An American Housewife

My Grandmother's Recipe Box - revisited (Post 13 in the series) Old, vintage, classic recipes from the 1940's - 1980

2026-08-31T15:35:33.946-05:00

This will probably be my last post in this particular series - 13 of them!

This time around we have this offering:

Delicious Cookies
Lemon Cake
Refrigerator Pineapple Cheesecake
Colorado Peach Cream Pie
Mock Apple Rings
Dishpan Cookies
Sugar Gems (makes 280-300)
Oatmeal Coconut Cookies

Great Grandma's Recipe Box - revisited (Post 12 in the series) Old, vintage recipes from 1945-1980 (ish)

2026-08-25T14:26:51.349-05:00

Finally getting a couple minutes 'free' (not really... but whatever) to hurry and do another installment in the series where I'm going through my Grandma's old recipe box I inherited and taking a photo of each of the recipes so I can post here on my site not only for me to use, but for my kids and my grandkids, so everyone can have access to them!

This little group includes:

Mattie's Corn Flake Cookies
Fattigman's (we have a number of Fattigman cookie recipes)
Condensed Milk Dessert
Butterscotch Cake
Weight Watcher Salad
Glaced Peach Pie

Grandma's Recipe Box - Vintage recipes from 1945-1980 (ish) 11th post in the series.....

2026-08-19T18:31:31.685-05:00

Quick and sloppy but I'm getting them posted!!!

Today we have some recipes that I remember Grandma making and that I actually grew up eating every Christmas at their home. I grew up to make these same items... our Swedish heritage has some foods Grandma made that I do not keep as a tradition in our family (like lutefisk and lefsa on Christmas Eve) but I DO continue the tradition with Oyster Stew, Rosettes, Yuke Kake, Spritz and Fattigmand.

The Cream Puff recipe is one my Aunt made over and over and over again... one of my favorite all-time desserts.

Rosettes
Fattigmand
Yuke Kake
Sot Suppe
Sandbakkels
Spritz
Fattigmand (2)
Chocolate Scotcheroos
Brown Sugar (nut?) Cookie ( Sugar Cookie with a walnut half in it)
French Cream Pie
Jello Rhubarb Jam
Cream Puffs

Grandma's Recipe Box (revisited) - Post 10 in the series of old, vintage recipes circa 1945-1980 (ish)

2026-08-18T12:25:39.233-05:00

I'm not doing this series of vintage recipes justice, but at least they are getting posted! Quick and sloppy by taking a photo of the recipes and posting quickly but... life.

This is post number 10 in the series and today we have....

Marshmallow Frosting
Salted Peanut Cookies
Dried Beef Casserole
Stickles
New Pickle Recipe
Rhubarb Cake
Fiesta Tamale Pie
Corn Relish
Corn Shrimp Bake

My Grandmother's Recipe Box - if you are just joining me, here's the series I've been posting (old vintage recipes circa 1945-1980)

2026-08-17T16:59:19.654-05:00

A few years ago (doing Covid shut-downs I think it was) I was going to do a series of recipes from my Grandmother's recipe box, which I inherited, as she has long since passed. I started the series, with photos, background stories and re-typing all the recipes as well as posting photos of the originals.

It was time consuming, (and I get zero income from this site - it's just my personal site) so when life started to throw me some major curve balls, this site took a backseat.

Recently I was searching for an elusive recipe I've been kinda-sorta looking out for for literally years, and although I know I don't have a copy, I always 'hope' and start thumbing through the old church and community cookbooks I have (a thousand) and came across Grandma's recipe box again... and I know the recipe I always hope to find isn't in it, I opened it, and realized I needed to post all these recipes for my kids (and someday, their kids) to use or last see, so they are never 'lost' forever.

And here we are.

Life is busy busy busy (now more than ever) so I've been doing the posts "quick and sloppy" by putting up a quick photo and listing the recipes in that series.

If you are just joining me, welcome! I hope you find what you are looking for!

