One of the things I have been focusing on is vermicomposting, or using worms to turn kitchen scraps into nutrient dense fertilizer. The entire idea is wholly amazing, since I hate wasting anything and enjoy the prospect of a steady supply of all-natural fertilizing for my houseplants.

1 pound of worms + the homemade bin came in at just under $40. Here’s the investment breakdown

• $23.00 – Worms
• $7.50 – 35 gallon Rubbermaid bin
• $1.00 – Windows screening
• $1.00 – Duct tape
• $3.00 – Paving blocks to elevate bin
• $3.00  – Drip catchers for under bin

Glue Gun Annie has a great article on making a bin out of styrofoam cooler. My design was a bit more complicated, with screening all over the place, because we’ve had an issue with houseflies in the extremely humid summer. I took a few pictures, but will hold off until my wormy friends get here!

It’s not that it didn’t soften my hair – it did indeed – but it also puffed it. I had Dolly Parton hair for a few days. Unless it goes limp, I think I’ll avoid it.

With the ale, I tried a “soak” to add a bit of extra shine and softness. I need to try it independently next week to see if it actually does anything, but, in short, it was heavily brewed chamomile tea (allowed to cool) with honey. If nothing else, it made my hair smell good.

Tonight, I tried out my mom’s suggestion for mayonnaise as a conditioner. I think it probably worked better than “real” conditioner! I beat up eggs with a drizzle of lavender-infused olive oil and a bit of ground cloves. This doubled as a really nice shaving cream, too, which left my legs silky smooth. I think next time I’ll leave out the olive oil, though, since my hair looks like I added a bit too much styling gel.

Back to the topic at hand, the cleansing. Tonight, I did pretty much the same thing as last time. Soaked my hair under warm water and combed it straight. Soaked it again, since it got a bit dry during the combing, and combed it into a center part. I mixed a tablespoon of baking soda with a cupful warm water, turned off the shower and poured it over my hair. Then I combed it through, making sure to break up all the clumps and work it over my scalp.

I needed three rinses of 1 part apple cider vinegar to 4 parts water. My hair fluffed up very nicely. Then, a rinse with cool water and (you guessed it) more combing. If nothing else, I won’t be constantly shedding throughout the day, and (I think) I finally got rid of all the little soap beads that were taking over my scalp.

The really unfortunate side effect of all this is my hair-line skin is having a tough time adjusting to my hair’s new-found natural oils. I have a mini-breakout up there and am none too happy about it. But, I am resisting the urge to reach for the Clearasil and will wait this one out. It’s already better than it was two days ago.

This morning I woke with fairly “funky” hair. It was heavy and blah. I jumped in the shower, soaked it and combed it straight. Then I dumped about a tablespoon of baking soda into the cup. I added enough water to make a liquid – not a paste – and poured it down the center part of my hair. (It was here I discovered baking soda in the eyes HURTS).

Next, I used my wide toothed comb to run it from crown to roots. Maybe I should have used a bit more because my hair is still a bit oily at the bottom. I rinsed with 2 rounds of 1 part vinegar and 4 parts of water, combed again, and did a final rinse with cold water. And another 5 minutes of combing brushing.

I think this evening I’m going to acquire a bottle of dark ale and use that as a rinse tomorrow. It may help even things out. I remember using it way back when to make my hair softer when it got too dry.

Bleach is toxic. Just read the back of the bottle and you’ll see warnings about inhalation and irritation. Don’t even consider ingesting it. So why are we using it on something that touches baby’s butt? Probably because it’s the most expedient way to clean a diaper. Bleach literally strips everything from the top of cloth…including the top of the cloth. When my flat folds (which I use as an “extra” soaker inside prefolds) started developing worn spots and little rips, I put 2 and 2 together.

Here’s the better way. Remember, I use the “about that much” measuring system. This applies mainly to wet diapers. There’s a note on soiled diapers afterward.

Get a bucket. I got mine at a local donut shop, which sells it’s empty 5-gallon buckets from Boston Creme or Raspberry Filling for $2.50 a piece (side note: after a run through the dishwasher and an air drying session, these work well for long term storage of bulk flour, sugar and whatever else you keep a lot of). Then pull out the industrial size box of Borax (about $2.75 at Wal-Mart).

