Olive Oil
The KING of oils (in this humble Italians opinion). It’s the most healthy as it is high in mono unsaturated fat which has been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease. It’s all I use in my home. Full of a mild, fruity flavor, it’s traditionally used in Mediterranean dishes, but it’s use is becoming much more wide spread. “Virgin” olive oil simply has a lower acidity level and is less refined. Olive Oils smokes around 350°. Cooking it too hot will oxidize it, which will destroy its health benefits.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
The flavor is fruity and peppery and is from the first cold pressing of the olives.

Sunflower Oil
This is a very light and neutral flavor, some people call it tasteless. If you want to add some flavor to it, use 1 part sunflower oil and 1 part olive oil. It’s low in saturated fat and high in vitamin E. More snack companies are starting to use it for chips, etc. At home, use it to fry, cook and in salad dressings. Smoke point is 475°.

Vegetable Oil
Probably the most common oil used in America, it’s actually a combination of oils made from corn, soybean, sunflower and palm.

Canola Oil
This was being talked about as one of the more healthy oils a few years ago because of its low saturated fat and high mono unsaturated fat. It’s commonly used for frying, but only at medium heat- up to about 450°.

Corn Oil
Mostly used in homes for frying, you should only use to fry at medium temperatures. It’s low on both saturated and mono unsaturated fats. The smoke point is about 450°.

Peanut Oil
This oil is pretty rarely used, but is GREAT for high temperature frying, which is why you see it most often at Thanksgiving when folks are frying turkey. Its smoke point is 448°.

Flax Oil
VERY rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are also found in fish. Flax oil is associated with fighting cancer, controlling glucose levels and lowering cholesterol. It’s best used in vinaigrettes or for drizzling over a finished meal. Flax oil goes bad quickly, and should be used within 3 months of opening.

Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has been described as the new wonder oil because it is believed to help with weight loss by boosting the metabolism. It’s also associated with diets intended to maintain heart health. What’s great about it is that it does not oxidize at high heat (which is the process that destroys the health benefits). Smoke point is 350°.

Hemp Oil
Hemp oil is by far one of the best oils for you. It’s just now starting to come to the market, and is meeting all the typical crap that any hemp product meets. Instead of preaching to you myself about it (because people who really believe that any kind of hemp usage will make you high won’t listen to a regular joe like me), check out this great article by Dr. Andrew Weil.

Storing and Discarding Oil
The shelf life for most oils is 6-8 months after opening. The higer in mono saturated fat the oil is, the longer the shelf life, so refined olive oil can last a few years! Be sure to store at a cool room temperature, best place is your pantry. Light, heat and oxygen is the enemy of oil!

Don’t EVER pour cooking oil down your sink!! After fats from food have been introduced to the oil, it can solidify (which of course it doesn’t do when stored in a bottle). If you pour oil down your drain, eventually enough will have congealed to block your pipes- besides that, it will seriously start to stink! The best thing you can do is pour your used oil into a leak-proof container (a coffee can is GREAT!) and stick it in your freezer. Keep adding to it until the container is full, and then throw away with the rest of your garbage.

YES!

EVERYONE needs a cast iron pan! I’m not even joking, they are one of the greatest inventions on the planet, and they’ve been around for a REEEALLY long time! I think that people avoid cast iron because all they know about it is that it must be taken care of. Well, that’s true, it must be cared for but it’s easy to do!! Something else a lot of folks don’t know is that a well cared for cast iron pan is just as “non stick” as anything coated in teflon. In fact, you can do just about anything with a cast iron pan, from frying chicken to baking a cake!! My personal two favorite uses? Making deep dish pizza and giant cookies.

The process of caring for your cast iron pan is called “seasoning” Without knowing what you must do to season a pan, it’s easy to imagine that it takes a lot of effort, but it doesn’t! Here’s how it works: On a microscopic level, cast iron is jagged and rough. Seasoning pretty much means that you are filling in those jagged spaces. Think of the graphic you’ve seen in every single hair conditioner commercial ever. It’s just like that. It’s simple to do, and worth your time because a seasoned cast iron pan makes THE TASTIEST food ever! Actually, MOST of the time you will spend while you season a pan will be waiting, so come up with something else to do, because this really won’t keep you busy! Here are the steps:

Rub the pan with a VERY THIN coating of oil. It’s recommended that you use vegetable oils or lard for this process. Most cooks avoid using mineral oil because it is petroleum based and no one wants their food cooked in a petroleum product. Not too many folks go for lard anymore either, so use canola oil or sunflower oil (Olive oil’s smoke point is TOO LOW- Don’t use it!). Don’t over-do with the oil. The trick is in several thin layers, not one nasty goopy one.

