Heloise

Dear Heloise: In the South, a holiday dinner staple is broccoli rice casserole. After this year’s Thanksgiving feast, I had more leftover broccoli casserole than I expected. So, the day after, rather than reheating and eating the same old stuff, I made a delicious cream of broccoli soup by pureeing the remains in my food processor and transferring the puree to a saucepan.

I added some chicken broth, black pepper, heavy cream and milk while stirring on a low heat to make the soup, which was a lighter menu option for the next day. I was so pleased with the result that I did this again after our Christmas feast. — DeeDee, in Austin, Texas

DeeDee, this is a great idea! I would have added just a pinch of garlic. With a side salad and some dinner rolls, this would be an excellent meal after the heavy feast of the previous day. — Heloise

HANDY PAPER TOWELS

Dear Heloise: I always have a roll of paper towels in my car since I go to a lot of outdoor sport events. My towels roll around in the back seat and onto the floor. To fix the problem, I raised the headrest on the passenger side of the car (as I am the principal driver). I threaded one end of a small bungee cord into the roll of paper towels, fastened the hook around the headrest post, hooked the other end to the headrest, and put the headrest back in place. Now I always have towels on hand, and they don’t roll around in the car. — Betty G., via email

USING LESS DETERGENT

Dear Heloise: I have observed that detergent caps are getting larger, and for large containers with a spigot, the detergent often comes out much faster. This seems to encourage consumers to use more detergent than necessary. However, most standard laundry loads only require 1-2 tablespoons of detergent, and high-efficiency machines often need even less — sometimes as little as 1 teaspoon. Rarely would one need more detergent than what reaches the lowest fill line on the cap.

I use a permanent marker to highlight the lowest line on the cap as a visual reminder. This simple trick can help readers save money by significantly reducing how frequently they need to purchase laundry detergent. — Ann W., in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin

PET PAL

Dear Heloise: My letter was printed before, but the picture was forgotten. My dad is retired, and he comes every Wednesday to spend the day with our 7-year-old Brittany spaniel named Tucker while we are at work. My dad loves to watch Tucker fetch a newspaper from the end of our driveway.

We no longer get a paper, so my dad brings his paper from his house and throws it out his car window at the end of the driveway as he’s arriving. When we let Tucker out to greet him, he can watch Tucker run down the driveway and fetch it for him.

This particular morning, he picked up the paper just perfectly so that you could read the name of the paper. FYI: This is the same paper where my dad reads “Hints From Heloise!” — Jill Fliege, via email

Readers, to see Tucker and our other Pet Pals, go to Heloise.com and click on “Pet of the Week.”

Do you have a furry friend to share with our readers? Send a photo and a brief description to Heloise@Heloise.com. — Heloise

Send a money-saving or time-saving hint to Heloise@Heloise.com. I can’t answer your letter personally but will use the best hints received in my column.