Salt is one of those items you can find in anyone’s pantry. There are several varieties of salt; table salt, kosher salt, rock salt, sea salt and seasoned salt.
Table Salt – is fine grained and usually contains iodine.
Table Salt
Kosher Salt – has a coarse texture, no additives and is prepared using methods approved for kosher cooking.
Kosher Salt
Rock Salt – has very large crystals and is less refined than table salt. Often used to deice roads and sidewalks as well as to make ice cream.
Sea Salt – Derived from evaporated seawater rather than mined.
Sea Salt
Seasoned Salt – is table salt mixed with flavorings from herbs or spices.
Seasoned Salt
Here are some other ways to use salt:
Removed coffee stains and mineral buildup from the glass pot of an automatic drip coffeemaker by adding 1 cup of crushed ice, 1 Tbsp water and 4 tsp salt to the pot when it is at rom temperature. Gently swirl mixture, rinse and wash as usual.
Use salt to clean your coffee carafe.
Stovetop spills can be cleaned up easily if sprinkled with salt first. The mildly abrasive quality of salt removed stuck-on food but won’t mar your stove’s surface.
Use salt to clean your stove top.
If a sugary confection boils over in your oven, sprinkle the sticky spill with salt while the oven is still hot. Let it sit until the spilled area becomes crisp, then lift off with a spatula when the oven cools.
Use salt to clean up sugary messes in your oven.
To clean and refresh the inside of your refrigerator, sprinkle equal amounts of salt and baking soda onto a damp sponge and wipe down all surfaces. Then wipe again with a fresh sponge dampened with water.
Use salt to clean your refrigerator.
What other ways do you use salt in your household?
Are you ready for another great giveaway? We know Christmas only comes around once a year, and waiting for the festivities and cool weather can seem like forever. That’s why we wanted to bring a little joy (and gifts) to tide you over!
One Grand Prize Winner Will Receive:
– One $50 gift card of your choice! Choose between:
Last week we were invited to a birthday celebration and I was asked to bring something. I came upon this minty watermelon salad recipe, which sounded so light and refreshing. Perfect for a summer party. Having never used watermelon in anything but a fruit salad I wondered how it would taste. It was wonderful and judging from the amount left in the bowl others thought so as well.
My only suggestion would be to mix up the ingredients and let the salad chill but dress it just before serving. As you know watermelon tends to be well watery and by dressing the salad ahead of time and then letting it chill you end up with a lot of liquid!
Minty Watermelon Salad
Ingredients:
¼ cup(s) extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
½ teaspoon(s) kosher salt
½ teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
1 8-pound seedless watermelon, scooped into balls with a melon baller or cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks 10 cups chilled
2 medium English cucumbers, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 small sweet onion, cut into ½-inch dice
1 cup coarsely chopped mint leaves
In a bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Set aside. In a large bowl combine the watermelon, cucumber, and onion and toss gently. Garnish with the mint and chill.
Just before serving toss with the dressing.
It was a wonderful evening for a celebration, I think it was the only evening of the week without rain!
Today I am sharing a little trick to harvest your herbs! I have a new herb garden this year right outside my kitchen door. Very convenient for me, to say the least.
I used to hand pick the herb leaves from their stems, which was slow work and often inefficient. Then I discovered that I could use my slotted spoon! Turned out to be the perfect tool for the task.
Use a spoon to pick your herbs!
To remove the leaves from herbs like thyme and oregano, stick the stem in one of the holes and gently pull it through.
Put the stem in one of the holes and pull!
As the stem goes through the hole, the leaves come off easily. You now have fresh herbs to use in your meal and no stems!
Fresh herbs ready for cooking!
Hint – do this right after you’ve picked your herbs when the stems are fresh.
This summer sure has been hot and humid. Usually the weather in Vermont is very pleasant, we might have a few hot days, but for the most part you have hot days and cool nights. This year has been a lot wetter and hotter than normal. How can you keep your house cool without installing air conditioning?