Fill a bucket with water and add a half-cup of Borax. Use this to soak your diapers until the bucket is full. Then, use a paint stirrer, large spoon or something other long, flat device to swish around the diapers for a few minutes. Drain off the water.

Add the diapers to a laundry load with barely dirty whites, such as towels and undershirts. Add a quarter cup of Borax instead of detergent. Run the load on a normal cold-water cycle with an additional rinse. If you don’t have access to a washing machine, or just don’t want to use one, add cold water, swish, drain and wring out the diapers.

Throw them over a clothes line/drying rack/porch railing/etc. Sun-drying is a good idea, as it will “bleach” the cloth and let any existing scents “air” out. It also costs less than running a drier and doesn’t generate heat (good or bad, depending on your climate).

Soiled diapers need to be washed first, so remove any solid waste. You may want to do these separately or wash them by hand in a sink-full of hot water to remove any stains, since Borax isn’t guaranteed to remove the soil spots. You may also want to skip the hand washing entirely, depending on how many soiled diapers your baby generates. Just remove any solid waste and run it through the wash. Soiled diapers usually need two runs through the washing machine, though. I run one load on a heavy-duty cycle with hot water and a second cycle on a short/casual with cold water.

Now, shampoo may or may not be the big evil of our time, but it’s expensive, chemical-laden and natural-oil stripping. The modern idea of “squeaky clean” hair is counter-productive to hair health and, according to some au natural mom’s, actually causes more oil production. My hair is always a bit dry and frizzy, so if this offers any hope for avoiding defrizzers on humid days, I’m game.

You need baking soda (about $5 for a 5 pound bag at Sam’s Club), apple cider vinegar (about $1 for a 12 ounce bottle at Wal-Mart) and a cup for mixing. I’m using a mason jar. Before I hopped in the shower, I put about two tablespoons of baking soda in the mason jar. Then I dipped my toothbrush in and brushed my teeth (sidenote: baking soda left my teeth cleaner and whiter than the $4 “whitening paste” without the fake-mint taste).

The actual hair washing is something that will take getting used to. Sources say to add just enough water to make a paste. Spread the paste throughout your roots – I guessed these are the same “roots” as those used in a dye touch up – and massage it in small, circular motions with your fingertips.

I did this for a while, possibly longer than necessary, until I didn’t have any more clumps of paste. The next step was more gratifying than the lather of shampoo.

Mix a tablespoon of the apple cider vinegar with one cup of water (I used “about that much” measurements). Slowly rinse the baking soda out and rinse the remainder of your hair with it. The baking soda vinegar mix resulted in a satisfying bubbling sensation as the base and acid interacted. It was like a mini-effovescent massage for my scalp. I used more vinegar-water mix until the bubbling stopped.

Finally, I rinsed with warm water, towel dried and combed the tangles out.

Day 1 results aren’t so great. My hair feels heavy and oily. It’s hard to comb, but not as prone to tangles and frizzing as usual. I’ve read hair needs at least a week to adjust to normal oil production, so I plan to keep thos up for about two weeks before making any real decision. I’ll also be playing around with different methods, like a baby pwder shaker for the baking soda and a squirt bottle for the vinegar.

But, when used correctly chest freezers are a great way to store up months worth of food so you can skip going to the grocers for all but milk and eggs (and not even those two if you’re organized enough). In a future post, I’ll go over a very unscientific method for choosing a chest freezer and how to organize it. For now, let’s talk about 10 things you can – and should – store in your family’s chest freezer.

1. Meat

Of course meat. The first thing most people think of when imagining a chest freezer is a solid block of frozen venison. Considering the size, depth and super-freezing power of these appliances, they’re a prime candidate for meat. And lots of it. To avoid the chest freezer clutter, keep your meat organized (in boxes or baskets) and wrapped in almost single-meal portions.

2. Vegetables

For the avid gardener, a freezer is a wonderful excuse to grow more than you need. In a bumper season, you can easily keep your freezer stocked well enough to last you throughout the year. Chest freezers are also great spots to store super-sale frozen veggies. Despite my inclination toward gardening, my freezer holds more Birdseye and Green Giant than home grown produce. Whenever the grocer has a 10 for 10 sale, I invest $20 to $30 in frozen veggies and dump them in so we never have to run out at the last minute.

