Homemade Bowl Covers

                Today I want to give you an easy project to make with leftover material or dishcloths. How many of you have bowls in many different sizes that do not have covers. Don’t throw them away yet, I have a nice easy project you can make right at home to cover those bowls. How many of your bowls have cracked or broken lids and you just threw them away? Don’t throw the bowls away with them, my project will help you cover your bowls and still use them.

What you will need

Scrap pieces of Material or old Towels and Wash clothes

Thin pieces of elastic or stretchy string

A small pin for fishing your string or elastic through your material

A sewing machine or you can hand stitch it.

A scissors

Any size bowls

Homemade Slip Covers for your Bowls

1.     

 

Take out the bowls you want covers for.

2.    

   Place your bowls on your material or towels and make a wide circle around your bowl. I recommend leaving at least 2 inches of space around the bowls.

3.       Cut a circle around your bowls. This will also work with square or odd sized bowls too.

4.       Sew a ¾ to 1-inch hem around your circle. Leave a little opening so you can fish the elastic through and sew closed.

5.    

 

  With a pin place your elastic or stretchy string on it and start fishing it through your hem. When you get to the end pull the elastic tighter to the size of the opening of the bowl.

6.     

  Sew your opening closed to hold your stretchy string or elastic in place.

7.       Now you have a homemade slipcover for your bowls.

These slipcovers are versatile and can be used in many different sized bowls. What really makes these covers nice is that they are washable and can be used over and over again. No more wasting and throwing away all that plastic wrap or tin foil. This is also a good way to keep your food warmer longer too.

These slipcovers took me less than 30 minutes to make. I did not have to buy anything, I had leftover material and towels just waiting to be used. Don’t throw those bowls away just because the covers are cracked or broken, make these easy homemade slipcovers instead. I hope you liked my homemade slipcovers from Suzie Homemaker.

Homemade Water Slides

                Now that summer is almost here it is time to think of things to do with your children and grandchildren. The weather will be getting warmer soon, time for something fun to do outside with the kids. How many of you had a water slide when you were growing up? We had one, but not the typical one you can buy from the store. Money was always tight when I was growing up, so my parents decided to make a homemade water slide. Water slides from the store are so expensive and don’t last very long. So today I will tell you how to make a homemade water slide the kids will love. Then if you like at the end of the summer just throw it away.

How to make a Homemade water Slide

1.       First, find some heavier plastic.

Try not to find anything that can cut or scratch the children.

2.       Next roll out the plastic to as long as you like on your lawn.

Find a spot that is level and no rocks.

3.       Take a rotating sprinkler and let the water spray onto your plastic.

4.       My mother used to put a little dish soap on the plastic to make it a little slippery.

5.       With an old towel or just our bare bellies, we would slide across our slippery slide.

This was so much fun to slide on. We had the whole neighborhood over having fun. There are so many things you can use at home to make this slippery slide. Why spend $20 to 30 dollars on this slippery slide from the store when you can make it at home yourself for little to no money at all. The children will have a ball. This was one of my favorite things to do when I was growing up in the summer.  You don’t have to break the bank to have fun and stay cool during the summer. I hope you enjoy my quick and easy water slide from Suzie Homemaker.

Homemade Microwave Caramel Corn

Did you ever have Cracker Jacks as a kid? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could make this at home. Today I will show you how I make homemade microwave caramel corn  Carmel corn in the store is very expensive and the boxes are so small. When I was growing up this was a fun snack the whole family could enjoy. This is something the kids will love to help make. Why should you spend more when you can make this microwave caramel corn for less than half the price of a box from the store. You will need a few simple ingredients and a paper bag.

Microwave Carmel Corn

                1 Cup Brown Sugar                               ½ teaspoon salt

                1 stick of Butter                                     ½ teaspoon baking soda

                ¼ cup white carol syrup                         3 to 4 quarts popped corn

In a 2-quart glass bowl combine brown sugar, 1 stick of butter, ¼ cup white carol syrup and ½ teaspoon salt. Place in your microwave oven and bring to a boil.

Continue boiling for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from microwave oven and stir in baking soda.

After stirring in the baking soda, the sauce will look like a caramel sauce.

Pour your popped corn in a paper bag.

Pour your syrup over your pop- corn in the bag.

Close the bag by rolling down the sides. Shake the syrup all around the popcorn. Place the bag in the microwave oven and cook on high for 1 ½ minutes.

Take out bag carefully and shake the syrup around the popcorn for another 1 ½ minutes more. When done, place the caramel corn on some cookie sheets to cool.

Store your caramel corn in a sealed container and enjoy. If you like peanuts, just add about 1/2 cup to your popcorn and mixture as you are baking it in your microwave oven.

