You are here: Home / Archives for domestic zero
Jun 28, 2012

When Life Gives Your Zucchini, Make Zucchini Muffins

By ·

My mom visits an Amish auction about twice a month, where she can pick up fresh veggies, baking supplies, and sometimes even baked goods for a price far cheaper than any grocery store.

The last time she was there, I asked if she could pick up a couple zucchini for me – just a couple. I had plans to grow some of my own this year, before I discovered Cosmo is part dog and part goat, with a special taste for vegetable plants. Zucchini have been fairly rare at the grocery, and I was thinking a batch of muffins sounded good.

When my mom brought me my zucchini on Sunday, I was a little surprised to find 14 zucchini in the box! Even better, she bought the entire box for $1.50 AND she was disappointed because if she had waited for one of the later boxes she could have paid only $0.75! I reassured her that she still got quite a deal.

So now my fridge is filled with zucchini and I’m in baking mode.

Yes, you only see ten. Four have already been consumed or turned into the muffins behind them.

I’ve posted my zucchini muffin recipe before, but I think it’s worth re-posting. I’m domestically challenged, but even I can put these together and make them taste delicious. And I love that I’m getting my kids to eat vegetables. The first time I made these I didn’t tell the girls what was in them until they already liked the muffins. Now that they’re already hooked, they ask for zucchini muffins all the time. Parenting win!

Should you ever find yourself with a fridge full of zucchini, or even just a couple of them, give this recipe a try!

Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I prefer whole wheat flour)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon*
* substitute nutmeg or other spice here if you have a cinnamon allergy (my girls have mostly outgrown their intolerance to it)
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup natural applesauce (no sugar added)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar *
* you can use all white sugar if you like, but I prefer the addition of brown – go with your preference
3 teaspoons vanilla extract (REAL vanilla ONLY)
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1. Grease two muffin pans. (I use cooking spray.) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. Don’t have a sifter? A whisk works well enough.

3. Beat eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars together in a large bowl. Add sifted dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour or spoon into greased muffin pans, filling each space only 2/3 to 3/4 full to allow for expansion. (OK, I’ll be honest here. I top them off for bigger muffins.)

4. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan on racks for 20 minutes. Then remove muffins from pan and completely cool.

Cooling them while still in the pan is important. I found if I take them out of the pan too soon, they become hard on the outside.

If you’re going to keep these muffins around for more than a few days (good luck – they go fast here), store them in the fridge. A quick 5-10 sec. microwave zap will warm them up again.

They can also be frozen if you choose to make several batches due to getting 14 zucchini all at once. Just sayin’.

Also, while I may call it “my” recipe, it’s actually a slightly modified version of a zucchini bread recipe on AllRecipes.com. Changes to the original recipe included cutting the oil in half and substituting applesauce for the other half, using whole wheat flour, cutting back on the amount of sugar and using brown sugar. I’ve tried several variations on the recipe, including substituting 1/2 cup of ground flax seed for 1/2 cup of flour, and nearly every variation has still turned out well. It’s a great recipe to play with and make your own.

Added bonus: after baking these, your entire house smells delicious for the next 12 hours!

Filed Under: daily life, domestic zero, healthy living ·


May 4, 2012

Multi-tasking: Declutter AND Earn Cash

By ·

At the beginning of March, I had a grand idea to get the house cleaned up, get rid of a bunch of stuff we couldn’t/didn’t use anymore, and make this place feel all the larger for it.

Yeah, so, then I quickly got a new job and found myself busy again. Whoops.

Of course, I’m about as happy as someone could possibly be with my job, so there’s no complaining about work taking me away from my side projects. But I would like to start shifting some of my free time back to those to-do lists I created two months ago.

 The guest room pile o’ stuff that needs sorted and (most of it) removed.

To go along with that idea, this is also the season where money gets tight. Mira’s birthday (and birthday party) is at the end of this month. Aaron, my mother and I all have birthdays in June. And of course summer camp costs are hanging over us, reminding me why we don’t pay for private school during the school year.

