￠Mothercents Mondays￠ Dried Garlic or Hot Pepper Keep Bugs out of Rice

Image credit:  Ume-y

In late March, the Japanese cherry blossoms reach their peak of beauty. They elicit memories of my two and a half eye-opening years in Japan.

I met wonderful people who taught me far more about life than the English I taught them.  Intelligent, determined women filled my classes and passed along bits of motherwit to me.

Roots of Motherwit

The Japanese Goddess, Amaterasu
Image Credit:  Wikimedia

Japanese motherwit may extend all the way back to its mother deity. Their native religion, Shinto, teaches that Japanese emperors and nobility all descend from their sun goddess, Amaterasu.  Her light blesses earth with life and prosperity to the all the earth, especially Japan.

Japanese history also praises motherwit.  Kazutoyo Yamanouchi,  a sixteenth-century samurai, bemoaned lacking the money to buy a fine warhorse. His wife, Chiyo, amazed him by handing him the very sum he needed. He bought the horse and won the battle.  Japanese women cite this story as proof of their budgeting skills.

So how do Japanese save money?  They take care of everything, starting with the staple of rice.  When homemakers open a fresh bag of rice, they add either a garlic clove or a dried hot pepper.  Either one repels larva and bugs.  Preserving the main source of food prevents the unsavory discovery of buggy rice, and in so doing, unnecessary waste.


Common Questions

Aren't airtight containers enough to prevent infestation? I used to rely solely on Rubbermaid. However, the humid Japanese climate fostered more bug than I care to remember, some of which finagled their way into my rice.  My students came to my aid with this tip, and I haven't had problems ever since.

Image Credit: Ruocaled

Will the garlic or hot pepper affect the rice's flavor? Garlic and hot peppers need water to release their flavor into dry foods. Check the garlic clove for freshness.  Cut open a clove to check for moisture and smell.  If the clove has both, the whole bulb is viable.

Do not insert the opened clove in rice.  Instead, add an unopened clove from the same bulb.  The moisture within keeps the smell on bugs' radar, but will not flavor the rice.

How About You?

Everyone has wisdom to share, either learned from another or something you've discovered yourself.  Please share your ideas about money management or taking care of things. Write them in in the comments below so that we can all share these tips.  Motherwit is always evolving and expanding.  Your discoveries are an important contribution to its survival.

¢ Mothercents ¢ Defrost Food in the Refrigerator to Save Energy

Find out how to get your money's worth
from frozen foods.
Image Credit: Stephen Depolo 

As news sources report the bleakest outlook on climate change, I'm determined to save energy as well as money.  Despite my good intentions, I often miss the mark.

Just this Saturday, I could have kicked myself.  I knew that I would need to thaw frozen tempeh to make my vegan sausage balls.  


I had planned a batch-cooking extravaganza for a week, yet I neglected to defrost the main ingredient in the money-and energy-saving, motherwit way. 

Fortunately, I could simply steam it without fear of dangerous microorganisms multiplying. The missed opportunity inspired me to include this tip in this Monday's ¢Mothercents¢. 

Most cooks prefer one defrosting method over another.  Depending on a food's size or volume, foods can safely thaw in the refrigerator, cold water, the microwave or the cooking process. For more details, see the USDA Defrosting Guidelines.

However, to save both money and energy, defrosting in the refrigerator is the way to go.  To understand why, consider how a refrigerator works.  Consider how it can work to your advantage.  

Refrigerator Basics 

For simplicity's sake, I will explain how the compressor works together with the thermostat to keep food cold. For more complete information, feel free to check out how a refrigerator works. 

Work with your refrigerator to save money and energy
Image Credit: Osseous

The compressor pumps coolant throughout the refrigerator to maintain even coolness. However, the compressor needs the thermostat to signal when the temperature creeps too high.  When the thermostat has nothing to report, the compressor takes a break.  

Defrosting in the fridge introduces a new source of coldness.  As long as the thermostat senses the temperature below the limit, it doesn't send a request to the compressor.  Effectively, owners can recoup the money spent on energy for the freezer by utilizing it in the refrigerator.

Open Forum on Money-Saving Tips 
This blog will continue sharing ways to stretch money, but I am by no means the only source. What motherwit tips do you have to share?  Feel free to write in comments or questions in the comments.  Sharing motherwit enriches us all and builds community, so join in the conversation!

¢ Mothercents Monday ¢ - Freeze flour for an extra year of freshness.

My lifelong friend Angela has magic that whips up meals from odds and ends - or makes baking mix last up to a year longer.

Her magic came in handy when she worked as a head chef at a shelter.  She cooked for over one hundred people a day. Stretch her resources to keep serving healthy meals came with the territory.

One day, a fairy-godmother donor dropped off a superfluity of boxed baking mixes.  Angela knew that they wouldn't all keep in the pantry, so she moved them all to the walk-in freezer.  After a 24-hour debugging freeze, she could take out a couple at a time to use.

Image Credit: CCO Public Domain

Likewise, our freezers can extend the life of our flour and/or baking mixes.  Cooks who use up flour long before expiration can skip this step. Sporadic bakers like myself can benefit.

This flour storage guide provides details on freshness for various types of flour. They advise freezing in plastic bags, especially for open sacks of flour.

Unopened packages may not need this precaution, although it may keep ice and moisture at bay.

￠ Mothercents Mondays ￠

Image Credit: Stevepb

Our reader Serena commented that listening to motherwit can carry traditions and heritage into the present. Investigating motherwit can also invest in ourselves and our futures.

Money management requires careful planning and a lifetime of practice. We will unpack the general principles gradually, but like the staircase, every journey begins with a single step.

Fortunately, many moms can slice their budget tips into bite-size bits. Join us every Monday for our theme day: Mothercents Monday.  You can put these simple steps right into place to prevent waste and save money.  Please feel free to give feedback and suggestions in our comments.


Waste Not, Want Not

Image Credit: Special Collections Toronto

This World War I Canada Food Board poster promoted food preservation. One hundred years later, the same principles of
thrift can benefit us rather than a war effort.  We can start by preventing bug infestations of staples in our cupboards right now.

Mothercents Tip 1: 

Freeze your flour. My friend Angela learned this trick to kill larva from her home-economics teacher and mother. Neither Angela nor her mother ever loses flour to bugs at this critical stage, although Wikihow recommends freezing flour up to four days.

When you bring home a new sack of flour from the store, stick it into the freezer for at least twenty-four hours.  You may move it to standard storage after the deep freeze kills any larva which may have unfortunately entered flour in the grinding process.

Please invoke your own motherwit and tell us about it.