Homemade Poppy Seed Bread

As you all know I love to bake from scratch. Here is another recipe that my whole family loves. When I make this recipe I almost always make a double batch and make 4 loaves right away, because my husband is the first to eat almost a whole loaf. So today I will give you my recipe for Poppy Seed Bread.

Poppy Seed Bread

1 Package Yellow or White cake mix                                 4 eggs

1 3 oz. package instant vanilla pudding                              1 cup hot water

½ cup canola oil                                                                1/4 cup poppy seeds

Beat all ingredients together for 4 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes in 2 greased and floured pans. This bread is quick and easy to make. The bread comes out moist and delicious.

Enjoy a nice loaf of warm Poppy Seed Bread today. More family recipes coming soon from Suzie Homemaker.

Homemade Quilts vs Store bought Quilts

How many of you have quilts on your beds during the winter? I know I do and so do my children. Today I would like to talk to you about quilts and how expensive they are. The last time my mother-in-law bought me a quilt I had to look twice and say that’s a quilt. I took one look and said it’s so thin how can this possibly be a quilt. I now use it for a throw over my quilt for a bed spread. Quilts are very expensive and very in thickness and quality and price. So I am going to show you several store bought quilts and homemade quilts. I think you know where I am leading to here, I own homemade quilts.

First the store bought quilts range in price from $25.00 dollars to over $300.00 dollars. These quilts can vary in thickness and quality. My mother-in-law always wanted my girls quilts to match their room and style. This can become very expensive, so I let her buy these quilts for them. But me girls always went back to their homemade quilts, because they were always warmer and thicker. Here are some store bought quilts in different thicknesses.

Now I want to talk about homemade quilts. I grew up with a homemade quit and still have one today. My girls have homemade quilts and so do all my nephews because I made them for them. My mother has a quilting frame which I used. You don’t have to have one to make a quilt by hand, but is does make it a little easier to tie them.  Here' is  my homemade quilt and my girl homemade quilts.

Making a homemade quilt is a lot cheaper and you can control the thickness for warmth. My youngest daughter wanted a blue quilt so I went to the store and bought two flat sheets, quilt batting, and yarn to match her quilt. If you do not have a quilting frame just lie your sheets on the floor and place your batting inside and sew up the sides. Next cut a piece of cardboard into a big square (any size you like). Use your square to mark where you want to tie your quilt. This will help keep your batting in place. When buying your batting always remember to buy washable batting.  After the winter season, I just wash my quilt and put it away for next winter.

My oldest daughter decided she wanted a patch work quilt, so here is where all your scrap material comes in handy. Between me and my mother, we sewed a lot of squares together to make the front of her quilt. The back of her quilt was a flat sheet. Then we used yarn to tie her quilt.

When I tied the quilts from the quilting frame I sat underneath and pushed the needle up while my mother pushed the needle down. This was fun for the girls to help out making their quilts. If you do not have a quilting frame just lie the quilt on the floor and fold the quilt as you go when you tie it.

My homemade quilts are warmer and thicker than store bought quilts because I can control the thickness. Plus I can make a homemade quilt for under $75.00 dollars. I have owned my homemade quilt for over 30 years now.  Have fun making and creating your own quilt and save money in the process from Suzie Homemaker.

Saving on Hair Care

How many people out there think it is way too expensive to get their hair done?  I know I do! So today I am going to give you some cheaper ways to get your hair done. As I have been telling you, I like to save money any way I can.  I like to have my hair cut every 6 to 8 weeks. Plus 2 to 3 times a year I have a permanent done. Just recently my daughter told me I need to lose the gray, so I now  I have my hair colored every 3 to 4 months. This all adds up if you go to a salon and have your hair done. So I found some cheaper and inexpensive ways to have my hair done.

 Hair Cuts

Having your hair cut at a salon can cost you anywhere from $16.00 dollars and up. If you go to cheap you get what you pay for. I’ve had really bad hair cuts down this way and you have to live with it until your hair grows out. So I found some cheaper alternatives for getting your hair cut. Try checking out your local beauty school. I have had good luck here and it cost me $10.00 dollars or under for a haircut. Plus you have an instructor watching them as they cut you hair. Another way I recently found is by asking a friend if they know a beautician that cuts hair on the side to earn extra cash. This is a great way to have your hair down professionally at a fraction of the price. When I was growing up my mother cut all or my sisters and brother hair. She did this for me until I got married and moved away for free.

