Bare Minimum Pantry Supplies for Black-Outs

The topic of emergency preparedness can be quite overwhelming, over the next few weeks I’ll be covering different aspects of how individuals and families can be more prepared for some emergencies. Emergency preparedness is a practical, low cost insurance policy. Just like car, home, or renters insurance, we may never need it, but that doesn’t …

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Someone Has a Case of the Mondays

Dear Home Ec 101, I’m overwhelmed. There’s stuff everywhere, I was late to work again, there’s no food in the house, it’s hot, the kids are cranky, and my butt hurts. Signed, Not really a single reader, but a compilation of about 30 conversations over the past few weeks Heather says: Dude. I feel your …

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Musty Odor in a Home

musty odors

Dear Home Ec 101,Here’s my dilemma. The house is clean, but there is a fusty, musty odor, like a large dog is secretly living in our house. We have an older, small house with the kitchen being basically open to everything. Sometimes I think it is cooking odors that are being trapped in the rest …

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Shining Stainless Steel

Dear Home Ec 101, I just got some new stainless steel appliances–and they streak–and have blotchy places on them. Any ideas? Signed, The Streak Heather says: You aren’t the first homeowner to fall for the gleaming lure of stainless. It’s so pretty there in the show room. What you don’t see are the legions of …

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How to Cut Up a Whole Chicken, a Knife Skills Tutorial

Heather says:

Why would anyone want to cut up a whole chicken? It’s a useful skill to have, I tend to buy whatever is on sale and if whole chickens are on sale that week, then I load up. By buying a whole chicken, I have not restricted myself to one form of cooking or another. Additionally some people in this house are white meat fans, while others prefer the dark and good luck finding chicken breasts at a reasonable price on their own.

If you purchase whole chickens, come home and cut them up, they can be frozen in pieces. However, do not thaw the chicken, cut it up, and refreeze. That’s a big no on the safety meter.

As some readers of Home Ec 101 are vegetarian and others read their feeds first thing in the morning, I’m putting a cut, just so no one is surprised with pictures of raw chicken. You’re welcome.

Also, give my stepdaughter a big round of applause, she was a trooper and helped me take the pictures for this tutorial. It’s not every teen who’s willing to hang out with their stepmother over a chicken carcass, you know.

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Is Anyone Else Tired of Meaningless Terms in Food?

Heather says: As I peruse discussions on nutrition and “real food” there are two terms I’m struck with again and again “chemicals” and “natural.” Without context neither mean much of anything when it comes to food. NaCl, C12H22O11, H2O <— Ooh scary look chemicals! Those are the chemical formulas for table salt, sugar, and water. Chemical …

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Too Much to Wait for Sunday: Sunday Confessional

Heather says: I received a call from a private investigator this week and it opened a wound I thought had healed. I lost a friend and her babies to suicide a little over two years ago. It was only recently I stopped cringing every time a train whistle blew. The questions he asked, I really …

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A Little Friday Fun

Heather says: This will probably sound like a cop-out post and in a way it is. I’ve spent the last few weeks pretty much locked in my closet/office finishing up the rough draft. Today, I’m packing a big picnic lunch and taking the kids and inviting their usual sitter to the beach. I need a …

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Tuna Salad, a Variation

Heather says: I’m usually pretty plain Jane when it comes to tuna salad, a little mayo or cream cheese -or both if I’m really pushing the envelope. Dill weed1, salt, pepper, and some celery finish it off. Everything’s nice, everything’s beautiful, everyone wins. Then, one afternoon I was poking around my friend Linda’s site and …

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