So I’m combining tasks to get rid of things and hopefully get a little extra money in the process. I do not have the patience for a garage sale; when we’ve done them in the past, I just got angry at how little people were offering for already freakishly cheap stuff. I’m also not a fan of Craigslist because I get nervous about having people show up at my house if I might be the only one at home.

In Columbus, we have several used clothing and home goods stores that accept gently used products and pay out cash for them. In other cities, consignment stores might be the way to go. I prefer the cash on the spot places because I don’t want to risk the items coming back to my house, and don’t want to wait forever to find out if they sold or not.

I’m fairly experienced at turning some of our old junk into money, so I thought I’d share my strategy for getting a little extra cash in exchange for freeing my house of junk, just in case you ever thought about trying it yourself:

1. Sort the stuff you don’t want. Anything in good condition – free of stains and tears, no missing parts, and no serious signs of wear – goes in one pile. Anything beyond use is immediately thrown away. Everything else gets itemized and boxed up for a donation to Goodwill.

Remember: donations are still money for you, even if it takes awhile. If you keep track of what you donate and get a receipt, you can use it for a deduction on your taxes.

2. Polish up all of those items in your good condition pile. A few minutes of ironing, dusting, and wiping down your items can increase your chances of it being accepted and possibly even increase how much you’re offered for it. Any clothing should be clean, folded and free of lint or pet hair. Anything with accessories or extra parts should have the parts bundled together to keep them from getting lost. Check the requirements for the store you’re going to – some won’t accept items in boxes or bags and request fabric bins or plastic baskets.

3. Drop off your items. At the stores here in Columbus, you can wait in-store or stop back later in the day or the next day to see the results. You’ll probably have to sign an agreement for them to look over your items and free them from any liability should anything happen to your items while they’re looking them over. It’s mostly just a formality – any reputable place will keep your items behind the counter or within eyesight to keep others from picking through your goods.

Depending on how many others have dropped off items before you, there may be a wait to get your stuff evaluated. You’ll likely be given a receipt or some other way to link you to your stuff so there’s no confusion.

4. Get your offer. The stores I’ve gone to will separate the items they’d like to buy in a different basket. They show you the items and give you a total for what they’d like to buy. If you have questions about how much they’re offering for any single item, just ask. If you’re content with the offer, you’ll sign an acceptance form and be given your cash. If you’re at an consignment store, you’ll be shown which items they want to display in the store – you won’t get any money until an item sells.

Note: Don’t expect a lot of money. It’ll be better than a yard sale offering, but probably less than Craigslist. Usually you’ll get anywhere from 1/6 to 1/10 the original price of the item. But you also don’t have to write up an ad for each item, take photos of it, or sit out in your garage in the heat all day while someone asks you if you have change for a $20 so they can buy your Jonas Brothers CD for ten cents.

5. Take the unwanted stuff and immediately get rid of it. There will probably be some things that the store doesn’t want. There are lots of reasons for this – out of season, no demand, they already have five of them etc. Don’t fall into the trap of taking it back home and letting it sit around more – grab a bag or a box, make a list of the items and then drop it off at Goodwill or another charity organization. You didn’t want it in the first place, right? Then why take it back home to clutter up your house again? Get rid of it, get your charity receipt, and plan to add it to your tax deductions next January.

I’ve used this routine several times to get rid of kid clothing that both girls have outgrown. Just last week I dropped off a basket of clothing, a few DVDs the girls no longer watch, and some baby board books to Once Upon A Child (one of the kid resale shops here) and received $51 for it.

I only put an hour of work into cleaning out drawers, sorting and selecting items – not a bad return on my time, and that’s another basket’s worth of stuff out of our house!

In the next week, my goal is to begin cleaning out my closet and getting rid of all of the clothing that no longer fits me. I have several nice dresses, blouses and dress pants that might earn a little money, and I’ll be thankful to have more hangers available for the clothing I DO wear!