These are random recipes from about 1945-1979 (I believe a few are earlier than that, into the late 30's but I don't know for sure so I had to go by the ones I found dates or other information on to know when they were collected by her.)

Grandma's Recipe Box (revisited) Post 9 in the series of old, vintage recipes

2026-08-17T16:42:28.994-05:00

I wish (I wish I wish) I had time to do this series the way it originally started back in 2022 but... life. However, it's important to save these old recipes from 1945-1980 from my Grandmother's recipe box that I have, as she has long since passed.

For my kids (whomever might end up inheriting Grandma's old recipe box) and my grandkids... but keeping this site public for others who may be searching as well.

Quick and sloppy... but hey, at least I'm getting them posted!

Brownies
Prism Salad
Fish Frying Batter
Cherry Bread
Julekage
Peppermint Frosting and Chocolate (bars?)
Fudgie Scotch Squares
Quick and Chewy Crescent Bars

Grandmother's Recipe Box - revisited (Post 8 in the series) Vintage, old recipes from about 1945-1980

2026-08-16T16:14:13.552-05:00

From Grandma's old recipe box, posting quick and sloppy photos of the cards to save for my kids (and grandkids) use - but keep my log public for others to search for recipes as well.

Today we have;

Rhubarb Jam
Rhubarb Jam
Hamburgers
Freezing Corn
Scalloped Potatoes
Lime Jello
Finger Jello
Apple Crumb
Pineapple Salad
Tomato Strawberry Jam

Grandma's Recipe Box (revisited) Post 7 in the series... old vintage recipes straight from the recipe cards from her, her family, friends and coworkers

2026-08-15T09:05:40.502-05:00

For those just stopping in, this is a series of old, vintage recipes straight from my grandmother's gray, metal recipe box. A few years ago I started this series in a much more organized, professional, typed out way with photos, some background stories, etc. but life is just far too busy and I didn't have any time to commit so I let it go.

Wanting to be sure I got the recipes saved for my kids and grandchildren, I'm posting them "quick and sloppy" by taking photos of the cards. I keep my blog public so others can find and enjoy them as well.

I inherited her recipe box (along with her huge collection of Wilton cake decorating magazines and boxes of old, vintage community, church, organization cookbooks) and although she passed away almost a decade ago, her recipes live on.

I am putting these here for her grandchildren (and great grandchildren) as I don't know who will inherit the old, gray, metal recipe box. these recipes are from about 1945-1980. Dream Bars
Uncooked Fruit Cake
Refrigerator Cuke (cucumber) Salad
Fruit Pizza
Strawberry Pie
Strawberry Swirl
Cherry Dessert (Dump Cake)

Grandma's Recipe Box - revisited (post 6 in the series)

2026-08-14T10:30:10.841-05:00

While my original "Grandma's Recipe Box" series idea a couple years ago got side-lined by some major life craziness and never finished, doing the posts this way make it super quick and I've found I'm more likely to post them since just doing it 'fast and sloppy'!

The idea of course is I really want to make sure the recipes are saved for my kids and grandkids use (but I keep my website public to help everyone, even though it's my personal site). Great-Grandma's recipe (and in the case of MY grandkids will be their "Great-Great Grandma's recipes) are easily shared when they can look them up here - no matter who might inherit or want her original old gray, metal recipe box.

When I originally started this series a few years ago, I also posted some of her recipes from really old pamplets and booklets she had. You can still find those on my site - it's easiest to just click on the label in the right hand side bar that says "Grandmother's recipe box" - this will bring up pages of old recipes of hers including booklets like:

Vintage Cookie and Candy Recipes: by Karo Syrup and Mazola Corn Oil "Fancy Cookies - Festive Candies - Delicious Goodies For Giving" circa 1956

and

Vintage Candy Recipes from the 1941 Candy Booklet: "The Candy Book"

Here is today's QUICK post of a few more recipe cards from her box.
These recipes came from soooo many different people back then and you can tell as there are a variety of handwriting, spelling, ways of writing them out that are personal to whomever the original friend was who shared them.

