The night my daughter made moonshine

Just Kidding, shes 10.

Separately, she did make some glittering soap....

Back to the point.

She did ferment rice water.

But not to drink. 

Maybe you've seen things floating around about 

FERMENTED RICE WATER HAIR RINSE

or, like me......not.

The baby woman is suddenly on a quest to grow 

her usually bobbed hair 

into long flowing Rapunzel locks.

There has been much YouTube watching of

folk, home & pretty random remedies.

This one was not

1. expensive 
2. or
3. overly smelly 
4. or
5. hazardously flammable (ie: counterproductive)

You can google the specifics, but apparently fermented rice water is acidic 

& that balances the PH of the hair. 

Also, obviously the water would absorb some of the starch, which we can assume would coat the hair, helping to prevent breaks, helping it to grow.

It was also suggested to pair with a vigorous scalp massage 

(pssst! that increases circulation = increases growth)

& as we learned, a few squirts of this starchy goodness to the roots, really perks them up- be it through bulking them up or freezing them like hairspray.

I don't really care about the particulars.

TODO

Firstly, find the spray bottle you will be using. 

Friendly reminder, if you want to add some essential oil so you don't smell like cooked rice, you need either a glass bottle or stainless steel. 

Bottle from GROVE COLLABORATIVE
Thanks MOM! 

Fill the bottle up, measure the amount, & pour into a bowl. 

add 1/3 the amount of water in rice.

she used jasmine, its what we had.

Cover & let sit overnight, up to 24 hours, agitating occasionally.

Drain your fermented water into a sauce pan, bringing to a boil for 3-5 minutes, let cool.

Funnel into your handy-dandy squirt bottle.

add some essential oil you like

(She picked citrus )

That's it. Spray hair liberally. Comb through.

Look like you paid a whole bunch for a blow out.

I found conflicting next steps- some said to use like a mask & wash out after 15-20 minutes.

Others said to use like a volumizing, root boosting hair spray, leaving in for the day/s.

I don't know that it will necessarily help, but I'm not worried about her hair falling out either.

BEFORE 

AFTER

I was so surprised how this actually turned out, I wasn't planning to take pictures.........

But, I thought it was too amazing not to share.

Sarah's Magical Soup : Creamy Chicken & cheesy tortellini

First of all this was a total team effort, kind of. 

& friendly reminder, for a cooking post, there won't be pictures.

No ones food ever turns out like the pictures, so, pressure off.

Someone posted a creamy crockpot chicken recipe on facebook, & it looked delicious. 

& then, today someone mentioned chicken noodle soup 

for the cold weather. 

& a light-bulb!

RECIPE-ish

one sweet onion diced

2 whole carrots, washed & chopped 

2 TBS butter 

carton of chicken stock or broth 

2 cups of water

small can of cream-o-chicken soup, undiluted 

1 block of cream cheese, you pick the variety, softened

shredded chicken, canned or otherwise or not at all 

Tortellini, as much as needed

TO DO 

add the diced veg to warm stock pot, with butter,

 over medium heat,

to soften 15-20 minutes, stirring as needed.

Add in stock or broth, simmering an hour until fragrant. 

add the rest & boil as needed to cook tortellini.

season to taste!

salt, pepper, garlic, parsley, etc.......

Feel free to add greens :)

Be warned though- 

children who were happy to eat all these things previously

will boycott 

because:

They don't like chicken soup

There might be potatoes 

There's chicken  

There could be veg hiding 

(All very real possibilities, except the soup,

 it is in fact soup, but since when??) 

HI-HO SILVER: My thoughts on marriage

You might have guessed from the title, but just in case,

 be prepared for horse analogies.

 Just saying.

I had a video pop up in my Facebook memories today, 

& it got me thinking how marriage is like a team of horses, 

aside from the obvious that they & you are linked together.

But if you think of pulling a load, up a moderate incline, 

not even barefoot in the snow both ways, 

if you both aren't working together, it just ain't gonna work. 

I don't care who you are.

This does happen to be an example of in the snow, but that's just a challenge in life.

When you watch the video,

 it takes the pair a few tries to get started together,

 but they do 

& they are successful!

