I've been called germaphobe in my day. Weirdo. OCD. Paranoid. Call me what you must, but I absolutely despise getting sick. Anything that I can do to prevent it, you can guarantee that I will do it.
Everyone around me at work has been getting sick lately. There have been stomach flus, regular flus, colds, coughs and fevers. I know that I can only do whatever I can do to keep myself clean and germ-free, but can't necessarily make other people be germ-free, too. Or can I.....?
This summer we had a very sad, very poor attempt at composting. The problems we faced were mostly related to the lack of space and the fact that we share a yard with several other people...and all of their animals. I did a lot of research and I think when the time comes that we have our own house I will know enough about composting to be able to do it effectively and efficiently. Looks like that counter top compost container wasn't a waste of $30 after all! :)
One thing I found out about composting is that most cities and counties in Utah offer composting services! If you have a garbage can that is specifically for yard clippings, you have your own large compost collector. Our "compost can" is our brown garbage can. This is where we put the usual garbage...grass clippings, pulled weeds, raked leaves, etc. I thought I would share with you the other items that can be placed in these bins in order to save you space in your regular garbage bins, clear up space in the landfills, and help turn these natural fibers back into nutrient rich soil that can in turn be used to grow more plants and trees!
Think twice before throwing out the following items into the regular garbage bin:
Coffee grinds
Hair clippings
Nail clippings
Egg shells
Expired produce
Freezer burned vegetables
Paper towels
Matches
Banana peels
Old spices
Potato peelings
Orange rinds
Q tips (ONLY if they have cardboard middles, not plastic)
Houseplant trimmings
Corncobs
Nut shells
Apple cores
Lobster shells (if you eat meat, of course)
Lint from the dryer
Dust bunnies, and other things you empty out of the vacuum cleaner
Feathers and bird cage tray cleanings
Dead flies and bees you clean out of your windowsills
Sunflower seeds leftover from last baseball season
Leftover Jack-O-Lanterns (sad, but I know that there are still a few sitting on porches)
Pretty cool, huh? I will keep you posted as to how the composting goes when we get our new place. I hope to be completely self-sufficient when we grow our own garden. Next year....next year....
Our friend Graig has the best - I mean, BEST - recipe for ramen salad I have ever had in my life. True story. Every BBQ or potluck everyone always requests that he brings it, and we all look forward to it!
It's light, it's tangy, it's fresh, it's crispy, it's filling but not heavy...it's basically everything a pasta salad should be!
I finally got him to send it to me, so since sharing is caring I am doing the same for you. Enjoy!
Dressing:
6 Tbsp. Sugar
3 tsp Salt
1 tsp Black pepper
3/4 C. EVOO
3 Tbsp. Sesame oil
9 Tbsp. Rice vinegar
Mix up all the dressing in a shaker, or blend with a wisk until the sugar and salt dissolves.
Add to 16 oz. coleslaw mix and 2 packages of crumbled up ramen noodles.
Enjoy!
Notice: This is NOT my photo, but this is similar to what the fnished salad will look like :)
It's taken a while to muster up the courage to do so, but I finally decided to start my own business. I have always loved party planning...the attention to detail, the creative challenges, and limitless possibilities are something that I thrive off of! My experiences at the Reception center and flower shop both equipped me with the skills that are necessary to making this kind of venture a success. I am greatful for the opportunities I have had in the past, and the doors they have opened for me in the present.
I got my first break after meeting Jason & Janna from Griffin Catering. They asked if I would be willing to help them with their dinner presentation at their most recent event. They wanted to keep it simple, elegant, classy, and formal looking. The color palette we were given was black, white, and burgundy. Check out the end result:
Needless to say, I am pretty stinking excited. I played a very small part in this dinner presentation, and the food was so beautiful it didn't really take much work at all. The tiered centerpiece was fun to make, and I am very pleased with the outcome. The floating candles and black rocks help to keep it elegant and simple. I love how everything turned out!!
If you (or anyone you know) is currently planning an event, send them my way! I would love to take care of them for you! They can check out my blog here, or my Facebook page here.
