(c) 2013-2035 Ria Stone. Ria promotes her works and the works of others. Topics include: Recipe and Mocktail testing; Frugality; Staycations; Indie Publishing, Writing, Marketing, Resources & more; Guest Bloggers; Interviews; Blog Tours; & Third Age -- Riastoneblog.blogspot.mx,
Quote
"I cannot live without books: but fewer will suffice where amusement, and not use, is the only future object." -- Thomas Jefferson
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Simple Turkey RollUp
Faux Cottage Cheese
So, I thought, I could probably make a similar DIY cottage cheese.
(Inspired by: https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Cottage-Cheese)
Milk, lactose-free
Stir mixture thoroughly and refrigerate,
Sunday, October 18, 2020
Hotplate: Three and Four Bean / Pea Salads
Hotplate: Three and Four Bean / Pea Salads
The day before making these salads, I made about a cup of Pinto beans, one cup of Black-eyed peas and about two cups Black beans from dry beans. The peas and Garbanzo beans came from cans.
There are plenty of how-to cook dry beans tutorials available like:
How to Cook Black-eyed Peas
https://www.wikihow.com/Cook-Black-Eyed-Peas
No amounts are noted because you can make any size bean salad you desire
1 part apple cider vinegar
With DIY Vinaigrette
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Microwave: Mug O'Black Bean Chocolate Cake
As usual, I adapted the mug recipe to what I had on hand. Also, the original recipe was for two mug cakes. I created a one cake mug version.
1/4 Cup Black beans, cooked and drained
Process:
Add beans to mug.
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
DIY: Coffee Stain Remover
I thank the "Gentlemen's Gazette" YouTube Channel for this idea and many more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHzLckkSATI&feature=youtu.be
We all have our little pet peeves. One of mine is coffee in the morning. I struggled for months trying to figure how to make a cup of coffee without spillage. Sounds silly.
I have almost nailed it. I, now, use a large commuter coffee cup with a screw on lid. But, if I did not screw the lid on in an exact manner, it would leak when I took a sip, so I have stained a lot of tops. I am more careful, now, so I usually do not have any spillage.
But, when I had a spill recently, I found the Gentlemen's Gazette's video on clothing stains and how to remove them.
Spray coffee stain with rubbing alcohol, blot with cloth, then hand wash garment.
I tried the advice for removing coffee stains and it worked!!!
Monday, October 12, 2020
Refrigerator: Vanilla or Horchata Chia Pudding
By Magister Mathematicae - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15245222 |
Ingredients:
1 Cup Dry Milk mixture (Lactose free)
1/3 Cup chia seeds
1/2 TBspn white sugar
1 Capful vanilla extract
Or just use 1 Cup of Horchata and eliminate, sugar and vanilla.
Makes about 11oz.
Combine milk, chia seeds, sugar, and vanilla extract in a container with a lid.
The next day, serve pudding, offer various toppings like: fresh fruit, dried blueberries, raisins, crushed nuts, sesame seeds or other items.
*The more milk/Horchata I added, the more pudding I had as the Chia continued to expand.
DIY: Two-Tone Blouse Conversion and the Back Stitch
After retiring from desk jobs, and living in a “buy what you need culture”, it did not take long to realize I did not have many basic living / survival skills.
Besides continuing to learn how to cook, I need to Up My Game in various areas like food preservation, sewing, home repairs, saving $, understanding nutrition and health standards, and more.
So, many of the YouTube DIY Crafts videos are helpful in learning basic skills.
To make a video also requires a wide range of skills including: writing, staging, filming, lightning, audio production, editing and more.
I got the idea for making a “Two-Tone” blouse conversion from BlueprintDIY:
https://youtu.be/h7iVt6LK_S4
Microwave: Mug O'Salmon & Vegetables, Mushrooms, Rice and Egg as a Toast Topping & Salad
Perusing the frig contents, I had mostly eggs, a cucumber, a carrot, potatoes, salsa, cooked rice, LO canned salmon with vegetables, Italian lettuce and LO canned mushrooms.
This is when the ingredients come before the recipe.
Hmmm, we could make a mug of “fried rice” with salsa and an egg, but can’t add lettuce. Ok, what else? Maybe a salmon salad. I’m warming up.
Ok, we’ve got salmon with vegetables, cooked rice, an egg, mushrooms. Let’s start with this combo.
This reminds me of Jack Monroe. While this recipe does not resemble her recipes, the salmon brings back memories of her creamy salmon pasta.
