How To Make Green Food Coloring

This post may contain affiliate links, which helps support this blog and my obsessive chocolate habits.

If you rarely use food coloring or have an “everything in moderation” kitchen philosophy, you’re probably completely happy saving time (and stress) by using store-bought food coloring.  If someone in your home has an allergy to dyes in food, or you simply want to avoid it, then these 10 methods for how to make green food coloring have your name written all over them.

How to Make Green Food Coloring

Please be aware that when you make your own food coloring, you will not achieve the same brilliant green you get from store-bought dyes. Even most of the natural dyes on the market will not result in a brilliant green.

Because you are using natural products which are not uniform (naturally), your results will vary dramatically each time from “not bad” to “not happening.” To improve your chances of success, check out the tips at the bottom before you proceed.

How to Make Green Food Coloring

How to Make Green Food ColoringMash, process, or otherwise obliterate half an avocado. (Yes, please peel it first.) This will lightly color a cup or two of frosting or a similar white substance.  Avocado has an understated flavor, so it won’t dominate the dish.  Think of it as a culinary wallflower.

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringPuree 1/2 cup of fresh or frozen spinach.  Boil it in 4 cups of water and then simmer for several hours.  When it is concentrated, strain out the spinach—it’s the liquid you want. Add the concentrate to your recipe.  Avocado will work as well.

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringRepeat the process above, but do not strain out the original food.  Instead, press it through a sieve or otherwise grind the final result to get it as smooth as possible.

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringSoak pistachios in water. (Don’t use dyed pistachios, but rather those that have opened and greened naturally.)  Grind them to make a faintly tinted paste you can add to desserts.  Sounds like the makings of pistachio ice cream to me!

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringSprinkle chlorella, spirulina, or a more suitably flavored green product into the recipe.  Might I recommend parsley, especially stale, finely ground parsley?

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringBoil the skins from several red onions in a cup or two of water.  Simmer until the water is the color you want.  Some people get brown instead of green. Why doesn’t this make red?  Good question. You should have your children research that.

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringBoil any green food substance in a cup or so of water for 20-30 minutes.  Strain it and use the green water in place of the liquid in your recipe.  For example, boil broccoli and make rice using the green liquid instead of water or stock.

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringMake the green liquid as just described. Soak or simmer potato slices or another white absorbent food in the liquid until it is tinted green. (This hasn’t worked for me, but others have had success with it. Salting may encourage a better transfer process.)

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringIf your recipe calls for milk, simmer spinach, avocado, parsley, whatever, in milk until it turns green. Don’t get distracted! Milk burns easily and must be stirred and kept over a low heat.

 

How to Make Green Food ColoringRemember kindergarten?  Neither do I.  But I do remember that yellow and blue make green.  Make blue food coloring by boiling red cabbage.  Add a 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon baking soda to turn it from violet to blue. Then add yellow in the form of stale turmeric or saffron…or yellow cake.

Tips:

These techniques for how to make green food coloring will produce mild food colorings that will tint your light-colored foods green…some even pastel green or army greenDon’t expect the same results as you find in commercial products. Also, don’t be surprised to see this work on lightly colored foods, such as white potatoes or white flour, but only “muddy up” darker foods, such as sweet potatoes or brown flour.

To make the food coloring liquid more brilliant, add 1/2 teaspoon or so of baking soda. This will affect the flavor, so experiment wisely.

Add lemon juice to anything that might brown, such as the avocado, and serve as soon as possible after preparing.

How to Make Green Food Coloring

Many of these recipes will flavor the final outcome.  Since you don’t want your sweets tasting like, say, broccoli or spinach, opt for avocado in icing and other sweets.  Look for foods that complement each other nicely, such as potatoes with parsley, broccoli, or spinach.

Because you will need a larger amount of natural coloring than conventional dyes, the liquid coloring will affect the texture of the dish.  Use less of other liquids until you have achieved the color that you want, at which point, you may wish to add more liquid if necessary.

