Today is the final installment in the Adventures in Bulk Foods series, and it’s a rather simple one.

Baking soda.

Baking soda is one of those essential household items and you can buy it for just $0.50/lb at WinCo. I spent $0.70 to fill this canning jar! (Which by the way, might be a great option for storing some of your bulk food finds, don’t you think?)

I checked the shelf price, and WinCo was selling packaged baking soda for $0.62/lb, and I found it at $0.76/lb recently at another area grocery store.

Baking soda has many uses beyond baking! Here are a few ways I’ve personally used baking soda, as well as ideas I found on the web.

1. If you have baby bottles or plastic cups that smell, add some baking soda and hot water and let sit. I swear it gets the stink out!

2. Clean your wooden cutting boards with baking soda and lemon juice. Let sit for 10-15 minutes to deodorize and kill the bacteria.

3. Leave an open box in your fridge to keep it smelling sweet. (Even between fridge cleans.)

4. Use it in place of shampoo! Yup, some swear by cleaning their hair with baking soda and water – that’s it!

5. Make a volcano with your kids.

6. Use it to freshen up your carpets. Sprinkle some on your carpets and vacuum up! (You might try a small section first.)

7. Keep the kitty litter box staying fresh. Add a thin layer to the bottom of the cat box and then add the litter.

8. Stay fresh as a daisy. One site I visited suggested you can use it as deodorant! Additionally, mix a little with warm water and use in the place of mouthwash.

It seems to me that buying baking soda in bulk is an eco-friendly way to purchase such a frugal, eco-friendly item! You might also be interested to see some uses I shared recently for vinegar.

What other uses can you think of for baking soda?

PS Thank you so much for joining me on this series! I have a follow-up post coming that will answer some of the questions you’ve asked since I launched it. Your kind comments and recipe helps have been very appreciated! And, in case you’re really sad to see this series end, I’ll have you know I have another series already in the works.

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I wanted to do something a little fun for today’s Adventures in Bulk Foods feature. I know I’ve showed a lot of ideas for using bulk foods items for cooking and baking, but I also want to show that you can turn to bulk foods for a great source for kids’ craft projects too!

So today I’m going to be using nothing more than flour, salt, and water to make an easy, fun, and frugal kid craft idea.

Bleached and unbleached flour sells for $0.38/lb at the moment and salt is just $0.17/lb. (Note that they sell several varieties of salt, too!)

For today’s recipe, you’ll mix 4 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water in a bowl. When it starts to pull away from the sides, take it out with your hands and begin to knead it.

You’ll want to work the dough for a few minutes, until it has a smooth consistency.

Turn your finished dough ball onto a lightly floured surface.

Roll out to about an 1/8″ thickness. Then, use your favorite cookie cutters to make the shapes. Several years ago, I purchased a huge box of 100 different shapes for about $10 at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It was a great purchase. We’ve used those cookie cutters for everything!

I chose pumpkins for today’s craft. My son insisted on the letter “I” and a trophy. Whatever floats your boat!

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

The other thing I did just prior to baking? I punched a hole in the top of each to turn them into ornaments. You could do this using a straw or skewer.

Once they are completely cool, you can let your kids decorate them. Whatever you do – just don’t let them eat these. They are pretty much inedible. (PS notice one way we reuse newspapers around here? Here’s another creative use for old newspapers.)

I decided to hang these pumpkins on my daughter’s chalkboard for a little fall decorating. What do you think? We paid pennies to do this!

If you’re looking for a fun, easy craft to do with your kids – give this one a try! And, head to the bulk foods section of your store for other ideas:

• Dried macaroni and pasta for pasta necklaces
• Dried beans for sensory crafts or boxes
• Birdseed for a bird feeder project

Join me tomorrow for the last feature in this series (try not to cry, it’ll be OK!)!

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Today’s Adventures in Bulk Foods post comes from Sarah and she’ll be talking about curry!

