Life Hacks Using DAWN Dish Degergent

I'm going to admit a shameful secret of mine.  There was a time in my life when I would purchase dish detergents that were not of the Dawn brand.  I know.  I know.  Shameful.  I am reformed though and I'd like to share some of the ways I utilize Dawn in ways that have nothing to do with washing dishes.

1. Pretreatment for greasy stains on our laundry.  Just a squirt over the stain, rub it in, and let it sit for a little while, then launder as usual.
2. Mixed equally with white vinegar and use as a tub and shower cleaner.  I mix these two ingredients in a spray bottle and use it by spraying onto the surfaces I want to clean.  I let it sit for about an hour, then use a rag or sponge to wipe it off.  No scrubbing required.  This is the best tub and shower cleaner I've ever found.
3. Moisturizing hand scrub.  I mix 3 parts sugar with 1 part Dawn with Olay.  I use this for when my hands are grimy after gardening and my husband uses it when he comes in the from the garage.
4. Pet flea treatment.  I started using Dawn by itself as my dogs shampoo to help get rid of fleas.  I did help but left her skin extremely dry.  I started adding some Dawn to a moisturizing pet shampoo and that worked much better.
5. Cleaning greasy kitchen cabinets.  I add the detergent to a wet sponge and use it to wipe down the cabinets in the kitchen.  They get greasy so quickly from cooking and this is the only way I have found to effectively and efficiently remove the grime.
6. Poison ivy treatment.  I got a little poison ivy on my leg this summer and even though I washed it off well it was still itching and spreading.  After two days I decided to try Dawn and it halted the poison ivy right in it's tracks.  I washed the area 3 times a day with Dawn, then covered with Ivy Dry, and did this for several days.  

What are some life hacks you've discovered for using Dawn?  Please share them in the comments below. And if you'd like to check out the Dawn Twitter party, check it out using #Dawnbeyondthesink.  And if you'd like to follow me there, click here.

Easy Breakfast Burritos

I had grand plans of making a mountain of these scrumptious breakfast burritos and freezing some for later use.  This particular cooking session didn't result in any being left to freeze.  They were so delicious we gobbled them all up.

It's a very simple recipe and you can make it vegetarian my omitting the sausage.

EASY BREAKFAST BURRITOS

Ingredients:
Whole wheat 8 inch flour tortillas
6 eggs, scrambled
1/2 pound sausage, cooked and crumbled
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salsa
Sour cream

Before assembling, spend a few minutes to cook the scrambled eggs and place in a serving bowl.  Cook the sausage, drain and move to a serving bowl.  Add the cheese to a serving bowl, as well, to make for a speedy assembly process.  Leave the tortillas in the bag, open it and microwave for up to a minute.  This will soften the tortillas so they won't crack when rolled.

For each burrito, place some of the scrambled eggs down the center of the tortilla, leaving an inch or two empty on the bottom edge.  Then layer on the sausage, if using,  then the cheese.  Wrap the burrito by folding the bottom edge up over the filling slightly.  The roll tightly.

Continue until you have used up all the filling ingredients.

If the eggs and sausage are warm still, the cheese will melt from that heat, but they can also be popped in the microwave for up to a minute.  This recipe made 8 burritos.  Serve with salsa and sour cream on the side, if desired.

If you want to freeze some, wrap each burrito, after assembly, tightly with plastic wrap and store in a freezer grade zip top baggie in the freezer.  Remove when wanted and microwave for one minute, then check for doneness and heat up to another minute. 

Noodle Doodle Pudding

There is no real reason for the word doodle to be in the title of this noodle pudding, but I liked the sound of it so it stuck.

The grocery store I use most often has carts and racks set in various places throughout the store for clearance items.  I buy a lot of items at clearance prices that I might not normally purchase if it was full price.  Perhaps it's because it's a higher priced name brand or something that is not ever on my shopping list.  The noodles I'm using in this recipe I got for a steal in one of those bins.  I tried making them as just noodles in chicken broth with a little butter but we didn't really care for them.

Something made me think of a traditional Jewish dish called noodle kugel, also knows as noodle pudding.  I guess I could have called this recipe Noodle Doodle Kugel, too.  That actually has a good ring to it! 

The recipes I could find online didn't really match exactly what I was thinking of wanting this dish to be, so I used ideas from several different places and came up with this deliciousness I share with you now.

