Great ways to save money and help your health!
Dear Heloise: My husband and I decided to economize this year, and one way we will be saving money is to “brown-bag it” to work instead of eating out. When I prepare dinner, I make a little extra so we can put the leftovers in plastic containers and microwave them for lunch the next day. It’s not only economical, it’s healthier, because we limit our use of salt and fats.
— Tessa N., Sparks, Nevada
Slow cooker
Dear Heloise: I’m a culinary teacher, and I teach my students how to use a slow cooker. Among the things I tell them is to never peek inside while the slow cooker is working. You just add extra time to the food being cooked. The slow cooker is a safe appliance and saves them a lot of time preparing dinner. They can cut up the vegetables the night before and store them in a plastic bag until they’re ready to put in the slow cooker. In warm weather, it doesn’t heat up the whole house, either.
— Violet J. in Montreal
Something is bugging me
Dear Heloise: When I got home today and was unpacking my groceries, I found a live spider, a large one, among the bananas. My neighbor said she took home a large cockroach from a different food store. We both called the stores to report this problem but were told that this happens from time to time. Next time I’m in my local grocery store, I’ll be a lot more careful about inspecting the items I select!
— Lisa O., Odessa, Texas Lisa, this probably happens more than we realize. Pantry pests can be shipped undetected with fresh produce, or they can chew a hole big enough to get inside a plastic bag and hide. Always wash fresh produce carefully.
— Heloise
Request for Shoo-Fly Pie
Dear Heloise: My husband loves your recipe for Shoo-Fly Pie, but I’ve lost it. Could you reprint it for me and anyone else who likes this tasty dessert?
— Nora F., Mendenhall, Mississippi Nora, here it is, my mother’s recipe for Shoo-Fly Pie.
Ingredients
1 cup molasses
1 cup boiling water
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 cups unsifted flour
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed 3/4 cup lard
3 unbaked pastry shells.
Mix the molasses and the boiling water. Cool slightly, then add the baking soda. While it is cooling, mix the flour, brown sugar and lard to make the crumbs.
Pour the molasses mixture into unbaked crusts, top with crumbs and bake in a 350-degree oven for about 25 minutes.
FYI: When using powdered cake mix, put the water in the bowl first, then the dry cake mix — no powder pockets in the bottom of the bowl.
— Heloise
If you want easy-to-make desserts that will have family and friends asking for seconds, then you’ll love my pamphlet Heloise’s Cake Recipes. To get a copy, send $3, along with a stamped (70 cents), selfaddressed, long envelope, to: Heloise/Cakes, P.O. Box 795001, San Antonio, TX 78279-5001.