Hearty White Sandwich Bread

May 3, 2013 By Michele Newell 3 Comments

Michele says:

I’ll never forget the first time my childhood friend showed me how to make one of her favorite treats. The recipe was simple: one piece of white bread, squished and squeezed into a compact ball. It was kind of like a bread bonbon, and the thought of it horrified me immensely. You see, I grew up eating sprouted wheat bread—the kind that can lead a child’s mind to wonder about the possibility of those seeds sprouting further during the digestion process—and it most certainly did not squish. It crumbled.

When I moved out on my own, I was gleeful to be able to choose a big, squishy loaf of white bread for my sandwiches. Upon my first bite, I was hit not with satisfaction and delight, but with questions. Is it supposed to stick to the roof of your mouth like this? Why does my sandwich stay squished after I take a bite out of it? And, most importantly, why, oh why am I still hungry after six slices of bread and butter? The answer to all of those questions was a simple one: air.

Store bought bread is the jet puffed marshmallow of the grain industry. Its shoddy ingredients and short production time don’t allow for a proper rise, so the dough is “helped out” with the addition of a quick puff of air. It bakes up airy and light, but the many shortcuts are evident the second you take your first bite and find the bread dissolving on your tongue—and even more evident when you find yourself rummaging through the cupboards for a post-lunch snack an hour after your meal. So-called whole wheat bread isn’t much better, and yet, despite its lack of quality and nutrition, most of us keep buying it. It’s a sweet, carby comfort food, and it’s not like we eat sandwiches every day, right?

We may not eat our daily bread, but what about our children?

How often do they eat toast, sandwiches, or plain old slices of bread in hand? If children today are anything like children twenty-something years ago, the answer is probably pretty darn often. So, what can we do?

Ban bread?

I suppose that’s an option—but before you petition congress, how about you give homemade sandwich bread a shot? Sure, it takes more time and costs more money than the store bought loaves, but what would you rather pay for: time and real ingredients, or convenience, air, and possibly an attorney to write your anti-bread petition?

(Hint: the correct answer is A.)

Hearty White Sandwich Bread

Notes: This recipe is skipping many of the step by step pictures that were shown in the post Easy Italian Bread, so pop over there if you’re unsure about something or if you just want some photo reassurance. If you prefer wheat bread, you can substitute up to 1 ½ cups of the flour with whole- or white-wheat flour. Just remember that it will be much denser than the loaf made with all white flour! I cannot stress enough the importance of tightly rolling your bread in step 8. If you don’t pinch hard enough, you’ll end up with bread that you can unwind like a cinnamon roll. Don’t worry about hurting the dough by pinching or squeezing too hard!

1 cup warm milk
2 teaspoons (or 1 packet) yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 ½-3 ½ cups bread flour (or high quality all purpose flour)
4 tablespoons (½ stick) melted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
1 large egg
2 teaspoons kosher salt

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 cup of warm milk, 2 teaspoons of yeast, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Allow the yeast to sit until frothy or “proofed” (as shown).

Step 2: Using the dough hook as a spoon, stir 1 cup of flour into the proofed yeast. Continue to stir until you can no longer see any dry flour. Attach the dough hook to the mixer’s head. (As seen in step 2 of our last bread post.)

Step 3: Add 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 large egg, 2 teaspoons of kosher salt, and 1 cup of flour to the soggy doughy mess. Lock the mixer head and turn your mixer on to its lowest speed. Let the dough mix until all of the flour is integrated (you may need to hold your mixer’s head down if it tries to “walk” off the counter).

Step 4: Turn off the mixer and poke the dough. Chances are it will stick to your finger. Don’t worry; it’s supposed to do that! If your dough is very wet, add an additional cup of flour. If the dough is only slightly sticky, but isn’t wet, add an additional half cup of flour. If the dough is almost perfect, add a scant quarter cup of flour.

Lock the machine, turn it on to the lowest speed, and let it mix in the additional flour until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl. (As seen in step 4 of our last bread post.)

Step 5: Turn off the mixer and poke the dough (again). Does your finger leave an indentation that slowly goes away? If it doesn’t, allow the dough to mix for an additional 2 minutes to further develop the gluten; repeat the test. Repeat step 5 until the dough passes the poke test.

Step 6: Grease a large bowl. Quickly knead your dough into a ball on a very lightly floured counter top. Place the ball of dough into the bowl and roll it around to coat the surface of the dough with oil. Top the bowl with a greased lid (if it has one) or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it has doubled. It took my dough about 90 minutes at a room temperature of 69 degrees.

