1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

I am always looking for ways to clean that don't cost too much, and that are better for my family. I love how bleach cleans, but it doesn't seem to like me. I sneeze like crazy using it. Molly passed this website on to me, and I wanted to share it with you. 1001 Uses for White Distilled Vinegar

My favorite tips is:

Deodorize the garbage disposal by pouring in 1/2 cup baking soda and 1/2 cup hot white distilled vinegar. Let sit for 5 minutes then run hot water down the disposal.

Check them out!!

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Heavenly Whipping Cream Pound Cake

This is my favorite recipes for pound cake. I always turn it into strawberry shortcake.

Everyone in my family gobbles it up. It's very rare that it doesn't all get eaten the same night it's made. It really is heavenly.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter
• 3 cups white sugar
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan or bunt pan
2. In a large bowl, cream butter for 2 minutes (I let my Kitchenaid mixer do all of this work).
3. Add sugar and continue beating for 5 minutes..
4. Add eggs one at a time, beating we1l with each addition
5. Add flour alternating with whipped cream beginning and ending with flour.
6. Stir in vanilla extract
7. Spoon into prepared tube or bunt pan
8. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hours and 10 mins or until cooked through
9. Turn out onto a cotton dishtowel and place on cooling rack covered with cotton towel. When cool sprinkle with powered sugar and serve with fruit or plain.

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Sugared Strawberries

I have had several people ask me how to make sugared strawberries for strawberry shortcake. Since we were having strawberry shortcake for dessert on Easter Sunday I thought this would be a great time for me to share this quick and easy Sugared Strawberries recipe. I love the simple strawberry syrup that it creates, and it bring back great childhood memories. One thing I love about sugared strawberries is it’s red!! I know that sounds weird, but not to me. I am highly allergic to red dye #40. Pretty much anything and everything you find that is red and eatable has red dye #40 in it and I cannot have it. You would be amazed at the thing I can't have like boxed yellow cake mixes. So basically anything red is off limits except for these. I know I can have them because I made them myself. I cannot trust anything that I cannot read a label on.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces (1 pound) of whole fresh strawberries
• 3/4 cup of granulated sugar

Directions

1. Wash and slice strawberries removing the leaves and stems
2. In a closeable bowl (or you can put plastic wrap over your bowl) add the sliced strawberries and the sugar
3. Mix together well and seal the bowl up
4. Refrigerate for at least four hours.
5. Serve over poundcake, angel food, or even ice cream

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Jalapeno Mashed Potatoes

The first time we had these potatoes was at a place here in Houston called Papa Joe's BBQ. My husband flipped out over these. I told him I thought it would be a snap to re-create these tatar. They are sooooo good. Just a little spice with a lot of flavor.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs of peeled potatoes (I used red potatoes you can use any really)
• 1/4 cup of margarine or butter
• 8 ounces of Pepperjack Velveeta cubed.

Directions

1. Thoroughly wash, clean, and dice potatoes.
2. Place them in a pot of water
3. Bring potatoes to a boil.
4. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook the potatoes until fork tender, about 12-15 minutes.
5. Remove the pan from the heat and drain.
6. In the same pot add the butter.
7. With a hand mixer (I use a Kitchenaid mixer) mix in the cheese and mix thoroughly
8. Add potatoes to a baking pan
9. Bake on 350 degrees for 15 minutes

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Broccoli Rice, and Cheese Casserole

This is another holiday staple in our family. I can't imagine a holiday without it. It's a very simple recipe that feeds a lot of people, and doesn't cost an arm and a leg.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup celery chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 1 (10 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli, cooked,well drained (I use fresh)
• 8-12 ounces of Velveeta

Directions

1. Saute onion, celery, and 2 tbsp butter in skillet cook until soft around five minutes and set aside
2. Cook rice according to the directions on the package
3. While the rice is cooking steam broccoli until it's tender
4. Add rice, soup, broccoli, sauted vegetables and velveet together, and mix well.
5. Spoon into 1 1/2 quart casserole dish 
6. Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

 

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Devine Deviled Eggs

If you are looking for a way to use up extra eggs this is a great way.  Thank you for this excellent recipe Leta. The eggs turned out great according to my husband. I don't eat them, but the entire zoo crew thought they were perfect.

Ingredients:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced in half, lengthwise
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 3/4 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash white pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

1.      Cut each boiled egg in half.

2.      Carefully remove the egg yolks.

3.      Mash with the back of a fork.

4.      Add the mayonnaise, vinegar, mustard, salt, white pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

5.      Stir until well blended.

6.      Fill the egg halves with the yolk mixture. (I put the mixture in a zip bag and piped it in the eggs)

7.      Keep refrigerated until served.

8.      Sprinkle with paprika for color if desired.

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Coke and Vino Ham

I found a recipe called Coke Au Vin Baked Ham I like the "idea" of the recipe and the ingredients, but not the directions. I never cook bone in hams don't ask me why, I just don't.

The original recipe was of no use to me other than the ingredients. This ham turned out AMAZING the flavor is wonderful. I can't forget to mention how tender it was. I cut the ham with a bread knife... Seriously!

