You can make this easy homemade drain cleaner and drain opener recipe with ingredients you already have at home an it works well for most clogs!

Easy Drain Cleaner And Drain Opener

1 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
4 cups boiling water

Pour baking soda into drain and then pour vinegar on top of it. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Pour boiling water down the drain. You may need to repeat this process if your drain doesn’t come unclogged the first time. This will clean out a lot of clogs so try it first before running to the store to buy a commercial drain opener.

Tip: Don’t throw away the baking soda used to freshen your fridge. Use it as a cleaning scrub or pour down your drain to clear clogs.

This homemade drain cleaner recipe is from our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

This easy homemade garlic pickles recipe is a tasty way to use garden produce. These homemade pickles are super yummy and anyone can make them!

Homemade Garlic Pickles Recipe

2 heads of dill 1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp. pickling spices
1 hot pepper, cut in two
4-5  cucumbers, sliced
1 cup water
4 cups vinegar
1/2 cup salt, non-iodized

Mix first three ingredients and divide in 4-5 pint-sized jars. Add 1 piece of pepper to each jar. Pack sliced cucumbers into jars. Boil last three ingredients and pour over cucumbers. Refrigerate several weeks before serving. Makes 4-5 pints.

*These homemade garlic pickles are great with hamburgers.

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

This Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe makes yummy enchiladas that are easy to make and super popular with families. It’s easy to add your own variations to satisfy everyone in your family!

Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe

1 can enchilada sauce
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas

Spray a 9×13 pan (or one slightly smaller) with cooking spray. Place a tablespoon of sour cream and cheese in the center of each tortilla. Roll up each one and place in the pan. Pour enchilada sauce over it all and spread remaining sour cream and cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or 250 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

This recipe serves about 4. If you have hearty eaters, you may want to double it.

You can make this in the morning and let it sit until you are ready to cook it. Some people like to include cooked hamburger, onions, chicken or green chiles along with the sour cream and cheese.

This Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe is from the Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

Easy Spanish Rice Recipe

Homemade Sopapillas Recipe

This homemade baked tortilla chips recipe is a great way to make less expensive baked chips and use tortillas that are still good but too brittle to roll!

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips Recipe

corn tortillas
spray oil
salt
garlic powder (optional)
onion powder (optional)
chili powder (optional)

Heat oven to 275°. Very lightly spray tortillas with oil. Sprinkle with seasonings if desired. Place on oven rack and bake 20-30 minutes or until crispy. Sprinkle with salt and break apart into pieces when cooled. If you want more uniform pieces cut tortilla shells in quarters after spraying on the oil. Then bake on a cookie sheet. If you like flavor with garlic powder, onion powder or chili powder.

This homemade baked tortilla chips recipe is from our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

If you love the funnel cakes at amusement parks and carnivals, you’ll love this homemade funnel cakes recipe! We love funnel cakes, but they’re so expensive to buy. Using this recipe, you can make them for just pennies and our kids just LOVE them!

They’re a fun summer treat and because they’re so quick, easy and inexpensive, you can make them as a treat for the kids when they’ve been out playing all day! (Or you might just want to treat yourself!

Homemade Funnel Cakes Recipe

1 1/4 cup sifted flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

Sift together dry ingredients. Mix egg and milk and add to dry ingredients. Stir until smooth. Pour oil into a skillet and heat to 375 degrees. Holding finger over the end of a funnel, pour in 1/4 cup batter. Holding over the hot oil, remove finger and let drizzle over the hot oil. As batter flows, move funnel in a circle to form a spiral cake.* Fry about 2 minutes on each side, turning once until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, glaze or nuts. Makes 6 cakes.

*If you find it too hard using the funnel, try putting the batter in a squeeze bottle (the kind you can get at the Dollar Store to put ketchup and mustard in) then squeeze the batter into the oil making a straight line and make sticks instead of the round “cake” shape.

This recipe is from our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

In this post, you’ll find great ideas and easy instructions for decorating Easter eggs including the traditional method, natural Easter egg dyes and other creative decorating suggestions.

Decorating Easter Eggs And Natural Easter Egg Dyes

OK, so the kids noticed on the calendar that Easter is approaching and they want to make a huge production of decorating Easter eggs. In the past, the little stickers you bought at the store sufficed, but now they want the real thing. Here are some old standards for egg dying with a few new ideas for you.

One important note: When the kids get really excited about egg dying, don’t feel sorry for them and pour the left over egg dye in their bath water so they can have more fun (no matter how much they beg and plead! Especially if it’s food coloring). Someone might panic and declare a citywide medical quarantine if they see your kids dyed all sorts of strange colors in their Easter finery.

Before decorating Easter eggs, cover the entire table with newspaper. Keep a huge roll of paper towels or rags handy for messes. Have each kid wear one of dad’s old (now disposable) tee shirts.

Making Easter Egg Stands

Cut toilet paper roll cores into one inch cylinders and use for egg stands. Decorate with stickers or paint.

