Wednesday, October 10, 2007

WFMW: Another Momma Shortcut! LOL

I haven't done WFMW recently - partially because of lack of time but also due to a feeling of lack of creativity! LOL But, necessity is the mother of invention!

Was prepping for a lesson for Flicka which included dyeing pasta green, red, yellow, and orange to make a lovely fall noodle-n-glue tree. LOL As I went to gather the alcohol and food coloring, I realized...crud, I'm out of food coloring.I went to buy some more and found the standard small box of four bottles priced at over $3 at my local grocery store! So, I tried Dollar General. No luck. Hmmm...so as I stood there in the "cooking/ingredients" section, I was trying to think of an inexpensive solution and/or alternative.

And, it was staring me int he face...literally! LOL

If I have sooooo much trouble battling Koolaid powder and Jello-type powder stains on my counter tops, wouldn't they have enough "umph" to color pasta?

So, with 3 boxes for $1 of lime, cherry, and orange gelatin mix, I headed home.

I filled 6 muffin tins about 2/3 full of alcohol and about 1 T of gelatin powder. The powder doesn't dissolve but the dye is released. I soaked the pasta through dinner prep and consumption and after I was done with the dishes, I scooped out the noodles and laid them on a cookie sheet to dry...

Colored pasta at 1/3 the cost? That works for me!

Stop by Shannon's today to see what other cool ideas everyone's come up with.

5 comments:

jen said...

Awesome - thanks for the tip!

Pam said...

Cool idea! I need to remember that for Sunday school projects.

Marilee said...

Very creative idea! I've also heard that "back in the day" people used vegtables for food color. If you boil broccoli or spinach - you get green. Beets makes a nice red, etc... I've never tried it, but my Mom says it works really well.

Can't wait to see the completed tree!

Ang said...

the colors are so much prettier too :)

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