Heather Solos's Blog, page 13

Emergency Preparedness 101: The Very Basics

I live in a part of the country where our usual emergency preparedness includes being ready for hurricanes from June until the end of November, small tornadoes in the spring, and extremely rare earthquakes. 2020, of course, threw in plague and civil unrest. Your home may have other risks, including some that you didn’t expect—looking at you, Texas, and praying for your safety and sanity, I know things are miserable.

I don’t talk about my former marriage a lot, but my ex-husband was and is into the prepper mindset, and some of the useful points stuck with me on how I live my life. I want to be very clear that there are things associated with that mindset that I do not embrace and it’s not up for discussion.

It’s time to go back to the basics and talk about emergency preparedness that can benefit anyone no matter where you live. Please remember to slowly build up these assets over a matter of weeks, months, or years. Each step you take helps.

Do not spend your rent money doing this, you need your place to live, that’s step one.

A certain, very popular financial advisor talks about having an emergency fund of one thousand dollars. 2020 taught many that this only works in good times and really only if you have other safety nets to fall back on. With that said, that emergency fund is still a good idea and one that is a good thing to work toward but know that it’s not enough for anything beyond what will end up being a minor inconvenience once you’ve experienced an actual crisis or disaster.

What do you need for basic emergency preparedness?

This list is mostly in order of priority

A quality first aid kitA fire extinguisher, in your kitchen. Safe water storage or purification for 72 hours minimum for each member of your household, optimally, a week.A blackout pantryA “go bag.”Common sense
First Aid Kit

Yes. Accidents happen, knives slip, kids fall, people get hurt all the time. It’s important to be able to at least be able to patch up a wound before getting real medical attention, especially if there will be any delay. That laceration that needs six or seven stitches? It ranks pretty far behind the person with chest pain and the vehicular accident.

Fire extinguisher?

Yes, a fire extinguisher, keep it in your kitchen.

Think of it this way, if the roads are icy and emergency crews can’t get to you, exactly how are they going to help you if your cat knocks over a candle and your couch is now on fire? While you are at it, learn how to properly use the fire extinguisher and make sure it is not expired and replace it if it is.

Also, remember, if you are cooking and start a grease fire. Smother it. Do not use water, which will spread the fire. Yes, you can use a chemical fire extinguisher, but if you hadn’t gotten around to it yet, you could also use baking soda or salt. Do not use flour, which is highly flammable.

Water Storage

Water storage gets tricky as your household expands. This post goes into detail on an innovative solution for larger households.

Blackout Pantries?

Blackout pantries, what do I mean by this?

Well, it’s a combination of things and it’s not just the literal closet right off of your kitchen. It’s food you can eat without cooking. It’s the food you consume as it thaws from your freezer if you still have ways to cook.

Please remember, never use a charcoal grill indoors.

Also remember that if it is below freezing and your power is out, the entire outside world is a freezer.

Put your food on your porch. Yes, some wildlife might get into it. It’s possible… You could also figure out ways to try to prevent that. A laundry basket with something heavy on top. (A pot filled with other heavy items would be a good example).

When I was college-age-ish and we had a party, we would put beer out in the snow to chill it faster. It’s a thing. Utilize what you have available, be creative.

Everyone, lean in, this is vital. Get a little closer. Listen to me:

BUY A MANUAL CAN OPENER.

Get a back up one, too. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

Additionally, if you are one of those wonderful people who donate to the little pantries and blessing boxes that have sprung up all over the place. Occasionally leave those with your canned food donations. You have no idea how much people need these to use the canned food.

Back to your preparedness…



Not counting the food you can use from what is currently in the refrigerator and freezer, you should have a minimum of 72 hours worth of food for your household members. That’s at least nine full meals and plenty of snacks that do not take electricity or power of any kind to prepare.

Why snacks? Because stressed people eat and eat and eat. Just watch Twitter while people wait for a hurricane to hit.

Take a look at what people have been doing during 2020.

Food is comfort—have comfort on hand.

What else should be in your blackout pantry? Batteries, flashlights, matches, candles, and a weather radio at minimum. If you have kids, make sure you have items that will entertain them while the power is out. TRUST ME.

You know them best, make sure there are goodies hidden away for them. Treat whatever is happening like an adventure and they will be okay.

The “Go Bag”

I hate this term. I hate it because it conjures up a mental image I don’t care to visit, I will happily replace this term if any of you have a better term that people will immediately recognize.

Each individual needs a bag and this bag needs to contain at minimum:

A change of clothing Two pairs of socksTwo pairs of underwearSturdy shoesNon-perishable food for 48 hours —This can be a mixture of camping food/granola bars, etcA couple of water bottles, maybe a Lifestraw if you feel fancyIf it’s a child’s bag contact information for relatives in case of separation, any medication they have to take daily, if necessaryIn an adult’s bag copy of their critical information—Insurance information, IDs, cc info, some cash, and if possible maintenance medications, this will have to be rotated regularly.

