Seasonings For Beans and other Mexican Foods

As I said in my original post about beans, falling on financially tight times taught me a lot.  I would cook 6 qts of beans each week.  The first night would have just plain beans with a little cheese.  I would split the rest into half and make refried beans with some and chile beans with the rest.  Oops, I forgot the liquid smoke and canned diced tomatoes.

Since I put the directions above for refried beans, I will just give some tips for chile beans.  This will depend on your taste, so I won't really give exact amounts.  It usually changes from week to week for me, depending on my cravings and how much ground beef,  I have on hand.

• Cooked beans--If you don't have some left-over, get a #10 can of the ranch style beans from Costco or Wally world.  These already have the red chile powder in them.
• Ground beef--cook  while scrambling it up.  ***Chorizo-- I almost forgot to mention this!  If you don't know what it is, try Mexican sausage.  It has actually become fairly common and not too hard to find, at least in the western US.  It can add quite a bite and really lots of flavor.  Use it instead of ground beef.
• Onion--I will usually add medium, diced onion
• Garlic--yes I cheat, I keep the minced garlic in a jar in the fridge.  BUT, if I was using fresh garlic, I would use 1 clove, minced
• Canned green chile--I always buy the big #401 cans (27 oz.)  I use about 1/4 can, diced.  Sometimes I go wild and use about half a can.  they are very mild and don't add much bite to the mix, just a nice peppery taste.
• Bay leaf-- I just like the taste of them and it seems to bring out the beefy flavor of the ground beef.   If someone gets in their bowl at the table, they get to wish for something.  My 4 yr. old grandson is waiting for his rhinoceros
• Canned petite, diced tomatoes--I use a #401 can
• Red chile powder-- I use about 1 t. of the mild kind.  Sometimes, I use the crushed red chile flakes.  Since there are seeds, they usually add more "zest".
• Tomato paste--This will make the "broth" thicker.  I have found that those of you in the colder climates seem to prefer this style ;-) 
• Liquid smoke--1/4-1/2 t.--I do love a little bit of a smokey flavor.  Some left-over home smoked salmon I snagged out of my brother's fridge years ago had me hooked.  I love to smoke my own meats, etc. now.  This is a quick "fix" when I can't afford to do that for lack of time or good ribs, chicken . . . Nuts! . . . now I'm hungry!!
• Cumin--This can add such a nice subtle flavor.  Just use a sprinkle.  I have had a fair number of dishes that got overdosed on cumin ,  takes all the fun out of it!

Help . . . Summer is here!!!

If any of you are feeling this way, checkout the website:  familyfun.com.  Saw the magazine in the dental office and was quite impressed.  Just checked out their website and now I am even more impressed!  Make this a summer to remember . .  on the cheap!!

Savvy Savings Tucson

My daughter, Mariah came over and told me all about this website.  I didn't get it entered right then and lost track of it. I just snooped on her blog and found it again.  Click HERE to check it out, good stuff!  

Make sure you don't miss this one!!  She has lots of great information that YOU need!

Sorry I forgot to put the link on this . . .  senior moment!!  I have a bad habit of letting my mind plan the next thing I plan to do, as I am doing something . . . I wonder why my grand kids don't seem to have very long attention spans . . .  where did they get it?  

. . . . Now what was I doing?!?!?!

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

Don't worry, the scrub board is a joke . . . well kind of . . .  I do have one put back.  Rocks just don't seem very fun!  I took scrubbing lessons from a movie, so now I know just how to use it and if we need a percussion section for a family band, I have lots of thimbles. 

A friend of mine has been telling us all about the laundry soap one of her daughters has been using.  It works really well, doesn't have a bunch of fillers to make it look like your getting a whole bunch, (which of course also takes more room to store) has no fragrances to make everything smell "clean" . . . hello . .  isn't that one of the reasons we wash our clothes, to get rid of odors and is made of just basic, good old fashioned cleaning stuff!  I remember grating homemade soap that was given to us,when my family was tight for a few months, and it seemed to work OK.  

Anyway,  young friend of mine in Texas, Rachel, had this on her blog. I am totally ripping it all off, thanks to her generous email.  Down below are her results, looks good.  Today I will get the stuff and try it on some other really old stains, and let you know how it works!  I do plan to use the dry recipe, less storage space.  I also think I will try it as a spotter in liquid form.  I haven't bought any laundry spray for years . .  Spray & Wash is OK, but there are way better things you can make!

I am pretty sure I have seen all of these ingredients at Walmart.  I would buy the washing soda AKA baking soda.  I buy it at Costco, put a little in a clean container in the kitchen, and take the rest out to the garage.

TIPS FOR LAUNDRY SOAP: We use Fels-Naptha  bar soap in the homemade soap recipes, but you can use Ivory, Sunlight, Kirk's Hardwater Castile or Zote bars. Don't use heavily perfumed soaps. We buy Fels-Naptha by the case from our local grocer or online. Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found on the laundry or cleaning aisle. Recipe cost approx. $2.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Soap- Front or top load machine- best value

• 4  Cups hot tap water
  
• 1  Fels-Naptha soap bar
• 1  Cup Washing Soda
  
• ½ Cup Borax
  

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Optional: You can add 10-15 drops of essential oil per 2 gallons. Add once soap has cooled. Ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Powdered Laundry Detergent- Top load machine

• 1   Fels-Naptha soap bar
  
• 1   Cup Washing Soda
  
• ½  Cup Borax
  

-Grate soap or break into pieces and process in a food processor until powdered. Mix all ingredients. For light load, use 1 Tablespoon. For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 Tablespoons. Yields: 3 Cups detergent. (Approx. 40 loads)

The Results Are In ---- by Rachel

The Results Are In   ---- by Rachel

And NO, I'm not taking about American Idol,
Survivor or Dancing With The Stars.

The clothes have been washed and
the stains have been removed!!

Here are 2 examples of stains that
were on a changing pad of Keira's.
I won't tell you WHAT the stains are,
but I'm sure you can imagine!!

And after 1 wash and no "pre-treatment" application
the stains were gone.
Plus these stains were NOT fresh.
They were at least a few days old.

So the "SURVEY SAYS"...

this home-made laundry soap ROCKS!

The crazy part is that even though the Fels-naptha
bar had a scent to it when it was boiled,
the clothes had NO scent after being washed.

Which is great. No scent means clean.

Although I know many of us love that fresh smell.
So you might want to use some drops of **essential oils**
like the recipe suggests.

Bountiful Baskets . . . the latest delivery

Today Mariah got to pickup for both of us.  It was a good day for my produce drawers in the fridge.  Click HERE if you would like to see more information about Bountiful Baskets.

I also got a forty lb. box of Granny Smith apples for $ .35 a lb.  next week will be the time to make apple sauce, apple pie filling and maybe apple butter.  Homemade is the best!

We're finding kind of fun to save money and  have an adventure !

MILK . . . Great Post About Milk

I was doing my early morning breakfast cruise and ran across this post about the "Basics on Milk".

I check this site out regularly. It has good posts, put in a way that it is easy to understand.

Amanda is doing this as a way of magnifying her calling and is doing an excellent job as far as I am concerned! I have a similar calling and should do as well ! Any way, check it out for clear basic information on milk storage. Click HERE. The same basic apply to powdered milk.