Slow Cooker Soy Honey Chicken - A Crock Pot Favorite

I tried a new recipe (with a few changes of course) for slow cooker honey soy chicken and "oh my goodness" it was really good.   Please understand that I try new recipes every week and I only post my favorites on the blog.  Lots of recipes are good enough to think, "OK that made a good meal" but not good enough to make our repeat list.  A recipe really has to stand out for me to move it into our dinner rotation...and onto the blog.  This was that kind of recipe.  It excels not only because of the great flavors you get, but also because of how easy it is to get those flavors.  This is really a simple dish to prepare.  Plus it utilizes the crock pot, so that makes it perfect for Sunday dinners or busy weeknights.

Here's what you need:

Approximately 2.5 lbs of boneless skinless breasts or thighs.  (I used two of the packets of thighs from Costco, the ones that are portioned for easy freezing.  I love those things.  Also...FYI..I almost always use thighs in the slow cooker instead of breasts.  They cook more evenly, more quickly and stay more moist.)
1 cup honey
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
about 1/3 of a sweet onion chopped
4 cloves garlic minced
2-3 tsp ginger minced
2 T vegetable oil
2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste, 2 tsp gives it a little kick...you might want to use less if you have small children but my 3 year old didn't have a problem)
3 tsp cornstarch dissolved in about 4 T water
sesame seeds if you like
salt and pepper

Rub the chicken with the salt and pepper on both sides
Place chicken in the slow cooker and cover with mixture of honey, soy sauce, ketchup, vegetable oil, onion, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes.

Cook on high for approximately 2-2.5 hours.  Remove chicken and cut into bite size pieces.  While you are cutting chicken, take cornstarch and dissolve in water.  Pour mixture into sauce in slow cooker and cook on high for 10-15 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.  Return chicken to slow cooker and stir to coat.

Serve over jasmine rice with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.  Snow peas or green beans make a great side dish.

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

Glow In The Dark Bouncy Ball Summer Wreath

I came up with this idea because I wanted to create a fun, summertime wreath using bright colors that would be visible at night as well as during the day.  Suddenly it hit me...glow in the dark bouncy balls!  I had seen gumball wreaths on Pinterest before and I figured this couldn't be much more difficult.  WRONG!  Let me just say that this wreath was a beast to put together...but that's only because I had nothing to go on but my own idea of how it should work and I made quite a few mistakes along the way.   However, you, my fine readers, will be the beneficiaries of my trial and error process.  Once I figured out how to do it, the wreath came together quite nicely.  So you should be able to whip one up in no time.

First, I ordered 288 glow-in-the-dark bouncy balls online.  I searched for quite a while to find the cheapest option available that also came in an assortment of colors.  I finally found what I was looking for on Amazon.  I bought two different sizes, small and large, to add texture and variety to the wreath.  (I did have extras.)  I then purchased a standard foam wreath form from the craft store.  About half way through my first attempt at attaching balls to the wreath form, I realized that the edges were going to look very bare.  So I found some cute ribbon that I had lying around and hot glued it to the inside edge and outside edge of the wreath form.  In hindsight, if I make another one of these, I think that I will first spray paint the entire form a cute color, like maybe bright yellow or pink, and then put the ribbon on, and then start attaching balls.  You learn as you go.

My next step was to get the balls onto the wreath form.  I decided to hot glue them....mostly because I hot glue everything.  I thought that it was working.  The balls appeared to be staying put and after about 2 hours I was done.  Imagine my horror when the following day, as I went to pick up the wreath, one quarter of the balls immediately fell off.  Another quarter fell off on the way back to the craft counter to assess the damage.  I realized that hot glue was not going to work.  So I decided to step it up a notch.  I found my husband's tube of crazy glue and went to town.  Believe it or not, the result was no better.

I was frustrated at this point and on the verge of scrapping my beloved glow in the dark wreath idea when my husband came up with a suggestion that saved the day.  He brought me some penny nails and suggested that I stick the sharp end of the nail into each ball and then push the dull end into the foam wreath form.  I eagerly tried this and it worked a little better, but some of the nails still fell out or dangled from the wreath at awkward lengths.  So I decided to try adding Gorilla glue to the equation and...VOILA...success!