This bag then lives under a bed, in a closet, or in the garage, anywhere it can be grabbed in a hurry by the individual it belongs to.

Will you ever need it? I hope not, but:

if you ever have to leave your home for a hurricane head to a storm cellar for a tornadothere’s a wildfireyou receive a call that a family member is critically injured and you have to go now

You don’t have to think, you just grab, and you go. Not all of it is needed for each situation, but in others, you’ll be glad you have it. The less thinking you have to do in high-stress situations, the better. They will certainly make things like staying in a shelter or hospital rooms more comfortable.

Common Sense:

This is the one that is out of order because it’s hardest to itemize and make a checklist for.

It’s different for everyone’s situation, but some things are the same.

Minimize your risk.

Don’t do stupid things, especially when resources are limited. Has there been a hurricane? Don’t drink beer and run a chainsaw. Has there been an ice storm? Don’t run on the stairs.

A simple thing that can make a big difference, keep your car, if you have one, as full as possible at all times.

If you have young kids, run a couple drills.

Make them very, very random and gentle. DO NOT SCARE THEM. Kids are under enough stress right now. Take them for ice cream or some other treat if they get to the car or out to your designated point in good time with everything they are supposed to have. Don’t do this for one week and never again. It needs to be done enough that they know it by heart. If you move, do it again and again until they know it again.

If you have teenagers, it’s even more important, because they often think they know everything and have all the answers and know that nothing bad will happen to them.

Take them to random points of the town and make them navigate home. No, they can’t use their phones. For that matter, can you navigate home, without your phone?

Make them recite your phone number. No, they can’t look at their phones.

Make them recite their address. No, they can’t look at their phones.

You might be surprised by what you assume they know or what you assume you know.

When things are safer, if you live in a smaller city, like we do, take them somewhere with a functioning public transportation system and teach them how to use it. I was an adult before I learned. In fact, it was when I started traveling for work with Home-Ec101 and it was very intimidating.

Yes, it’s easier now with smartphones, but what if your kid and you have a fight or if they get caught up in some dumb kid thing and change their mind and want to get away and come home. Help them know how to find their way back to you. Assume they’ve had the worst day of their lives and the battery of their phone is dead or their phone got stolen.

Teach them to handle situations so they aren’t scared when they have to deal with life’s little emergencies. A flat tire on the interstate, fender benders, etc. Will they handle it well or have a meltdown?

Emergencies come in all shapes and all sizes. At that moment, what matters about an emergency is whether or not it affects you or the ones you love. The powers that be often can’t or maybe won’t be able to help. You need to set up a system to ensure you have a safety net in place.

What would you add to these very basic starting points?

Simple Schwarma-Inspired Chicken Recipe

I had a hard time coming up with the name for this schwarma-inspired chicken dish. Why? I don’t want to be culturally appropriative as this is not at all authentic. The flavors, however, remind me of chicken schwarma I have had in the past and hope to have again someday. (I miss traveling so much.) So I checked with some people I know and they said to just go with Schwarma-Inspired Chicken… go figure.

I make this recipe a lot, it comes together quickly and doesn’t require a lot of thought or effort on my part other than getting it into the refrigerator prior to time to cook dinner. I also have to remember to thaw the chicken, but that’s why we have smartphones with reminders!

This recipe also works really well for our family’s varied diet needs. We’ve got low-carbers and high-calorie people and picky pre-schoolers and frankly just a lot of mouths. I wrote up the recipe for a typical family of 4-6. The pictures you see below, are a triple batch, cooked on a Blackstone Griddle. I’ve included the instructions for using a Blackstone griddle with the pictures and the standard instructions in the printable recipe.

This is one of those recipes that we’ve been eating week after week and each time I put it on the menu, I tell myself, “This will be the week, I take pictures of the process.”

Ha!

Well, I should have also checked the weather forecast before becoming determined that this was the week I would follow-through because last night’s cooking effort was a damp and chilly, miserable experience. No one was hanging out on the back porch with me, by choice that is. I did make the 17 year-old hold my light after it got dark.

What to Serve with Schwarma-Inspired Chicken

If you make this recipe for your family, consider serving it with tzatziki sauce, hummus, or toum, you can’t go wrong. When I cook a big batch, I use the other half of the griddle for cooking a large bag of frozen Normandy blend vegetables with complementary spices, and Ray, my husband, will throw together a Caesar salad. Another good choice would be Salad Shirazi. A simple salad of cucumber, feta, and tomatoes, tossed with olive oil, would be another nice side.

I know we’re in the dead of winter and I’m talking about summer sides, but this meal just works for our family any time of year. You don’t have to wait until summer to make it work for yourself or your family.

