Heather Solos's Blog, page 31

Let’s Talk Life Skills

Heather says:

Over on the Home-Ec 101 Facebook fanpage someone asked:

What would be on your list of skills to know for a homemaker and adult in 2015?

This list is by no means complete:

Prepare a meal without setting fire to the kitchen or poisoning guests. 
Keep a living space clean.
Encourage a guest feel to comfortable in their home. 
Know how to behave in other people’s homes and in public. Generally we refer to this as having manners.
Know how to balance their budget and not go into debt via inattention. Life comes with hard choices, but paying 17% interest on a Starbucks habit is stupid. 
Make their own appointments. 
An adult should be aware that traffic and weather affect travel and it is their responsibility to adjust accordingly. There are times when being late is unavoidable, in those cases, pick up the phone and call.
Know how to navigate customer service respectfully. The person on the other end of the phone is human, probably didn’t cause the issue, certainly not purposefully, and doesn’t deserve abuse.
Know that compromise is often uncomfortable, disappointments happen and sometimes you don’t get the job, the raise, or the romantic partner you thought you deserved. 
Know how to ask for help on a personal and professional level. There are times when life is too much for one person to bear alone.

. . .

When I started first started writing this response, I was focused on specifics, how to fry an egg, how to do laundry, how to clean a toilet, etc. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the more important over arching skill is that adults should learn:

How to take stock of a situation, identify and research the problem, find potential solutions, and make / execute a plan.

Sometimes it’s simple, the toilet is clogged and you research how to plunge it. You start with the simplest potential solution – a plunger, if that doesn’t work, then maybe escalate to a basic DIY like a coat hanger, and finally you weigh the pros and cons of calling a professional or trying more advanced DIY -and possibly still calling a professional if that goes badly.

Your budget, time, and your enthusiasm all play into the chosen course of action. 

Life happens whether we’re comfortable in situations or not, sitting back and doing nothing is also a choice. In the example of the clogged toilet, if there’s no landlord to call you’re going to have to do something.

Closing the door and using the other toilet, if you have one, is an option until that one gets clogged.

And? That second toilet will get clogged when you’re sick, late for work, or have people on their way over. 

This is how simple problems snowball and people get stressed.

It’s not just active problems, it’s things like getting into the there’s still room in the trashcan standoff with other people in your household. Who exactly wins when the bag breaks and coffee grounds go everywhere?

Becoming an adult means learning to accept the consequences of one’s choices and actions. 

Stop letting life happen and make conscious choices. 

Start small and build on it.

Take out the trash, leave a little earlier than you have to, and text a friend you’ve neglected after you arrive before you have to.

Life skill achieved, adulthood unlocked.

                

How to Remove a Stuck Outdoor Flood Light

Dear Home-Ec 101,


I cannot remove a burned out flood light. I guess I have to break it first unless you have another suggestion.


Thanks,


Donna, in the Dark


Heather says

The good news is we have a couple of ideas to try before resorting to Hulk smash to remove the floodlight. Even if you have to resort to breaking the bulb to start the removal process, the most important step is to turn off the power. Turning off the power means walking to the garage or wherever your breaker box is located and turning off the power by flipping the breaker or removing the fuse. 

Cross your heart and pinky swear you’ll turn the power off at the breaker.

Houses are frequently wired incorrectly, spouses and children walk by and absentmindedly flip switches. You’ll likely be on a ladder for this chore and that’s a bad place to get that kind of shock.

Make sure your ladder is tall enough that you can stand solidly on it and still comfortably reach your lightbulb with a little leverage. This means no tiptoes with your arms stretched nearly to the max.

Falls aren’t fun.

There are two tools that may help you skip the whole bulb breaking and needle nose pliers route. This isn’t a promise though.

A strip of duct tape about 12 inches long. While it doesn’t have to be exact, you want it closer to 12 than not.

OR

A suction cup like this one. You can find these at home supply stores like Lowes or Home Depot. Check the reviews of the suction cup before purchasing, but if you plan on using it to insert bulbs as well as help with stuck bulbs make sure it has a string to release the suction.

Duct Tape Method 

If you want to go the duct tape route, apply the middle of the strip of duct tape across the diameter of the flat surface of the bulb. You will have two trailing ends, take each end and fold it back on itself, sticky side to sticky side so that you now have two not-sticky tails hanging from either side of the lightbulb.