Finally, to avoid the food coloring issue entirely, give the illusion of green foods by setting a green table—use green flowers, napkins, centerpieces, décor, and naturally green foods (like peas, kiwis, green grapes, lime slices, or M&Ms.) Sprinkle green herbs over savory foods, or cook greenies right into them, like in these Shamrock eggs. (You’re still writhing over that comment about M&Ms being natural, aren’t you? Let a girl dream.)

What do I use, you ask?

How to Make Green Food ColoringWell…to tell you the truth…we use green food coloring once a year (Christmas), and we use the bright, festive, bad-for-you stuff from the store. (You are welcome to comment on how bad our annual splurge is, which I already know, because then I get to share my story about the horribly debilitating effects stressing over healthy eating has had on my health and family. It’s a twisted, ironic, edge-of-your-seat tale the whole family will love.)

But I’m thinking about buying this beauty: India Tree’s natural decorating colors.

Please share your tips for how to make green food coloring below!

If you’re looking for some fun Saint Patrick’s Day recipes, crafts, activities, and more, check out my Simple St. Patrick’s Day board on Pinterest. Simple, green, even a little educational.

Click to visit my Simple St. Patrick’s Day board on Pinterest.

Top photo credit          Green food photo credit

How to Keep Potatoes From Turning Brown

This post goes out to Facebook fan Jessica. Good luck and have fun with your first major Thanksgiving cooking!

How to Keep Potatoes From Browning

I love to prep as much of my major cooking ahead of time as possible, especially for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. (I’ve even fed the family breakfast before bed to get a jumpstart on the next day. Note to self: bad idea.) Sometimes my prep backfires, like when my pre-peeled potatoes turn brown.

How to Keep Potatoes From Browning

If I were to ask my husband about that phenomenon, he would draw on his pre-med training and say something all science-y, like the browning is caused when the polyphenol oxidase enzyme is released from the potato’s cells upon cutting. The enzyme immediately begins reacting with the oxygen in the air to turn the phenol compounds within the tuber brown in a process called oxidation.

Oxidation, shmoxishmation. I just call it ugly. They’re still perfectly edible, mind you, but they aren’t perfectly pretty. I like my taters to be pretty before I mash them into an unrecognizable pulp.

Here’s how you can get a jump start on your potatoes without the ugly.

How to Keep Potatoes from Turning Brown

How to Keep Potatoes From BrowningPeel and rinse the potatoes. (So far so simple.)

 

How to Keep Potatoes From Browning

Place them (whole, sliced, or diced) in a bowl, pot, bucket, trough, whatever, and cover them completely with water. Completely! Taters in, air out.

 

How to Keep Potatoes From BrowningStore the bowl in the refrigerator. (I cheat on this step if I don’t have room in the frig. Shhh.)

 

That’s it! Told ya it was simple. Simpler than that whole polyphenol oxidase thingie.

How to Keep Potatoes From Browning

Notes:

I only do this overnight. Some people claim you can do this up to three days in advance as long as you replace the water and rinse the potatoes daily. Some people might be right about that. (See the comment section for other opinions.)

Others add a splash of lemon juice to keep potatoes from turning brown. This is a good practice for something that might be sitting in open air. Scientifically, however, the browning occurs when the potatoes come in contact with the oxygen in the air, which is an impossibility when the tubers are immersed in water whose oxygen is firmly bonded to hydrogen and won’t be oxidizing any taters. I save my lemons for lemon pie. Mmmm…pie.

I know you’re all itching to know why potatoes don’t turn brown after they’re cooked. Well, if I were to bother my pretty little head about such things, I would tell you that heat denatures the enzyme, rendering it inert, so it no longer reacts with the oxygen to transform the phenol compounds. (Heat kills enzymes.) But all that science just gives me a rash. Winking smile

Another alternative: crockpot mashed potatoes

How to Keep Potatoes From BrowningMy dear blog friend Stacy from Stacy Makes Cents has a recipe for crockpot garlic mashed potatoes in her e-cookbook, Crock On. Crocking your taters would entirely free you up from even having to think about them. It would almost be like having a personal chef make the potatoes for you, and all you had to do was eat them. Crockpots are neat like that.