Tips for Making This Recipe Turn out Better

The key for making this dish?

Tenderize your chicken. For a small batch, you’ll want 2- 3 lbs.

I want you to meet Lucille.

Yes, that’s a Walking Dead reference. I use my French rolling pin to work out a lot of frustration.

Pounding your chicken breaks up the muscle fibers mechanically. Breaking up these fibers, gives you a much more tender finished dish. Make sense? Good.

Next, let’s look at our marinade:

Greek yogurtLemon or Lime juiceSazon Season AllCorianderCumin

(You’re going to want to put that chicken in a new bag, if you pounded it in the zippered bag, they tend to tear. If you didn’t tenderize it in a bag, I recommend cleaning up your kitchen before going any further… chicken tends to splatter, a lot.)

Mix all of that together. Just as an aside, you’ll have an easier time if you squeeze your lemon into one of the ramekins rather than right into the big bowl. This way you can use a slotted spoon to strain out the seeds rather than wasting your time, picking them out.

Make sure to put your bag of chicken inside a container, so that no cross-contamination happens while the chicken hangs out in your refrigerator. Zippered bags, like people, are not infallible and can leak. You don’t want raw chicken germs anywhere in your fridge.

I’ve written out the instructions twice. Here in the body, the instructions are specifically for using a propane griddle like a Blackstone, those of you cooking a small batch, just scroll to the recipe card where your instructions are waiting patiently. Griddle users, you’ll still want to read through to the recipe card, so you can get your ratios for multiplying your servings.

Making Schwarma-Inspired Chicken on a Propane Griddle

*NOTE – the distinction between an electric griddle and a propane griddle is important here. The instructions for notching and cutting your chicken ON the griddle can damage a nonstick teflon-type surface. These instructions are for the type of surface that you have to season, similar to a cast iron skillet.

Turn your griddle on and allow it to heat, I usually cook over medium, last night was windy so I ended up using high heat and having to set up make-shift wind-guards. It wasn’t a lot of fun. You’ll want to adjust the heat based on the conditions at the time you are cooking.



I start out, by cooking the chicken on top of sliced onions and later, when the chicken is about halfway done, off to the side, I blister some grape or cherry tomatoes.

When your griddle is hot, add your oil, make sure you choose one with a high smoke point, like avocado.

Spread your sliced onions (I use one onion per 2 – 3 lbs of chicken) on the griddle in a thin layer.

I then add the chicken immediately on top of the onions.

I then use a baking sheet to cover the chicken and cook for 3 – 5 minutes.

Then before flipping, I use my scraper and cut not quite through each chicken breast before flipping. A bench knife will accomplish this task, too.

This makes the chopping up of the chicken after cooking the other side SO much easier. When you notch the chicken, go against the grain.

Then flip your chicken, leaving the layer of onions in place. Cook, covered for another 3 – 5 minutes. Then use either your bench knife or scraper and cut your chicken into strips.

This is a little tedious and your chicken is not quite done at this point.

Now use your spatula and scraper to move the chicken and onions around together until the chicken is thoroughly cooked. I had a good handful of grape tomatoes cooking off to the side that I mixed into my chicken once we neared the finishing point. I love the pop of acidity the tomatoes provide.

Bring your chicken inside and serve with all of your sides.

Instructions to Make Schwarma-Inspired Chicken with a Skillet

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Schwarma-Inspired Chicken Excellent with Pita or over Salads or Hummus












February 14, 2021
by Heather Solos

Cuisine

Americanized


Category

Chicken
Cook It
Main Dishes






Serving Size
6 ounces



Prep Time
10 minutes



Cook Time
45 minutes



Wait Time
2 hours



Total Time
55 minutes








Ingredients

2 – 3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken, thawed


1/2 cup Greek yogurt


1 lemon – juiced or 1 lime – juiced it’s your preference


1 TBSP Sazon Spice Blend


1 TBSP ground coriander


1 TBSP ground cumin


1 onion sliced thinly


a small handful of grape or cherry tomatoes, optional


A couple of tablespoons of your favorite cooking oil. You can use olive oil. However, if you are using a propane griddle, you’ll want to use an oil with a higher smoke point such as avocado.



Instructions

Using a mallet or other kitchen utensil, pound the boneless chicken to tenderize it.


In a bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon or lime juice, Sazon Complete Seasoning, coriander, and cumin.


Place the chicken and the marinade mixture into either a gallon zippered bag or another container and ensure all of the chicken is well coated in the marinade.


Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours, it can marinate overnight.


If you are cooking only a single batch, you can use a skillet or a small electric griddle. In this case, you will want to heat your skillet/griddle over medium heat. (If you are cooking a large batch and using a propane griddle, see the detailed instructions in the post above.)


Add the oil and look for it to shimmer.


Add your thinly sliced onions to the pan.