Today we have:

Dried Beef Casserole
Cracker Jacks
Crank Ice Cream
Carrot Cake and Frosting
Corned Beef Casserole
Fluffy Lemon Cake

My Grandmother's Recipe Box - revisited (post 5 of the series )

2026-08-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Jelly Roll
Coconut Cake
Hamburger Hot Dish
Waffle Cookies
Devil's Food Cake
Rice and Raisins
Jell-O Pistachio Pudding Cake

Grandma's Vintage Recipes - (revisiting her recipe box post 4)

2026-08-13T11:48:00.000-05:00

From Great Grandma's recipe box....

Root Beer
Cranberry Nut Bread
Dump Salad
Watergate Salad
Fudge Scotch Ring
Jelly (looks like it uses beet juice and Kool-Aid!)
Peanut Brittle

From Great Grandma's Recipe Box (revisited... post 3 in series)

2026-08-11T19:14:47.257-05:00

From Grandma's recipe box.... vintage recipes she collected from 1945-1980-ish

Rhubarb Orange Slice Jam
Brown Sugar Cup Cakes
Sprit Bakeles
Rhubarb Conserve
7 Minute Icing
Bakeless Fruitcake
Granny's Fudge

Grandmother's Recipe Box (revisited post 2)

2026-08-11T09:53:47.188-05:00

From Great Grandma's recipe box:

Watermelon Pickles
Drop Donuts
Rhubarb Pie
Cafe' Pie Crust
Banana Bread
Bread Pudding

My Grandmother's Recipe box (revisited post 1)

2026-08-10T11:32:20.151-05:00

Vintage recipes:
Grape Nuts
Pinwheel Date Cookies
Drop Doughnuts
Rice Krispie Treats
Orange Drop Donuts
Chicken Casserole
Watermelon Pickles

Revisiting Great Grandma's Recipe Box... for my kids. Photos of your Great Grandmother's Recipe's straight from her box (1945-1980)

2026-08-10T11:23:19.625-05:00

A couple years ago I started a series of posting the recipes from my grandmothers recipe box, which I inherited from her before she passed away. I would include a photo and then painstakingly (sometimes) have to try to read the faint writing to type it out. It was time consuming, and I loved posting them but... I just didn't have TIME. Not when this page is just for personal use and I have ZERO income from it.

Slowly it died out... I didn't post those, or much of anything. This site faded.

I have been searching (FOR YEARS) for a certain frosting/icing recipe I remember from childhood and the hundreds and hundreds of icing recipes I've read or tried haven't been "it". Even though I knew (KNEW) the icing recipe I am always searching for isn't in 'her' old box, I took the box out of the back of storage anyway and decided to flip through it.

I realized that although I don't have time to re-type her old recipes, I could take photos and just post them - for my use - but also for my (adult) kids use... since they are Great Grandma's recipes collected from 1945 to about 1980. The last one in the box I could find any date on was a recipe she clipped out of a newspaper or magazine that had a coupon on the back showing it was from 1979 and the coupon expired in 1980.

Most of the recipes from Great Grandma's recipe box are from 1945-1960.

She had a sweet tooth so most of them are desserts, along with a crazy amount of recipes for pickles. LOL. I don't have a sweet tooth so I haven't made most of them, but I DO remember HER and my Aunts that lived at home making them. I remember eating some of them as a child, and seeing others they would eat that I didn't want.

I know she had far more recipes than these... but these are the only ones that survived the years and made their way to me. I suspect she had another recipe box (I think she had a white metal one...) but I only have the gray metal one.

So... for my kids and grandkids... these are Great Grandma's recipes..... I'll try to post a few recipe cards on each post as there are quite a few of them. It may end up being about 20 posts.

Atkins Snack Bars - HALF the size of the wrapper it comes in

2026-08-08T18:05:50.210-05:00

I was going to open a little peanut caramel snack 'candy' bar from Atkins, the first out of a brand new box I had just bought.

I noticed it felt like it was mostly air so I laid it down and marked with a pen where the end of the food product was. You can see it is literally only half the size of the wrapper it comes in.

