Ivy says:

This morning, I went to “Muffins For Moms” at my daughter’s school. It was really nice, but LOUD! I admire Meg’s teacher greatly for being able to handle the loudness. I was there for 45 minutes and had to turn my radio off on the way home to enjoy the silence. I couldn’t imagine a whole day of it.

With that in mind, it’s that time of the year again- time to give teacher gifts. This stresses a lot of people out because they want to get the teacher something nice, that they will appreciate and/or use, but they don’t have a lot of money to spend.

Trust me when I say teachers get that, not having a lot of money to spend. I’m not going to jump on the “teachers are horribly underpaid” bandwagon, but I think we can all agree that teachers didn’t go into the profession to make a fortune.

My mom is going to kill me for telling the world this, but my mom is a teacher. She appreciates every gift she gets, but there are some gifts she gets more than others. Some more unusual gifts that she’s gotten are some of her favorites, like the doily a student and her mom crocheted for her. She sometimes gets really pretty pens and pencils. Gifts like this are terribly appreciated, and not too expensive.

Another thing you should consider is a gift card. Even $5 is a great boon to any teacher. Staples and Target gift cards seem to be favorites with the teacher set. Other things you might consider are movie passes, restaurant gift cards, even a pack of white copier paper- they go through paper like there’s no tomorrow!

You don’t have to go to great expense to let your child’s teacher know you care. Even a card with your thanks is an awesome gift.

Heather says:

This post is to help those who are intimidated by the process of buying beef in bulk.  If you have strong views about the ethics of beef consumption, this is not the forum for that discussion.  Inflammatory comments will be deleted at our discretion.  Home Ec 101 is a place for both omnivores and vegetarians, where neither choice is esteemed over the other.

Before buying a 1/4 cow or side of beef there are several points to consider.

Are you comfortable preparing or experimenting with different cuts of meat?  As nice as it would be, cows are not walking filet mignon.  There are tougher parts (sirloin tip), there are tender parts (filet), there are  parts  that  aren’t  in  every recipe book (sometimes organ are included).

Do you mind the taste or texture of frozen meat?  Personally, it doesn’t bother me in the least, but some insist on fresh only.

Do you have adequate storage space? It really is a LOT of meat.

Do you eat out often?  If the answer is yes, it may be difficult to consume the quantity of meat in a reasonable length of time.

If you have a small family, consider asking others and divvy up the cost through a joint purchase.  If you take that route, you will need to decide before hand how the cuts will be divided.  Once the meat has been cut it needs to be frozen as soon as possible.

If you still believe a side of beef is the choice for you, first you will need to locate a source.  Word of mouth, LocalHarvest.org, Eat Wild, and your state university’s agriculture extension offices are all great resources for finding high quality meat.

Most sales are based on the hanging weight, this is the weight before it is cut into pieces.  Some bone and some fat is included in this price that will go to waste. Also before determining your final cost ask if there are any additional fees for butchering, cutting, and wrapping.

Call the ranch, farmer, or butcher and ask about how they handle beef orders.

• Do they need to be placed well ahead of time, perhaps only during a specific time of year?
• Where is the animal raised?  If you aren’t squeamish, can you see the animal?
• Where is the animal butchered?
• How long is the meat aged?
• Is it processed on site or at a separate facility? Is the facility licensed?
• Will you as the customer need to be present when the meat is cut and wrapped?
• Will the butcher walk you through your options when choosing cuts?

We have just made our second bulk beef purchase.  Our first was four years ago and it took us a while to work through the meat, but we found our last pound of ground beef as high quality as the first.  Our family is much larger now and over the past few years we have had many conversations along the following lines: remember how nice it was to have our freezer full of beef?  Do you miss red meat as much as I do?

It is possible to buy meat cheaper, but I enjoy knowing where my meat came from and do not mind preparing a wide variety of cuts.  We have been fully satisfied with our investment.  I found our first beef purchase intimidating, but we made a wise choice with our butcher who walked us through the process.  I enjoyed choosing the thickness of our steaks, how much meat would remain in whole form, and how much would end up as hamburger.  Remember, even if you opt for whole cuts of meat in every case possible, there is still a good bit of hamburger in a side of beef.