Remove your chicken from the marinade, shaking off any excess, and immediately lay your chicken on top of the onions.


Cover and allow to cook for 3 – 5 minutes


Turn your chicken, using tongs, allow the chicken to cook for another 3-5 minutes, covered.


Remove your pan from the heat and temporarily switch off the burner.


One chicken piece at a time, cut into thin strips. Cut across the grain. If you can see the muscle fibers, you cut across them, rather than along them.


Return the strips to the pan and turn the heat back on as soon as you have finished cutting the chicken.


Use a wooden spoon or spatula to stir the chicken, scraping up any onion bits or dark bits from the bottom, until the chicken is cooked through.


Place the chicken and onions into a serving dish and add the optional tomatoes, and a splash more oil, to your skillet, and cook over high heat until just blistered and toss with the chicken prior to serving, if desired.


Tags

Easy Chicken Recipes

Enjoy!

Menu Monday 2021 Week 6

This week we are all about lowering the stress level. This means we will be making the easiest meals we can and calling in the troops (teens) to pitch in when they can.

Why?

I need a break.

You might, too.

There’s a pretty good series in the New York Times right now about American mothers during this pandemic.

It sounds just about right, and I am one of the lucky ones. My husband and I are both employed, and we’ve managed to stay healthy. We just have had to make a lot of changes to our life to make things “work.” And if we’re honest, work is defined pretty loosely. My two youngest have had more screen time than Heather in her 20s would have thought healthy. To be honest, Heather in her 40s doesn’t think it’s great, but this Heather isn’t only squeezing in running this site, she’s got a full-time job. Also, Heather, in her 40s, is a little less judgy, so there.

It’s okay to be tired, and it’s okay to take the shortcuts you need.

Use the slow cooker. Use the Instant Pot. Pull things from the freezer. This past weekend I did quadruple a batch of spaghetti sauce so that I can have a few easier nights down the road. This week I’m pulling a soup from the freezer, that’ll be nice.

What will you be having this week? Do you need a printable menu plan/shopping list to make things easier?

Are you doing anything to make your life easier this week?

Here’s what we’re having:

Monday: Chili – from the freezer, I’ll make a quick batch of cornbread to go with it. The low-carbers will have a small amount of chili over an omelet

Tuesday – Albondigas – also from the freezer, most of us will have it with tortillas, the low-carbers will likely have slices of avocado.

Wednesday – we’re going heavy on the Tex-Mex this week, but it is what it is. Ray picked up a couple more of those carnitas pork shoulders from Aldi’s and they are so perfect for burrito bowls. I just toss the thawed shoulder in the slow cooker on low and then shred just before dinner. We make cilantro lime rice in the rice cooker. Swap out half the water for chicken stock. Toss with some cilantro and squeeze a couple of limes just before serving. The low-carbers will have cauliflower rice.

Thursday – Clean Out the Refrigerator Night

Friday – Pork Chops, Fake-n-Bake style. My oldest actually likes making these. Green beans, and salad

Saturday – Maybe this will be the week I get that sorta chicken schwarma photographed and on the site I got a Blackstone Griddle (The link is so you can see what they look like, this is NOT the best price I have seen them for) for Mother’s Day and I love this so much. Yes, anything I make on it can be made in a skillet, especially if you are only cooking for two or three. When you’re cooking for eight, 36″ of cooking space makes a huge difference.

Sunday – I threw last week’s chicken in the freezer because we had a change of plans, so that’s what we’re having this week. Smoked chicken, sweet potatoes, roasted broccoli

The post Menu Monday 2021 Week 6 appeared first on Home Ec 101.

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Baked Spaghetti Comfort Food, Perfect for New Babies, Grieving or Recovering Families, or Just a Cold Winter Night

I belong to a group on Facebook for food lovers that also enjoy True Crime. It has the absolute best name (it’s for fans of My Favorite Murder) Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Crime. Isn’t that just the best?

Anyhow, one of the more common topics I see is: I have a friend who is going through a tough time; my friend just had a baby, my friend just lost their parent/grandparent, what can I bring over?

One of my top suggestions has always been chicken bog.

But now I have a new one, that may even beat chicken bog as my top suggestion. I know, I can’t believe it, either.

Our spaghetti is a family favorite meal and is so loved that it is also a company dinner, but it does not travel well. Frankly, it feels a little weird to hand a family a gallon bag of frozen homemade sauce, a box of noodles and say thaw this, and you’ll love it, I promise!

When I take a meal to a family, I don’t do it with the expectation that they will be in the position to eat it right then. They may not be hungry—grief does that— they may be swimming in food right then, or maybe they actually had the energy to cook something they wanted to that day. I like to give an option for something down the road. Baked spaghetti fits the bill perfectly. If you choose to do this, make it in a disposable lasagna pan and cook it up just to the step where you add the mozzarella to the top. Then rapidly cool it and cover it tightly with aluminum foil.

