Dear Home-Ec 101, My kids whine incessantly when I ask them to help clean, and they do a halfhearted job when they finally clean. How do I get them to help out? Signed, Ripping my hair out in Riverdale Ivy says: I know what that’s like. My kids still put up a fuss about cleaning, …
Heather says: Depending on the size of your crew, pick up loaves of Italian bread and your favorite sandwich meats. Load up the sub with everyone’s favorite toppings, slice, and enjoy. If you have resident mayo haters (like myself), just make sure their portion of the sandwich is ick free. Serve with raw veggies and …
Heather says: In my quest to improve our family’s diet I stumbled across the idea of oven baked egg rolls. Of course I immediately misplaced the recipe after announcing them for this past Menu Monday. I would like to thank Tese for sharing her family’s recipe, that I used as a general guideline. These are …
Ivy says: Ah, depression. It strikes at predictable times, it strikes at totally unpredictable times. Sure, you can go to the doctor and get some Zoloft for that, and if you really do have a chemical imbalance, it might be a good thing to get some Zoloft. But if you’re like me, it doesn’t really …
Dear Home Ec 101: I recently bought a Cuisinart ICE-20 ice cream maker. I’m lactose-intolerant and want to make my own non-dairy desserts. (I’m also planning to experiment with alternative sweeteners like agave, stevia and lo han.) Last night I made an amazingly delicious batch of peach frozen yogurt. Typically, yogurt can be tolerated by …
When the weather warms up, it’s time for the sides to cool down. I’ve always enjoyed pasta salad from the deli. This recipe nails the slightly sweet dressing of traditional macaroni salad, and with a grilled chicken breast, shrimp, or portabella mushrooms makes a great meal. I vary the vegetables and pasta shape depending on …
Dear Home Ec 101: Help! I’ve got funky stuff coming out of my jetted tub. I turned it on the other night and bits of black sludge ruined my bath. How do I clean out the jets? What is it, anyway? ~ Jetty Betty Heather says: Do you really want to know what that sludge …
Heather says: My band instructor, yes I was am a geek, once told us that it takes twenty-one days to build a habit. He wanted us to test this theory by using a quirk passed on from one of his instructors. He suggested whenever we were in the shower to only to turn to …
Ivy says: Let me first gross you out by saying we carry around approximately 3 pounds of bacteria in our guts every day. It’s good bacteria, the kind we need. But how nasty is that? Ewww. There’s a huge debate out there about whether we should wipe out as many germs as possible (the germophobe …
Dear Home Ec 101: I live in Georgia and each year we have a bumper crop of Vidalia onions. For part of the year they are super cheap, I would like to take advantage of this. Can I freeze them or will they get watery? ~Fearfully Frugal in Fitzgerald Heather says: Wipe your eyes my …