You can learn to survive without using your oven
Q. What do you do if you don't have your oven? For the past two weeks, I have not had an oven, and my mind has ventured onto other options. The computer board of my oven went out, but the stove is still operable. Fortunately, and hopefully, it is getting fixed today (praying here). Over the past couple of years, I have been studying about adobe ovens and other bread ovens. I am hoping to build one someday, especially as we make a transition onto some long-hoped-for land/property. But I have wondered what the options are if we actually lost our oven and couldn't bake.
C.K., e-mail
A. I lived without an oven for a while when I was first married. I managed quite well with a gas grill, wok, toaster oven, microwave, electric skillet, Nesco roaster oven and slow cooker. You can use a bread machine for baking bread. You can make a solar oven (solarcooking.org/plans), use a Dutch oven over fire, bake bread in a crockpot (food.com/recipe/couldnt-be-easier-slow-cooker-bread-112579) or use a Coleman oven as alternatives to more expensive clay and bread ovens, too.
Q. What are some uses for almost ripe tomatoes? I have six to eight medium/large tomatoes that are too soft to be eaten in a salad or sandwich, but I don't want to toss them either. Should I dice them up and use them in soup? Care to share your other uses for almost spoiled tomatoes?
Libby, Canada
A. Soup is a great idea. Add them to stew, lasagna or spaghetti sauce, macaroni and cheese, pizza, quesadillas, tacos, fajitas, omelet, chili, chicken cacciatore, meatloaf or casseroles. Or serve the tomatoes chopped and cooked with a pot roast or make salsa, dips or homemade ketchup. You have a ton of options. Use them in most any hot dish you'd normally use tomatoes in.
Q. How do you get grape juice out of cotton? My daughter spilled grape juice on our skirts at Communion last night. I have washed them in the washer with cold water. Now they just look like a dark shadow. They're no longer purple, but there's still a visible stain, so I didn't put them in the dryer. Any ideas on how I can finish getting the stain out?
J. Moffitt, e-mail
A. Pour a kettle of boiling water over the clothing. Then use a vinegar soak. Let soak for about half an hour. Keep the vinegar. Don't discard it. Rinse the clothing. If the stain still remains, apply rubbing alcohol. Then flush with water again. Each stain removal attempt should lighten it more. If it's still visible, apply lemon juice and soak in water with a couple of squirts of dish liquid (such as Dawn) and your reserved vinegar added. Let soak for 15 minutes. Rinse and wash in your washing machine with laundry detergent. After washing, if you can still see traces of the stain, apply Barbasol shaving cream. Brush it into the fabric with a toothbrush. It works wonders on stains.
Finally, if that stain is still there, try applying a small amount (capful) of hydrogen peroxide. Then wash.
Two uses for Christmas cards: 1. Instead of bows. For most of my 60 years of adult life, my family has traveled to other locations to celebrate Christmas with family members. Thus, taking packages with bows became a real nuisance to pack and transport, so I hit upon the idea of using the front of beautiful Christmas cards as the package decoration. It looks gorgeous as long as you use wrapping paper that is a solid color or with only a slight pattern.
2. Remembering friends throughout the year. We kept the cards in a basket near our dining room table, and each day we would pull one out and remember that family (in our case, in prayer, for my husband was a minister). Then we would send them a postcard saying, “We remembered you today.” That makes the greeting more than a one-and-done meeting.
Joyce W., e-mail
• Sara Noel owns Frugal Village (frugalvillage.com), a website that offers practical, money-saving strategies for everyday living. Send tips, comments or questions to Sara Noel, c/o United Media, 200 Madison Ave., 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016, or sara@frugalvillage.com.