Monday Q&A | What is "doubled in size"? Plus, clothing for older kids.
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!
I have a baking question: How do you know when something is "doubled"? I don't have one of those super nice buckets that a lot of bakers use so I'm having a hard time knowing when things look doubled. Especially once I've rolled it out and put it on (or in) the pan and have waited the length of time, I can't tell if it's doubled or not. Any advice or suggestions on how you tell?
This is a very not-exact science, if it makes you feel better! I don't think my loaves and rolls are precisely doubled in size when I put them into the oven...I just kind of eyeball it, honestly.
I think that as with many other aspects of yeast baking, practice makes perfect. If you make some rolls and discover the end product wasn't quite as risen as you'd prefer, you'll know that you should let them get a little puffier next time. And if you let some loaves rise until they're very puffy and they spill over the top of the pans while they bake, you'll know you shouldn't let bread dough get that high in your pan.
Just keep at it...as you gain more baking experience, you'll have a better idea of what works and what doesn't, and you'll be better able to spot a perfectly risen loaf of bread.
______________________________________________
How do you save on your children's clothing? Hand-me-downs worked great for a while but daughter is developing some curves :O) and is harder to fit now. Unfortunately I never learned to sew. How do you do it with 4?
-Tracy
First, let me assure you that sewing your own clothes is often not a money-saving proposition. By the time you buy fabric and notions, it's easy to spend just as much as you would in a store, so don't fret about that, ok? There are plenty of ways to save on clothes without sewing them yourself. I don't think I have sewn a single item of clothing for my children, even though I do know how to sew!
My oldest kiddo is 10.5, so I haven't had any personal experience with clothing a teenager. However, I do manage to clothe myself pretty cheaply, and the strategies that work for me will probably work for your daughter as well. Here are my best suggestions:
- Buy second hand clothes. You can see a few of my Goodwill finds in previous posts...my Charlotte Russe dress, my polka-dotted dress, my $.75 Old Navy skirt, my Mossimo jeans and t-shirt, and you can also see a Mossimo skirt and camisole in the picture on my About Me page. Buying second hand clothes does take patience (often I stop at Goodwill and find nothing), but there's some good stuff to be had, especially in the juniors section, which is probably where your daughter's sizes will be anyways.
- Shop clearances. Doing this does usually mean shopping a bit off-season, but since stores offer the next season's clothing ridiculously early, it's not as off-season as you might expect. For instance, you can usually get great deals on winter clothing in January and February, and summer clothes are deeply discounted in August. I've found my best clothing clearance deals at Target, Kohl's, and Old Navy, though those are certainly not your only options.
- Keep an eye out on Freecycle. Though I'm not really in the market for teenage girl clothes, I've noticed several offers for bags full of junior size girl clothes.
- Watch for sales. This won't save you as much as the tips above, but if you have to buy something in a retail store, looking for sales when you shop will help to stretch your dollars.
- Give your daughter a budget. I currently bear the responsibility for buying clothes for my kids, but as they get older, my husband and I intend to give them a monthly clothing budget to spend as they wish. Hopefully this will inspire them to shop clearances, sales, and thrift stores so that they can get more for their money. If your daughter is resistant to these shopping techniques, giving her a personal clothing budget just might help to motivate her (as long as you don't bail her out if she makes a unwise choice like spending all the money on a single pair of shoes).
- Don't buy too many clothes. I'd offer up that we often think we need more clothes than we really do. All six of us here at Chez Frugal Girl get by with smaller wardrobes than the average American (except for maybe Sonia, whose drawer is bursting with hand-me-downs!), and we are all surviving and thriving. And people in generations past managed with a very minimal wardrobe. So, don't feel as though you must buy your child tons of dress clothes, school clothes, and play clothes. If you could put off laundry for two weeks before your children start running out of clothes, you might have too many. 😉
As I said at the outset, I'm not speaking from personal experience here, so if any of you readers who do have teenagers would like to chime in, feel free!
I don't know if they have one in Tracy's area, but there are stores called Plato's Closet (I think I have that name right?) which carry gently used clothes in teen sizes/styles. I believe they are run by the same company as Once Upon A Child. Probably not as inexpensive as thrift stores but worth a try if you have one in your area.
I just checked and it is Plato's Closet and you can put your zip code in to see if there is a store near you.
