Eggcellent Uses For Easter Eggcess

So Easter is over, and you have bowls full of colored hard-boiled eggs, or Tupperware full of uncooked eggs from blowing eggs out to decorate them. What can you do with this embarrassment of riches?

Uncooked eggs can be stored covered for 2-3 days in the refrigerator before use. Some recipes which use a lot of eggs include omelets, french toast, flan or custard, homemade mayonnaise, quiche and souffle. Cakes made from scratch also use a lot of eggs. You may be wondering how you measure out a specific number of eggs when they are all cracked together in the bowl. One large egg is about 1/4 cup, or 4 TBSP, so you would mix the eggs up thoroughly and then measure.

Hard-boiled eggs are equally versatile. Although it is not safe to store them at room temperature for more than two hours, they can be stored up to a week in the refrigerator. If you are not going to use them within a week, you can chop them and freeze them in freezer bags. After thawing in the fridge, they are fine to use in egg salad or as a salad topping. I usually make egg salad or deviled eggs out of my leftovers, or slice them on a salad. Some people like to pickle them. There is even an Indian recipe for curried eggs http://www.indianfoodforever.com/non-veg/eggs/egg-curry.html !

Now that you have a few ideas for using up all those eggs, what about the shells? Egg shells can be composted, or if you don't have a compost pile, you can simply crush them and sprinkle them around the base of plants to keep slugs and snails away. When left relatively whole, they make good tiny starter pots for seeds. Just plant the whole thing once it sprouts! Another use for them is to clear drains. Crush them as finely as possible and let them sit in the sink drain basket. Every time you run the water, a few will go down the drain. They act as an abrasive, and over time will keep your drains running smoothly. They are also good for removing tea stains from tea pots or thermoses. Leave crushed shells overnight in a dampened pot. The next day, add water, swirl and rinse. Your stains will have disappeared! I have even seen pretty mosaics pictures made out of the colored shells!

What are your favorite use-'em-up tips for eggs? I'm always looking for some fresh ideas!

Eggsquisite Eggs, Naturally!

Do you use the same old egg-dying kits with the tablets every year? Are you looking for a more natural alternative? This year, try dying your eggs with vegetable and herbal dyes. The most vibrant colors are obtained by boiling the dye right along with the eggs. Adding one teaspoon of vinegar before boiling helps to set the color, with one exception. If you are using onion skins they will react with the vinegar to make a brownish color. Bring to a boil, and then simmer about 15 minutes. Immersing the eggs overnight in the dye will result in the brightest color. If you don't want speckled eggs, you will have to strain all the organic matter out first, using a coffee filter. Read on for some ideas on how to get specific hues.

Pink - beets, cranberries or raspberries

Orange - onion skins, carrots, Paprika

Red - red onion skins, pomegranate juice.

Yellow - carrot tops, Turmeric, green tea

Blue - canned blueberries, red cabbage leaves, purple grape juice

Purple - Red zinger tea, violet blossoms + 2 tsp. lemon juice, red wine

Green - spinach leaves

Brown - strong coffee, black tea, Black Walnut shells

To create interesting patterns on the eggs, try putting rubber bands on the eggs, or tying with string or cheesecloth before boiling. You can also draw patterns on the egg with a crayon before dying.

I hope you have an eggceptionally fun Easter!

Dress That Cress For Less!

About to serve salad with dinner and you've discovered you're out of dressing? No need to run to the store! You probably have everything you need in your kitchen to make your own dressing. Not only is your own homemade dressing healthier, because it's free of additives and preservatives, but it's a lot cheaper. You also avoid using all those bottles, and it helps to use up the odds and ends languishing in your fridge.

The first thing you'll need is a glass cruet, or a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Next you'll need an oil. Vegetable oil, canola oil, olive oil, any oil will work. After that you'll need something acidic. Any type of vinegar, pickle juice, the juice from a can of olives, lemon juice, orange juice, or grapefruit juice will work. The fruit juices are particularly nice when making dressing for a fruit salad. As long as you have three parts oil to one part acid, any combination will do. Add salt, pepper, and some spices if desired, and shake. Keep the ingredients of your salad in mind when deciding what combination will taste good. It's best to make small quantities. Since your dressing is not full of preservatives, it won't keep as long as store-bought.

Dress that Cress, bathe that Boston Bibb, splash that Black-Seeded Simpson. Experiment and have fun with it! Be sure you write down your most successful combinations so you can recreate them again. I'd love to hear about some of your tasty triumphs!

Make Haste, Avoid Waste!

Mr. Bargain just left on a long trip, leaving behind half a large container of yogurt. I don't care for this particular brand. Immediately, the gears in my thrifty brain started whirring, thinking about how I could use up this yogurt.