Hello. May I have your attention, please? Can everyone hear me? OK.
There are 54 days until Christmas. Count them up: that equates to be approximately FOUR paydays. That's right. I said it.
Christmas day itself doesn't hold much excitement for us. We don't have kids. We despise waking up early (especially on a day off). And most importantly - we spend Mike's birthday doing everything BUT celebrate his birthday. In that regard it's kind of a bummer. On the flip side - the month and a half leading UP to Christmas is absolutely fantastic! There is the music, the shopping, the lights, the sights, smells and sounds, the Festival of Trees, and all the other wonderful things that the Christmas season brings like no other time of year! I am STOKED. I fully intend on Christmas-ing the crap out of everyone around me.
This year is going to be really hard for me in a way - this will be the first year in four years that I won't be working at VS. I will be sad that I won't be a part of the festivities and the excitement - and I will definitely miss the extra money - but when I am able to spend a Saturday making gingerbread houses or sledding, or Christmas shopping during the week, it is REALLY going to hit home that it's OK to sit back and enjoy my family and friends. You know - the major element of Christmas.
As I sit here now, Frank Sinatra is serenading me with "The Christmas Waltz. Keep it comin', Frank. I'm gonna need your help. My boss must have known about my illness - my sick infatuation with the month of December. He has put in in charge of the Christmas party this year. Am I freaked out? Yes. Am I excited beyond all reason? You betcha. Pinterest will definitely help ease some of my stress. In fact, look at these wonderful lovelies that I have already come across!!
"Frosted" jars with candles
Hot Chocolate Bar for the kiddos!
Possible centerpieces for the tables
I decided that the theme for our festivities will be "Baby, It's Cold Outside". It's (one of) my favorite Christmas melodies. Plus, I figure if I'm throwing the party I get to choose whatever I want, and everyone else can just deal with it. :)
Ideally, everyone would bring old and new coats, gloves, scarves, boots, socks, sweaters, and anything else that we can donate to The Road Home to help them from being...wait for it....wait for it ...COLD OUTSIDE! Ya see how I did that? Just brought it full circle.
If you have any ideas as to decorations, food, or anything otherwise that would help fit into our theme I would LOVE to hear it! I have until December 8th to get my list made, check it twice, and have it all in the bag. Santa's bag.
Too many cheese Christmas puns?
OK.
Before I go, I'll leave you with this dreamy little number. You're welcome.
Cool fact of the day: October is "Buy Nothing New Month" in Australia. True story!
Instead of going to Wal-Mart or Target every time you realize you need (or, let's be honest - want) something, (this includes all the cool stuff in the $1 bins up at the front of the store) this whole country is encouraging each other to trade, borrow, rent, up-cycle or thrift items. How cool is that?
If you think about the enormous impact that buying new takes on our environment (as well as our bank accounts) then it isn't really hard to make the decision to be more conscientious before making new purchases. I have challenged myself, as well as my sweetie, to try and keep true with this concept for this month. It's only one month, right? We can totally do this. And, hey. We may even be pleasantly surprised in ourselves and decide never to go back to our old ways of thinking, when it comes to being consumers.
Something that makes this especially interesting is that we have started our Christmas shopping already (only 5 paydays left until Christmas, folks!). It will be cool to see how creative we can be in our holiday preparation. Luckily for us, I have been collecting DIY gift giving ideas for months now on Pinterest. Cross your fingers, send me good vibes, and all of your positive and creative energy! *We will see come December 25th, how successful I actually was in my endeavor*. :)
I encourage all of my friends and family out there to challenge themselves this month to really think about it every time they make a purchase. Every time you pull out your wallet, swipe your card, or count your change at the check-out counter - really evaluate your purchase and ask yourself, "Could I have made this myself? Do I need this for keeps - or could I have borrowed it from someone else? Could I have gotten this same item second hand? It will be hard, but I know that we can all do it!