You can take it over, with a salad, and garlic bread, if you know the family will eat it soon or, you can go ahead and freeze it if you know it might be a while. At that point, it gets treated just like frozen lasagna. Bake covered at 375 for 1:45 until bubbly, uncovered until the top is browned. (Check to make sure it is heated through)

So why does baked spaghetti tie or maybe even beat out chicken bog? Well, chicken bog is a regional dish, and while people here in South Carolina know it and generally love it, many parts of the country have never heard of it. Spaghetti? Well, that’s pretty much beloved in every corner of the US. Now, if you only like your spaghetti al dente, baked spaghetti isn’t going to be for you.

However, if a dish of warm, cheesy noodles covered in your favorite spaghetti sauce lights you up? You’ve come to the right place?

So how do you do this?

It’s easy as pie.

Dare I say… easier?

Add your noodles and water, here’s where the ratio is critical. 1 cup of water: 4 ounces of noodles. 1lb noodles: 4 cups water.

Since I use a very meaty sauce, I do not count my sauce as part of the water. If your sauce is watery, you may be able to dial back the water.

Yes, I have an industrial work station in my home kitchen. It is cost-effective while we save to remodel.

Then, add your sauce, which should be steaming hot.

Then add your cheeses.

Stir, cover, bake, and uncover, stir, again, before topping with more cheese.

And broil until bubbly and browned to your taste.

Serve with salad of your choice and maybe some garlic bread.

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Baked Spaghetti












February 7, 2021
by Heather Solos

Cuisine

American via Italian family


Category

Cook It
Main Dishes


Baked spaghetti is one of my family’s favorite comfort foods. This simple dish can be made with jarred or homemade spaghetti sauce. It also freezes well and can be shared with a family who needs a warm meal.




Persons
12



Serving Size
6 ounces



Prep Time
5 minutes



Cook Time
1 hour, 5 minutes



Total Time
1 hour, 10 minutes






Notes

The sauce and cheese amounts are approximate. You can play with these to fit your families preferences. You can even experiment with different types of cheese, maybe you don’t want to run out to the store. Maybe you don’t like mozzarella, that’s okay, swap it out with a cheese you do like.

Ingredients

1 pound (16 ounces) dry spaghetti noodles, broken in half


4 cups (32 ounces) water


2 – 3 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce, heated through


1/2 – 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese


1 – 2 cups mozzarella, divided



Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350° F


In a large baking dish (at least 8×13, a lasagna dish) lay the broken spaghetti noodles. Cover them with the 4 cups of water. Followed by the hot spaghetti sauce.


Add the parmesan and half of the mozzarella.


Stir gently.


Cover with foil and place in the oven.


Bake for one hour.


Remove from the oven and stir gently, loosen any pasta that has stuck to the bottom of the pan. Top with the remaining mozzarella and place under the broiler for about 5 minutes, until the cheese is bubble and just starts to brown. Keep a close eye on this. It doesn’t take long to go from delicious to burnt. (However, you can peel the top layer off if you get distracted. Not that this has ever happened to me)

Enjoy!

PS. If you scrolled, this far.. this is what a quadruple batch of our spaghetti sauce looks like. Yes, that’s 8 pounds of meat (4 of ground venison). Future Heather will be very happy that she went to this trouble. Present Heather is just tired and glad she has four teenagers who will be packaging the rest up to freeze. Yes, having staff is nice, sometimes.

The post Baked Spaghetti Comfort Food, Perfect for New Babies, Grieving or Recovering Families, or Just a Cold Winter Night appeared first on Home Ec 101.

Menu Monday 2021 Week 5

Just want the menu and no life stuff. Feel free to scroll, I’ll put a heading just for you.

Week 5?

Really? I’d like to speak to the manager please. This is getting out of hand.

Last year took forever, 2021, is slipping through my hands.

So, I try to be transparent with mental health to try to be a part of the movement that is normalizing the idea getting help for yourself is just like getting help for any physical issue. So *deep breath*

Maybe another deep breath.

And another.

Okay. I am pretty sure that I mentioned back in the late fall that I’ve been having panic attacks. My therapist has said that we I am dealing with panic disorder at this point, rather than your good old everyday anxiety. I’m just good at coping hiding them. Now I want to be exceedingly clear here: being good at coping is NOT a healthy life skill. It is not something I want my children to do. It does not make one a healthy, whole person. It makes one a robot, maybe a strong robot—I’m supposed to acknowledge that, no matter how reluctantly— who gets through one day and the next and the next.

So… I finally, because the American healthcare system is the best in the world /s got to see a psychiatrist after waiting months and we’re making some adjustments. Currently, the hope is that the changes she made, along with continued therapy will reduce the frequency of panic attacks and I will need an actual reason for my heart to start pounding and to break out in a cold sweat. (Like maybe getting ready to speak to an audience, you know, normal everyday stuff, not just sitting there or sleeping).

