Recession Busters - #60

1. I enjoyed watching Clara's "Poor Man's Meal" video. Clara Cannucciari is a 93-year old grandmother who prepares affordable Depression meals in her state of New York. Her family used to depend on cheap staple food items to live through the Depression era. This is the recipe for her Poor Man's Meal: 1. Peel and cube a couple of potatoes, 2. Fry the potatoes in a pan with a little bit of oil and 1 onion chopped, 3 . Cut up some hot dog weiners, 4. Stick the weiners into the pan with the potatoes, add a little bit of tomato sauce and about half a cup of water, 5. Cook everything together until the potatoes are soft. Clara's grandson and his friends love eating this meal.

2. Consumer Report mentioned a a few recession busters on their site: 1. Run your dishwasher, washer, & dryer in the early morning or late evening, because they give off excessive amounts of heat, and this can cause your air conditioner to work harder to cool your house, 2. Use your ceiling fans more often, since they use up less energy, 3. Plant trees outside your house, since they can block the summer sun from entering through your windows.

3. I have recently been adjusting my air conditioner to 77 degrees whenever I leave my house in the morning, instead of turning it off and then turning it back on when I get home from work. Raising the thermostat to a higher degree when I leave my house causes the air conditioner to use less energy to cool the house back down to 73.