Crabby Housewife

Lower Your Blood Pressure with the Dash Diet

March 25, 2016 August 10, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Do you have high blood pressure? Take a look at the DASH diet, which claims to help lower blood pressure and help you lose weight.

The DASH diet received high marks from an expert panel set up by the US News and World Report. The publication named it the healthiest diet on November 1, 2011. This praise is something dieters who’ve tried DASH were not surprised over.

“I felt so much better on this diet and with exercise I was able to cut my blood pressure medication in half,” said Jen Conner, a lifelong dieter.

Get the details on how this diet works, so you can decide whether or not it is right for you.

What exactly is the DASH Diet?

The DASH is based on the book The DASH Diet Action Plan. It includes healthy foods like fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds and lean protein. If you’re not used to eating many fruits and vegetables, this diet may be an adjustment at first as it requires consuming a lot of these types of foods.

It is a high fiber, nutrient rich diet that claims to lower high blood pressure in 14 days or less.

Get Started

The amount of food you’ll eat is based on how many calories you need to consume to either maintain or reduce your current weight. Let’s look at the example for a 2,000 calorie DASH diet. All values are daily unless otherwise noted.

2-1/2 cups of fruit
2-1/2 cups of vegetables
2-3 cups of low-fat dairy
6-8 ounces of whole grain
6 ounces lean protein (chicken, turkey, etc.)
Nuts, seeds and legumes should be consumed 5 days out of the week
2-3 teaspoons oil

You can have sugary treats and alcohol, but only very occasionally. Think one treat a week and not one treat per day.

Get More Info

DASH is not the easiest diet to stick to. It requires control and determination. However, the health benefits you’ll receive will be worth the effort. Learn more about Dash at:

How to Revamp Leather Furniture, Paint Leather, Freshen Leather

March 25, 2016 August 7, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen a great deal on a leather chair or piece of furniture, but you hated the color? Perhaps you have an old leather chair that is a bit scuffed up and you wish you could give it a fresh look. I recently read an article by Wendi over at H20 Bungalow that I thought was absolutely brilliant.

Wendi shares that she loved a chair she purchased, but didn’t like the way the color looked in her office. With a little ingenuity, she mixed up a coral color chalk paint, used a specific process to paint the chair and has a fresh new look that goes with her office.

The result? A super cute chair that looks like it was purchased yesterday.

Not only would her technique work well to change the color of a chair, but I see many applications for the process, such as freshening up an old piece of leather furniture that is scuffed and scratched.

If I could figure out how to get the color into all the nooks and crevices, I’d consider this method on my leather couch. I fear it would be impossible to cover a leather that has so many little areas, though, so I will save this project for something with a bit less space to cover.

Check out her project. It looks pretty interesting. Have you tried to paint leather? What are your experiences?

Mason Jar Pinterest Crafts Roundup

March 25, 2016 August 6, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

A couple of times a week, I head over to Pinterest and check out some of the different crafts, recipes and unique ideas people are posting. One thing I’ve noticed lately are mason jar crafts. Here are some of the cuter ones I’ve seen. What do you think? Have you tried any Mason jar craft projects?

Wall Art: Attach Ball Mason Jars to boards, hang on wall, add fresh flowers.
Pink and Glittery Makeup Brush Holder: Paint jar with pink glass paint. Dip bottom in glue and glitter. Super cute for a girl’s bedroom.
Distressed Chalk Board Mason Jars: These little jars will hold anything and are as simple to make as painting on some chalkboard paint.
Outdoor Wedding Lights: Fill bottom third of jar with colored sand, hang from trees, add tealights. This creates a rustic, beautiful outdoor fairy wonderland.
Mason Jar Organizer: Mount small jars to a board. Hang board in bathroom. Get organized. Another tip… paint the jars in chalkboard paint first to give them a color coordinated, distressed look. See craft above for details.
Give a Cute Gift: This craft turns a simple Mason jar into a Mickey and Minnie extravaganza.
Candle Holder for Centerpieces: A little more work to etch the glass and then paint around it, but this candle holder is super cute. It would be perfect for wedding, a nice dinner or even to give as a gift.
Durable Tissue Holder: This is a cute gift for a teacher or to keep in your bathroom or a guest room.
Pincushion with Space Inside: Add a pincushion to the top of a Mason jar and you’ll have a mini sewing box where you can stow threads and extra items inside the jar.

How have you used Mason jars to decorate or organize your home?

Save Money on Back to School Shopping

March 25, 2016 August 5, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

Hello Crabby Shoppers,

It is that time of year again. School supplies start to go on sale and as you look over the list of items your child needs for school you start to panic. iPad, 1,000 boxes of tissues, spa gift cards for the school staff… wait that might be my dream list back from my teaching days. Anyway, even with items such as folders, pencils, binders and notebooks, the cost of school supplies can really add up.

One thing I do every year that saves our family hundreds of dollars is to shop the sales. Even though my girls are both now in college as of this year, they still need notebooks, pens and your typical school supplies. It’s just a little easier, because they do get to decide what they’ll buy and they carry their own tissues now.