Read my review about Crock On here, or, if you want the recipe for crockpot mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving and don’t want to bother with any ol’ reviews in case it talks about phenols and denaturing enzymes (which it doesn’t), buy it now for $5, or get it on Kindle. That’s how I’m making our mashed potatoes this year.

One more Thanksgiving tip:

Brine your turkey! It’s simple and makes all the difference for a juicy bird. Here’s how.

Jessica, I hope this tip for keeping potatoes from turning brown helps you out! Happy Thanksgiving! (Have a question? Submit it in the contact me section.)

What’s your best Thanksgiving dinner shortcut?

Truth in the Tinsel Advent Experience

How To Bake a Ham – My Simple Recipe and Guide

I love a good, juicy ham on Easter and Christmas (and any day in between). Too often the hams we’ve had are dry, expensive and sickeningly sweet, even when we bought the high-priced, big name hams from the ham store. It’s enough to make a person sit down and cry into her taters. Therefore, we took it upon ourselves to find the cheapest, tastiest method of preparing ham that we could…just for you. You’re welcome.

How to Bake a Ham – A Simple Guide

A Simple Guide to Selecting, Baking, and Slicing a Juicy, Affordable Ham

(photo credit)

What do I need?

  • a ham
  • pan
  • one cup water (optional)
  • aluminum foil
  • meat thermometer
  • oven
  • optional ingredients for an optional sauce – ours only requires brown sugar and a sauce pan

Which ham should I buy?

The most convenient ham is, naturally, the spiral-sliced. Our experience with spiral cut, however, is that they dry out very easily. Because they are already cut, the heat has more surface area from which to draw moisture. Nothing can prevent moisture loss to some extent, not even the reams of aluminum foil we use to try and prevent its drying out.

For that reason, we buy unsliced ham, which, to our delight, is cheaper. I like the shank, because it is often the cheapest of all and not too difficult to slice. You can also grab yourself a nice butt which will work just as well for the same price or just a few pennies a pound more, depending on your store. According to our old butcher, the shank and butt are essentially the whole ham (which is the leg) chopped in half to form the separate cuts. With such little difference, I go for whichever is cheaper. (Here’s more than you ever wanted to know about ham cuts.)

Watch for a sale around the major holidays and you’ll really score big with your ol’ pigskin.

How do I cook the ham?

  1. Preheat your oven to 350.
  2. Put the ham in a pretty (okay, so it doesn’t have to be pretty) roasting pan with the bone side down, fat side up.
  3. Add one cup of water to the pan. (Some experts say not to do this, but I do it…so there, experts!)
  4. Cover it completely with aluminum foil. But aluminum foil will kill you! I know, but this ham is so juicy, you’ll die happy.
  5. Cook to the proper temperature as explained below, and immediately remove it from the oven.
  6. Let the ham rest covered for 20 minutes or so before slicing, so the juices redistribute throughout the ham.

How long do I cook the ham?

If the ham is pre-cooked, heat it to an internal temperature of 110-140 (Fahrenheit) and pull it from the oven, depending on how warm you want your ham. (If it’s fully cooked, you can theoretically eat it cold.)

If the ham is not pre-cooked or only partially cooked, heat it to 150-155 (Fahrenheit) and pull immediately. I know the meat police say 160, but it will continue cooking 5-10 degrees after you pull it. I pull at 150. If you wait for 160, you may have a dry ham. You’ve been warned.

Use a meat thermometer! Insert it well into the meat, but not touching the bone. if you don’t have a meat thermometer and you cook meat, buy one. If you don’t want to buy one, you’ll be cooking roughly 20-30 minutes per pound, but I won’t guarantee that your stove doesn’t run hot and that you won’t be eating a football. In that case, I wash my hands of your ham.

This is my meat thermometer:

IMG_5390

You can buy one here.

What do I do about a glaze?

I won’t even go there! Okay, maybe just a little. There are as many ham glaze recipes out there as there are cooks to prepare them. Personally, I don’t like to be knocked out by an overwhelming shot of sugar, bourbon, cloves, or pineapple when all I really want is a nice big mouthful of meat. I want to taste the ham! Is that so wrong?!

