I'm doing this #nospendfebruary challenge, and after the doozy of November, December and January of no holds barred spending, it's a welcome change. And it's getting me back in the kitchen more often which the Hosh is definitely enjoying.
On the first day of the challenge, we ran out of dish washing detergent and it seemed silly to go to the store on the first day so I gathered up materials from around the house to make my own (I'll share the recipe in another post.) Turns out, lots of things in my house can actually be made from other things! My pantry is about to get so decluttered.
Did you know that baking power is actually made up of two things that you probably already have in your house? Mind blown.
Here's the recipe:
Baking Powder Recipe
Ingredients:
1 part baking soda
2 parts cream of tartar
Directions:
Mix well. Store in airtight container for however long the first ingredient to expire lasts.
I know that it works because I made fluffy biscuits with it. And DIY baking powder is gluten free, unlike some baking powder on the market.
But enough of the baking powder talk, let's move on to the delicious biscuits. One of the keys to not spending is apparently pre-planning. Before making these biscuits, the fats (butter and shortening) must be frozen or at the very least, very very cold. Otherwise, these are a fantastically quick bread to make since it requires no rise time and a short bake time.
My only real tips when it comes to fluffy biscuits is the use of shortening or lard (lard is better but I had none), handle the dough as little as possible and do not twist the cutter when punching out the biscuit circles. Straight down and that's it.
I am calling this a wheat biscuit recipe but the flour is relatively interchangeable between bread, all purpose and wheat. Use what is on hand in the spirit of the No Spend February Challenge.
Fluffy Wheat Biscuit Recipe
Adapted from The Purple Spoon
Ingredients:
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter cut into 1/4" pieces
3 tablespoons cold butter flavored shortening cut into 1/4' pieces
1 1/4 cup cold milk
2 tablespoons of melted butter (for brushing on top)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients well. Then using a pastry cutter, fork or very quickly as to not melt the fats, your hands, cut in the butter and shortening pieces. The resulting flour should be somewhat sandy with the largest pieces of remaining butter and shortening no larger than a pea.
3. Add the milk and mix until just combined. Again, the key is to handle this as little as possible to prevent toughness. fold the dough over on itself a 3-4 times as this is what helps create the delicious layers.
4. Lightly flour a surface and place the dough on the surface under a sheet of parchment paper. Try not to add more flour to the dough as the biscuits will be harder the more flour is added. Roll the dough out to 1/2" thick.
5. Use a lightly floured round cutter to cut out the biscuits, pushing directly down with no twisting. Place onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone mat. The biscuits will not spread out very much when baking but they will rise. Brush tops with melted butter.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with butter and jam, or in my favorite way, with a fried egg and a slice of bacon. Yum.
On the first day of the challenge, we ran out of dish washing detergent and it seemed silly to go to the store on the first day so I gathered up materials from around the house to make my own (I'll share the recipe in another post.) Turns out, lots of things in my house can actually be made from other things! My pantry is about to get so decluttered.
Did you know that baking power is actually made up of two things that you probably already have in your house? Mind blown.
Here's the recipe:
Baking Powder Recipe
Ingredients:
1 part baking soda
2 parts cream of tartar
Directions:
Mix well. Store in airtight container for however long the first ingredient to expire lasts.
I know that it works because I made fluffy biscuits with it. And DIY baking powder is gluten free, unlike some baking powder on the market.
But enough of the baking powder talk, let's move on to the delicious biscuits. One of the keys to not spending is apparently pre-planning. Before making these biscuits, the fats (butter and shortening) must be frozen or at the very least, very very cold. Otherwise, these are a fantastically quick bread to make since it requires no rise time and a short bake time.
My only real tips when it comes to fluffy biscuits is the use of shortening or lard (lard is better but I had none), handle the dough as little as possible and do not twist the cutter when punching out the biscuit circles. Straight down and that's it.
I am calling this a wheat biscuit recipe but the flour is relatively interchangeable between bread, all purpose and wheat. Use what is on hand in the spirit of the No Spend February Challenge.
Fluffy Wheat Biscuit RecipeAdapted from The Purple Spoon
Ingredients:
2 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cold butter cut into 1/4" pieces
3 tablespoons cold butter flavored shortening cut into 1/4' pieces
1 1/4 cup cold milk
2 tablespoons of melted butter (for brushing on top)
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients well. Then using a pastry cutter, fork or very quickly as to not melt the fats, your hands, cut in the butter and shortening pieces. The resulting flour should be somewhat sandy with the largest pieces of remaining butter and shortening no larger than a pea.
3. Add the milk and mix until just combined. Again, the key is to handle this as little as possible to prevent toughness. fold the dough over on itself a 3-4 times as this is what helps create the delicious layers.4. Lightly flour a surface and place the dough on the surface under a sheet of parchment paper. Try not to add more flour to the dough as the biscuits will be harder the more flour is added. Roll the dough out to 1/2" thick.
5. Use a lightly floured round cutter to cut out the biscuits, pushing directly down with no twisting. Place onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper or silicone mat. The biscuits will not spread out very much when baking but they will rise. Brush tops with melted butter.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve with butter and jam, or in my favorite way, with a fried egg and a slice of bacon. Yum.
: This was my favorite item in the entire Vox Box. I have used this everyday to simply brush or style my hair with a blow dryer. It is so well made and eco friendly to boot. Highly recommend.
: This is an amazing waterproof liner. It doesn't smudge, applies creamy smooth, great staying power with a dark saturated color. Highly recommend.
. I received a pack of these for free to try. As you can read above, I was already trying to get away from disposable cleaning pads. These Bona pads have all the benefits of the Bona floor spray but the ease of Swiffer pads. While I wouldn't recommend these for everyday, all the time cleaning, as they are a little on the flimsy side, they are really great for spot cleaning. The old adage about cleaning up the little messes before they become big hairy messes is so true and these cleaning pads are perfect for those little messes.
. We have had a number of Roombas over the years and this one is fantastic. It goes off based on a timer, goes around picking up all the animal fur and then docks itself. It just needs to be emptied once a day but that's a small price to pay to cut back on at least one sweep a day. The only downside is that the Roomba moves around by bouncing off of surfaces which means it's not that great at getting under tables surrounded by chairs. Also, I've noticed that in the places that Roomba tends to bounce of very often, the furniture and cabinets are getting scuffed/worn down.
. I never thought that there was such a big difference between brooms but there is. There really, really, really is. I've bought cheap brooms and fancy brooms with foam in the middle and dry swiffers and sweepers and this is the broom that had me stop and say, "Wow, this is a great broom." It just gets to all the dirt. Dirt that for some reason wasn't getting picked up by other brooms. It gets into corners and doesn't hang on to dirt and fur which makes a huge difference when throwing things away. 
: This bag doesn't even look like a lunch bag, but it's huge and holds a lot of food containers. That way, I don't look like I'm carrying food which makes me automatically look thinner. Am I right?
: Instead of trying to track down disposable utensils, I picked up this adorable bamboo utensil set which makes me feel green and fit.
or maybe win one by entering my giveaway below:
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