Place the pan upside down in your oven. It’s a great idea to place your pan on top of a piece of aluminum foil, just in case any oil drips. You now will heat the pan in a 300-500 degree oven for 30-60 minutes. PLEASE remember to hang out close to the kitchen- we are talking about a VERY hot oven here! Don’t take the dog for a long walk or anything! (500 degrees makes me nervous, I never go over 450)

Note: You will see people across the net recommending that you use your “self cleaning oven” setting to season your cast iron. PLEASE do NOT do this!! The “self cleaning” temperature on most ovens is around 550 degrees which is REEEEALLY hot, and besides that- the oven will LOCK. At that temperature, you may actually start a fire in your oven, and if you do, and the door is locked… well… that will cause some VERY tense moments in your kitchen. Don’t do it, and if you do, don’t say I didn’t warn you!

After the pan has baked, remove it from the oven and allow it to come back to room temperature. Do not plunge it into cold water, this can cause the pan to crack or break!

After the pan has completely cooled, repeat this process a few more times. That’s it! Honestly!

What you have done, is created a sealed surface on your pan, which means that not only will it be non-stick, it has also formed a seal between the iron and your food, so that means that water will not cause rust (which makes your food taste weird). After you have done this process, that’s really it. Each time you use the pan, you’ll be renewing that surface, so the more you use your cast iron pan, the more awesome it will be!!

Cleaning and maintaining the pan is just as easy!

When you’ve finished cooking, let the pan cool on its own. You never want to quickly and drastically change the temperature of a cast iron pan so again, don’t plunge it into cool water.

Hand wash the pan gently with dish soap and water. (NEVER put your cast iron in the dishwasher!) Rinse well and dry with a paper towel. An old school of thought is that dish soap is bad, but it’s not. You actually need to get rid of the very top layer of oil (the stuff you may have just your dinner cooked in) otherwise the oil will go rancid and make your food taste aweful. DO NOT SOAK a cast iron pan in water.

Place the pan on a heated stove for a minute to be sure the pan is completely dry.

Next, use a paper towel to apply a very thin layer of oil to the pan. Again, don’t over do with the oil (and use the same types as noted above). Let the oil sit in the heated pan for a few minutes to season.

Remove the pan from the heat, and wipe away excess oil. Allow the pan to cool before putting away.

Store your cast iron cookware with the lid off. You don’t want humidity trapped inside to create rust. A great tip that I use is to put a paper towel in the bottom of the pan if you don’t use it often. That way, and humidity is absorbed into the towel and evaporates without harming your pan.

My goal was to create a cake similar in texture to a bran muffin, moist yet just slightly grainy. I planned to avoid any icing or glaze and wanted the cake itself to have a light flavor that wasn’t too sweet. I wasn’t sure what the flavor would be, but I was thinking a kind of mapley-fall flavor maybe with apples. When I opened my pantry to get out the ingredients, I saw a box of Peaches n Cream oatmeal and decided to make the cake out of that instead of just using regular instant oatmeal.

Why not? Hehehe So this is a recipe I literally made up minutes ago. You can (and as it turns our, maybe should) use 1 cup of oatmeal instead of packaged/flavored oatmeail.

Basic Oatmeal Breakfast Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
•1 cup instant oatmeal (or 2 pkg Peaches n Cream Instant Oatmeal)
•1 cup milk
•¼ cup butter
•1 ½ cup brown sugar
•2 eggs
•2 tsp imitation vanilla
•1 ½ tbs yogurt
•1-2 tbs applesauce
•1 1/3 – 1 1/2 cups wheat flour
•1 tsp baking powder
•1 tsp baking soda
•Pinch salt
(add ins- this is where you’ll get your flavor!)
•Blueberries, raisins, chocolate chips, chopped nuts, canned pumpkin, banana, coconut, more applesauce… whatever!

Pour 2 packages of Peaches n Cream oatmeal (or one cup instant oatmeal) into a bowl with 1 cup of milk. Microwave for about 1 -1:20 warming the oatmeal. Let sit for at least 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to cool well.

Combine egg, vanilla, applesauce and yogurt and mix well. After the oatmeal has cooled, add to the egg and sugar mixture.

Add the dry ingredients, mixing in the flour 1/3 cup at a time . Add in any optional ingredients.