Plant your feet firmly on the ladder and grasp the handles you’ve created as far from the bulb as you can. *DO NOT PULL DOWNWARD* 

Begin twisting counter-clockwise, not pulling down. The handles you created allow you to apply more force without applying unequal points of pressure (from your fingers’ grip on the bulb). Simple machines ftw!

Remember, pulling downward will increase the friction of the threads in the socket making the stuck bulb even harder to turn.

This may give you enough torque to remove the bulb without breaking it. Clean the socket with fine steel wool and wiping it with a cloth to remove the metal bits, to prevent the next bulb from sticking.

Do not lubricate the socket.

The suction cup method is an alternative to the duct tape method, it is not step 2.

Suction Cup Method

As you know the concept of the suction cup is centuries old, but in this case, instead of sucking water, we’ll be . . . Sorry, got carried away. 

First clean the surface of the bulb, then moisten (eew) the suction cup. These steps will ensure the suction cup can get a good seal on the bulb’s surface.

Apply the suction cup to the bulb and press firmly to push the air out of the cup and create the suction. 

Do not pull downward when twisting this increases pressure on the threads and will make it harder to remove the bulb.

Twist slowly to release the bulb. 

Just like with the duct tape handles this method more evenly distributes the force you’re applying to the bulb and should let you loosen it without breaking it.

The suction cup tool is great to have on hand if you have recessed lights where the housing is too close to the bulb to grip it properly. It’s also an economic and morally sound alternative to child labor.

If neither of these methods work, get some eye protection, break the bulb (while it’s wrapped in a towel), and follow the instructions here for removing a broken bulb from the socket. 

Good luck!

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

                

Menu Monday 43

Heather says

If you’re in the US , I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving. The rest of you, I hope you had a pleasant weekend, as well. If you are like my sister and love the hustle of Black Friday, I hope you scored the deals you were looking for. Me? We enjoyed Thanksgiving at my mom’s and I binged on West Wing*. Except for some serious yardwork on Sunday it was very quiet. I think more than anything we needed a break from busy and hectic.

The gal who used to babysit my kids has really gotten into hunting this year. So much so that she filled her family’s freezer and then asked if I would like one just for processing fees. HECK YES.

I’ve never really cooked with venison much over the years, but now I’ve got 50lbs in the freezer. If you have a favorite recipe, please share it. So far the chili and tenderloin steaks have been a hit.

My goal for next week is to begin working from the circulars to better plan our meals around loss leaders. It’s taken me some time to get used to cooking wheat free, so I’ve been a lot less strict on the planning, while I’ve been making sure I have enough recipes in my repertoire to feed everyone with minimal complain.

If you cook for anyone more than yourself, it’s not possible to please everyone all the time and maintain your sanity. Sometimes, especially with a bunch of kids, dinner is dinner and you’ll eat it and like it or you won’t like it, but I won’t sweat that either. And to further clarify, I’m not saying you foods that everyone hates, just that you remember there’s only so much compromise you, as an adult, need to make in your household.  Budget, time, and tastes are the order in which to plan. If your budget is super tight, you’ll have to accommodate by spending extra time, and if you don’t have enough time to be accommodating, taste is where to make the next sacrifice. 

Do you need a printable to make planning this week’s meal a little easier? We’ve got that right here.

Here’s what’s for dinner this week:

 

Monday – 

Ground beef (venison) and cabbage – this dish is excellent as it’s versatile, you can use ground beef, pork, or turkey. It’s simple, one skillet, and fast. Mondays can be busy nights around here with soccer and homework.

Tuesday – 

Lentil patties, sauteed kale, balsamic glazed carrots

Wednesday – 

Chicken bog, broccoli

Thursday – 

C.O.R.N.

Clean out Refrigerator Night

Friday – 

Fish tacos with cabbage slaw, refried, beans, Spanish rice

Saturday – 

Venison Stew – recipe to come

Sunday – 

Chipotle Burrito Bowls

                

Turkey Leftovers? We Can Help.

Heather says:

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Here are some guidelines for safely using your leftovers. 