Decorating Easter Eggs

Traditional Method

1) Hard boil eggs.

2) Fill several mugs with boiling water and add 1-2 tsp. vinegar.

3) Place a few drops of desired food coloring in each mug.

4) Place eggs in mugs for several minutes until eggs reach desired shades.

5) Remove with a spoon. Place on paper towel to dry. When dry, polish with a small amount of shortening on a paper towel. Buff until glossy.

You can draw or write on the eggs with a light colored or white crayon before dipping. The drawing will remain white after the egg is dipped.

To clean out mugs, put a little bleach water in the cups and soak for a few minutes.

Natural Easter Egg Dyes

If you would like to try decorating Easter eggs with natural dyes, try the following:

• Yellow— yellow onion skins, turmeric (1/2 tsp. per cup water) celery leaves
• Orange–any yellow dye plus beet juice
• Red–beets, paprika, red onion skins
• Pink–cranberry juice
• Blue–blackberries, grape juice concentrate, red cabbage
• Brown–black tea, white oak, juniper berry, coffee, barberry
• Light purple–blackberries, grapes, violets
• Green–alfalfa, spinach, kale, violet blossom plus 1/4 tsp. baking soda, tansy, nettle, chervil, sorrel, parsley, carrot tops, beet tops or dip yellow egg in blue dye

Hard boil eggs with 1 tsp. vinegar in the water. Place dying ingredients in non-aluminum pans, cover with water and boil 5 minutes to 1 hour until desired color is achieved. Use enough material to make at least 1 cup dye. Crush ingredients as they boil to extract as much dye as possible. Strain the dye. Most dyes should be used hot. Let each egg sit in the dye until it reaches the desired color. Some dyes will take longer than others to make the desired colored on the egg. Remove the egg and let dry.

Glitter Eggs – Place 1 tablespoon each of glue and water in a cup. Stir the mixture and then paint the eggs with it. Sprinkle with glitter. This can also add sparkle to already dyed eggs!

Decoupaged Eggs – Tear small pieces of wrapping paper, napkins, stickers, or clip art. Mix equal amounts of glue and water. Paint egg with glue mixture. Place paper on top and then cover with more glue mixture. Let dry.

Spotted Eggs – Place 1 tsp. of cooking oil in dye. Dip the egg. The oil will cause the dye to make an irregular pattern on the egg.

Waxed Eggs – Dip a portion of the eggs in melted paraffin or candle wax. Then dip them in the dye. Remove from dye. Dry and peel off the wax. The egg will be white on one half and colored on the other half. You can also dip in dye before waxing to get two colors.

Hollow Eggs – Poke a hole in one end of an egg with a very small needle. Poke another slightly larger hole in the other end. Then blow on the small end and the egg will come out the other side. Decorate Easter eggs as desired.

Do you need good but inexpensive Easter gift ideas for the kids? Here are 27 cheap but cute homemade Easter basket ideas to save you money this Easter.

27 Cheap But Cute Homemade Easter Basket Ideas

A reader asks:

Got any inexpensive ideas for Easter gifts for the kids? Also, do you have any ideas that would focus on the real meaning of Easter and not just bunnies and eggs?

Easter is a great time of the year to celebrate, especially if you have the hope that comes from Jesus Christ and His resurrection. Here are some ideas for Easter gifts. Try some of them and if the creative juices start flowing, make up some of your own! You might also try our Resurrection Eggs, which are a great idea to help your family remember why we celebrate Easter.

Easter Baskets:

You can find inexpensive Easter baskets at garage sales and thrift stores. I never spend more than .25 for one.

If you don’t have Easter baskets, you can also use:

• Plain wicker baskets
• Baskets spray painted an Easter color
• A cute straw hat
• A pail for the sandbox
• A bowl wrapped in tissue paper
• Paper sacks that the kids decorate. Cut out pictures from magazines or use stickers. Glue or stick them on and then paint or color around them.
• Any sort of plastic storage container. These often can be used later for storage.
• For a “family” Easter basket, set a nice plate on the table with Easter grass and goodies arranged on the plate or platter. This is great when you have older kids.

Fillers for Easter Baskets:

• Buy candy after Christmas or Valentine’s Day at half price and keep to fill Easter baskets.
• Make Easter cookies in the shapes of bunnies, eggs, crosses or any other Easter shape that comes to mind and decorate.
• Popcorn Balls or Rice Krispie Treats colored in pastel colors.
• String Froot Loops onto yarn and tie to make a necklace.
• Don’t fill baskets. Instead put jelly beans and candy in plastic eggs so the kids can fill their own baskets. You can also put nickels, dimes, toy soldiers, bugs, stickers, barrettes or hair ribbons in the eggs. Hide them outside or in the house if you live in a climate where it’s usually cold on Easter.
• Make coupons for getting out of chores, staying up late one night, having a friend over for a sleep over or a special dinner that they like.
• Include like new books purchased at garage sales or thrift stores.
• Homemade slime, play dough, sidewalk chalk, bubbles or the ingredients for crystal gardens.
• Wacky crayons‑ Crayon pieces melted together in a muffin tin to make a “big” crayon.
• Flower seeds that the kids can grow
• Mini-stuffed animals purchased at garage sales or on clearance the year before.
• Paper dolls or coloring books. There are many available on the Internet that you can print yourself.
• For teenagers, put these items in baskets: lotions, soaps, suntan lotions, fingernail polish, movie tickets, tickets for getting out of a chore, ticket for $5 worth of car gas, clothes purchased on clearance and of course lots of candy!