3. Fruit

Later in the year, I’m sure I’ll have an innumerable amount to say about my canning festivities. Jams, jellies, pie fillings, sauces, preserves…you name it. There comes a certain point, though, where the pantry shelves are so shoved full of mason jars that I can’t justify one more batch of currant jelly. But, I can’t waste all the hard harvesting work, so I vacuum seal them up and throw the bags in the freezer for later use in muffins, pancakes or snacking. Like vegetables, store bought bags of fruit store beautifully in the freezer as well.

4. Flours and Sugars

Pests, mold and general grimy flavors abound when a large bag of flour is left out. To stop this, you usually need to buy smaller bags, which can cost nearly twice as much per pound as the large versions. Instead, clear out a large, dedicated spot in your freezer for the 50 pound econobag of flour or sugar and scoop out what you need as you go through what’s in your pantry.

5. Baking Supplies

Like flours and sugars, baking supplies such as baking powder and cornmeal can get funky when left out. I prefer to keep the boxes in a zip-top bag tucked away in my freezer. I keep a box on hand and stock up during sales. When I run out, I just pluck a new one from the freezer instead of making a trip to the store.

6. Butter, Cream and Buttermilk

As odd as it sounds, all of the above store beautifully in the freezer. Since these are also prime candidates for sale stock-ups, just pick up as much as your budget allows and drop them in your freezer. For cream and buttermilk, you will need a bit of advanced planning to use them. You can either pull them out the day before and let them thaw in the fridge or drop them in a bowl of warm water (not the best solution for cardboard containers).

7. Bread

Bread goes on sale inordinately often. While I don’t use this one personally, several chest freezer loving friends drop a dozen loafs in the freezer at once when they hit $.75 a piece. Bread takes about a day to thaw, and might be a little drier when it comes out. Despite the shortcomings, it’s perfect for french toast, plain toast or any other kind of toasty creation.

8. Unbaked Baked Goods

Part of the fruit oversupply I mentioned before, especially apples, is a great candidate for frozen unbaked baked goods. I mass produce pies (using the flour and butter I have tucked away for the crusts), wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them on the bottom of my kitchen freezer. Once they’re nice and firm, I can stack them in my chest freezer for later use. This also works for banana bread, muffin mix or cookie dough.

9. TV Dinners (aka leftovers)

Heavy duty paper plates and vacuum sealers make this one possible. Once the food has cooled, portion out the extras, vacuum seal them and stack them in the freezer. When you need one, pull it out and microwave it until it’s hot. It never tastes as good the second time around, but it’s much cheaper (and healthier) than store bought convenience meals.

10. Milk and Eggs

I mentioned them at the start. Milk, like cream, freezes extremely well. Just pour off a cup from a full gallon or half gallon, replace the cap and set it in the freezer. Pull it out two to three days before you’ll need it to thaw in the fridge.

Eggs, on the other hand, are a hassle but well worth if it you come across a good deal. Crack and beat the eggs. Pour the whipped eggs into ice cube tracks and freeze in your kitchen freezer. Once they’re solid, store them in a freezer-grade zip-top bag or vacuum seal them. There are some tips and tricks for freezing (and thawing) eggs on the Georgia Eggs website.

Since that’s what’s on my mind, the first edition of Mommy Monday is on homemade, kid-safe cold remedies. I can get my kids to drink these if they’re sick. When they’re feeling better, I have to say, only my eldest daughter would touch them.

Honey Water

This is an old basic standby. My kids would drink this even if they weren’t sick, but because it’s so high in sugar it’s taboo in my low-carb house for everything but sore throats. Honey has long been known for it’s soothing properties, although if you use too much your little one (or you) may end up with a stomach ache. This is also good for very mild coughs resulting from a sore or dry throat or a runny nose.

Mix 1 tablespoon of honey with 6 ounces of filtered, boiling water. A dash or two of sea salt is optional, but helpful. Add another 2 ounces of cold water or equivalent in ice cubes to bring the temperature down to a drinkable level (about 170 degrees). Drink once per hour.

Saltwater Gargle

Like honey water, a saltwater gargle is a traditional sore throat or mild cough cure. Salt kills the bacteria in the throat and rehydrates dry tissue. The first gargle will probably sting, but after that it will just feel better. Don’t be surprised if your child spits up some very nasty looking phlegm. More than likely, this is from his runny which caused the sore throat in the first place. This isn’t a very good remedy for young children, who will swallow it instead of gargling.

