Friday, October 23, 2009

Things I Will Not Be Wasting Money On Anymore

The first is jarred apple sauce. I made apple sauce last night and holy crap I never knew it could be so tasty. I find the jarred kind sort of gross. It tastes mealy and weird. Turns out I love apple sauce, just not the kind you buy in the snack aisle.

Also, it was freakishly easy. When I was done I actually stood alone in my kitchen and said, out loud, to no one, "that's it?". Here is what I did:

1. Core 4 apples. (When I chop apples I chop them down the center twice. Basically that means cut the apple in half and cut each half in half. Cut the center out by leaning the apple quarter on its side and cutting on the bias. Sounds complicated but its so incredibly easy. Apparently this is how restaurants do it.)

2. Place apple pieces, half a cup of water, a squirt or two of honey (it was probably a tablespoon), a dash or four of cinnamon and cloves (if you love them more if you don't, less).

3. Boil until the apples are soft. I think it was less than ten minutes.

4. Put in a food processor or mill until the apples are as chunky or smooth as you want.

I let it cool for a few minutes and it was so tasty at a slightly warm temperature. I also put it in my oatmeal this morning and, people, oh my Lord, you really do not need bananas in that there oatmeal. If anyone can swoon over food it would be me and apple sauce oatmeal = swoon.

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The other thing I wont waste money on anymore is spray cleaner like 409 or Clorox. Does anyone remember back in the day when people used white vinegar to clean the kitchen? I don't but gracious I wish I did.

I purchased a spray bottle and filled the bottle a little more than half way with vinegar. Then I added water to fill it to the top. Reasons and uses:

1. This is so gross (everyone secretly loves TMI) but I went to the doctor recently and told them I had a rash on my finger under my engagement ring. I've been wearing the ring since March but only last week it started to bug me. Essentially, my setting has a lot of little crevices in it and with all the (anti-swine flu) hand washing and winter weather moisturizing I had started a little fungus farm in there. EW! What does this have to do with vinegar? Well, I soaked my ring in white vinegar for about an hour, washed it with just water and dried it. I let my finger heal overnight and huzzah no more grossness.

2. Vinegar actually removes smells as it dries. Spray the homemade cleaner on your counter tops and it will actually create a natural air neutralizer. This is also awesome for cleaning your kitchen trash can and also stinky children and other family members.

3. Not that I would know from experience but apparently if you toss vinegar into a washer of cloth diapers it helps. I would assume this extends to other smelly and gross clothing. Hmm . . . perhaps I need to learn to speak on this from experience. Ahem, rugby playing fiance, ahem.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My kids will devour an entire 10lb bag of apples in a weekend if I prepare them this way.

Another over-rated item? Paper napkins. It's a cinch to make some from pre-sized rolls of fabric so and easy to care for that I can't find an excuse not to.

Martha Patzer said...

thanks for writing this. vinegar rocks. nature!