• Leave a trail of jelly beans or candy kisses from their rooms to their Easter baskets.

• Easter Kisses

  Put some Hershey Kisses or chocolate chips in a plastic bag and attach the following poem:

  This cute little bunny has hopped all day
  Been delivering baskets for the holiday.
  His paws are so tired and his little nose itches.
  He left you something special – something to fill all your wishes.
  These cute little hugs and Easter kisses.

• Put 1 Pound Jelly Beans into a bag and attach this poem:

  RED is for the blood He gave.
  GREEN is for the grass He made.
  YELLOW is for the sun so bright.
  ORANGE is for the edge of night.
  BLACK is for the sins we made.
  WHITE is for the grace he gave.
  PURPLE is for His hour of sorrow.
  PINK is for our new tomorrow.
  A bag full of jelly beans colorful and sweet,
  Is a prayer, is a promise, is a special treat.

• Easter Carrot Treats

  Buy disposable plastic decorating bags and fill them with orange jelly beans or cheese balls. Then stick some green Easter grass in the top of the bag (leave some hanging out) and secure the bag with a rubber band and then ribbon so that it resembles a carrot.

Here are some easy and delicious strawberry recipes that are perfect for when you find a good sale or are just overwhelmed with strawberries! Here are some easy strawberry recipes and ideas of great ways to use strawberries for you!

How To Use Strawberries

Ah June! –In the spring we think of a mouth-watering strawberry patch. Now it has turned into a forest with enough strawberries to feed most of the U.S. Undaunted by the mounds of berries in our kitchen, we have visions of row after row of beautiful jars of strawberry jam on our shelves.

Then it happens! The first pot boils over leaving a red mess all over the stove, up on the walls and on the counters and floor. Hours later after the kitchen looks like World War III was fought in it we stand in our kitchen and proudly display our 2 pints of strawberry jam.

Don’t despair. Canning isn’t the only way to use excess strawberries. In addition to the strawberry recipes below, here are some other suggestions to help you use strawberries:

• Think small. Don’t plant too many plants in your garden. Plant just enough for what you need.
• File all your recipes for fruits and veggies in order by the name of the fruit. Then when you need to find recipes for all the extra produce you can easily find several recipes.
• To freeze berries: Throw extras into a bag and freeze. Don’t waste time freezing them on a tray, they do just as well thrown in a bag. These are great to use later for virtually any strawberry recipes!
• Use extra strawberries in milkshakes, homemade smoothies, homemade popsicles, and fruit gelatin.
• Use strawberries to top cereal or oatmeal; add milk for a strawberries and cream flavor.

If you need strawberry recipes for something a little more complicated than a bowl of strawberries with a sprinkle of sugar, the following strawberry recipes should give you a great variety of tasty options you can use all year!

Easy Strawberry Recipes!

This easy strawberry jam recipe is one of those strawberry recipes that’s a great way to preserve extra strawberries or take advantage of a big sale on strawberries! This strawberry jam is super tasty!

Easy Strawberry Jam Recipe

3 qts. fresh strawberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

In large microwave-safe bowl, combine strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Cover loosely and microwave on high 15 seconds. Stir mixture to dissolve sugar.

Microwave on high, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir mixture well and check to see if it is done by putting a little on a spoon and placing it in the freezer for 5 minutes uncovered.

Look at the preserves on the spoon. They should be thick but not hard.

For slightly thicker preserves, microwave on high for another 5 minutes. For sweeter preserves, stir in a little more sugar then cook another minute.

Spoon preserves into jars and refrigerate or cool at room temperature; spoon into plastic bags and freeze. Makes 7 cups.

This jam easily lasts 3 weeks in the refrigerator and 3 months in the freezer.

This strawberry fruit leather recipe is an easy and cheaper way to make a strawberry snack like homemade fruit roll-ups. This strawberry recipe is a great way to use extra strawberries!

Strawberry Fruit Leather Recipe

3 cups fresh or frozen strawberries*
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 Tbsp. light corn syrup

Place strawberries in a blender and process until smooth. Measure 2 cups of strawberry puree. Stir in lemon juice and corn syrup. Line a 15×10 inch jellyroll pan with heavy-duty plastic wrap and tape plastic wrap to the pan at the corners. Pour strawberry mixture in prepared pan and spread thin, leaving 1 inch on all sides. You can adjust this to fit your dehydrator or another pan; be sure it is spread thin on the pan. Dry in an oven at 150° or a dehydrator for 7-8 hours or until surface is no longer sticky. Remove leather from pan while still warm and roll up jellyroll fashion. Cut into logs and wrap in plastic wrap. Make five 2 inch logs.

