offering you a few little tips to make home life a little easier…
You might have heard that storing bulk whole grains in the freezer helps keep them fresher. I found a convenient storage idea while browsing other people’s pantries at the perfect pantry – 2 liter soda bottles! I use them to hold oatmeal and brown rice on the top shelf of my freezer. They are convenient to pour and measure from and they help me keep organized in the freezer, which I find very difficult when everything is in floppy odd shaped bags.I soaked the empty bottles for a while, washed them really well, rinsed them really well and let them dry for a couple of weeks before I used them. I buy my grains from the bulk bins and transfer the grains into the bottles with a funnel. The bags are then reused as Mimi’s poopy bags. Drinking cola is the price I have to pay… to have lovely shapely bottles full of grain.
To make use of that last little bit of jam in the jar… I had heard of “purple cow” drinks for kids – adding a little milk to the jam jar and shaking it up (Tightwad Gazette – full of frugal ideas). Sounded kinda gross to me. but it gave me an idea. I added half an inch of water to mine, shook it up and let it sit for a day while I figured out what to do with it… this morning I came up with “purple oatmeal”! Jam-water made a nice substitute for maple syrup on my steel cut oats with sliced banana and raisins. Pretty too.
Instead of keeping a giant coin jar, we keep 3 small jam jars and hubby’s babyhood silver piggy bank. Each jar holds one denomination of coin and the paper wrappers from the bank to roll them. It’s easy to tell when we have enough to count and roll because the jar is small and clear. Our bank lets us deposit up to 8 rolls at a time. Rolling coins isn’t too much trouble when they’re already sorted and you’re only doing a few at a time. Quarters fill the pig’s belly… hubby didn’t tell me he was putting them in there…
Jo:)
adventures in the here now 