Step 7: Uncover the dough. Punch the dough down with your fist, folding the sides of the dough over as needed to form another ball. Recover the bowl and allow the dough to double again. For me, the second rise took a shade under 2 hours at 69 degrees.

Step 8: Uncover the dough and punch it down. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form it into a 12 x 8 inch rectangle (just eyeball it! Don’t worry about breaking out the ruler).

Make sure the long side of the dough is facing you, then tightly roll the dough twice as though you were making a jelly roll. Use your finger tips to pinch along the seam of the dough until it stays pinched and stops trying to roll open.

Repeat until your dough can only be rolled one more time. Before your final roll, fold the short edges of the dough in (like a burrito) so that the outside edges are smooth and rounded. Be sure to pinch the edges like we have already been doing for the rolls.

Tightly roll and pinch the dough into its final log shape. Press the dough seam-down in a buttered metal 9×5 inch loaf pan, making sure to smoosh the dough enough so that it touches all of the sides of the pan. (It’s okay if the dough shrinks back some after you move your hands.)

Using a paring knife or sharp kitchen shears, cut a quarter inch deep slash down the middle of the dough to give it room to rise. Brush the dough with melted butter. Dampen a large lint free towel or napkin and cover the pan and dough. Let the dough rise until doubled in bulk. It took my dough an hour at 70 degrees.

Step 9: Preheat the oven to 375. Remove the towel from the unbaked loaf and, if desired, brush the dough with more melted butter. Bake your bread on the middle rack of the oven for 35 to 45 minutes (checking through the oven window every two minutes after 35 minutes) or until the bread is golden brown, sounds hollow when you rap it with your knuckles, and smells like bread. (Skip that second test if you don’t have fireproof hands like me.)

Using a dry lint free towel or napkin, transfer the bread from the pan to a cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature before slicing. Store in a bread box or bread bag, and keep in mind that the bread keeps longer if you only slice it as you need it.

Makes one 9×5″ loaf or about 16-20 hearty slices.

Michele Newell is a housewife turned blogger turned Home Ec 101 contributor. You can read her near daily ramblings at Dreams Unreal.

Filed Under: Cook It Tagged With: Bread, Cooking Basics, Recipes

How to Care for Acrylic Flooring

April 30, 2013 By Heather Solos 1 Comment

Heather says:

Not too long ago on Facebook, I got a question about acrylic flooring that had become cloudy.

First I want to note that acrylic is a broad chemical term that simply means made of polymers or resins. So acrylic flooring can come in many forms, but in general people either mean linoleum, laminate, or Pergo style flooring. (Linoleum, laminate, say that five times fast)

The basic care is the same for all of these flooring types since they are made of similar, although not identical, material.

Cloudy or dull finishes on acrylic flooring is caused by tiny nicks and scratches that get filled with dirt, over time. You ask where do the nicks and scratches in my linoleum come from? Outside. (You can also chemically etch -scratch- the surface of your flooring and create that delicious cloudy haze, too)

That’s why using doormats is so important. Relatively people, relatively. I’m not saying saving your linoleum is the same as saving a life, but you will end up saving some cash in the long run and who doesn’t want to do that?

If doormats are of primary importance, daily sweeping and or vacuuming comes next on the list. Why? Weren’t you paying attention a moment ago? We’re getting rid of the grit that scratches the flooring. I still love my Roomba, but I did spring for an upgrade. We’ve talked about all kinds of vacuums over the years here at Home Ec 101, but I do want to point out that woot.com – that link up there in the header often has refurbished Dysons for an excellent price. Be careful though as checking in at woot can become addictive. I may or may not have quite the t-shirt problem.

(Oh, and if you do go through that link and find something neat, it’s affiliate which means I get a few pennies, which helps keep this site running. I love y’all, but *gasp* a little financial reward for 6 years of writing isn’t entirely unreasonable. The minions are growing and didn’t I just buy them shoes? Yes, I do buy their shoes before I enable my geeky t-shirt addiction)

So much to our chagrin we find the solution to our problem -cloudy, dull flooring- comes through preventative maintenance.

Well, crap, you probably wouldn’t be here if your acrylic flooring wasn’t in rough shape.

You can apply an acrylic floor finish to restore shine. I won’t lie, it’s a complete pain in the butt.