I know that when I reached a certain age (maybe 14 or 15) my parents bought certain base clothes for my wardrobe and I used babysitting money to fill in the rest. Like the $50 pair of jeans I was just sure I had to have and then bought and realized they would never fit me right! Lesson learned!
Your Wednesday baking posts have inspired me to try to bake more. While my loaves of braided bread and french bread have tasted good, they certainly didn't maintain their shapes well. Is there something besides the rising that went wrong?
If you have a Marshells, Rosses, or Rugged Warehouse, those can also be great places to shop. But mainly I bought all my clothing on sale or clearence when I was in my teens. It is pretty easy to find cheap clothing if you keep your eyes out and check back several times a month. Sometimes you find nothing, but other times you might find a lot. Outlets are also good, but they also can be hit and miss. I have a ton of GAP and Banana Republic clothing from their outlets that I bought for super cheap just because I visited the outlets so much during college (it was right on the main road on my two hour drive home from college and I used it as a bathroom/leg stretching break).
So outlets, discount stores, and sales at regular stores. I would see something I liked that was full price or even dicounted (but not enough to make it worth my while) and I would just tell myself to wait and I might check back a few more times to see if it was within the amount I knew I would pay for it. If they still had my size when it when on super sale, I would buy it. Otherwise, I figured that I really didn't need it.
Oh, and hand making clothes can be done cheaply for smaller children, but once they get too big it is much easier to just buy clothes on sale. I don't make any of my clothing (besides pajama bottoms), but I make lots of things for my nieces and nephews (5, 3, and 1.5 years old).
I have 2 teenage daughters (16 and 13). Plato's Closet is wonderful! Definitely worth checking out. We don't always find something but it is well worth the stop when we do.
We purchase the basics for our daughters but anything extra is on them - both have part-time jobs and both do baby-sitting. For back-to-school shopping I give them each cash and tell them that's it. I'm always surprised just how far those girls can make their budget str-e-e-e-tch. And I know this has provided them with life lessons when it comes to purchasing those 'extra' items -- they always shop clearance racks first. They've also discovered that they can wear the same sizes in tops and athletic style bottoms which means they've learned to work together as far as buying styles, colors, etc. so they can both wear them.
An old method of checking whether bread has risen enough is to give it a poke. If it stays indented, it's ready to bake. If it springs back, let is rise longer.
This also works when the cat gets too nosey and gives it a poke as well!
Thanks for answering my question, Kristen! I thought it was probably trial-and-error, but wanted to make sure there wasn't something I was missing!
In regards to buying clothes for teens: I know my mom had a really hard time finding clothes for me when I was 11-14 because I was growing so fast. One thing she did was buy pants that were too long, had a friend hem it without cutting anything off, and let the hem down as I grew taller. I complained a lot about the hems being so big, but other than that it, there weren't any problems. Shopping Plato's Closet is great (I still shop there!) especially for jeans and especially if your daughter isn't picky about brands. I get most of my jeans from there and some of my favorite pairs are brands I've never heard of! Shirts and jackets are harder, so shop the clearances and places like Ross, TJ Maxx, and Marshalls.
One last suggestion: When I was in high school, I used to give my friends clothes that no longer fit me. People started giving me stuff as well and most of the stuff was in really good shape. Maybe your daughter could do something similar with her friends.
When my mom and I used to make challah bread, this would come up. My mom's solution was just to put it in a specific bowl. The amount of dough (we always made 3 loaves' worth because fresh bread disappears so quickly) was perfect so that we'd know it "doubled" when it was close to the top of the bowl. You might want to consider trying different bowls to help you eyeball it.
In addition to the touch test, you can measure the actual volume.
You can put your dough into a container that has volume markings. Or put it in a straight-sided container (including loaf pan) and let it get twice as tall. Or add volume markings to a container by adding 1 qt of water, mark the level, then add another quart, mark that level, repeat till container is full.
If your dough rises too much and collapses, all is not lost. You can rescue most breads by letting it rise again, preferably in a cool place so it rises slowly and you don't stress out the poor overworked yeasties beasties.
This is a good point. I saw a bucket at the King Arthur Flour factory store in Vermont. I almost bought it before I realized I could have bought the same thing without the markings for half the price and marked it with a Sharpie.
Old Navys semi annual half off clearance sale is the best! I have bought most of my wardrobe there very in expesively as well as my daughters. They just had the sale a couple of weeks ago and the most expesive shirt I bought was 3 dollars!
