Super Mom’s Household Tip of the Day #2

My tip for today is:

Invest in a hot water bottle.

It can be used for more than just soothing aches and pains. We’ve had a cold front come through and the temperature has dropped accordingly. By the time bedtime rolled around last night, the house was getting quite cool but rather than turn the heat back on, I filled the hot water bottle with really hot water, wrapped it up in a pillowcase and slipped it under the covers; placing it the middle of the bed. By the time I’d finished brushing my teeth, etc. that part of the bed was nice and warm when I crawled in, so I moved the water bottle down to the foot of the bed and let it warm my feet.

This is also great thing to do during the depths of winter. There’s nothing better on a cold winter night than to crawl into an already warm bed. I recommend that you have one hot water bottle for each member of the family. A basic one costs about $10 and will last for years.

10 Simple Steps to Reduce Your Water Bill

I know this post is a day late for Earth Day, but it’s never too late to start doing what we can to reduce our environmental impact.

When we moved from our acreage in Alberta, Canada to Maui, one of the biggest changest to our budget was that we were suddenly having to pay for water.  After the first couple of water bills, my husband and I started enforcing some new house rules regarding water usage.  Also, at the time, Hawaii was experiencing a draught and we were all encouraged to converse as much water as possible.

Now we are living in north Georgia, which is experiencing the worst draught ever recorded for this area. Although draught conditions have eased a bit due to recent rains, we are still having to converse water in whatever ways we can.

Below is a list of what we’ve been doing to use less water.  As a bonus, it’s also keeping our water bills down.

In the bathroom:

1.     Take showers rather than baths.

2.    When running water for a shower, use a bucket to catch the water until it gets hot.   I do this when I’m filling the sink to wash dishes too.  I then use this water to water plants and to flush the toilet.  (Note: I would not recommend doing this if you have little ones in the house due to the drowning hazard.)

3.    Limit shower time by having a “get clean” or “G5 shower”… Get in, Get wet, Get soaped, Get rinsed, Get out.

4.    Do not shave in the shower unless you are going to turn the water off while you’re doing it.  Better yet, shave before/after showering.  Plug the bathroom sink, half fill with hot water and use that to rinse your razor.

5.    If you do decide to have a bath, don’t drain the water when you are finished.  Use a bucket to scoop the water out and use to flush the toilet.   I did this recently and it took me two days of scooping water to empty the tub and I hadn’t even filled the tub more than half full.  (Note:  Again, I would not recommend doing this if you have little ones in the house because of the drowning hazard.)

6.    Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.

In the kitchen and around the house:

7.    When peeling or washing vegetables, run water into a small pail.  (Ice cream pails work well for this.)  Peel/wash your veggies.  Put peels in compost and use the water to water plants or add it to water buckets in the bathroom for flushing toilets.

8.    Whenever possible wash only full loads of laundry.

9.    Only run the dishwasher when it is full.  To use even less water… wash your dishes by hand in a sink half to three-quarters full of hot, sudsy water.  If you must rinse, half fill your second sink with hot water rather than rinsing them under running water.

In the yard:

10.           Buy a rain barrel and use that water for all your outdoor watering.  Our rental house doesn’t have gutters so I put a 5 gal pail under a spot where the water just streams off the roof when it’s raining.  And then I use that to fill my rain barrel.

These 10 simple steps have allowed us to cut our water usage and therefore our water bill by almost two times more than the 10% reduction requested last year by the State of Georgia during the worst of the draught last summer.

I’m always open to more ways to save water, so what things do you do to conserve water?  Please feel free to post your suggestions in comments.

How to use up leftover egg yolks

The most often requested birthday cake in our family is a made-from-scratch Angel Food cake.  I first started making it when we lived on our acreage in Alberta, Canada and each day my laying hens blessed us with between 5 and 6 eggs.   The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of egg whites and that of course leaves about a dozen yolks that need to be used up in another recipe.   Below is the recipe I’ve adapted over the years from one I found in an old cookbook.

Lemony Butter Sponge Cake

12 egg yolks (or however many are leftover from Angel cake)

2 c sugar

1 c scalded milk

½ tsp lemon extract

Zest of one lemon

½ c (one stick) melted butter

In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until light coloured and fluffy.  Add slightly cooled milk, lemon extract, lemon zest and melted butter.  Beat until well blended.

Sift together 2 ¼ c of all purpose flour and 2 tsp baking powder.  Fold into egg mixture.

Grease two 9 inch round cake pans.  Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Pour batter into pans, dividing it evenly between the two.  Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 to 35 minutes.   Cakes are done when a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven and cool on racks.

This is delicious with jam spread between the layers and sprinkled with icing sugar.  Or you can ice with your favourite icing.

The individual layers can also be frozen for future use.   Some day when you need a quick dessert, take one out of the freezer early in the day and then come time for dessert, slice and top with strawberries or ice cream (or both.)

 

Even if you are not in the habit of making Angel Food cakes, perhaps you have leftover yolks from making Egg-White Omelets or meringue.   Simply freeze the yolks and when you have enough, defrost in the fridge, bring to room temperature and then use them in making this wonderful Lemony Butter Sponge Cake.