Dissolve sea salt (or plain or kosher salt) in 3 to 4 ounces of hot water. Gargle with it for 10 to 15 seconds, spit and repeat until it’s all gone.

Lemon Balm Tea

Lemon balm is, without a doubt, one of my favorite herbs. True to its name, it has a wonderful earthy-lemon scent and is useful around the house for all kinds of things from mosquito repellents to congestion. In large quantities, it has an almost Lemon-sol scent, but, for a tea, it just smells great. The tea helps with sore throats, mild coughs and slightly upset stomachs.

One drawback of lemon balm is that it’s nearly impossible to find in stores. However, it’s a wickedly hardy perennial that will grow like a weed year after year to produce a nearly constant supply after April. I make up a large batch and either reheat as necessary or leave it over low heat on the stove.

Fill a sauce pan halfway full of lemon balm leaves. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of honey and a few dashes of sea salt. Cover with filtered water and bring to a boil. Sip throughout the day as needed.

Honey, Ginger and Lemon Tea

This Big Three combo is sold everywhere in tea bags, as cough drops and as cough liquids, and with good reason. When put together, this trio will stop even a severe cold (or mild flu) dead in its tracks. I won’t claim it has a curative property, although, in my experience, it stops coughs, eases upset stomachs and puts my kids right to sleep.

The ginger taste is extraordinarily overwhelming, so young children unaccustomed to the taste might need a bit of coaxing (or extra honey). This was also excellent for my morning sickness during the first and second trimesters, but drinking too much, too fast can make nausea turn into a stomach ache.

Peel and dice 2 inches of fresh ginger root. Slice a small lemon into 1/2 inch sections. Add both to an 8 ounce mug (or glass) and drizzle with 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of honey. Top with boiling water, stir and cover until it’s cool enough to hold. Hold the glass and breathe in the vapors until it’s cool enough to drink. Drink once an hour (twice an hour for severe upset stomachs).

Candied Ginger (Sugar Ginger)

Some colds cause a runny nose so bad nausea starts up. In this case, candied ginger is a great way to soothe it. If your child has a severe sore throat, though, this isn’t the best remedy as chewing the ginger can make it worse. Slice a piece up into JollyRancher sized sections and chew it slowly.

For older kids with molars and no braces, several stores like Trader Joe’s and World Market sell a candy called Ginger Chews. These are exceptionally gingery and work just as well on nausea. They come individually wrapped, so you can carry them around for pregnancy-induced nausea, and kids are more receptive because they’re “candy.”

Ice with Apple Juice

Yes, that way, not the other way around. For some reason, 100% apple juice is an excellent way to calm vomiting from the stomach flu, and all but the pickiest of children will take to it immediately. I have no idea why this works, but it’s the first thing we turn to when our kids get pukey. Store bought “electrolyte replacements” are usually laden with Splenda, something we just don’t want our kids drinking if they don’t have to. You should use 100%, not from concentrate apple juice, and, of course, homemade is best, but even frozen concentrates will work in a pinch.

Fill a sippy cup or sports bottle with ice. Add enough apple juice to cover the ice. Sip once every 5 to 10 minutes.

Steam

This fixes just about everything but vomiting. We use it liberally along with Vicks Vaporub on all of our kids – even the baby. If you use a humidifier, make sure it’s clean. After every use, you should run through a small bottle of vinegar, cycle it once more with tap water and dry it thoroughly to prevent mildew build-up.

If you don’t have a humidifier, turn the shower on as hot as it will go, close the bathroom doors and turn the water off once your bathroom is a sauna. Or boil water, pour it into a deep, plastic bowl and breathe in the steam. Or skip the ice cubes and let them breathe it in until it cools. The Lemon Balm Tea is particularly amazing for steaming before drinking.

It’s time to do laundry. You reach up to the shelf to grab the detergent and remember, to your shock and horror, you’d used the last of it during a groggy, late-night laundry session. Your kids have no more clean clothing and you need to get them dressed ASAP. Do you

a) Run next door and beg for a cap full of laundry detergent?

b) Put your kid(s) in the most suitable PJs you can find and make a mad dash to the store?

c) Turn the water up to “kill everything alive” temperature  and hope for the best?

d) Dig through your pantry for something that could make detergent?