If you don’t already get the Sunday paper, now would be a good time to start picking one up on Sundays. However, you can also get by with hunting the ads down online if you prefer. It is just more time consuming.

Every store out there has what is called “loss leaders.” These are one or two deeply discounted items that are used to pull you into their store so you will buy all your other school supplies. You’re going to outsmart the stores, though. You’re going to shop ONLY the loss leaders for now.

So, let’s say that this week, erasers are .25 a package at Target, paper is .50 a package at Staples and folders are 10 for $1.00 at Office Depot. Those are the only three things you will buy this week.

Next week, there might be pens on sale for .50 a package, notebooks for .25 each and so on. Yes, this method takes a bit more time, because you have to keep your checklist handy from the school and check off items as you go, but you will save a bundle. Just before school starts, head to the dollar store to finish off your list. If you absolutely MUST pay full price for something, Walmart and Target usually have the best prices on school supplies, but you may just wind up getting everything on sale.

Stock Up For Later

It never fails. Two weeks into the school year, a teacher decides your child suddenly needs another binder, notebook, your child loses her box of crayons, or every pencil you own disappears to the land of lost pencils.

When the items you know your child will use often go on sale, stock up. Keep a school supply drawer or closet just for this. Some items that your child likely needs every year, so if you have extras you can just push into the next year include:

Folders
Pencils
Notebooks
Paper
Pens
Erasers
Scissors (they always get lost, don’t they?)
Calculator (I’ve seen small ones go on sale for $1.00 each)
Binders
Crayons
Colored Pencils
Markers
Poster Board (yes, keep at least two on hand at all times for projects, but they are cheap at dollar store every day)

Give Back

If you’ve saved a ton of money on school supplies, take a few dollars and buy some extra supplies to give to the teacher. Most teachers love their students. If one doesn’t have what he needs to learn, she will go out and spend money out of her own pocket to buy these items.

Trust me that there is nothing more thoughtful to a teacher than a small basket (pick one up inexpensively at the dollar store) filled with extra boxes of crayons, pencils, erasers and paper. This saves her money and helps her students have the tools they need to learn. If you’ve picked up extras while they were on sale, this gift basket will cost you very little to share.

Have fun, enjoy the days of summer left with your kiddos still at home and happy shopping.

Creamy, Gooey, Cheesy Kentucky Hot Brown

February 16, 2018 August 4, 2015 By Crabby Housewife Leave a Comment

There are some foods that Kentucky is famous for. From mint juleps at the Derby to anything with Kentucky bourbon, to the amazing hot brown. The recipe below is a lot easier to make than you might imagine and will impress even the most discerning palate.

History of the Kentucky Hot Brown

Have you heard of the hot brown? It is also called the Kentucky hot brown in some places. It is a gooey mess of an open-faced sandwich that will delight your taste buds. It meshes a thick, crisp bread topped with turkey, bacon and a rich cheese sauce. Most restaurants choose a Mornay sauce, which is whitish, but some places use cheddar or other alternatives. Some versions include a tomato slice on top.

The sandwich as been around since 1926 and was first served by Fred Schmidt at the Louisville, Kentucky Brown Hotel. According to the Brown Hotel website, in the 20s, the hotel was bustling with dinner guests anxious to attend a dinner dance. It attracted about 1,200 guests a night. Chef Schmidt recognized that these guests wanted to try something a bit more culinary than simply ham and eggs, so he created the hot brown, which was a variation of Welsh rarebit.

The sandwich is still served at the Brown Hotel today and they even have the original recipe listed on the website if you want to try mixing up a portion or two at home. Of course, if you’re in the Louisville area, go ahead and pop into the hotel and try out their variation for yourself. You’ll be tasting a bit of history.

If you want a recipe that is a bit more simple (because you know I’m about cooking things as easily and quickly as possible, but still making them delicious), try my hot brown variation below.

Creamy, Gooey, Cheesey Kentucky Hot Brown

Author: Crabby Housewife

Ingredients

Loaf of precooked bread from deli/bakery
Thick slices of roasted turkey
Cheddar or white cheddar cheese slices
Precooked bacon slices
1 to mato
Butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Slice the bread into thick slices at least an inch thick. Some variations of this recipe call for large canned biscuits, but I prefer the taste of bread.
Very lightly butter both sides of the bread and grill each side until browned and crispy
Place bread on baking sheet and layer with two slices of turkey and cheese (traditional hot browns have a LOT of cheese, but you can create to your own taste).
Place in 350 degree Fahrenheit oven until cheese gets bubbly and starts to brown slightly.
While the dish is cooking in the oven, wrap the precooked bacon in several layers of paper towels and nuke for one minute to make it crispier.
Remove hot browns from oven and top with tomato slices and two strips of bacon each. You can also crumble bacon and dice tomatoes for a different look.

That’s it. You’ll be serving a somewhat traditional hot brown. of course, you can get a bit more advanced over time by baking your own bread and creating a cheese sauce on your stove top. You could also cook your own bacon. I’m just lazy and I like to save time when I can. If something tastes nearly as good and is easier to throw together, that’s the way I go.

I’ve even been thinking about buying the jarred cheddar cheese sauce in the past aisle and trying that for the topping.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia Creative Commons