Tax Return Planning

   Well we got our tax return in this Monday. After repaying a small loan my husband gave me $1000 to spend as I saw fit. So the question is, if you had $1000 what would you do with it?

   Right now one of the top things on my list is to get a Berkey water purifier. Having a source of water is most important. Really, what good would dehydrated food do you if you had no way to re-hydrate it? I have been eye-balling a BERKEY  LIGHT for a couple years now. In my opinion anything that can filter out red dye is definitely on the higher end. Now regularly I'd take the frugal route of making my own (see the HOMEMADE BERKEY FILTER link on my Pertinent Links page). In this case however I'm going to go ahead and buy it for the full price and get the "free" gift that is worth $70 on the site (a choice of a shower head, filtering water bottles or the PF2 filters). Since I'd been looking at it on Lehmans, I was glad to see an extra perk if I bought it through the company for the same price that Lehmans offers it for.
   Purchase #2 is going to be that pressure canner that I've been waiting for. With a couple dozen jars to start, I'm planning on putting a little extra money towards meat and butter to can up and store under the bed. Wish me luck!
   #3 is going to be about $150 worth of herbs from herbal advantage, including some capsules, emu oil and another tea ball.
   A possible for #4 is going to be some school cirriculum from Keepers of Faith, something that I can use to home school the children in the basics with quality materials.
   As for the rest, I'm hoping to set some aside for yard sales (hopefully some off season deals like a Kerosene heater) or some barrels for a rain collection system (our water rates went up another 4.4% yesterday).
   Whats on your "To Get" List? Let us know!

No Cook Play-Dough

   Im sure you could find pages and pages of recipes and site after site that has a whole smorgasbord of recipes, but this is the one that I use that we like the best. On these long day after rainy West Virginia days play-dough is a life saver for the bored-out-of-their-mind children and their not-keeping-sane mother. Indulge in the neon colors from the store or let the kids create their own colors from the color charts on the backs of the food coloring boxes. We like to add extras too like glitter and sparkles. Have fun and exparament!

No Cook Play-Dough

1c. flour (and any extras you wish to include like glitter or sparkles)

2T. cream of tartar

1/2c. salt

1T. oil.

1c. boiling water with added coloring

   Stir together dry ingredients and add hot water. Stir together till all is combined and no flour remains uncolored. Let cool. Store in ziplock baggies or air tight containers. Doesn't need to be refrigerated, and lasts for a long time.

Singer 15-90 ZigZag Attachment Video

   Just thought I'd let you all know that I have a new video that demonstrates a Singer Adjustable ZigZag attachment (part 121706) on my newly converted 1948 Singer 15-90 treadle machine. In the video I'm working on some cloth wipes for the new baby -something I plan to share with you on how to make (easy peasy) here soon.

   I've looked for videos all over the net for this attachment and the most I found was a 10 second or so clip. I was highly interested in the mechanics of it before I bought it. So here is a little glimpse of it working on an over-edge zigzag to prevent the material from raveling.

   When I can, I'll put up video of the buttonholer in use as well. Hope you enjoy!
--Jamie

Pizza - Crust and Sauce

   One thing about not eating a lot of dairy is the weird looks I get when I order a pizza without cheese. I've grown accustomed to it, and I've been remembered by the folks we most ordered from ("make sure there isn't any cheese on hers!").

    So here are some recipes that we use whenever we want pizza and don't feel like spending the dough (tee hee). Both of these recipes most likely came off of RecipeZaar, but its been so long I can't quite remember. Here they are.

Pizza Crust:

2t. yeast

1c. + 2T. water

2T. oil

2T. sugar

1t. salt

3c. flour

Soften yeast in warm (not hot) water. Add sugar, oil, salt, and flour. Mix till dough comes away from the bowl. Knead on floured surface till smooth (8- 10 min). Let rest 20 -30 min, shape. Makes one large pizza crust. To bake add sauce and toppings and cook untill crust is a light golden brown, and cheese (if using any) in the middle is melted. 

Pizza Sauce (Papa Johns' copy cat) 

In a small pan combine 

1 10 3/4 oz. can of tomato puree ( I use tomato sauce in the closest size to match)

1/4 c. water

1 t. sugar 

1t. olive oil

1/4t. each of :

   lemon juice

   salt

   oregano

   onion

1/8 t. each of:

   basil

   thyme

   garlic powder

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low 15-20 minutes. Use on pizza crust with choice of toppings or as a dipping sauce for bread sticks.

I definitely think this is a good contender against all those chain store pizza shops. Hits the spot every time. Also you can make up double batches (or more) of the sauce and freeze it for later when you need a quick fix for dinner. You can also leave the oil out and dehydrate it into leathers for space saving and food storage purposes- just add the oil when its reconstituted. 

Hope your family enjoys this as much as we do!

--Jamie


ATTENTION : I see many of you are checking out this page-Why don't you stop by the home page and check out this weeks book give away. Details are there and anyone may enter!