Lightly grease an 8×8 pan and pour batter in. Bake for 24-28 minutes until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

There it is! A good breakfast cake is that easy. The next time I make this, I won’t try to be clever with packaged oatmeal simply because there wasn’t much of a flavor contribution with it. I’ll use regular oatmeal and use the addins to create the flavor. If it just so happens that you only have packaged oatmeal in your house, now you know you can bake with it! There are a lot of ways to alter this recipe for your needs. Admittedly, this cake is plane. It’s got a great texture, but the few blueberries I added weren’t enough. The packaged oatmeals flavor wasn’t as strong as I’d have liked so next time I’m going to get the flavor from something else, like banana or maybe canned pumpkin! You can see that it’s the basic cake that’s the point here. Make it into whatever you want for your own healthy breakfast! Every home has favorite flavors. I know that if I make this with pumpkin, Rick would go crazy.

I decided not to make an icing for it, but I think it could be improved by one, especially if you planned to serve this chilled. I also think that this is a perfect recipe to bounce off of if you would like to make a lower fat version using some of the tips here. If you did that, you could get rid of at least a half cup of sugar and just rely on the fruit you add. This could be a delicious oatmeal applesauce cake! I really feel like I succeeded in my goals this afternoon. The cake a created was delicious and maybe more importantly, flexible! It’s got a beautiful moist texture and lightly sweet creamy flavor because of the imitation vanilla.

I’d love to hear your ideas for icing or glazing this cake! I think it all really depends on whether or not you’re serving this warm or chilled. I think it’d be awesome with some toothpick holes in the top and a little maple syrup drizzled over. If it was chilled, I could totally see it with a cream cheese or powdered sugar type glaze. What do you guys think? Anyone want to try it out and see what they create?

Yikes! Of course, lashes grow back quickly, so that’s good news. The bad news is that with very little effort, we found many complaints about her Revlon curler. I decided this was a perfect opportunity to warn you about the potential “chop” and to share some tips with you to help you avoid this kind of major bummer.

There are three different kinds of eyelash curlers. There are plastic and metal curlers and there are heated curlers. The most familiar type of eyelash curler is metal and has scissor-like handles. Some have plastic or padded handles. The heated type is said to produce a better curl (but there’s a work around- keep reading). I remember watching my aunt curl her lashes when I was little, and I think I remember hers having a sort of foam rubber pad. Most these days have something that resembles a rubber bumper, and you usually get an extra set with each curler. Usually the upper part of the curler is just a metal/plastic bar. They kind of look like torture devices laying around on your counter. Now, I’m not saying that these tips will keep you from having some kind of mishap, all I can promise is that by choosing a high quality curler and knowing how to take care of it, the likelihood of having an accident goes down significantly.

My first recommendation about curlers is to go with metal. Many of the complaints online regard plastic curlers snapping after too much use. Most of the complaints about plastic were actually with regard to plastic handles or pads on curlers. Consumers reported that the plastic handles could slip off the curler, causing the user to lose their grip and possibly injure their eye. I recommend the type that you can slip your fingers in, to help you keep a firm and steady grip.

The next tip also comes with a warning. If you don’t want to go to the trouble or expense of buying a heated curler (or if the idea of a heated curler just scares you a little!), you can use your hair dryer to get a stronger curl. Just set your hair dryer on low and aim it at your curler for no more than 5 seconds. Tap the curler on your hand to be sure it’s not too hot before applying to your lashes.

It’s a great tip. But here’s the warning. The heat from your hair dryer will contribute to the wear on the rubber bumper/pad. It will speed up the drying of the rubber, so if you choose to heat your curler, make sure to frequently check to be sure that the bumper isn’t cracking or getting brittle and flakey. If the integrity of your pad is going, change it immediately.

Making sure that you replace your bumper/pad every 6 months at the most will help to be sure that nothing goes wrong with your curling experience. You also should be sure that your curler stays clean.

The proper way to curl your lashes is before you apply mascara. If you curl after you put mascara on, you may find that you lose some lashes. When you squish the makeup around your lashes and then open the curler, your lashes can stick and pull right out. To avoid this, be sure that both your lashes and your curler are clean and dry. It’s hard to really clean all the makeup off your lashes, even with the best makeup remover and that means that your curler will get dirty, even if you don’t mean it to, so be sure that at least once per week you use soap and warm water to clean the tool. Before you curl, be sure your lashes are completely dry, and free of makeup remover. Makeup remover will make your lashes oily. That means you could lose your grip easier and your curl won’t be as strong.

Before you curl every day, clamp the curler closed a couple of times and check to be sure that the edges are lined up properly, and that the top edge is landing squarely in the middle of the rubber bumper. As you can see from these pictures, the Revlon curler shown is missing the bumper all together, and there is metal on metal contact (that’s what caused “The Chop”) Lots of things can cause a misalignment including traveling or dropping. If you find that your curler is bent or has big spaces at the edges (like the black Revlon one does in these photos), it’s probably time to get rid of it. If you’ve got a brand new curler and have the issue with space at the edges, return the curler to the store and buy one that costs a few more bucks.