Host a swap meet with your gal pals, to trade old clothes, decorations, clothes for the kids, purses, etc. It will be a great way to get everyone together, trade things you don't need for things that you do want, and help with the whole carbon-footprint hippie stuff that is so near and dear to my heart :)
I can't wait to hear all of your stories of success! :)
Last night after work it was SO cold and dark - I got home, put my slippers on and my cozy clothes, turned my favorite Christmas music on (OK, OK! I'm mentally ill, I know. I need help!) and preheat the oven. It's not secret I love to bake treats - cupcakes are especially dear to my heart. Last night, though I was feeling adventurous and decided that instead I would make chocolate chip cookies.
The house smelled fantastic, the kitchen was warm and toasty, and I was curled up on the couch reading my book, (turned the Christmas music down low so I could also hear the rain) while I waited for the cookies to be done. Once they got out of the oven, I will admit, I was a little let down. Let's face it - cookies just aren't as cute as cupcakes.
The solution to my problem was simple - take something perfectly delicious on it's own, and add it to something that was perfectly adorable. I heat up my mini cupcake maker (weird, right?!) and whipped up some yellow cake batter. I crumbled the cookies and put some in the bottom of each cupcake paper. I filled the rest of the paper with cake batter, and cooked them completely through.
I covered them off with chocolate frosting, and used more crumbled cookies on top. My boss calls me an evil genius - I say I'm just mixing the best of both worlds. No matter how you slice it, I learned my lessons.
#1 Everything tastes better when it's mini
#2 It's OK to go outside of your comfort zone on occasion
#3 The mini cupcakes will always prevail
A lady I work with brought in some squash to share, that she had grown in her garden. To be honest, I have never had that much squash at once so I had no idea what to do with it. My Aunt Gail (who is a culinary genius) suggested that instead of cooking the entire squash, I scrape out the seeds and fill it with someone else. TADA!
That's when this vegetarian friendly deliciousness came about. I started by cutting the squash in half long ways, and scraping out the seeds. While the crossaints were cooking in the oven, I had rice cooking in the rice cooker. I filled both sides of the hollowed out squash with rice, mushrooms, tomatoes, green peppers (that I grew all by myself in my little garden!) and topped it off with some chopped up pieces of vegetarian chicken. I seasoned it with pepper and italian seasoning, then covered it in tomato sauce and grated parmesean.
I threw it in the oven (375 degrees) for 20 minutes and - voila! Between just the two of us, we finished one entire half of this giant squash that first night and would have probably eaten the whole thing if we hadn't eaten all those crossaint rolls. :)
Let me tell you what, I was totally looking forward to lunchtime the next day, when I got to eat my leftovers!
I just realized today that is has been WAY too stinking long since I posted last. Things have been CRAZY in our little lives! Anyhow, I came across a super blog that I wanted to share with everyone. I have only attempted a few recipes from here, (ok, I'll admit it. They actually terrify me!) but I have found quite a few that were vegetarian friendly (or at least, easy to alter so that they are vegetarian). This site is SO useful for getting inspiration for my own recipes!
Just more validation to my philosophy; "Everything grows with love and sunshine!"
What started out as a bunch of weeds growing between the cracks of cinderblock tiles, gradually transformed from this:
to this:
and finally became this:
My honeysuckle grows more everyday, as does the english ivy. I was super surprised when I went out the other day to pull weeds and found out that a couple of the mystery plants that just appeared one day (I didn't have the heart to tear them out because they had such cute little white flowers on them) ended up being jalapeno plants!
I am so proud of my little garden! I can't wait until next year, when I get to see which of these lovelies will be rejoining us.
For those who dont' know how much I love Pinterest...well....I do. That is all. It's Aaahhhhmazing. It's a way to record cool things you find while browsing the internet. If you're browsing recipes you want to try or Christmas presents to buy you "pin" them to your board so that later you can go back and browse through all of your things. It's kind of like saving things to your "Favorites" in that it saves the original source of the item, so going back to the exact page on an exact website is a breeze! Plus, everything you pin is categorized amongst your boards. For example, I have a board full of pinned recipes I want to try. I have a board of things I want to buy/make with my nephews. I have a board for my imaginary-future-wedding. All great things to come back to when I need to reference a specific item!