So here's the process as we have now perfected it:  Take each bouncy ball and push a short nail with a small head into the ball about half way (sharp point goes into the ball.)  Have a bowl of water handy and roll the top of the ball in the water so it is damp.  (Gorilla glue requires one surface to be damp in order to bond properly.)  Squeeze a small drop of Gorilla glue onto the foam wreath and immediately press the ball with nail into the foam.  Hold firmly for about 30 seconds and then move on to the next ball.

Here is the result:

I think it looks fun, summery, festive, colorful and unique.  And the fact that it glows at night is just too cute!  In the end, I was glad that I took the time to figure it out.  Happy Glow In The Dark Bouncy Ball Wreath Making!

Orange Hibiscus Lemonade Recipe

I wanted to throw together something cool, refreshing and little out of the ordinary last night and this is what I came up with: Orange Hibiscus Lemonade.  It is very refreshing, full of flavor and perfect for summer parties or lounging by the pool.  As with most of my recipes, measurements aren't exact and you should experiment with quantities to taste.

Start by filling a medium sauce pan 3/4 full with water and bringing to a boil.  As soon as the water reaches a boil remove it from the heat and add 4 herbal tea bags.  I used Orange Spice by Celestial Seasonings, but you could use almost any other fruity type herbal tea, many of which also contain hibiscus.  Another good one to try would be Red Zinger.  I would avoid teas with more robust flavors like vanilla, almond, etc.

Allow the tea to steep for up to 30 minutes while you complete the next step.  Juice 3-4 lemons directly into another saucepan.  Add roughly equal parts sugar to your lemon juice  (approximately 1 1/2 - 2 cups)  Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is completely dissolved.  Remove from heat.

Remove tea bags from tea and pour simple syrup into the tea.  Allow to cool then transfer to serving pitcher and dilute with cold water to taste.  That's it!

This orange hibiscus lemonade will sound and taste very impressive at a summer get together but is super easy to make.  Enjoy!

Pistachio Cupcakes

I am bringing to you another Lemmon tested, Lemmon approved recipe.  These pistachio cupcakes are some of the prettiest, tastiest cupcakes I've ever baked...and, even better, they are also some of the easiest.

Ingredients:
(2) 3.4 oz. boxes Jello pistachio pudding mix
1 box yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 cups cold milk (separated)
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup powdered sugar
Approximately 20-30 pistachios

Get started by preheating the oven to 325 degrees on a true convection bake setting (350 if you don't have convect bake.)

Cupcakes:
Whisk together 1 box pudding mix with 1 1/2 cups cold milk.  Gradually add cake mix and whisk until completely blended.  Add vegetable oil and mix thoroughly.   Pour batter into lined cupcake tins.  Fill each tin approximately 3/4 full.  I was able to bake 15 cupcakes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on your oven.

Frosting:
Whip together 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup milk, 1 box pistachio pudding mix, and 1/4 cup powdered sugar until peaks form.  Spoon frosting into gallon size Ziplock bag and refrigerate until ready to use.  Chop pistachios and set aside until needed.

Wait for cupcakes to cool completely before frosting.  Snip corner of Ziplock bag and pipe frosting onto cupcakes.  Sprinkle chopped nuts onto the top of each cupcake.  Refrigerate any leftovers.

These cupcakes are great for company because they look and taste a lot more time consuming than they really are.  Enjoy!

Cherry Limeade Sandwich Cookies Recipe

These cookies are very similar to the strawberry lemonade sandwich cookies that I posted a few days ago.  However, when I made these cherry limeade cookies I altered the recipe for the cookie a little bit in order to try to get a little softer, more moist texture on the cookie itself.  It worked.  The recipe below is pretty yummy if I do say so myself!

