Bread Machine Update

Just a quick update to the Bread Machine Post from earlier this week:

Check out My Dallas Mommy, she has a Amazon deal listing a $70 bread maker for only $22.  Pretty nice!  Thanks Laura.

Amazon~ Oster 2-Pound Expressbake Breadmaker Only $22.49 (Reg $69.99)

Posted by My Dallas Mommy on Thursday, June 26th, 2014 at 12:45 pm

Healthier living (Allergies)

I have a quick tip on what could be a healthy switch off of medication for seasonal allergy suffers.  I know we're past the worst of allergy season, but it's never a bad time to make healthier choices. 

Every allergy season, since I moved to Texas, has always been an issue for me.  About 8 years ago I had such an intense battle with spring and was on so much medication that I finally made the decision to start the process of allergy injections (AKA: Immunotherapy).  First I was tested.  I had a positive reaction to nearly 20 allergens but oak, cedar, elm, pecan pollen, cottonwood, dogs, cats, and horses were the worst.  I was then told that I needed to prepare for a 3-5 year process that would start with an injection a day for 2 weeks and slowly taper back until I was down to an injection a month.  And after all that, it isn't necessarily permanent and may only reduce my symptoms.  I decided to take two weeks to think it over.  Three days later a friend told me to try local honey during my two week wait period.  I am not a holistic guy.  "Give me the pills".  But I figured if I was willing to get hundreds of injections, what's a little honey?  I ate a tablespoon a day, over oatmeal or in tea.  Within 3 days I had notice a drastic reduction in my symptoms.  Without even realizing it, by the end of a week and a half I had stopped taking all over the counter allergy medication.  No more falling asleep at work, breathing fine at night, and even able to mow the lawn without suffering.  Something that had, in a large way, controlled my life every spring was now no longer an issue......   I cancelled my appointment.  I was consistent with my "dosing" for a year and then I started to taper back to the point of a couple tablespoons a week.  I've even replaced much, if not all, of the sugar in my recipes with honey.  And now I can count on two hands how many times I've needed allergy medication over the past 8 years.  Even my 90 year old grandmother, a recent transplant from Arizona, uses the same honey for her allergies and says that if she forgets to take it in the morning she suffers all day long.

The key is local honey.  In my case, I started with North Dallas Honey Co.  Like I said, it was very affective.  When I moved to the Mid Cities area, I found and even more local source, which I highly recommend.  There is a small Romanian Orthodox Church, in Colleyville (map), that sells local honey right out front.

There's two sizes.  A $10 jar and a $20 jar.  Bring cash, as the stand in unmanned and on the honor system.  I'll pick up a few $20 jar at a time for us, family and friends, and they seem to last a little over a month. 

 

 

 

Just remember to clean and return the jars when you're done with them.  Oh, and if you're looking for something fun to do in November, check out their Romanian Food Festival.

 



Use and Reuse

Today we're refinishing trash.....  Literally.  I am a shameless trash picker.  If you live near by and you toss a useful, albeit beat up, (fill in the blank) odds are good I'm at least going to slow down and check it out.

This week's find was a small half-round cabinet.  It had a price tag still on it from Garden Ridge for $120.

As far as I could tell, it was originally yellow, then painted white, then an attempt at spray painting it black.  The result was the gem you see above.

The first thing I needed to do was find a place in the house for it.  The place you choose will often dictate the color.  I chose this empty space in our powder bath.

 

The next step was to sand and prime just so I could see what it really looked like.  The sand paper will need to be a fine grit, 220 or higher. I have a compressor and a spray gun, so priming and painting for me is a fairly quick process. If you don't have the power tools, then invest in a few good paint brushes and use a gentle touch.

 



I really liked it in the white but, as I was placing it on a white floor and against a white background, the color had to change.  A quick look at the cheep paint section at the big box store turned up a really nice blue-gray for $3. 

The cabinet reveled a few dents and a pock marks that gave it some character.  Instead of fighting it, I chose to accentuate the roughed up look.  One of the keys to distressing, is to add the wear marks in places that make sense.  In my case, the top, the edges, and next to the door pulls.  This allowed some of the previous colors to show through giving the cabinet a more aged look. 

After I finished distressing, I clear coated it and added new hardware.  The hardware was the only thing I spent real money on. 

 

Once it was done, a few items from around the house and a purchase or two from Ross finished it off.

 

Total labor was about 2 hours.  And total cost was $18.  That includes the accent pieces........  So remember when you're driving around just keep you eyes open, one man's trash and all....



 



 





Bread Machines

Before we move on to bread machines, let's ask the basic question:  Why bake your own bread?  That's a really easy question for me to answer....  Just go look at the ingredient list on the back of your prepackaged bread.  First if you know what each and every ingredient is, you are better than me.  Secondly pay attention to how many types of sugar there are, especially in white bread.  We were buying one of the most popular brands, until the kids were born, that had 5 types of sugar.  I even had to look up some of sugar's aliases to figure it out.  Baking bread seemed like a really good, and easy, way to cut some of the crap out of our diet.   

Now, let's talk bread machines. The short comment is, these things are awesome.  A loaf of basic white can be made for as little as 50c.  That includes electricity.  You can set it to run while you're away or asleep (fresh bread after work or when you wake up is just excellent). And even the most basic models have a variety of options that allow you customize every recipe. 