Results?

a) You have very nice, understanding, compassionate neighbors.

b) You need to brush up on your frugality.

c) You put too much trust in the power of the ultra-high temperature wash.

d) You understand that frugality means making due with what you have before spending money on a more convenient solution.

Of course, I’m a fan of D. It’s not that I don’t want to spend the money on laundry detergent. I just didn’t plan on doing it today and can probably find an adequate substitute in the mean time.

TipNut.com, a site that contains oodles of useful and thrifty information, offers 10 (count ‘em, ten) recipes for homemade laundry detergent. Today, when I discovered I was bereft of detergent, I took advantage of Recipe #8. It was ludicrously easy to make and, it seems, pretty darn cheap. I quartered the recipe to fit into a half-gallon liquid detergent bottle, and didn’t follow the directions exactly – I didn’t have the time to actually melt the soap – but it still worked great.

• Hot water
• 1/4 bar soap (I used Dial)
• 1/2 cup baking soda

Use a table knife to chop up the soap. Older, dryer soap will flake more easily. Drop it in the bottle.

Pour in the baking soda.

Fill the bottle slowly with water, to prevent the soap from bubbling. Replace the cap and give it a quick shake.

I had “excessively soiled” laundry, so I used two cap-fulls. The laundry came out smelling like a delightful nothing, which is much better than the Bohemian Market, Cascading Waterfall or Early Morning Wake-up scents that come in some commercial detergents.

When you’re shopping on a budget, these are the questions that haunt you. The big, colorful sale signs work hard to convince you it’s a good deal and, unfortunately often, they work. You’ll cave — especially if it’s something enticing — because you save a measly buck.

This is the reason I have a mental “will buy if” price list. This list contains common, everyday foods such as meats, produce and dairy. It also encompasses the lowest market price of foods that are never or rarely on sale.

Our grocery list is elastic. We’re open to a wide variety of foods, so if one “staple” isn’t cheap enough on a certain week, I just skip it. Broccoli was expensive — $1.79 per pound — during my last shopping trip. We aren’t eating broccoli this week.

The benefit (and drawback) of a will buy if list is it forces you to examine common conceptions about you and your family’s diet. My husband never believed we could live without bread, but I haven’t purchased a loaf in over 4 weeks. If we need it, I bake it. Otherwise, we eat something else.

There’s always something cheap enough to fit into your budget. A narrow shopping list isn’t necessarily repetitive since you can prepare the same food in hundreds of different ways. The Way of Frugality demands you hone your culinary skills and keep your spice cabinet well stocked.

Grocer

• 2 x coconut milk – $2.58
• 5 lbs red potatoes – $0.99
• 1lb mushrooms – $1.99
• 1lb strawberries – $2.99
• 1 bunch dill – $0.99
• 1 cucumber – $0.50
• 2.45 lbs apples – $1.20
• 1 bag spinach – $1.79
• .77 lbs baby bok choy – $0.92
• 8 kiwi – $0.99
• 1lb baby carrots – $1.49
• 1 bag romaine heart – $1.99
• 3.48lbs asparagus – $6.93
• 2.86lbs pears – $1.97
• .52lbs green peppers – $0.67
• 3.16lbs bananas – $1.86
• 1 bunch green onions – $0.43
• .59lbs red peppers – $0.82
• .16lbs fresh garlic – $0.27
• 1 package blackberries – $2.99
• 1 cantaloupe – $1.99
• Half-gallon Oberweiss whole milk – $3.59
• Bottle deposit – $1.50

Total with Tax : $43.18

If you’re wondering where all the meat is, it’s in our freezer. Last week, we picked up our quarter cow (about 180 pounds of beef) and a few months ago we purchased a case of chicken breast at Sam’s Club (about 50 pounds). Within the next few weeks, we’ll be getting half a pig.

These kinds of bulk purchases cost a lot up-front, but they cut down on weekly grocery bills. The case of chicken, for example, cost about $65. If I cut $25 out of my grocery bill for three weeks, I’ve saved enough to cover the bulk purchase (and then some).

The Reese’s Croutons listed on the receipt are part of someone else’s errand.

I also purchased 2 cans of formula at a little under $13.00 a pop for baby this week. Grand total comes in just under $70.

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Original in Good Housekeeping

Meals for the Many of Moderate Means

By the author of “The Cooking School Textbook,” “Practical American Cookery, etc., etc.