Are you with me? It’s okay if you’re not, because you can do a quick search on any recipe site for half a gazillion glazes. Here are 68 glaze recipes from my favorite recipe site, AllRecipes.com. Read the reviews and pick your favorite…but might I recommend you keep it simple?

Because my husband likes the option of a subtle sweetness with his ham, and others in my family like the option of eating ham without going into a diabetic coma, this is the method he whipped up:

The Simple Homemaker’s Husband’s Simple Ham Sauce

  1. Pour the pan drippings into a saucepan.
  2. Add 1/4 cup or so of brown sugar or honey (depending on how sweet you want it and how much juice you have).
  3. Heat it on the stove stirring to dissolve the sugar or honey, and testing for the sweetness level you’re looking for.
  4. Adjust with water if it’s too salty or thick, and sugar or honey if you want a sweeter juice. Taste as you go and adjust gradually.
  5. Serve it on the side as an optional au jus.

It is simple and delicious, but doesn’t coat the ham with sugar, which many people in my family can’t (or won’t) eat.

baked ham 2

(photo credit)

How do I slice a non-sliced ham?

  1. Insert your knife parallel to the bone and cut entirely around it. (Remember, the two L’s in the word “parallel” are parallel to each other, if you forgot your basic math.)
  2. Slice perpendicular to the bone to make nice slices that should fall away from the bone. (You will be cutting into the length of the bone, not the end…obviously.) Do this on either side of the bone.

There will be quite a bit of meat left on the bone, just as with the store-bought spiral cuts. I like to gnaw on this when nobody’s looking remove this meat later with a small knife and use it for any number of recipes needing diced ham, including scrambled eggs, bean or potato soups, fried rice, quiche, breakfast potatoes, salad.

Save the bone and toss it into a soup, crock of beans, or pot of jambalaya.

Here’s the boring printable version of how to bake a ham:

How To Bake a Simple Ham

Author: Christy, The Simple Homemaker
Prep time:
Total time:
A simple, juicy, affordable ham that will not put you into a diabetic coma…at least, I hope it won’t.
Ingredients
  • a ham
  • pan
  • one cup water (optional)
  • aluminum foil
  • meat thermometer
  • oven
  • optional ingredients for an optional sauce – ours only requires brown sugar and a sauce pan
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 350.
  2. Put the ham in a pretty (okay, so it doesn’t have to be pretty) roasting pan with the bone side down, fat side up.
  3. Add one cup of water to the pan. (Some experts say not to do this, but I do it…so there, experts!)
  4. Cover it completely with aluminum foil. But aluminum foil will kill you! I know, but this ham is so juicy, you’ll die happy.
  5. Cook to 150 using a meat thermometer if your ham is uncooked or partially cooked. If it’s fully cooked, warm it to your desired temperature, but no warmer than 140 or you may dry it out. Blech.
  6. Immediately remove it from the oven.
  7. Let the ham rest covered for 20 minutes or so before slicing, so the juices redistribute throughout the ham.
  8. Remove the drippings to a saucepan over low heat. Stir in 1/4 cup brown sugar or honey, taste, and add more if desired to sweeten the juices to your desired sweetness. Serve on the side so everybody is happy!

 

I hope your ham turns out as juicy and delicious (and affordable) as ours! Good luck!

Let me know what you think, including your best pointers on how to bake a ham…a simple ham.

But if you talk about scoring the outside in cross hatches, stuffing cloves all over, dousing it in bourbon, and then adding pineapple and maraschino cherries, I’ll know you didn’t really read this post and don’t embrace my “simple” philosophy. (Wink.)

I’m embarrassed to admit that I have no pictures of our own hams. Years of ham baking and experimentation, and nothing to show for it but full tummies. Special thanks to all the photographers credited above…but our hams look juicier. A-hem.

Find Joy and Meaning in a Simple Christmas

Find Joy and Meaning in a Simple Christmas

Christmas is just around the corner.

Did that statement make you a little queasy? Did your heart start pounding a little faster? Did you instinctively stiffen, bracing yourself for a mad season of busyness during which you would grit your teeth and push just to get through it?