You need to thoroughly clean your flooring, vacuum and sweep as though your life depended on it. Then you’ll need to strip the old finish -and you absolutely must consult the manufacturer’s guidelines before doing this or you could easily cause permanent damage or void a warranty. Yuck.

Then apply an acrylic floor polish -again with going by your manufacturer’s recommendations- carefully following the directions.

And then, once your floor is all shiny and pretty -it’s never going to look brand new again, quit hoping for that- you can start following my original advice and invest in some door mats and regular upkeep. Because really? After all that work, you don’t want to have to do it again in just a few months.

Be sure to use a very mild and dilute cleaning agent when you do damp mop your flooring to prevent that chemical etching I mentioned earlier. Why? Because I said so.

Good luck.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

Filed Under: All, Clean It, Fix It Tagged With: Flooring, Kitchen

Albondigas Soup, Simplified for Weeknight Ease

April 22, 2013 By Heather Solos 3 Comments

Heather says:

I absolutely love albondigas soup, it’s a family favorite, but sometimes I just don’t have the energy to mess with rolling the meatballs. Sometimes I just can’t bring myself to care that much.

So on a whim one evening, when I had planned on making the original albondigas, I looked at it and said Fuhgeddaboudit, we’re doing a deconstructed or simplified version of the recipe. Deconstructed is a fancy term for breaking a complicated dish down into its elements or ingredients and changing the presentation.

This has all of the same ingredients, but without the work of the meatballs. Score.

If you were intimidated by the original soup recipe, give this version a try. I wouldn’t dissuade you from trying it with a margarita, either.

Enjoy!
Ground Beef Soup

: Simplified Albondigas

: This is a weeknight version of the classic Albondigas or Mexican Meatball Soup

2lbs lean ground beef
2 small cans diced green chilies
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes or use an equivalent amount of fresh, diced tomatoes about 2.5 cups
1 bunch green onions – chopped, include the bulb, but set aside and chop that separately
3 cloves garlic – minced or pressed -divided use half in the beef half in the broth
1 bunch cilantro – chopped
1/2 cup rice
2 qts beef broth or stock (low sodium if possible, if not, I recommend using Better Than Bouillon
salt, pepper, and Tabasco or Chalula to taste

Directions:

In a large, heavy pot brown the ground beef with the bulb portion of the green onions and about half of the garlic.
Drain any fat.
Add the 2 qts of stock or broth and increase the heat of the burner.
Add the green chilies, diced tomatoes, the rest of the garlic, 1/2 cup of rice, and about half of cilantro and green onions.
Bring to a simmer and cook until the rice is done. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning as desired.
Add the last of the cilantro and green onions just before serving -this adds a bright, fresh taste.
Serve with warm, flour tortillas

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

Filed Under: Cook It Tagged With: Ground Beef, Recipe, Soup Recipes, Weeknight

Pork and Miso Ramen

April 18, 2013 By Michele Newell 3 Comments

Michele says:

Ramen. It’s a single word that conjures images of students and young newlyweds alike, united by their grumbling bellies and meager budgets. Most of us have been there, done that—myself included—and if you’re anything like me, you may have also done a happy dance when you finally said sayonara to your noodle heavy twenty dollar a week food budget. Despite my longstanding eagerness to eat something (anything!) other than what the Japanese refer to as gakusei ryori, or “student food”, years later I still find myself craving the salty, slurpy soup that got me through the leanest times in my life.

Fortunately for those of us nostalgic for ramen, it’s pretty hip these days! Made with fresh noodles, the giant bowls come garnished with everything from pork belly to pickled vegetables to quail eggs to kombu (AKA seaweed). Though delicious, these gourmet bowls can leave one asking, where has all of the cheap ramen gone? It turns out that the answer is closer than most of us would have ever guessed: it’s hiding in our own home kitchens!

With a few ingredients that you can buy at any well stocked grocery store (check Amazon if you can’t find miso), you can throw together a restaurant-worthy bowl in under an hour. Best of all, once you’ve made the broth, you can customize the bowls individually to make each one as healthy or as unhealthy as you’d like. That’s right. This homemade, veggie filled ramen can actually count as healthy…ish (those pesky fried noodles are the “ish”). For once, you’ll be able to have your cake ramen and eat it, too! If only those poor college students should be so lucky.