Quality over look is important with eyelash curlers. If you are shopping by brand name, I recommend you check reviews before you buy. Amanda’s curler, a black Revlon curler had many complaints online. All the complaints were the same, with girls chopping of sections of lashes with their product. There have been a few different kinds of curlers recalled in the last couple of years, but the Revlon product does not seem to have been corrected yet. My curler is a Maybelline product, but I didn’t use it long enough to know how good it was. What I can tell you is that it looks like it’s aligned better than the Revlon curler, though it’s only been used a few times so I don’t know how it would be in the long term. The Maybelline curler seems to also be put together a little bit tighter, and the edges slide slightly more freely.

If you can get a chance to handle a curler before you buy it, please do. Look it over closely, and go ahead and spend a few extra dollars on it. It’s worth the extra cash because you’ll be using this tool around your eyes!

I’m no Paula Deen, believe me. LOVE the woman. Absolutely LOVE her cooking, but it’s all so rich! Not that I dislike that, but I guess butter is just an ingredient I prefer to use with a bit more moderation! Like I mentioned before, I tend to go through way more of it during the holiday season. Of course, I go through way more of EVERYTHING that time of year… When I really want something to be over the top, I always use butter to impress. These quick little tips are great to bust out any time there is a need. Your girlfriends will be amazed at how easily housecleaning seems to come to you!

Some other random household items I’ve talked about before have dozens of uses. Butter’s list is shorter, but pretty diverse.

Remove sap from skin after a nice walk in the woods by rubbing butter over the sticky mess. You can now wash with soap and water and come out non-sticky on the other end!

Get rid of fishy smell on your hands easily by applying butter to hands and then washing with warm soapy water.

If you work on your feet, you’ll love this tip to relieve aching feet. Just massage them with butter and wrap in a hot damp towel. Relax for 10 minutes. Your feet will feel revitalized and your skin will feel smooth!

If you’re planning a move, you can help your cat adjust to his new home with butter. Cats LOVE butter, so to help him keep coming home to the right place, and to help him develop a warm, “homey” feeling, put a little butter on the top of one of his front paws. They just love the flavor, so they’ll keep coming back for more and they will build strong feelings of comfort in the area he enjoys it.

Slice sticky foods easily by using your fingers to rub a thin layer of butter on each side of a knife. Now cutting sticky foods like dates or marshmallows is simple because the butter acts as a lubricant.

Speaking of lubricant, if you need some emergency shaving cream because you’ve run out, try using butter on your wet skin. This provides a smooth, close shave.

Do the kids love to draw? ON EVERYTHING? One thing you may be able to painlessly rescue are dolls like Barbie and certain action figures. Rubbing butter on an ink stain on certain plastics will remove the ink. Test on a small patch if you’re worried. This technique is NOT to be used on porcelain dolls!

Keep pots from boiling over by adding a tablespoon of butter to the water as it warms up.

Next time you want to keep leftover onion fresh as long as possible, rub butter on the cut surface before wrapping and storing in the fridge.

You can keep mold off cheese with butter. This is an awesome tip because often it’s cheaper to buy a block of cheese and grate it on your own, but it can be difficult to keep some hard cheeses. If you give any semi hard cheese a light coat of butter on the cut edge before you wrap it and put it away, it will keep it fresh and free of mold.

****************
I love to use crap in ways it was never intended to be used. I really liked MacGyver. Besides, you know me, I like to squeeze every penny out of every item that goes through my hands… Some call it anal retentive… I call it a wise use of my time

Replacing butter/margarine (henceforth “butter”, for ease of conversation) in your day to day baking routine isn’t actually all that difficult, but it will take some getting used to. Within the recent years some brave souls have taken on a vegan lifestyle (using no animal products whatsoever) which has lead to broader thinking when it comes to butter replacements. There are lots of work-arounds, but be warned, nothing is quite the same. If you can get past the fact that your food “isn’t the same, but still tastes good”, butter replacement may be right for you!

When it comes to baking, one of the places we use butter most, I must say, replacing it can take some practice! You’ll probably need to experiment with these ideas, because the replacement ratio is not always 1 to 1. You’ll need to use some common kitchen sense to achieve the correct texture in your batters before baking. There are several options, and you may want to start using different ones depending on what you are making!

The answer is pureed fruit! It gives your more dense baked goods (brownies, cakes, etc) a nice texture and weight. Tons of options available to you here, but remember, fruit is sweet, so just by using it, your goodies will be sweeter than normal. You may want to reduce the sugar you add just slightly.

