15 Cheatsheets For Smoothies, Juices, Sauces & Snacks

What is happening on my Facebook page? A proliferation of charts! Of what, you may ask? Cheatsheets on how to grow vegetables, make smoothies, sauces, green drinks and more!

They are nifty charts you can put in a Google image search to see if you can link them back to their original sources. They seem to be passed around on social media. For our blog purposes, they are just a collection of practical information, all neatly on a single post that we do not claim ownership of and are free for all to read. Enlarge the ones of interest to you ...

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1. Romaine Lettuce  Similar to celery. Keep the base of your romaine lettuce in a bowl with 1/2 inch of warm water. Let it sit in direct sunlight, and in a week or two, your lettuce stem will produce fresh, new lettuce leaves for all your great salads. Transplant your lettuce to soil to continue growing. They should be fully grown in 3 to 4 weeks. This process works for Bok Choy as well. 2. Garlic Sprouts Are those tentacles?! Nope, those long green things growing out of your garlic are green shoots. You can put them in a little water, under a lot of sunlight, and grow a bunch of garlic sprouts. They are milder in taste than garlic cloves and are great in salads, pasta, and as a garnish. 3. Carrots Plant the end of the carrot, and when it begins to sprout, take those seeds and plant them. Pretty soon, they will begin to sprout delicious greens from the top that are a nice addition to meals. Using a deeper container and more water, use toothpicks to keep carrots halfway in the water and wait for them to root. Once they root, you can plant them in your garden for a continuous supply! 4. Turnip Like carrots, cut off turnip tops and leave them in a shallow container with water until they begin growing roots. This can take a couple of weeks. Once they’ve sprouted, plant them outside the same way you would your carrots! 5. Sweet potato Unlike most vegetables, sweet potatoes aren’t started by seed but by slips (or shoots). Clean and cut a sweet potato in half, then place it half in/half out of a jar full of water using toothpicks. Over a few days, your sweet potato will begin to sprout slips at which point you remove them and place them in water to grow roots. You should have rooted slips with the week. Next, plant them in loose, well-drained soil and water every day in the first week, and then every other day (or as needed) the following weeks.

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1. Asian Honey Marinade  Ingredients:  1/4 cup soy sauce  1/4 cup honey   2 tablespoons rice vinegar  2 cloves garlic, minced  1 teaspoon grated ginger  1 tablespoon sesame oil Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Marinate chicken for 1-4        hours for a sweet, savory, and umami flavor. 2. Jalapeno Garlic Marinade  Ingredients:  1/4 cup olive oil  2 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped  4 cloves garlic, minced  Juice of 1 lime 1 tablespoon honey Salt and pepper, to taste Instructions:  Mix ingredients well. Marinate chicken for 2-4 hours for a spicy and garlicky kick. 3. Italian Marinade  Ingredients:  1/4 cup olive oil  1/4 cup red wine vinegar   1 tablespoon Italian seasoning   2 cloves garlic, minced   1 teaspoon dried oregano   Salt and pepper, to taste   Instructions:   Combine and marinate chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours. Expect a classic, zesty Italian flavor. 4. Fajita Marinade   Ingredients:   1/4 cup olive oil   Juice of 2 limes   1 tablespoon chili powder   1 teaspoon cumin   1/2 teaspoon paprika   1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)   2 cloves garlic, minced   Instructions:   Whisk ingredients together. Marinate chicken for 1-3 hours to get the vibrant, tangy, and spiced fajita flavor. 5. Honey Mustard Marinade   Ingredients:   1/4 cup Dijon mustard   1/4 cup honey   2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar   1/4 cup olive oil   Salt and pepper, to taste   Instructions:   Mix all ingredients. Marinate chicken for 1-2 hours. The result is sweet, tangy, and creamy. 6. Nashville Hot Marinade   Ingredients:   1/2 cup buttermilk   1/4 cup hot sauce   1 tablespoon paprika   1 tablespoon brown sugar   1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (adjust to taste)   1 teaspoon garlic powder   Instructions:   Combine ingredients, and marinate chicken for at least 1 hour. Expect spicy, smoky, and slightly sweet notes. 7. Teriyaki Marinade   Ingredients:   1/3 cup soy sauce   1/4 cup brown sugar   2 tablespoons mirin (optional)   1 teaspoon grated ginger   2 cloves garlic, minced   1/4 cup water   Instructions:   Mix until sugar dissolves. Marinate chicken for 1-4 hours for a traditional, sweet-savory glaze. 8. Cilantro Lime Marinade   Ingredients:   1/4 cup olive oil   Juice of 2 limes   1/4 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped   2 cloves garlic, minced   1 teaspoon cumin   Salt and pepper, to taste   Instructions:   Blend all ingredients. Marinate chicken for 30 minutes to 2 hours for a bright, zesty, and herbaceous flavor.