Don’t forget that the bones from the turkey make an excellent base for soup. If you use the chicken bog recipe, it takes a slight tweak, either use the bones in place of the whole chicken pieces or just use turkey or chicken stock in place of the water. The liquid to rice ratio remains the same. 

 We will be buying a couple of turkeys as soon as they go on clearance. If you ever have thought about looking into batch / freezer cooking to have ready made dinners on hand, cooking a turkey is a great starting point. We were given an oil-free electric turkey fryer / roaster and I can’t wait to give it a try, I’ve heard good things, but had never looked into one.

Leftover Turkey Recipes


Turkey Pot Pie
Creamy Turkey and Wild Rice Soup


Turkey Bog
Enchiladas


Turkey Soup
Pilau


Turkey Salad
Jambalaya

Leftover Guidelines

Turkey should be frozen or used within 2 – 6 days.
Frozen cooked turkey should be used within 2 months and should be cooked thoroughly, immediately after thawing.
If you have gravy or leftover mashed potatoes they should have been used within 1 – 2 days after Thanksgiving.
Leftover gravy is an excellent addition to “Mustgo Soup,” mashed potatoes are, too. Both thicken and add flavor.
Cranberry sauce can be stirred into yogurt, served over ice cream, or it makes a nice accompaniment to pork chops, ham, chicken, or fish. It should be used within 7 days. (The sugar acts as a preservative.)

After big events or projects, a lot of companies like to get together and do what they call the postmortem. It’s a way to figure out what went well, what didn’t, and what you should do differently next time.

As you review the event here are some questions to consider:

What was your favorite part of the meal? Will you make it again? Where is that recipe? Print it out, add your notes and save it for next year.

What will you never make again? Why? Was it the fault of the recipe or did it just not fit your vision. 

How were your estimates, did you have the right amount of food or was there too much or little of an item?

And of course…

Were there any disasters?

What could have been done differently? (Put the dog in a bedroom so he isn’t tempted by items on the counter for example?)

                

Ready or Not It’s The Day Before Thanksgiving

Heather says:

Thanksgiving is tomorrow.

Are you ready?

Have you been playing along with this year’s Countdown to Turkey Day 2015. 

As per usual, I’ll be adding a few more recipes to the site for Christmas and next year. 

I have so many things to be grateful for and you are one of them. The Home-Ec 101 community has helped me grow a lot over the past 9 years. I’ve built this site, written and published a book, changed my life, gone through hell and come out the other side a happier, stronger, more confident person. You guys have been a part of it all, thank you.

On to today’s to-dos

For many families today is for baking and food prep.

Here are few last minute tips to help everything go smoothly.

Check the turkey now. Has it completely thawed?


No?


Use the water bath method to finish defrosting the turkey. Once thawed the turkey can go back into the fridge until tomorrow morning.

Yes?

Make sure it’s not sitting in a pool of water. That’s a cross-contamination scenario just waiting to happen. Wipe it up with a dilute bleach solution, use paper towels or toss that rag right into the laundry.

Tomorrow, go ahead and pull your turkey out of the refrigerator a few hours before roasting. Remember when we talked about not skipping temperature stages with meat when cooking? Jeff just released a second edition of Cooking for Geeks, it’s a great gift idea for any geeky aspiring foodies on your Christmas list. 

Please check your pantry and refrigerator one more time -and again in the morning if you have kids or guests. 

Are your knives sharp?

No?

Read this tutorial How to Sharpen a Knife, it’ll help you get through tomorrow safely. Did you really just ask why? Sharp knives are safer than dull knives. Please where shoes in the kitchen and remember that a falling knife has no handle (think about it).

Food Prep

If you have several recipes calling for diced onions, bell pepper, and/or celery, go ahead and chop it all today. Cover tightly before refrigerating.

Do not pre-cut your potatoes and toss them in the fridge, it’s a really bad idea. If you must know they turn a horrid shade of dark grey.

If you want a head start on mashed potatoes, you can make them today and then warm them in a covered, oven-safe dish to reheat (with lots of butter, please). Alternately, tomorrow morning, peel and dice the potatoes, then hold them in a bowl of cold water. Rinse the potatoes before cooking in salted water. The same goes for sweet potatoes and apples, exposure to air makes them oxidize. Oxidation doesn’t hurt anything, it’s just quite unattractive.