Given the question, “How to apply experience gained under favorable conditions to those least promising,” and we have, in brief, the problem recently propounded by a reader of Good Housekeeping to its editor. Young married couples living in the plainest way, students working their way through universities, people engaged in occupations filling nearly the entire working day—all handicapped by limited resources of money and materials, with scant working facilities and more, scanty knowledge; how can they secure the comfort of well-cooked daily food when this is a rarity in many prosperous households? No question that such people need the most nutritious fare and sanitary surroundings; for to them we look for the future bone and sinew of our nation. Vigorous health, fine brains, and moral stamina can proceed only from that perfect physical condition that results from right living. So far as the published testimony of investigators shows, the habitual fare of the mass of unskilled workers in every line of manual labor is deficient in variety and quality. Bread and tea for the women and children, varied with beer and an occasional bit of meat for the men, seem to be the prevalent foods; and the bread is usually bought at the bake-shop, and lacks the strengthening properties of good, home-made bread, the general reason given for using baker’s bread being lack of time or knowledge for making bread at home. In the poorest households, where fuel is scant, it is not easy to make good risen or leavened bread, because considerable heat is required to ferment the leaven in cold weather, as well as to bake the bread. Even under such circumstances, it would be better to take advantage of any burning of fuel for heating purposes to bake bread or biscuit made with baking-powder or soda, or to cook the old fashioned bannock or griddle-cake over the fire when the quantity is insufficient to heat the oven. This point will be treated fully later.

When there is no undue scarcity of fuel, the nationality of the household caterer will have much to do with the character of the food. The New Englander is prone to return to the salt pork and Indian meal porridge or hasty-pudding of the forefathers; the Southern or Western economist will naturally revert to bacon and hominy or pone; and new comers from mid-Europe recall their national kitchen-lore with better results. When any such local culinary experience is brought to bear upon the subject of providing cheap and palatable food, the end is not apt to be hopeless. It is from the inexperienced, the careless, the lazy and indifferent women of families that the worst effects proceed. As a matter of fact, much food is wasted by just such women among working people. Suggestions would be thrown away upon the careless class; but where only lack of knowledge is the cause of waste and discomfort, the outlook is more encouraging. When there is not a large family, and the woman has no special work outside that of the household, there is plenty of time to devote to the application of good and sure methods for improving the table. There need be no guess-work in this direction.

It would be strange, indeed, if ten years’ experiments in this work had not developed methods applicable to every possible contingency. While we cannot hope to cover the entire field in this series of articles, the reader will do well to bear in mind the fact that, eventually, all the experience of the writer will be collected and published in book form, thus giving the working people of America a manual of domestic economy worthy of their best attention. The readers of Good Housekeeping, can forward our present purpose greatly if they will lend a hand in any one of the following ways: To enable us to discuss the subject intelligently, the people in whose interest we write will do well to send all possible information concerning the line of food they habitually purchase, the utensils they use in cooking, the cheapest and most abundant of their local supplies, the kind of recipes that would prove most acceptable to them, how long time they have for preparing the different meals, and the time of day when they can give the greatest attention to cookery. One point we shall seek to cover is the preparation of dishes in the space of half or three-quarters of an hour.

Pending the receipt of the desired information, we shall apply to defined conditions experiments which have already proved successful in various localities. If there is only flour and salt to work with, it is of no consequence that, fifty miles away, the markets teem with dainties innumerable. The cookery of the flour and salt, in more than one form, is of more present consequence than the preparation of feasts for the gods.

Since the publication of the author’s “Fifteen and Twenty-five Cent Dinners,” there have been many attempts to throw light upon this side of the domestic question. Much discussion has been called forth by various admirable schemes for economical living, and some writers of acknowledged ability have pronounced some of the best of these schemes impracticable. The greater their emphasis, the more apparent their lack of knowledge upon this vital point; perfectly practicable plans seem futile to them, because they have never attempted to demonstrate them. In all discussions a certain class of minds sum up the entire range of possibilities by asserting that results cannot be attained because they have not reached them individually. All the same, the stubborn fact remains that someone else has done so. When an ambitious novice proclaims aloud that Ten Dollars is not enough, what are we to do with the fact that one of the best authorities on economical living has personally proven that it is abundant provision? What are we to say to the fact that there are thousands of families in the country who live comfortably on half that amount?

