Hello , Hi there and welcome
to the next edition of the HBHW newsletter. We had a fun weekend that involved a trip to a comic book store (late Birthday present for my teen) and a hike in our local state park along a trail I hadn't been on. If you're not already taking advantage of the state parks in your area, I encourage you to give that go. We get an annual state park pass and it's one of the best investments we make for our family each year. It gets us out and about and doing stuff
together.
This week I have an old favorite of ours in the recipe section for you. I've been in love with curry lately, making lentil and
spinach dahl, curried potatoes and of course Curried Chicken, which is the recipe I'm featuring in the newsletter this week.
Today's tip is
about using less ground beef. Grocery prices still aren't coming down much and ground beef is staying high at $4.99 a pound on sale - Yikes! As a result, we're making do with less and I'm sharing both readers' tips and a few of my own.
The featured article of the week is all about making housework easier. This isn't anything earth-shatteringly new, just a few ideas that are working well for us right now.
There's also a "I"m Looking for Request" take a look and see if you can help out a fellow HBHW readers.
If you have a recipe you're looking for, email me at susanne@hillbillyhousewife.com and I'd be glad to feature it and give you my own input. HBHW readers are an amazing resource when it comes to lost recipes as
well.
Enjoy!
Susanne
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I’m looking for a recipe for Meringue cookie. My mother used to make these and I loved them so much. Hers were light and did not fall apart as much like I found my last attempt did. Hers were like a soft cookie but with a slight crisp.
Janie Britton
Please click through
to the post here and share your suggestions, ideas and recipes.
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"Patience is the companion of wisdom."
- Saint Augustine
Featured Recipe of the Week |
Curried Chicken
- 1 tablespoon oil or butter
- 1
tablespoon curry powder (more or less to taste)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional, if you like your curry hot)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, chopped
- 1 apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
- 4 oz can mushrooms, drained, (optional) or 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1/2 cup strong chicken broth (or l/2 cup water and 1 bouillon cube)
- 2 cups milk or 16 oz can coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons cold
tap water
- 2 cups cooked, chopped chicken
First off, the mushrooms are completely optional. They are good added to this dish, but it is still very tasty without them. If you use fresh mushrooms, cook them with the other vegetables. If you use canned mushrooms, add them with the chicken at the end.
Anyway, to make Curried Chicken, heat the oil or butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the curry powder, (hot pepper flakes if you
like them), onion, celery, (fresh mushrooms, if you are using them) and apple chunks. Cook and stir everything up until it is tender and fragrant. Add the chicken broth, and milk.
In a small cup combine the cornstarch and tap water. Mix with a fork until the cornstarch dissolves. Add this to the skillet. Cook and stir the mixture in the skillet until it comes to a full rolling boil. Add the chicken (and the drained mushrooms if you are using them). Simmer for a few
minutes, to heat the chicken. Serve over large bowls of Rice.
You're welcome to share the recipe on Pinterest, Facebook etc. I'm also sharing a lot of recipes
on the HBHW Facebook page. Click on through to check it out. As always, likes, comments and shares are much appreciated. :)Barbecue Chicken |
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Making your own mix
from scratch rather than buying it in the store not only saves you money but also saves you from all the additives and preservatives that are put in the foods we buy.
A couple more great things about making your own mixes is they are simple to make, and usually economical. Scale to make a batch as large or small as you like.
I love creating great recipes from scratch that nourishes my family’s bodies and making my own mixes fits right into my plan. If you
really want to create good, healthy food for your family as well, make foods with real ingredients.
Order the Book on Amazon
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We're having a lot of fun talking about all things frugal and homemaking on Facebook. Join in the discussion at the Hillbilly Housewife Facebook
page. Be sure to like the page so you don't miss a thing. Here's just one of this week's topics. |
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Do you remember when you could find ground beef on sale for 99 cents? I miss those days. Now I’m lucky to find ground chuck for $4.99 a pound. That’s a big difference and now more than ever it’s important to stretch that meat. That’s why I thought it was about time to re-visit this frugal tip on making due with less.