If you are pre-cooking your side dishes, don’t forget to check your Thanksgiving Day Timetable to ensure everything will be hot and ready to serve at the same time. If you have other people bringing over dishes, text or call them today to make sure they are ready, too.

If you’re using your own bread for dressing, go ahead and tear / cut that up today.

Still looking for a traditional sage dressing? Try this apple, cranberry sage dressing. It’s wonderful.

If you need a vegetarian dressing recipe, just follow that one and replace the chicken / turkey stock with vegetables stock, easy peasy. Need gluten-free dressing? We’ve got two versions of that: classic gluten-free sage dressing and cornbread dressing.

Will you need cornbread for the dressing? Make that today, too. Remember cornbread dressing is gluten free dressing, provided you use plain cornmeal and NOT cornmeal mix for your cornbread. Do you need a sweet cornbread recipe or a plain cornbread recipe for your dressing?

Cornbread Dressing with Andouille Sausage – Excellent recipe
Shrimp and Andouille Sausage Cornbread Dressing -Amazing recipe Don’t worry, you can use turkey stock if you don’t feel up to making your own shrimp stock.

If you don’t have young children or pets and you have a formal dining room vs the every day table, you can even go as far as setting the table. Put the plates and glasses on the table upside down or cover them with a large -clean!- sheet so they don’t catch any dust. Tomorrow, just before the guests arrive, flip or uncover everything. Do not pre-set the table if you have young children or pets. Somehow or another they’ll just make more work for you or create an embarrassing fur or sticky fingerprint situation.

If you’re playing host to friends and family, please check the guest bathroom. Make sure there’s enough TP, soap, and something with which to dry their hands. Please make sure that the guest towel doesn’t look like its only purpose is decorative. I can’t be the only person who worries about messing up someone’s starchy, frilly towel arranged over sea shells. Make sure the towel for hand drying is in an obvious, convenient spot. It’s better than having guests forced to wipe their hands on their pants.

If you have room, go ahead and chill any beverages that will be served.

If you choose to truss your turkey for roasting, it can be trussed today. Need a tutorial? See How to Truss a Turkey. Just don’t forget to take the turkey out of the refrigerator about an hour before cooking.

Do you have any last minute tips?

Please remember even if nothing comes out right, your mom, sister, and drunk uncle Frank are driving you nuts, or if it’s just not turning out as planned, Thanksgiving is a celebration in the spirit of gratitude. The fact that we have friends and family willing to even begrudgingly come together is a sign we are truly blessed. If you know someone, perhaps a serviceman or woman far from home, set an extra place and welcome them and invite them to your table. It doesn’t matter how simple the meal, the intention is what matters.

We have two families in this life, the one we are given and the one we create; embrace them both this holiday season.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from Home-Ec101.com.

                

Thanksgiving Week, We’re Getting Close

Heather says:

The big day looms ever closer, but we’re well on track to getting ready. So far we’ve:

Found the dining room table and kept it clear
Figured out who, where, and when
Checked on seating and place settings
Begun following the chore chart and getting the house company ready so it’s not a miserable whirlwind of stress the night before
Created our Thanksgiving menu
Created our Thanksgiving shopping list
Begun shopping, it’s okay to finish that up tomorrow if you’re getting a fresh turkey.
Ensured we have enough serving dishes and utensils

Today you need to grab your Thanksgiving day recipes and look at the cook times and temperatures and figure out to get everything cooked and ready at the same time.

If you oven roast your turkey, know that you’ll probably only be able to fit a baking sheet beneath the turkey, unless you have one of those super cool ovens with the rack that morphs to allow a bird and another item in the oven. I’m not that fancy. Are you? If so, I’m kind of jealous.

Your turkey needs to be fully thawed by the morning of the 26th and since life is what it is, go ahead and actually aim for the 26th. A fully thawed turkey will be fine for more than 24 hours in the coolest portion of your refrigerator. Remember your turkey will need 24 hours in the refrigerator for every 5lbs, so unless it’s tiny it needs to be in the fridge now.

Begin your timetable plan by adding 15 minutes of Oops factor into the scheduled serving time. If you want to eat dinner at 4pm, plan on 3:45. Remember the turkey needs to rest before carving, so plan on it coming out of the oven or fryer by 3:15.

