Having left a professional position to stay home and educate my kids (great kids, always homeschooled, requiring more time now that they're teenagers!), I resolved to handle our household finances as seriously as I've ever managed a grant. What a difference!
I'm a novice gardener who always welcomes good advice, and a sharp researcher happy to look up information to help anyone who asks.
My daughter's a vegetarian and I'm allergic to milk, so I had to learn to make gravy we could both eat! Fortunately, it's easy. Saute finely-chopped onions and minced garlic in a little olive oil, and use this instead of the meat fat in any gravy you'd like to make.
For example, I'll often make a simple "biscuits and gravy gravy" in the skillet, add a little black pepper, then stir in just enough flour, a teaspoonful at a time, to make little clumps of flour. Turn off the heat and stir in just enough soy milk (you could use cow's milk if you prefer) to make a gravy a little thinner than you want your end product to be. Turn the heat back on just barely long enough to warm the gravy, and then take it immediately off the heat, stirring constantly. (If it goes too long, it'll get too thick. You can thin it out with more milk or water, but if you do that too much you'll sacrifice flavor.) Serve immediately over fresh biscuits! (Salt to taste after serving.)
Another option, for a more Thanksgiving-style gravy, is to add cornstarch dissolved in cold water instead of the flour and soy milk. You could also follow any other gravy recipe you like, with the basic idea that garlic and onions in oil make a good substitute for the meat fat they use. Happy cooking! ... View related article.
I also really love basil, so I'll weigh in here, too. There are different varieties of basil, but my suggestion works with any of them. My favorite summer meal is this:
1. Put water on to boil for your favorite pasta. 2. Cut up any seasonal veggies on hand to bite-size or smaller slices. Eggplant and summer squashes work well, but anything you'd like to see later on your plate is fair game. (Save back tomatoes for later.)
3. Saute the veggies in olive oil with a bit of minced fresh garlic. I use about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon per serving, but adjust to your taste. That might be way to garlicky for some people, or not enough for others. Use just a little extra olive oil. 4. When your water boils, put the pasta in to cook.
5. While the rest is cooking, dice a small to medium tomato for each meal-sized portion you plan to serve. Pluck fresh basil leaves--enough for at least a teaspoonful or so per person--and shred if necessary to make small bits. 6. When the pasta is done, drain it and put about 1/2 to 3/4 of a usual meal-sized serving on a dinner plate or in a large bowl. (Adjust the amount to leave room for veggies.)
(Note: If you like, you can cover your plate to retain heat after this and each of the next steps, but it usually goes so fast from here that covering is not necessary.)
7. As soon as the veggies are done, turn them out onto the pasta. Toss the basil leaves into the remaining oil on the pan, and set back on the heat on the stove. (If your oil's gone, add a little more and heat it first. Eggplant especially can suck up your oil.) Mix the basil leaves around as needed so they crisp up in the oil. 8. As soon as the basil leaves get a little crispy, turn them out onto the pasta. Toss the tomato pieces into the pan, but turn the heat off.
9. The remaining heat from the pan will just barely soften the tomatoes. When they're done to your liking, turn them out onto the pasta. 10. Sprinkle with a little sea salt (to taste, again), and then stir very well. You want to get everything mixed together. The flavored oil, basil, and tomatoes end up as a sauce for your pasta and veggies.
I use this basic idea all summer long, with many variations. I've added slivered nuts, sunflower seeds, or tofu if I've wanted protein in it. (Remember to use extra seasonings if you add tofu, as it has no real flavor of its own.) Everyone who's had it loves it and asks for it again, so I must not be the only one who likes it!
It's also very healthy--lots of fresh veggies, and the only fat is olive oil or what's in any seeds or tofu you add. ... View related article.
Thank you! Not every food pantry can store and distribute fresh meat, but I'm sure it's in short supply at those that can do it. If someone's local pantry can't handle fresh meat, the people there would probably be happy to help match you to a family who could really use it if you gave it to them directly!
I'm trying to imagine being enough in need to have to go to a food pantry--all too common in the current economy--and then having some generous hunter offer my family fresh venison. What a welcome treat that would be, right when it's most needed!
