Are you tired of tips yet? - Saving salad....

When I make a tossed salad of raw vegetables, I usually make quite a bit, and it lasts for a few days for us.  Then, once in a while, it doesn't get eaten before it starts to oxidize and look rather pathetic. It would not be a bad thing to eat it, but it just doesn't look very nice, if you understand...

This morning, I chopped up some oyster mushrooms that I had gathered and part of a red onion that was in the refrigerator and mixed it together with the salad (leaf lettuce, onion, radish, sweet peppers, celery, carrots) and I stir fried it all in extra-virgin olive oil.  I cooked some brown rice in my Instant Pot and served it with Soy Sauce.

It was very good.  :)

From my walk this morning....

Can a tip get any tinier?

I use an old Pfalzgraff canister to collect the kitchen scraps that I take out to the compost bin. Voila!

... but when I get there, there are usually some bits clinging to the inside of the bottom that I end up scraping out with my fingers.  Yuck.

No more!  Now I put a little water in it after I wash it, and everything slides out easily.  So happy.

My New Favorite Breakfast...

     When I was about 14 years old, my grandmother gave me a copy of An Old Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott.  I loved the story and it had a profound affect on my life.  In the book, the main character, "Polly", preferred to eat oatmeal for breakfast.  To this day (54 years later) oatmeal is still my favorite breakfast.  I have cooked and served it in many different ways through the years, but always enjoy oats for breakfast.

     I had some leftover fruit salad that I had made and decided to experiment.  When I put together a fruit salad, I just use what I have on hand.  This time, it included banana, apple, orange, mango, raisins, strawberries, grapes, blackberries and a few walnuts.  I usually cut up the oranges first, as the juice from them will prevent the other fruits from oxidizing and turning brown.  The banana, papaya and apple were fresh. The strawberries, grapes and blackberries I had saved in the freezer.

     So, here is how I made my oatmeal this morning.  In a microwave-safe bowl (large enough not to let it spill over as it cooks!) I combined 1/3 cup quick oats, a very small pinch of salt and 2/3 cup water.  This I cooked on "high" in the microwave oven for about 1.5 minutes.  In the meantime, I cracked an egg into a small bowl and whisked it thoroughly with a fork.  As soon as the oats were done, I quickly stirred in the whisked egg.  Next, I measured out 1/2 cup fruit salad and mixed that in.  Oh.. my... this is so delicious!

By the way, that bowl is from my first mother's dishes, so it is probably about 70 years old.  It says "Bavaria" on the bottom.  That makes my oatmeal even more special to me.  

This post is linked to "The Chicken Chicks Blog Hop."  http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2017/04/brinsea-ecoglow-chick-brooder-giveaway.html

Do you remember the Orchid?

Last February I bought an orchid and blogged about it HERE.  I had never had an orchid before and I want to show you how it is doing now.  Literally, there have only been 2 days in all this time that there wasn't at least one bloom on the plant.  It is amazing!  And since the longer days have come, being springtime here, it is very happy. I think it was more than worth the investment of 5 dollars, and the little time I take caring for it. Here are some pictures:

I'm not an interior decorator, either...

When we moved into our trailer almost exactly 2 years ago, I brought the sheer curtains from our old house and hung them at the windows in the trailer... (a.k.a. "mobile home")  That was fine, for a long long time... until a few weeks ago, I was visiting our oldest daughter, and she was getting rid of some clothing and other items.  There was a very nice cotton valance in there.  I said, "Can I have that?"  So, here it is at our kitchen window:

Well, like the story of the peasant man who broke his shoelace, this new addition to our home made me dissatisfied with the sheers I had at the windows.  Sigh....  so I bought 3 yards of muslin and 1 yard of a print at our local Walmart and made valances for our 3 other windows in the "great room."

If you look closely, you will see that I applied some lace trim above and below the strip with birds on it.  I have had that lace for a number of years.  I probably got it at a thrift store.  It was obviously purchased new well before the internet.  The printing on the card it is wound around says, "Home-Sew Bethlehem, PA 18018".  I looked online and found the company!  They have some really good deals on there: if you sew, I urge you to take a look!

www.homesew.com  

Making leftovers last longer.... a frugal tip

Generally, when I have leftover food in the refrigerator, I will use it for up to a week.  Fish is an exception.  I only keep cooked fish or dishes with fish for 3 days.

If I have some soup or stew that is nearing the end of the week, I don't want to waste it, so I put it in a pot on the stove and simmer it for a few minutes, let it cool and then put it into a clean container and back into the refrigerator.  That way, I can get a few more days to use up the food.

Today, I had some chicken broth, that I had made last week for my husband who was suffering with a head cold, and also some chili.  So, I simmered them and now we can use them up! One caveat... I am not an expert on food safety.  This is just what I do.