Make sure you also have counter space or a table set up for the turkey to rest – Don’t be afraid to cover it  and set it out of the way somewhere like the laundry room or some other convenient surface, just make sure all family pets and scavenging children are accounted for before leaving the turkey alone.

You can often cook pies, dressings, and casseroles the day before, so all they’ll need is a quick warm up in the oven. Make sure you have enough racks and space to account for each dish and any refrigerated items should be taken from the fridge about an hour before they are scheduled for the oven. This will reduce the amount of reheat time needed.

Don’t be scared to utilize your stove, a roaster oven, toaster oven or crockpots on the big day. Some slow cookers have a warm setting that will hold gravy, so it won’t have to be made at the last second.

Use this information to create a schedule.

Start with the time you should get the turkey ready for the oven to get it in with the expectation it’ll be done 45 minutes prior to serving time.

Add each recipe name, the time it needs to be started, and its scheduled time and temperature in the oven. Put these in order so on the big day, you don’t forget a dish or procrastinate anything with a long cook time.

WATCH FOR CONFLICTS.

Some items aren’t going to be very picky, dressings are going to be okay at 350 or 400F. Delicate baked goods? Well you’ll need to adhere to their preferences and let the sturdier dishes cope.

If you are serving salad, don’t forget to allow time to toss it before taking it to the table.

If you are going to have helping hands in your kitchen you should probably write this time table down in legible handwriting or better yet, type it out. Post this in a prominent location so people can refer to the sheet when your hands and mind are otherwise occupied.

While you’re at it, print out a copy of each recipe. Put everything in a folder or 3-ring binder and put this in a SAFE location. Not a location you think you’re going to remember on Thursday. Heck, comment here with where you’re putting your notes. I won’t mind, it’ll be here on Thursday and you can come back and check to see where you hid it.

We’re getting close.

I’m getting excited.

               
CommentsWe just had “first Thanksgiving” yesterday and it went ... by Jenn  

Gluten Free Dressing for Thanksgiving

Heather says:

Dressing is and always has been my favorite part of Thanksgiving Dinner. I love it day of and straight out of the fridge over the next few days.

It turns out Ray has missed dressing the last few years.

I always make a cornbread dressing that is gluten free without modification, but we both have been wanting a classic yeast bread based dressing.

My mission for this Thanksgiving was to find a way. Happily it turned out much easier than I thought. I used the my go-to dressing recipe and just substituted a full loaf (14oz) of Schär’s White Bread. Do not buy it through that link, it’s much cheaper in the actual grocery store, I just included it so you could see what the packaging looks like. I found it at a Walmart Neighborhood Market. If you’re on the lookout for it, give your favorite grocer a call to check for it rather than driving all over town.

(Oh and we have some pretty big news, Ray proposed on Sunday, but not because of the dressing, that’s just coincidence. While I made it on Sunday we didn’t actually eat that until last night.)

As Sunday’s experiment was just a quick test, rather than company fare, I omitted the apples and dried cranberries of the original recipe. I’ve included the original recipe from years ago below. You can modify this dressing recipe all day long to fit your dinner’s flavor profile, just try to keep the proportion of wet to dry ingredients the same.

You can absolutely use chicken stock, but if you have time, try roasting turkey necks to make a really rich stock.

Using GF bread will require a little more stock, you don’t want the cubes disintegrating, but they need to evenly moist. Add a conservative amount, stir, check, repeat until you’re happy with it.

Have you made your Thanksgiving shopping list yet?

Are you almost ready for the big day?

