Washing and Storing Grapes

We LOVE grapes at our house. But I find that I'm more likely to eat them if they're all previously removed from the stems, and already washed and ready to go. I also don't think just rinsing is sufficient. You see the cloudy film on the outside of the grapes, and even a soak doesn't remove it.

So now, when I buy my grapes, I take the few extra minutes before I put them away to get them all ready! I remove the grapes from the stems and place in a big colander in the sink.

After a good rinsing, I place 1 small drop of liquid dishsoap in one hand. I then rub my hands together to coat them, and then run my hands through the grapes to lightly wash them. If you've placed just a drop of soap on your hands, you won't even see any foam at this point. Just enough to break through that film on the grapes. Once I've done this, I rinse VERY WELL. Then I let drain for 5 minutes in the colander, and then place in a container for the fridge.

Now, when we want grapes, we can just grab what we want--they're clean, and they taste GREAT! Works for me! Check out other great suggestions and tips at http://rocksinmydryer.net

Better Deli Lunch Meat At Better Prices

Several years ago in St. Louis, my husband and I got completely spoiled with Straub's grocery stores. Very high end stores that didn't carry much in the way of pantry stuff, but excelled in their produce section, bakery, meat dept. and deli. We were way out of our league in that store, but we still enjoyed occasional trips for little indulgences. Best strawberries you ever tasted, and the size of my fist. Prime meats. Seriously. Baked goods out of this world. And the deli---ah, yes. Fully prepared gourmet meals. Fabulous salads. And the day that ruined me for the rest of my life---when we ordered a pound of roast beef, and they reached into the cabinet, pulled out an UNPROCESSED, FRESH sirloin roast that they had seasoned, cooked to medium rare perfection, and then sliced wafer thin.

Trust me when I tell you that I've never been satisfied with deli roast beef after that. Tastes processed. Chemically. Rubbery. And they want like 7 bucks a pound for that junk? No way!

So a few years ago we asked our family for a slicer for Christmas. And now I go to the meat counter and pick up either a nice sirloin roast or top round roast when they go on sale. We're currently eating off of a 10lb. sirloin roast I got for $2.49/lb. I baked it, and then we cut it into portions. One we sliced and put in the fridge, the rest we vaccuum sealed and put in the freezer. Then we just pull out a piece at a time as we need it. I also buy hams and slice them this way for far cheaper than deli prices. I even discovered that if you want processed turkey, you can buy it at Sam's for a steal and then slice it yourself. Me? I prefer waiting for a killer sale on turkey breast, then I season, roast, and throw it on the slicer. Heaven.

Gourmet, shi-shi, high-end food. Healthy. On a budget. Works for me!!!

Homemade Peanut Butter

About 5 years ago, my husband and I were in Sam's watching a demo of the VitaMix. The guy was making soup, ice cream, you name it. We are not impulse buyers at all, but we like frozen drinks and smoothies and stuff like that, and we were tired of replacing our blender every year, or having one that didn't actually grind up all the ice very well, and after the realization that the motor in the VitaMix was more powerful than the one on Jonathan's router, we actually dropped a few hundred bucks on a BLENDER. I know, right? Dumb? Nope...one of the best purchases I've ever made. And one of the reasons is that I will never buy store bought peanut butter ever again. We make our own...and it's easy! We get the big cans of honey roasted peanuts, dump them in the blender, turn it on high, and what results is the most incredible, yummy stuff ever....it's even warm. The boys stand at the blender and lick the spoons. We'll make about 5 or 6 jars at a time and then store them in the fridge downstairs. We've probably paid for the blender just with all the money we've saved from store bought peanut butter that has a bunch of corn syrup in it.

Works for us. Check out more cool "Works for Me" ideas at http://www.rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/