Make Shake 'N Bake

I LOVE Kraft's Shake 'N Bake. It is easy, Fun to do but Truth is I think I have used it a handful of times. The reason why I don't use it because it is just to expensive. So there is a way to get AWAY from the Boxed foods and Make it Yourself!

There are a few ways you can substitute Shake 'N Bake. 

Keep in mind with these recipes you can substitute "Crackers" with anything Crunchy, Such as; Corn Flakes, Doritos, Potato Chips, Gold Fish, Cheeze-It (any Flavor)

#1. Is Italian Bread Crumbs.

#2. Original Chicken

• 4 cups flour
• 4 cups finely crushed saltine crackers
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp. onion powder
• 1 Tbsp. pepper
• 3 Tbsp. paprika

Same Baking instructions as below. 

#3. Cheeze-It/ Gold Fish Mix

• 4 cups Flour
• 4 cups Crushed Cheeze-It/ Gold Fish Crackers
• 1/4 cup salt
• 2 TBSP Sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 1/2 tbsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tbsp. pepper
• 3 tbsp. Paprika

#4 My Favorite
       -Italian Parmesan Chicken

• 1 cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1 Packet dry Italian seasoning

             =  AMAZING! Happy Making!

Mix all ingredients together. This is going to be a large batch so it lasts a long time. Store in an air tight container. Container is better so it lessons the Spills. 

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
-Place 1 cup Homemade Shake and Bake Coating Mix in a shallow bowl. When placed in bowl Drizzle vegetable oil over mixture and mix in. (oil optional)

-Rinse chicken/fish/pork pat dry. 
-Dip chicken/fish/pork into beaten egg, buttermilk, milk, or salad dressing to coat, then dip into Homemade Shake and Bake Coating Mix.
- #4 only needs to be washed with water and dipped into mixture.
-Place on baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees. Bake 20-30 minutes for boneless chicken/fish/pork strips. 
-Bake 30-50 mins for bone-in chicken pieces or until meat thermometer reads 160 degrees. 

Enjoy! Experiment. No kids or husband likes a boring "same old" dinner! Spice it up!!!!

Powdered Laundry Detergent

This is amazing. I have been searching around for NEW Laundry Detergent recipes.. I stumbled onto this pretty cool website, Being Creative. I really Loved my other one but this has trumped any and all laundry detergents I have ever used!

It smells amazing! WORKS AMAZING! My cloths are coming out cleaner and softer.
It is a powdered laundry detergent but that just means its EASIER! Im sticking to this and not going back to liquid. No more Melting down my soap and keeping it in my 5 gallon bucket. Powdered laundry detergent all the way!

So lets start with whats in it...

1 - 4lb box Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
1 - 3lb box Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 - 4lb Box 20 mule Team Borax
2 small oxy clean OR 1/2 a container big bucket (optional)
3 bars fels-Naptha or 3 bars Ivory

For 5-7 months your Laundry Soap will Cost you Less than $15.00

Grate your Soap Bars.

It was pretty easy to mix it all together. Open every box and put it in a container. Add the grated soap. And mix it with a spoon, then put it into my container. and mixed it again.

I went to Wal-Mart and i got this cool container. It was about $5.00 (one time buy) -- Not to shabby- I used the scooper from my Oxy Clean Bucket .

-This detergent is safe for HE washers!

-This detergent is safe to use on sensitive skin/babies/children. (my husband, son and I all have allergies to detergents, we have not had ONE Problem with this! We can not use, cheer, gain, or tide due to itching and rashes)
-It does not have a strong scent, but it is very clean/fresh smelling! You can add laundry crystals to the batch to add fragrance.
-Some of my followers have used other bar soap instead of Zote or Fels-Naptha or Ivory
-Use 1 Tablespoons(TBSP) per load.
-This is fully effective for cloth diapers because it contains baking soda which affects how the diaper is able to soak up liquid. Remove the baking soda, your good to go!
- Great for towels! Leaves them soft with out using fabric softener!
-I am not sure if this detergent is safe for a septic tank or not, you may have to research it and do what you feel comfortable with.

DID YOU KNOW?
Companies add chemicals to your store/name brand detergents to make them "SUD." Just because something suds does not mean it cleans! The HE detergents they make that are "so good for your washer machine" is just the same detergent with the chemical taken out! So we are paying them to TAKE OUT chemicals they originally put in to SUD! This is just crazy to me. YES! It is good for your washer, but not good for your wallet. Just remember something I learned from a friend.

CLEAN SMELLS LIKE NOTHING!