Pork and Miso Ramen

Pork Marinade:

¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine (or apple cider) vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Everything Else:

1 pound boneless pork chops
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 cups fish broth (I used a 32 ounce carton of store-bought)
4 cups chicken broth (homemade or a 32 ounce carton of store-bought)
2 tablespoons shiro (white) miso paste (you can find it on Amazon if your store doesn’t carry it)
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely minced
¼ cup low sodium soy sauce
½ pound (8 ounces) mung bean sprouts
1 pound (16 ounces) bok choy
1 bunch (approximately 10) scallions
3-3 ounce packages dried ramen, seasoning packets discarded
4 eggs, hard boiled or poached
Sriracha for serving (optional)

Step 1: Make the marinade by combining ¼ cup soy sauce, ¼ cup vinegar, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and black pepper in a gallon sized zip top bag. Use a fork to poke holes in the pork chops. Add the holey pork to the bag with the marinade and allow the meat to marinate for 30 minutes.

Step 2: While the pork marinates, mix 4 cups of fish broth with 4 cups of chicken broth in a stock pot, then add 2 tablespoons miso paste, 1 teaspoon ginger, and ¼ cup soy sauce to the broth. Cover and bring to a simmer for 30 minutes. If making hard boiled eggs, cook them now and set aside.

Step 3: While the broth simmers, heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Once the pan is warm, remove the pork chops from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Cook in the heated pan for 4-5 minutes, then flip; cook an additional 4-5 minutes, then remove the pork chops to a plate or plastic cutting board. Tent pork chops with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Step 4: While the pork is resting, wash the bean sprouts, bok choy, and scallions. Discard the roots from the bok choy and scallions. Slice the bok choy into ribbons; set aside. Cut the scallions into ¼ inch pieces; set aside. Thinly slice the pork; set aside. If you’re a worrywart, throw the pork into the broth to make sure that it’s one hundred percent cooked; there’s no shame in it, but it does change the texture of the pork. If making poached eggs, cook them now and (you guessed it!) set aside.

Step 5: Five minutes before serving, bring the broth up to the boil. Add the noodles to the boiling broth, being careful not to break up the ramen; slurping the noodles is half of the fun! Cook the ramen for 3 minutes or until the noodles are soft.

Step 6: Ladle the broth into soup bowls. Use chop sticks or a pasta server to add ramen to the bowls with the broth. Add pork to your bowl of noodles. Top the noodles with bok choy, bean sprouts, scallions, and egg. Don’t forget a squirt (or three) of Sriracha!

Serves 4 ramen lovers.

Michele Newell is a housewife turned blogger turned Home Ec 101 contributor. You can read her near daily ramblings at Dreams Unreal.

Filed Under: Cook It Tagged With: Main Dishes, Pasta, Pork, Recipe

Balsamic Marinated Chicken Thighs

April 9, 2013 By Heather Solos 10 Comments

Heather says:

This recipe for balsamic marinated chicken is sort of a repeat. Why? Because sometimes you don’t want to cook a whole chicken and grab the super-value pack of chicken thighs or leg quarters when they go on sale. Like the garlic and soy chicken thighs, this recipe is simple, the only drawback is it’s much better with a longer marinating period. This is a marinate the night before kind of recipe. Sides can be super simple. I went with baked sweet potatoes and oven roasted okra -I tossed the okra in vinegar and rosemary, with a little olive oil, it was okay, but nothing to write home about. I think lentil pilaf may have been a better choice.

Looking for other chicken recipe ideas: here’s a guide to cooking and using chicken

Balsamic Chicken Thighs

: Chicken Thighs Marinated in Balsamic Vinegar

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

Juice from 1 lemon
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 TBSP olive oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried rosemary – or 1 tsp fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 – 4 lbs chicken thighs
salt / fresh ground pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together the first 8 ingredients. In a shallow, non-reactive container (ie glass or plastic, or even zippered plastic bag) pour all of the marinade over the chicken thighs.
Cover and place the container in the refrigerator and allow to marinate for several hours or overnight. Turn the pieces once in a while to ensure they all have a reasonably even coating. (This is where the large zippered bag is handy, check the seal and hand it to a minion to shake)
Preheat the oven to 425F and make sure one of the racks is in the middle position.
Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off any excess. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place the chicken skin side up in a as small a baking dish as possible. The point is to ensure the skin is nicely browned, but the chicken isn’t spread out so far that it will dry out before it reaches a safe temperature.
Roast for approximately 35 – 50 minutes -this depends on whether or not you took the chicken out of the fridge as recommended in Cooking for Geeks -the whole don’t skip a temperature stage idea) Use a meat thermometer and remove the chicken from the oven as soon as it hits 165F.