Cherry Sugar Cookie:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter softened
1/2 cup (1/2 stick) shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar (plus more to roll cookies in)
Coarse red decorator sugar
1 3oz. box Black Cherry Jello mix (I couldn't find a 3 oz. size for Black Cherry, so I poured the 6 oz. package into a measuring cup and poured half into the mix)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons milk

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees or 375 degrees using a true convection setting (recommended.)

Begin by creaming the shortening, softened butter, sugar and Jello mix.  When ingredients are well mixed add eggs and vanilla and beat well.  Next take the baking soda and, in a small bowl, stir together with the milk.  Add this to your mixture along with the baking powder and mix well.  Finally, add remaining dry ingredients and stir slowly at first then on medium for about 3 minutes.

Unlike many sugar cookie doughs, this dough does not need to be refrigerated before manipulating.

Lightly grease two cookie sheets.  Prepare a bowl with granulated sugar.  Spoon dough out of the bowl in roughly consistent amounts using a spoon and roll the ball of dough in the sugar.  Then place dough on the cookie sheets.

Once all balls are down, take the bottom of a glass and press the cookies to about 1/4" thickness.  Sprinkle red sugar over the top of each cookie.  Bake for 6 minutes.  Allow to thoroughly cool before frosting.

Lime Butter Frosting:

1/2 of a 2 lb. bag of Confectioner's Sugar (approximately 3 3/4 level cups)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) well softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 shake salt
1 tablespoon milk
zest from 2 limes
juice from 2 limes

Mix all ingredients together in a mixer on low until just blended and then on medium for 3 minutes or until fluffy.  Spoon mixture into gallon size Ziplock bag and refrigerate for approximately 15-30 minutes.

When cookies have completely cooled, snip the tip off the Ziplock bag and squeeze frosting onto the unsugared side of half of the cookies.  Lightly press the other cookies on top to form the sandwich.  Refrigerate cookies that are not immediately eaten in an airtight container.  They are even better on day 2!


Enjoy!

Strawberry Lemonade Sandwich Cookies Recipe

This may be the perfect summer cookie recipe.  It's that good.  These things are incredibly addictive.  Bursting with flavor and oh so pretty...don't say I didn't warn you.

Strawberry Lemonade Sandwich Cookies:

Strawberry Cookie:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
(1) 3 oz. box of Strawberry Jello
1/2 cup (1 stick) shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 degrees or use true convection setting at 375 degrees (I highly recommend convection for these cookies if you have that option available.)

Start by creaming the shortening, butter (well softened first), sugar, Jello and vanilla.  After these ingredients are creamed then add both eggs and beat well.  Finally, add remaining dry ingredients.  Unlike many sugar cookie recipes, this batter does not need to chill before manipulating it.

Prepare a bowl of granulated sugar.  Scoop dough from bowl in reasonably uniform amounts (I used a melon-baller.)  Roll ball of dough in bowl of granulated sugar and place ball on lightly greased cookie sheet.  After all balls are laid on the sheet, use the bottom of a glass to flatten dough to approximately 1/4-1/2 inch thickness.   Finally, go back over the cookies and sprinkle coarse pink sugar over the tops of the cookies.

Bake for 6 minutes.

Remove cookies and cool thoroughly on the sheet.  While cooling, you can make the frosting.

 Lemonade Butter Frosting:

1/2 of a 2lb. bag of Confectioner's Sugar (approximately 3 3/4 level cups)
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) well softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 shake salt
1 tablespoon milk
Zest from 1 1/2 lemons
Juice from 1 1/2 lemons

Mix all ingredients together on low until well blended and then on medium for approximately 3 minutes or until fluffy.  Spoon mixture into gallon size Ziplock bag and refrigerate for approximately 15-30 minutes.

When cookies are completely cooled, cut tip from Ziplock bag and pipe frosting onto inside of each cookie, adding another cookie on top to create the sandwich.  Once you create the sandwiches, you should refrigerate the cookies and store in an airtight container.  I thought that they tasted better the day after.

There you go!  I think these cookies just taste like summer...let me know what you think!