Also, come to find out this is the SAME Exact (minus the oxy clean) Detergent my grandmother used as a kid in the 1940's! She said she rememberd making this as a kid and shes glad its making a come back! Great for the enviornment, great for fabrics, and great for your wallet!

UPDATE: It is now January 22, 2013. This batch of laundry detergent has lasted me 5 months with some left over, I was scared I was getting low so I made more two days ago. It probably would have lasted me another month. We used to go through one 150oz All 2x ultra free and clear every month! In one year that would cost me $144.00. This powdered detergent lasted me 5 months! Putting my savings on HE Kid freindly Detergent at (Walmart) All 2X Ultra Free Clear Liquid Laundry Detergent, 150 oz, $11.97 (96 loads) or Dreft, 100 fl oz, $15.97.(64 Loads) I have saved my family any where from  $114.00- $150.00 Thats AMAZING! Just on laundry detergent? How awesome is that?

Need a cool quick gift for a new mom or a house warming gift??
Pick up for Quart Size Ball Jars and put your laundry detergent in your jar. Make a cute label. Even add ribbon or fabric. Its an amazing GIFT & maybe even great to sell!

If using IVORY soap try not to GRATE it! Here is a Fun way of Making your laundry detergent and having a science experiment for your kids at the same time! Its easier and fun! Make it a family thing! http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/soap-souffle

Turn Flat-Rate Postage Boxes into Storage!

What a cool idea this is! I would LOVE to say that I came up with this but Sadly I did not. I put my own twist and creative mark on it. We are going to turn FREE LARGE Flat Rate Boxes from the US Postal Service into magazine decor holders. Bon Temps Beignet 

A lot like the woman who wrote this blog I too have an IKEA Book shelf turned into a TV Stand and for a long time I had no idea what to do with it. I was even thinking of giving it away! Now that we are in our new house and a LOW budget, that is not an option. I don't have enough Books to fill the darn shelf's and as you can see its a little cluttered. Everyone who knows me knows I HATE clutter but something I kinda give up on and I live with the clutter until I am seriously sick of it! Well I'm to that point. So I have found a solution! YAY! Lets get started!!! 

Seriously I am a little embarrassed, Its all bad!! 

Nothing about this picture is good... Lets fix it!

Large Flat Rate boxes. Box them up and tape them, inside and out.
Cut a piece out of the box and then tape or glue Scrap booking paper onto the front of the box

You may also... Spray paint the boxes, but in the end, i found it to be ALOT more work then just leaving it how it was taped.

Total i believe all 7 boxes were about .50 cents! Yahoo! An amazing savings right there!

Make Soap Scum Shower cleaner

I used Dawn Dish liquid in an empty bottle

Equal Parts White vinegar 9oz, Dish soap 9oz, And water in a spray bottle. Shake and spray.

NOT only does this amazing stuff work on my shower for soap scum. It works for my Fridge, Toilets, Sinks, Stove top. (DO NOT USE ON FLOOR) Microwave. I have yet to use in the inside oven.  

Make Jiffy Corn Bread Mix $.30

Since I have done cookies and brownies pre made mixes, I thought it would be great to do one on Jiffy. I don't know if you noticed but I did, and the price of Jiffy has gone up a lot! I remember it being $.25 it is now in my stores any were from $.60 up to a $1.00! And I am not willing to pay that anymore. They don't really have coupons for Jiffy, just the "deals" the store is having. So Lets make it our self's shall we?

What your going to need: (Recipe from Food.com)
2/3 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup Yellow Cornmeal
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt

Get the quart size bags. Write on them"

Bake 400F  15-20 minutes
Add 1 egg
1/3 cup milk
2 tb veg oil

Add your ingredients. Shake it up and there ya go!

You can make your corn bread mix from anywhere to $.25 - $.35 - Way cheaper than anything I have found on the shelf.

Make OxyClean

I have to admit Oxy Clean has to be one of the best products around, but it is very pricy. So here is how I made my own oxy clean! I found the recipe not to long ago on "The grocerie cart Challenge" Blog- If my laundry is really bad I will soak it but If I have a load of Colored that need a good cleaning, I throw this in! 

                                                                         Make It Yourself OxyClean

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup hydrogen peroxide

1/2 cup washing soda

Mix together and soak laundry in it for 20 minutes to overnight and then wash as usual. Or you can just skip the water and pour the peroxide and baking soda directly into the wash with your laundry soap and wash as usual.

