Monday Q&A | Stovetops, Haircuts, and Saving Potatoes and Onions

Every Monday, I answer a few of the questions that my readers send me. If you have a question you’d like me to answer in a future Q&A post, just leave me a comment here or email me (thefrugalgirl [at] gmail [dot] com) and put Q&A in the subject line. I look forward to hearing from you!

First up, someone recently asked if I’ve ever been recognized in public, but I can’t remember who asked…my apologies.

The answer is basically no. I mean, I’ve met a few people who first knew about me through my blog, but there’s usually a real-life connection there somewhere (they’re friends with a cousin, or friends with a friend of mine). So, no official strangers have ever said hi to me.

Every now and then, though, when I’m shopping at Aldi, I feel like someone is looking at me and my children awfully hard and I wonder if they know who I am but just aren’t saying hi. Actually, Amy from Duck and Goose told me after the fact that she saw me at Aldi but was too shy to say hi.

And I told her not to be so silly and to please say hi next time. 😉 I’m really, really not scary in real life, I promise!

Which type of stove do you prefer & why?
How do you keep clean your glass cooktop clean?

GRACIAS!!!

-Kristhia

So far in my life, I’ve used 3 coil stovestops and 2 glass top stoves. The only coil stove I liked was the one at my parents’ house, and that’s because it was in good shape. The other two coil stovetops I’ve used haven’t been in great shape..the coils never quite sat flat, so my pans never sat flat and that made them cook unevenly. It was very frustrating.

One thing I do like about glass cooktops is that it’s a lot simpler to clean up spills…there’s nowhere for liquids to go when they boil over and I never have to scrub drip bowls.

Really, though, I don’t have a super strong preference between coil burners and glass cooktops as long as they’re both in good shape.

To clean my stove, I wipe it down with a warm washcloth. To clean up greasy messes, I use a spray like Fantastik, and for stubborn burnt-on messes, I use a gentle abrasive cleaner made specially for glass cooktops (I bought mine at Home Depot).

Today is the first day I have been on your site! It is fabulous, I am really enjoying it. I noticed a picture of you sweeping up hair after you gave one of your children a haircut. Well here is my question, I am trying to do the same with my 4 year old, but I am not very good at it. Do you have a method that you use, or do you have any tips for me? I can no longer afford to go to barbers, let alone cut my own hair. People tell me to just shave his head, but I disagree. Please let me know if you have any ideas.

– Katy

I highly recommend buying a hair clipper because it makes boys’ haircuts sooo much easier! I own one similar to this Wahl Haircut Kit. It comes with quite a few guards which allow you to control how long or short you cut the hair.

If you want to keep things really, really simple, you can just run the clippers all over his head to make all the hair an even length.

Joshua’s not a fan of that look, so I use the clippers around the back and sides of his head and cut the top with scissors (the kit I recommended comes with scissors). I also use a scissors to trim around his ears.

The scissors method I use is very similar to this one described on Heavenly Homemakers.

Probably the last bit of advice I have for you is to just keep on practicing. You’ll learn from your mistakes and each haircut will probably get better.

Oh, and if you have a wiggly kid, lay a tablecloth down and cut his hair in front of the TV. Or give him a special snack. 😉

My question for you relates to the almost going bad food. I have a VERY hard time keeping my onions and potatoes from going bad. I buy them by the bag to save cost and use them, I think, often but they always seem to go bad by the end of the bag. Do you have any tips on extending the life of these foods?

Thanks!

Rose

Onions and potatoes keep well in a dry, dark place, so make sure you’re not keeping them near light or moisture.

Also, if you notice that your onions and potatoes are getting close to going bad, you can either make a point of using them right away (Mashed potatoes? Baked Potato Soup? Onion rings?) or preserve them for future use.

To preserve onions, I often chop them up and freeze them in a plastic bag (some people recommend sauteing before freezing, but I never bother with that).

If I have extra potatoes, I sometimes boil them, mash them, and freeze them to use in Potato Bread at a future date. Or if I’ve got extra Russets, I boil them, shred them, and freeze them in appropriate portions for Deep Dish Pizza.

I will readily admit that I’m not the world’s expert on potatoes, though, so I’m sure that my readers will have some great ideas for preserving extra potatoes in the freezer.

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Ok, potato experts! Help Rose out. If you’ve got onion tips, share those too. And of course, feel free to weigh in on any of the other questions too.

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Today’s 365 post: Behind the Scenes

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