Microwave: Mug O’Salmon & Vegetables, Rice with Egg as a Toast Topping
1 Slice Multi-grain bread, toasted
A dab Olive or vegetable oil
1-2 Drops Hot sauce
1-2 TBspns Cooked rice
1 TBspn Canned salmon with vegetables
2 TBspns Canned mushrooms, diced, drained, rinsed
A dollop DIY Milk
1 Tspn Mayo
Process:
In a mug, add a dab of vegetable oil.
Add hot sauce (a tip from Jack).
Add cooked rice.
Add canned salmon.
Add mushrooms.
Add egg.
Stir ingredients thoroughly.
Add milk.
Stir thoroughly, again.
Place in microwave.
Cover with a saucer.
Microwave on high for 2 minutes.
Remove.
Stir.
When I removed the mug, I realized the mixture was heavy. So, I made some toast, spread it with mayo and spread about 1/3 of the mixture over the toast.
Delicious.
A leftover success!!
Salmon with Vegetables, Mushrooms, Cooked Rice and Egg Mixture Salad
Using some of the remaining mixture from the recipe above, I'll make a salmon mixture salad for lupper, using some of the Italian lettuce, chopped olives, shredded cheese, cucumber and carrot.
DIY Mayo, Apple Vinegar, Yogurt and Paprika Dressing
Starting with an almost empty jar of mayo, I added about a dollop of yogurt, apple vinegar, and paprika. Then, I shook the jar vigorously to mix the ingredients. I only used a dribble of this mixture on the salad.
I have fallen in love with Italian lettuce, it is crispy and textured and it has more flavor than iceberg lettuce.
Actually, that one mug of salmon with vegetables, mushrooms, rice & egg made 3 meals. The above salad was my second salad made with the mixture.
Freaking Frugal: A YouTube VideoLog of a Dumpster Diving Couple
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Chicken Tostados Using Leftovers
Sunday, October 4, 2020
No Bake: Lime Cream Cake Freezer Dessert - Experiment #1
Using Pasta Water and Vegetable Water in Soups
But, recently, I made a batch of pasta and saved the pasta water.
I had just cooked a whole patti pan squash in a pot of water and had saved the vegetable water.
After making the pasta, I decided to use the pasta water and squash water to make chicken broth.
Hours later, I wanted to see how the broth tasted.
So, I emptied one serving into a large bowl and added about 2 TBspns of diced leftover chicken.
I covered the bowl and microwaved it for 4 minutes on high. (Microwave for 2-3 minutes if broth is not frozen.)
Be careful when removing bowl from microwave, the soup will be very hot.
I was pleasantly surprised, the soup had a smooth tasty flavor.
Friday, September 25, 2020
DIY: Crafts - Uh oh, Phase - Projects on Hold - Cardboard Earrings
DIY: Crafts - Uh oh Phase - Projects on Hold - Cardboard Earrings
While crafting, The Use What You Have approach was working great, then I fell in love with cardboard earrings and I didn't have jump rings and my skills to twist wire into jump rings wasn't working, so the potential cardboard earrings pile began to grow because I don’t think going out for jump rings is worth risking lives especially since I live in a hot zone and craft stores don’t deliver.
I am obsessed with cardboard earrings.
“Obsession - a persistent disturbing preoccupation with an often unreasonable idea or feeling - broadly : compelling motivation....”https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/obsession
—Miriam Webster
I found that postcards, greeting cards, scrap paper, photographs, maps, bookmarks, business cards, and even carry-out container stickers can be used to make cardboard earring designs.
So, if you see me staring at something, I am probably wondering if it could be used as a cardboard earring design.
Fabrics and yarn aren’t on the agenda, yet.
But, I have a secondary obsession, making cardboard stained glass earrings.
Tuesday, September 22, 2020
DIY: Patterned Paper
My DIY Crafting Adventure: Plodding Along with Patterned Paper
For two days, I have been plodding from task to task filled with disappointment because my crafting / art skills are not improving fast enough.
Plus, I have watched so many DIY Craft YouTube videos, they’ve become a muddle in my brain.
My main focus, at the moment, is boxing and wrapping the items I have completed.
Making wrapping paper wasn’t high on my list but now I find that is what I need to do.
After a rough start, I actually made some decent patterned paper to use as wrapping paper.
My first attempt at patterned paper looked more like a Rorschach test.
This is ok, I like using a variety of different sized circles, just need to make some improvements like arrangement and color choice.Almost got it with this one!
The previous three samples are an example of my craft supplies management. To conserve my permanent colored markers and acrylic paints, I dug out my colored pencils. They are fun to use!
On a positive note, my patterned paper disasters will be great for making paper beads!
Here are links to just two of the many DIY Patterned Paper YouTube videos I perused:
https://youtu.be/iuulm92pEv4
https://youtu.be/uyAcE12htMk
Reference:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_test