Thanksgiving Dressing 2015-11-17 08:24:18 Serves 10






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Save Recipe Print Ingredients 5 cups of cubed bread 1 onion, diced (approximately one cup if you diced everything ahead of time) 2 – 3 celery ribs, chopped (including the leaves) 4 – 6 fresh sage leaves, chopped (dried works well, too) 1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary (fresh works better, use slightly more) 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme 1 Granny Smith or other tart apple, cored, peeled, and chopped 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup slivered almonds – toasted 1 - 2 cups turkey stock (if using homemade, you’ll need 1 tsp salt per cup) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided) + extra to grease the baking dish / roasting pan
Instructions Spread the cubed bread on a large baking sheet and toast at 350. This takes in the neighborhood of 5 – 7 minutes and Watch it carefully the last few minutes. Dump the toasted cubes into a large bowl and set aside. Butter a 9 x 13 baking dish with the reserved butter. You may not use all of it, toss it in the pan with the rest of the butter if you wish or save it for another recipe. If you haven’t already, toast the almond slivers, either on a baking sheet in the 350F oven for just a few minutes 3 – 5 or in a dry skillet. Watch them carefully, its very easy to cross from toasted to burnt, err on the side of caution. In a large skillet heat 4 TBSPs of butter over medium heat. Just when it starts to foam, add the onions and celery, turn the heat to low. Stir frequently, cook just until the onions are soft, then add the apple, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Cook until the spices begin to smell really good. Turn off the heat, add the cranberries, almonds, and butter. Stir until everything is coated. Pour the contents of the skillet into large bowl with the toasted bread cubes. (If you’re using the sausage add it now, too). Mix everything thoroughly. The butter has picked up a lot of flavor from the herbs and it’s important that this is well mixed. If you are using homemade stock to which no salt has been added, stir a tsp of salt into the stock per cup). Pour 2/3 of the stock over the bowl and mix again. Spread the mixture into the baking dish, drizzle with the remaining turkey stock, and cover with foil. If you are making this ahead of time, place this in the refrigerator (you can make this up to 24 hours ahead). Allow it to come close to room temperature before baking. If it’s going directly into the oven bake for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and broil or continue baking until lightly browned.
Home Ec 101 http://www.home-ec101.com/


               
CommentsBest to you and Ray! by sarah jane  

Don’t Forget Anything on Your Thanksgiving Shopping List

Heather says:

Here we are, just under two weeks out from Thanksgiving and it’s time to get serious about making sure we’re ready to cook Thanksgiving Dinner.

Today it’s time to make your Thanksgiving Day Dinner shopping list, let’s try really hard this year to not need to grab any last minute items, okay?

Additionally, creating the list now will hopefully give you time to take advantage of some sales and spread the cost over at least two grocery runs.  In many households this makes the expense a little easier to absorb. Unless you’re paid monthly and then well, it won’t help at all, I’m sorry.

First grab your Thanksgiving Day Menu and all of the recipes, even if you think you know them by heart.

Next open up a spreadsheet in Excel or Google Sheets.

Once you have your spreadsheet open, list your recipes across the top, one per column. Under each recipe list the ingredients. If a recipe calls for apples, list the number after the ingredient apple x 3 or chicken stock x 2 qt. This won’t take up the whole spread sheet.  This creates mini-shopping lists for each recipe.

Next take a good look at your guest list for a rough headcount and then pull up this post: How to Estimate How Much to Make for Thanksgiving Dinner.

Now, multiply or divide each of your recipe ingredient amounts as needed for your Thanksgiving Dinner.

On the lower half of the spreadsheet start new columns. I like to divide my list up by grocery store departments: butcher, dairy, dry goods, produce, etc. Cut and paste each item into the appropriate column combining when appropriate ie 2 apples for the dressing  + 14 for the pies = 16 apples.

Save and print your grocery list and don’t forget to shop your pantry before heading to the store. (This just means crossing off the items you have on hand). Don’t forget, if you rarely bake to test your baking powder to be sure it is still effective.

Check your spices, too.

Oh and if you have a lot of company coming to stay, don’t forget extra toilet paper. Yes, it’s important, you’ll thank me later.

Remember, it’s still too early to buy your produce, save that for the week of Thanksgiving.

Just for fun, what recipe are you most looking forward to this year?

               
CommentsI have to say your tip on making an excel spreadsheet and ... by Patty  

Pot Roast with Balsamic Gravy

Heather says:

This recipe is a riff on Wicked Noodle’s Chuck Roast with Balsamic and Dijon.


I’m not a super huge thyme fan so I went with garlic, but you can do whatever makes you happy.

You could even do both.

Pot Roast with Balsamic Dijon Gravy 2015-11-12 17:48:06 Serves 6 Wonderful dinner for cooler fall and winter nights.






