April Cleaning Discussion Tips and Tricks!

-Keep garage clean to help keep house clean.
-Use old toothbrush(or husbands) to clean hard to get places.
-Work chart for children to help out.
-Clean dishwasher- CLR(1/2cup) in empty and run through a cycle. Also use for shower heads and screens.
-Lemons down garbage disposal
-Have company over :)
-Newspaper in between you and the sheets reduces shivers.
-For burnt pans you can put a cheep oil in it and let sit and Boil soapy water in pan and it usually come off.
-Comet spray and a magic eraser wo;; take anything off.
-Q&A- Don Asletts- best shower cleaner.
-Never Dull takes off anything gummy.
-Easy Off is worth the extra penny when it comes to oven cleaner.
-Folex is the the best carpet spot cleaner.
- Swiffer Sweeper is great on hardwood and linoleum floors but horrible on tile.
-Don Asletts degreaser is really good on greasy film.
-TSP(powder) from Home depot is really good to clean counters off. (Sherri Peterson talked about it)

March Garden Discussion Tips and Tricks

-Don't plant beside Mosquito fogger truck access!
-Do not plant flower bulbs upside down.
-Always cover plants (with blankets or sheets), when anticipating frost or freeze.
-Plant carrots and radishes in same row and harvest radishes before carrots-thereby thinning carrots.
-Use old milk jugs as hot caps over tomatoes.
-Play radio to deter raccoons
-Beer= repellent for potato bugs
-Plant peas and beans in square foot to support each other and retard weeds.
-Plant sunflowers in horseshoe.

Book Review-March

In our March Book Review Class the following books were shared and recommended:

THE BLUE BOTTLE CLUB by Penelope J. Stokes
AT HOME IN MILFORD by Jan Karon (this is a series)
LADIES #1 DETECTIVE AGENCY by Alexander McCall Smith (this is a series that takes place in Africa)
HEARTS IN HIDING by Betsy Brannon Green (a murder mystery series and this is #1 and needs to be read first)
THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Crazy Veggies!

We had such a great night on Thursday night. Lots of yummy food, a great presentation, and a wonderful conversation group. I have all the recipes up that I have so far. So if you have one for me, PLEASE e-mail me. aka_caity@hotmail.com
Hope to hear from you all soon sisters.

Tips from all of You!

Bottling and Freezing Tips
¨ Wash bottles in dishwasher after using them. Then put lids and ridges on jars and they are clean and ready to use next time.

¨ Put 2 tablets of vitamin C in each fruit jar before processing in hot water bath.

¨ Make large portions then divide and freeze in portions.

¨ Make big pot of beans, add dried garlic and dried onions. When cooked and cooled put 2 cups in each freezer bags and freeze.

¨ Precook large portions of meat and freeze in small bags.

¨ Take fresh cut meat, sear & season, then put in freezer bags and grill after completely thawing.

¨ Left over pizza is delicious when reheated in a frying pan.

¨ Put vinegar in pressure cooker water to get rid of hard water on outside of bottles.

¨ Use white grape juice instead of making own syrup for peaches

All Sorts of Canning

Thank you to everyone that came to our heart to heart last Thursday night. We enjoyed everyone recipes so much. We hope that everyone that came learned something that will help them in the coming canning season. Here are some links that will be able to help with canning questions.

http://healthyeatingclub.com/info/articles/food-proc/food-pres.htm

http://missvickie.com/canning/waterbath.html

http://www.thefarm.org/charities/i4at/surv/canning.htm (Great one for Beginners)

http://www.freshpreserving.com/

We're BEANS for BEAN DISHES!!!

Who knew you could use beans in so many diverse and delicious dishes!!! Thank you to all you brought food and recipes to share with us. I am still waiting on a few recipes on the bean site but make sure you check it out.