Cooking time: 35 – 50

Number of servings (yield): 6

Filed Under: Cook It Tagged With: Chicken, Cooking Basics, Recipe

Easy Italian Bread

April 4, 2013 By Michele Newell 6 Comments

Michele says:

A little over ten years ago today, I enrolled in home economics as a school elective. To say I was excited would be an understatement, and I showed up for my first day of class eager to learn anything and everything I could about sewing, cooking, cleaning, and—most important to me—baking. The pace was slow; by the middle of the semester, we had barely made a batch of cookies! I finally got up the courage to ask the teacher when we’d learn to make, say, a simple loaf of bread. My courage was rewarded with a “Hah!” worthy of The Simpsons’ Edna Krabapple. Deflated and embarrassed, I gave up on baking and spent the rest of the course sewing stuffed animals, taking breaks to thread my classmates’ needles.

It wasn’t until my husband and I were poor college students that I even thought about baking my own bread again. I bought flour in 25 pound sacks and dove in headfirst. Six months later, I had my own recipes for everything from sandwich bread to challah to naan to the sort of crusty bread that bakeries sell for $5 a loaf. Today, I’m no longer forced to make all of my own bread, but I still make a majority of it. But, why? Isn’t baking bread a tedious, time consuming gamble?

No way! Don’t believe the evil industrial bread empire’s propaganda! Not only is it easy, it is also amazingly delicious, more filling than air-puffed store bread, and super frugal; as a bonus, kneading by hand is a great form of stress relief! (And if you’re not stressed, you can use a stand mixer instead.) Best of all, you probably already have all five of the ingredients in your cabinets—and you don’t even need a bread machine.

So, what do you say, Home Eccers? How about we whip up a batch of bread before we continue with our sewing lessons? (Here’s the part where I assume that you’re all donning your aprons in excitement.) As long as you give the dough plenty of time to rise, this bread is downright impossible to mess up. So, even if you’ve had not-so-good luck with bread in the past, just humor me and give this recipe a shot. Your bellies (and your families) will thank you!

Easy Italian Bread

Notes: this recipe assumes you have a stand mixer. If you’re baking by hand, do your mixing in a very large bowl using a sturdy wooden spoon until the dough comes together (as seen in step 3 below). Add flour ½ cup at a time, and when you can no longer stir the dough, turn it out onto a floured counter. Knead, using the heels of your hands, until it looks and feels like the dough described in step 6, or anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes. Once the dough is ready to rise (as evidenced by the “poke test” described in step 5) you can continue to follow the recipe below.

1 ½ cups warm water
1 teaspoon white sugar
2 teaspoons (or 1 packet) yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt
About 3 cups of good all purpose flour

Step 1: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1 ½ cups of water, 2 teaspoons of yeast, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Allow the yeast to sit until frothy or “proofed” (as shown).

Step 2: Using the dough hook as a spoon, stir 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and 1 cup of flour into the proofed yeast. Continue to stir until you can no longer see any dry flour. Attach the dough hook to the mixer’s head.

Step 3: Add 1 cup of flour to the soggy doughy mess. Lock the mixer head and turn your mixer on to its lowest speed. Let the dough mix until all of the flour is integrated (you may need to hold your mixer’s head down if it tries to “walk” off the counter).

Step 4: Turn off the mixer and poke the dough. Chances are it will stick to your finger. Don’t worry; it’s supposed to do that! If your dough is very wet, add an additional cup of flour. If the dough is only slightly sticky, but isn’t wet, add an additional half cup of flour. Lock the machine, turn it on to the lowest speed, and let it mix in the additional flour until the dough forms a ball and cleans the sides of the bowl.

Step 5: Turn off the mixer and poke the dough (again). Does your finger leave an indentation that slowly goes away? If it doesn’t, allow the dough to mix for an additional 2 minutes to further develop the gluten; repeat the test. Once your dough is properly springy, give yourself a pat on the back because the hard part is over. Congratulations!

Step 6: Oil a large bowl. Quickly knead your dough into a ball on a very lightly floured countertop. Place the ball of dough into the bowl and roll it around to coat the surface of the dough with oil. Top the bowl with a greased lid (if it has one) or plastic wrap. Allow the dough to rise at room temperature until it has doubled. It took my dough about 90 minutes at a room temperature of 67 degrees

Before the first rise.

