Heather says: This flexible side dish can round out many Tex Mex meals. The recipe is flexible, what’s important is the ratio of liquid to rice and the technique. Feel free to increase the amount of chili powder, or add a little cayenne to kick up the spiciness. If you are serving beef, change to …
Dear Home Ec 101, Help oh great home ec goddesses! 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!!!!!!! I need guidance! Thanks for all of your great tips. Signed, Greasy in …
Awhile back, the people from Mr. Clean sent me a box that told me to take the Mr. Clean challenge. “Interesting,” I thought, and I put the box aside to deal with a bit later. I was cleaning house recently and came back across the box and decided to open it up. It was an interesting challenge- they provided a bottle of the “leading cleanser”- I can’t tell you the brand, but I can tell you it’s one of those “with bleach” kinda deals- and a package of 2 Mr. Clean Magic Erasers with foaming action and the fresh scent of Febreze, haha. Nifty.
Heather says: Today I am laying my cards on the table. This week’s confession? I can be lazy. Not just a little, I mean deep down in the bones lazy. I have four recipes to post. The pictures? Oh, they are still on the camera. Why wasn’t there a menu Monday last week? Yep, you …
My kids constantly tease me about how many purses I own. Yes, I own a few. Okay, a few too many. And now that I know how to make a lined bag, I probably will own more than a few too many. But, I’ll make them for other people and give some away as well, so I figure it all works out, somehow.
This is the most basic lined bag. It has no pockets, and is extremely easy and fast to make. You can customize the pattern to whatever size you would like, from tiny to huge. My daughter wanted a tote bag to carry to school, so I made her this:
Nifty, eh?
This project is good for the beginning sewer. It could even serve as a first sewing project.
Time needed to complete project:
As an intermediate sewer, this project took about 2 and a half hours to complete.
Skills Emphasized:
These are the skills you will use when making this project. It will help you learn:
Basic pattern making
Machine sewing
Sewing straight lines
Sewing corners
Topstitching
Materials Needed:
This project is rated inexpensive-medium expensive. Depending on what sort of material you use, you could spend very little, or a fairly decent chunk of money. My cost of materials for the project as shown was $6. I bought remnants on sale to save money.
1/2 yard of outer fabric (because you need a half yard or less of material, you can check the remnant bins to save big)
1/2 yard of lining fabric
Thread (I used white)
Large piece of paper to make pattern (newspaper end rolls are perfect for this)
Ivy says: They say, “it’s going around” and it’s “going around and around” in my house, for sure. Winter is prime time for viruses to come on in the house and take up residence. It’s up to you to clean them away as best you can. Of course, you’re not going to be able to …
Dear Home Ec 101, My husband loves it when I make mac & cheese from scratch, but so far I’ve yet to find a recipe that I like. It always just seems bland. The thing is, I don’t think it was the recipes, I think maybe it’s the cheese I’m using. I get a large …
Dear Home Ec 101, HELP! 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. Somewhat luckily, the clothes were mostly the kids comfy stay home play clothes and jammies, but one of my fave …
Heather says: Well Home Eccers, I have a few things to get off my chest this week. My tree is still decorated, even though I had planned on only leaving up the Nativity set for the Feast of the Epiphany. I didn’t send any Christmas cards and have yet to write a single thank you …
At long last, the first in the series of simple bread tutorials. We are beginning with a plain white bread recipe. This version is extremely simple. It is free of most allergens (wheat being the obvious exception) so it is useful for those avoiding eggs and dairy. Nutritionally, well, let’s just say that you won’t be making great strides over store-bought, but at least there is no high fructose corn syrup. Warm up the oven, roll up your sleeves, and let’s get started.
Simple White Bread
Ingredients
2 cups warm water ~110°F
1 1/2 TBSP Active Dry Yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil + extra for bread pan & bowl (vegetable or olive
6 cups bread flour (may be slightly less in dry climates)
Ivy says:
Heather says: 