*Any other fruit may be used in place of the strawberries.

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

Smooth Strawberry Dessert

1 1/2 cup vanilla wafers (about 40 wafers), crushed
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 pkgs. (3 oz, each) strawberry Jello
1 cup boiling water
1 (16 oz.) package frozen strawberries, thawed
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1 carton (12 oz.) whipped topping, thawed

Mix wafer crumbs, sugars and butter. Press into a 9×13 greased pan. Chill for 30 minutes. Dissolve Jello in boiling water. Stir in strawberries and milk. Chill for 30 minutes or until partially set. Fold in whipped topping, pour on crust and chill for 2 hours. 

Kiwi Lime Strawberry Dessert

This is one of those strawberry recipes that makes a very versatile dessert. It is great for this time of year when we want lighter and easy desserts. The green and red color, along with the ease of preparing it make it great for Christmas too so you might want to file it with your Christmas dessert recipes, too.

This recipe calls for frozen strawberries but if you want to use fresh strawberries just chop the fresh strawberries and sprinkle with a little sugar. Let set overnight for a few hours and they will produce the juice that you need in the recipe.

The strawberry juice can be used to make strawberry sauce anytime for strawberry recipes like strawberry shortcake. Making it this way is much cheaper than buying the sauce in the packets and it tastes so much better. You can make any kind of berry sauce you want using the strawberry sauce recipe below. It requires no baking and it’s quick. Does it get any better than that?

1 large angel food cake, cut into cubes (about 12 cups)
2 (6 oz.) containers of custard vanilla yogurt
2 tsp. grated lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
1 (8 oz.) container whipped topping
6 kiwi, peeled and sliced (use an egg slicer to cut your kiwi)

Arrange half of angel food cake cubes in a ungreased 13×9 pan. Mix lime peel, juice and yogurt. Fold in whipped topping. Spread half on cake cubes, pressing down to smooth. Arrange kiwi over it. Repeat cake and yogurt mix, pressing down. Lightly cover and chill several hours. Cut dessert into squares and top with strawberry sauce (below). Store in refrigerator.

Strawberry Sauce

2 (10 oz.) pkgs. frozen strawberries in juice
2 tsp. cornstarch

Drain strawberries and place juice in a saucepan. Stir in cornstarch, blending well. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in strawberries.

Strawberry Recipes For Cool Summer Treats!

If you’re looking for great strawberry recipes for summer treats, this easy strawberries and cream popsicles recipe makes a wonderful treat that the kids are sure to love! They’re much tastier and a lot cheaper than the store bought fruit popsicles. And if you have extra strawberries from your garden or find them on sale, this is a great recipe to use them!

Easy Strawberries And Cream Popsicles Recipe

1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup vanilla ice cream or yogurt
1 cup of milk
1 Tbsp. sugar

Blend the ingredients until smooth. Pour into molds and freeze.

This strawberry banana popsicles recipe is one of our favorite strawberry recipes for a cool summer treat! It makes a tasty snack and works out to be much less expensive than buying fruit popsicles at the store!

Easy Strawberry Banana Popsicles

1 (3 oz.) package strawberry gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 banana
1 cup yogurt or ice cream. Blend well and pour into molds.

Dissolve gelatin in water. In a blender, mix gelatin mixture, banana and yogurt. Pour into molds and freeze.

This homemade fruit popsicles recipe is another one of the strawberry recipes that’s great for summer! It’s very versatile and you can use your favorite fruit! Virtually any fruit will work, so don’t be afraid to experiment!

Easy 2 Ingredient Fruit Popsicles

2 cups white grape juice
fruit (grapes, Mandarin oranges, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

Place the fruit into molds and pour the juice over the top until filled. Freeze.

This strawberry mousse is an easy strawberry recipe that makes a quick and easy strawberry dessert your kids are sure to love!

Easy Strawberry Mousse Recipe

2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
2 Tbsp. cold water
1/4 cup boiling water
1 1/3 cups instant strawberry drink mix (like Nestle’s strawberry)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla

Soften gelatin in cold water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in boiling water and keep stirring until gelatin is dissolved. Cool 10 minutes. Combine drink mix, whipping cream and gelatin mixture, beating until thickened. Beat in vanilla. Spoon into individual dishes. Chill for 1-2 hours. Serves 8.

This Berries on a Cloud Dessert Recipe makes a delicious light and fluffy dessert resembling meringue. It’s soft and sweet with a yummy strawberry flavor!

Berries on a Cloud Dessert Recipe

Crust

6 egg whites
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 salt
1 3/4 cup sugar

Filling

1 (8oz) pkg. cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (8 oz) container of whipped topping
2 cups mini marshmallows

Topping

1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 pint fresh strawberries

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt until foamy. Add sugar, 1-2 Tbsp. at a time, until 1 3/4 cup is added. Continue to beat until stiff peaks. Spread into a greased 9×13 pan.

