Vinegar and its many uses

Growing up I never used vinegar except to dress collard greens, which I love. I grew to love it as a condiment and began to make my own pepper vinegars, salad dressings and marinades. However I was still missing the greatest uses I have found for vinegar yet.

It cleans, VERY well. It deodorizes. It softens clothes. It cleans hard wood floors and laminate floors with ease. It disinfects almost as well as bleach. Combine it with baking soda and you can clean almost anything in your home. To top it off it only costs $2.32 right now a gallon at Wal-Mart in our area. 

Here are the things that I currently use vinegar for in my home:

1-I use it to clean counters, tabletops and other surfaces that I would normally use a multi purpose spray on, with a spray bottle from the dollar store and a 50:50 ratio of water to vinegar.

2-I use it to get odors out of clothing by adding a cup of vinegar into the fabric softener dispenser of the washing machine.

3-I use it in rinse water, about 1 tbsp to half a sink of water, for my dishes to get the last of the soap residue off of them. 

4-I clean drains with it by placing baking soda (50 cents a box) down the drain to the rim, pouring vinegar in it, and stopping up the drain and coming back in 30 minutes or so to pour boiling water down the drain to clear the clog. This works best if you do it regularly, about once every two weeks or so to move the gunk out of the drain.

5-I use it as a shower spray to cut down on the possibility of soap scum or mildew.This can be full strength vinegar or the 50:50 ratio of vinegar to water.

6-I clean the coffee maker with 1/3 vinegar to 2/3 water run through the machine like brewing coffee, to clean the inner workings of the machine.

7-I let it do the work if there is stuck on food on a pan or the counter, let it sit and come back to it in a bit and it will scrape with ease.

8-I make a paste of baking soda and a small amount of water to make a scrubbing cleanser for the bathtub, and then I come back with vinegar to foam out the last of the baking soda film and clean to surface with the bubbling reaction.

9- I use it to rinse my hair once a week to make it shine and pull off shampoo build up. - You can soak orange or lemon peel in a mason jar of vinegar for this purpose to give it a citrus smell. I use a 50:50 water to vinegar ratio here.

10- I use it to clean windows and mirrors streak free.

Best of all, if my two year old gets hold of my cleaning spray there is not a call to poison control as it is just vinegar, and not a whole bunch of unknown chemicals. The worst that will happen is she smells like a salad for the rest of the day.

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Frugal Food- Southwest Chicken Enchilada casserole

This recipe is one I concocted from a few other recipes and a desire to get the same depth of flavor in less time.
It serves 6 -8 depending on how big you make your enchiladas.
You will need
2 cups shredded chicken
1 jar (16 oz) prepared salsa (or an equal amount fresh salsa)
1 package whole wheat tortilla wraps -8 inch size (or two packs if you prefer smaller enchiladas)
1 can drained rinsed black beans
1 cup frozen corn
8 oz shredded cheese (Monterey Jack or Cheddar work well)
Chili Powder to taste
Onion Powder to taste
Cayenne pepper if desired

Place your shredded chicken in a large pot with the salsa, corn and beans. Add your spices- I used 1 Tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp onion powder and a pinch of cayenne, but your spices will vary with your choice of salsa. Heat on medium heat for about thirty minutes warmed through and flavors have melded together. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Now take a large bowl, and a strainer big enough to hold your chicken mixture. Place the strainer over the bowl and press the mixture from one side to the other in the strainer with enough pressure to drain excess liquid without squishing your beans. I have found a small wooden slotted spoon is easiest to work with. Get as much of the liquid out of the mixture as you can.
Lightly grease a 9 x 13 pyrex dish, and start making your enchiladas. Place 1-2 spoonfulls of mixture in the center of the tortilla and roll, place seam side down in the casserole dish. Repeat until your dish is full or you run out of mixture. You will have to scoot them to the side as you add them so they fit properly, they will lay on each other a bit.
Pour your sauce (the drained liquid) over the top of your enchiladas. Cover with the shredded cheese. Bake for 20 minutes covered with foil and if you desire remove the foil to brown your cheese for the last ten minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

I did not brown the cheese, but here is the finished product. My husband and child both really enjoyed it.  I hope you do as well!

Cost break down
The chicken was leftover from a whole roast chicken I made, and the whole chicken cost $4.78, the portion I used for this casserole was about 1/3 of that so $1.60
The salsa was $1.99 at Aldi
Beans $.59
Corn $.33 (about 1/3 of a bag of frozen corn at $.99) -Aldi
Tortilla wraps - $2.59 - Food Lion
Cheese $2.00 at Aldi

Total $9.10 or $1.52 a serving at 6 servings (this fed our family of 3 twice)

You can further cut costs by using flour tortillas or changing your meat option to something cheaper, but we are trying to eat more whole grains here so that is why the recipe calls for whole wheat. As for the meat, I would use a shredded meat and not ground, if you choose to switch that up. Shredded pork works nicely as well.

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Frugal Food- Split Pea Soup

I love split pea soup but was not sure my meat loving husband, and picky toddler would eat it. It was a hit!

1 pound dry green split peas

1 onion chopped

enough water to cover the split peas

1 pound of bacon

two russet potatoes peeled and chopped

2 tbsp of Italian herb season mix

2 heaping tbsp of garlic chopped

Sort peas to make sure nothing needs to be tossed (natural dry beans sometimes have stones), drain in a colander. Add to a large pot or dutch oven, and cover about two inches over with water. Turn on Medium to Medium high. Meanwhile chop onion and potato and add to the pot. I cook the bacon in a shallow baking pan at 375 for 30-45 minutes. Chop bacon coarsely and add to soup (which has probably been cooking 45 minutes now). Cook another half hour or until the majority of the split peas have lost their shape (the pretty much turn to mush).

Move to a food processor or use a wand mixer to puree till smooth.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 8 healthy servings

Frugal Food- Keilbasa Skillet dinner for 4-6

I make this about once a month and my husband and child love it. It makes enough for a meal for all of us and leftovers for me and the toddler for lunch. It also freezes okay if you add additional tomato sauce or water when you thaw it and reheat.

1 package keilbasa, cut into small sausage rings

1 can tomato sauce (normal size can not the little ones)

1 cup water

1 cup rice - not brown or instant, but even a jasmine rice tastes good in this

1 onion chopped

1 can black beans drained and rinsed

1can of corn drained or about 3/4 cup frozen corn

Garlic and Italian season to taste

Brown keilbasa and cook onion till clear. Add all other ingredients, stir, cover and cook for about thirty minutes till rice is done.

Prices at Aldi's Nov 2010

Keilbasa- $2

Tomato Sauce 55 cents

Black Beans- 55 cents

Corn- 50 cents

Rice-(less than 15 cents for portion used)

1 onion- 30 cents

Total $4.05 for two meals for the family