And opening it.... a sideview

And placing it on top of the wrapper.

Atkins literally makes their product HALF the size it is supposed to be.
And YES every peanutty overload bar in the box was this size, it was not an anomaly.

Making a different kind of food... mini clay foods for the Superheroes - ha ha

2026-05-21T11:51:54.760-05:00

I'm NOT a 'mini' maker. Never have done it before in my life.
Don't even play with Play-Doh much less clay.

But I bought a super cheap pack of poly clay off Amazon (like, dirt cheap) and probably the lowest quality you can buy... but meh.

My plan is just to make some mini fake food for the kids to play with in their "Superhero House" (like a Barbie House but for the 11-12 inch size Superheroes).

Two nights ago I just sat down at the desk, put "Friends" episodes playing in the background and started to make some fake food.

Didn't matter how good (or bad) it turned out as my audience is literally a 5 year old and 3 year old... and they are more than thrilled with what they've gotten so far!

The very first thing I ever made... some avocado's.
Then I tried to make some donuts and an orange.

Then I tried my hand at some 'cake' because the boys always play that
the Superhero's are having a birthday party.

Last night I made them some play hotdogs....

They've got some little Brownies there too.

This morning the boys were given the miniature play food to play with... and then when I put the 3 year old down for his nap, I walked by his little truck he was playing with and saw this...

He was hauling his play food in his truck! :)

Grocery Receipt from Costco in 2008 verses the same items today in 2026 (Almost 20 years later!)

2026-05-12T10:49:24.219-05:00

I was going through some old files on my external hard drive, downloaded over the years from various laptops or computers we had at the time. I saw an old receipt from Costco... Spring of 2008.

Just for fun, I decided to look up what the same items would sell for today, in spring of 2026 - almost (almost!) TWENTY YEARS LATER.

Honestly I was surprised as everyone wants to complain how expensive groceries are right now, but they were very, very similar to the price we were paying almost 20 years ago!!!

Obviously beef is higher now, and the one I found to be really kind of crazy is the cost of GUM now compared to then, but also, bagged snack foods are really high now compared to then.

Many items are CHEAPER today than they were back in 2008.

A couple items I didn't have a comparison for today when I looked it up this morning using Costco and Sam's - but I also wasn't sure what one or two of them even were... like the 'juice blast'.

We buy many of the same items today but back then I had three (3) kids still at home so we were buying just a few things different that I don't buy now (like a package of oreos, juice blasts or the gel cups or frito snacks). But generally speaking we ate similar meals back then as we do now so it was easy to know immediately what they were, and even what I pay for them now.

My receipt from Costco, 2008

THEN (2008) and NOW (2026)

Crumbled feta           5.49               7.28
HB White                   2.99
mangoes                       6.99          9.88 (for an 8 pound box)
bacon                          10.75           12.83
6# freezer patty           11.49           30.57
Hoagie rolls               1.95              6.98
Breaded tilapia           11.88          13.96
Fuji apples                   7.99              7.96
Sour cream                   3.79          5.54
cereal                           6.95          6.78
green beans                   6.29          5.74
juice blast                   7.69
hamburger buns           2.45          3.84
orange chicken           13.89          12.98
spring rolls                   8.99           8.96
organic broccoli            5.59           6.36
asparagus                       3.99           8.86
garlic potato                   6.59           8.78
romaine                           3.49       4.96
1 % milk                       2.79          2.94
broccoli                       4.49           3.74
strawberries                   8.99      4.37
onions                           4.79         6.22
pizza sauce                   2.69
hellman mayo               5.15      9.48
large kiwi                       5.99         7.96
salmon burger               11.69      14.96
soy sauce                       3.92
oreo cookie                   5.08      10.98
org egg 18 count           3.99      5.94
part skim mozzarella       11.72       12.17
org med rice                   5.85      4.98
strbk 2 lb                           9.99      21.78
crumbled bacon           6.99          8.98
1 lb butter quarters       6.32           10.96
fancy mixed nuts           10.99      14.98
3 lb. cream cheese           4.99      6.47
dole fruit gel                   5.99          9.98
celery                            3.79               4.24
sliced swiss                   7.99          7.82
eclipse variety gum       9.79          18.98
pretzel sandwich           6.79
frito snack 36 ct               8.45           18.48
whole fryer                   6.86           15.87

I've always loved keeping track of the price of groceries and comparing them, so I have various odd excel spread sheets I've made, or word docs I randomly (for fun) did comparisons on. I'll have to post some of those!