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The next 4 charts are healthy snack choices. Ideally a snack should be 100 - 200 calories. Protein snacks, including a handful of nuts, stop hunger in-between meals. At work I always got hungry at 4 PM, so began eating turkey sticks or almonds because pretzels, a carb, made me hungrier!  Protein is the better choice.

Fruit makes an excellent snack as well because fiber fills you up and takes time to digest. I consider fruit "free" food since it's packed with vitamins and doesn't add up to many calories. If I have a day I'm always hungry, I eat an apple, move onto a orange and if still hungry, follow up with a banana, or a pear, a handful of blueberries until my appetite stops bothering me!


Hope you learn a tip or two from these cheatsheets.

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12 Stain Removers For Clothing

Sometimes life is messy, but we can't let stains ruin our favorite blouses, t-shirts, dresses, or trousers. Your 1st line of defense is to run to a sink before the stain dries and then sets. I like to use a drop of dish soap, water, and a brush, sometimes an extra toothbrush, to gently scrub a stain out. I keep dish soap with Oxi-Clean as one of its ingredients in my bathroom for this purpose.

Thread Up recommends using the following aids to best treat certain stains:

1) Soak a red wine stain in white wine, cover with baking soda, let sit, and rinse.

2) Flush the back of a chocolate stain with cold water, dab with dish soap, and soak.

3) Soak grass stains in white vinegar, then clean with dish soap and that trusty small brush.

4) For foundation stains, apply shaving cream and carefully work it in with a washcloth.

5) To remove lipstick, saturate the stain with hair spray and dab to remove.

6) Gently blot a deodorant stain away with a dryer sheet or the protective foam used on dry cleaning hangers. (Btw: I've switched to a stainless deodorant stick that also works to keep me dry. This one.)

Several more stains I can think of include:

7) For blood stains, rinse in cold water, then soak in detergent and cold water. For stubborn stains, use peroxide or a paste of baking soda and white vinegar. Sprinkling meat tenderizer on the stain sometimes removes it.

8) Tomato sauce, ketchup, vegetable, or fruit stains are tough stains to remove once they dry and set. Act quickly and use cold water, dish soap, and possibly vinegar or lemon juice to help lift out the stain. Sparkling water can help too.

Photo: Pexels

9) For coffee stains, apply a paste of dish soap, white vinegar, and water. Rinse with cold water.

10) Tackle grease stains with dish soap, let it set, and rinse with hot water. Toss in a washing machine quickly if possible. You can also try a solution of baking soda and white vinegar if all else fails.

11) Rubbing alcohol or solutions containing alcohol, such as hand sanitizer or hair spray, will break down ink stains. Spray and blot.

12) A spatter of toothpaste is maddeningly difficult to remove without tossing the garment into a washing machine. Even if you clean the spot immediately with dish soap and water, it leaves a faint white residue. The only thing I know to do is to repeat the process to get as much of the residue out as possible. 

I don't wear dresses until I've brushed my teeth, but in the summer I usually have my t-shirt on already. What do you do to get out a teethpaste stain? What about grease or tomato sauce stains?

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Happy Valentine's Day 2025

Dear Readers, my electronic 2025 Valentine's Card goes out to you! I hope you find kindness, love, humor, and joy on this Valentine's Day.