You're a good person for making this suggestion. I wish I could give your tip ten "thumbs up"! ... View related article.
Agree with MCW. It's at most big grocery/discount stores, like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, etc. Look in the detergent section in the less visible places, like down on the very bottom shelf toward the middle of the section. Companies pay to place their products in the most eye-catching locations in stores, and the washing soda doesn't seem to get that kind of promotion, so it's usually in the least desirable position. Once you know that, though, it's usually not hard to find! And of course, if you don't see it, ask.
One caution about the suggestions for online purchase. Washing soda's a relatively heavy thing to ship, and a cheap thing to buy, so any shipping costs are likely to affect the price significantly in the wrong direction! ... View related article.
I just noticed something about HalfWhit's post that had a good point, and wanted to address it more clearly.
Our garbage can compost bin is easy to turn because we tied the lid on securely. To do this, we ran twine through the holes on the can and lid, and through the handles, and tied it tightly. If needed, you could even "sew" it on using the holes, although we weren't actually that tidy about it. Tying the lid on tightly makes all the difference. ... View related article.
We love both of our compost bins made from garbage cans. They work, they're cheap, and were very easy to make and use.
All we did was start with a really big garbage can; it does need to be big enough to hold enough compost to "cook"--I think the critical mass is about a cubic yard, but it's worth double checking me on that. We drilled holes all around the can, including the lid, stopping a couple inches from the bottom. We didn't drill holes in the bottom, because we didn't want drainage to dry our compost out too quickly.
Then we just started adding kitchen scraps (no meat or bones), shredded junk mail, and some yard waste, keeping it balanced. There's lots of good information about what to put in your compost in what proportions, so I won't repeat that here. Do remember the odd bits of garbage from your house that are compostable, too, like the hair from cleaning your brush and your laundry lint. Keep the compost in the bin about as wet as a wrung-out sponge.
When the first can was full, we tied the lid on securely and tipped it over on its side. Then, every day when we took out the kitchen compost to the second can, we also kicked the first can gently to turn it over a time or two. This was enough to keep the cooking compost turned, and almost no work. (My teenagers even thought it was kind of fun.)
We checked the compost in the first can every month or so, and it turned into garden soil sooner or later; I don't remember exactly how long it took, but it apparently depends on the temperature outdoors anyway, so yours might take more or less time.
Our first can was a metal can, because when we bought it I still hadn't found out if plastic would work. The second is a larger black plastic can. It's huge, and I think it will work even better. The black color may help it get some extra heat from the sun when the weather's not otherwise warm enough for the compost to cook. It cost us $20 at Wal-Mart. The metal one was about the same price, but we had to go to Lowe's to get it, and it's not as big.
Another advantage we found to using the cans is that we don't have to worry about animals getting in; they close securely and are quite stable once they start filling up. This means, for example, that we've had no problem dumping cooked food scraps in the compost. We've still kept meat and bones out, but almost anything else is fair game. (There's no dairy, but that's due to a household allergy, not a compost need.) We do tear or shred paper and yard waste before adding it, though.
Just to add another thought: We've had good luck with the iron-on transfer paper you can buy at any craft store or (at least here) even at Sam's Club. You can print any image from your ordinary computer printer on the paper and then iron it onto any appropriate fabric. Just be sure that, if you want to put the iron-on on a dark fabric, you get the paper designed for that. (Actually, that paper looks better than the other kind on any fabric that's not white.)
These iron-ons haven't held up to a tremendous number of launderings, but they've done OK for us, and may be cheaper than buying premade ones. The other benefit is that you can use any image you like, even one you've customized. ... View related article.
This is a long shot, so please try the other excellent suggestions first--but I thought I'd mention it, because from your post you already have an established relationship with your veterinarian.
With the recession, many small businesses are operating on a shoestring, cutting costs wherever they can, and often reducing (or just not hiring) staff they really wish they had. This includes veterinarians, most of whom operate as small businesses.
If you're in a position to do it, you might try asking if your vet, or any others s/he could recommend, need office staff they can't afford. You're at least computer literate enough to be here, and perhaps you could volunteer in a vet's office enough time to offset the cost of your dog's health care. Even if you could volunteer enough to cover the vet's time and energy, and pay the actual cost of supplies used, you might be able to swing it.