Sweet & Spicy Slow Cooker Meatballs

I am a huge fan of Sandra Lee and her semi-homemade cooking show on Food Network.  Don't get me wrong, I'm also a fan of completely from scratch cooking, but sometimes I have to choose between completely homemade and occasionally sleeping.  I also like to indulge in semi-homemade because it works well with couponing.  Frozen meats tend to go on sale with coupons more often and for deeper discounts than fresh meat.  For example, I got the meatballs for this recipe on a 2 for 1 sale with a coupon to boot. 

You will need:

1 bag of frozen meatballs (this recipe calls for a 2.4lb. bag of approximately 76 meatballs)
Jasmine rice
2 cups ketchup
1 1/4 cups raspberry chipotle sauce (from Costco...a lot of things can be substituted for this: BBQ sauce, grape jelly, or even hoisin sauce)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon jarred minced garlic (or one clove finely minced fresh garlic)
2 teaspoons jarred or "tubed" minced lemon grass 
2 teaspoons jarred or "tubed" minced ginger

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together in a bowl.  Place the frozen meatballs in the crockpot/slow cooker and pour the sauce over the meatballs.  Stir together.  Set the crockpot/slow cooker on high and cook for 1.5 - 2 hours or until warm.  Serve over jasmine rice.

Super Easy Homemade Donuts Recipe

Tonight I had not planned very well for Sunday dinner.  So we were left dessertless and wondering what we could whip up with what we had on hand.  I ended up making homemade donuts with whipped cream and raspberry preserves to dip in...and they were amazing!  AND amazingly easy...which is my kind of recipe.

Here's what you need:

For Donuts:
1 can refrigerated biscuit dough
vegetable oil (for frying)
cinnamon
sugar

For Whipped Cream:
whipping cream
powdered sugar (confectioner's sugar)
vanilla extract

I used a deep fryer to cook the donuts, but you could just as easily heat 2 inches of oil in a cast iron skillet and it would work great.  While my oil was coming to temperature (350 degrees is ideal) I took each biscuit out of the can and cut a hole in the middle using a Christmas cookie cutter I had lying around.  (Happened to be in the shape of a heart, which made the donuts look really cute!)  As soon as the oil is hot enough, just drop the donuts in.  Let them cook to golden brown on one side (just about 2 minutes in the oil) and then use tongs to flip them over.  Cook the other side to golden brown as well.  Have a paper plate with paper towels ready to soak up the grease and bring the donuts right from the oil onto the paper plate.  I had a bowl all ready with cinnamon and sugar mixed together and immediately after draining the donuts I rolled them in the cinnamon sugar mixture.  They came out perfectly and it was ridiculously easy!

For the whipped cream, I simply take one small carton of whipping cream, add what I think is the appropriate amount of sugar, plus about one teaspoon vanilla and whip on a high setting in my stand mixer for a while.  (By the way, you can just as easily use regular, granulated sugar for whipped cream.  I did this today because I was out of powdered sugar.  Tastes the same, you just have to whip it a little longer.)  When the cream starts to form peaks I check the sweetness and add more sugar if needed before continuing to whip it until it is perfect.  I served each plate of donuts with a big dollop of the whipped cream and a spoonful of raspberry preserves.  Oh my...I could gain a bit of weight on this recipe.  Easy, delicious and fattening.  Dangerous.  Very dangerous.

Chili Lime Glazed Shrimp Recipe

This is my second addition to the "Lemmon tested - Lemmon approved" Pinterest recipe log.  I see so many recipes that look great on Pinterest, but not all of them end up being yummy.  So I've started a list for you of recipes that I have found on Pinterest, tested, and found to be full of lovely deliciousness!  Of course, in many (OK most) cases I've changed the recipes from their original form...sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.  Also, as I've noted before, I tend to cook by adding a little of this and a little of that.  I almost never measure anything unless I'm baking.  So, sometimes my recipes can be a little vague.  But that allows you to experiment as well...to adjust things to your own taste.  The fact is that great cooking isn't rocket science!  It's personal.  It's finding your own perfect balance of flavors.  I am trying to measure a little though for recipes that I know I will be posting on the blog.

So here's what I made tonight...Chile Lime Glazed Shrimp.