Filed Under: daily life, domestic zero, money ·


Apr 24, 2012

Adventures in Gardening

By ·

Three weeks ago, my friend Judith offered me a few seedlings from her vast garden beginnings. She has the touch with green things that I could only dream of having. She offered me several varieties, but I only took a small collection of cilantro, cucumbers, and peppers.

Oh, I wanted more – I have grand dreams of a big garden, providing my family with fresh vegetables, all grown by me. I did it one year, and while the yield was disappointing and I did kill, well…many of the plants, I felt like I learned a lot from the experience and knew I could probably do a lot better the next time.

But I also know that I can’t even keep my grass growing.

Still, trying again seemed like a good idea. So I brought home the little cups of seedlings, planning to give them all the love I could until any threat of frost had passed and they were ready to be placed in a well-tended bed of fresh soil and fertilizer.

It was warm that first week, so I set them outside during the day, placing them on our patio table to soak up some sunlight.

Mistake #1: I didn’t plan for him.

who, me?

Cosmo, the dog who never climbs or jumps, apparently has quite a taste for herbs and veggies and can use magic to extend his reach to the patio table. On day one, I glanced out the back door and saw him chomping down on a plastic cup. I raced outside to take it away from him, but it was too late – he’d already eaten the tiny sweet pepper plant entirely.

I moved the cups closer to the center of the patio table, far away from his reach. Later that day, after letting him out in the backyard again, I walked past the door and saw him with another cup between his paws. This plant had not been fully eaten, but sadly it’s injuries were more than it could handle and it passed away two days later.

Realizing I had a cow for a dog, I brought the others back inside and placed them on a table next to the kitchen window. I blamed Cosmo for the two early deaths, but I was committed to saving the others. It can’t be that hard to keep plants alive, right?

Mistake #2: turns out, watering a plant is harder than it looks.

Too little OR too much water will kill plants. They’re like Goldilocks – everything has to be just right. The cucumbers quickly gave up and opted for a quick reincarnation in some better person’s garden. One cilantro plant also curled up and died.

However, despite all that, I STILL have three cilantro plants and one sweet pepper seedling that made it through the early days. And on Sunday they were given their reward: they were moved to a planter.

moving day

I even gave them potting soil that states it helps prevent damage from under- or over-watering. It’s like the soil people knew I wanted to garden again this year. I’m still waiting on the Plants for Dummies line of gardening products. (Dummies brand, feel free to use me as your spokesperson. Or at least give me credit for the idea.)

The larger garden may still happen this summer, although I’ll likely have to build fencing around it until we can train the dog to not eat the garden. But for now my four little survivors are hanging out in a single planter that will remain in our front yard, safe from Cosmo the bovine-canine. Now they only have to endure me.

I never would have guessed that raising plants is harder than raising children. It’s a good thing my kids weren’t born green.

Filed Under: daily life, domestic zero, me me me ·


Mar 27, 2012

Apple Dumplings a la Me

By ·

When my old job was eliminated, one of the things I vowed to do was become more domestic. (It’s back there on that giant to-do list.) In our house, my husband is the cook. Yes, I have two hands and a brain to put together food, but somewhere between gathering the ingredients and removing it from heat, I generally screw something up to make a meal inedible.

Yes, I’ve actually burned water, if you count leaving water to boil on the stove too long so that it all boiled off and then the pot somehow caught fire.

The one exception is baking, where I tend to be a little better with results, but it can still be hit or miss.

Last week, Ree Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman, was in town for a book signing for her new book, The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food From My Frontier. A group of us gathered for dinner the night before, where I shared with Ree that I planned to use her cookbook to help me in my goal of learning to cook.

(Amy, Ree, Momo, Wenderly, and me)

When I told Cordy and Mira who I was going to see at the bookstore the next day, they insisted on coming along. Cordy has recently decided she wants to be “a sewer, a cooker, and a mom” when she grows up, and Mira echoed that she wants to be the same, but also a vet. I had planned to go alone, but since they were so excited I agreed.