If we economists are to be allowed to live in the same world with the egg and cream cooks, we must range ourselves on the side of the greater number of working housekeepers who are daily solving this problem with greater or less satisfaction. Our aim must be to define certain tried methods applicable to the situation, of sufficient general interest to fit all localities where the ordinary necessaries of life are staples. For our present purpose luxuries must go to the wall, and the simplest of palatable fare come to the fore which can be made to sustain the vigor required for hard, daily work. For, in the world we now seek to enter, all are workers,—the men abroad, the women at home, or in shops and factories, save those who alternate between the care of the family and the remunerative labor they can accomplish in the intervals of the necessary housekeeping. The extreme deprivation of poverty lies as far out of our way as the fatness of the land.

With a fair provision of the most plentiful and least expensive articles of food, the point to be attained is that treatment of them which will best serve the needs of hard workers. Such needs made known by our readers, and their individual difficulties defined clearly, will greatly forward this endeavor. Within a certain limit of supply, the effort will be to increase attractiveness in all dishes, and give them fresh variety and zest. If meat can be used only two or three times a week, the alternate days must be provided with savory, hearty dishes, satisfactory to the appetite and strengthening to the body. Many of the hardest workers in Europe eat but little meat. Hardy and vigorous they could not remain were it not for the culinary resources which their women folk bring to bear upon their meagre supplies. If such resources as we may suggest differ from familiar American methods, a fair trial is asked before judgment is pronounced against even the least promising. Let there be no exclamations against either method or material until the dish, made strictly in accordance with the recipe, has been found uneatable.

In this connection the wish constantly arises that we might personally assist at the first cookery of every doubtful edible. If we say that portions of a haslet can be cooked which people have habitually relegated to cats and dogs, there need be no outcry that we are seeking to feed human beings on substances fit only for beasts. In far-away country places, butchers throw away as uneatable the sweetbreads for which city gourmands pay seventy-five cents a pair. So, if we can, by the use of vinegar and other condiments, give tenderness and savor to any substance hitherto considered uneatable, we shall have gone one step towards saving money to spend in another direction. The man who still prefers to buy porter-house steak is perfectly free to do so. He does not need the suggestions we propose to offer here.

After all, the choice of food is purely a question of taste and fancy. The classic gourmand fed his slaves to his lampreys, and thought his feast improved thereby. The siege of Paris gave the greatest resident masters of the culinary art ample scope for the exercise of their marvelous powers of transformation, and the selle du cheval and quartier du chien rôti were certainly less promising at their inception than any portion of our inoffensive haslet; and yet the diner du siège contented the members of the Paris Jockey Club.

The fresh condition of any article of food is of far greater importance than its origin. Unless a sixth sense has been cultivated for the appreciation of such food, none bearing the least taint should be eaten; nor should two foods of unequal freshness be mingled in one dish. This important point will be exemplified later, especially in connection with the use of canned goods.

A Plain Dinner

Those who have the smallest provision in the way of variety in food and utensils call for our immediate attention, and to them our first consideration must be given. Begin with the supposition that one room serves as kitchen and dining-room, and that the heartiest meal consists of one hot dish, with potatoes or one other vegetable, and bread and some simple beverage. We will suppose that there are on hand flour, baking-powder, salt and pepper, vinegar, a little butter or sweet drippings—and much care must be given to augmenting the reserve of the latter—a small supply of meat, with a good provision of potatoes and bread. A hot meal is to be cooked without too large a fire, and without making the room uncomfortable for eating. The most savory, nutritious, and abundant meal which can be made from these materials is composed of a stew with dumplings, boiled or baked potatoes, and hot biscuit. By combining the meat with dumplings in the form of a stew, two advantages are secured. A smaller quantity of meat so cooked will satisfy the appetite as well as double the quantity cooked by baking, broiling, frying, or boiling without a sauce or gravy, and it will be in the condition best suited for immediately satisfying the sense of hunger and assisting the process of digestion. The savory sauce or gravy imparts to the dumplings the flavor and some of the nutritious properties of the meat. The potatoes might be cooked in the stew, if there were no facilities for boiling or baking them; but, then our object of providing variety would be thwarted. For this end the biscuits are suggested. The cost is but a trifle, and they replace the bread which would be eaten in their absence. With the addition of a little cheese, fresh fruit in season, any inexpensive canned fruit or preserve, or, better yet, apple-sauce made from evaporated apples, the meal would be complete.