It was yummy.  Really yummy.  I did not have a single shrimp remaining.  My boys loved it as did my hubby.  The baby was not interested in trying it.  But, then again, she isn't interested in much if it isn't shaped like Dora or covered in chocolate.

Here are the ingredients:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs of shrimp...deveined, peeled, tails off.  I bought a big bag of frozen shrimp (with coupons) and thawed them overnight in the fridge.  Then I made the marinade and as I peeled each shrimp I dropped it in the marinade bowl.  That way I only had to marinate them for 15 minutes in the fridge after I finished peeling them and they were great. 

Juice from 2 limes

2 Tbsp light virgin olive oil (you could substitute almost any light flavored oil here)
1 1/2 inch squeeze of diced Garlic in the tube (or 2-3 cloves if you dice it yourself)
1 1/2 inch squeeze of Ginger in the tube (1 tsp crushed fresh ginger)
3 Tbsp brown sugar (lightly packed)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp smoked paprika (very approximate...a little more...a little less)
1 tsp Mesquite seasoning (or you could use almost anything else that sounds good)
1 tsp cayenne pepper flakes (again, subjective)

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and drop shrimp in.  Marinate for at least 15 minutes but up to an hour.  Heat a small amount of olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat.  Saute shrimp for a couple minutes on each side...just enough to cook to opacity and get a nice glaze on each side.

That's it!  Super easy and I promise you the sweet, hot crunch will bring you back for more!

Care and Feeding of Husbands

Even though there are times when I swear all I want is for my husband to enter a coma for just a couple of days (mostly so that I can redecorate the entire house with no thought for his tastes or our budget) ...the truth is that I love him.  So sometimes I have to find ways to tell him.  Yesterday, I made this little poster for his desk.  It was kind of an explanation of why I sometimes say, "I miss you" when he isn't even away.  The busy times in life sort of conspire against you and you end up missing that special someone...even if you see them all the time.

You are welcome to use this card for your special someone as well.  Or for any other non-commercial purpose.  Click on the image and you will be able to download the 8.5 x 11" .pdf version.

Watermelon Salsa Recipe

I come across a lot of recipes on Pinterest and lots of them look really good.  Unfortunately, not all of them taste really good.  So I've decided to start posting the ones that do (or the ones that do with a bit of alteration) onto my own blog.  You can be confident that any recipe you read on my blog has been tested in the Lemmon kitchen and found to be delicious.

The latest recipe to emerge from the Lemmon test kitchen is watermelon salsa.  I found the original recipe on Pinterest and it was very exact.  All the ingredients were measured in spoonfuls and quarters of cups.  I'm not good at that.  I like to be more approximate...which is probably to say that I'm just lazy.

At any rate, here's my rewritten watermelon salsa recipe (which, by the way, turned out absolutely great!)

1/4 of a seedless watermelon diced into cubes
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced into smaller pieces then the watermelon
1/2 to 1 jalapeno pepper (depending on how hot you like it) seeded and diced into very small pieces
1/2 of a red bell pepper seeded and diced into pieces the same size as the cucumber
1/3 of an onion diced
6 basil leaves finely chopped
4 mint leaves very finely chopped
1/4 of a bunch of cilantro chopped (about 1/3 cup)
the juice from one lime
a good, long squeeze of honey (about 2 tbspns worth)
a couple shakes of salt

Stir all the ingredients together and let them sit covered in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.

This salsa is amazing.  I thought it sounded good, but it was even better than it sounded.

Non-Extreme Couponing

I don't buy cartloads of toothpaste.  Even if it's free.  Why?  Two reasons really.  First, I don't have a need for cartloads of toothpaste and second, the amount of time required to line things up in order to be able to buy cartloads of free toothpaste takes time that I don't have.  With the advent of shows like "Extreme Couponing" everyone seems to view couponing as a full time job or nothing at all.  But there is another way.  I like to call it "Non-Extreme Couponing" or "Couponing for the Rest of Us."  Perhaps you already have a job.  Or maybe you have children and a house to clean and stuff like that.  There is hope for you.  And me.