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Save Recipe Print
Prep Time
20 min

Cook Time
3 hr

Prep Time
20 min

Cook Time
3 hr
Ingredients 4 pounds bone-in chuck roast* 1 generous pinch kosher salt 3 strips thick cut bacon, uncooked, chopped 1 medium to large yellow onion, slicked thinly 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 cups beef or mushroom stock 10 carrots -not mutant giant ones, just normal average carrots 2.5 - 3 pounds small potatoes, look for new potatoes or red potatoes (purple would be good, too) 1/4 cup flour (I use a gf mix as there's a wheat allergy in our house) Fresh ground pepper
Instructions Unwrap the roast, sprinkle it with kosher salt on both sides. Set it on a plate**, let it rest for a bit. Preheat the oven to 300F. Set a large (6qt-ish) dutch oven on the stove on medium heat. Begin heating the bacon until the fat begins to render. While this happens, slice your onions thinly. Just let the bacon cook until you start to see some browning, the goal is not to cook it to the crisp stage. Remove it from the pot and set it aside. Place the pot roast in the dutch oven and sear for 2 minutes on each side. Remove the roast from the pot. Add the bacon back and stir in the onions. Cook just until they begin to soften, add the garlic. Whisk in the 1/3 cup of balsamic and 3 tablespoons dijon mustard. Scrape up any browned bits. Slowly stir in the 2 cups of beef or mushroom stock. Lay a few carrots in the bottom of the dutch oven and then set the roast on them. Pile the rest of the carrots on top of the roast. Cover and place the dutch oven in the oven for 2.5 hours. Add the potatoes and return to the oven. Cook for another hour or until the pot roast is fork tender. Remove from the oven and put the roast, carrots, and potatoes in a serving dish. Pour most of the drippings into a container. Leave just enough to cover the bottom of the pot. Place the pot on a burner over medium low heat. Whisk the flour into the pot until smooth. Stir until the mixture just begins to darken -this gets rid of any raw flour flavor. Slowly whisk the remaining drippings into the gravy until it's the thickness you like. Add fresh ground pepper to taste. Serve.
Notes *You can also use boneless chuck roast, rump roast, or even brisket.

Adapted from Wicked Noodle Chuck Roast with Balsamic and Dijon
Adapted from Wicked Noodle Chuck Roast with Balsamic and Dijon
Home Ec 101 http://www.home-ec101.com/

**Yes, on the counter, You can check with Jeff Potter if you doubt me.

                

How To Get Stains Out Of Clothes: A Home-Ec 101 Guide

Stains in clothes make me mentally debate how much I like the article of clothing and if I want to work on getting the stain out or just get rid of the clothing. Am I the only one that does that? My children only stain their most-favorite-ever clothing items and ask me to get it clean again. I’m glad for all of the following advice and hope it’s useful to you too. Just click the title of the article that you want to read more of. 

A two-fer: Grass stains and puppy pee

My daughter has a grass stain on her pretty little, made with love by Grandma, Easter dress.  


My 13 year old dog has recently urniated on our carpet, for reasons unknown to us. 

Bleach Spots Appearing on Khaki Shorts

I have been puzzled by this mysterious pink / red stains on my khaki shorts for years

Cleaning Up After Potty Training Accidents

…how do I launder it? I’m afraid bleaching would wipe the very important characters off of the underwear. Also, is there a way to wash the messy underwear with other clothes?

Dealing With Deodorant Stains

I have a fuchsia pink bridesmaids dress and there is a thin line of white along the armpit seam. I need to get rid of that stain.

Grease on Khakis

I was making breakfast for the kids, and didn’t have my tried and true apron on. As I am sure you guessed, I got grease on my favorite go to khakis. HELP!!!!!!!

Hard to Remove Stains and a White Skirt

Since she’s two, there is no telling what those spots may be. I have tried using OxiClean, Dawn dish soap, and bleach, and the spots haven’t budged at all. I want to rescue her favorite skirt. What can I do?

Hard Water Stains on Light Colored Material and Clothing

I live in NH and have hard water well water, which has been staining all of our light colored clothing and towels since we moved here 6 years ago.

How To Get Sweat Stains Out Of Clothes

How do you get that deep-seated, almost died-in-the-wool B.O. out of clothes so that they can again be worn in public without fear?

How to Remove Decoupage or ModPodge from Clothing

I’m a bit of a mess and the decopage is all over my favorite yoga pants and a cute t-shirt. How can I get it out?