Bake for 1 hour, turn off oven and do not open the oven door. Leave in the oven with door closed for 12 hours.

After the 12 hours, mix cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Fold in whipped topping and marshmallows. Spread over meringue. Chill for 12 hours. Mix pie filling, lemon juice and strawberries and spoon over each serving.

Strawberry Dessert

This strawberry dessert recipe is probably one of my favorite desserts, partly because it is not too rich. It is a very light dessert. It is an especially good one to keep made up in the freezer for when unexpected company comes by.

I like to use it not only for graduation parties, but also for baby showers or any other get-together because I can make it a week ahead of time and that means one less thing to have to deal with the day of the special event!

Crust:

1 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup butter, softened

Mix and slightly press or crumble into a 9×13 pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally while baking to make crumbly. When cooled, remove 1/3 of it to save to sprinkle on top of the dessert. Evenly spread out the remaining portion in the pan.

Topping:

2 egg whites
2/3 cup sugar
1 10oz. package of strawberries
2 Tbsp. lemon juice (must use)
1 small container whipped topping

Place first 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat at high speed for 10 minutes or until it forms stiff peaks. Be sure to use a large mixing bowl because this really increases in volume. Fold in whipped topping and spread over crust, Sprinkle with the 1/3 cup of crumbs you saved back. Freeze for 3-6 hours or overnight.

For more recipes like these easy strawberry recipes, check out our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

Easy Edible Play Dough Recipe, Easy Bubbles and Homemade Slime are fun kids recipes and crafts that’ll keep your kids entertained for hours!

The kids have been out of school for weeks now. You’re lying in your hammock with a gentle summer breeze softly cooling you and the sweet smell of summer flowers fills the air. Yeah, Right! Reality check! You have probably heard “I’m bored. I have nothing to do” a hundred times today!

Don’t run down the street panicking, wildly flinging your arms and screaming like a mad woman. I say this not because of what the neighbors might think. Most of the other moms would probably be hard on your heels. I just don’t believe in using any more energy than necessary.

Instead, peel Tarzan off the chandelier and catch Superman in the midst of his fifth flight from the top bunk bed, trying carefully not to tear his cape made from your favorite red silk blouse. With your free hand grab child #3 who is painting a great copy of the Mona Lisa on your bedroom wall. March the kids to the kitchen (there may be some resistance but you will prevail) and try these recipes. Who knows? Between these and a small miracle you might just get to swing in the hammock yet. (But then again, probably not!)

Try these easy craft recipes including a homemade play dough recipe, a homemade slime recipe and other stuff your kids will love!- Jill

Homemade Slime Recipe

1/2 cup white glue
6 Tbsp. water
food coloring
1-4 tsp. Borax
1-4 Tbsp. water

Mix the glue, 6 tablespoons water and food coloring until it is dissolved. In a separate bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon borax into 1 tablespoon water. Add to the glue solution. You will get a very thick clump of slime when the two mix. Pull the clump of slime out of the glue mixture and put it in a separate bowl. Mix another batch of the borax solution and add it to the remaining glue mixture. Repeat until all the glue mixture is used (about 3-4 times).

With clean hands, knead the slime to mix. This will take about 10 minutes and is not very difficult as the slime easily separates between your fingers. If a looser, more slimy texture is desired, knead in a bit more water. The more water you add, the slimier it gets. The slime doesn’t leave a residue and doesn’t get stuck on anything. This is great for Halloween entertaining. Store in an airtight container. This can easily be doubled, tripled or quadrupled.

Edible Play Dough Recipe

1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla extract or flavorings
1 lb. powdered sugar
food coloring (optional)

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Add powdered sugar. Knead it. Divide and add food coloring. Keep the homemade play dough refrigerated to keep from spoiling when not in use. You can replace vanilla with flavored extracts to give flavor other than just plain sweetness.

Homemade Bubbles Recipe

1/4 cup liquid dishwashing detergent (Non-ultra Dawn works best)
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp. sugar

Put the dishwashing detergent in the water. Carefully stir in sugar trying to avoid suds. Take a regular drinking straw and cut into 4 pieces. Then dip into the solution and blow your bubbles. Tie a rope loop up to a foot in diameter on the end of a stick and make a gallon of bubbles. Dip the rope in the bubbles and run with them. This will give you giant bubbles.

Tip: A friend who made bubbles professionally (The Bubble Man) told us on many occasions that Non-Ultra Dawn liquid soap makes the best bubbles. 

For more fun homemade kids recipes like these, check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

Cake Baking Tips

Whether you’re making homemade cake or baking cake from a mix, it’s always helpful to have a collection of tricks that make your baking easier! Try these easy cake baking tips and save time making fluffier cakes!

