Did you know?

I received this information from a friend a couple of years ago...read it and put it away. I stumbled on it when cleaning my filing cabinet. You will be surprised as to how many uses a sheet of Bounce has. It is not only for the dryer!
It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them.
It will repel mice...spread them around foundation areas, or in trailers or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.
It will take odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.
Repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season. (You are probably wondering why mention mosquitoes in November? Some of my readers live in warm climates.)
Eliminates static electricity from your television (or computer) screen. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet to keep dust from settling.
Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.
Eliminate odors in waste basket.
This is my favorite: Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight and sponge clean. The anti-static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food.

There are a few more uses. You can contact me and I will be happy to send you a completed list.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

May you all be blessed with Family and wonderful friends like mine. I am so grateful for everything that life has given me from my wonderful husband, my two great children and the blessing of four grandchildren. I hold them all very close to my heart.

Both of our children have decided to buy new homes at the same time. We want them to find the homes that they love. My problem is trying to find something great to buy them when they find their dream houses.

So I put on my thinking cap and came up with a couple of good ideas…Our son has a beautiful bar in his present home and I thought why not get them barstools, nice padded comfortable barstools that these old bones could sit on and have a great glass of wine! Then it occurred to me that I could get them a gift certificate to CSNstores.com where they could choose the style of barstools. Either way, it would be a win win situation.

Now comes the dilemma about our daughter when it dawned on me that I could do the same for her. CSNstores.com has over 200 plus online stores to choose from.

Problem solved!

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

Stay safe and God Bless

Left over Chicken???

For some reason I always have left over chicken. It's probably because I cook more than I should. My husband, Jack, loves chicken in any shape or form. I try to do different things with it and tonight I came up with a wonderful combination. Here's what I came up with:

In a large saute pan place pieces of chicken (I always remove the bones) roasted red peppers, stuffed green olives, artichoke hearts, small amount of olive oil and seasoning. I used McCormick Perfect Pinch Vegetable seasoning and a dash of salt. While this simmered, I microwaved a bag of Birdseye Steam Fresh Brown Rice and sauteed Broccoli Rabi with garlic and olive oil.

Place the rice in a serving dish, top with chicken mixture and surround it with Rabbi.

What a fantastic combination of flavors!

The two of us ate it ALL!

Cheesy Bean, Zucchini and Red Pepper Dip

Serves: 8; Serving Size: ½ cup
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30-35 minutes
Total: 45-50 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 1 small zucchini, cubed
• 1 small red pepper, cubed
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, seeds and ribs removed, chopped
• 1 can (15-ounces) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup grated reduced-fat Monterey jack or cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes, until soft. Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Repeat step 2 with the red pepper, and then repeat again with the onions.
4. Once the vegetables are all cooked, add them all back into the pan over low heat for another 3 to 5 minutes.
5. Transfer vegetables from pan to a small- to medium-sized ovenproof bowl. Add the drained beans, salt, pepper and chili powder, and toss to combine.
6. Top bean and vegetable mixture with cheese and bake for about 10 minutes. Once the cheese is mostly melted, broil the dip for about 2 to 3 minutes until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

Nutrition Information (per ½ cup serving): 106 calories, 7 g protein, 10 g carbohydrate, 3 g fiber, 4 g fat, 2g sat fat, 8 mg cholesterol, 247 mg sodium

Winner of the $35.00 Gift Certificate from CSNstores.com

And the winner is: Kia89. I will be notifying Kia89 and she will have 48 hrs. to respond. If there is no response, I will choose another winner. Thank you all for entering this contest. Please check back from time to time for more giveaways.

Meme Cimino's Lattice Apple Pie

My mother-in-law Antoinette (Meme to her grandchildren) made a great apple pie. Her cookbook which is a brown spiral pad. It is so old that the pages have turned yellow.
Here is what you will need:

9" PIE PASTRY FILLING
2/3 cup Crisco 5 cups sliced apples
2 cups sifted flour 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt 3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
sift flour and salt into bowl. Remove 1/3 cup flour and mix lightly with water to form a paste. Cut Crisco into remaining flour until pieces are the size of peas. Add flour paste to Crisco flour mixture. Mix and shape into a ball. Place half of the pastry on floured board. Roll with short light strokes, keeping it circular in shape (about 12" in diameter and 1/8 thick. Line pie pan. Trim uneven edges allowing them to extend 1/2" beyond edge of pan. Add apples to pastry lined pan, sprinkling with the sugar, cinnamon and flour. Dot with crisco. Roll out the remaining dough. Cut 34" strips and weave across crust. Fold edge and flute with fingers. Bake in a hot oven at 425 F for 10 minutes, then at 350 F for 25 to 30 minutes.

Subject: $35.00 Gift Card to CSN Stores Giveaway

I recently received Mini Loaf Pans from CSN Stores for review. If you missed my review of them you can read it here. I really liked them and I've used them several times since I received them. CSNstores.com has over 200+ online stores to shop from were you can find just about anything from Baby Bottles to End Tables and everything in between. Need new luggage? CSN Stores has it! Looking for new bed lines? CSN Stores has it. They really do have a store for almost all your needs!

Grandmas Cooking & More has teamed up with CSN Stores and they would like to give one of my readers a gift card for $35 which you can use in any of their stores! Isn't that wonderful?!

To Enter: Do any of the following to enter. Just leave me a separate comment for each entry.

1. Leave a comment as to what you would LOVE to purchase with your gift card.
2. Follow me on Facebook, come back and leave a comment.
3. Follow me and twitter (http//twitter.com/gramscooking) and tweet about the giveaway; come back and leave a comment.

4. Tell your friends about the giveaway and send me a copy of your emails to your friends.
Be sure to include your e-mail address in your comment so that I may notify you if you are a winner. Good Luck!

Details: This giveaway is open to US residents only (unless he said otherwise) and will end October 22, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. The winner will randomly be picked and announced shortly after.

Disclosure: I received a gift certificate to CSN stores for my review. However my words and opinions are my own and were not influenced by this.