Or did you smile and relax deeper into your seat, thinking of the peaceful, joy-filled time of preparation and family that would soon be upon you?

If you’re in that second group, this post is not for you.

If, however, getting through the Christmas season is much like surviving final exam week, I have help. I have been where you are, but no longer! Christmas can be a time of peace. It can be a time of savoring the smells and tastes of the season, holding family members a little closer, and remembering the Savior born on Christmas day. It can be fun and fulfilling without being overly busy.

Make This Christmas Special by Making This Christmas Simple

I wrote a book to help you enjoy a more peaceful Christmas, to regain the joy of the season, to deal with gifts, family, food, fun without a heaping helping of angst. It’s called From Frazzled to Festive: Finding Joy and Meaning in a Simple Christmas.

My Christmases have been getting better and better as I’ve been implementing the principles I wrote about in the book. My children have been enjoying them more, also. Even so, every once in a while, I have to go back and reread a chapter or two to keep the calm in Christmas.

Don’t barely survive Christmas. Thrive! Savor it! Love it once again like you did as a child.

One reader wrote in saying that the principles in From Frazzled to Festive could be applied to many other areas of life as well. What an excellent thought–finding joy and meaning in a simple life!

If you want to regain the joy and meaning in a simple Christmas (and a simple life), do it! Refocus on what matters most. If you need help, my book is available right here.

Learn more about From Frazzled to Festive here.

Buy From Frazzled to Festive here.

Do your family a favor--simplify Christmas this year.

Making Gift-Giving Affordable

Making Gift-Giving Affordable - Part of 12 Weeks of a Simple Christmas (1)

In Twelve Weeks of a Simple Christmas we are talking about gift giving this week. Mission three is planning your gifts. Are you overwhelmed and a little sad when you look at your list? Me, too.

I’d love to give Hannah a horse for Christmas. That would be aaaamaaaaaazzzzing! How about giving my gearhead nephew a truck–super awesome! I’d be the best aunt ever! How about a new washer and dryer for my mom, since hers are deader than Jacob Marley. But…I can’t.

So here’s what I do instead to make Christmas affordable and still magical.

Making Gift-Giving AffordableWe emphasize that Jesus really is the reason for the season. Presents are super fun, and no kid is going to say, “Hooray! No gifts this year!” Focusing on Christ, however, adds an element of profound joy and “magic” to the entire season that no present can top.

Making Gift-Giving AffordableI go stocking crazy all year. My kids love their stockings. With the exception of the kitten we got them, their stockings are their favorite part of Christmas morning. I don’t spend a ton, but I tailor it to them and break too many of the family sweets rules. Wink. I gather throughout the year and wrap it all individually to make it last longer.

Making Gift-Giving AffordableInstead of buying them fish, I teach them to fish. There’s no room in the budget for a horse for Hannah; how about a horse care kit, riding lessons, and/or the book Better Than a Lemonade Stand–Small Business Ideas for Kids or How to Start a Micro-Business for Teens (affiliate links) instead, so she can earn her own horse!

Making Gift-Giving Affordable Go in on a gift. We can’t afford a new washer and dryer for Mom, but what about calling all the kids and seeing if there’s enough interest to pool money to get her one? That’s how she got her Kitchen Aid stand mixer and her dishwasher, and that’s how Grandma got a new TV.

Making Gift-Giving AffordableGo used. I have a problem with people who have a problem with receiving a used gift. Seriously, I do. If I can find Better Than a Lemonade Stand used but “like new,” I’ve saved and the gift is still “shiny.” I can often buy two or three used books for the price of one newbie–the guts are the same, even if the cover has a crinkle. (More on used gifts here.)

Making Gift-Giving AffordableMake it myself…or don’t make it myself. Adding up the cost in both time and money, sometimes it costs more to make a gift than to buy it. If, however, my family makes gifts together–oh, what a joy!

Making Gift-Giving AffordableI love experience gifts, and they do not have to be expensive. I have a precious friend who made an incredible tea-time binder for her daughter, complete with monthly activities for them to do together. Those are year-long memories that money can never replace. How about scheduling a year’s worth of picnics or lunch dates with Grandma?

