~Bacon..the non-messy way~

I cook my bacon in the oven!! No greasy mess all over the stove or griddle!! Bake at 400F until bottom looks done then broil for a few minutes until the top bakes.

~Simplified baby food~

When my baby was little I discovered that my baby would rather eat a banana if it looks like my banana than eat it mashed from a plate or bowl. So then I just cut a banana in half and scraped out the inside with a spoon. Worked for me:)

~Babies and medicine~

When my baby was very small (she is almost 3 now!) she used to hate taking medicine. It was always a challenge to get her to take it. When she was prescribed antibiotics for an ear infection (the type you have to keep refrigerated) I would bring a dose of it to a pleasant temperature before giving it to her. Just standing the filled syringe in warm water for a minute or two did the trick. This helped her hate the process a little less since the medicine was not ice cold on her throat!

~Clean stove top-a kitchen tip~

Here is a little trick to getting your stove cleaned without effort:)

In the evening I stuck all the pieces in the dishwasher, including the knobs and ran the dishwasher over night. I wiped the stove off and in the morning took out the clean parts from the dishwasher and put it all back together. Easy peasy!:)

~Large batch white and whole wheat sandwich buns by hand!~

Whole wheat sandwhich buns

4 3/4 cups hot water

3/4 cup bacon fat or butter (VERY good with the bacon fat!)

4 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

12 cups flour (whole wheat or all white or a combo)

6 tsp instant yeast

additional flour for kneading~about 1/2 cup or so

Knead well (you may want to use the method posted HERE) then coat in oil, cover and set to rise (you may wish to use the rising method posted HERE~the oven one) Once risen (about an hour to an hour and a half) rip off pieces slightly larger than the size of a golf ball. Shape (you may wish to use the method posted in the video below) and set on greased pans.
Cover and set to rise again. (about a half hour to 3/4 hour) Once risen bake in 350F oven for about 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool in pans or on wire rack. I bag mine up and freeze once totally cooled. To thaw just remove from freezer and leave the bag open. Enjoy! Let me know if you've tried it and if you've blogged about it so I can link to you!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

~Almost instant chicken soup~

Need a quick lunch? Have nothing much on hand? Here is the most simple, fool proof, yet tasty chicken soup ever!!!

All you need is chicken breast, water, vegeta seasoning and soup noodles!

Boil the chicken breast pieces in abundant water skimming off the foam from the top then reducing the heat to a simmer. Add vegeta to taste, cover and cook until chicken is tender. Remove chicken, shred and put back into the broth. Mix in some precooked noodles and you have lunch ready!!!!!! Serve with crackers.
Kids love it!!!!!!!!!!

PS: Vegeta is an Italian vegetable seasoning found in the spices ihle at your grocery store.

~For more great kitchen tips go to http://tammysrecipes.com
~There are also more kitchen tips located in the sidebar on this blog!

~Kitchen tip~kneading a large amount of dough~video

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

This is a little video my little boy made with me about how I knead a large amount of dough. It's kind of tricky to explain in writing so I hope the video loads for others. It seems fine on my computer.

toddlers and soup without a mess~kitchen tip

Here is my kichen tip for the week:)

When soup is on the menu I tear up some bread and toss it into my toddlers soup. This soaks up the broth (I make sure I don't add so much that it would taste totally dry though) and my toddler can enjoy her soup with out it dripping all over and making a huge mess!

For tammy's kitchen tip on cutting boards click HERE

Open a stubborn jar~kitchen tip

No need to call your husband or oldest son:)

Simply stick a butter knife between the lid and jar and wiggle hard kind of in a "prying" motion. This breaks the seal and you can turn the jar right side up and open easily!

for Tammy's kitchen tip on food storage using jars click HERE

Kitchen tip~rising dough

Since we're on the subject of bread....
I found a cool way to help bread dough rise............for smaller batches of dough...like whem you're making about 2 loaves of bread...


By placing the dough in an empty ice cream bucket with a lid!!


It really works quite a bit better than just covering the dough with a tea towel.
The results of my ice cream bucket experiment were quite delicious


60 slices of bread placed in Ziploc bags for later use.

My usual method goes like this:

To help any sort of dough rise turn the oven on real low for a minute then turn off and and put your pan of dough in there. The lukewarm temperature makes the dough rise faster and nicer it seems.

For tammy's fruit basket tip go to http://www.tammysrecipes.com/node/4089