Permanents

As I said my mother was a god send, she also gave me permanents while I was growing up for free. Having a permanent in a salon starts at over $50.00 dollars and up. I can’t afford this and find this a waste of money when you can have it done cheaper. Again check out your local beauty school and have your permanents done there. A basic permanent starts at $25.00. Also, try your friend’s hair dresser that also does permanents on the side for extra cash. Most cases you can save over half the price you would have to pay at a salon.

Hair Coloring

Having your hair colored at a salon can start at $60.00 dollars and up. That’s ridiculous! Again ask your friend’s beautician if she would be willing to do this on the side for extra cash. I went one step cheaper by buying my own hair dyes from the store. They are not very hard to do and I can buy one for under $7.00 dollars. I dye my daughter’s hair all the time and she does mine in return for free.

Finding ways to cut costs takes a little time and effort. But by having someone else like a friend or family member doing my hair I can save hundreds of dollars a year.

Here’s a little bonus I want to show you. Last week I bought some clothes on clearance and I wanted to show you how much I saved.

Look for those bargains and save wherever you can from Suzie Homemaker.

Mock Apple Pie

How many people, like apple pie? Well, today I am going to give you my family’s secret recipe for a mock apple pie. This was always the joke in our family because no one knew it wasn’t a real apple pie. This pie even looks and tastes like a real apple pie. So today I am going to talk to you about using pears to make a mock apple pie. You can get fresh pears years round from the grocery store and they are relatively cheap. Since I have a pear tree in my back yard I just pick them and freeze some sliced pears to be used whenever I want a pear pie. Some pears we eat right away in fall, the rest I can and make pear sauce.

Pastry Shell

    1 Cup Flour                                       2 Tablespoons ice water

   ½ Teaspoon salt                                 1 Teaspoon vinegar

   1 stick of margarine

   Mix flour, salt and margarine until it resembles coarse meal. Mix water and vinegar. Form dough into a  ball. Cover. Chill for 15 minutes, then roll out dough to fit a 9-inch pie plate and shape edge. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Makes 1 pie shell.

Pear Pie

   Pastry for 2 crust pie                            ½ Teaspoon salt

   5 Cups of pears sliced                           1 Teaspoon cinnamon

   ½ Cup sugar                                          1 Teaspoon lemon juice

   ¼ Cup flour                                           1 Tablespoon butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and slice pears. Put ½ of pears in pastry lined 9-inch pie pan. Mix sugar, salt, and cinnamon.

Sprinkle half of mixture over pears. Put in the rest of the pears and cover with the rest of the sugar mixture.

Sprinkle with lemon juice. Dot top with margarine or butter. Cover with top crust or optional French Apple topping.  Bake for 50 minutes.

Recipe option: This is what I do instead of a top crust, and my whole family loves it. For topping as for French Apple Pie: Mix ½ cup butter or margarine, ½ cup brown sugar and 1 cup flour. Sprinkle the  French Apple Pie mixture  over top instead of the crust. Bake for 50 minutes. Enjoy warm or cold with cool whip or ice cream.

I hope you enjoy my mock Apple Pie from Suzie Homemaker. More family recipes coming soon.

   

Paper toweling and toilet paper roll ideas

What to do with empty paper toweling rolls and toilet paper rolls! Don’t throw them away. I have a nice way to reuse those paper toweling and toilet paper rolls. Do you have a lot of cords lying around and taking up to much space, here’s a way to use those paper toweling rolls and toilet paper rolls!

First, have your kids involved with this project. Have them decorate your paper toweling rolls and toilet paper rolls. Have your kids color or use markers to make your rolls pretty. Or if you want to get a little more creative use some wrapping paper and decorate them.

In our house, we have a lot of cords lying around. This makes the house look messy.  So to clean up the house and make it look better, I decided to use my empty rolls to make it look much cleaner and nicer.

I can name a few right now, my kitchen has a toaster, blender, and a microwave oven. The bathroom has the curling iron, hair dryer, and husband’s electric razor. The living room has the TV cords, VCR printer, and lamps.

So today I will show you how I hide and clean up all those messy long cords. For your shorter cords use the toilet paper rolls to wind up or tie up and place inside the rolls. For your longer cords wind up or tie up cords and place inside the paper toweling rolls. This is a cheap and easy way to hide and clean up those tangled up cord in your house. The kids will love decorating the toilet paper and paper toweling rolls. Let them get creative and have fun with the decorating.

Have fun saving and decorating those paper toweling and toilet paper rolls from Suzie Homemaker.