A word about Sarah, first. You have her to thank for the lion’s share of recipe finding and research for this series. She spent quite a few hours with me in the kitchen cooking up many of these features. Quite frankly, this series would not have been possible without her. So, thank you, Sarah!

Curry is a great spice that can be used in a variety of dishes including meats, fish, lentils, and rice. The great thing about Winco’s bulk bins is that you can get exactly how much you’d like, therefore eliminating outdated spices that may currently be on your spice rack.  This chicken curry dish came from a recipe magazine mailer from Parents magazine titled – Quick and easy recipes for families. I have actually made this dish a few times for my family and have received good results. I was especially surprised to see that my two and four-year olds tried it and ate a decent amount without major manipulation, begging, and dessert bartering.

Crispy Coconut Chicken

Ingredients:
2/3 cup crushed multigrain crackers (about 8 )
1/3 cup flaked coconut
1 jar (9oz) mango chutney (I have also substituted mango salsa)
3 Tbs. lime juice
1 tsp. curry powder
8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed (You can also cut cooking time in half by using chicken breast strips instead of legs, or with chicken breasts too. I chose to cut up some chicken breast pieces)
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 cup cooked brown rice

Preparation:
Heat oven to 375F. Place crackers in a large zip-top plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin. Add coconut to the bag and shake.

In a small bowl, stir together the chutney, lime juice, and curry powder.

Remove ¼ cup of chutney mixture and set aside. Dip the chicken, one piece at a time, in the remaining chutney mixture, then place chicken inside the bag. Shake to coat.

Bake drumsticks, chicken breasts, or chicken pieces on a foil-lined shallow baking pan for 40 minutes, or until they’re done. Cover chicken loosely with aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning.

In a bowl, toss peas with reserved chutney mixture. Microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, or until heated through. Combine peas and rice and serve with the chicken.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition per serving: 589 calories; 48g protein; 14g fat; 62g carbs; 5g fiber; 43mg calcium.

Here is a photo of the final product that our family enjoyed.

Here are the happy young eaters to prove that my efforts were actually eaten. But really and truly who doesn’t usually have food battles with their young ones? Enjoy and happy cooking!

Thank you, Sarah!

Join me Sunday and Monday for the last two features of the Adventures in Bulk Foods Series!

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As I was perusing the bulk foods section for items I wanted to feature, I happened upon a very strange item. Or should I say, strange-to-me item. I knew from the moment I saw it, I needed to figure out 1) what it was and 2) how to work it into this series. (It was much like the moment I discovered durian in an Asian market.)

Today’s feature? Piloncillo.

These are sold individually wrapped in bulk at WinCo Foods for $0.82 each. If you don’t have bulk? Try the section of your store that sells Mexican ingredients. You might find it there as well.

And would you believe the last time I was in my store they were SOLD OUT? Turns out someone knew something I didn’t!

So what is this, exactly? Piloncillo is a sugar cane in it’s rawest, most pure form. It contains no additives and has a rather rich flavor. The thing is also as hard as a rock. You know how brown sugar can harden if it is left to sit? Imagine if it sat and sat and sat and you have piloncillo.

Which leads me to the part you’re probably wondering now: how exactly do you cook with it? I read this most helpful article that suggested heating it in the microwave for a few seconds before cutting it with a sharp, serated knife. I did this and it seemed to work quite well.

So I struggled finding many recipes for piloncillo, to be honest. I did find a few for hot drinks, so I decided to try this one for Mexican Atole, which sounded like a yummy, sweet hot beverage traditionally served in Mexico.

You start by blending 5 tablespoons piloncillo, 1/2 corn flour, 5 cups of water, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a blender. Now I didn’t have corn flour, but I read you could take corn meal (which I did have – also purchased in bulk) and grind it down to flour. I attempted this with my coffee grinder. It kind of worked. In reading through the reviews, some suggested atole should be made with corn starch and milk. (Can any of my Hispanic readers chime in here?)

From here, you’re going to heat the mixture in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and add vanilla. I also decided to add a couple tablespoons of cocoa powder. Just cuz.

