Taco Pasta

Taco Pasta

1 pound ground beef
8-12 ounces medium pasta shells or other small dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, drained (if making this for kids you might want to use just plain diced tomatoes)
1 packet (4 tablespoons) taco seasoning
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
Salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta water. Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground meat over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the meat is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the meat is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit if it is still too thin.

Toss in the cilantro right before serving for some fresh color and flavor.

Laundry Soap....adapted from Michelle Duggar

4 Cups - hot tap water
1 Fels-Naptha soap bar
1 Cup - Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda*
½ Cup Borax

- Grate bar of soap and add to saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover and let sit overnight to thicken.

-Stir and fill a used, clean, laundry soap dispenser half full with soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use. (will gel)

-Yield: Liquid soap recipe makes 10 gallons.

-Top Load Machine- 5/8 Cup per load (Approx. 180 loads)

-Front Load Machines- ¼ Cup per load (Approx. 640 loads)

Oh so YUMMY GUMMIES!!!!!!!

Yummy Gummies!

Tools and Ingredients

3 oz box of Jello or store brand
4 envelopes unflavoured gelatin
small nonstick pot
silicone spatula (heat safe)
baster
glass tall and heavy enough to support the baster
silicone ice trays (make sure they are rated as being safe for mild heat)
Before you start anything else, fill the glass about 2/3 full of water and microwave it until boiling. Carefully remove it from the microwave and put it to the side of your work area. Put the baster in it. You will keep your baster in this hot water at all times other than when moving gummy around; otherwise the gummy will set up in the tip and clog it.

Combine the unflavoured gelatin and the Jello powder in the pot

Stir the two powders together thoroughly. There's something in the Jello that helps keep the unflavoured stuff from lumping up, so it's really worth combining them.

Add 1/2 cup COLD water and stir until thoroughly combined. Then let the mixture sit for at least two minutes. This will hydrate the gelatin and make for a smoother result later.

You will know it's well-hydrated when it starts to thicken and you can see little to no remaining liquid when you stir.

Optional step: you will always get some foam at the top of the mixture, which is completely edible but is much too chewy and doesn't have a great mouth-feel. If you're concerned about it, you can gently scrape it off of the surface and into a separate bowl.

Even if you do remove some foam, you won't be able to get it all off. The trick to getting the nice, clear gummy underneath is to hold your baster above the pot, squeeze the bulb firmly and hold it, tip the pot so the gummy goes to one side (the smaller your pot, the deeper your pool), put the tip of the baster all the way down to the bottom, then gently release pressure on the bulb to draw up the clear goo. Then increase a little pressure on as you lift it out so you don't suck up any foam as you go.

Working swiftly but carefully, gently squeeze the bulb again to deposit the gummy into your mold. You can opt to fill molds entirely or partially, depending on your intended result.

To get a clean back/top, avoid emptying the baster entirely as the last squirt will make bubbles.

Return your baster to the hot water glass for a moment and pull up hot water if necessary to clean out the tip, then repeat until all of the clear gummy is used up.


Let the mold sit at room temperature for a few minutes until it has set up enough to move. The exact time will depend on the ambient temperature and the depth of the mold, but a few minutes is generally fine, which is enough time to go to your fridge or freezer and prepare a level space for your mold. Once it's stable, transfer it to the fridge or freezer for several minutes, however long is required for it to set up entirely. Thick items in the fridge might take as much as ten or fifteen minutes, whereas thin items in the freezer may take as little as one minute.