Playdough

From Mrs. Dowdle (Cascade Elem. Art Teacher)

½ cup cornstarch

1 cup baking soda

¾ cup COLD water

food coloring optional

Mix together cornstarch and baking soda in a medium pan. Add cold water all at one time and stir until smooth. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches the consistency of slightly dry mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Spoon out and knead. Store in an airtight container. This makes a very smooth white easy to handle dough. Objects may be dried at room temperature and painted or you may add a few drops of food coloring to the mixture.


Note:
I made this the other day and forgot to take pictures. I only had 1/2 cup soda, so I substituted 1/2 cup salt for the rest of the soda. It turned out fine.

Orange Juice Drink

Grandpa Bert Whitney served this often because so many people did not like the water and you really needed to drink a lot to stay hydrated in the desert. I think either Kenn or Jill introduced it to Dad.

1 can frozen orange juice concentrate
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Put ingredients in a gallon jar and fill with water and ice. Stir until mixed.

Dried Bananas

Ripe bananas were on sale Thursday at Ridley's for 15 cents a pound. I thought it would be a good time to get some to dry.

Peel the banana, cut into about 1/8 inch slices. Place on food dehydrator and dry at 135 degrees until dry, about 8 - 10 hours.  After 4 hours I change the order of the trays, putting the top one on the bottom. Start checking them for doneness at 8 hours.
I put the dehydrator outside on the porch when I use it in the summer to keep the house a little cooler.

Jaynann likes these mixed with almonds for a yummy healthy snack.

Labeled for the pantry

Koolaid Slushies

1 cup cold water

½ to ¾ cup sugar

1 pkg Koolaid

Ice Cubes

Blend 1^st three ingredients in blender. Add ice cubes a few at a time until there is about 4 cups of slush. If the mixture becomes too hard while blending add a little more cold water.

A yummy vanilla version: (like a silver fox)

1 cup cold water

½ to ¾ cup sugar

¾ tsp vanilla

Ice cubes

Follow same instructions as above. Before eating pour 1 Tbs. cream on top if desired, or add a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

This is a variation of my chocolate chip cookie recipe found here.
Enjoy!

Cream Cheese Chicken Filling

Serves 8 – 10

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

4 stalks celery (finely chopped)

1 green onion (finely chopped)

2 cans or 1 pint jar of chicken (drained)

Salt and pepper to taste

Mix together and serve.

This is good with scones, on sandwiches or on crackers.  I use the low fat cream cheese.

How to Dice a Mango

Mango should be soft enough to give a little when squeezed. That is when it is ripe. You can't tell by color.

Peel mango with knife, then make slices toward the pit horizontally and vertically. Then cut the sliced sections away from the pit.

Not Good

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night and it was not that good. I was kind of excited for it because it used all food storage items. Maybe I'll keep working with it, maybe I'll just get rid of it.
I was going to throw out the left overs and McKay wanted to keep a dish for himself to warm up for lunch today, so it wasn't awful, just not good. I guess we'll see if he really eats it.
The point of the story is, don't be afraid to try new things. It is only one meal. It might be good, or if not, adjust it or don't make it again.

Grandpa Sauce

from Grandpa Bert Whitney
1 can cream of mushroom soup
2 cans tomato sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 hot pepper

Add all ingredients to a sauce pan and stir until smooth. Heat thoroughly and serve with tortilla chips or enchiladas.

Aunt Glenda Sauce

from Glenda Matthews
1- 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 can no-bean chili
1 cup grated cheese
1 shake of tabasco sauce or red pepper  (optional)

Put cream cheese and chili in a microwave safe dish. Cover and cook in microwave on high for 1 -2 minutes. Stir. Add cheese and heat for another minute. Stir again and add hot sauce.
Serve with tortilla chips.

Note: Tonight we didn't have any no-bean chili, so I put a can of regular chili in the blender and blended until there were no bean chunks and then added it to the cream cheese. The texture was a little different but it was still good.

Discounted Chicken

I like to save money on groceries. One of the ways I do this is to stock up when something is on sale and then I'm still serving sale food even after the sale is over.

Cook

Cut and Partial Freeze

Ready to add in a hurry

This is how I do it with chicken. I only use chicken breasts or chicken breast tenders. When there is a good deal on, I buy more than I need. ( I don't like Macey's sale chicken unless I'm going to pressure can it. I think it is tough and dry) I cut it into strips and either grill it or fry it with salt and pepper or lemon pepper. When it is cooked, I cut it into cubes, put it on a tray to partial freeze and then transfer it to a dated bag to keep in the freezer. I use it as an addition to many meals. This is really a time saver when fixing dinner and we are eating cheap chicken all year.

Mango Salsa

1 mango (chopped)

1 bell pepper (chopped)

½ bunch cilantro (chopped)

¼ c green onion (chopped)

1 hot green chili (or 1/8 tsp red pepper)

1 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs. lime juice

1 Tbs. vinegar

¼ tsp. salt

Mix and serve. 

How to chop a mango:

Mango should be soft enough to give a little when squeezed. That is when it is ripe. You can't tell by color.

Peel mango with knife, then make slices toward the pit horizontally and vertically. Then cut the sliced sections away from the pit.