Venison Green Bean Casserole

Dear hubby's parents gave us some deer meat as a Christmas gift. 4 roasts and about 20 packages of hamburger. Hubby is not real fond of anything with a wild taste. (city boy! hehe)

Last night I made an oven casserole "concoction". Well there was not enough left for my lunch today, so I'm going to assume they liked it.

Venison Green Bean Casserole

One pound of deer burger (fried)
one onion fried with burger
2 cans of green beans (undrained)
one can of cream of celery
one package of brown gravy mix
1/2 can of water

All mixed well in pan, topped with frozen french fries, baked for 40 minutes @ 375 until hot and fries were done.

Next time I will use one can of green beans, one can of corn, and one can of mushrooms.

Faux Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

We use a lot of Ranch Dressing around my house. My 10yr old son eats it on everything. It gets expensive to buy prepared. I'm going to try this mix and see if he likes it as well.

Have any of you tried a recipe like this? If so, did your family like it?

Faux Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 Tablespoons onion flakes
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons sugar
2 and 1/2 teaspoons paprika
2 and 1/2 teaspoons parsley flakes

Mix and store in a small Ziplock bag.

For recipes calling for a packet of Ranch Dressing: Two Tablespoons = one seasoning packet

To make dressing, combine 1 tablespoon mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk. Blend well. Best if refrigerated for at least an hour before serving.

To make dip, combine 1 tablespoon mix with 1 cup sour cream. Blend well. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving with vegetables.

Meat- Determining which cut is a better buy

I've learned today that you cannot buy meat based on the price per pound. Different cuts of meats yield more servings per pound than others.

A smart shopper will use cost per serving rather than price per pound in making meat selection decisions. Price per pound can be misleading because all cuts will not yield the same number of servings per pound.

Although some boneless cuts may cost more on a per pound basis, they may be more economical due to less waste. The amount of bone and waste fat determines the number of servings of cooked meat a cut will yield.

Don't you agree the cost of the EDIBLE portion is really the MOST important factor in choosing what to buy from the consumer's standpoint? The VENDOR is on the other side of the coin. Knowing the majority of people buy based on price per pound not cost per serving is how they make money.

So how do you know which cut of meat is the better buy this week?

Use these wonderful charts...

BUYING MEAT FOR YOUR FAMILY

And keep your hard earned money!

I want to give a big thanks to Annie of Real Life Living for finding this web site and information that will prove to be a BIG saver.

Colgate FREE Offer in Sunday Paper Coupons

Living frugally means saving money any way you can.

One way I like to save money is by buying groceries and paper products that are on sale and using a coupon at the same time. That way you really save.

Coupon inserts come in ALL METRO Sunday papers in all states. My newspaper is the Kansas City Star.

Today is the BIGGIE of the year. If you have not got your Sunday paper yet, and you use coupons, stop reading this and leave to go get your paper now. hehe

In the SmartSource insert with the Lean Cuisine on the front they have a Colgate offer for a FREE Travel Bag filled with travel size samples and $9 worth of coupons. A $25 value. Here's the link also: Colgate Free Travel Bag Offer

6 Great OTHER Uses For Hairspray

I'm not one to use hairspray on a daily basis but do keep a can on hand for my hair when I am going to something really important or having family photos taken.

I have found some other uses for hairspray that I occasionally use.

My favorite is it's a great stain remover! Use it to remove ink stains from clothes and carpet. Just saturate the stain, let it set for about a minute and then wash it away. Hairspray also helps remove marker and I've heard mixed emotions while regarding permanent ink.

You can catch bugs around your home and kill them faster using hairspray. Instead of chasing a fly around the house with a fly swatter, aim and fire with the hairspray. The hair spray seems to stiffen and freeze it's wings rendering it unable to fly, and allowing you to catch or swat at it.

Hairspray will work in your crafts and scrapbooking too. You can use a little hairspray to keep your chalking from smearing all over the place. In addition you can spray a little on a newspaper article to slow down the yellowing process. It is recommended however, that you use it only on articles you don't wish to preserve for long periods of time.

Hairspray will preserve leaves and some flowers. Use it to prolong the life of baby's breath, cattails and broom grass in addition to those beautiful fall leaves.

You can use hairspray when you are sewing. When threading a needle, spray a little hairspray on the end of the thread to stiffen it. It makes it much easier to thread.

Did you know that hairspray is great on pantyhose runs. Just spritz a bit on the run, and it will help to prevent the pantyhose from continuing to run.

Today I want to hear from all you lurkers on here. Do you have a favorite OTHER use for hairspray? Leave me a comment and tell me about it.