Also, other people can see the things that you "pin" so it's a great way to share ideas, recipes, cool blogs, etc. You can choose to follow certain pinterest members or just specific boards that they have. (If you are only interested in, say, the cool DIY crafts board they have, or a board full of crock pot recipes)
Here are a couple of things that I found, tried, and loved thanks to Pinterest:
If you are currently on Pinterest, follow me so that we can connect and share ideas, recipes, thoughts, etc. If you are not currently on Pinterest let me know and I will send you an invite.
Alright my friends...I know that there are many of you out there that are currently looking for jobs. With Christmas right around the corner and lots of friends that have kids and mortgages to worry about, I want to spread the word about all the jobs that I am currently aware of in hopes that they can help relieve a little bit of stress.
If you know of any other jobs please - PLEASE post them in the comment box so that we can keep the information flowing. You just may be the answer to someone's prayer today! :)
Good luck to everyone looking. If the jobs above don't pan out, make sure to check this link: http://jobs.utah.gov/jobseeker/links/employer.html
This links up to every job that is currently available in Utah.
Cori is the first one that showed me this corn recipe. We made it for our 4th of July BBQ and the boys were literally eating it as I was replenishing the tray. (I guess that means it's a thumbs up from them)
The recipe calls to be soaked, prepared inside the husks, re-wrapped and then grilled. We, unfortunately, do not have a grill big enough to sustain 24 ears of corn + all the grilled veggies and meat that we had so we just boil our corn in a big stock pot and prepare it the same way.
You want to start by spreading mayonnaise on the corn. I know, it sounds gross, but just trust me. We use the kind that is made with olive oil so it's probably a lot better for you than butter anyway.
You sprinkle chili powder then salt & pepper over your mayo'd corn then top it off with some finely shredded parmesean cheese.
Once you've tried this corn, I can almost guarantee that you will never go back to the old butter 'n' salt method.
This post will be quick - I just wanted to share these delicious and super easy popcorn balls with you!
All of my favorite things rolled into a delicious ball. Yes, please!
What you'll need:
1 bag popped popcorn
1 bag marshmallows
2 T butter or margarine
2 cubes white melting chocolate
2 bags of M&M's
3 cups mini pretzels, broken up
6 oreos, crushed up
It's important that after you pop the popcorn (and not burn it like I did the first two times) you HAVE to take out all the kernels so that you don't break any teeth :)
After you do that, you need to prepare your goo similar to the goo on rice krispy treats. (1 bag marshmallows + 2 T butter. I added two squares of white melting chocolate in with this batch and I think it made it that much more delicious!)
After that, you just stir in all of your broken up goodies, roll them into balls, and lay on wax paper or aluminum foil. The combination of salty and sweet, crunchy and gooey, chocolate and cookie is pure heaven! If you really want to get fancy, you can also melt and drizzle chocolate over the top of them.
I recommend trying it with other combinations of mix-ins. Gummy bears, marshmallows, maybe a cut-up candy bar or two. Let me know if you try it out and how you like it.
Every now and again I make something that is a complete and total home run. We're talking, rave reviews - that the boys take 2nds, 3rds, and even ask for more when it's all gone. This, my friends, would be one of those instances.
The best part about this bruschetta(besides being delicious and mostly healthy) was that it was SOO freaking easy I almost felt guilty about it!
Step #1: Layer whipped cream cheese over the garlic bread.
Step #2: Put a layer of spinach leaves, sliced tomatoes, artichokes, sliced olives, and grated mozzarella cheese.
Step #3: Sprinkle with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese.
I got sick of looking at my plain old wooden knife block. Luckily, I had some leftover spray paint from my desk and some pretty black scrap booking paper from the birds I made. One thing lead to another and -
Ta-da!!
Looks cool, huh?
Once I find my camera I will make sure to go back and take better pictures of everything I have done. In the meantime, you get this cell-phone picture. You get the jest of it.