This relies on you having time to do this, of course, but it might be an option if all the others fail.
Be careful with this. Taking supplements, especially those that aren't water-soluble, can be a risky way to ward off mosquitoes--and can cost much more than a bit of citronella oil!
Your body has no way to rid itself of excess iron, except for menstruation--which doesn't apply to everyone and can't necessarily eliminate enough if you take too much iron. Excess iron is stored in your liver, pancreas, and heart. (http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hemochromatosis/index.htm). Iron overload, iron toxicity, and even death can result. The excess iron can build up inside your blood vessels just like cholesterol-based plaque can, increasing risk of heart attack, stroke, etc.
It's especially important to keep healthy children from getting into your iron supplements. "Iron overdose has been one of the leading causes of death caused by toxicological agents in children younger than 6 years" (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/815213-overview).
For people who might not get enough iron (teen girls often need more iron, and pregnant women often need more than is in their ordinary diets, for example), supplements can be a great thing. But, if you have enough iron in your diet, adding more is downright dangerous.
B vitamins, except B6 and B12, are readily excreted in urine, so they're much less likely to cause a problem. I have no idea if they'd help ward off mosquito bites, though.
I'm not a doctor, so please don't take this as medical advice--just the product of a lifetime spent in the vicinity of science research, and a bit of internet digging. For more information, talk with your doctor and/or Google [iron toxicity].
I also don't want to seem like a wet blanket ... just figured that putting some of this information here might be important, because I wouldn't want anyone here to take too much and get sick! ... View related article.
We just researched this in depth for our home, and have our homemade compost bin up and running as of yesterday. So this is a question I can answer!
We came up with three basic options. I'll outline them and then tell you what we picked.
1) No-cost made from scratch: we found directions for making a bin with poles sunk in the ground and chicken wire wrapped around and attached. It occured to me that with a supply of flexible branches and vines from the gully behind our house, stripped of leaves, and poles from small pruned branches, I could weave a basket-style composter that would match the chicken-wire pattern but not cost us anything. Benefit: no cost. Drawback: More work to move/turn the compost pile inside, as the whole thing has to be moved and the poles reset. (This is true for the chicken wire version, too.)
2) Low-cost option: Get a large metal garbage can. Drill holes (or hammer a large nail through to make holes) every 3-4" all around the can, in rows about 3-4" apart. To turn the compost, you just tie the lid down with a bit of twine through its lid and the handles on the side of the can, tip the whole thing over, and roll it around the yard a bit. Cost for a new can in our area: $25. Benefit: Much less work to turn compost. Drawback: No one responded to my Freecycle request for a used garbage can--a damaged one would be fine, since it needs holes anyway--so we had to buy one up front. (I never got a clear answer on whether a big black plastic can would work as well as a metal can. The plastic was cheaper, and could be found larger, but some sites suggested that the heat generated inside could cause chemicals to leach from the plastic that you wouldn't want to end up in your vegetable garden.
3) High-cost option: Buy a premade composter. The one I liked was like a sideways can on a stand, with two bins and handles for turning. It was expensive! Be wary--I also saw some premade compost bins that had lousy designs, based on what I read, and still cost more than a garbage can. Benefit: Easy. Drawback: Expensive.
We went with the trash can option. We bought a galvanized steel can at Lowe's. (Wal-mart didn't have a metal one.) It took about 20 minutes to drill all the holes, including setup and cleanup. I don't know if the same ad is in the paper everywhere, but this morning's paper had a Lowe's coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase, so if you're getting anything else along with the trash can, that might be worth knowing.
We use a big plastic coffee can to collect compostable waste in the kitchen, since it has a tight-fitting lid and is a convenient size. I printed out a list of what should and shouldn't go in it, and stuck this on the side of the container for reference.
The EPA and various state and municipal websites had lots of good information on composting and making a homemade composter. Google connected us to tons of details--not just how to go about making various composters, but what to put in it, how to know what to add to keep the ratios right for making high-quality compost, how to troubleshoot potential problems, etc. If you like, I can send you some of the information I saved while we were researching this--just ask.
