Shark Bite Connection System

Fortunately, my husband and I took a wonderful trip to New Zealand and Australia.

Unfortunately, our upstairs water heater leaked during our trip.

Fortunately, it stopped on its own.

Unfortunately, it still needed replacing.

Fortunately, my husband is a do-it-yourselfer.

Unfortunately, do-it-yourself projects NEVER go as smoothly as a book/tv show/magazine article/website makes it seem.

Let me illustrate....We had replaced our downstairs water heater previously, so we thought this would be a straightforward project and proceeded to buy a new water heater. When Jared turned the cold water shut-off valve, nothing happened--it just spun around. That meant we would have to turn off the water to the house and cut and sweat copper pipe--a project that takes more time than our sport and activity filled Saturdays allow.

When we went to Home Depot for parts we discovered the Shark Bite Connection System.

(Hallelujah chorus)

All you do is insert the pipe until it clicks. No teflon tape, no pvc cement, no sweating with a torch. Visit the plumbing aisle of Home Depot and try it out. Even I can do it. Watch the video for a demo (it's a little cheesy, but gets the point across).

We asked the Home Depot employee repeatedly, "Is it really that easy? Does it really work?" He reassured us, so we bought the connector for less than $10.

Installed in our attic:

No leaks. The connection took less than 5 minutes.

Tips:

• It really works.


• It's really that easy.


• While the price may not be typical of a bargain, the savings in time, effort, and frustration definitely make it a bargain.
  
  

Homemade Easy Bake Oven Recipes

One of my babies just turned 5.

Happy Birthday, Claire!

For Christmas Claire got an Easy Bake Oven. Unfortunately, she used all the mixes before the end of '09. I haven't replenished her supply, because I hate paying $1 to $3 for a mix that makes barely enough for one adult-sized bite.

So, for Claire's birthday, I found some recipes for homemade mixes (Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, Lemon Cake, White Frosting, and Oatmeal Cookies) and invited my friend, Heather, over to help make them.

Chocolate Cake Mix

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, cocoa powder, flour, baking soda and salt. Stir with a wire whisk until blended.




With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed and mixture resembles corn meal.








Spoon about 1/3 cup of the mixture into each of 11 small containers with tight fitting lids or ziplock bags. Seal containers.






Label with date and contents.

Voila!

Store in a cool dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Makes 11 packages of Children's Chocolate Cake Mix for Easy Bake Style Oven.

To Use:

1 package cake mix

4 teaspoons water

Mix together and stir with a fork or spoon until blended and smooth. Pour mixture into greased and floured 4 inch round miniature baking pan. Follow directions for child's oven, or bake in Mom's preheated 375° oven for 12 to 13 minutes. Remove from oven and cool in pan on a rack for 5 minutes. Invert onto a small plate and remove pan. When cool, frost with Children's Chocolate Frosting. Serves 2 children.

I found a ton of websites with different recipes. A lot of them are the same or similar. Here are the other ones I used:

Children's Chocolate Frosting

2 cups icing sugar -- sifted

3 Tablespoons instant nonfat milk powder

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

6 Tablespoons vegetable shortening

In a medium bowl, combine icing sugar, milk powder and cocoa powder. (Sift cocoa if lumpy.) With a pastry blender, cut in the shortening. Spoon about 1/3 cup of mixture into each of 9 small containers or ziplock bags and seal tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Makes 9 packages of Children's Chocolate Frosting.

To Use:

1 pkg. Children's Chocolate Frosting Mix

3/4 teaspoon water

In a small bowl, combine frosting mix and water. Stir with a spoon until smooth. Makes about 1/4 cup.

Children's Lemon or White Cake Mix

1 cup sugar

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. lemon-flavored unsweetened drink powder -- like Kool-Aid

1/3 cup vegetable shortening

In a medium bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking soda, salt and drink powder. Stir with a wire whisk until blended. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening until evenly distributed and mixture resembles corn meal. Spoon about 1/3 cup mixture into each of 10 small containers or zip lock bags. Seal bags tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Makes 10 packages Children's Lemon Cake Mix.

To Use:

1 pkg. Children's Lemon Cake Mix

4 tsp. water

Preheat mom's oven to 375ºF. If using an Easybake oven, follow directions for baking cakes.
Grease and flour a 4 inch miniature cake pan. In a small bowl, combine cake mix and water. Stir with a fork or spoon until blended and smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake 12 to 13 minutes in mom's oven or as directed in play oven. Remove from oven. Cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Invert cake onto a small plate. Remove pan. When cool, frost with Children's White Frosting if desired. Serves 2 children.

NOTES: Any flavor of Kool-Aid powder can be used for a wide variety of flavors. For a white cake mix, omit the powder. If you like, a drop or two of vanilla may be added at the time the cake is prepared.

Children's White Frosting Mix

2 cups icing sugar -- sifted

3 Tbsp. instant nonfat milk powder

6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening

In a medium bowl, combine icing sugar and milk powder. Stir with a wire whisk to blend. With a pastry blender, cut in shortening. Spoon about 1/3 cup mixture into each of 8 small containers or zip lock bags. Seal bags tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Makes 8 packages of Children's White Frosting Mix.

To Use:

1 pkg. Children's White Frosting mix

3/4 tsp. water

In a small bowl, combine mix and water. Stir well with a spoon until smooth and creamy. Makes about 1/4 cup frosting. A drop or two of vanilla may be added if desired.

Children's Cookie Mix

1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup brown sugar -- packed

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

In a medium bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda and brown sugar. Stir to Blend. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until mixture resembles corn meal. Spoon about 1/2 cup mixture into each of 8 small containers or ziplock bags. Seal bags tightly. Label with date and contents. Store in a cool dry place. Use within 12 weeks. Makes 8 packages Children's Cookie Mix. Each package makes 9 cookies.

To use:

1 package Children's cookie mix

2 teaspoons water

or make:

Raisin Chip Cookies

1 package Children's cookie mix

2 teaspoons water

1 tablespoon raisins

1 tablespoon mini semi-sweet chocolate morsels

Cook in oven according to Easy Bake Oven directions.

Tips:

• You can add the shortening later to any of these recipes to get a longer shelf life. I went ahead and added it, because I'm pretty sure ours will get used before 12 weeks are up.
  

San Marcos: Part 2

You're invited to a Birthday Party!

For: the Bargain Huntress

Starts: Fri, Mar. 14 @ 10am

Ends: Sat, Mar. 15 @ an unseemly hour of night

Where: San Marcos Outlet Malls

I'll report back later...

Why I Hunt for Bargains

Set of vases from Costco: $10.

Not coming unglued when they break: priceless.

Tips:

• Note to self: Make sure to untangle floral arrangements before moving a vase.
• If you can't find any children to blame (because it wasn't them this time), blame the dog.