photo by Ayelie

DEAR SARA: I’m having trouble coming up with snack ideas to cook from scratch to save money. I have made popcorn, cookies and brownies. What else can I make? My family loves chips, and I hate constantly dropping money on a not-so-healthy semi-expensive snack. — Andrea, e-mail

DEAR ANDREA: You can make muffins or quick breads, quesadillas, homemade applesauce, gelatin or cinnamon or cheese toast. Many snacks don’t have to be baked or cooked. I prefer offering fruits and raw vegetables, string cheese, yogurt, cheese or peanut butter and crackers, trail mix, seeds and nuts, hummus, breadsticks, and cream cheese on raisin toast or graham crackers. Give seasoned popcorn a try. There are a ton of popcorn recipes on Recipe Goldmine (www.recipegoldmine.com/popcorn/popcorn.html).

DEAR SARA: How do I get homemade frozen pops out of the mold? I bought molds over the weekend and used them today for the first time. I’m trying to make yogurt pops for the kids. I tried to take one out, and all I got was the stick. The molds are hard plastic, and I don’t see any way to pop them out. Pulling on the top just pulls the stick out. I tried running under hot water, but it didn’t help. — Carla, Canada

DEAR CARLA: Some molds are much easier than others for removing homemade frozen pops. The trick is to leave some head space when filling them, and don’t pull straight by the stick. You can set them in a pan of warm water or run them under the faucet for just a few seconds. You run the water over the bottom and sides of the mold. Then you twist them with gentle pressure or wiggle them back and forth gently to get them to release from the plastic mold. If that doesn’t work, squeeze the mold itself from the bottom. It can take a little patience. I’m not sure which type you have, but paper cups work well because you can simply peel away the paper. When buying molds, try to find the single-mold type where you can remove one at a time versus having to remove them all at once. They’re easier to clean, too. Tovolo (www.tovolo.com) makes great molds.

DEAR SARA: My neighbor dries all her clothes in the dryer. She claims that hanging them in the sun to dry causes the clothes to fade. I think this is just a waste of energy since you wear the clothes outside. Could you clear up this discussion? Thanks in advance. — One cheap neighbor, e-mail

DEAR NEIGHBOR: While it’s true that clothing does fade in the sun, you’re right, too. They fade when you’re wearing them and when dried in the dryer. You can minimize fading when hanging on the line by hanging them inside out. Also, you’ll want the bleaching benefits of the sun on white clothing. It’s the darks that are a concern. You can hang them to minimize sunlight. Where does the sun hit the line the most? Hang the whites and lights there. Do you have inner lines where you can place the darks and hang the lights on the outer? Plus, fading happens most the longer the clothes stay on the line. So you can take the darks down as soon as possible instead of leaving them all day or afternoon. Nothing prevents you from hanging indoors on lines or drying racks, too. I love my lines. I have them indoors and out. I haven’t noticed any extreme fading, but my lines are not in direct southern-exposure sun, and I don’t own a lot of black T-shirts where I might notice faster fading.

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