And you know what? In the middle of all of this? These people still need to eat. Man. I really would like to just sit on the couch and binge something mindless for like a week, while I wait for everything to recalibrate and call that self-care. I somehow don’t think I can get away with that. So here we go.

Hey Scrollers!

Menu planning is part of how I keep going even when I don’t want to. (You have to picture a stubborn two-year-old stomping her feet and pouting because that’s how I feel). A menu plan let’s me not think on the hard days. If you need a printable to help you plan your menu so you don’t have to think (also if you make a few of these, you can just pull one out and re-use it…it’s magic). Here you go. If you don’t know where to start. I have a whole series on how to menu plan. What are you having this week? Was anything particularly good last week?

Yesterday’s smoked pork was excellent, we’ll be having the leftovers tonight.

Here’s this week’s menu:

Monday – Salads, with pulled pork, baked sweet potatoes

Tuesday – Pesto Pasta with blackened chicken and sun dried tomatoes (I’m hoping to get this on the site this week), caesar salad (the low carbers, will just have extra large caesar salads)

Wednesday – Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

Thursday – Chicken Burrito Bowls – whole chicken + crockpot + one cup of salsa, ignore it all day. Shred the chicken. Serve with rice, (cauliflower rice) beans, etc everyone wins.

Friday – Pecan crusted Salmon, Sweet Potatoes, and either Broccoli or Asparagus

Saturday – Spaghetti – the kids have requested a baked version. If you haven’t done this, it’s only the best comfort food ever. I’ll try to photograph the process and get it posted. Your noodles end up soaking up a lot of the sauce’s flavor and it’s extra-cheesy. Don’t feel too bad, the low-carbers will get theirs over sautéed vegetables.

Sunday – Smokin’ Sunday – smoked chicken and buffalo cauliflower, probably more salads, too. We’ve been going through a lot of Bobbie’s Blue Cheese dressing. Something about it is hitting just right lately.

The post Menu Monday 2021 Week 5 appeared first on Home Ec 101.

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How to Remove Smoke Stains from My Cupboards

Hi Home-Ec 101

I had a candle burning under the edge of my cabinet, and it got hot enough to burn it. Some of it is light, and some a pretty dark burn.  I have attached pictures.
I tried baking soda and water, didn’t work.  The furniture markers and crayons did not work.  I’ve read about a super fine 0000 steel wool but need to buy some first.

I thought I would write to you to see if you have any suggestions.

Thanks,

Burnt in Brunswick

Heather says:

Well, there are a few things we can learn from this picture. First, the burn has gone a little deeper than just that protective lacquer/varnish/finish of the cupboard. These cupboards appear to be real wood instead of the laminate type cabinets you find in many apartments or rental situations.

You are on the right track with the steel wool suggestion. Steel wool can sometimes be tricky to find in the hardware store and lately going to one of those big box stores has not been my favorite experience, so I’m going to suggest heading to your locally owned hardware store. They probably really need the business and know exactly what aisle the super fine steel wool 0000 is on and may even go and grab the box/bag for you.

Bring this picture with you and ask for a very small can of stain that closely matches your cabinet. Why? Because as soon as you have removed the dark patch, you are going to need to replace the finish to protect the bare wood below. While the stain is not going to match while wet, you may want to test on the bottom portion to make sure you are pretty close in color. (Wait until the stain is dry before deciding to do the whole patch.)

If the steel wool isn’t removing the burnt area at a reasonable pace, you can switch up to sandpaper, but do not go any coarser than 220 grit. Why? You’re not trying to sand a divot into your cabinet. You’re trying to delicately remove as little as possible until you reach the unburnt material below.

Good luck. I hope you don’t need this advice in the future!

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

The post How to Remove Smoke Stains from My Cupboards appeared first on Home Ec 101.

Menu Monday 2021 Week 4

Well, last week was kind of a bust. I ended up spending the second half of it sick. Sick enough to call into work one day. Meh. Yes, there’s a pandemic, but regular bugs still make the rounds, especially when you have a toddler who hasn’t quite mastered washing their hands yet.

I didn’t get much done and spent the weekend resting. We did finally smoke wings as we planned this Sunday and my teens and husband were quite happy. As for me,I was having flashbacks to when I worked in a bar in the 90s (I made so many wings I couldn’t look at them) and just wasn’t feeling it by the time they were done and I was still off from earlier in the week. We’ll do them again in the future and I’ll give them an honest try instead of just side-eye. I generally like wings; it happens.

I had a bowl of cereal. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

How did your week go? Did you stick to your menu or did your plans go awry, like ours?

What’s on your menu this week? Do you need a printable to help you plan? Here you go!