A couple of things on clothes:
1) My kids have at least a week's worth of clothing, because we save money by doing laundry only once a week. We wash only 5 very full loads of separated laundry (whites, dark cottonknits, light cottonknits, heavy things (jeans and towels), and permanent press (sheets, placemats and napkins)). Some people do multiple loads every day, but that's too time consuming and costly here in California ,where water is precious. We also encourage them to wear things that are not dirty or sweaty at least twice--easier as they get older and are less "messy". Of course, this does NOT mean underwear!
2) Hand me downs are great. My teenager is much smaller than her friends, so she often gets their handmedowns, as well as their younger sibling's handmedowns. Then they go on to my younger daughter.
3) Target has good sales and inexpensive seasonal clothes--sometimes separates are as little as $5 per piece. Check their clearance racks!
4) As your teen starts going to parties and dances, check (real) designer outlets in big cities (not outlet mall type stores). There is a Jessica McClintok outlet in San Francisco, and you can get lovely formal wear for $15 to $20!!!
I have a friend with older kids, her 18 year old twin girls have NEVER purchased new clothing, except for undies and socks. Her girls are top fashion, gorgeous! It can be done. When I shop at goodwill for myself I always see cute items that are way too small for me, but would be perfect for teens, many still in the current fashions. And retro and throwback clothes, even if they are originals (from the 60 and 70's) and not copies, are great too.
I love the idea of giving kids the clothing budget and teaching them to manage their resources. So far we haven't done this but I am considering it. What we do with our boys, ages 10, 12 and 13 is have base amounts for things and they choose and if what they want is more than I have to spend they pay the difference, they learn very quickly that the $20 hoodie is as good as the $100 one.
I agree that we have too many clothes, my youngest must have 40 shirts and he probably only wears 10 of them! I do a purge of their closets/drawers twice a year and pass on what doesn't fit or they no longer wear. I only have boys so I imagine it is tougher with a fashion conscious teenage girl, but a clothing swap with her friends would be a great idea to expand a wardrobe. Our local youth centre hosts those a couple of times a year.
I too have been inspired by Kristen to bake more, the family is loving it and even when they turn out less than perfect it still seems to all disappear! Buying a new pan - shiny no nonstick, made the biggest difference. Thanks Kristen!
Thanks for all your great suggestions on clothing! I am thrilled to hear about Plato's closet, as luck would have it, there is one near my office - I know where I'll be spending lunch breaks now! I also love the suggestion regarding giving her a budget. That keeps me from having to say "no" quite so often and let her figure it out on her own - a valuable life lesson. You all inspire me to continue on my "frugal" path!
I have 2 yeast related questions:
1. Can you ever leave yeast dough too long to raise? If so, how long is too long?
2. I've occasionally baked with yeast dough and then done all the tests to see that it's cooked (knock on it and it sounds hollow, nice golden colour) but then the middle is still uncooked. And from experience, it doesn't get cooked if you just stick it back in the oven. 🙂 Any other suggestions as to what you can do either to cook the uncooked doughy bit inside, or do you just need to throw it out?
I've put my loaves back in with success - maybe you're leaving it out of the oven too long? Another possibility is to cut the loaf in half so the wet bit is exposed.
If tapping isn't working for you, try a thermometer. Either a leave-in such as Polder (which you can set to ding at a temperature) or an instant read (remove loaf, take temp). Most breads are done at 200F.
I use an instant read thermometer to see if my bread is done enough. I use 185 to 190 degrees. In other words, adjust the temperature for how you like it. Mine tends to still be moist but not gooey.
Sorry - to answer your original question - if it's not cooked enough, toast it. Even cold toast (like to take for lunch) is pretty edible.
I really love your blog.. don't comment all that much, but enjoy finding it in my email every morning! 🙂
I have a ? for you... I would love it if you would do a post with a "wardrobe" basics. I really need to pare down on my kids clothes and would love to know what "basics" you think are 'enough'. 🙂 Like how many sweaters, jeans, tshirts, etc..
Thanks!
Another trick for checking rising time is to take a small ball of dough and put it in a glass of water. When the dough floats to the top, it's risen enough. This has worked well for me for measuring both risings of white bread, but I haven't tried it on other yeast doughs. (Thanks for the Wycliffe cookbook for this tip.)