Saturday mornings are always hard in that we normally have a couple extra mouths to feed.
#1. It's Saturday, I don't want you to always expect that I am going to cook something. I am not your mother. You know where the Apple Jacks are.
#2. Giving up and just going out to eat is much more convenient - just not always cost-effective.
This week I made some vegetarian-friendly egg "muffins" with my mini-cupcake maker. (Ok...so I will use just about any excuse to use that thing!) All I did was break a bunch of cage-free, vegetarian fed chicken eggs into a bowl. I mixed in the things I would normally mix into scrambled eggs; salt, pepper, cholula, chopped jalapenos, little tiny pieces of cooked Morningstar farms breakfast sausages. Delish!
I poured some of my scrambled egg goop into each of the tiny greased tins. After they had cooked allt he way through, I sliced pieces of cheese and put them on top. (LOTS of cheese, as you can see...we love our chees!) I put them in the microwave for a couple more seconds to get the cheese good and melty.
It was AWESOME. Clean-up was a breeze. No sticky pans, no dirty forks and plates left all over in the living room. They brought the plateful of "muffins" on the coffee table (with the cholula sauce of course) and just popped them in their mouths like they were candies while they played Xbox.
Another win for me!
This view gives the impression that we had a little bit of egg with all our cheese, but they sure were good!
I realize that the title of this post may seem a little contradictory. "Delicious" and "Bran Muffins" aren't usually in the same sentence, but trust me, my dear friends. These. Are. To. Die. For. My mom used to make them all the time when I was younger. Now I make them in my mini-cupcake maker so they're all cute and little and easy for me to grab and eat in the car on my way to work.
So, without further ado, here is how you make the most delicious bran muffins eva!
You will need:
2 cups boiling water
5 tsp. baking soda
1 cup shortening
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
5 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 quart buttermilk
4 cups All-Bran
2 cups Bran Flakes
1 cup chopped walnuts
NOTE: the buttermilk can be substituted for applesauce to make apple bran muffins, if you so desire. (Also delicious)
Combine water & baking soda; stir until dissolved. Cool.
In a mixing bowl cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Combine flour & salt, then add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Mix well.
Beat in the water/soda mixture.
Fold in cereals and nuts. Fill greased or paper lined muffin cups three-fourths full.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until muffins test done.
*Mixture will keep in refrigerator for one week*
Which, to me may be the best part. There are technically only two people living at my house, so if it's just me and my sweetie, then I only have to make a couple at a time. Brilliant, eh?
When I planned on re-doing my family room (more just doing it in the first place...I couldn't re-do something that had never been done to begin with) I had all these visions of my favorite things: Color, texture, and HOUNDSTOOTH. My couple trips to Joanne's proved to be unsuccessful, as the worker I spoke with on several occasions let me know that they only carried houndstooth print in the heavy duty upholstery fabric that was far too scratchy for couch pillows. I went with my second favorite pattern, french damask.
My sweetie can never know this, but I secretly grew annoyed of the pillows that I made for the family room. I LOVE French Damask, but they were just so stinking loud with the different colors and the fading...not to mention the difficulty I had in getting the particular fabric I had purchased to stop fraying. The seams were a hot mess and anyone with any sewing ability at all would have seen what a less-than-desirable job I had done.
Fast forward a month. I'm at Joanne's to buy a few things for a different project. I see there is a sale on fabric quarters, so I meander on that way. What to my wandering eyes should appear? Oh, only the answer to my prayers. White. Chocolate. Houndstooth. Needless to say, I am in heaven.
Bought my fabric. Waited for my sweetie to be away from the house, then quickly re-covered the pillows and put them back on the couch as if nothing had happened. When he finally got around to noticing (it takes him a few days sometimes) he asked what happened to the other pillows. I didn't dare tell him that I hated my old pillows (he told me that I would and I don't like to point out when he's right) so I just told him that I finally found the fabric I originally wanted.
I must say, I am quite pleased with the results.
Less busy. Nice and houndstooth-ish. Just the way I like it.
This weekend we had an impromptu Fiesta at mi casa.