• Use chocolate drink mix or cocoa to flour your cake pans when making a dark cake (like chocolate).
• Homemade pan grease: 2 parts solid vegetable shortening – 1 part flour. Mix and place in a container. I keep a paper towel in mine that I use to rub it into the pan.
• Add 1 tsp. lemon juice in your cake recipe when creaming butter and sugar to make the cake fluffier. If you keep it on hand, you can also use 1 Tbsp. meringue powder to do the same thing. Meringue powder is found in your cake decorating section at Wal-Mart.
• Another way to lighten a cake is to separate the eggs, beat the whites and fold them in at the end of mixing.
• Cream the butter well (5 minutes) when making a cake. This adds air to it and also helps make a lighter cake.
• Line the bottom of the pan with wax paper. This is an extra step but it makes it so much easier getting the cake out of the pan and really saves time in the long run. To get the right size of wax paper just set the pan on a piece of wax paper and trace around the pan with the point of the scissors. It leaves enough of a mark for you to see to cut around.
• Soften leftover custard in the microwave for a few seconds and use between the layers of a cake (like a Boston cream pie) or to frost a cake.

For more cake baking tips along with lots of easy home cooked recipes, grab a copy of our Dining On A Dime Cookbook!

photo by: southernfoodwaysalliance

You can make this easy homemade drain cleaner and drain opener recipe with ingredients you already have at home an it works well for most clogs!

Easy Drain Cleaner And Drain Opener

1 cup baking soda
1 cup vinegar
4 cups boiling water

Pour baking soda into drain and then pour vinegar on top of it. Let it sit for 30 minutes. Pour boiling water down the drain. You may need to repeat this process if your drain doesn’t come unclogged the first time. This will clean out a lot of clogs so try it first before running to the store to buy a commercial drain opener.

Tip: Don’t throw away the baking soda used to freshen your fridge. Use it as a cleaning scrub or pour down your drain to clear clogs.

This homemade drain cleaner recipe is from our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

This easy homemade garlic pickles recipe is a tasty way to use garden produce. These homemade pickles are super yummy and anyone can make them!

Homemade Garlic Pickles Recipe

2 heads of dill 1 clove garlic
2 Tbsp. pickling spices
1 hot pepper, cut in two
4-5  cucumbers, sliced
1 cup water
4 cups vinegar
1/2 cup salt, non-iodized

Mix first three ingredients and divide in 4-5 pint-sized jars. Add 1 piece of pepper to each jar. Pack sliced cucumbers into jars. Boil last three ingredients and pour over cucumbers. Refrigerate several weeks before serving. Makes 4-5 pints.

*These homemade garlic pickles are great with hamburgers.

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

This Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe makes yummy enchiladas that are easy to make and super popular with families. It’s easy to add your own variations to satisfy everyone in your family!

Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe

1 can enchilada sauce
8 oz. sour cream
8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas

Spray a 9×13 pan (or one slightly smaller) with cooking spray. Place a tablespoon of sour cream and cheese in the center of each tortilla. Roll up each one and place in the pan. Pour enchilada sauce over it all and spread remaining sour cream and cheese on top. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes or 250 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

This recipe serves about 4. If you have hearty eaters, you may want to double it.

You can make this in the morning and let it sit until you are ready to cook it. Some people like to include cooked hamburger, onions, chicken or green chiles along with the sour cream and cheese.

This Sour Cream Enchiladas Recipe is from the Dining On A Dime Cookbook.

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

Easy Spanish Rice Recipe

Homemade Sopapillas Recipe

This homemade baked tortilla chips recipe is a great way to make less expensive baked chips and use tortillas that are still good but too brittle to roll!

Homemade Baked Tortilla Chips Recipe

corn tortillas
spray oil
salt
garlic powder (optional)
onion powder (optional)
chili powder (optional)

Heat oven to 275°. Very lightly spray tortillas with oil. Sprinkle with seasonings if desired. Place on oven rack and bake 20-30 minutes or until crispy. Sprinkle with salt and break apart into pieces when cooled. If you want more uniform pieces cut tortilla shells in quarters after spraying on the oil. Then bake on a cookie sheet. If you like flavor with garlic powder, onion powder or chili powder.

This homemade baked tortilla chips recipe is from our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

If you love the funnel cakes at amusement parks and carnivals, you’ll love this homemade funnel cakes recipe! We love funnel cakes, but they’re so expensive to buy. Using this recipe, you can make them for just pennies and our kids just LOVE them!

They’re a fun summer treat and because they’re so quick, easy and inexpensive, you can make them as a treat for the kids when they’ve been out playing all day! (Or you might just want to treat yourself!

Homemade Funnel Cakes Recipe

1 1/4 cup sifted flour
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk

Sift together dry ingredients. Mix egg and milk and add to dry ingredients. Stir until smooth. Pour oil into a skillet and heat to 375 degrees. Holding finger over the end of a funnel, pour in 1/4 cup batter. Holding over the hot oil, remove finger and let drizzle over the hot oil. As batter flows, move funnel in a circle to form a spiral cake.* Fry about 2 minutes on each side, turning once until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, glaze or nuts. Makes 6 cakes.

