Edible and Non-Edible Ginger Bread Men.

Edible Ginger Bread Men:

1 c. brown sugar
1 1/3 c. shortening
1 1/2 c. dark molasses
2/3 c. cold water
*Mix all of the above
add:
7 c. flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. cinnamon

Non-Edible Ginger Bread Men
Mix, then cover and refrigerate for 2 hours. Roll out 1/4 inch, then cut out ginger bread men. Before you bake it, you will need to use a straw to make a hole at the top of the ginger bread men for the ribbon or hook to hook onto the tree. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Non-Edible Ginger Bread Men
1 c. Applesauce
1 1/2 c. Cinnamon
1 1/3 c. white glue

Mix, roll out onto a lightly cinnamon covered surface. Cut out and dry for a few days.

These recipes are from my sister, Daisy. I would make these for our fresh Christmas trees every year after we got married up until about 3 years ago. I didn't really know what I wanted as far as the type of Christmas ornaments (themes) go and I definately didn't want to have to store ornaments so this worked out perfect for us. I would wrap some torn gingam material around the neck for the scarf. and some raffia to hold it to the tree. We wrapped the tree in white lights and wrapped raffia all around the tree and added the ginger bread men. For the tree skirt I used a cute plaid blanket that we had. This kind of tree has a country feel to it. This is a very, very cheap way to create a beautiful christmas tree. And the only thing you'll need to store when you are all done are the white lights. Although, when we had a dog at the time she did like to eat the low hanging ones. Now that we have real ornaments, I don't really make these any more, but they still are fun.
*Great for newlyweds or very young familys or even college students.

Baby Wash Recipe (wipes)

4 cups of water, boiled
add 2 Tbsp. baby wash
add 2 Tbsp. baby oil

Use 2 tubes of "Pure and Gentle" baby wipes (remove the wipes in that). You can probably find these at wal-mart. Cut 1 tube of bounty roll in half with a bread knife, pull out brown core, place 1/2 roll into one tub. Pour 2 cups of mixture over the 1/2 roll and seal.
*Make sure the cut side of roll is on the bottom.
*You have to make sure that you get the "regular" size bounty roll and not the larger size, it won't fit in the tubs.
This recipe is from my sister-in-law CheyAnne. I did make these when the twins were in diapers to save on money and especially when I had 3 in diapers. It helped a lot and I really did like them. Once I was down to just 1 in diapers I switched to regular wipes. But they are really nice.

Buttermilk recipe (how to make it)

1 cup of milk
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

Mix and let sit for 5 minutes. Since I never really need to buy buttermilk.

Sweetened condensed milk

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups white sugar
4 cups dry milk

Bring water to a boil, add sugar and cook until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in softened margarine. Mix well. Add dry milk one cup at a time mixing well (it comes our creamier using an electric mixer). Store in covered container in refridgerator up to 4 weeks.