One way would be to bake it into some muffins or a quick bread. Martha Stewart once featured an article about how to age plant pots, encouraging moss to grow on the pots by brushing with yogurt. If you are interested in trying this, here's a link:

http://www.marthastewart.com/good-things/mossy-pots

According to some information I found on the Internet, yogurt is good for septic tanks. I don't have a septic tank, but this may prove useful to someone. If the weather was warmer, I might be tempted to make a smoothie with the yogurt. This week's weather is putting me more in the mood for cocoa than smoothies, however!

It doesn't ultimately matter what I decide to do with the yogurt. The important thing is to cultivate this way of thinking in your daily life. The Internet can be a fantastic waste-not resource. Simply search "uses for _" for lots of great ideas.

I recently applied the same thinking process to some mediocre apples I had. I could have dried them to make dried apple slices, or apple doll heads, or I could have chopped them up in some chicken salad. I decided to give them to my sister to make fruit salad for her son.

What you don't want to do is wait until the item in question is covered in mold, or reduced to a pile of mush in the fridge. I have been guilty of procrastination in the past, but I try to avoid this costly habit.

I hope this post encourages you to make haste and avoid waste in your household. How about sharing your great "use it up" ideas?

T'd Off!

Are you teed off because some of your favorite t-shirts have shrunk or become stained under the arms? Would you like some ideas on what you can make out of them so you can still enjoy them? Then this post is for you!

One very timely t-shirt craft is the reusable bag. Simply cut the neck and sleeves out to make handles, turn the t-shirt inside out, and sew the bottom closed. Then turn right side out again. If you want to get fancy, these can be embellished with buttons, ribbons, beads, etc. There is no need to hem the handles. T-shirt material doesn't ravel. Tote your books or groceries in style!

Scarves are another fun thing you can make out of t-shirts. There are many, many types of scarves you can make. I'll just talk about three of them here. The first is made by sewing wide strips of t-shirts together, and cutting fringe. There are easy instructions here:

http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/tshirt_scarf

The second type is made by cutting loops from the body of the t-shirt, wrapping them around your hand a few times, and tying them together with narrow t-shirt strips. Learn how here:

http://forum.threadbanger.com/showthread.php?p=264122

Another is made by laying 4" squares of t-shirt material end to end diagonally and sewing them all together to make a thick, ruffly scarf. There are excellent instructions at a very fascinating blog called Ruffles And Stuff here:

http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2009/08/super-easy-t-shirt-scarf.html

Is your bed or couch looking a little bare? Why not whip up a few pillows featuring your favorite t-shirt slogans? One type of pillow is made by cutting two squares or rectangles out of your shirt, pinning with the right sides together, stitch three sides, then turn right side out, stuff, and stitch the remaining side by hand. Another type is an easy no-sew pillow which is made by cutting fringe on a large square of material, knotting the fringe together on three sides, stuffing, then knotting the remaining side. This type works very well with larger t-shirts. There is a step-by-step video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1EZPhRpCMA

These are just a few ideas to get you started on reusing your old favorites and some not-so-favorite and possibly downright ugly free t-shirts you may have accumulated! There are so many great ideas out there for recycling old t-shirts that I will probably do a second post with more ideas in the future. I'd love to hear about how you have reused old t-shirts too!

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make - Lemon Curd?

If you live in Southern California, this time of year you, your friends and your neighbors all have lemons that seem to multiply on the tree like Tribbles in a Star Trek episode. What to do with this citrus windfall?

My sister has a really easy but good Lemon Curd recipe I'd like to share with you. Lemon Curd is great served on scones, waffles or English muffins, as a topping for cheesecake, or a filling for crepes or thumbprint cookies. Try it over ice cream too!

MICROWAVE LEMON CURD
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Hopefully this post has given you a new idea about what to do with all those lemons. After all, you can only drink so much lemonade!

The Gift That Keeps On Growing

One of the most popular Valentine's Day gifts has always been cut flowers. While I enjoy cut flowers, I think they are wasteful. They are expensive, and even if cared for properly, don't last long. If you have them delivered, that adds even more to the inflated price tag.

In time, Mr. Bargain learned to buy me a plant instead. Over the years I have received miniature rose bushes, hydrangeas, topiaries in the shape of a heart, carnations, even a Venus Flytrap! Most of these have survived as reminders of Valentine's Days past.

If you really miss the cut flowers, why not try some bulbs? They can be forced to bloom inside, and then later transplanted outdoors. Or try an African violet, which with proper care will continue to bloom for many years to come. You can even buy plants at the florist with a few cut flowers stuck in with those plastic tubes that hold water. When the flowers die, you can remove them and you have a houseplant.

Keep your love in bloom with a plant, and avoid the expensive and wasteful cut flowers this year!