Chimp Chat

Facebook is siphoning off my blog

But I am making bread lately.

A little joke: When you are low on bread, make your own bread.

Anyway, a friend whose kitchen is undergoing a major renovation lent me her Kitchenaid Mixer for a few weeks so I could see whether it was something we want to invest in.

A year ago, I would have just run out and bought it on credit. But now I need to know whether it is worth it since we are paying CASH for everything.

Anyway, I do think the mixer would be useful if we continue cooking and baking at the level we are doing it now (that's the thing: will we keep it up?). Yesterday, I walked in the door at 6:40 pm, threw the ingredients together, mixed it up, kneaded the dough via bread hook, chucked it into a greased bowl to rise and was done and bathing the baby by 7:10.  Considering this was a new recipe and a machine I was unfamiliar with, I think I could easily get it down to 15-20 minutes. In fact, it took me longer to measure out the flour than to do anything else.

Granted, it still had to rise 2 times for about an hour each time.

I'm hoping that there is some broke person out there trying to sell theirs on Craigslist for $100. One can dream.

Now I need to go research yeast and freezing bread dough.

Make it homemade!

The homemade bandwagon is colliding with the "Help, we have no extra money" station wagon and so I have been thinking of things you can make at home. Where some folks make their own soap (not me), bread (me), paper (not me), and clothing (sometimes me), I don't think I have explored the "culture of homemade" to its fullest.

Creatively, thrifty things I am thinking of making at home:
Band-aids: Cut an appropriate size piece of clear duct tape, line it with some beautiful Amy Butler fabric (there is the creative part) and place it against your wound over a cut down absorbent breast pad (there is the thrifty part).

Food storage bags: One thing that makes me anxious is throwing away used food storage bags, especially those product bags, because they really aren't ideal for doggie waste pickup, so they don't have a secondary life. But, like these folks, I have been thinking of migrating to cloth, so I might sew up some produce bags using muslin or netting. These might also make good gifts, especially if I added some tags that said Apples, Lettuce, etc. Also, a cotton bag seems like it would be a good way to store my homemade bread. I found this product, but seems like you could make one and just use it in conjunction with a large freezer bag. 

Hair conditioner: It'd be simple. Mayo + a few drops essential oil.