One of the best tricks is to open your house up at night and let the cool air in. In the morning when the temperature outside starts to get higher than the temperature inside the house you close up your windows and pull the shades. This will keep the house nice and cool during the day. In the evening watch the temperature and when you notice it is cooler outside than inside open up the windows once again and let the cool air in!
Close the windows and blinds during the day.Open the windows at night.
Now that you’ve got the house cooled off, how do you stay cooled off? Keep hydrated, drink plenty of water! Use a cool facecloth if you get really hot. Find a pool or a lake to keep cool in!
Nothing more refreshing than a dip in the lake!
On really hot days we go down to our stream to cool off, the water is always freezing no matter how hot the day is!
Nothing beats cooling off in the cold water!Riley loves the stream!
Plan your meals accordingly. Use your grill so you’re not heating up the kitchen. Cook up some macaroni and make a nice cold salad to enjoy. You may find that it feels better to eat smaller, more frequent meals.
Make a nice cool salad to enjoy for dinner.
You can also use fans inside the house to cool down. Set up a ceiling fan, an upstairs window fan or an attic fan to draw off the heat collect in upper rooms and push the hot air outside.
It may seem hot and humid now but I know it won’t last forever. Before long I’ll be shoveling snow!
Enjoy your summer, winter will be here before you know it!
There are some changes with the On The Home Front schedule! Usually I post about my pantry on Thursday, but I am moving the Prudent Pantry to Mondays. It’s always a good idea to check your pantry at he beginning of the week. Thursday will be devoted to the Home Acre Hop where you can find lots of inspiration on homesteading, livestock care, gardening, environmentally friendly farming, self sufficiency, preparedness, off grid living, healthy recipes, home remedies and herbal concoctions, green living, homeschooling, food preservation, environmentally friendly crafts and home decor, photo posts of natural living and homesteading subjects!
Today we’re talking about vinegar! Vinegar is something I keep on hand. There are so many ways that you can use vinegar to clean. No need to rely on chemicals to keep your house clean, vinegar will do just as good a job!
Disinfect your counters and sinks, as well as remove hard water deposits from your faucets and shower heads with vinegar. Mix vinegar with water at a ratio of about three parts water to one part vinegar. Put it in a spray bottle for convenience and it will last a long time.
A good all purpose cleaner:
16oz spray bottle
2 Tbsp distilled vinegar
1 tsp borax
water (if you have hard water this needs to be distilled or purified water, otherwise use tap water)
2 Tbsp mild liquid dish soap
Mix the vinegar and borax with 1 cup of hot water until dissolved. Let the mixture cool and then pour into your spray bottle. Add enough water to the bottle leaving just enough room for your dishwashing detergent. Then add the liquid soap.
All Purpose Cleaner
Vinegar can also be used to clean your dishwasher each month. Just put a small dish of it on the bottom of your dishwasher, under the lower rack. You can add glassware to remove hard water spots on them at the same time. Did you know you can also use vinegar in the rinse dispenser instead of an expensive commercial product?
Salt and vinegar also make a good cleaner for copper pots. Just dampen the pot with vinegar then sprinkle on a bit of salt and scrub. Your pots will looks like new.
(Photo credit: fireweaver)
Vinegar can also be used as a fabric softener in the washing machine. There is no odor when the clothes are dry. This works well if you are bothered by the strong scents of dryer sheets.
Use vinegar in your washing machine.
One of the first products I began to make myself was window cleaner using vinegar. A good friend shared her recipe years ago and I’ve been using it ever since! With just several basic products you probably already have in your home you can make a window cleaner that really does get your windows clean! In researching various homemade window cleaners I found there are two main recipes; one uses vinegar and the other ammonia. I’ve been using the one with ammonia, I’ll have to make both and compare!
Window Cleaner
Window Cleaner #1: This can be made right in your spray bottle. Mix ½ tsp dish detergent, 3 Tbsp vinegar and 2 cups of water. Shake it up and use like any commercial variety.
Window Cleaner #2: This can also be made in your spray bottle. Combine 3 Tbsp ammonia, 1 Tbsp vinegar and fill the rest of the way up with water.
Let me know which one you think is better! Or do you have your own unique recipe?