This ham really reminded me of a honey baked ham without the crusty outsides. I didn't want the ham to be super sweet, but I wanted it to have a great flavor. I think everyone ate more ham than anything else when I made this for Easter. What a yummy recipe. 

By the way please ignore my scoring.... I am clearly not very good at it, but who cares the ham was amazing not pretty!

Ingredients:

• 1 (5-8 lb.) ham roll (I like Corn King)
• 3 cups Coca-Cola 
• 1 cup marsala wine
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:

• Score ham about 1" deep covering the entire ham
• Place ham in a Jumbo 2 1/2 gallon zip bag
• In a bowl whisk together Coca-Cola, marsala wine, Dijon mustard, and the brown sugar
• Mix until the brown sugar dissolves
• Add liquid mixture to the zip bagged ham
• Marinate the ham for 6 hours in the refrigerator. Frequently turn the ham to evenly marinate.
• After the ham has had time to marinate add the ham to a 9x14 pan
• Pour the marinate over the ham
• Heat the oven to 325 degrees
• Add ham to the warm oven
• Baste every 15 minutes with the mixture in the pan
• Bake for 1 hour.

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Cheesy Bacon & Egg Brunch Casserole

This is a yummy quick recipe from the McCormicks website. It is a great Easter Brunch dish.

Ingredients:

• 8 slices bacon
• 1 medium onion, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 loaf (8 ounces) Italian bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (5 cups)
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 5 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Mustard, Ground
• 1/2 teaspoon McCormick® Nutmeg, Ground
• 1/4 teaspoon McCormick® Black Pepper, Ground

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cook bacon in large skillet until crisp. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the drippings. Drain bacon on paper towels; crumble and set aside. Add onion to drippings in skillet; cook and stir 3 minutes or until softened. 
2. Spread 1/2 of the bread cubes in 13x9-inch baking dish. Layer with 1/2 each of the onion, bacon, Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. Spread evenly with cottage cheese. Top with remaining bread cubes, onion, bacon, Cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese. 
3. Beat eggs in medium bowl until foamy. Add milk, mustard, nutmeg and pepper; beat until blended. Pour evenly over top. Press bread cubes lightly into egg mixture until completely covered. Let stand 10 minutes. 
4. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until center is set and top is golden brown.

Tips: Make Ahead: Casserole can be assembled 1 day ahead. Prepare as directed, increasing milk to 2 cups. Cover and store in refrigerator. Remove cover and bake as directed.

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Caramel Iced Coffee

I have become a slave to iced coffee. My addiction started at Starbucks. I try to get one every time I am around a Starbucks, but that really isn't as often as I would like, plus I hate having to pay the prices they charge. UGH! McDonalds has good iced coffee most of the time, but the last few times the person making them didn't seem too excited about doing so, and my iced coffee suffered for it. I ended up either taking it back or throwing it away. I am determined to find the perfect iced coffee recipe I can make at home for a fraction of the price. This just might be the recipe. The taste is fantastic, and so worth the prep time. I hope you enjoy it too. Thank you Annacia for sharing!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups strong hot brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup caramel sauce, plus a little extra for garnish
• 2-3 tablespoons sugar, to taste
• coffee ice cubes or regular will work too
• 1 1/2 cups cold milk or half-and-half
• whipped cream, for garnish (optional)
• ground cinnamon, for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. While the coffee is still hot, pour it into your measuring cup and add the caramel sauce (Hint, you needn’t actually measure the sauce in a separate cup if you’re using a 2-cup measure for the coffee. Just pour in the sauce until the coffee rises to the 1 3/4 cup mark
2. Add the sugar, too, then stir until both the sugar and caramel sauce have dissolved. Transfer to the refrigerator and chill until cold (You can hasten the process by using the freezer, but don’t let it freeze.)
3. When you’re ready to serve, divide the coffee between 2 tall chilled glasses filled with coffee ice cubes.
4. Add milk or half-and-half to each glass, to taste.
5. Top with whipped cream, if desired, then garnish with cinnamon if you’re using it. Finally, drizzle a little additional caramel sauce over the top as well.
6. Serve.

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Time for a little Spring Cleaning!!

This is normally where I do all of my work. Couponing, blogging, or recipes you name it my dining room table is where it all begins. I hate sitting in the office away from everyone else so I tend to sit at the table to do all of my work. I walked into the dining room today and realized my "job" was taking over the table. I had coupons all over the place, mail in rebates, my coupon binder, Blackberry, Laptop, you name it... it was on the table. Ugh! How can it be that no matter how hard I try to keep everything neat and tidy it seems to look like this by the end of the day. I have to figure out how to stay organized, keep tidy, and still be able to pull off everything I do. Today was the first day of the rest of the year for my table. It's going to get the SPRING CLEANED no matter what. Is it just me? OR do you have the same problem I have. It starts out looking great and somehow turns into this cesspool of a disaster. Hey it's April 1st why not take this day to organize at least one room, section, or even drawer of your home. You and your house will thank you for it.

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