Our amigos were headed over, (as is customary for Friday evenings) and we had just picked up some delicious tamales and salsa from our favorite Maria in the world. (Learning how to make her delicious tamales is on my to-do list...I'll let you know how that works out). We decided that we also needed some queso, and since the boys had been requesting this ever since the last time I made it, into the crock pot went:
1 big brick of Velveeta cheese - cubed
(the spicy kind is best, but I have yet to find it in the larger bricks)
1 can vegetarian chili (or not...depending on your preference of course)
1 can black beans - drained (good protein and iron!)
2 cans mexican style stewed tomatoes - drained
1 small can jalapenos - drained
Heat in Crockpot (on high), stirring often, until the cheese has melted into a delicious gooey goodness.
Congratulations! You have successfully made the most delicious/easiest queso dip ever. Time to strike up the Mariachi band and Salsa your way over to the chip table.
For those who read my previous post regarding the Grocery Smarts Class I had, here is my first big success! I've been grocery shopping a few times and I normally save between $5 - 10 just in coupons, but this time I hit the jackpot!
Everything here cost me a whopping...wait for it...wait for it....$11. True story!
That covers the $2.00 Tide, 2 tubes of 50 cent toothpaste, 2 bags of 50 cent Bugles, 2 boxes of Go-Gurt, (that are SO yummy frozen!) 2 packages of BOGO Trix yogurt, BOGO Dove shampoo/conditioner, $1.50 Almond milk, and 2 bottles of 50 cent body wash!!
A HUGE thanks Kat and her wonderful clippings!! Check out her Facebook page to learn where you can attend your Grocery Smarts class!
There are a few things in my house that there is never a shortage of:
(in no particular order)
1. Dog hair on couches
2. Beer cans (empty and otherwise)
3. Empty toilet paper rolls
4. Testosterone
5. Baked goods
One day, the Artist in me would like to be able to re-use one or all of these things for something absolutely creative and totally fabulous. Until the day comes that black dog hair on white clothes becomes a fashion statement, cupcakes make you lose weight, and beer can chandeliers are all the rage, I will have to work with what I've got.
#1: A piece of old wood that I cut off my super fantastic new-old desk.
#2: Toilet paper and paper towel rolls, folded in half and painted to my liking.
I took the painted paper towel rolls after they had dried, and glued them onto the old piece of desk (that I had also painted the same color as the desk drawers). I used all-purpose craft glue from Joanne's so it only took about an hour to dry completely. (You can kind of see where it's still wet in the picture above)
TA-DA!!
I am pretty freaking proud of this project. It too me all of a half hour to make, and it looks absolutely fantastic, in my humble opinion, next to the lamp shade I also made with old fabric scraps. (Please excuse the poor lighting)
For anyone who has not yet jumped on the Pinterest Bandwagon...you sure are missing out! I love, Love, LOVE lists and adore ways to help me be organized. It's nice for me, too because I am a very visual person. I retain images much better than words and other instructions.
I thought I would share a couple projects that I am looking forward to taking on in the next few weeks. These projects all come from my For the Home Board.
My bedroom needs pretty curtains
And a pretty headboard
And who doesn't need more ways to organize their craft room?
Pinterest is currently by invitation only, so if you would like to join, shoot me an email and I will send you an invite!
If you know me, you know that the only thing I love more than new tools (for cleaning, crafting, or baking) is FREE tools!
Thanks to the wonderful Ms. Stacy at Not Just a Housewife, I have a chance to win free stuff. Guess what? You do, too! Just click here to visit her blog and view the many opportunities to enter this contest.
The winner will be announced Monday, August 8th. Good luck! :)
There's not much to these cupcakes...they are just so darn cute I had to post them.
I love making regular sized cupcakes, but I have had this ridiculous fascination lately trying to take the regular cupcakes that I make and somehow make them work with my mini-cupcake maker. Ta-da!
All you have to do is dye your cupcakes pink, dye your frosting green, and put mini-chocolate chips in the cupcake batter to make it look like watermelon seeds.
