don't throw away that net oranges bag!

Hi Folks!

I hate waste, personally, I believe pretty much everything has an 'after-life'. Make your own non-abrasive dish/pot scrubby out of an empty netted orange bag.

After removing your oranges and cut off any tags & metal clamps tie a knot at the end of the bag

After you've knotted the end of the net bag turn it inside, then twist the bag and again turn it inside out, repeat as many times as you can. Leave enough room to allow your to tie it off.

And there is your homemade scrubby.
I love free stuff!!

Ginger Tea ~ Homemade Cough and Cold Remedies

Ginger Tea

• 1 inch or so fresh ginger root, sliced thin or grated
• 1/2 a fresh lemon, sliced (peel & all)
• 1 clove garlic, mashed
• ~2 c water
• Very generous spoonful honey

Place water, ginger, lemon, & garlic in saucepan; bring to boil, then turn down heat and simmer gently for 20 min. Strain into mugs and add lots of honey. The tea *will* get stronger if you let it sit! Most invigorating!

The garlic adds a bit of bitterness, but the honey masks that. This tea is very soothing to the throat and warms and opens the chest and nasal passages. Plus there are all those vitamins and other good things! I now make this tea at the first sign of a cold, which helps me fight it off. I find it more effective than the commercial hot lemon remedies, and of course cheaper!

Need A Dutch Oven ?

I needed a Dutch Oven to bake my Artisan 'no knead' bread in so I started pricing them... 'Ouch'. The least expensive Dutch Oven I found was $35.99 (cast iron) and it was small.
My husband who was Scottish would say" 'Aye, that's too dear' and would have given the Dutch Oven an obscene gesture.....but I digress....

I remembered reading something on a website (I don't remember which or I would have shared the link with you) that you can bake your 'no knead' bread in the inside part of a crock pot so I trolled some of my favorite Thrift Shops and found one.  This one is a larger size, 10 inches.  It was priced $3.99.  It did not come with a lid but I found the one pictured here for 99 cents.  It works like a charm.  My bread turned out fantastic!  I have since baked all sorts of goodies in this 'Poor Man's' Dutch Oven.  I also bought  a smaller crock, 8 inches for $2.99 (not pictured because my son stuck it on the top of the kitchen cupboard where I can't reach).  I already had a couple glass lids that fit.  Life is good!!!

I will be back soon

I haven't posted on this blog for a couple of weeks as I haven't been feeling well but I'll be back posting more helpful hints soon. Thanks for hanging in.

Patty