NOODLE PUDDING

Ingredients: 
1 pound medium egg noodles
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
16 ounces sour cream
16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
1 sleeve cinnamon graham crackers
 (Printable Recipe)

The noodles I had were in 12 oz. packages so I used my handy-dandy to measure out the 16 oz. needed, and put the rest in a ziptop bag for some other use later on.  I also used the scale to measure out the 1/2 pound of butter since I buy it in a one pound block.  I did the same with the cream cheese to get the 4 oz. from the 8 oz. brick.

Cooking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Apply spray oil to a 9" x 13" pan and set aside.  In a large pot bring water to a boil then add the noodles and return to a boil and cook for 7 minutes.  Drain and leave in the strainer for a few minutes.

In the now empty pot add the remaining ingredients, expect the graham crackers, and turn on the heat enough to melt.  The order I did it in was the butter and cream cheese first, then the cottage cheese and sour cream.  Then the sugar, vanilla and beaten eggs.  Stir well to combine and turn off the heat.  Add the noodles and continue stirring until they are thoroughly combined.

Pour the noodle mixture into the prepared pan.  Using your spatula move the noodles around so that they get into the corners and they look like they are spread fairly evenly.

Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the graham crackers into crumbs.  There are several ways this can be achieved, this is the easiest way I've found to do it.  Take a sleeve of crackers and start pounding on it lightly with a rolling pin.  Don't pound too heavily or it will break open the seals on the package.  Turn the crackers to one  side, pound, turn, pound, and so on until they are nothing but crumbs.

After 30 minutes remove pan from oven and cover the top with the graham cracker crumbs.

  Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

Note:  This is even more delicious than I thought it might be.  This is going to be my go to dish to take to potlucks.  It's perfect just the way it is, but you could make it lighter by using fat free or reduced fat ingredients, and replace the 6 eggs with 1 1/2 cups egg whites.  Some of the recipes I looked at added raisins, and we wouldn't care for that ourselves, you could add about 1/2 cup of raisins before baking.  

No Knead Pizza Dough Using A Stand Mixer

This recipe for pizza dough is made even easier because you can do all the mixing and kneading with a stand mixer.  I have a KitchenAid brand, but others should work equally well.
This recipe will make enough dough for 3 pizzas.

INGREDIENTS:
- 2 T. of dry yeast
- 2 cup of warm water
- 4 cups of bread flour
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 T of sugar
 (Printable Recipe)

Add the warm water into the mixer bowl, sprinkle the dry yeast and sugar and mix it. Let it rest for about 5 minutes and your mixture will be foamy.

With the hook attachment on start the mixer on slow speed and add olive oil and salt, mix it for about 1 minute and start adding the flour.

Once it is all combined let your mixer do all the work kneading this dough for about 10 minutes (you might need to add a little bit more flour, not too much), this dough will be elastic and a extremely sticky.

Grease a clean bowl with olive oil and pour dough into it.

Cover your bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for about 30 minutes.

Punch down the dough and it  is ready to be shaped. Oil your pans and your hands very well to keep the dough from coating your skin and so they will come easily off the pans after baking.

TO MAKE INTO PIZZAS:

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Separate the dough onto three well greased pizza pans or baking sheets.

  You can line the pans with foil to save on dirty pans afterwards.  Using your well greased hands, spread the dough out to the thickness you desire.  The dough will thicken some as it bakes.

Bake just the dough for about 7 minutes.  Remove and add the toppings you prefer

and bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese melts and is bubbly.  Slice and enjoy.

Pork Roast With Great Flavor

I was trying to come up with something flavorful to use on a pork roast but I also wanted simple and economical.  Other than a little salt a pepper, this uses only two ingredients:  mustard and brown sugar.

There is no real recipe and no exact measurements.  The roast I bought was nearly 6 pounds so I cut it in half and froze the other portion for another time.

Trim the roast of most of the visible fat and sinew or silver skin.

Merely place the roast in a pan, thickly coat with mustard and then make a crust with brown sugar patting it on with your hands.

Depending on the size of the roast, bake for 350°F for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until tender.  Serve sliced or shredded on buns.

This actually surprised me with how delicious this is.  I don't plan to make it any other way after this.

I took the fat and sinew that I removed and fried for a treat for the dogs.  They were very happy, indeed.