Devils Food Cake - A Vintage Recipe

 

Here is a tried and true cake recipe that my grandmother absolutely loved.  Especially if you frosted it with some chocolate frosting.  It was often what she requested for her birthday cake.

 

Devils Food Cake 

1/2 c water3/4 c sour milk

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2/3 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c baking cocoa

1 1/2 c sugar

2 1/2 c cake flour 

Preheat oven to 350°.  In a large mixing bowl combine water, milk, eggs, vanilla and melted butter beating until thoroughly combined.  Add sugar and continue to mix.  In a medium bowl sift all of the remaining dry ingredients together.  Slowly add to large mixing bowl until well combined.  Beat an additional two minutes and let batter rest. 

In the meantime grease and flour a 13" X 9" baking pan or two 9" round cake pans.  Pour batter into baking pan or divide equally into cake pans.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until done and center springs back to the touch.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.  If making a layer care remove from pans after ten minutes and cool on racks. 

Once completely cool frost cake with your favorite frosting.  Slice and enjoy.

 

A very simple and basic cake recipe and versatile too.  Perfect for making cupcakes and I've also used my bundt pan.  Cupcakes of course will bake faster and I do allow for extra baking time for a bundt cake.  However you decide to go with it I do hope you will give this recipe a try.  I think you will find it delicious.

 

Making Things Better #1

 

I mentioned last month that my focus in 2021 is to do some little projects around the house to make things just that much nicer for us.  Nothing over the top or overly extravagant, but some small changes I could make to improve our quality of life.  And of course to do these projects on a thrifty budget too.

 

I got started with a simple no cost project to make some cleaning rags out of an old bath towel and the legs from a worn out pair of flannel pajama pants.  They not only work great for cleaning up large messes (saves me from purchasing and using paper towels) but they look super cute too.  I used leftover scraps from the towel to make myself a new mopping pad for my old Swiffer mop and it works so well that a couple weeks later I made myself a second one with more leftover scraps.  I really love these mop pads.  For more details on how I made them just click here.  I still have more terry cloth and flannel scraps left to use up too.  I’ll be keeping that in mind as I work on other things.

 

Speaking of other things….  My next project was to tackle an annoying and frustrating situation in the kitchen.  I had picked up a larger utensil organizer at Wal-Mart a few years ago and it simply wasn’t cutting it.  Surprisingly it wasn’t large enough to hold a 12 place set of silverware and it is the largest one Rubbermaid makes.  And it slid all over the inside of the drawer so not only was my silverware falling out of it and getting all mixed up but every time you opened and closed the drawer it slid around and made a lot of racket.  What a mess!

 

I picked this up at Fred Meyer

It all fits!

I have been mulling over what to do and researching online all kinds of things to try and improve my rattily drawer.  Bamboo trays, expandable trays, plastic, wood, acrylic, mesh?  Something from the dollar store or something custom made?  I even checked out ideas on Youtube.  A few weeks ago I was at Fred Meyer and found a nice large utensil tray made out of sturdy black plastic with a vinyl lining at the bottom of each compartment and gripper feet on the bottom of it.  I figured it was worth a try and if it didn’t work out I could always return it.  Plus!  It was only $12.99 which was much less expensive than some of the other options I’d been looking at.  Not only does it hold everything, but that puppy doesn’t move! 

 

My other struggle
No way could I keep this mess organized the way I like it

But now it is and it is staying that way too!

It stays in place, my silverware stays inside of it and now we can open and close the drawer and not a bit of noise.  Hurray!  I was so happy about the silverware tray that I bought the big one for cooking utensils for $10.99 and redid that drawer too.  That one was a real game changer for us too.

 

The junk drawer before

...and after!  Much improved!

One of the old organizers I had in the utensil drawer I was able to reuse and put into our junk drawer to hold my Brita filters and some other larger items.  I reused the same divided organizers I already had in there and just washed them all out and reorganized them.  I threw some crap away too.  That pretty much takes care of my kitchen organizing projects.  The old silverware tray was donated for someone else to use.  With all of my kitchen drawers now clean, purged and beautifully organized it feels really good and we’ve been using our new setup for several weeks now.  I feel pretty confident that this project is a complete success.  It has definitely made things in the kitchen much better.

 

Managing Our Food Storage

 

I always try to keep a full supply of food on hand with a stockpile of extra items “just in case”.  It has always served me well to do this, especially during the lean times.  I’ve never had to worry about being able to feed my family, pets included.  One never knows when things might happen so I like to be prepared as much as possible.