Now if you’re wondering how to enjoy this drink…might I recommend with your Sunday paper, in front of a roaring fire, and a leopard-print blanket? (I mean, is there really any other way?)

Unfortunately, neither my husband or I enjoyed this. And it’s entirely possible I botched the recipe. It tasted lumpy, so perhaps my corn meal turned corn flour was a bad idea. If you know how to make traditional Mexican atole, I would love you to chime in and leave a comment. Should I have used the corn starch as some of the reviewers suggested? I would love to try it again as piloncillo was just such a fun ingredient!

If you have other ideas how to use this item, I’d love to know that, too.

Join me tomorrow for another adventure!

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Today’s Adventures in Bulk Foods is caramels! And these are part of the $0.98/lb candy sale through 10/31 at WinCo Foods, too!

The other treat about today’s post? It’s a guest post from my pal Jaime at Denim Debutante! (You might recall her from joining me in this recent webcast.) Check out how she used bulk caramel to make a popular sweet snack….

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I have a serious weakness… for caramel. So, fall is perfect for me when it comes to sweets.

The problem? Oh, just the hefty price tag that gets placed on caramel. That goes double for caramel corn. The really, REALLY good caramel corn is ridiculously priced – I’ve actually paid $3.99 for a bag that didn’t last beyond a day.

So, while being inspired by Angela’s bulk cooking series (particularly the brownies that she made with Sarah!), I decided that I would step up – with the help of my handsome boyfriend, Cameron – and make my own!

A quick note for those of you who are health-conscious: this is NOT your friend for two reasons; first, we use a recipe from the Grande Dame of butter herself, Paula Deen. Second, it’s practically crack. That’s how addictive it is. Some food for thought (all puns intended).

Homemade Caramel Corn

(adapted from Paula Deen’s recipe):

Ingredients

1 cup butter ($1.50, depending on region)
2 cups packed brown sugar (approx. $.50)
1 teaspoon salt ($.01?)
1/2 cup light corn syrup (about $.30 worth)
1 teaspoon baking soda (… oops.)
about ¾ cup unpopped Popping Corn (approx $.50)

Stir the first four in a pot and let it boil. PD says only five minutes, and I probably would agree… but we didn’t pop enough popcorn to start and had to bring the air popper back out again (another smart shopping purchase. Seriously – if you buy microwaveable popcorn, you’re missing out), so it got a bit extra. Mix the popcorn in batches using a spatula and lay it all in a pan.

Then, bake the pan at 200°F for about an hour, stirring it every 15 minutes. After taking it out of the oven, either lay it on wax paper to cool or – if you blanked out on buying the wax paper – spread it out so you don’t end up with one big caramel corn sheet.

Also, we forgot to add baking soda. That’s what we do. Supposedly it offers a huge improvement, but as I live in Denver where it’s super crazy dry, we kind of… flaked.

But it came out AMAZING. This is about half of the total volume that we made, with an overall cost less than $3.00 – cheaper than that tiny bag we bought!

Here are a few key tips that you should consider when taking this on:

1. Have multiple (read: two or more) large bowls to mix the caramel corn together. Don’t try to do it all in one bowl, or all at once.
2. Sugar? It burns. A LOT. Be careful.
3. If you don’t have wax paper, cookie sheets work.
4. Doubling this recipe would probably be smart. I’ve never seen Cameron eat something so voraciously.

For about 10-15 minutes of work, this has been one heck of a reward. You could easily make it with kids (as long as you can keep them from sticking their hands in the molten sugary goodness!) and probably even make popcorn balls out of it.

Check out Angela’s other bulk cooking recipes and enjoy a winter full of scrumptious goodies!

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Thanks, Jaime! I also wanted to add two additional ideas for using bulk caramels:

How about Caramel Apple Cider? You can melt down the caramels and use as sauce! (Here’s one recipe.)

Or…

Caramel Apples? This particular recipe I found at AllRecipes looked super easy.

Any other ideas for caramels?

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