My mother started using applesauce in her baking years ago. It’s great for brownies, and makes them cakey. You can also use pureed pumpkin, prunes, banana or even pineapple. I suggest you think a bit ahead when using fruit in baked goods, and consider the way that the flavors will blend. Remember, fruit is NOT like butter, and you will taste it in your dishes! Banana and pineapple add those light tropical flavors, great for things like pineapple upside down cake! Prunes are good with strong flavors like dark chocolates, because they are slightly masked. I’ve found applesauce to be the lightest in flavor, but can add a lot of sweetness depending on what you use.

You can make your own puree if you like. Prunes do work well in many scenarios, and they keep in your pantry longer than fresh fruit does, so they are great to keep on hand. Easy to do too! Simply use ½ cup pitted prunes and ¼ hot water, and blend in your Magic Bullet . I use banana often, because the flavor is slightly less powerful than prunes. I used banana in these vegan brownies, which came out SO delicious, Rick even requested that I make them again! I didn’t use any water when I made that puree, I just smashed up a banana!! It all comes back to getting the desired consistency in your batter.

If you don’t feel like making your own puree, or messing around too much with figuring out measurements, try Sunsweet Lighter Bake. You should be able to find it in your baked goods aisle, usually somewhere around the canned pumpkin, fluff and shortening. It’s been around for quite a while now, my mother has been using it for years. It replaces butter or oil in baked goods. It is 100% fat and cholesterol free. This product makes baked goods cakey and does not have an overwhelming flavor. It’s made with both prunes and apples. I think it’s the apples that tame the power of the flavor a bit.

I appreciate the addition of fruit to my baked goods, because it adds some fiber and that makes me feel better about whatever I’m baking. However, as an alternative, you can use sour cream or yogurt as a substitution as well. I play with yogurt a lot, since there are so many flavors, which I think is really fun! Sour cream I don’t use as frequently, but my grandmother loves to use it in her coffee cakes.

Out of all of this, I guess the thing to remember is that you don’t need to strictly follow a recipe, but when you add fruit or yogurt to cut out butter, the texture and flavor of your dish will be slightly different. I’ve NEVER found it different in a BAD way, but different in a surprising way. Sometimes, like the vegan brownies, it’s SO surprising, your family will ask for more right away! Go ahead and experiment. If you have picky eaters in the house, I suggest starting to use these substitutions in recipes that aren’t family favorites. A change to a favorite can cause an uproar, and make you believe that they didn’t like the flavor, when really they are just upset that their favorite “doesn’t taste normal”. That makes a lot of sense. So find a cake or maybe blonde brownie recipe you haven’t tried before (seriously, this one’s killer!) and try the method that way. No need to inform the fam of your plot to replace their lipids, they’ll just think it’s a brand new recipe! You’ll know the real secret is that dessert just got more healthy!

What Are Butter and Margarine Made of?
Well, here lies the most major difference between the two. Butter is made of natural products. It is very basically beaten cream (milk solids) and salt. Almost all butter is made of cows milk, but it can absolutely be made with other types of milk like sheep, buffalo, goat or other more exotic animals like camel and yak. In the US, butter is required to have a butterfat content of 80% to call itself “butter”. There are premium butters on the market with more, but c’mon! Who needs MORE fat!?

Margarine is a man made product. It is made from vegetable oil, most often corn or soybean oil. It was originally developed from beef suet (fat) flavored with milk. Sounds aweful, huh? Well, I’m not sure it’s gotten more appealing over the years. We now make margarine out of hydrogenated oils. At room temperature, vegetable oils are liquid, as you know. The process of hydrogenation came about in the early 1900’s and it is what makes the oil “hard”.

But it’s not JUST vegetable oil. Margarine is often flavored with synthetically produced compounds. It also contains artificial colors and preservatives. The “extras” aren’t always clear, so some folks lean more toward the use of butter just because they know for sure what’s in it!

Nutrition: The Info You Really Want
First, let’s take a look at butter. There’s no doubt that it’s not the healthiest thing in the world for your body. Butter naturally contains two known cholesterol raising ingredients, dietary cholesterol and saturated fat. Dietary cholesterol is only found in animal products, so margarine lacks it. Now, as you know cholesterol is a major factor in a lot of people’s diets, so if you have someone in your family with cholesterol or heart troubles, this is something worth considering. It is now widely thought that butter’s biggest downfall is its high level of saturated fat.