With the help of their farmer,

 talking to 'em,

 telling to come back or move on,

 they make it to the top.

This is my garage door. 

& if you haven't noticed, 

there is some kind of weird crack between the frame & whatever the other part is called.

We, Mr D & I, 

noticed that some weeks back after arriving home.

& our conversation went something like this----->

me: There appears to be a crack

him: Yes, I noticed that last week

me: well, maybe we should do something about it?

him: some spray foam would fix it

me: That's easy. I can get some the next time I'm out.

(& I do)

& that picture was taken tonight.

It's actually become a friendly joke.

Because that crack is pretty much our entire relationship.

Could I find a step stool & spray the darn foam?

Easily.

 I've become pretty handy at fixing stuff since getting married.

This next video, sums up what happens when 

you don't pull together 

& the train wreck that ensues.

Surrounded by people who care about them, 

everybody comes out ok, though. 

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAM WORK

*WARNING* 

this video will make you want to cover your eyes & hide.

I promise, promise 

everybody gets up & walks away just fine.

It's tense.

It's scary.

IT'S HORRIBLE TO WATCH

Imagine what it must have been like to go through.

I like Big B......just kidding

This is my refrigerator, 

& I'm sure by now you've noticed that it's smaller then the average bear.....

or typical American refrigerator.  

& here is why---->

I had a larger version, that mostly fit, but not well. 

There was much cabinet rearranging to make it fit, 

& it was heavy enough it took several large men to maneuver it into place. 

After nearly 4 years it died.

RIP.

During one of the hottest summers in the history of forever.

When the A/C also went over to the other side.

mkay?

I was hot & tired 

& lacking in large men to maneuver.

& really felt called to use the rearranged cabinets

 I couldn't reach over the top of another flat 

& inevitably cluttered surface.  

I. WAS.OVER. IT

We've (& by WE, I mean I) have been making a point of trying to live purposefully.

& I realized as I was cleaning out a large 

& no longer cold refrigerator,

 how much extra 'stuff'' we (& by we, I mean I)  

had accumulated.

Enter my fun size fridge-et.

I can both maneuver & reach over it. 

It also forces us ( & by us, I mean me, the grocery shopper) 

to be thoughtful about what is bought & kept. 

No more very new cheese or very old meat lurking in the corners.

It's about big enough for milk, butter & our veg.

not much room for excess.

I was previously, & still am, in possession of a lovely, big pantry & a chest freezer.

You'd be surprised what you can freeze...

& because it's in the basement & frozen

 I don't have to worry about the 

bottomless pits called pre-teen boys 

snatching whatever they can find.

Starving as they might be.....they don't hunt. They scavenge.

I do miss my ice maker, but not so much that I want to step in puddles of melting ice, abandoned by the same boys, 

who can also not bring themselves to bend over 

pick up dropped ice.

Such is life outside the box.

All you need is Love & a waffle Iron

This post is dedicated to the loyal reader,

 who is not my Dad. 

Thank you both for the support & encouragement <3. 

I would also like to thank the waffle iron industry for coming so very far.

For Christmas, I bought myself a new waffle iron.

(Farberware, Walmart, $20)

 I can generally produce an edible waffle, & have been known to get pretty creative with them- & lucky for me thanks to a waffle iron & baking mix, it's pretty fool proof......which is why I am so darn good at it! 

But, I digress.

I had an epiphany. Which is a coincidence, because it's also nearly THE epiphany.

We roll quick, cheap & easy around here,

 & try to work smarter, not harder.

Waffles can be easier??

umm.....ya. even fancy. Ney, gourmet even.

For this to make sense, we have to remember back 20 years 

to when I first learned this particular cheat.

Cobbler, topped with white bread! 

& lots of butter & sugar which makes everything better.

= turns out as a beautiful bubbly mess after baking.

To make any delicious stuffed waffle it's as easy as sliced bread.

1.Give your hot waffle iron a good spritz of your 

preferred non-stick spray.

2. Assemble your creation between 2 slices

3.Smash it! 

4. & cook until the done light comes on!

This is easy enough that even small children could do it 

(with close supervision, of course) 

we've been eating lots of egg sammie waffles, which works out because the gangster garage hens have been busy.

which brings me to point 2......