Franci,
A few thoughts about yoru doughy bread dilemma. I had the same issues when I first started baking bread. First, get an oven thermometer and make sure your oven is heating to the temperature you have it set to. Also, I learned from experinece (and some advice from my mom) that aluminum foil helps too. Bake your bread until it browns then cover it with the foil. Make sure the foil is shiny side down because the shiny side actually deflects the heat but the matte side absorbs. The foil keeps the bread from burning or overbrowning while baking the inside of the bread. Another thing I learned about my under baked bread is that I wasn't letting it rise enough and putting too much dough into my pans which makes it too dense to bake through in the allotted time. Hope this helps.
A comment on clothing for the size 4 daughter:
I am a petite adult, almost 5'3" and have been a size four for decades, so, here are my shopping tips.
I rarely buy "new" clothing.
A Goodwill or similar thrift store in an upscale neighborhood is a goldmine! I buy blouses, tee shirts, sweaters, skirts, jackets, really every thing but pants and jeans there. (For some reason, I don't enjoy scouring the jeans section for the right item.)
eBay is another fabulous source! Measure your daughter and start looking! I have bought numerous items from eBay and have never had to send an item back because it did not fit. If the seller does not provide a measurement you are needing (like width across the back, shoulder to shoulder) ask. They want to sell and will answer.
Here's how I solved my jeans dilemna as a curvy size 4: I made an unheard of "new" clothes shopping trip specifically for jeans. I bought several pairs, in three different brands, that fit well. Took them home, washed and wore for a couple of months, and was still happy with the fit, so I started eBaying and found more of each brand for $10 or less each. I finally found brands that fit at a western wear store, of all places. I bought low rise jeans in Levi's and a brand I love called "Cruel Girl." I also bought a couple of pairs of Wrangler "auras" for dressier jeans. They are cut for women, with a waistline that will hit just below the natural waist. Oh, FYI I buy junior size 3 in the Levi's and Cruel Girl, and 2 in the Wrangler aura.
I hope this helps!
Since my teens have grown up with Goodwill and hand me downs, they aren't resistant to getting used. (Some of my friends' teens are more picky.) One problem my son has run into, though, is that we can't always find used (jeans in particular) in his size. I will set a price that I'm willing to pay for new ($5 for a t-shirt, for instance, because that's their price at our thrift stores), and I'll specify how many I'm willing to buy. We've found that Old Navy sales are really good, and their clearance rack can also be good. If you go to OldNavy.com, you can sometimes score coupons, and often when you shop they give you an online survey that will get you a coupon for your next visit.
Clothing
Last year, I was introduced to "The Pound Sale" at the Goodwill. All the clothing are in bins and ya have to sort through the bins. (Hand sanitizer recommended). When you are all done and ready to check out, your items are weighed. (The more you buy, the less they charge you per pound). I bought 12# of clothes for about $20. My teenage daughter felt like she hit the best bargain sale because of all the name brand clothing and all the tank tops she found for layering.
Bread
(someone gave me this tip)
On a nice day(but not a hot day)...........put your bowl of bread dough outside in your car to rise. Because of the mild winter here in Washington State this year, I was able to do that several times last month.
As the first commenter said Plato's Closest is a great place to shop... It's a little more than thrift stores but all the stuff is good... well mostly, and they do men's, women's kids, whatever.... Also if you have some good gently used clothese to get rid of they may buy them, although they can be picky.
Great post.
I have a teenaged daughter. Aside from bras, needed shoes and warm outerwear, bought with me at sale prices only, we go through her clothes together and decide what she needs-not wants. I then check out sale prices and give her an ammount based on sale prices. I then let her shop with the reminder about what she needs. We have always shopped at tag sales, Goodwill and consignment shops so she knows where to go and where her money will get her the most stuff. She shops alone or with friends and she buys what she wants with that money. The hard part is to let her make her own decisions and mistakes. If she blows her money on skirts instead of warm clothes then she has to live with the consequences. The really hard part for me is not to give in and let her have any more $. When kids get desperate, they can get very creative and it is all a learning process.
We also survive without a lot of clothes---my husband actually has more clothes than I do, since he has work clothes and weekend clothes, and I only have "homeschool mom" clothes, and a few skirts etc. left from my previous life in the working world. The house we're renting now has an enormous walk-in closet in the master, and it's only 1/4 full. A friend of my son saw it the other day and was astonished at how empty it is. (It's mostly used as storage for boxes we're not unpacking since we'll only be living here a year or so.) Apparently, her mom's similar closet is filled to the brim and then some!
I am trying to pare down our wardrobes and be interested to know
What you include in your and the kids.