 

There are any number of reasons to be prepared such as a job loss, unexpected expenses, higher heating bills, storms, extreme winter weather and even the need to help out a friend or family member when they are in crisis. I’ve experienced all of these things in my lifetime.  Last year, in light of the pandemic, I decided to up my game by adding a prepper pantry which I filled with longer term storage items.  With the recent food shortages, mainly due to panic buying and some manufacturing issues, I felt if wise to do this and I’m very glad I did.

 

In order to manage our food storage I prepare our meals by using menu plans that are based on the things we already have on hand.  When it comes to grocery shopping I am using a replace as we go method this year as I don’t really need to do much in the way of stocking up now.  I have moved more into a maintenance mode.  I keep a pantry list in my dayplanner so I can circle items we are running low on (not out of) and then I buy those items when I go shopping, preferably waiting until they are on sale.

 

This year, because the prepper pantry is so new, I don’t really plan to do much, if anything, with it.  As time goes on I will be utilizing a pull and replace method meaning I will “shop” items that may be close to their end dates and replace them with new stock when I do.  I plan to start doing that in the spring of 2022.

 

A big part of what I do now is to rotate items in the pantry and freezer and take a regular inventory so I am always aware of what I have and can make sure to use items before they get old or expire.  While I’m not one who is strictly stuck to an expiration date on a food item I do like to use them as guidelines.  Rotating freezer items so older things get used up ahead of the newer ones coming in is another way I curb food loss due to freezer burn.

 

I really enjoy sharing some of the things I do and I hope this helps inspire you, although I’m sure a lot of you probably do some of these things already.  Let me know if you have any questions or if you have some ideas of topics you would like to see me cover more in depth.

 

Time Budgets

 

I think we can all agree there are not enough hours in a day, time seems to fly as we get older and there is more to do than there is time to do it.  Because of this I try to budget my time so I am able to get things done that are the most important to me.

 

Number one is to keep a clean, organized and tidy home.  Because I work a full time job and often extra hours my time is very limited.  Housekeeping is not the only thing I want to spend my time doing so I do all of my housekeeping on a schedule and in 15 minute increments.  I have been doing this for quite a few years now and I am still amazed that this process actually works as well as how much I am able to get done in just 15 minutes of time.

 

Larger projects have a tendency to monopolize so much of my time that I rarely have time leftover for fun or even rest.  This has proven to be difficult for me so I have worked out a different strategy when it comes to that.  For one thing I don't take on quite as many big projects as I used to.  That has helped tremendously.

 

When I have a lot of small tasks that need to be completed I will schedule a bank of time and outline hour by hour how I can get those tasks finished.  If I have three hours on a Saturday I will schedule each of those hours with a reasonable number of tasks I feel I can get completed in that time frame.

 

Other longer term projects I now map out over a certain period of time and schedule an hour a day to work on that project.  When we pruned our trees last fall I knew it would take several weeks for us to accomplish this particular project.  I was able to work one hour after work a few days each week and 2 hours on Saturdays until it was done.  I was able to get the pruning completed without it taking over my life.  The bonus was we worked on it little bit by little bit so it was a much more manageable task overall.  The best part was I was able to do a lot of other things I wanted to do at the same time this project was going on.

 

There are a lot of different ways to budget time, but right now this process seems to be working very well for me.  Do you do any type of time budgeting?

 

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

So far 2020 is treating me pretty darn well and I hope it is the same for all of you.  My first full week of the new year was a busy one at work.  I put in more overtime than usual and I am happy for the opportunity to earn the extra income.  After a long day at work I came home and relaxed by working on a crochet project I started on Wednesday.  I haven't crocheted anything for quite some time so it has been really nice to have this to work on in the evenings.  Once I am done I will have my first handmade Christmas gift completed.  I think my intended recipient will be very pleased with it too.

 

My digital camera started to conk out on me so I had been looking at replacement options for a couple of weeks.  I decided to stick with what I had as I'm very familiar with it, it is easy to use and fairly drop resistant (up to a point) and last a long time.  Plus I have all the accessories and extra batteries.  I shopped around for the best price and settled on a seller on eBay.  I placed the order and paid for it with my PayPal credit account and will use the proceeds from my recent eBay sales to cover that expense.  I was extremely happy it worked out that way.  Pretty much like getting it for free and all because I decided to clear some crap out of my garage.  Win-win!

 

I made this delicious chicken & vegetable soup from scratch

Our monthly meal plan was a godsend for me this past week as I was able to quickly prepare meals and have plenty of leftovers for our lunches.  Not having to stress about what to cook was a huge load of my mind too.  We used up a lot of odds and ends of things we had in the pantry and refrigerator and had no food waste to speak of.