*If you find it too hard using the funnel, try putting the batter in a squeeze bottle (the kind you can get at the Dollar Store to put ketchup and mustard in) then squeeze the batter into the oil making a straight line and make sticks instead of the round “cake” shape.

This recipe is from our cookbook:

Click here to get the Dining On A Dime Cookbook, with tasty recipes and great tips to make your life easier and save you money!

Easter Menu

Spiced Honey Ham
Boiled or steamed new red potatoes
Deviled eggs
Carrot and celery sticks (in honor of the Easter Bunny of course)
Peas and pearl onions
Cornbread
Pineapple Sour Cream Pie

Spiced Honey Ham

1/2 cup mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tsp. cloves
1 ham

Mix first 5 ingredients and pour over ham. Cook ham according to directions on the package basting every 30 minutes or so.

This dessert is great a change from all the sweets everyone has probably had from the Easter Bunny that morning.

Pineapple Sour Cream Pie

1 pkg. (5 1/2 oz.) instant vanilla pudding
1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple plus juice
2 cup sour cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 baked pie crust (you can use a store bought one of course)
Whipped topping

Combine all but the crust and beat slowly for 1 minute. Pour into the crust and chill 3 hours. Top with whipped topping when ready to serve.

Easter Leftover Tips:

• Run leftover Easter hard candy through your spice grinder. Sprinkle it on cakes, cupcakes and cookies for color, sparkle and taste.
• To keep egg yolks from crumbling when you slice hard boiled eggs, wet your knife before each slice.

What to do with 1001 hard boiled eggs:

• Use them and some of the leftover ham and veggies from your Easter relish dish to make chef salads.
• Chop them up with ham, bacon or sausage and a little grated cheese to make breakfast burritos.
• Use them for Scotch eggs. Wrap uncooked sausage (the moldable kind that comes in a plastic tube) around each peeled, hard boiled egg. Bake for 30 minutes at 350°. You can serve these cold or hot and make a great on the go breakfast.
• Make your favorite egg salad. Then add to it equal amounts of ham. Slice a hoagie roll or French bread roll in half. Place bottom half of roll on baking sheet and spread with 1/4 cup of egg/ham salad. Sprinkle with grated cheddar cheese. Broil until cheese is melted. Top with roll top and broil a minute.
• If you have a mound of leftover hard boiled eggs, don’t forget the simple ways to use them up like for deviled eggs, egg salad sandwiches, on a chef salad or just thrown in a lunch to be eaten with a little salt.

photo by: eraphernalia_vintage

This mechanic’s tough hand cleaner recipe makes a hand cleaner that can help the greasiest mechanic at a fraction of the cost of the store bought cleaner!

Mechanic’s Tough Hand Cleaner Recipe

1/4 cup Fels Naptha*, grated
2 Tbsp. fine sand or pumice
1 cup water
2 cup plastic container (16 oz. cottage cheese container works great)

Place soap and water in a saucepan. Place over low heat; stir until soap is melted. After mixture cools, add mason’s sand or pumice. Store in a cottage cheese container or margarine tub. Dip fingers into soap mixture and lather hands. Rinse well.

*Any grated bar of soap will work but Fels Naptha removes the stains better.

Tip: Buy 1 gallon of bubble bath and use instead of liquid hand soap. It is much cheaper and smells better than regular hand soap.

This recipe is from the Dining On A Dime Cookbook. For more easy recipes like this, check out Dining On A Dime here!

Save money on wedding food and provide a nice experience for your guests! These easy tips will help you plan your wedding menu without breaking the budget!

10 Ways To Save Money On Wedding Food

Planing your wedding menu can be a little bit stressful and very expensive if you’re not careful but it is possible to save money on wedding food and still provide a nice experience for your guests.

• Plan the time of your wedding so that it falls in between meals if possible. That way if your wedding is at 2:00 in the afternoon most people will have eaten lunch and will be leaving the wedding before dinner.
• Don’t worry if you can only afford to serve cake, punch, coffee, mints and nuts at your wedding. Having been a guest at many weddings, I have never given a second thought to what I was served. There is always that one person who will have something negative to say, but if you had had an expensive sit down dinner that person would have had something negative to say about it, too.
• Delegate, delegate, delegate. I could never have pulled off my wedding or my daughter’s wedding if I hadn’t had a lot of help from friends and family. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. People love weddings and usually enjoy being a part of one. Pick one person to be in charge of the food, especially for the day of the wedding, and ask others to help you to prepare it.

Inexpensive Wedding Menus:

I will mostly be giving hints for what I call a “finger food buffet”. Finger foods are a good way to save money on wedding food, making a happy medium between just cake and punch and a sit-down dinner. Be sure to pick things that can be prepared in advance to make it easier.

The things I list are just a few ideas of things that you could use for your wedding menu. Some wedding foods will be more expensive than others. Use only what will fit into your budget.