After the first rise.

Before the second rise.

After the second rise.

Step 8: Uncover the dough and punch it down (last time, I swear). Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and form it into an elongated ball (think an American football only less pointy). Transfer the ball to a large parchment- or silicone mat-lined baking sheet.

Using a paring knife or sharp kitchen shears, cut a quarter inch deep slash down the middle of the dough to give it room to rise. Dust the dough with flour. Dampen a large lint free towel or napkin and cover the pan and dough. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes while you preheat the oven to 450.

Step 9: Once the oven has heated and the dough has rested, remove the towel from the unbaked loaf. If the flour has magically disappeared, as it tends to do, sprinkle the loaf with a bit more flour. Bake your bread on the middle rack of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes (checking through the oven window every minute after 15 minutes) or until the bread is golden brown, sounds hollow when you rap it with your knuckles, and smells like bread. (Skip that second test if you don’t have fireproof hands like me.)

Using a dry lint free towel or napkin, transfer the bread from the pan to a cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool to room temperature until slicing—or just tear off hunks like a caveperson and enjoy it warm. If anyone dares give you guff, tell them that Michele says you deserve to eat because… you just baked bread!

Filed Under: Cook It Tagged With: Bread, Cooking Basics, Recipe

Sunlight as a Disinfectant for Laundry

April 1, 2013 By Heather Solos 1 Comment

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I’ve seen a couple of posts where you’ve mentioned that sunlight is a disinfectant… I wondered if you had any idea how effective it actually is, and whether the temperature outside influences its effectiveness? I hang my laundry outside to dry whenever possible (generally when it’s above freezing) but a recent cold/flu epidemic in our household has me wondering if I should be doing more to get rid of germs in my laundry than just hot water washes and sunlight.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Sincerely,
Sunny days taking my cares away

Heather says:

You pose an outstanding question and I wish I had a good answer, backed up with strong data, for you, but the sad truth is I don’t.

There are so many variables involved with hanging clothes outside in the sun to dry that don’t really translate well to laboratory testing.

Think about it, off the top of my head here’s what came to mind:

What latitude? The equator is significantly different than Norway
Direct / indirect sunlight
ambient temperature
humidity
relative cleanliness of the clothing hung outside
thickness of the fabric

So I began researching. Had I really been using an old wives tale as a resource here on Home-Ec 101? (You really don’t want a peek inside my head, it’s quite cluttered in there and filled with second and third guessing)

I highly recommend you check out The Naked Scientists. Don’t worry, you’re not going to get an eyeful, go ahead and visit. Anyhow, they have forums and someone asked a very similar question and some responded with the whole that’s baloney, the sun isn’t good for disinfecting, but The Bored Chemist also weighed in, thank goodness.

The truth is that the UV from the sun does kill bacteria quite effectively.

And from Penn State:

Microbes are uniquely vulnerable to the effects of light at wavelengths at or near 2537 Angstroms due to the resonance of this wavelength with molecular structures.

However, so does heat and generally drier conditions.

So what does this mean?

Sunlight is a disinfectant. Remember though that the term disinfectant only means:

an agent that frees from infection; especially : a chemical that destroys vegetative forms of harmful microorganisms (as bacteria and fungi) especially on inanimate objects but that may be less effective in destroying spores

Sunlight will reduce the overall amount of bacteria living on your fabrics, but it won’t sterilize them. (Remember, we’ve talked about the difference between clean, sanitary, and sterile before). So, yes, if you have a contagious bug making the rounds in your home, go ahead and hang the sheets and towels in the sun, after washing them properly, the fresh air certainly won’t do you any harm, either. (Apply sunscreen, yada yada yada).

Unless you have people still in the chewing on fabric phase -or have a houseful of pinkeye the relative cleanliness of your laundry isn’t a huge deal – do take care with your kitchen laundry, of course.

If however, you have someone in the house with severe allergies, know that the collection of pollen on their pillowcases is probably going to make them absolutely miserable and it’s not worth the extra effort.

I hope everyone is feeling better.

Submit your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com.

Filed Under: Wash It

How to Clean Kitchen Laundry in a Public Laundromat

March 11, 2013 By Heather Solos 4 Comments

Dear Home-Ec 101,

I love your website, your tips have been extremely helpful to me. I have a question, though, whose answer I couldn’t find in your archives.Maybe you can help me out?