Ree planned for that same small group of us to meet in private before the big signing. We got to the bookstore 45 minutes before the signing started, and already there was practically no parking and the store was jammed full of women holding Ree’s book and lining up to meet her. With Cordy in tow, I was very thankful we could meet in private – she can’t handle waiting in lines and crowds make her extremely anxious and flappy.

Of course, when finally given the opportunity to meet Ree and tell her how much they want to be “cookers” when they grow up, my girls clammed up. Well, Cordy was too distracted to say much more than hi, and Mira focused on Ree’s necklace while placing her hand directly on Ree’s boobs. Mira has a bad habit of trying to get someone’s attention by reaching up and putting her hand on someone’s belly, which as she’s grown has now extended her reach to boobs. Insert my horror in any public situation with her here.

But they did pose nicely for a photo.

Once home, the kids begged to start making food from the book. I put it off until the weekend, and for our first experiment, I picked something to bake: apple dumplings. Baking is my stronger skill, so I wanted to ease into it.

One thing I love about Ree’s book (and her blog) is the number of clear photos she has showing each step of the process. When you’re domestically challenged like me, this is very, very helpful.

The first step was peeling the apples. Um, wait, how do I do that? I grabbed a knife and muddled through it, ending with most of the apple still on the core and no sliced fingers. I’ll call that a success.

Aaron was better at it than me.

But when it came to coring the apples and slicing them into 8 equal slices, I turned to modern convenience:

Hey look, that’s easy!

Rolling the slices into the crescent roll dough wasn’t hard. Mira asked if she could help, picking it up faster than me.

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’…

We poured the sauce/syrup/whatever you want to call it mixture over the rolled up apples and then put it in the oven. The result?

Clearly, this will never be a food blog & I will never be a food photographer.

I gotta admit, it smelled amazing. And tasted pretty good, too.

OK, so it took the whole family to make apple dumplings (minus Cordy, who decided she really wasn’t that interested in it, but was still willing to taste test), but it was a good first start.

(Full disclosure: this isn’t really a review. I bought the book myself, and while I told Ree I planned to use the book to help me cook, she wasn’t expecting any kind of review. But if you ever meet her in person, you should ask her to show you what she can do with the Juicy Fruit app on her phone.)

Filed Under: Cordy, domestic zero, family time, me me me, Mira ·


Mar 19, 2012

Operation: Clean Up…or Not

By ·

So, those grand plans I had to get all kinds of things done while I was unemployed? Yeah, well, it’s hard to get those done when you’re offered a job a week later.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m beyond THRILLED to be offered a job, and even more so because I’ll be working with a dream team of people at BlogHerAds. It’s only a temporary assignment at the moment, but I plan to prove myself as useful as possible to them while I’m there. Or make them realize they can’t live without me. I do have some mad skillz, yo.

The grand reorganization and cleaning plan is temporarily on hold, or at best on a very extended, slow schedule. But I did already get one task accomplished. See these cups?

Yes, we could provide drinks for an army. And this photo doesn’t even include the sippy cups and kid cups.

These were all the cups cluttering up our kitchen cabinets. The task was to find matching lids for all of them, followed by getting rid of all of the cups missing lids and those that were too worn out to continue staying with us.

After a couple of hours of work, I collected an entire trash bag full of plastic cups to be recycled. Some had no lids, some were lids with no cups to match, and some were older sports bottles and cups from the pre-BPA-free days.

But the results of my efforts were impressive.

What was originally a crowded mess spread across two cabinets is now one cabinet, nicely sorted into kid cups on the bottom level, sports bottles, travel mugs and cold drink cups in the middle, and collectibles on the top row. (With room for more stuff later on the top row.) Success!

Next step? Sorting all of the plastic food storage containers and lids to find matches. The plastic cups were just a warmup to that main event. It might take a few weeks. Or I might scream in frustration, throw them all out and start fresh. We’ll see.

Oh, and I did finish watching all of season one of Downton Abbey. So I guess that’s two things off the list.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: daily life, domestic zero, the J-O-B ·