Tip From A HBHW Reader:
When I’m making a recipe that calls for ground beef (e.g. Sloppy Joes), I use half the amount called for and substitute cooked pinto beans, refried beans, and/or shredded potatoes for the other half.
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It’s a really good tip and something I’ve done for years. It’s easy to use half when you’re making soup, stew or chili. Just add more vegetables to make up the difference.
When we make sloppy joes, or burgers, I replace half the ground beef with cooked lentils. This also works well with meatloaf. With spaghetti we like black beans.
Some weeks, I completely replace the ground beef with black beans, sometimes we do half and half.
Using homemade beef or even chicken stock in your soups, stews and sauces adds a lot of flavor so you don’t miss the meat as much.
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Homemade Convenience Foods
Make even more convenience foods right at home! You'll save money, control ingredients, and avoid expensive "fast foods" when you start making your own favorite
convenience foods.
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Featured Article of the Week |
3 Simple Ways To Make Housework Easier
Keeping the house clean and organized with a busy family and an even busier schedule isn’t easy. Some days it seems that things get misplaced, used, and dirtied much faster than I can clean. This year I’ve implemented 3 simple new routines that have made housework so much easier and more manageable. I can’t believe I didn’t start doing this earlier. I thought I’d share these three little changes with you. There are nothing
earthshakingly amazing, but things that work really well for me and my family. I hope they will help you as well.
Use The One Item Rule
This is simple, but takes a little while to make a habit. Every time you enter a room, grab one item and put it away. Or clean something. The idea is to not get overwhelmed by messes and chaos by doing a little bit here and there. I was surprised how quickly this become a habit. I know do it on
autopilot, putting away laundry, cleaning my coffee mug instead of piling it in the sink or wiping the bathroom counter.
Most of the time it doesn’t take more than a few seconds to do these tasks, but as I move around the house over the course of the day it really makes a difference. Just like messes appear one item at a time, this cleanup method works. In fact, it’s the perfect antidote.
Make A Cleaning
Schedule
Of course not every household chore can be done in a few seconds here or there. Larger cleaning tasks like mopping the floor, doing laundry or scrubbing the tub still need to get done. Again my goal here was to stop overwhelm by spreading these tasks out. Instead of spending all Saturday cleaning house, I created a cleaning schedule.
Here’s What Mine Looks Like:
- Monday: Clean the Kitchen and Dining
Room
- Tuesday: Clean The Living Room
- Wednesday: Clean Both Bathrooms
- Thursday: Clean The Bedrooms
- Friday: Clean The Hallway and Sun Room
- Saturday: Projects or Yard Work
Yours will likely be different, but the main idea is to break it up into manageable chunks. As an added benefit, this makes it very easy to assign chores to other family members. My husband cleans the tub, my daughter cleans her half-bath and I tackle the rest of our
main bathroom. We’re all done in under 30 minutes.
Combined with the first strategy, this has helped keep our house looking much cleaner and more organized without seeming like a lot of work.
Clean Your Sink Before You Go To Bed
I picked this tip up years ago from the Fly Lady. I believe she calls it “Shining your sink”. The idea is to simply wash the dishes, clean the counters and take care of
everything that’s piled up in the sink after dinner. We do this as a family right after dinner and before settling down to watch a movie.
It’s such a good feeling to walk into a clean and tidy kitchen in the morning. It starts the day of on the right note and I don’t feel like I’m already behind before I had my first cup of coffee.
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Please don't forget to "Pin" these articles and posts when you head to the Hillbilly Housewife website to read more. It helps get the word out about the site and the newsletter. Thank you! |
A Little Something Inspirational...
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That's it from me for this week. Our week is plenty busy as usual, but there isn't anything special going on. Sunday we'll of course watch the Super Bowl since our Carolina Panthers made it - Go Panthers! |
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