Making Gift-Giving AffordableI frequently cross category lines in my budget. If I can fill stockings with things I have to buy my kids anyway–toothbrushes, fingernail clippers, socks, undies, food–the money is legitimately available from another category. Some of my older kids say they’re on to me, and that toothbrushes and undies don’t fly anymore. They also said I am no longer allowed to give them schoolbooks for Christmas–humbugs. Still, if it’s educational, I can budget some of the homeschool money into that category to cover it, as long as I’ll still be okay down the line. I can also dip into the clothing budget for that stellar hat for my hat-crazy daughter. Serious budgeters are passing out right now. Sorry.

Making Gift-Buying AffordableI try to keep Christmas clutter-free by buying less, but buying smarter. We don’t play eenie-meenie in the toy aisle or at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. We try to give thoughtfully…or edibly. To quote my then-15-year-old, Elisabeth, “If it isn’t useful or edible, I don’t want to find a place to put it.” Elisabeth does not want clutter. Period. To quote my son, Elijah, “I love Legos.” Elijah would enjoy a single set of Legos far more than half a dozen other gifts randomly selected from Toys R Us. Perhaps you’ve heard of the three gift Christmas, or this diddy: something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. Of course, my kids would say they want, need, and can read books, and surely they could figure out a way to wear them.

For specific gift ideas that qualify under my simple and frugal principles, check out these two posts:

This book by my friend Stacy will give you a few (as on 100) affordable ideas as well:

What are your tips for keeping Christmas affordable?

Photo credit (text mine)

Five Quick Money-Saving Resources

This post contains referral links indicated by an asterisk*. If you sign up through our links, not only do you save money, but you support our Christian music mission and help spread the Gospel through song. You also help educate my kids, which is really swell of you. You can also support us by doing your Christmas shopping through our Amazon*, Dayspring*, Walmart*, or Christian Book* links. Thank you so much!

This week in Twelve Weeks of a Simple Christmas we’re talking about budgeting for Christmas. There are three ways to make your budget work with your finances.

  1. Make more money.
  2. Buy less.
  3. Save money on what you buy.

Normally I’m all about number 2, which you’ll see in next week’s posts, but today I’m sharing my go-to Christmas shopping tips based on numbers 1 and 3.

I have a few quick resources that will help you save money buying what you were going to buy anyway or help you earn money doing what you were going to do anyway. Here goes:

Five Quick Money-Saving Resources (for Christmas and beyond)


Rebate sites for online shopping.

There are many, but the two I have been on for the last umpteen gazillion years (that’s an exaggeration) are Ebates* and Mr.Rebates*. Both serve me well.

Here’s how they work:

  1. Sign up at Ebates* and/or Mr.Rebates* (and get their current bonus).
  2. Before you head to, say, Toys R Us online, go to a rebate site (I go to both to see which has the biggest cash back).
  3. Click through the link on the rebate site. It will take you to the shopping site.
  4. If the rebate site offers coupon codes, snag them.
  5. Shop as usual.
  6. Find a nice little rebate notice in your email telling you how much you get back. Cash it out at Christmas. You won’t get rich, but it does help fill a stocking or two.
  7. Share your referral link with your friends. If they sign up through your link, you each get a percentage back from their shopping.

Understand that the rebate site you use needs to be your most recent access to the site. In other words, if I go to Toys R Us from Mr. Rebates, then leave TRU and go back to it from, say, Retail-Me-Not (see below), I will not get my rebate. Retail-Me-Not will. Basically, just stay on task and on site and you’re good.

Search engine rewards.

The one I use is Swagbucks*. My hubby claims it’s not as good as Google, but it works fine for me. If it’s a deep research project I’m working on, I switch to Google…because, my hubby, you know.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Sign up at Swagbucks*.
  2. Search as usual through the site; load their search bar on your computer to make this easy.
  3. Earn points called SB for, oh, about every fifth search. You can also do other things, like watch videos and take surveys for rewards, but my time is worth more than my SB, so I don’t usually do this. You can also shop through Swagbucks just like a rebate site, but I prefer the rebate sites…they’re prettier.
  4. Send your friends your link, because you earn SB for the their searches as well.
  5. Cash out rewards. I always cash out points for a $5 Amazon gift card. It usually provides me about $30 each Christmas, which isn’t enough to buy the Taj Mahal, but seriously people, that’s a tomb, and where would I put it anyway?