I don’t have a washer at home so I take most of my laundry to a laundromat. I’ve been washing my dishcloths in a bucket with regular laundry detergent and dish washing liquid for stains. But when it comes to bigger items like aprons and table cloths… I’m embarrassed to say, I’ve been buying new ones because it just feels strange to wash them on a public laundromat, even if I wash them separately from my clothes.

If I don’t have a washer, how should I wash kitchen things?

Thanks a lot,
Clueless Germaphobe

Heather says:

If you had your own washing machine and knew what exactly was being washed and when I’d suggest you take a deep breath and not worry. You can always disinfect your own washing machine after doing something awful like cleaning up after a toilet overflow or dealing with toddlers and potty training accidents. Let’s face it, not everyone out there is considerate and when it comes to food safety, go ahead and let your germaphobe tendencies run free.

The following information is from the New Mexico State University Agricultural Extension:

Use a disinfectant when washing at a laundromat. Illness from another family can be passed on if the washing machine is not disinfected before it is used. Wipe off the surface of the machine with a disinfectant, then add disinfectant to the wash cycle. Follow the directions on the disinfectant’s label.

We’ve talked, in the past about how to use chlorine bleach safely.

First of all, in your situation it makes more sense, both from an economical and food safety sense to use paper towels for any clean up involving the preparation of raw meat and grease.

Next, you most need to remember when laundering your kitchen dishtowels, aprons, and dish cloths in a public laundromat is to not overload the machines. Your wash cloths and towels need enough room to move freely and enough water for the the dirt and germs to be suspended in the wash water so they do not end up re-deposited on the clothing.

Use the dryer on the hottest setting possible. Most bacteria can’t survive the heat of a dryer.

Don’t use the same laundry basket you used to bring the icky dishcloths and towels in -use a laundry bag that also gets washed- to transport the clean laundry home. OR simply give it a good wipe down with a sanitizing solution while you wait for your clothing to dry.

So here’s the short and sweet answer:

Use chlorine bleach – not the fancy scented kind, the traditional, plain sanitizing sodium hypochlorite version in your wash water -this is why I highly recommend buying cheap bar towel style dish cloths and towels.
Disinfect the surfaces of the machine and the folding table. Pretty much assume someone has used it as a changing table without cleaning it.
Use the largest load setting possible and don’t overload the machine. Use an appropriate amount of detergent.
Use the hottest setting of a dryer.

Send your questions to helpme@home-ec101.com

Filed Under: Wash It Tagged With: Food Safety, Germs, laundry

Thai Inspired Beef and Cabbage Skillet

February 25, 2013 By Heather Solos 6 Comments

Heather says:

I’d like to thank Bobbie for helping out with the name of this quick beef skillet, I was staring at it last night and drawing a blank. This ground beef cabbage skillet recipe will feed six, more if you serve over cooked rice or noodles. Feel free to play with the ingredients as that would be exactly how I came up with this recipe. I found Cooking Light’s Thai Beef Cups. I used it as a framework to build this recipe for the cooking basics series I’ve been slowly building. If you’re looking for a more traditional beef and cabbage skillet, Bobbie and I both have versions: Bobbie’s Beef and Cabbage Skillet and Heather’s Beef and Cabbage Skillet. All three are great, quick meals, that are handy to have in your kitchen arsenal, cabbage stores for-freaking-ever in the bottom drawer of the fridge and if you’re not vegetarian I ask you why you don’t have at least one emergency pound of ground beef in the freezer. That’s pretty much required to stave off an emergency drive-through run.

As far as the cooking basics series goes, I know so far there are a lot of ground beef recipes, but don’t worry, we’ll start adding chicken, pork, and fish soon enough. I’m still sorting out the whole work life balance thing and not doing so hot at either, if you must know.

