This is part story time and part ask the audience. Let me tell you about my teeth, internets. Between my heredity, TMJ, not having dental insurance for most of my adult life, and my love for Dr. Pepper, I have terrible teeth. Several years ago, my TMJ and a couple of bad teeth pushed my pain level to something I couldn’t stand and I went to an oral surgeon and had a ton of teeth removed. Now the only molars I have left on my bottom jaw are bad, and I’ve got to decide what to do. Crap.

Now, I have dental insurance that doesn’t cover much, but some is better than none. And I have some money saved. But to completely fix my teeth with root canals and implants as so many dentists insist on, I don’t have that kind of money. The local dental school has a 5 month waiting list and isn’t even putting people on the waiting list right now. And there is a local dental charity, but we make slightly too much money for it, and we have dental insurance. Rats.

So, with all that said, I gathered my resolve and headed to a local dentist today, determined to make it work- get the dental care I needed and not go into debt for it. The way I figure, I could get partial dentures on the bottom until I can eventually afford implants. You know, not get into debt, do it a piece at a time as I can afford it. That sounds fairly reasonable, right?

Apparently not.

(Click on over to read the rest)

I went in and was talking to the dentist and I explained my situation and told him, “I have some money saved plus what my insurance covers. But I cannot go into debt to repair my teeth.” And he looked at me like I had two heads. He went on to comment how Dave Ramsey would love me, and then said, “If you found out you had termites in your house and you only had $1000 saved, and it cost $5000 to fix, what would you do?”

Well, Home Eccers, if that happened to me, I’d see how much my homeowners insurance would cover, then I’d see how much of it I could DIY, and if I couldn’t DIY it, it would either have to wait until I saved the money or else I’d see if I could trade out work for the work I needed. So I told him that. And again, he looked at me like I had two heads.

To make a long story short (too late!), once again I’ve seen a dentist that I don’t think will work with me on keeping costs down and going with what I have to work with. I understand that implants are cheaper in the long run, but in the short term, I don’t have that kind of money to work with, and I’d like to be able to eat food that’s not soup or oatmeal.

This brings me to the ask the audience portion of today’s post. First, to anyone in the Nashville area- do you know a dentist who would be cool with pulling my 2 bad teeth and fitting me with partial dentures and won’t lecture me on the condition of my teeth and would work with me slowly on the rest of the work I need?

For everyone else: how do you find a dentist that will work with you and you can afford? I’ve tried calling places to ask how much specific things cost, and I get answered with “You’ll have to make an appointment and we’ll tell you how much everything will cost.” Ay yi yi. All I want is a fee schedule so I can determine who has the best price. Why is that so difficult?

What is the best way to clean that black yuk that tends to grow in the corners of the shower? I have a ceramic tile shower and I have used every mixture I can think of to rid the shower of the black stuff from straight Clorox to the gimmicks from “As Seen On TV” and nothing seems to work. Help!

Signed,

As NOT seen on TV

Ivy says:

Ah, moldy shower corners are the bane of professional maids everywhere. Getting it off is tough, and keeping it from coming back is fairly easy- but it takes a bit of commitment on the part of the homeowner.

“Mold spores are everywhere,” says Ivy, trying not to breathe and failing. They are just hanging out in your bathroom waiting for optimal conditions to grow. What does mold need to grow? The proper temperature (which is conveniently about the same temp as your nice, toasty, warm bathroom), a food source (yummy soap!) and water. And that’s the problem. What happens after you take your shower is, the water settles and so do the mold spores. If you don’t keep your shower door open and/or dry the shower walls after showering, and if your bathroom doesn’t have great ventilation, it’s a mold factory waiting to happen.

The easiest way to stop mold growth is to keep it from having enough water to thrive. So, once you get this mold off, make sure you dry down the walls and leave the shower door open after each shower. Also consider running the bathroom fan after each shower. I also read turning on the lights can help inhibit mold growth.

There are a few routes you can take to get rid of this mold. First, make sure you have adequate ventilation by opening any windows you might have in the bathroom and turning on the bathroom fan. My old standby, Bar Keeper’s Friend, is what I would try first. Use an old toothbrush or a scrub brush with stiff bristles. You are going to need to put some elbow grease into this- serious scrubbing is required!

Another thing you could try is spraying straight vinegar onto the area and letting it sit for at least 20 minutes, then scrubbing it all off. Vinegar is supposed to both kill and inhibit mold growth. I’ve had good luck with using vinegar on mold, but I can’t say it really has inhibited mold growth. But that’s anecdotal evidence, so don’t take that as gospel.

One more thing you could try is OxyClean. I’d mix it in a spray bottle with water and apply and let sit like you would with the vinegar. This is not something I have personally tried on mold as luckily, I don’t have a tiled shower and haven’t had too many mold issues. However, I’ve read that it works really well.

There’s one more thing you could try. Again, I have no personal experience with it, but I have both read and heard a lot of good things about it. It’s called Zep Pine Disinfectant and Cleaner. Apparently it’s great for getting rid of mold and mildew and keeping it away.

I know I’ve given you a lot of options here, but this is one of those “there is more than one way to skin a cat” things. (Ack! Who would want to skin a cat, anyway!?) Good luck, and let us know what works best for you!

While I’m lucky enough to live where it’s comfortable to grill outside most of the year, once the hot weather hits, grilling is a great way to help keep the house cooler.  We love grilled onions and they are simple to prepare.  One onion is typically enough for two adults.

For best results use a sweet onion such as Vidalia or Walla Walla.

Remove the papery skin and slice just enough off the root end for the onion to sit flat on a cutting board.

