So, I "attend" a number of different forums, and on one we've been talking about things you can do to save money.
One was spreadable butter or margarine. If you buy the spreadable tubs at their regular price, you will find that you get less than a pound of butter or margarine, and even the really cheapie stuff is over two dollars. But if you look at the stick margarine or butter, yo get your full pound, and most are uder one dollar. (Given, real butter tends to cost more.)
So a friend offered up her grandma's method for making spreadable butter or margarine - take a stick of either, let it sit until it gets to room temperature (of course, warmer in the winter months) and then take one cup of ice water, put the stick- unwrapped (hey, some people need to be told this) into the blender and start it running, higher speed. Slowly add the ice water. This will create a spreadable product.
So I give it a try - and water went everywhere. The margarine kind of broke up into bits, some of the water did appear to get mixed in, and the rest just spewed all over the kitchen.
Once it was put in a container, it had to be left out, or it got firm again as it got cold, and yes, it did spread a BIT easier than the room tempurature stick did, but the resulting mess was not worth the amount of effort. It was just as easy to put the margarine in the butter dish and let it sit near the stove for true spreadability.
Perhaps I would have better success with the bowl I have that has a lid with a small hole in the center, and the hand mixer. I'll let you know if I give it a try.
Next frugal living attempt will be another friend's recipe - taking those slivers of bar soap and making them into liquid soap.
I only use real butter as well and I recently ordered a 'butter boat' ... basically a dish with a lower level where you put water in then the inner portion where the butter goes plus a lid. This allows you to keep the butter out on the counter without it becoming too warm and melting. It's been working great for me