So Home Eccers, any questions?

Ivy says:

Yesterday, my mom came over because she had a little time to kill before going to work. There wasn’t any time to clean up because she called me as she turned onto my street. Thanks, mom. “Ah, Ivy,” she said, “Your home is a bastion of cleanliness.” We both laughed because, to be honest, my house has been quite a disaster lately. I would undoubtedly receive the Home Ec 101 Seal of Disapproval if we were handing out seals.

When my grandmother died, my uncle started giving me her stuff.  I have a small garage that was nearly full of our own things.  Grandma’s stuff has spilled into my living room and now in the space of less than 6 months, my house has reached full on disaster status. Let this be a lesson, the minute you let the mess creep in, the mess multiplies like Tribbles and the next thing you know, you have a messy house. The irritating part is, I already knew this, but depression over losing my grandma and the sheer amount of stuff I got went a long way to helping me ignore my own advice.

I’m telling you this not because I think it’s fun to tell y’all about my house being a disaster, but because I suspect at least some of you are in the same boat. Your house is cluttered. If it’s anything like mine, it’s fairly sanitary (pay no attention to those cat boxes behind the curtain!), but clutter has set in, it’s overwhelming, and you’re not even really sure how to get started.

Never fear! Mess and chaos spread, but so does clean. The key is to leverage the momentum. Normally, when cleaning, I like to set a timer. But with remedial cleaning, I like to do this “by the job.” For example, this morning I cleaned off the top of the kids’ toy cabinet. I had to be ruthless- did I really want to keep all 8,447 pictures my daughter had drawn? I picked my 2 favorites and hung them up.

Make a plan for your remedial cleaning. Now that the top of the kids’ toy cabinet is cleaned off, the next job is to clean the inside of it. Someone hold me, I’m scared. Make a list and enjoy crossing off each task!  A sense of accomplishment helps move things along.  Eventually, your house will be the “bastion of cleanliness” it once was. And so will mine.

Heather says:

Do you ever have a snippet from a TV show stay with you for eternity?

Now that you’ve had a peek into my twisted little mind, let’s talk chicken bog. At first glance, some long time readers may say, “But Heather, that looks just like chicken pilau.” Nay nay my friend, there are many heated arguments between Lowcountry residents and PeeDee residents about the superiority of one over the other. As long as someone is willing to share, I refuse to take sides. The grains of rice in chicken pilau are separate, where in a traditional bog, the grains will mold to a fork. Additionally, chicken bog is typically more savory.

This dish is economical, it utilizes a whole chicken which creates a rich broth to flavor the rice. It can feed a crowd or freezes for an easy night in the future. Andre Pope has been kind enough to share his recipe for chicken bog.

Chicken Bog

Chicken Bog

Ingredients

• 1 (3-5 pound) chicken (cut up)
• 1 pound smoked sausage
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 teaspoons Lawry’s Seasoned Salt
• 1 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pinch of salt
• Dash of garlic powder
• 3 bay leaves
• 8 cups water
• 3 cups raw white rice

Directions:
1. Cut the sausage into 1/2-inch pieces.

2. Combine the chicken, sausage, butter, seasonings and bay leaves in a large stock pot.

3. Add the water and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 40 minutes at a low boil.

4. Remove the chicken. WARNING: VERY HOT

5. Remove the meat from the bones of the chicken. (Throw away the bones and skin. )

6. Add the rice to the pot with remaining chicken broth and seasonings.

7. Bring to a boil, stirring well.

8. Boil for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer, cover the pot and let cook for 10 more minuets or until the rice is done.

9. Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaves, return the chicken to the pot, mix well, and serve.

10. Pour your self a big glass of iced-tea and enjoy.

Thank you very much, Andre, for sharing your recipe.

Ivy says:

Heather and I have been talking about the aggregator. We’re quite undecided about whether or not it adds value to the site. As you know, we hate clutter here at Home Ec 101, so if our readers don’t think it’s a useful addition to the site, we might get rid of it.

However, our readers could find it to be a great resource. People who are on the aggregator may find they get some traffic from it. We’re not sure, and that’s why we’re opening it up to you guys. Please take the poll and leave us a comment about what you think!