One I'll have to look for I found interesting at the time was the spreadsheets I was tracking during Covid - when prices and shortages were all over the place. It was fun to keep track though (for a geek like me it's fun anyway!). ha ha.

So... tried the Carnivore Donuts.... you know, the ones made with just egg, milk powder, baking powder....

2026-03-03T12:22:00.005-06:00

In the last 3 or 4 years, I don't pay much attention to recipes online and almost never to recipes on social media. Life has been .... different.... over the past few years so this website came to a screeching halt more or less and is just now showing signs of life again.

If recipes come across my feed I'll sometimes stop to watch, once in a great while I'll save one. Almost no time or interest to try many of them but it just so happens I was free today, saw this one, and had the inclination and the ingredients to test it.

Carnivore Donuts.

There are a few (many, actually) different versions of this floating around. I initially saw one in which a young woman who looked and acted like she'd never baked a day in life, was trying a recipe video she saw of a man who was making them. She was using a video inside a video type thing that is so popular on social media.

The recipe used just eggs, milk powder and baking powder (although she had baking soda out on the counter when she started to make it... and then when she did the 'add ingredients' part of her video had switched to a tiny little packet of something instead of the baking soda - she called it baking powder so I assume it was.) I also assume someone told her the difference between baking soda and baking powder so she redid that part of her video. ANYWAY!

Supposedly these have a texture and taste of donuts and are often topped with a mixture of honey and cream cheese. Well, I just literally made cheesecake yesterday which has a similar flavor of the glaze so I decided I'd just use that on them when it came to that point.

I halved the recipe since it was a 'test recipe' and I also just have one donut pan (these are baked donuts, not fried).

CARNIVORE DONUTS

2 eggs
1 c whole milk powder
1/2 t baking powder

Whisk like crazy to get good air, and place into a well buttered donut pan. Bake at 310 for about 10-ish minutes.

WHAT I CHANGED

I added just the tiniest dusting of nutmeg powder as I really like the taste of old fashioned donuts. Not even enough to measure - not even a 'pinch' - less than that. I also added a couple drops of vanilla and lastly, because I saw a commenter say their Carnivore Donuts didn't raise without a little bit of baking soda as well, I added about 1/8 t baking soda.

I mistakenly baked at 350 degrees so they got a bit dark on top. I baked for 11 minutes.

FIRST THE PHOTOS then my opinion at the bottom

The batter - a nice yellow, thick batter that reminded me of the consistency of royal icing when you make it into a flowing 'base'.    Because it's a MINI donut pan, it's easier to pipe in the batter and it just so happens I had a reusable icing bag out as I was product testing them for a company. Immediately after filling - before even using, they did this. Safe to say it went into the trash right after this recipe was made.

Because it split, the batter was running down (and out the tip) so I just filled the donut cavities up and they looked more like pop-overs or cream puffs.

Here you can see how I just gave up trying to pipe the batter in nicely and instead, just squished the batter out of the broken bag the best I could, and filled them up all the way instead.

Even though the pan was buttered well, a couple still stuck a bit.
They browned more than I'd liked as the oven was preheated at 350 instead of 310.
I baked 11 minutes. The outside top got a bit brown on a few.

They looked like donuts on the bottom and a cream puff on top.
The texture is... a bit 'eggy' typical of keto and low carb, wheat-free baking.
Immediately out of the oven were soft and reminded me more of a cream puff than a donut.