You can also make a homemade Vegetable and Fruit Wash using vinegar.
Use vinegar to make a fruit wash.
Stir ¼ cup of vinegar and 2 TBSP of slat into a basin or bowl of clean water. Soak your produce for several minutes. Then scrub and rinse. For a simple vegetable/fruit spray just mix 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water. Keep in a spray bottle, spray produce, let sit and then scrub as usual and rinse.
You can find more uses for vinegar by checking these links here and here. By using vinegar to clean you will be saving yourself money and be using something that is safer for the environment.
This Coleslaw Chicken Wraps recipe originally came from Healthy Cooking, which was a division of Taste of Home. I love their recipes as they all taste wonderful and usually come out looking exactly like the picture. This is a perfect summer recipe, fast and fresh. The dressing serves as both a marinade and as a topping for these wraps. The chicken is grilled but could be done ahead of time; the wrap is as good hot or cold. Which means if you have any leftovers they would make a perfect lunch the next day!
Coleslaw Chicken Wraps
Ingredients:
1 bottle of poppy seed salad dressing or make your own
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 package (14oz) coleslaw mix
1 can (20 oz) unsweetened pineapple tidbits, drained (I used crushed pineapple)
1 medium sweet red pepper, finely chopped
8 whole wheat tortillas (8 inch)
½ cup sliced almonds, toasted (op)
Directions:
Marinate the chicken in 1 cup of the dressing for one hour.
Drain and discard the marinade. Lightly coat your grill with oil and grill the chicken for 6-8 minutes per side or until done. Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.
Meanwhile in a large bowl, combine the pineapple, coleslaw mix, red pepper and the remaining dressing; toss to coat.
Divide among the tortillas; top with chicken and sprinkle with almonds.
Roll up tightly and secure with toothpicks if you like.
It seems like the sun hasn’t shown for weeks! I feel like I’m living in a rain forest. The good news is I don’t have to water. The bad news, the weeds are taking over! Despite all the rain my new herb garden is doing very well.
Herb Garden
The tomatoes have blossoms!
Blossoms on the tomatoes!
The cucumbers and the weeds are neck and neck!
cucumbers and weeds
The corn is coming along, at least the corn patch was weeded before all the rain began
Corn
The potatoes need hilling again.
Potatoes
I have gotten a few strawberries!
Strawberries!
Oregano and Lettuce are doing very well!
LettuceOregano
Won’t be long before we’re picking peas!
Peas are flowering!
Always thankful that no matter how much rain we get the flowers are still blooming!
We’re all watching our budgets these days. July can be a busy time of year; we may be busy in the garden or relaxing on a family vacation. It is also a time of year to keep your eyes open for bargains. July is often thought of as a slow sales month but it can be a great month to purchase certain things.
If you don’t have your own garden check out the local farmer’s markets for an abundance of local produce. Buy produce that’s in season and preserve it. You’ll appreciate having your freezer or pantry full this winter!
Check your Farmer’s Markets for local produce!
Other bargains to look for this month include kids’ outdoor games such as badminton sets and sidewalk chalk and items such as picnic coolers and recreational gear.
Coolers can be a bargain this month.
Electronics, including air conditioners and ceiling fans are offered at bargain prices this month. There may not be much stock left but if you’re in the market keep an eye out.
Have you been looking for a ceiling fan?
Summer clothes, shoes and swimwear are also on sale this month. Since most of us are still experiencing summer weather this is especially a good deal. Won’t be long before stores are getting ready for their back to school specials!
Summer Shoes
Barbecue grills can also be found at a discount. After the 4th of July, grill sales are everywhere! July is the best time to get a great deal on outdoor grills and accessories.
Grills can also be a good bargain.
July can also be a good time to buy new furniture. As furniture stores get ready for shipments of new furniture, which is typically shipped in August, the stores begin marking their prices now to make room. Saturday is often the busiest shopping day for furniture; it is also a great day to get a deal.
Remember the best deal is not a deal if you can’t afford it! Spend your money wisely and make sure that what you are purchasing is what you need.
Nancy on the Home Front 