Meat Stew with Dumplings

As the stew requires the longest cooking, we will devote our first attention to it. The meat, being freed from bits of paper, straw, or bone-dust by carefully wiping it with a damp cloth, should be cut in inch pieces, saving all the fat upon it, and put over the fire in boiling water, with a little salt—about three pints of water to a pound of meat. The saucepan should be placed where its contents can boil gently and continuously until the meat begins to grow tender. If the meat is tough, add a tablespoonful of vinegar to each pint of water used in cooking it, and do not salt it much until it is tender; while an excess of salt has a tendency to harden the fiber of meat, vinegar undoubtedly softens it. When the meat is tender, drain it, saving the broth; roll it in dry flour, seasoned with salt and pepper. If any fat has been cut from the meat, as directed above, put it into the saucepan or pot used in cooking the meat, after first wiping the pot dry; if there is no fat, use two heaping tablespoonfuls of sweet drippings or lard,— butter would increase the cost of the dish. As soon as the fat begins to smoke, put in the meat, thickly covered with flour, and quickly brown it; then return to the saucepan the broth in which the meat was boiled ; if there is not enough to make a good gravy, add boiling water, season the gravy highly with salt and pepper, and place the saucepan where the stew will simmer gently while the dumplings are being prepared. These and the biscuits can be made at the same time.

Baking Powder Biscuits

For a dozen biscuits and the same number of small dumplings, sift together three pints of flour, three heaping teaspoonfuls of any good baking-powder, and one of salt. Test the oven by putting a piece of white paper in it and closing the door; if the paper takes fire, the oven is too hot; open the ventilator or door to cool it, until the white paper becomes only yellow without burning—or apply the same test to flour. If a little dried flour laid on the bottom of the oven burns or smokes, the oven is too hot ; if it remains white or assumes a pale, yellow color, there is not enough heat; the proper temperature will turn the flour golden or yellowish brown. It would be well to make the oven test while the meat is being cooked, that no time be lost in waiting after it is done. When the oven is ready, butter a baking-pan, and flour a pastry-board and biscuit-cutter. Into the prepared flour chop or rub a little shortening—good lard, sweet drippings, or the more expensive butter, a heaping tablespoonful to a pint of flour—and then quickly stir in enough cold water to form a dough, only firm enough to be cut into biscuits and dumplings. First dip a dessert spoon into the sauce of the stew; with it take up a small portion of the dough, and drop it into the stew; repeatedly wet the spoon in the sauce, and form the necessary dumplings; cover the saucepan, and let them cook. After thus shaping the dumplings, as quickly as possible turn the rest of the dough out on the floured pastry-board ; rapidly flatten it about an inch thick, cut it into biscuits, lay them on the buttered pan, brush the tops with a little milk or water, and put them at once into the oven to bake. Their success will depend upon the rapidity with which the dough is cut out and baked after the flour is wet. Remember in using baking-powder that, as soon as it is wet, a gas begins to rise from it, which fills the dough with little bubbles or air-cells, and these are lost as the volatile gas escapes from them. The gas does escape very quickly, and, unless the dough can be fixed in substance by the heat of the oven while the gas is still rising, the biscuit will be thin and heavy. Therefore do not wet the flour until the oven is ready, and then work as fast as possible until the biscuits are in the oven.

Mealy Potatoes

After the meat has been put to cook, carefully wash the potatoes in plenty of cold water with a soft cloth or brush; if they are to be boiled, peel off a small ring of the skin from each, and leave them in fresh, cold water. Half an hour before they are wanted for the table, put them over the fire in plenty of salted, boiling water, and boil them until they can be easily pierced with a fork, but not until they begin to break open; fifteen minutes for small potatoes, twenty to twenty-five for large ones, will be long enough to boil them to this point. When they are tender, drain them; cover them with a clean towel, folded; set the saucepan where the potatoes cannot burn, and keep them hot until they are needed for the table. For baking, carefully wash them, but do not peel them, and allow at least a half hour in a hot oven for medium-size potatoes. Serve them as soon as they are done, as they deteriorate if they stand after they are soft.

—Juliet Corson.