How to Remove Flammable Liquids from Clothing

Normally a brilliant man, he had a momentary lapse of stupid, and he smashed this roach with a plastic bottle of lighter fluid. You guessed it: the bottle cracked, and lighter fluid started leaking out on our wooden porch.

How to Remove Grease and Oil Stains

…when I pulled them out of my suitcase and went to iron them, lo and behold a HUGE stain down the entire right leg of my pants. Any suggestions for removing the set in grease stain or are my favorite pants gone forever?

How to Remove Gum from Clothing

I sat on gum in my favorite pants!

How to Remove Poison Ivy from Clothing

What is the best way to launder his clothes and keep the resin from spreading through the laundry?

How to Remove Stains from a Tie

Mr. Knots has a tie that needs some attention. It has a few stains but he needs to wear it Saturday night and I don’t necessarily want to take just a tie to the dry cleaner.

How to Use Acetone to Remove Grease Stains

I read in your book about using acetone to remove grease or oil stains from clothes, but it just mentions it in a list of items one might use. Can you please elaborate on this?

Ideas for Renewing a Stained T-Shirt

The stain is above the belly button location. So an odd place. However, I wondered how I might make a bleach design that would cover the lower half of the shirt.

Inkity Ink, a Bottle of Ink

My husband put a pen in his pocket today and I forgot to check the jeans before I washed them, then I dried them unknowingly, along with the destroyed pen.

Laundry Perplexion: Sourcing Mystery Spots

…every piece of clothing we own is being ruined by these grease stains. I have no idea what it is but I can only assume its from the dryer.

Lipstick in the Laundry

Help!! I took clothes out of the wash and found red lipstick in the dryer and all over my clothes.

Mud, THIS is why we don’t wear white pants before Memorial Day

I managed to get that reddish Tennessee clay all over the cuffs of my favorite pair of white pants. Can you help me get the stains out?

Oil and pants do not mix

I was getting my car fixed today, and I managed to get oil on my pants, somehow. What can I use to get my pants clean?

Spots in the wash

Seems like all my colored T-shirts come out of the washer with a few faint stains on the fronts.

Sunscreen Stains

A few times lately, I’ve pulled whites out of my washer with yellow stains. Not on the neck or underarms like you might expect, but looking more like I washed a highlighter with everything. Streaks on hems or sleeves, where there were no stains before the wash.

Sweaty Sheets: Dealing with Sweat Stains

For two years I have had problems with my bed sheets coloring. I’m not sure if it is my husband perspiration or what, but the fitted sheet & pillow case on his side of the bed discolors.

Traffic, traffic, lookin’ for my chapstick. Oh, it’s in the dryer.

I washed and dried a load of darks with a tube of lip balm, needless to say I have grease spots all over the clothes.

What Causes Black Underarm Stains and How to Prevent Them

I have black underarm stains on many of my shirts. That’s right – BLACK. The stains are on the inside of the shirts – but after a while it shows through to the outside of any light-colored shirts.

What Causes Spots on Clothing?

Your reply said it was from liquid fabric softner.  The problem is I don’t use fabric softner and I get these grease like spots on my clothing quite regularly.

What to Do About Dye Bleeding / Transfer in Jeans

My two prized purchases- a pair of dark skinny jeans and a fabulous black cotton shrug- are bleeding uncontrollably! I dont know how to “set” the fabrics of my jeans and shrug.

Why Are There Bleach Stains on my Towels?

I have been using my new front load washer for over a year now and now all of my towels are ruined. It doesn’t matter what color they are or were, they now all have large spots that look like I used chlorine bleach on them. Can you help?

Yo’ mama, yo’ daddy, and yo’ greasy granny

Usually the grease spots on his jeans come out with Spray-n-Wash (sometimes I have to treat them twice) or it’s a pair of junk jeans and I don’t bother to worry about it. But he got a nasty grease stain on my favorite pair of his jeans…

You know you’re awesome when your mom needs your advice

Today I did a load of tablecloths. One of them was red and another was white. They were both new, but I figured modern methods of dying surely would keep the red tablecloth from bleeding onto the white. Right? Wrong.

Click the picture for more tips!

Click the picture for more tips!