Make Buttermilk $.15

A lot of recipes call for Buttermilk. For a very long time i had no idea what that even was! I never used it in my baking but since I have I cant go back! You can use buttermilk in almost anything! You can use it with any baking that calls for water or regular milk. You can make butter milk the hard way and make butter, Click here for the recipe Butter.

Butter milk
1 cup whole milk
1 table spoon White Vinegar or Lemon Juice

Let it sit for 10 minutes then add what you need into your recipe.

Vawala! You have Make it Yourself Butter milk! Never to buy it agian!

Butter milk Break down:
Meijer Gallon of milk is $2.50  - There are 16 cups per Gallon  - $2.50/16=$.15

My New Waffle Iron

Okay not to brag or anything but my husband is amazing! He got us a "Free" Waffle Iron through American Express (amex) that I have been begging for for 3 years! Our old one broke because his was15 years old. LOL Brand new waffle iron I cant wait to use it!!! 

There is so much you can do with a waffle iron. Of course make waffles, There are many many recipes but i will just give you one. 

First steps first i need to coat my waffle iron with oil, butter, or pam. Soo i coat it, Let the nasty factory stuff wear off. Turn it off. let it cool and wipe it down. The next day it is ready to be used.. This is called "seasoning"

This came off the Bisquick box. 

2 cups Bisquick 

1 1/2 cups milk 

2 TBSP veg. oil 

1 egg

 Directions:

1 HEAT- waffle maker

2 Stir all ingredients untill blened. 

3 Pour onto the center of the hot greased waffle maker, close lid.

4 Bake about 5 minuetes or untill steaming stops. 

makes 12(4inch) waffles  

 I was searching on the World Wide Web and i came across this website Waffleizer

Here are some ideas on what you can make with your waffle iron:

Waffleburgers 

Ingredients:

beef, ground

Salt 

Pepper

Directions:Season the beef and form it into a very thin patty. Place in the waffle iron and cook about four minutes. When your patty has cooked, remove it from the waffle iron. If you would like a waffleburger with cheese, top the patty with cheese, place it in the waffle iron and allow to waffle very briefly — about five seconds.

Garnish with the condiments of your choice. Revel in the triumph of the ridiculous.

Credit Goes to Waffleizer.com

Check out the webiste to make Waffle Burger Buns

more to come!!! 

Re-Grow Green Onions

I don't know about you all, but I LOVE green onions. I use them almost with everything. You can put them in scrambled eggs or make a quiche. Anything that calls for Garlic & white or yellow onion and even spinach, you can throw in some Green Onion. I went to Meijer and they aren't very expensive. About .50 or 2/$1.00 for 5 or 6 in a bundle BUT! what if there was a way to recycle your green onions and grow them again!! Well there is a way!!

You use as much as you need, I cut them down till they are getting yellow. Place them in a small cup with water and let them sit in the sun. Day by day they will grow! You can only grow the onions one time from the original but it is a fun thing for the kids to watch!  It takes about 2 weeks for them to be fully grown. Another cool thing is, I don't use all of them at once, so one by one as I use them I stick them in the water so they are matured at different times! You can definitely turn this into a money saving trick and a science project!

Day 5 - you can see were it was originally cut and how much is grown!

Day 7.

                                            Change the water about every 3 days.

Make Stamps

I grew up recycling. My grandma did it and when i was a kid we always had our red bin out a the road. When we moved up to the country, i soon realized that they don't recycle. Everyone threw everything out.. Not only did this make me up set because i was thinking out about my grandchildren, what type of world will it be if everyone threw everything out knowing it would be there 2 million years later...Our country would turn into the movies WALL-E or Idiocracy But it had also made me think of more ways to spend money one it once. And reuse it 20 times, Thus completely getting my money back 

I had it all worked out that when i went down to my parents, an hour away, i would put all my stuff in their recycling bin. LOL Luckily! My grandma did some searching and found out that my city has a program that i just bring all my things and throw them in a big recycling container that they haled away once was full. I LOVE THIS! This is were i go to get all of my empty laundry detergent containers.

There are so many things in this world that we all use day to day that do not have to be thrown away. I here are some fun and creative new ways to use the empty containers for anything under the sun! Here are some ideas for you and your family!


Make it Yourself Stamps!

I have been saving almost all of my lids/caps from milk containers, juice containers, and many more for about 3 weeks. I had more but in all honestly i don't need that many stamps yet.

I went to Target and went to the $1 bin sale and they had foam stickers. I stuck them onto my cap. They come with many different kids. Stick them on an ink pad and then on some paper. Its a great thing for kids to play with! Each one probably cost me about $.03-$.05 since there are so many that are in the foam stickers.