                This recipe is one of our most favorite snacks. We love to eat this while watching a movie or TV show. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family did. Enjoy your sweet treat from Suzie Homemaker.

How to make Home made Beef Jerky

                Here is something the whole family will like to eat. Beef Jerky!  This is another way you can save a lot of money.  Homemade beef jerky is easy to make. Like I said in previous Blog Posts I use my dehydrator at least 3 to 4 days a week. This time of the year I am canning, freezing, and dehydrating non-stop.  It is time to stock up on canned, frozen and dehydrated food for the winter months. Beef jerky in the store can be over 8 dollars a pound, that’s way too expensive for me. In this Blog, I will show you step by step how I make homemade beef jerky and the recipe I use for the sauce. I take two 2 pounds of roasts and I am lucky if the beef jerky makes it two days before my family devours it.

Step 1: I like to take a frozen beef roast because it is easier to cut into thin slices this way. Take a good sharp knife and cut thin slices. Trim of as much fat as possible. Trying to cut a roast when it is not frozen will make it harder to get thin slices. Any type of roast will do fine. I have used an arm roast or a tip roast when I make my beef jerky.

Step 2: Next place your thin slices of meat in a zip locked bag or a bowl with a tight seal. I use a bowl with a tight lid so I can shake it up easier with my sauce.  But a ziplock bag will work just fine also.

Step 3: The sauce recipe I use is: 

Two 2# Roasts thinly sliced and fat cut off

¾ cup Worcestershire sauce                          ½ teaspoon garlic salt or regular salt

¾ cup Soy sauce                                               ½ teaspoon pepper or more if you like it really hot

¾ cup ketchup                                                  1 Tablespoon Liquid smoke

Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and pour over your meat in a bag or bowl and seal. Next shake the sauce around and over your meat. Let the meat soak for at least 2 hours shaking the sauce around and over the meat every 15 to 30 minutes.

Step 4: Place your soaked meat on your trays and do not overlap them. Make sure you have a tray on bottom, that can soak up the excess juices. I like to use one of my fruit roll-up trays for this purpose.  Set your temperature for meat according to your dehydrators directions.  Depending on how done you want your beef jerky it can take up to 4 to 6 hour to dehydrate.  About half way through I like to flip all my meat and switch the bottom tray around with the top trays. This helps the meat cook more evenly.

Step 5:  Take the beef jerky off the trays and place in an air- tight bag or a bowl with a tight cover. This should keep for over a week if you can keep the family out of it that long. My beef jerky barely makes it past two days and it is all gone.

Making my own beef jerky is fun and easy, plus it saves me a lot of money.  I know what goes into my beef jerky, so it is much healthier and taste much better than store beef jerky. Have fun making your own beef jerky from Suzie Homemaker.

Homemade baby food

Making Home Made Baby Food

            Today I would like to talk to all the new moms who just had babies. The first year can be very expensive. Try going to rummage sales and thrift shops for clothes, baby cribs, high chairs, strollers, and much more. Buying this in a store is way too expensive. So today I am going to tell you how to save money on making your own homemade baby food.

            When my children were babies I never bought any baby food from the store, for one thing it was way too expensive. Since I had a garden, all my vegetables were fresh and easy to make into baby food. First you will need a good blender or food processor. All you have to do is cook your vegetables until they are soft and put the vegetables in your blender with a little water and puree them. Next you will need a few ice cube trays to pour your pureed vegetables into and freeze them. When they are frozen put in a zip lock bag until needed. Buy fresh fruit and repeat the same process of cooking and freezing the baby food. This way you have no added sugars or preservatives in your baby food.  Making meat takes a little more time, just make sure the meat is cooked well done with no spices in the meat. Just remember to always add enough juice so your blender can puree the meat until it is soft.

            Making your own baby food is much cheaper than buying it in the store. Every weekend I would make enough baby food to last a whole week.  Then I would freeze the baby food for the next week. When it was time for meals I either had some baby food ready in the refrigerator or just took out what I needed and put in the microwave to heat up. This saved our family a lot of money on our grocery bill each week. I felt better knowing what was in my baby food because I made it fresh with my own vegetables and fresh fruit and meat.

            As my baby grew so did the meal planning. I had no problem mixing vegetables with meats in my blender too. Just freeze these too the same way and heat up as needed. A little jar of fruit and vegetables can cost over 50 cents each, when you start going through more than 3 or 4 jars a day this adds up fast. Making your own baby food is cheaper and much healthier for them.

            Here are a few of the fruits and vegetables and meats that I made for baby food. I pureed apples, bananas, peaches, pears, beans, carrots, squash, peas, chicken and roast beef. I felt good as a mother giving my children real baby food made fresh by mom. Have fun raising your children they grow up way to fast.

Have fun making healthy homemade baby food from Suzie Homemaker.

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