Yesterday I went to the grocery store and I walked out paying $55.  Here's what I bought:

3 bottles of Garnier Fructis Shampoo
1 bottle of Garnier Fructis Conditioner
3 boxes of Kellogg's Caramel Nut Cereal
2 gallons of milk
1 gallon of Sunny D
1 package of 45 strong paper plates
1 package of 6 paper towel rolls
1 bunch of bananas
1 bag of apples
1 cucumber
1 bunch of celery
1 bag of Hearts of Romaine
1 can of asparagus tips
2 cans of sloppy joe sauce
1 package of hamburger buns
1.5 lbs of course ground beef
3 bags of Birds Eye Frozen Vegetables
4 boxes of Idaho Spuds potato gems
2 cans of Wilderness Cherry Pie Filling
2 cans of Wilderness Apple Pie Filling
2 frozen pie crusts
4 Oscar Meyer Lunchables
1 LARGE 2lb.10oz. container of Old Fashioned Oats
8 - 1 liter bottles of Powerade
4 - 5 ct. Alegra 24 Hr. Allergy Relief

Now this is far and away not my "best" shopping trip ever.  This is just an average shopping trip.  It contains lots of items that I had no coupons for and which were not on sale.  And yet I still managed to pay less than 40% of what the groceries were worth.  How did I do it?  That will be the subject of the next page that I am adding to the blog..."Non-Extreme Couponing."  I will be working on it over the next few weeks and plan on having it completed in May.

DIY in My Daughter's Room

I should have taken "before" photos.  I should have taken "before" photos.  I should have taken "before" photos.  There.  Now I have drilled it into my brain and I will never forget again.  Let's hope not anyway.  I guess I just get so caught up in actually living life that I forget sometimes that I am going to blog about life later.

So my husband and I just recently re-did our daughter's room.  Vienna is two and a half and we decided that it was about time she moved out of the crib and into a toddler bed.  (I held out as long as I could.  She is my baby.)  My husband took a hand-me-down toddler bed that wasn't all that great to begin with (it was a WalMart special) and completely transformed it with a coat of ivory paint.  We then painted an old oak dresser (a cast off from a 10 year old spare bedroom set) the same ivory color, accenting the drawers in pink and blue and adding new porcelain pulls.  My son had a toy storage rack that I had bought for him from IKEA about 5 years ago that he donated to his sister, so Steve painted that ivory as well and then painted the interior in the same pink and blue accent colors.  The whole ensemble turned out really great and it only cost us about $10 in paint and $15 in new pulls for the drawers.

Here is a photo of the completed dresser:

Just goes to show you that a little "re-imagination" can go a long way.  My next project is to create a great accent wall for her room for under $100.  I will post pics when it is done.

Frozen Yogurt Pops (and Baby Steps to Healthier Eating)

Like many moms, I avidly read through the Pinterest tales of moms who no longer server their families any processed food products.  I ooh and ahh over the bread that they make from scratch.  I ogle the photos of neatly laid out Bento boxes full of healthy school lunches...each one packed with a loving note from mom.  These women are super heroes.  And I say that with genuine admiration and no bitterness what-so-ever.  OK...only the tiniest hint of bitterness.

But it HAS gotten me thinking.  My family does consume a lot of pre-packaged, over processed foods.  Certainly more than I would like.  This is due, primarily, to two factors:  1.  I am a couponer, and processed foods go on sale with coupons more often than healthy foods.  So I buy them because I have two boys who eat more food in a day then I do in a week.  And cheap food keeps me from having to live in a cardboard box.  2.  My boys are often desirous of a snack at a time that I am not available to fix them a lovely, healthy snack.  So I get stuff for them that is quick and easy and that they can serve themselves.

So what hope is there for me... the budget conscious, full time working, over taxed mother?  Well...there's got to be SOMETHING I can do.  So, I have adopted a strategy that works well for me in other areas of my life...the baby step approach.  I am trying to change our eating habits in baby steps...one thing at a time.  It doesn't seem nearly so daunting that way.