I topped a couple by spreading with the cream cheese filling to be a 'donut'.
Meh.
Because they reminded me of cream puffs I grabbed the whipped cream and filled a couple.
Still meh.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I'm very glad I took a little smidgen of time to try these. They were and are nothing like donuts except maybe the fragrance and they must be enjoyed immediately out of the oven while they are still warm. As they cooled, even 10 minutes later, the texture changes. They are then more dry and not nearly as edible as when they were still hot, fresh or warm.

I'm not a fan - and have other recipes that are similar but far better. Very happy I tried this silly 'egg and milk powder' recipe but it's not one I'd make again. I might 'play' with the idea a bit and see if I can improve it, but I don't know if I'll even do that.

Pavlova from freeze dried egg whites

2026-02-27T14:40:00.004-06:00

PAVLOVA

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Be sure your mixing bowl and beaters are clean (even wipe them with vinegar to be sure) so no fat or oils are on them.

6 T Freeze dried egg whites along with 2 T water per egg white
3 T powdered sugar (or powdered natural sweetener for low carb)
2 t vanilla

Mix the egg white powder and water in your mixing bowl to soft peak stage. With the mixer running on low, add in the powdered sugar or sweetener and the vanilla very slowly, once it's all added in and dissolved into the egg whites, increase speed to medium until it's thick and glossy and stiff peaks.

Turn it out onto parchment in a big blob and then use the back of a large spoon or a large icing knife to pull up the sides, and use your big spoon to scoop out the center a bit.

Turn your oven down to 225 degrees and bake for 1 1/2 hours, turn off your oven and leave it in (without opening your oven) for at least 6+ hours. I made mine in the late afternoon and left it overnight.

Served the next day with homemade lemon curd and fresh berries (strawberries and blueberries are good - as well as raspberries).

Kind of a Chef Boyardee copycat version of their lasagna or pasta but also is lasagna soup (or stew if you make it thicker like I did)

2026-02-27T13:46:00.002-06:00

This lasagna soup was one I saw on social media from McCormick spices, and although I didn't have lasagna noodles on hand, it looked really easy and surprisingly good to me that afternoon so I decided I'd whip it up for dinner. I don't actually love 'soup' for dinner and I'm not a huge fan of lasagna or any of its soup equivalents. But it was really cold that day, and this recipe was so easy to throw together in a pot and forget about it that I decided to make it.

At first I didn't think it was one I'd bother putting on my website for future reference but when I had leftovers the next day I realized it tasted a lot like the Chef Boyardee version I remembered from my childhood... and decided to put here just in case I ever felt like making it again.

Another quick note - I used food storage items in this too so if you need to use your freeze dried ground beef, this is a good way to do it.

Loosely based on the Lasagna Soup recipe by McCormick - but then winged it on my own version

2 T olive oil
1 onion, diced (or used the equivalent of dried)
1 lb. ground beef (used freeze dried - with some bouillon added for flavor)
2 cans diced tomatoes (14 oz each)
1 - 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 t garlic powder
1 t onion powder
1 t dried oregano (I used more like 2 teaspoons)
1-2 t dried basil
salt and pepper
4 c chicken stock or made with chicken bouillon base
A handful of pasta - lasagna noodles broken up or penne, etc.

Brown the ground beef and onion in the oil. Add everything else, bring to a boil and then simmer until the noodles are soft. Add more water as needed if you are using freeze dried foods or if you want it more 'soup' and less thick. It was even better the next day - it had thickened up to ChefBoyardee style and texture and tasted a lot like it.

Roast Beef Sliders - homemade and super quick and easy

2026-01-21T17:43:00.000-06:00

I'm getting ready to make dinner, got the roast beef and the buns (regular for my husband and keto for me) and I couldn't recall where my recipe for these was! I checked my 'go to' recipe book, didn't see them but that doesn't mean it wasn't there... I probably missed it. I've not made these in forever... forgot about them as I don't typically buy roast beef slices when I go to Sam's... but saw them on the shelf my last trip and said "OH YEAH...."

I came to my website to get my recipe (from 11/5/22) and I figured I'd repost it as I'm literally whipping these up now and will not 'forget' about making them again any time soon... they are a favorite of both my husband and I - and need to be put back into rotation!