Here’s what we’ll be having this week:

Monday: Chicken Soup and salad (those of us who are having carbs will have noodles)

Tuesday: Burrito Bowls yep, using that Aldi’s carnitas (cauliflower rice for the low-carbers)

Wednesday: Clean Out Refrigerator Night

Thursday: Chicken Cordon Bleu Bake with braised cabbage

Friday: That not quite chicken schwarma that I plan on writing up soon, green beans with grape tomatoes, and rice /cauliflower rice.

Saturday: Homemade Pizza – the low-carbers will get chicken breasts pounded thin and cooked as their “crusts” they might tolerate cauliflower rice, but the crusts are another story. Here are the recipes for our homemade crust and our sauce

Sunday: Pulled Pork over salads (back to smoking Sundays) I spray it with a mixture of 1/2 apple cider vinegar and 1/2 apple cider every hour for the first 3 hours to help form a nice bark. (Also, I’m in the best unspoken, socially-distant “food off” with my neighbors, I send over smoked meat and they send over dessert). I figure if I’m going to be running the the smoker, I might as well fill it, right? Also, I’m not on that low-carb train, so more for me and the little ones.

The post Menu Monday 2021 Week 4 appeared first on Home Ec 101.

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Menu Monday: 2021 Week 3

If you normally only view what happens on Home-Ec101.com via the email, I invite you to take a moment and check out the front page. I gave the site a quick overhaul to make navigation a little easier.

We’re coming up on 14 years and over 2300 posts. That’s a lot of content in those archives. Hopefully, this helps make everything a bit easier to find. (Can you believe there are 120 articles on laundry?) Sheesh. That’s a lot of talk about spills and stains.

So what’s on your menu this week? Will using a printable help you plan? Here you go! Do you need help figuring out how to get started? (Do you know someone who does? Send them the URL).

Oh, do you remember that Aldi’s pork carnitas I mentioned? We’ll definitely be buying that in the future. It was something I’d like to have on hand for busy nights. It ended up being similar to how we do burrito bowls, I just pulled it from the package and put it in the slow cooker.

This week we’ll be having:

Monday – Roast Chicken, roast carrots, asparagus

Tuesday – Smoked sausage skillet

Wednesday – Shrimp étouffée

Thursday – Clean Out Refrigerator Nights

Friday – Tuna Cakes, Cheese Grits, Okra

Saturday – Chili Honey Chicken Thighs, Green Beans, Rice.

Sunday – Smoked Wings (we skipped them previously as we didn’t have the kids like we thought) Blue Cheese Dip, Salad

The post Menu Monday: 2021 Week 3 appeared first on Home Ec 101.

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How to Remove Sticky Residue From Furniture

Dear Home-Ec 101,

My furniture has become very sticky after years of polishing it. Sticky to the point of having to give it a little pull to lift it off the furniture. Googling for a solution, I have used a mixture of water and vinegar. It helped a little but not much.  What next?

Signed,

Sticky in Stockton

I reached out to Sticky to find out what they had been using to polish their furniture. The reason I asked is it’s an open secret that some commercial dust-removers contain silicone and can cause a silicone build-up. Wax build-up is another fun thing to remove from wood furniture.

Isn’t adulting fun? (No, no it isn’t, stay young kids, stay young.)

It turns out that they had been loyal users of Endust for many years, but after reading a random article on the internet, had given olive oil a try.

In the past, we have talked about the chemical process of like dissolves like. Water is one kind of thing (polar) and oils are another (non-polar). Think about how oil floats on water. It’s likely that you didn’t get all of the olive oil wiped up when it was applied to the furniture. Given time some of the molecules in the olive oil evaporated leaving behind the sticky film. Vinegar and water are different from olive oil and wouldn’t have brought the olive oil film into the solution to allow it to be absorbed by your cleaning cloth. You might have had some limited success with the damp cloth alone, the vinegar likely didn’t add much to the process.

So that’s what didn’t work, what will work?

First, there’s no magic fix, but you do have several options, all of which are going to take effort and time, some more than others.

I suggest grabbing your earbuds and listening to either an audiobook or a podcast to help pass the time while you are doing this chore.

Here are some of my favorites. Don’t worry, if they don’t float your boat, I’m just trying to help jumpstart your search process if you don’t have any you like.

If it’s not obvious, I use earbuds, my very young children do not get to hear these. There’s only so much Baby Shark I can take.

True CrimeMy Favorite Murder (NSFW)Tenfold More WickedThat’s Messed Up (This one is actually based on Law and Order SVU

but it includes the actual crime is based on. I think this one probably needs a language warning, too)Self-ImprovementHappier by Gretchen RubinScience, Tech, MiscHidden BrainThis Podcast Will Kill You Ecologists and epidemiologists, oh my!Reply AllThis Week in GoogleI Saw What You Did (Two women review two films based on a theme they announce the day of the review. Definitely a language warning here.)

