Burgundy and Tan .99 Cent Scarf Purchased on EBay

I wear scarves nearly every day as they can quickly change the look of an outfit and has the added bonus as doubling as bib when you are eating and if you drop of bit of spaghetti or salad with dressing off your fork as long as it lands on the scarf you can take it off and rinse it and still have clean clothes and not smell like spaghetti or salad dressing the rest of the day.

I purchased this scarf from seller moj-81 on EBay for only .99 shipped.  It is shipped from China so it can take up to 3-4 weeks to receive (took 21 days for this scarf).

It is 100% polyester and ones like these are pretty much wash and wear, but if you felt it needed to be ironed you would want to be sure to keep on a very low setting and maybe even a pressing cloth or you could melt where the iron touched.

Like many sellers, offering change over time and other sellers my have similar.  If you are looking for certain type, fabric or color you can go to Scarves.  For this one, I was looking for a burgundy or wine colored scarf to go with a dress I had purchased and I like the colors and pattern on this one.

Fun Gelatin Dessert Box Finds At Walmart

As Jello was the dessert my Mom made most often as it was inexpensive, I still like to eat it to this day even, although in some stores it is hard to find much variety anymore, but at Walmart I hit the jackpot when I found the above fun Gelatin desserts, three are movie themed and one is booze flavored and all were between .92-.98 cents.

• Jello "Trolls" themed blue Jello in a Cotton Candy Flavor
• Royal "Frozen" themed clear gelatin in Summer Berry Punch
• Royal Star Wars themed purple gelatin in Dark Side Berry
• Margaritaville green gelatin in Margarita flavor 

I plan on trying them all in the coming months, but will probably start with the Trolls one as it indicates limited edition, the movie has been out for awhile it it likely to disappear soon, so if I like it, I will buy more before it does. 

They also had kits to make pudding pops and other Jello items, but they were around $5 so will have to save that for another trip.

What is the Shelf Life of Your Food?

In light of information on the recommended shelf life on food products leaning toward the side of caution, I thought I would share the infograph and link to the site Shelflifeadvice.com that I found on Pinterest that shows many of the common items found in a kitchen.

Shelflifeadvice.com.is a site which has researched using various credible websites like from the US government, Universities, Professional Association and food manufacturers website and indicates shelf life of all kinds of foods whether in the pantry, fridge or frozen. 

Food Network Kitchen Hack: Use a Sheet Pan to Make Eggs in Bulk

This hack by the Food Network is genius way to fix large batches of fried eggs to feed a crowd quickly.

It is done by pre-heating a sheet tray to 425 degrees, pouring on oil,pre-cracked eggs, bake 5 minutes, cut apart with a spatula then serve.

A Version of My Mom's Country Gravy

I made a different version of my Mom's Country Sausage Gravy today using Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage, 1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt, left out the cheese and instead of using all black pepper, I used some red pepper.

If I make this version again, I would cut down on the amount of red pepper as it was very hot or include the 1/2 shredded cheddar that would have mellowed out the pepper.  I think the Sage in the sausage gave it a bit more savory flavor, but you could probably add teaspoon of Sage to any sausage and get a similar flavor.

• 1 lb Jimmy Dean Sage Sausage (or other sausage and add 1 tsp Sage)
• 4 TBSP butter (just enough so the flour will coat the sausage)
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
• 1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
• 1/3 cup flour 
• 3 cups milk 

When my Mom taught me this recipe she said the secret to making a good sausage or other meat gravy is to use the fat/grease that is left in the pan from cooking, add additional butter if needed, and pour the flour in with the meat and fat to coat the fat and there will be no lumps in your gravy.

Sometimes the butter is optional if there is high fat content in the sausage, but in this case there was not any visible, although the sausage was nicely browned and absorb some of the flour on its own.

When I was a practicing vegetarian, I omitted the meat but as there is not anything to coat the flour, you have to melt the butter add in the flour a little at a time and add in the milk a little of time, so it is a little more labor intensive, but still good.

Basic steps:

• Fry the meat, breaking it into small piece until completely brown
• Add in butter and melt stirring in to the sausage
• Add in the flour and pepper
• Slowly add in the milk stirring constantly.
• Cook on medium to medium high heat until the mixture thickens up - usually 5-7 minutes.

Another trick if you need to make the batch a little larger batch but you are almost done (my Mom used to babysit and some times would have "drop ins" for just a day or so)  is to add more milk and a bit of mashed potato flakes to help thicken up the batch.

You can also freeze this for a few weeks and it heat up fairly well, although you will probably need to add a little more milk when reheating.

Green Apple Kool-Aid Pie

It is hard to believe that it has been over 9 years since I first spotted the recipe for this Kool-Aid Pie  (link below).  Since then it has become a family favorite and a tradition.

This is the first time we had tried this with the Green Apple mix but it was very good; it had a little bit of a tart bite like a Green Apple combined with the creaminess of the ingredients and the sweetness of the graham cracker crust. 

• 1 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
• Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 packet Kool-Aid (I used Green Apple, but you can use any flavor)
• 1 9 oz Graham Cracker Crust 

Mix the first three ingredients together in a mixing bowl and mix together with a mixer or by hand until well blended; about 2 minutes with a mixer and over 100 strokes if by hand. 

After my son started making these, he bought me a mixer for Christmas for him to use in making these types of pies, LOL.

Once blended, pour in the graham cracker pie crust an, refrigerate (creamy consistency) or freeze (if frozen is more like an ice cream consistency) for 2 hours.

Kool-Aid Pie by Creativemind on Cut Out and Keep.net
Check out Kool Aid Pie on Cut Out + Keep