Roast Beef Sandwiches

2 T olive oil

2-3 t minced garlic

1/4 t red pepper flakes

1/2 lb. sliced roast beef (mine comes from Sam's Club in the meat/deli area)

1/2 c beef broth

1 t Worcestershire sauce or, a little balsamic vinegar or red wine

2 t liquid aminos or soy sauce

2 t dried parsley

2 t dried basil

1/4 t salt and dash fresh cracked black pepper

1/2 t oregano

provolone or swiss cheese slices

buns

In a skillet, heat the oil. Add the garlic and dried red pepper flakes. Heat for 1 minute then add the roast beef slices, broth, Worcestershire, liquid aminos, parsley, basil, salt and pepper and oregano. Heat through. Lay bottom buns in a pan, top with the meat. Drizzle the sauce over, top with cheese slices and the top bun. Drizzle the top with a little more sauce. Heat in an oven until the cheese melts.

A little more on top... optional

I sometimes put a wire cookie cooling rack on the bottom of the pan and the sandwiches on top, which keeps the sauce completely off the bottom bun if you don't want any liquid on the bottom. Other times I don't bother. If I don't use too much sauce, it doesn't really affect the bottom bun. If you use a LOT of sauce and the bottoms get a bit soggy, just flip them over and back into the oven to crisp up the bottoms. Flip again and serve.

Soft, squishy homemade playdough - (I made 20 pounds of homemade playdough this day!)

2026-01-19T09:48:00.001-06:00

I've been making homemade playdough ever since I was a child - literally. My mother never (ever) bought play-doh from the store, but made it so that was what I knew growing up. When I had children we did buy Play-Doh and Play-Doh sets from the store (and still do) but made tons of homemade as well - to supplement, to make more to share, and to just 'enjoy' when the store bought versions were too hard to use in some of the play-sets. The squishy homemade versions are so soft, and more affordable!

This post comes about because I have some 'old' flour to use up from our emergency storage, and playdough is one of the items I chose to use it up on.

I also wanted to use up some celtic salt I don't like as well as 2 of the flavor extracts I'm not a fan of! I don't want to use any of these in cooking or baking so they were perfect to make into tons of playdough.

SUPER SOFT, SQUISHY HOMEMADE PLAYDOUGH

2 c flour
3/4 c salt
4 t cream of tartar
2 c water
2 T oil of choice (I used cheap, vegetable oil)
food color and extracts of choice (or use some powdered Kool-Aid from a packet)

Dump all your ingredients into a saucepan on the stove. Cook over medium, stirring constantly. It will start to thicken and get sticky. Keep stirring. It will start to turn into a ball and hold together. Remove from heat. Remove from the pan and plop it out onto wax or parchment paper to cool a little bit - it will still be sticky. As soon as you can work with it without burning your hands, start to knead it. As you knead it, it comes together. When it's smooth and pliable, and cooled, it's ready to use. Store it in a plastic bag to keep it soft.

You can wait and not add the food color until later if you want more than one color per batch

It's sticky but comes together when you knead it.

Plop it out of the pan and start to knead it into a ball when it's cool enough to work with

I used good quality gel and powdered color to get the vibrant shades

I made 20 pounds of Playdough this day!

Low Carb Sugar Free Carrot Cake with my Coffee (and cream cheese frosting on it)

2026-01-17T13:51:00.007-06:00

We have been enjoying a keto carrot cake this weekend with our coffee as I had to use up some leftover baby carrots from when we had houseguests... I snapped a couple quick pictures with my cell phone to show it as I don't know that I care enough to try to make it look 'pretty' - I literally take a photo just before I'm going to eat it!

I have a version of it I posted back in 2016... Some of those ingredients are not made any longer and others, I don't use anymore or use newer versions.