Carefully make two cuts, dividing the onion into quarters part way through the onion. Do not cut all the way through the bottom.

Place the onion in the middle of a square of heavy duty aluminum foil.  Place a small pat of butter on top of the onion.  Bring the four corners of the foil over the onion and give them a twist, sealing the onion inside.  While grilling the main course, allow the onion to sit in a medium hot area of the grill, undisturbed for twenty to thirty minutes.

Remove from the heat and serve.

Enjoy.

Anyone who has ever read me over at Animal Shak knows I’m somewhat of an animal advocate. I love animals. LOVE! I have 3 pets- 2 cats and a dog who were all rescues or quasi-rescues. I have a hard time understanding why people are still buying dogs and (sometimes) cats from backyard breeders and pet stores.

You can save a good deal of money if you’re willing to invest the time and research involved in getting an animal from either a rescue or a shelter. Petfinder.com makes this task a bit easier. You can simply input the type of dog or cat you are looking for and find a list of animals available in your area. Many times, there are breed specific rescues in your area that you may not know about.

Deciding between rescuing an animal from a high kill shelter or a rescue can be a tough decision. Each has its benefits. Animal shelters aren’t usually as picky about your housing conditions as rescues can be. Something that greatly frustrates me about a few local rescues is their insistence that you have a fenced yard. I don’t have a fenced yard, but my dog never goes outside off-leash, unless we’re at the dog park. I understand people may lie about this, but it limits the people who can adopt a dog from them. Most high kill shelters don’t insist on a fenced yard.

The rescues, however, are better about telling you what a pet will be like in your home, since most of the pets are in foster homes while they’re waiting for a forever home. This gives them a chance to test out whether or not a dog or cat gets along with other animals or children. In a shelter, dogs are usually scared to death and may act meek when they are actually somewhat aggressive, or vice versa.

Often the spay or neuter fee and shots are included in the rescue or shelter’s adoption fees and this can save you some money initially on the pet. If you’re looking for a new pet, check out your local animal shelters and rescues! You can find a great pet there.

It’s Monday again.  I’m not quite sure how this keep happenings, but here we go again.  More recipes will be linked throughout the week.

Are you trying any new recipes this week?

• Monday - Lentil casserole, roasted potatoes, broccoli
• Tuesday - Beef fajitas, Spanish rice
• Wednesday - Chicken noodle soup, tossed salad
• Thursday - C.O.R.N.*
• Friday - Grilled tilapia with aioli, pilaf, grilled Brussels sprouts
• Saturday - Pizza night
• Sunday - Roast beef, parslied potatoes, wilted spinach with garlic

*Clean Out Refrigerator Night

I don’t want to sound like a beer commercial, but I must. So,

Here’s to you, moms. Here’s to all the sleepless nights from staying up with a cranky baby to waiting around late at night for your teenager to come home. Here’s to all the sacrificing you do of all the things you want so your kids can have what they want. Here’s to all your hard work- cooking, cleaning, doctoring, landscaping, chauffeuring, and all the other million things you do in a day’s work.

Here’s to our moms. Heather and I wouldn’t be here writing about Home Eccy goodness if it wasn’t for our own moms. Thanks, moms.

Here’s to all you future moms. Here’s to how much you have to learn, and how much you already do know. Here’s to those of you who are pregnant right now and are wondering if you’ll be a good mom, and if labor really hurts as bad as they say it does. (It does, and it doesn’t. Don’t listen to the horror stories.) Here’s to those of you who are trying to get pregnant and get frustrated when you see only one line every month. Don’t worry, your time will come.

And because I’ve always thought there should be a day that celebrates all women, because making the decision (or having the decision made for you) to not have a child is one of the hardest decisions- here’s to you, women who have chosen not to be moms. I know several women who are childfree by choice. In all cases, they had carefully considered what they were going to do and decided not to have a child. It’s not a decision to take lightly, and I think those women need some celebration, too.

So here’s to the women. The mothers, the grandmothers, the sisters, the aunts, the friends. Here’s to every last one of you. Today, we celebrate and honor you.

In loving memory of my grandmother, Vivian Hogan.

Nothing says spring like fresh asparagus. Well, that is not quite true, there is also: pollen, hay fever, the first gnats of the year, and rain. However, there are few things I look forward to more than the price of asparagus dropping. Yes, I am still exaggerating, but it is a nice perk. Asparagus takes only a few minutes to prepare, dresses up a meal, and is easy on the waistline. Throw in that it is loaded with vitamins and you have a winner.

It is vital to thoroughly rinse your produce. Few things are as aggravating as expecting crisp tender and biting down on grit. Once the stalks are thoroughly rinsed trim off the woody ends. You may need to remove between one and two inches depending on how tall the stalks are.

Drizzle the asparagus with olive oil and toss with fresh ground pepper and kosher salt.

Grill over a medium hot flame. When grilling, whether on propane or over charcoal, use a “hand test” to determine the temperature. This does not mean touching the grate! Simply hold your open palm about an inch over the grate. A hot grill means you can only hold it there for a second, medium 3 - 4 seconds, and medium low you would be able to hang in for 5 - 7 seconds. The hand test does not mean you try to play hero, remove your hand from the heat the moment it becomes uncomfortable, it is just a general guideline.

Turn the asparagus frequently to prevent burning and remove from the heat as soon as the tips begin to char. You want the tiniest bit of charring for the most flavorful impact, too much and you might as well chew on the charcoal. The stalks will be a bright green and packed with flavor.

Enjoy!

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.

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?

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.