Saturated fats are solid at room temperature. They are currently thought to be a major contributor to heart disease risk (heart disease is the number one killer of women in the US). While it is true that eating saturated fats will raise your good cholesterol (HDL), it will tremendously raise your bad cholesterol (LDL) when eaten in excess. In spite of the fact that your good cholesterol may rise slightly with the use of butter, it is not thought that the tradeoff is worth it, as the bad cholesterol goes up faster. To put it into terms that are easy to understand, a healthy range of saturated fat is about 10-15 grams per day. There are over 7 grams of saturated fat in only 1 tablespoon of butter! Yikes! It is reccomended that if you want to stick with butter, to find whipped butter, which just has the volume pumped up with air, it helps you consume a little less each time you use it.

So, what about margarine? Well, margarine is also full of artery clogging fats. The major difference with the fats however, is margarines trans fat levels. Trans fats are created in the hydrogenation process, which is when hydrogen is added to the oil to make it more solid and less likely to spoil quickly. This process is what makes the vegetable oil in margarine solid at room temperature, so it’s essential to the production of the product. Trans fats have been shown over and over to increase bad cholesterol (LDL) in a similar manner to saturated fats, however, at the same time they lower the good cholesterol (HDL), which doesn’t happen with butter. Currently, the government is discussing trans fats in our diets, but I do not believe there are any standards set for them yet. One tablespoon of stick margarine contains 3 grams of trans fats and 2 grams of saturated fat. That’s actually a whole lot of fat… Margarine has been accused of lowering the quality of breast milk and decreasing the immune response. It’s a little harder to find solid info on these things, but there have been studies about the amount of trans fats found in breast milk. One study compares Canadian mothers breast milk to Chinese women’s breast milk. Overall, Canadians (like Americans) consume more trans fats than Chinese women, and they have 33% more trans fats in their breast milk to show for it. As far as our immune system is concerned, there are articles written by doctors out there, but as of yet, no major studies to report.

So… Which is Better?
Pick your poison. I know, I wish I had a better answer, but I don’t! Heart doctors tend to recommend butter over margarine, however, what many doctors are leaning towards right now are the “trans fat free” tub margarines. More hydrogenation is required to make stick butter, so “softer” margarines and spreads can give your body a little break. In fact, switching from stick to soft tub butter may cut the trans fat you take in by up to 2/3 (this is totally dependant on what you buy! Read the labels). Margarine makers are aware of the outcry for more healthy spreads and many are starting to produce spreads with “no trans fats” (which actually means 0.5 grams per serving or less). Doctors these days lean toward recommending you find a tub spread low in trans fats. It’s worth taking the time at the grocery store to read the labels, since we all use this ingredient.

What Tessie Uses
Nutritionally speaking, butter and margarine are clearly very similar, and some people claim that the tastes are close as well, but personally, I don’t think that’s true at all. Nothing can really compare to butter. That being said, I don’t use it much! In my day to day use in cooking (like casseroles, etc) I use Fleischmann’s Olive Oil spread. This particular spread contains 1 gram of saturated fat and 0 grams trans fat. I like that it’s made with olive oil, which is a healthier oil than many, and recently the brand has lowered the sodium content in this product by 35%. I like the flavor of this spread more than any other I have tried. I have never baked with it, but I might be inclined to try it in breads or cakes, but I probably would still stay away from it for cookies.

I use Imperial almost exclusively when baking, which I actually don’t do as much as I’d like. Often around the holidays, I switch over to butter for cakes and breads, but still use Imperial in cookies. Using butter makes baked goods deliciously rich, but I find that in cookies, it makes them more greasy, and they tend to spread out just a bit farther on the pan when they bake. This is all completely a matter of personal taste.

One quick thing I’d like to mention is Comfortis. It’s a monthly pill for flea control, and I must say, I’ve NEVER seen ANYTHING work so well IN MY LIFE! To avoid going through all this again, I put Charlie on it last year. The stuff is amazing. You must get it from your vet, and it’s a little pricey, but many vets will sell you one pill at a time which can help if your finances won’t allow you to drop a hundred bucks on a six month supply. I really reccomend bringing your dog outside when you give it to them the first time if they currently have fleas. I’m not even joking, fleas will start jumping and falling off them within minutes. It’s amazing- and it’s FDA approved!

Vacuum EVERYTHING in your house!! Do it once per day until your flea problem has been resolved. Remember when vacuuming furniture to remove all the cushions and get in all the crevasses (check for cash first!!) EVERY time you vacuum, you need to know that you probably sucked up fleas and eggs, so be certain that you empty out your vacuum bag or container. Be sure to do this outside of your home, and put what you collect into some kind of sealable bag and throw it away outdoors. When you vacuum, you’ll pick up fleas and eggs, but not larvae. (EW!) There are “non-chemical” things you can put down on your carpet like diatomaceous earth or borate based carpet cleaners, however, you should see warnings on the bottom of this article before you use it!