Here is the carrot cake (sugar free, low carb) I posted back in 2016. Very similar to the one I typically make now - just a couple changes. About 10 years ago I started to add heavy cream to my frostings as well - so similar base - but add a huge dollop of heavy cream and you get more volume, a smooth silky frosting, and even better flavor.

https://www.housewifebarbie.com/2016/05/

The current cake I've been making for the past almost 10 years though is this one (based on Carolyn Ketchums recipe!).

Low Carb Carrot Cake

2 c almond flour
1/3 c coconut flour
1/3 vanilla whey protein powder (I use Isopure and have for 20 years)
1 T baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1 t salt
dash of ground cloves
4 eggs
1/2 c avocado oil
1/2 c brown sugar style sweetener
1/2 c granular style natural sweetener
1 1/2 c shredded baby carrots
2 t baking vanilla
optional - a few tablespoons chopped pecans

Grease and line the pans (I use 2, 8" or 9" pans). Blend together the dry ingredients (flours, powders, seasoning).

Mix the eggs, oil and sweeteners, add carrots and vanilla. Beat in the dry ingredient mixture and add chopped nuts if using.

Divide batter between the 2 pans and bake in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes, until done in the center. Let cool. Remove from pans.

Spread frosting between layers, top and frost all.

For the Frosting I used:

1 stick butter
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 c powdered natural sweetener (depending on the brand you use some are sweeter than others so adjust to taste. 1 cup of my allulose/splenda/stevia blend is TOO sweet so must cut back to 2/3-ish.)
1-2 t vanilla

dash of salt
Enough heavy whipping cream to taste and amount you need (I use about 3/4 cup)

In a mixing bowl whip the butter and cream cheese and sweeteners with the vanilla. Slowly pour in the heavy cream while on low speed and increase to medium high. Beat until it's whippy and spreadable. Use on your cakes.

Two (2) Ingredient Whole, Roasted Chicken

2026-01-09T08:43:00.003-06:00

Am I 'back'? No... not really. I'm still pondering whether I have the time and the urge to bring An American Housewife (housewifebarbie.com) back up or not. But in the meantime I had a couple pictures from my cellphone I could upload of our whole roasted chicken this week from dinner and thought I'd post because it is SO good and literally is just 2 ingredients.

Yes, two.

Two Ingredient Whole Roasted Chicken

1 whole chicken
Dale's Seasoning Marinade and Sauce

Place the chicken into your roasting container (pan, dish, etc) and pour over about 3/4 cup of Dale's. Pop it into the oven and roast until done according to weight and size of your chicken. Visit the oven a few times during roasting to spoon some of the marinade/drippings from the bottom of the pan over the top of the chicken. You can also flip your chicken over half way through cooking to get both sides browned and seasoned deeply.

Here is where I'm going to say you don't have to use Dale's if you don't want. You can find it in many grocery stores, Walmart has it, even Amazon of course... but the reason I started to buy it a few years ago is I realized it tasted almost exactly like MY homemade steak marinade that I've made for years (decades now) and loved; but since it tastes like mine, I might as well just buy a big container of it and I wouldn't have to mix up my own.

In December 2006 I included it on my site (it's actually been posted numerous times).

https://www.housewifebarbie.com/2006/12/steak-marinade.html

You can play with the amounts in it to suite your taste.
When I first starting making this recipe it was so many years ago we still used vegetable oil and real sugar (eek!) So for the past 2 years I've always substituted other options. I'm not a big fan of ginger so I go really light on that one. We don't use sugar much so I use low carb or keto options. Also sometimes add a smidgen of worchestershire sauce sometimes, etc. I also sometimes add hickory smoke liquid. I can tell you I always add extra fresh, minced garlic - so healthy and so good. Play with it.

STEAK MARINADE (works for chicken)
(use the brands and types of ingredients you like best - and amounts)

1/3 c soy sauce, (or coconut aminos, liquid aminos, etc.)
2 T vegetable oil, (or canola oil, olive oil, avocado oil, etc.)
1+ T brown sugar (or brown sugar sweetener equivalent)
3/4 t garlic, minced, (or use garlic powder)
1 t ginger
1 t seasoned salt (Lawry's etc)