FreePik

Often it's a day we still go into the office, sooo be the source of kindness, love, humor, and joy! Shoot ↖↗↘Cupid's Arrows↖↗↘ out in appropriate, goodwill ways to your co-workers and all the folks who cross your path today. Our superpower is to change and better the world in little, not monumental ways.

Artist: dotdave

Small splurges and treats will benefit you too. The Starbucks drink you normally forgo to economize, the sweets you pass on 90% of the time to stay healthy, the glass of wine you don't have because, well, you'd rather eat than drink your calories. Have them today in moderation. Celebrate the love of life! Holidays are your 10% days. Eat the chocolate!♥

Good ole Godiva dark chocolate truffles hit the sweet spot perfectly!

Happy Valentine's Day my lovelies! Hugs and kisses across the web from THE SAVVY SHOPPER! xoxo

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Inspired By Southern Living's Million Dollar Soup

Let me start by linking you to the photo credits and recipe of the soup 👆 that inspired my recipe. The original is called Million Dollar Soup by Southern Living. Looks delicious, doesn't it? But! It's too many steps and calories to become part of my repertoire. To stay healthy, I consume bacon and cream as occasional treats, but lighter fare most of the time. 

Lighter dishes can be tasty too, and once you form the habit of eating healthy you crave healthily. My inspired recipe is a totally different soup that shares many of the same ingredients as its cream, bacon, and kale inspiration. Make my soup when you have leftovers, such as butternut squash or chicken. Without leftover chicken toss sliced frankfurters into the pot:

Leftover Butternut Squash, Chicken, and Spinach Soup aka, Billion Dollar Soup😉

Ingredients:

2 cups leftover cooked chicken, cubed (or use 3 - 4 grilled chicken or turkey or beef
frankfurters) 

1/2 cup of grilled ham, cubed

1 onion, diced

1 cup celery, sliced

a minced garlic bulb or 1 teaspoon of dried garlic

1 teaspoon dried thyme

2 cups cooked butternut squash, cubed (Take a raw butternut squash, put a slit in it with a knife, and microwave it if you don't have leftovers.)

3/4 cup of dry white wine (if I don't want to open wine, I add a tablespoon of organic cider vinegar for taste)

5 cups water

2 large chicken bouillon cubes

1 teaspoon of black pepper (24 turns of the peppermill)

1 15 oz can of beans (navy, cannellini, pinto, pink, i.e., whatever you have in your cupboard)

a dash of Worcestershire sauce

a dash of soy sauce

3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

2 cups of spinach (or substitute 1 cup of mixed vegetables, if you wish. Feel free to polish off your leftover vegetables. Soup is great for this.)

Optional: I'd add a cup of corn kernels to the soup whenever I had some for the texture. It plays nice with the rest of the ingredients.

Directions:

1) Brown the ham, onions, and celery (and if using, sliced chicken turkey, or beef frankfurters) in a skillet, not to cook, but for 5 - 6 minutes to bring out their flavor. After grilling, toss them into a stockpot.

2) Add the rest of the ingredients (except the spinach) to the stockpot. Season with Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and a tablespoon of cider vinegar (if you skip adding white wine). I like to add a dash of red pepper flakes for a hint of heat. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1/2 hour.

3) After the vegetables are tender, thicken the soup with 3 tablespoons of all-purpose flour mixed in 1/4 cup of water and pour into the soup while stirring. Let this simmer for another 5 minutes to cook the flour and thicken the soup. {If for any reason, you wish to thicken your soup without adding flour, you can put some of your cooked beans into a blender, then return them to your pot of soup.}

4) You can taste and add more seasoning as needed.

5) Turn off the heat and drop a handful the fresh spinach into the soup. Cover with a lid to sit for another 5 minutes. The spinach will cook in the hot soup. (Frankly, I like spinach better than kale, but feel free to use either. Kale requires more cooking time.)

Dip out into soup bowls, and pair it with hearty, crusty grainy bread and a smear of butter, brie, cream cheese, hummus, teawurst, or whatever you like. Alternatively, you could make buttery-garlic bread crumbs for the soup. The choice is between you and your waistline.

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