If you must wash your furniture, try using Dawn dish washing liquid. Test it in a discrete place first, but it shouldn’t harm your furniture. This is a very difficult task due to the fact that couch cushions are big, etc. You might want to use your bath tub for the job. Use water as hot as you can tolerate to do the job. I also used the tub to wash Charlies doggie bed in, because the core of it is foam. I wouldn’t recommend putting foam-core items (like dog beds or cushions) into your washer.

Make a flea trap near where your pet sleeps or in areas where he lays the most. This is very simple. Use a shallow pan (like a pie pan) and put about an inch of water in it with a couple drops of dish washing liquid. Place it under a light. The light attracts the bugs and the soap makes changes the surface tension of the water so that when bugs step on it, they go right under! Water drowns adult fleas. This method will not help with eggs or larvae, but killing the females is crucial since every female flea can lay 50 eggs per day! If you set up this trap, try to put it where your dog won’t drink the water, and leave it out overnight. (note, you will very likely have a few different types of bugs in the pan in the am, but that’s ok! Go here to see this in action!)

Machine wash any rugs, blankets and bedding (yours and your dogs!) in HOT, soapy water to remove fleas. Fleas drown in water, but hot water will also kill the eggs.

You can go to your local lumber yard and pick up some cedar chips or wood dust. I’m pretty sure they won’t mind giving you some for free if you bring something to carry it in. Fleas hate the smell of cedar, so if your pet has a bed with a removable cover, you can make a sachet and tuck it inside the bed. I used an old sock to do this, but you can actually make a NICE sachet if you want! You might also want to consider tucking them between couch cushions, in corners of your house and in your closet (it also deters moths!)

We’ve all heard that store bought flea collars may be dangerous to our pets, so how about making your own! It’s super easy! You’ll need an old bandanna or a piece of rope and some essential oils. The best choices with regard to essential oils for this purpose are cedar, lemongrass, citronella or eucalyptus. It’s your call, whatever you have or like the scent of. Drop 4-6 drops of oil on the bandanna or rope and then seal in a plastic zippy bag overnight before tying it onto your pup! This will work for about 1.5-2 weeks. When you can no longer smell the scent, re-apply and re-use the bandanna or rope! (click here for useful info on how to choose and store essential oils)

Here are some NOT so good ideas floating around the internet that you might want to AVOID!:

Possible Bad Plan #1: Feed your dog garlic. NO! Don’t do it! Lots of dogs will tolerate garlic, but it accumulates in their system and is toxic!! I wouldn’t freek out if your animal swallows a clove that falls on the floor or anything, but feeding your dog garlic daily may be VERY bad for their health. Not worth the risk since there are other options.

Possible Bad Plan #2: Plant Pennyroyal around your home. Pennyroyal IS a flea deterrent… it’s also one of the oldest and most world renowned poison in the world! It’s been in use for centuries as a poison, and will attack the liver. It is VERY toxic, and so is its essential oil, so you should ABSOLUTELY avoid using it around your animals. You COULD plant some outside your home, but if you have children (or even if there are children in your neighborhood), I think it’s a TERRIBLE idea. Additionally, pregnant women should NEVER be exposed to the stuff! I think it’s best to just stay away from it!

Possible Bad Plan #3: Diatomaceous earth or borate carpet cleaners. If you chose to use diatomaceous earth, be aware that it’s “not very toxic” to humans. “Not very toxic” is not good enough for me. If you use it, you must wear goggles to keep it out of your eyes and you should wear a mask to keep from inhaling it. It must be properly used or it can be dangerous. Do NOT use it if you are going to have kids crawling around on the carpet. There are great applications for diatomaceous earth around your home, but spreading it all over a surface you, your kids and pets are on is not the best use. As for boreate carpet cleaners, the reason they work is because the chemicals in the powder don’t come up when vacuumed. To me, that sounds aweful. Also, it is VERY important if you want to use borate that you do all your homework on it! Wood cleaning borate mixtures are known to be toxic to kids. I recommend avoidance to be safe.

