she researched yogurt inside and out and ended with her preferred method on page 721. I have been making it now for several months and have had 100% success. (And I didn't have to buy a yogurt maker!!)

Here it is:

Before starting, take 2 tablespoons of starter aside, to come to room temperature. I used Stonyfield non-fat organic yogurt to start off with. I also put some in an ice cube tray, and now have the cubes in a bag in the freezer, which should keep me going for months, if not longer. I now leave a little in the jar and just start a new batch off the old batch. Supposedly it gets tarter with each batch, but I like tart yogurt, so that's not a problem. I think I made 4 or 5 batches before I decided to try one of my frozen cubes.

Put 1 quart of milk ( I use skim, the recipe doesn't specify) into a large saucepan. Stir in 1/2 cup powdered milk. Heat the milk to 180 degrees and remove it from the heat. Let it cool to 115 degrees.

Add a small amount of this warm mixture to the starter, whisk, then add that back to the pan. Blend well and pour into a quart jar. (I always have enough to do a partial pint jar also.) Place the jars on a heating pad set on low, cover with a towel, and cover with a large soup pot. Incubate for 8 hours.

Attached are some pictures, which came out in reverse order! Sorry the middle two are blurry. I didn't test them until this AM. At least you get the idea. Pioneer woman I ain't! (If you haven't yet, check out www.thepioneerwoman.com. It is a GREAT website - funny and loaded with wonderful recipes and photographs.

Buttercup (aka Tough Ted) (aka The Thug)

Here is a rare picture of Buttercup the barn cat looking angelic. Don't be fooled - he is as tough as they come. He has a bad habit of swiping at the hand that feeds, so now I stomp and hiss before I set the food down. I've given up trying to pet him. He apparently has a route, because he's not here every day, but when he is, he begs unashamedly and eats with gusto. It works out great, because he cleans up all Little's Man's rejected meals. (Little Man has become VERY picky in his senior years.)

Walk with Grandpa

This lovely image was put together by my cousin's husband. That is her son and her father in the picture, and the farm we visited in Ohio in the background.

Need a chuckle?

Here's a picture I found on http://www.ratemykitten.com/. Makes me laugh every time I see it! Their names are Tubby and Tiny.