Have fun and enjoy!
Use washable finger paints with the kids, this way you can wash your stamps off and reuse them! 


The Make it Yourself Break Down:
i got 50 sticker foam cut outs for $1.00 at target

$.02 (censt) per foam sticker

I used 4 = so my project to make my own stamps was a whopping $.08!
You can get many different kinds of foam stickers. Price also varies. from $1.00 to $5.00 for packages.

Note: I have no affiliation with any TM names, stores or websites listed above.

Make Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes

I started buying Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes once I started couponing. I do have to admit they are great! Seriously expensive considering what they actually are. I love making cookies from scratch! They are awesome! Since we have moved I love the convenience of MANY things. My sister came over one day and we were talking about cookies, and making some for her friend. I told her "lets whipp some up!" and she looked at me, went into my pantry, and said "Okay were is the box? If it doesn't come in a box, I have no idea what I am doing!" 

I thought this was kinda funny... I said "You buy those? They are super expensive, regular price is $2.50 or more!" and she laughed "Oh that's right, you use your 'coupons' and its cheaper, I'm not into all that, you know that." Well, I do know that but I wont accept it, i needed to find a way to Make Them Myself in a way that I can give them to others, Like "Cookies in a Jar" but without the $5.00 Jar... So i Googled it. I typed in "Make it Yourself Cookie Mixes Blog" and one thing came up Fake-It-Frugal

Here are some recipes off Fake-It-Frugal website:

Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookies:
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag.  Write instructions on the bag to add:  1 Stick Softened Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.  Mix & Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes.

Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies:

1 1/2 Cups Flour
3/4 Cup White Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag.  Write instructions on the bag to add:  1 Stick Softened Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.  Mix & Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. 

Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookies:

1 Cup Flour
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Cup Rolled Oats
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
Optional: 1/2 Cup Raisins and/or Nuts

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag.  Write instructions on the bag to add:  1 Stick Melted Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract.  Mix, Refrigerate for 30 Minutes & Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. 

Betty Crocker Gingerbread Cookies:

1 3/4 Cup Flour

3/4 Cup Dark Brown Sugar

3/4 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1/2 Tablespoon Ground Ginger

1 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon Ground Cloves

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag.  Write instructions on the bag to add:  1/2 Stick Softened Butter, 1 Large Egg, 1/8 Cup Molasses.  Mix & Bake at 350°F for 9-11 minutes. 

Peanut Butter Cookies

Make a few extra sugar cookie mixes.

1 1/2 Cups Flour

3/4 Cup White Sugar

1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Write on them "Peanut butter cookies" Add 1/2 Cup Butter, 1 large egg, 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract and 1/2 Cup Peanut butter.

Credit

Snicker Doodle Cookies

1 1/2 cup sugar

2 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar 

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 salt 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3 tablespoons sugar

3 tablespoons cinnamon

Mix together and store in a quart size ziplock bag. Write instructions on the bag to add: 2 Large eggs and 1 cup Butter - Mix in this order: Sugar and Butter untill Fluffy, Eggs and Vanilla. On low speed, beat in flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt until well combined, scraping bowl occasionally. In small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons sugar and the cinnamon. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar-cinnamon mixture and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Chill cookie mix for 15 minutes before putting on sheet. Bake at 400°F for 8-10 minutes, remove from pan immediately after baking. 

Okay, So is it really worth "Making It Yourself" and putting in a little effort now to save money later. Lets do the math!

The Make-It Yourself Breakdown: Make It Yourself Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes (Pantry Ingredients, Between $0.30-$0.40 each mix)

Total Fake-It Cost:  $3.20 (probably less) for 8 Cookie Mixes

Compare to Real Betty Crocker Cookie Mixes ($2.50+ each)

Total "Make It Yourself" Savings:  $16.80

Cloud Dough Activity For Kids

To make your Cloud Dough you need

8 Cups of clour

1 cup baby oil 

For The pictures below i used 4 cups and 1/2 cup oil. You can split, the recipe as many times as you would like or double for as many kids as you have. 

Flour and baby oil

4 cups flour

add oil to flour

mix with hands

place in little bin

Have fun! I don't worry about him getting it every were although it is a rule "KEEP IT IN THE TUB!"  and he gets warnings if he gets out of control. Clean up is very easy! it does not stick to the floor unless floor is wet. This is a very fun and creative thing to do with your toddlers and preschoolers. Place it in a  1 gallon Zip lock bag for next time!

i am not sure were this originated but it is great sensory play!