Ok, blood stains. They happen to everyone. Either your kid scrapes himself falling off his bike, your husband cuts the hell out of himself while working on some project (common in my house) or… ya get an unexpected/early visit from everyone’s “favorite Aunt”… it happens. For years (out of embarrassment) I was throwing panties away and wasting cash on new ones regularly. My mom caught me tossing a pair of awesome panties on a visit home from college, and she imparted this AMAZING tip to me:

Put the stained item in some cool water (to help it from setting) and then sprinkle some powdered meat tenderizer on the stain and rub. The enzymes work on the blood quickly. Not even joking, it’ll come right out in front of your eyes. Now just toss them in the wash. I keep some meat tenderizer in my laundry room at all times. It’s cheap, and it WORKS. If you’re someone like me who doesn’t have kids (and therefore is not in constant need of heavy stain treatments), this is all I have to buy to manage stains. It saves me TONS of cash vs buying the chemical stuff from the laundry isle because one container lasts me a couple of years. Besides that, I hate the idea of applying EXTRA chemicals to the crotch of my panties. Some people with delecate systems may find themselves suffering from yeast infections frequently because of chemicals in the wash. This will help keep your grocery bill down, and help solve a problem in a more natural way.

Oh, but one quick note. When baking, it’s best to follow the recipe with regard to the dry ingredients to the letter, and you SHOULD measure. Baking is a nice word for “chemistry”. When it comes to the flour and leavening ingredients, don’t screw around of you might just make a new recipe for hockey pucks! When it comes to the rest of baking, I think you should be bold. For instance, I use this one recipe for banana bread to remind me of the amounts of dry ingredients that go into the mix, but I often put pumpkin in there…or citrus and cranberries, or whatever.

Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chilli Sauce

•1 chix breast
•6-8 small flour torillas
•1 can refried black beans
•3-5 tbs sour cream (for the sauce) 2tbs (for the meat)
•salsa
•green chilis
•shredded cheese
•garlic powder
•onion powder
•salt

Preparing the Chicken
This is so easy. I like to have shredded chicken in my enchiladas, so the best way to do that is to toss a chicken breast into your crock pot with a some water and some salsa. Cook for on low for at least 4 hours. If you have to leave it for longer, be certain that the chicken is completely submerged in liquid and cover tightly.

After it’s cooked, remove it and use two forks to “pull” the meat (this is how you make “pulled pork” as well).

Making the Sauce
Toss the sour cream, chilies, a bit of the juice from the crock pot and a little more salsa in your Magic Bullet. When I put the salsa in at this point, I usually use a fork to keep too much of the liquid from going in. I don’t like the sauce runny, but of course, you do need some liquid in order to blend. I’m not giving you measurements, it’s important to eye this and make it the way YOU want it!

I make enough sauce to put a little on the bottom of my pan, and then spread over the top. Your enchiladas don’t need to be swimming in sauce. (If you have any left over, I like to combine it with any refried beans I have left and make dip).

Preparing the Enchiladas
This is also super easy. Combine the chicken, beans, sour cream, a heaping handful of cheese and the spices in a bowl.

Using your fingers, fleck a little water on each tortilla and put them in a stack on a microwavable plate. Cover with a paper towel and heat for about 40-50 seconds. The tortillas should be soft and pliable. They make “tortilla warmers” to do this job, but I will probably never drop the cash on one because this works just as well!

Spoon a small amount of the meat mixture into each tortilla and roll up.

Pour some sauce on the bottom of your pan, just to cover (this helps to keep things from sticking). Lay the enchiladas in the pan as you roll them. Pour sauce over the enchiladas, and as an extra treat, put some shredded cheese on the top!

Cover with foil and bake in a 350° oven for 30-35 minutes. Everything should be gloriously bubbly.

Just a few side notes here. I’ve mentioned before that I stopped using regular refried beans in favor of black bean refried beans. They contain less calories and a tremendous amount of fiber. Personally, I even like the flavor better. As for the cheese, use whatever you like! I used shredded cheddar in the meat, but ran out when it was time to add some to the top, so I just used colby-jack slices I had in the fridge. It’s all the same in your tummy! I used small flour tortillas and only one chicken breast because there are only two of us eating. Using one chicken breast and small tortillas, I get 6 enchiladas, and always have 2 left over to send to work with Rick for his lunch. You can up the ante if you want to make more. It’s very easy to double or even triple this without spending much money, this is one of the cheapest dishes I make!

The last really awesome thing about this recipe is that it’s so easy to freeze. It takes only a few minutes to prepare, and you can freeze it with or without the sauce. When I freeze these, I do it without the sauce and make that fresh when it’s time to cook. I like the fresh sauce, but being realistic with you for a moment… I do not have a lot of space in my freezer, so I may put enchiladas in a few different zippy bags and tuck them in small spaces! My grandmother freezes her enchiladas right in the pan she plans to bake them in, which I don’t have the space to do. Whatever you do is fine, but it’ll make a busy night easier if you have something already prepared in your freezer!