Michelle Conaway

Well, I stumbled across this idea all on my own.

Today is cleaning day at my house and I was off to a good start. The problem was that I had green paint on my wooden kitchen table. I usually have this table covered with a table cloth, but it was in the wash and I was thinking that I could live without the table cloth if the table didn’t have the ugly green paint slathered all over it. The paint has been there for oh, over 6 months I would say. I’ve tried rubbing it off, scraping it off, etc. to no avail.

I thought I might get some Magic Erasers at the store next time I was there. But being the impatient person that I am, I decided to go at it on my own yet again. It is cleaning day after all and I wanted that table clean NOW.

I had pulled the vinegar out to clean the coffee pot. I had also pulled out my super sized Baking soda to scrub down the stovetop.

As I stood staring at the paint stain, I thought. Hmm. I wonder if I put the vinegar on a towel and then added a sprinkeling of baking soda if that would work.

And guess what….That stain came out without any elbow grease from me at all! I just wiped it and the green paint transferred from the table to the cloth in seconds flat. (Be sure you use an old cloth if you try this at your house).

So…no more Magic Erasers for me. With a cheap bottle of white vinegar and and even cheaper box of baking soda, I can attack any stain that wants to stand in the way of my clean house!

Do you have any cleaning tips you found by chance? If so, leave me a message and let me know about it.

Ingredients:

1 lb.Pinto Beans (soaked overnight or quick soaked – see below)

1 Onion Chopped

1 Bunch Cilantro, Chopped

1 can Rotel Tomatoes

1 each Red, Yellow and Orange Bell Peppers, chopped

4 cloves garlic chopped

1 tsp. Garlic Salt

2 TBL Chili Powder

1 tsp.oregano

1 tsp parsley

1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 tsp liquid smoke

1 tsp Wochestershire sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Water  to cover beans

Smoked sausage, chopped  or cooked ground beef – Optional

Directions:

In a large stock pot, mix the soaked beans and the remainder of the ingredients except Salt. Bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 2 to 3 hours or until beans are tender. Add Salt to taste. Serve with brown rice and jalepeno cornbread.

Quick Soaking Beans:

Sort beans and remove and debris. Add beans to stockpot and cover with water. Bring stockpot to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and cover. Let stand in water for one hour. Proceed with cooking.

I have to go to my Master Gardener meeting tonight and I have signed up to bring something. In my sleep, I rememberd that I used to make Lemon Bars and my family loved them. Sooo…Here is my post for the day. Why not grab the kids, juice a few lemons and make a sweet confection to share with someone. It’s really easy. You’ll be glad you did.

Crust:

1 cup softened butter

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

Mix flour and sugar  in a bowl. Add the butter and mix with a pastry blender.

When the mixture looks like little pebbles,  press into an 8″ x 11″ baking dish.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Allow to cool.

Filling:

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 cup lemon juice

Powdered Sugar for dusting

Mix flour and sugar in a bowl. Wisk in the eggs and lemon juice.

Pour over cooled crust.

Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated 350 degree oven.

Filling will firm up as the bars cool on the counter. Sprinkle with powdered sugar after cooling.

Cut into 2 inch squares and enjoy!

My family LOVES these! They’re pretty easy to make and go great with my Veggie Fried Rice. Even my vegan daughter will eat these. Feel free to add scrambled egg bits or cooked chicken, pork, beef or seafood. Hope you enjoy.

Ingredients

6 Cups Cabbage, shredded

1 Carrot, shredded

1/2 can bean sprouts

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 can water chessnuts, diced

3 TBL Braggs Amino Acids (or soy sauce)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 TBL cornstarch

20 Egg Roll Wrappers (found in produce isle)

Olive oil for pan frying

Directions 

In a large bowl, combine all the veggies, the amino acids, the seasonings and the cornstarch. Mix well.

Let sit for 10 minutes.

Stuff each egg roll wrapper with veggie mix. Wrap tightly. Sautee in olive oil until all side are brown. Serve with extra Braggs, soy sauce or Chinese mustard.

Tip on rolling egg roll wrappers: Mix about 1 TBL cornstarch with 2 TBL water. Align the filling diagonally across two corners of the wrapper. Wrap the corner facing you inward around the filling. Dab a bit of the cornstarch water on the remaining corners. Fold in the center corners over the first corner that is covering filling. Roll tightly until you reach the last corner. Seal. The cornstarch water helps hold it together until it is fried in the olive oil.

This recipe is very good to use on pasta salad or a regular green salad. So easy to make and tasty too!

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried mustard

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

Mix all ingredients into a glass jar with lid. Shake well for several seconds. Store in refrigerator.

Shake again before serving.