So, back to the skillet. Feel free to use red or green cabbage, heck you could use broccoli slaw or any cruciferous greens, as long as they are shredded pretty finely. Just remember the goal isn’t to cook this dish until it’s dead, but rather to keep a little crunch in there for texture. AND if you don’t want to use peanut butter, don’t, just use 1/4 cup of salted peanuts like the original recipe described. Someone swiped my peanuts, that’s the only reason I experimented with -and rather liked- the peanut butter in the first place. Skillets are experiments, give yourself permission to try something different once in a while, who knows you may have a new family favorite. (FYI the minions call any version of beef and cabbage skillet, Kung Fu Skillet as I got tired of them asking what’s for dinner and they were on a Kung Fu Panda kick at the time)

Thai Inspired Beef Cabbage Skillet Recipe

: Thai Inspired Beef and Cabbage Skillet

: A simple one dish meal with a ginger, peanut, twist

1 lb ground beef
1 TBSP olive oil
1 onion, sliced thinly
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ginger, peeled and minced – substitute 1 tsp ground ginger if you need to
2 TBSP lime juice -I didn’t measure, just a couple of GOOD squeezes, yes I used the store bought kind, this was a clean out the fridge kind of meal, if you have fresh… awesome.
1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce -you can use fish sauce if you have it
1 small head of red or green cabbage, sliced thinly or shredded
1/2 cup or 1/2 a bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
2 TBSP peanut butter or 1/4 cup dry-roasted peanuts
Soy Sauce to taste – when served

Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, and ginger -fresh or ground. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions begin to soften. Reduce the heat if the garlic starts to turn golden. You don’t want to over cook this.
Add the ground beef to the skillet and cook until no longer pink. Drain well.
Return the skillet to the burner and completely stir in the lime juice and hoisin sauce.
Add the cabbage to the skillet and cook until crisp tender.
Add the peanut butter -if desired- and cilantro (yes, you can omit this, if you’re one of those).
Stir until thoroughly combined.
Serve immediately as is or over rice or noodles.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s)

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 6

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Cook It Tagged With: Cabbage, Cooking Basics, Ground Beef, Recipe

Slacking on Saturday, Looking at Things I Love or Want

February 16, 2013 By Heather Solos 5 Comments

Heather says:

I’m going to try out something a little new. It’s not going to show up on the front page and it’s not going out in the daily or weekly email. I will set it up to have its own RSS feed and email, so if it’s something you’re interested in it’ll be easy to follow.

Look for the category “Crave It”

It’ll be a mishmash of things that have caught my eye based on whatever.

Of course there will be cookbooks, kitchen items, and appliances.

Maybe it’ll be a recipe that caught my eye:

Like this peanut butter sesame noodle dish I’ve been thinking about all week:

However, I’m not going to stick to only that. I’m a tech nerd and I’m lusting after a Samsung Galaxy Note II GT-N7100, which I will NOT be buying until the next version comes out and the price drops or my upgrade rolls around. I can’t, at this time justify shelling out that much. However, I do pick it up and love on it whenever I run across it in the wild.

It could be an app I’ve found useful or entertaining:

Stitcher anyone? Spotify?

Maybe it’s a website. I stumbled across this one while working:

Djarling Dreams. I just like her food photos. Y’all know I’m a sucker for pretty food pictures.

It could be a movie I have fallen head over heels in love with:

Mary and Max perhaps the sweetest movie I have seen in years. It’s darkly funny, but hopeful. I wish it had been released in America, I don’t know how I stumbled upon it, but I’ve watched it multiple times over the past few months. It’s claymation, but definitely not for children. Do I cry? A few tears leak out, but nothing like when I watch Steel Magnolias or The Mighty. I also love the music and my boss over at FeedBlitz mentioned that it’s by the Penguin Café Orchestra and I’ve found it to be perfect background music for work. (I find lyrics distracting)

Last weekend, while high as a kite on pain medicine from my car accident, I watched Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

I don’t know if it was the pain meds or if the movie was truly that enjoyable. Then again, I’m an unapologetic fan of Steve Carell, I just want him for a friend.

It could be music. Despite what I linked above, I’m pretty much stuck in the 90s Alternative genre. Take it or leave it, I won’t make you listen.

Lately, it’s been dresses. Conference season is coming up, this means I have to look presentable and professional and then there are the evening networking events. I’m not a fashionista, so don’t expect a ton of variety, but I’m starting to find my own style and ModCloth seems to be my go-to.

Currently, I’m looking at this:

Unfortunately I have a moratorium on buying anything blue, but I may make an exception here. Would you?

As I noted, this is an experiment, but you’re welcome to join or not. If you see something you think I may love, feel free to shoot it to me and maybe I’ll include it in a future update.

I just wanted to have something fun and a little me around here. Don’t get me wrong, despite the lack of updates from me lately, car wreck, followed by another round of the creeping crud, I’m bound and determined to keep up around here. I’m not tossing out six years of hard work.

Filed Under: Crave It