Now, that you are mentally prepared, how will you accomplish your task?

If your furniture is dark and shiny with a very smooth finish, you’ll need to take an extra careful approach to avoid damaging your finish. Remember, your finish is what protects the wood underneath. Additionally, a finish with lots of tiny scratches will always appear dull, so make sure you use very soft cloths and do NOT use the last method of the three suggested.

Option One – Mineral Spirits

This one requires excellent ventilation, gloves, patience, and mineral spirits. A couple of caveats here, first mineral spirits are safe for clear finishes, but you should ALWAYS test in an inconspicuous area. Secondly, you need to ensure that you are buying mineral spirits and not something labeled as containing mineral spirits that could strip your finish.

After testing in an inconspicuous area, while in a well-ventilated area and wearing gloves, apply the mineral spirits to a clean rag and apply to your sticky furniture in a circular motion. Your sticky grime should come right off, without damaging the underlying finish. Work slowly and carefully and then buff away any residue.

Option Two – Soap Suds and Elbow Grease

This one is going to take significant effort and. I wouldn’t try to tackle all of your furniture in one day. Maybe do a piece a week.

You’ll need some kind of soap or detergent to accomplish this task. If the finish of your wood is at all cracked, you are going to need to be especially careful to not soak the wood which will cause it to swell and cause damage. Follow the instructions in this post for removing milk stains on wood, but I’ve also included and edited them for your specific situation here.

Grab a bucket, or two if you’re lazy like me and hate getting up and down from the floor. Additionally, grab three rags.

Fill the first bucket with a healthy dollop of dish soap like old-fashioned Dawn the plain, dark blue, nothing fancy added dish detergent. Add just an inch or two of water.  Now, swish and swish the water until you have a lot of frothy suds. You could also try this with Murphy’s Oil Soap.

In your other bucket just use clear water.

Wet the first rag with just the soapy bubbles, don’t dip it down into the water.  The world won’t end if you do, but try to get it as soapy, with the foam as possible. Now scrub your furniture in small circles and use little elbow grease while you are at it. Next, take your second rag, dip it in the plain water, wring it out, and wipe off the soap. Be sure to rinse this rag frequently.

Use the third rag to dry the furniture and give it a polish. Yes, you can use your Endust.

Option Three – Use a Baking Soda Mixture

This one is one only for furniture that is a lighter wood with a raised grain, you can take the advice in this post on reviving a dull grimy table. I’ll let you click through to this one. You can be a little more aggressive with the raised grain than with very shiny, dark, smooth surfaces.

If you have questions, please send them to helpme@home-ec101.com.

The post How to Remove Sticky Residue From Furniture appeared first on Home Ec 101.

Menu Monday: 2021 Week 2

Well, for better or worse, we made it through another week.

My teenagers are on eLearning this week. South Carolina is a hot spot, so we’re trying to keep our trips out of the house minimal. Not that we have done much since March, but we’re tightening up the few things we had relaxed. We haven’t made it this far to mess up now. So, here’s hoping our school district doesn’t decide to go back to in-person learning with our 30%+ positivity rate. (No, my Canadian and New Zealand friends, that is not a typo.)

One of my closest friends will be getting his second dose soon, and my mom and stepfather will be scheduled for their first in the next few weeks. These are the good things that I am hanging on to.

Part of getting through means having a plan. Knowing what we’re eating for dinner is one less decision I have to make every afternoon. (I work 4 am-noon, so by the time it’s 4:30 pm, I am DONE). I don’t need to be making decisions while running on fumes. No one does.

If you don’t know how to menu plan. Here’s a series that will teach you. If you need a printable to help make this week’s plan easier, here you go!

Assume any time that rice is on the menu that the low-carbers will be subbing out cauliflower rice. This week we will be having

Monday – Leftovers

Tuesday – Venison stew. I’ll use our basic stew recipe and just subbing venison for the beef and zucchini for potatoes. Most of us will have it over rice.

Wednesday – Carnitas bowls—we’re trying a new to us thing from Aldi’s, it’s what happens when you delegate grocery shopping, sometimes there are surprises—over cilantro lime rice with black beans, and avocados

Thursday – Smashburgers, salads

Friday – Dilled salmon, Caesar salad

Saturday – Ground beef and cabbage skillet.

Sunday – Blackened Chicken over pesto pasta for the carb eaters and salad for the low carb

Later this week, there’ll be a post about cleaning sticky furniture (after following advice on the internet, it happens to the best of us).

I’m going to pull that venison out of the freezer, so I don’t have to perform some kind of miracle tomorrow. Hang in there. This winter will be long, but you’ve got this.

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

The post Menu Monday: 2021 Week 2 appeared first on Home Ec 101.

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