*Frugal Ways * Fixing things Up* Using what you have*

I think most people are feeling the pinch of this downed economy our country is in and many of us are finding ways to fix up what we have in order to cut our costs whatever way we can.
I know we sure do feel the crunch, our income is down about 40% all the while the cost of food, fuel, & health care skyrocket.


I have gone to great lengths the past couple of years to learn how to
substantially cut our expenses. We have expanded our garden and I have started canning a lot more of our own food. I have joined a food co-op where I purchase a basket of fresh fruits and veggies each week for only $15 a week and I have refinished some beat up furniture to take care of some of the girls needs and fix up their rooms.


I even  refinished our dinning room table, it is made of pine and over the years all the kids had beat it up pretty bad. We had a friend cover the top with a crackle look formica for $150 then I painted the legs and sanded them to create a distressed finish. I had  done this several years ago to my coffee table and end table in the family room so now they all match :o)


I just brought home a beat up bookshelf unit for Paris. I am going to refinish it and put it in her room to hold all her books (because of home school curriculum she has a lot) one tall unit and a shorter unit that will sit next to it to hold her tv and dvd player. (only dvd's in the girls rooms, no connection to regular tv) :o) best part is.....It was FREE!!!........thanks mom! Now I can move her books out of her closet and have more room in there for her other junk toys that are stuffed under her bed. I love it when I can find inexpensive and simple solutions to make things function around here a little bit better. :o) I will post some before and after photos soon.

 we also had two leafs done to match so that on
holidays we can expand the table. There are two more of the side chairs that go and a bench that matches....when it is all put together we can sit 10.

 can you believe this top is formica? The best part of this is the kids can't hurt it now! LOL
Not a bad looking table for $150

I don't have to have the best and I love to take old things and fix them up and re purpose them for a new use or just to fix them up and keep going with them but I hate it when my things get tore up. It's funny, I love the distressed look but it has to have been meant to have looked that way LOL

 This is my bag from Bountiful Baskets last weekend.....this is quite a bit of produce for $15

 Saturday morning after returning from picking up my basket I came home and made this breakfast casserole....with my hens laying between 12 and 16 eggs a day I do look for recipes that will use up eggs quick and this recipe used 10 eggs :o)

Breakfast Casserole

3 slices of bread diced

10 eggs

2 cups milk

1 onion diced

1 bell pepper diced

1 1/2 cups shredded cheese

1 lb ground sausage cooked

a little salt and pepper

Saute peppers and onions with a bit of olive oil

brown and crumble sausage

Butter a 13x9 in baking dish

place diced bread on bottom and spread with the shredded cheese

whisk eggs and milk and pour over the cheese

top with sauteed peppers and onions and the crumbled cooked sausage

salt and pepper then bake @350 for 45-55 min until set

That's what Iv been up to

Blessings!

*Susan*

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake Recipe - TheBakingPan.com - How to Make Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

I found this chocolate cake recipe on the Internet when I was looking for a way to use up some of my excess buttermilk.

I make my own buttermilk and use it mostly to make homemade  Ranch Dressing.  ( I'll put the recipe for the dressing mix at the bottom of this post)

The buttermilk is easy to make, you just need to buy a bottle of buttermilk to start with then use 1 cup of buttermilk and three cups of milk, stir and place it in a jar. Put the jar in the cupboard for 24 hours.  Shake well and refrigerate. When you get down to only one cup of buttermilk left then it is time to make a new batch.

However, I use raw milk instead of homogenized pasteurized milk, the raw milk has natural enzymes and bacteria that are good for you but after so many batches the buttermilk changes in consistency and goes kinda slimy, thick and gloppy.........So, once in awhile I start a new batch with a new bottle of buttermilk from the store. The gloppy buttermilk is still good, I just didn't want to use it to make the ranch dressing.

Today I had 3/4 a quart of thick gloppy buttermilk that I didn't want to go to waste so I looked for a cake recipe to use it up. I try to stay away from white sugar and white flour for most foods I prepare but my family enjoys an occasional sweet treat and we certainly are not puritains and there are just certain recipes that I have not found a suitable "healthier" replacement for.

I can't seem to make anything without tweaking it or putting my own little twist to it. :o) though and a lot of the time I can take our favorite recipes and tweak them into a healthier version of the original.

 So, I did make a few changes to this recipe, I used coconut oil instead of canola oil and I just made a thick ganache and put it in the center of the cake just thin enough to spread then when it set it was like a fudge layer. I also have to make adjustments for our high altitude so I cut out 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda...both of these ingredients make the cakes rise too fast at a high altitude and then they fall....this makes me not happy!  I have tried to learn to make adjustments so this won't happen.

 this is the finished product

 this is what it looked like after my family attacked it (sorry about the blurry photo)

For the frosting I made a chocolate buttercream frosting because that is what my family likes.




Chocolate Buttermilk Cake Recipe - TheBakingPan.com - How to Make Chocolate Buttermilk Cake

Chocolate Buttermilk Cake
Batter:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2½ cups granulated sugar
4½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 cups vegetable or canola oil
1½ cups buttermilk
3 large eggs
1½ cups freshly brewed, extra-strong hot coffee
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract




Ganache:
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1½ cups whipping (heavy) cream


Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 9-inch round layer cake pans; lightly grease the pans with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper and dust with flour.

Batter:

2.In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder; whisk together to mix. Using an electric mixer on low speed, add oil, buttermilk and eggs; mix well. Add hot coffee in a thin stream, pouring down the side of the bowl. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly. Add vanilla and mix until batter is smooth.

Bake: 3.Spoon the batter into the prepared pans and smooth the surface with the back of a large spoon. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pans on a wire cooling rack to cool for 10 to 15 minutes then remove cake from the pans and place the cake on the wire cooling rack to finish cooling.

Ganache:

4.Create a double boiler by filling a saucepan with 2 inches of water and heat to simmering. Place chocolate chips and cream in a stainless steel or glass bowl and sit on top of simmering water (the upper pan should not touch the water.) allow chocolate to melt and stir with a wire whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature and ganache becomes thick enough to easily spread. Tip: Place bowl in a larger bowl of ice water to speed cooling and thickening, stirring Ganache as it cools.

5.Using an offset spatula, spread ganache between layers and over top and sides of cake.


 Serve cake using a pretty cake plate and cake server for a delightful presentation.



TheBakingPan.com





Ranch Dressing Mix:      (I will usually at least double this recipe so I don't have to make it as often,
to keep it fresh store it in a pint canning jar with a lid.)

3 TBSP onion powder
2 TBSP dried minced onions
5 TBSP dried parsley flakes
4 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

To make Ranch Dressing mix 2 cups mayonnaise and 2 cups buttermilk with 2 well rounded TBSP of dry ranch mix, whisk well and pour into a quart jar with a lid and refrigerate.

You can also use this dry mix with sour cream for a great dip and as a seasoning on potato wedges just toss the potato wedges with olive oil and sprinkle with ranch mix then bake on a cookie sheet at 350 until golden brown.