 

I came home Friday evening and decompressed from the busy work week with my crochet project, a cold beer and watched some TV while I was at it.  Perfect way to end my work week.  I am quite happy with how this little project is turning out.

 

All items were either on sale or markdown plus I had a lot of coupons

Saturday morning I took my daughter to work and decided to take advantage of the trip and do my grocery shopping and a couple other errands.  Since I was already there it made sense.  After picking up a few really good grocery buys I headed over to Dollar Tree in hopes they had restocked the laundry detergent.  They hadn't but I did find two packages of sparkly stuff to use for card making so I splurged.

 

On the way home I popped across the street and dropped off a big box of donations at the thrift store then took the scenic route so I could stop at Fred Meyer and pick up five packages of butter they had on sale for $1.77 each.  I think I have enough butter in the freezer to get us through the year now including holiday baking.  I also had a $2 OFF coupon to use on the butter making this a really great deal.

 

It felt really good to drop this box of donations off at the thrift store

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - cleaned mirrors & light fixture, washed decorative towels & rug, vacuumed floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room -  cleaned microwave, vacuumed floors. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  Scrubbed tub, sink & toilet, cleaned mirrors & light fixture, washed decorative towels & bath mat.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - one very large load of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, tidied up garage.  Hauled a load of donations to the thrift store and filled up the recycle bin with a lot of cardboard.

 

I made my daughter this gnocchi meal all out of leftover items 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I gave myself a haircut.  I washed a few Ziploc bags to reuse.  I started a new crochet project using yarn from an abandoned afghan I had started a couple years ago and didn't finish.  Loaded a bunch of digital coupons to my store rewards cards.  I kept my shopping pretty minimal and was very mindful of each item I purchased and how I paid for those items.

 

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  worked some overtime, sold some items on eBay and from my Etsy shop.  So very happy about those sales!  I also made some more greeting cards to sell.

 

My great grandmother's pot got quite a workout last week ❤

I think I did rather well and I am quite pleased with the progress I have made so far.  How was your first full thrifty week of 2021?

 

$100 A Month Grocery Budget In 2021

 

Can I keep us in groceries this year with only a $100 a month budget?  Well, we certainly shall see.  I do think it is entirely possible, especially with all the prep work I put in last summer with canning as well as stocking up on pantry and freezer essentials.  Right now there are only two of us ($100 = $50 per person) with an occasional third one from time to time that visits and loads up on Mom’s home cooking and occasionally shops the pantry. 

 

Nothing beats a good grilled cheese & tomato soup

My youngest and I seem to prefer rather simple meals and neither one of us minds leftovers one bit.  In fact, I think we actually prefer them.  So for me to make a large meal and then have leftovers to reheat for a couple of days is right up our alley.  Especially when it comes to packing our lunches for work and school.

 

I download a lot of digital coupons and still clip paper ones from time to time

With regard to shopping I’m all about sales, markdowns, clearance items, coupons, stocking up on loss leaders and using rewards points.  I am not loyal to any one store either which allows me a lot of flexibility to shop where I know prices are lowest on the items I want.  This leaves me with a lot of options of where I can shop for food – Albertson’s, Fred Meyer, Trader Joes, Winco, Cash & Carry (Smart Food Source), Wal-Mart, Grocery Outlet Bargain Market and Dollar Tree.  I do not shop at Costco simply because I don’t want to pay a membership fee.  I have plenty of other options available to me so I’m happy to forgo Costco right now.

 

I base my meal plans off of items I already have on hand

This year I will continue to shop carefully and use all of the resources at my disposal.  Along with that I plan to meal plan, cook simple, thrifty, yet healthy meals for us and eat up our leftovers in order to avoid food waste.  Avoiding food waste and utilizing what we have to the fullest means we will need fewer groceries too.  And, for those who are wondering if I will be planting a garden this year that is a resounding NO.  I am not a gardener.  I’ve tried many, many  times, and I am done trying.  So no garden this year. 

 

If this topic is of interest to you at all I will be sharing quite a bit of what I am doing to stay on budget in the coming year.  I will also be tracking my spending to make sure I stay on budget with a monthly recap as well as sharing my shopping trips in some of my posts.  I’m sure there will be some new recipes to share as well.

 

I am excited to be able to get back to my $100 grocery budgets and seeing how it all plays out this year.  It will be interesting to see if I am not only able to stay on budget, but also maintain our food stores.  I am feeling pretty confident about it.

Revisiting An Old Post - Cottage Industries

 

I wrote this post several years ago about my thoughts on having a cottage industry in the home as another revenue source.  If you are looking for ways to increase your income stream you might want to check it out.  Click here.

 

Do you already have a cottage industry of some kind?  If so, please share with us what you do to earn extra money for your household.