Sarah W.'s Profile

Salt is your friend. I always keep a container next to the sink because of all that I can do with it...

*Lemon Juice and Salt will spruce up copper-bottom pots.
*Salt is an excellent and gentle scrub-assist...especially for cast-iron.
*50/50 salt and vinegar is a good soaker for removing stains in china and tea pots.
*Also, soak enamel cookware overnight in water plus a handful of salt, boil it for 15-20 min. the next day, then wash to remove enamel stains.
*Plus it exfoliates the skin.

I don't know how I'd clean without it.

Are you kidding me?! Single use wood flatware for $5 per setting? Ok, looking at the IKEA site for six settings of dinnerware ($14.99), flatware ($7.99) and glassware ($4.99) you still only come out to $4.66/setting (+tax) and it's an entire kit and reusable.

This has been on my mind with Thanksgiving looming and more people coming everyday but seriously?

I'm right with BruBro and allisen1 -- I use all of the sauces all of the time. Besides being cheaper, it doesn't take much extra time to make a gravy from scratch.

BTW -- does anyone else get irritated at reality cooking shows like Hell's Kitchen when the supposedly "great" chefs can't name the Mother Sauces or tell Tuna from Beef? Cuz it drives me nuts.

The first site that helped me out years ago is still up -- http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

Love it, love it, love it. It really helped me learn a lot about menu planning and budgeting. I can't thank them enough.

I still refer friends to the Emergency $45 menu to feed 4-6

@hrhprincessfiona I'm sorry France's spice menus are so expensive. I just swiped the first 5 spice canisters off the top of my spice basket and here are the prices:
Ground Black Mustard Seed -- 250 ml $0.52
Ground Cinnamon -- 250 ml $0.69
Ground Cayenne Pepper -- 250 ml $0.63
Curry (no salt) -- 250 ml $0.52
Dried Dill Weed -- 500 ml $1.56

Total -- $3.92 for enough spice to cook with for most of the season. Thank you, farmers market.

And to all those commenters out there hating on bloggers for "not getting it" at least this post is trying to bring some idea of the issue to the foreground on a blog that often focuses on loftier kitchen (budget) aspirations. C'mon now, not everyone who lacks an internet connection, car, and a Whole Foods considers themselves wretched out there. Of course, cooking everything from scratch when you're holding down a few jobs and trying to raise a family and still only spending $30/week on food....much harder proposition. It would be nice to see Monica Eng blog that.

If it's a major cleaning -- yardsale, followed by trips to the local Goodwill drop-off point and curbing bigger items that don't fit in the car. I've never had to advertise for more than a day on craigslist to have free stuff picked up from the curb.

Tipnut has a great guide for yard sales that I have used as a catch-all very successfully in the past!

Live without a/c in the South? ::blink:: ::blinkblink:: HAHAhahahahaha...the true reason we lost the Civil War? Lack of freon.

Seriously though, older Southern homes were designed for life pre-a/c and you could debate going with only fans, high ceilings, and a large wrap-around porch, but most everything built in the last 40 years wouldn't support anything remotely close to livable without a/c in the summer. Sorry.

Living in the Midwest sans a/c was doable, we just spent about a month or so in the summertime living in the basement.

Range hoods. Ugh. When installed properly, fantastic; I've seen too many in my rental days that weren't though.

My worst story -- a range hood that looked like it was installed properly was actually blowing all of the smoke into the attic rather than outside...where it set off the fire alarm. After assuring the firemen and the landlord that it was a false alarm, I discovered that the hood was just blowing everything back into the apt. The landlord's response? "Well, this doesn't usually happen..."

These days I'm in an apt. sans hood. I leave the back door and windows open for a cross breeze and haven't had any problems.

I know this question comes from a place of ignorance but....how do you stop leaking water and swelling/warping wood in that Japanese Bath?

Last year, my neighbor sprang a combined apartment party on me at the last minute; since many of my friends are allergic to cats, I put everything I didn't want the guests to see in the bedroom with the pets. Along with a threatening "Beyond this point there be cats" sign on the door, no one dared snoop.

It was a real wake-up call! The week after the party was spent decluttering every room. '^_^

The word affordable usually sends me off to do a quick search of IKEA:
Malm Headboard
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90160503
paired with the Engan Bed Frame:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S99861533
Total price: $250

Heimdal Steel Frame ($129):
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S69849769
with a piece of purchased veneer from the local lumbar yard/home improvement store to cover the backboard.
Total cost, likely around $150.

Just two hacks to start with.