GET THIS EGG COOKER

it's on amazon, which tells you it's revolutionary.

Its' quick, cheap & easy.

Make any kind of little fried egg or baby omelette, & waffle it.

It's literally that easy.

hot roast beef? Yep

Cheese Toasty? Easy

Budget Hot Pocket? Go for it

Creative cooking at its finest.

Dollar Tree Cooking Challenge

So, I recently saw a video (<------- that one) by the

VEGAN ZOMBIE, about shopping the groceries at 

DOLLAR TREE. 

& I know there are several budget meal plans on Pinterest, based products available at Dollar Tree. 

I'll just assume that this is one of the new Facebook challenges, 

& I'm getting ahead of the curve,

 because I'm a fun killer & won't dance outside my car.

For the excitement of it, & because we roll quick, cheap & easy

 I wanted to check it out. 

I was amazed at the selection of things available (coconut oil?!?!), & was surprised at some of the things they didn't have. 

Of course selection will vary by location.

DOLLAR TREE NOT TUNA CASSEROLE

10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup

1/2 C Mayo

1 bag egg noodles (boiled & drained)

1 C Cheddar Cheese 

1 C Milk 

Sprinkle 'O bread crumbs 

In all fairness we already had milk, so I didn't buy theirs, though they have milk available in the refrigerator section. 

Or the bread crumbs. That's just a pantry staple.

Mix it up it your 9x13 & bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, until brown & bubbly  

by all means, drain a can of tuna to add, if you like tuna. I thought I had a better chance of getting the troops to eat it sans tuna. 

I also picked up a frozen steamer bag of peas, because that's what you eat with tuna casserole. 

These are the very same, name brand bags available at any grocery store, & just as tasty!

We also tried the veggie burgers mentioned in the video, with tater tots (last night)- I thought it was ok, but the visible veg chunks in the patties were a flop with the kids.

It's good to have this shopping option available, but buying smaller packages in the long run is usually more expensive. 

If you are just feeding a single person, I can see where this might be a good budget plan, especially if you have access to reasonably priced fresh produce,

 so you aren't living on processed foods 100%

Let's face it, it's just hard to beat Aldi. 

 But I'd make this again in a pinch.

Commodity Cooking with DT

So, if you can remember back to winter-ish, when it was cold........It was suggested that in lieu of the transfer payments, currently known as SNAP benefits or EBT, half of the benefits would be substituted with a box of shelf stable commodities . (Reminder Here)

I'm not sure what the scandal of the week was they were trying to distract us from, but the economics 

of it would cause a giant mess! 

As the benefits circulate they add to the economy- without the added spending, sales would go down, demand would go down, interest rates would have to increase to make up the difference & we'd be in recession city.......not to mention the logistics of delivering these boxes to homes via subscription service.

I digress.

As a quasi unemployed person of late, with babies to feed, I was gifted with 25lbs (had to be! I carried it both ways, uphill in the snow) of food stuff from a lovely organization.  

98% of which was shelf stable(dried beans, rice, cans), then several dozen eggs, a packet of thick sliced USDA turkey, & a 2lb bag of frozen blueberries. 

I didn't not ask, but am under the impression that this commodities box is supposed to make up for the 4th week in the month, where the SNAP/EBT benefits usually can't stretch. 

Either way, we are grateful, which brings us to tonight's dinner.......

Beef Shepard's Pot Pie Family  MRE 

(The Meal, Ready-to-Eat – commonly known as the 

MRE – is a self-contained,

 individual field ration in lightweight packaging bought 

by the United States military for 

its service members for use in combat or other field conditions where organized food 

facilities are not available.)

After emptying the envelope into a large baking dish, I added a can of drained, mixed veg, & topped with a can of instant biscuits (the fluffy kind, peeled apart to double the amount)

Baking at 350 for about 25 minutes until the biscuits were brown & the stuff was heated through

It, surprisingly, received thumbs up from the picky eater.

& as we have a stock of the stuff, this will probably be repeated....

or it would also be delicious as a gravy over mash- 'stew' is used very lightly in this instance.