One of the best things about bread machines, is that they are the speed boats of kitchen appliances.  Meaning that people buy them with huge expectations of using them every day and then, after using them 3 times, they sit for years until it's time for a garage sale.  And that's when you, the savvy person you are, swoop in and pick it up.  If you do a quick look on Craigslist you see that not a one goes for more than $100.  Most of them hit in the $20 - $50 range.  And Amazon carries brand new models for as low as $65

In our house, for the past 2 years anyway, we'll bake once or twice a week.  For those keeping count, somewhere around 75 loaves a year.  I use it for basic white and specialty breads alike.  The model I own is a mid range, square loaf (they do come in round) model made by Regal.  I've had it for 12 years now and have not one complaint.  If you take a look at the picture, you'll see that I even taped my most used recipes to the front.

Today was basic white day.  It took me 10 mins to add the ingredients.  3 hours later, fresh bread.  (Quick tip: no matter what type of bread you're baking, sift the flower after measuring)

 

 

I'll post my most used recipe's later, and feel free to send your favorite.  But until we talk bread again, go find a bread machine and let me know how it works out for you.  

 

 







Cheapies and Freebies

When it comes to refinishing busted up furniture or building an item out of repurposed lumber, I'm kind of a trial and error guy with the color.  Because I will often make a drastic change halfway through painting/staining, I've grown really tired of wasting $10 - $18 a quart.  Or worse yet, $30 - $50 a gallon.  This is where other's mistakes can save you HUGE MONEY!  Both Lowes and Home Depot have a little, unadvertised, shelf close to the paint counter that houses the mistake paints and stains.  These are either products that the store messed up in coloring or, more likely, have been returned because a customer hated it once it was on the wall.  I buy a good 75% of my paints and stains this way.  If I post a refinished piece of furniture, or a stained outdoor bench, you can bet it's done with the discount stuff.  I figure if I'm refinishing a piece of trash or repurposing heavily used lumber, what's the point of getting fancy on the paint. 

 

   

Use and Reuse

Just a quick note today for use and reuse.  An unused changing table makes for a great toy shelf.  They hold surprising more than you think. 

Low Cost Outings

It was raining this morning, "sweet!", so no park, "boo".  Today's rain-delay-fun-time was Bass Pro in Grapevine.  This place rocks if you need a completely free outing when outside isn't an option.  There is a giant fish tank in the back, a fish pond with a duck to the left of the entry, a smaller fish tank to the right of the entry, countless large stuffed animals, and boats to climb on.  Boy Awesome and I had a great time running around playing pretend campers, and killing about an hour without spending a dime.  Thanks Bass Pro.

This Month's Coffee

This month we're sampling a coffee from Ascension in Dallas.

 

Huehuetenango

Cost: $18 per pound
T and T score:  85



Mrs. Awesome picked this one up for me as a birthday treat.  Seems a bit of a shame to have our first coffee review start at the top, but there you are.  Huehuetenango is outstanding.  I brewed it at roughly 1 tablespoon per cup.  It's extremely dark and full.  I'm typically a 1 - 2 cup a day coffee drinker.  With this, 1, or even most of one.  There's a ton of flavors going on, but I didn't pick up any of that fancy stuff they listed.  Overall, excellent coffee.  Nice as a treat, but way too pricy to be a daily drinker.

Beer Review

This weeks beer review is of Buried Hatchet Stout.

Cost:  I paid $3 for one can.

Alcohol content: 8.25

Calories: 248

T and T score: 90

This instantly jumped into my upper 10 favorites.  Can't say I'd pay to have it be my daily drinker, but it's an awesome one to keep in the fridge and show off when you have the guys over.  It's definitely a stout, but is a surprisingly mellow finish.  It's the first true stout that didn't leave me feeling like I'd just had Thanksgiving dinner.  Basic overall....  Even at $3 a beer, well worth the price.

http://southernstarbrewing.com/beers/year-round-beers/buried-hatchet-stout/

Simple unique bookshelves for kids

Today's project is a set of book shelves for the Twins:

When I started this one, it was because I had some leftover 3/4" pine that was pretty roughed up.  It all began as 1x12's that had been used as garage shelves.  Everything was chopped down to either 1x2's or 1x6's.  The 1x2's became the trim/frame and the 1x6 material became the shelves and vertical supports. 

Tools I used for this project were:
Table saw (this tool can be forgone if you have/purchase 1x2's and 1x6's)
Miter saw (can be replaced with a good straight hand saw)
Jig saw (this is the only must have power tool)
Drill (used for the pilot holes for the jig saw)
Router (this is only used for the optional step "4")
Sand Paper
Finish nailer (of course a hammer and finish nails will do)
Wood glue
Paint (I used a good primer and a couple cans of spray paint)


Here's the original lumber:

1)  It was processed down to 1x2's and 1x6's:

 

2)  Next I sketched out my kids names on the vertical supports, two for each kid.  My vertical supports were 3' tall.  Small tip on this one: if you take the total height of the support and divide it by the number of letters in your child's name then mark a line for each letter, it'll make for more even spacing.  I also need more help sketching, so I added a thickness mark for the non rounded letters.  Before cutting out the names, look at the connection points of each letter to the adjacent letter.  I ended up needing to modify one or two points to have a stronger connection as to avoid breakage (ex. where the "M" meets the "O").

3)  Cut out the names.  No trick here, just get to work.

 

4)  I rounded the edges of the names using a router and sand paper.  This is completely optional.

5)  Because I was using 2 different colors for each shelf, I primed and painted all the lumber at this point.  This left only touch up after assembly.  However, if you are using only one color, I'd recommend priming and painting after assembly.

6)  Assembly.  This part will vary based on your preferences.  I've attached a drawing with the basic plan that I used.  But get creative, and let me know if you have a better plan.

7)  Kid you not....  Load it up with books and let the kids start destroying them.

   

This Blog is dedicated to these two little rascals.  My daughter (left) and my son (right).  They are the reason I started all this, so the first post should go to them.  They are 2 now, but this picture was taken at 3 days old.