Large platters of fruit with or without dips

• Use in-season fruit that can be prepared ahead of time without turning brown. Strawberries, kiwi, oranges and pineapple work well.

Large platters of veggies with or without dip

• Check out a garnish book at the library to learn how to make them special instead of just making the usual carrot sticks. You can also serve olives, pickles, pickled veggies, etcetera with your veggie platter.

Sandwiches

• Sandwiches should be like “tea” sandwiches, with the crusts cut off and cut into shapes like triangles, circles or diamonds.
• Most sandwiches can be made way ahead of time and frozen. Spread each side of the bread with softened butter to prevent it from becoming soggy. This really works great. Wrap well before freezing.

Cheese and Cracker Platter

• Use a variety of cheeses. Once again, these should be cut into shapes like bells, hearts or cubes.
• Use a variety of crackers, too, not only in various shapes (round, square or rectangle), but also different colors.

Cold Cut Platter

• In place of sandwiches, you can have a platter of cold cuts (attractively arranged by rolling them up) and served with a variety of small rolls or breads.

Mints*, nuts or spiced nuts

Additional Wedding Food Tips:

If you want to go one step further than just finger foods, you can add in any number of different types of salads.

Everything you serve should be attractively cut, arranged on platters and garnished. You can buy some very nice silver or crystal like platters at party stores. Don’t forget to plan for decorations for the food table.

This all may seem like a lot of work but remember, you can do a good portion ahead of time, you don’t have to serve everything listed and enlist help. Also you can cut corners in some areas. For example I will be giving you a recipe for wedding mints to make but if you don’t have time for those, just substitute some of those pastel party mints that you can buy. In the same way if you don’t want the work of “tea” sandwiches, just have a cold cut platter.

      -Jill

Try this yummy Molded Party Mints Recipe!

Here’s an easy homemade sweet recipe. You can save making a pitcher full of sweet tea for pennies instead of paying several dollars a glass at a restaurant!

How To Make Homemade Sweet Tea – Sweet Tea Recipe

Those of you from the South may find this post a little funny because sweet tea is an everyday thing in much of the South and some of you were weaned on the stuff.

There is a whole generation of adults, though, who don’t know about sweet tea because sugar was put on the “bad food” list when they were growing up, but surprise, surprise it is once again ok to use sugar in our drinks. Yeahhhh!!!!

Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon to buy sweet tea at the fast food restaurants and in the bottles. I cringe every time I see someone pay through the nose to buy sweet tea when it is so easy to make and costs only pennies for a pitcher full. Also many buy bottles of regular and green tea for the antioxidants. Be careful what you may not realize is that when tea sits it loses it’s antioxidants so making it fresh is best. 

To help you save some money on what may be becoming your favorite drink or what might still be an old favorite, here is my recipe for homemade sweet tea.

Even though I am not officially a true Southerner, I will warn you I drink mine so sweet it will curl your hair. You can adjust the sugar if you want, but try it this way first and see what you think. Part of the secret to good iced tea is having the sugar properly dissolved. Just adding sugar to regular unsweetened cold tea doesn’t get it completely dissolved, but there’s an easy secret to this dilemma when making sweet tea.

Some people make a simple syrup to help dissolve the sugar, but you don’t have to go to all that trouble because this recipe makes it’s own simple syrup with the tea.

Homemade Sweet Tea Recipe

2 quarts water
3 regular size tea bags
3/4 cup sugar

Boil part of the water (about 3 cups). This doesn’t have to be precisely measured. Just estimate using enough so that when you pour it over the tea bags and sugar, it will cover them well.

While the water is boiling, place the tea bags and sugar into a 2 quart pitcher.

After the water boils, pour it over the tea bags and sugar. Cover and let it steep for at least 5 minutes if you are in a hurry. I let mine sit for 30 minutes or more (or until I remember that I made it ;-).

 Then, gently stir it. You don’t want to break the tea bags.

 Add more cold water up to the 2 quart line. Chill.

If I will be serving mine over ice, which is the way I love it, I will only add water to the 1 1/2 quart line instead of 2 quarts.

Of course, after you try it, you can adjust the sugar and water to your preference.

Sometimes I will use 2 regular flavored tea bags and one flavored tea bag (like peach or raspberry). This adds just the right amount of flavor to it. If you like lemon, toss in a slice!

Jill

Yummy Homemade 7 Layer Bar Cookies Recipe 

This yummy 7 Layer Bar Cookies Recipe make a delicious treat your whole family will love! They are great for parties or anytime you need a great dessert!

7 Layer Cookies

1 stick (1/2 cup) margarine
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1-2 cups flake coconut
1 pkg. (6 oz.) chocolate chips
1 pkg. (6 oz.) butterscotch chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup nuts, chopped

Melt margarine in a 9×13 pan. Add the rest of the ingredients in layers. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Cut into bars when cool.

(If you need some delicious and easy recipes that your family will love, you’ll definitely want to check out our Dining On A Dime Cookbook.)