Coupon Codes

Never shop without a coupon code! Mr. Rebates and Ebates often have coupon codes, but I also check Retail-Me-Not. Be aware that if you click through a site from Retail-Me-Not, they receive a rebate from the site.

How it works:

  1. Go there.
  2. Search for a store.
  3. Browse and select a coupon code.
  4. Click through the site and go shopping or grab the code and go back to your favorite rebate site and go shopping. (I like to thank them for their hard work by clicking through their link when they find me a nice juicy coupon code.)
  5. Insert the code at check-out. Sometimes the code is automatically inserted, but always check.

Walmart Price Match and Savings Catcher

You already know that Walmart matches prices, so get busy and get matching. The problem is, you are busy without the matching. Since they introduced their Savings Catcher program, price matching is a little easier (although not necessarily as effective).

Here’s what you do:

  1. Shop at Walmart.
  2. Sign up for a Savings Catcher account at Walmart.com*.
  3. Use your smartphone to scan the bar code or QR code at the bottom of your receipt. If you don’t have a smartphone, log onto your computer and type it in.
  4. In about three days, they’ll let you know whose prices won. Cash out. I save all my “winnings” and cash out when it’s time to do some Christmas shopping.

That’s all I’ve got for you today, but I know you have something up your sleeve.

I’d love to hear your secret little shopping tips! Share in the comments.

Photo Credit: David Porter (Text and screen mine)

How to Boil, Peel, and Use Up Hard-Boiled Eggs

How To Boil, Peel, and Use Up Hard-Boiled Eggs - a handy guide for Easter or any time.

Last year I posted several articles about hard-boiled eggs. They were some of my most popular posts of all time. Apparently, you people are all about the incredible edible egg! And why not! Eggs are awesome. In honor of the amazing egg, here is a round-up of my best hard-boiled egg posts, as well as some newbies.

Check out this picture sent in by my sister-in-law, Karen, one of my most faithful readers from Wisconsin. It shows the difference between their old method of boiling and peeling eggs and the new method they learned right here at The Simple Homemaker. Now that’s a gorgeous egg!

Eggs

Do you want gorgeous eggs? Easy as pie! Easier, really. Just follow these directions:

How to Boil a Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg

How to Peel Hard-Boiled Eggs

And if you need simple ideas for what to do with all those hard-boiled eggs, here are a few simple recipes from The Simple Homemaker:

Basic Egg Salad Recipe

Deviled Eggs and Stuffed Egg Chicks

10 Ways to Use Leftover Hard-Boiled Eggs

Boiling, Peeling, and Using Up Eggs...in fun ways!

And here are some ideas sent in by some of my blogging friends (and my blogging daughter) from around the globe:

Stacy Makes Cents’ Mama’s Egg Salad – See what a splash of vinegar can do!

Raising the Barrs’ A Salad A Day – Hard-boiled eggs are just one of the ways she spruces up salads.

The Nourishing Home’s Avocado Egg Salad – Really? Yes, really! It looks fabulous!

Horse Crazy Bookworm’s Totally Brilliant Easter Recipes – Technically, not all of these use hard-boiled eggs, but they’re shaped like eggs, and they’re chocolate, so…close enough. (Just go with it.)

For more ideas, I created a Pinterest board entitled Using Up Hard-Boiled Eggs. It’s about using up hard-boiled eggs. Appropriately named, don’t you think? Check it out for more ideas.

Using Up Hard-Boiled Eggs on Pinterest

I hope this egg post is eggsactly what you were looking for.

Grooooaaaaaaannnnnn!

Feel free to link up any of your recipes for leftover hard-boiled eggs in the comments! 

Special thanks to Karen for sending in the results of her egg experiment!