Easy Salisbury Steak

Salisbury steak is the ultimate in comfort food.  The original TV dinners had salisbury steak, peas and mashed potatoes.  They were they for a reason.  Comfort food.  This is a quick and easy recipe that you can make on one of those days you want something that makes you feel good and maybe even feel like a kid again.  Use store bought mashed potatoes and this meal doesn't take long at all.  When I have salisbury steak it always reminds me of Piccadilly in the mall.  I always got it there because I really liked their gravy.  So maybe it will remind you of some pleasant memories as well.

Keep a can of French onion soup in the pantry.  Then you can make this recipe, but it is also a good staple to keep.

Start with about 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef.

Measure out 1/3 cup of the French onion soup.

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 egg

Mix all that together.  Salt and pepper.

Shape into patties.  Brown both sides.  Drain.

While that is cooking mix the rest of the soup.

1 Tablespoon all purpose flour

1/4 cup ketchup

1-3 teaspoons steak sauce

1/2 teaspoon mustard powder

1/4 cup water

The patties are getting brown.

Pour the gravy on top.

Cover the skillet and cook for 20 minutes.  I don't have a lid for my skillet so you can cover with a cookie sheet.

Have mashed potatoes and peas and it is the perfect homemade TV dinner.

Easy Salisbury Steak Recipe

1 can French onion soup
1 1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 egg
salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon all purpose flour
1/4 cup ketchup
1-3 teaspoons steak sauce
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 cup water

Trash Can Deodorizer Tabs

This summer my garbage can has had a little bit of a smell to it from time to time.  Even if the garbage gets taken out every day there was still a little odor.  So when I found this recipe I had to try it.  I know that baking soda is a deodorizer so I am thinking this is going to work.

It's fun to use some festive shapes.  I do need to invest in some more small silicone molds. 

This recipe only uses three ingredients.  You are thinking there are only two there.  The third is water.

Measure out 2 cups baking soda.  Mine had some lumps in it so I was breaking them up.

Add essential oils until you get the scent you like.  I used peppermint.  I mainly used it because I have peppermint granite cleaner so I thought the smells would compliment and not fight each other.  But you could do seasonal scents.  There are some cool smells for Christmas.  Mix the baking soda and oils to blend the smell.

Now start adding water 1 Tablespoon at a time.  Mix after adding.

After 2 Tablespoons.

After 3 Tablespoons.  Not quite sticking together.

After 4 Tablespoons

5 Tablespoons

6 Tablespoons of water.  It is beginning to stick together. I really think I could have put more water in the mixture.

You can see it is sticking together.

Put some in the molds

Tamp it down to make it stick together.

When you get the mold filled let them sit at least over night if not longer to dry.

I took my garbage out this morning so I thought it was a good time to add one to the bottom of the can.  So I thought the small ones would be ready.  They were but I don't think there was enough water to bind it together.

Because they fell apart.  But that doesn't mean you can't still use them.  You could also use these in the fridge as well to get rid of smells.

So I put half on a paper plate and put in the bottom of my garbage can.  I can already tell a difference.  I get a whiff of peppermint when I walk by.

Trash Can Deodorizer Tabs Recipe

2 cups baking soda
6-8 Tablespoons water
essential oils

Does it work 7

I don't know if it all the Christmas movies on Hallmark the last couple of weeks or the football games on ESPNU but I am getting in Christmas mode.  No, that doesn't mean the trees are going up any time soon, only because I can't get to them.  But what it does mean is that I have opened Santa's workshop and trying some things to see if I can plan ahead and have a stress free Christmas.  I want to share what I have learned with you so you can have a stress free holiday as well.  So one of my biggest time stealers is my baking.  I love to do my holiday baking and my gingerbread cookies are always requested.  So after the erector show a couple of weeks ago and I mixed and froze cookies I got to thinking about my gingerbread men.  I usually spend 2 days mixing and baking cookies, right after Thanksgiving.  So this week I mixed up half a batch.  You can find my recipe here. Gingerbread men.  

So here is the fruits of my labors.  A perfect gingerbread man.  It didn't spread.  It kept it's shape.  Perfect!

So I mixed up my dough.  Put it in the freezer for an hour or so to chill a little.  Normally I leave it in the fridge overnight before rolling out.

Flour the counter and take a little dough at a time and roll out.

I put the men on parchment lined cookie sheets and put them in the freezer for an hour or so.

I took them out of the freezer.

Put them in a container.  I put wax paper between the layers so they wouldn't stick.

This morning I got out two cookies.  Baked them at 325 for about 9 minutes.

The end result.

This experiment was a success.  So towards the end of October I am going to do my Christmas mixing and freezing. I will have more time then as well.  Not to mention I don't have to bake all the cookies at one time.  I can bake them fresh when I give them away.  We can have fresh baked cookies all through the holidays.  I am already looking for recipes for this Christmas.  I hope this idea will help you have a stress free holiday too.

Lemon Toilet Bombs

These little toilet bombs are easy to make and make your toilet smell good too!  Sometimes you just need a little extra help to make it smell clean and fresh.  Also these are great to drop into your bowl if you are going to be out of town for a few days.  They will keep it smelling good.  

You know I like Mickey and it is a good silicone mold.  I need to get a couple of different molds. 

This recipe originally was for peppermint scented bomb. I love peppermint smelling things.  I think it has a nice fresh smell to it.  But I used the Lemi Shine for my citric acid so I used the lemon smell instead. You can use any smell you like.

Start with 1 cup baking soda.  You can buy larger boxes of baking soda for projects just like this.

1/2 cup of citric acid or Lemi Shine.  Citric acid is usually found in the canning supplies at places like Walmart.  Lemi Shine is found in the dishwasher supplies.

My lemon essential oil.  Use about 25 drops.  The recipe also said you could add about 10 drops of tea tree oil.  I didn't have that and I may need to get some.

Mix that the dry ingredients.

Add the drops of lemon oil

Mix that around a little

You will see it start to clump together some.

Add some vinegar to a spray bottle and lightly spray the mixture.  You do not want to get it too wet or it will start fizzing ahead of time. You want it to just stick together. 

Spritz and stir and then spritz some more.

It is almost ready to go.  Spritz some more.

Now it is sticking a little better. Spritz a little bit more.

It looks ready.

Now ready to put in the mold.

Add to the mold.

Then find something to push it down and pack it a little.

Get all the corners.

Now just let it sit over night or two.

I covered it.

They expanded a little bit.

I think they might be ready to come out.

You can work around the mold to see if they are coming loose.

Then pop them out.  Store in a container.

Drop one into the toilet.

Watch it fizz.

It's working.

Store them in the bathroom to use as needed.

Scented Toilet Bombs Recipe

1 cup baking soda
1/2 cup citric acid or Lemi shine
25 drops essential oil
10 drops tea tree oil
vinegar
silicone mold
spray bottle.