So far, I've done two things.  1. I've replaced the bread I normally buy at the store (which was already 100% wheat...but was very processed and full of preservatives) with bread purchased weekly at our local Great Harvest Bread Co.  Now, their bread is EXPENSIVE...which rubs the coupon queen in me the wrong way.  However, I have made the point to purchase only day old or two day old bread.  This saves me 25% or 50% respectively and brings my total extra expenditure on bread to only about $10 per month.  I can handle that.  And with a bread clip placed tightly at the neck, the bread still lasts a week or more.

2. I've started making yogurt pops on Saturdays.  They are incredibly simple to make and my boys love them for snacks.  I was inspired to do this after I bought my Popsicle molds at IKEA.  If you don't already have some, CLICK HERE to get the great IKEA version for $1.99!  Last Saturday, my 2 year old and I assembled the pops.  2 blueberries on the bottom, spoonful of fruit yogurt, 2 blueberries, another spoonful, etc.  We had a great time, and the results were delicious.  One thing that I might change next time...the blueberries are quite tart, and yogurt is already tart (especially when frozen.)  So I'm thinking of macerating the blueberries for a while in simple syrup next time before I drop them in the pops.  I know, I know...more sugar.  But still homemade and you gotta make it taste great right?

I will begin compiling my simple steps as a sidebar to the blog.  Happy eating!

Another Quote I Love: And More Fonts I Love

I love great, inspirational quotes.  I also love great, free fonts.  So I find myself in spare moments of time stolen from the work that I should be getting done, taking inspirational or family quotes that I love and typing them out in free fonts that I love.  So here you have it.

If you would like a larger version of the quote you can CLICK HERE.

If you would like to download the free fonts for use in your own projects...they are called Homestead and Carton.  And you can click on each below to download:

Homestead Font FREE

Carton Font FREE

Light Bulb Decorations at Banana Republic

My family and I went up to Salt Lake City this weekend because I was competing at the Utah Masters Swimming State Championships.  I was thrilled to have my family there cheering me on (and I actually ended up qualifying for Nationals in three events...yay!)  After the meet, we went to lunch at Blue Lemon over by Temple Square.  If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend their fresh sandwiches and salads.  We tried several different dishes and all of them were really good.  Fresh ingredients and great flavor.

But onward from food!  After eating we went over to the new City Creek outdoor mall.  The mall is really well designed and would have been quite delightful to stroll through, had it not been for the 4 million other people who had the same idea that Saturday afternoon.  Apparently going on grand opening weekend wasn't the best idea.  Anyhoo...one of the stores that we poked our heads into was Banana Republic.  And, always on the look out for great design ideas, I saw some unique art being used for staging that I thought would be super easy to duplicate at home.  Here's what it looked like:

 Cool light bulbs in interesting shapes on wooden bases.  This would be really easy to duplicate.  Simply cut a square of wood (or have it cut for you at Home Depot), rub on some stain, and then super glue an old burnt out light bulb to your base.  I am definitely going to be trying this project soon.  First I will keep my eyes out for some different types of light bulbs to scavenge. 

Here's a close up:

I will post an update when I finish a few of these.  Until then...happy DIY!

Inspiration & Free Fonts

I like creating little graphics with some of my favorite quotes, using some of my favorite fonts.   I think that this quote is perfect for parents to remember. (I know I need to.) You are always welcome to reuse, print, pin, or re-post any of these little quotes for your non-commercial purposes.  If you would like to download a full size version in high resolution CLICK HERE.

If you like the font that was used on this graphic, you can download the free version by CLICKING HERE.  It is called "Christmas on Crack"...sorry about that.  I didn't name it.  Cool font though.

The Little Wreath That Could

Sometimes you have a vision of how a craft should be in your head...then you go to the Dollar Store and Micheal's and nobody has what you need, or what you need for your back up plan, so you end up standing in the middle of the store with your cranky two year old trying to come up with a plan C in your head because you simply AREN'T leaving without stuff to make an Easter wreath gosh dang it!  Ya' know what I mean?

So my third choice hastily conceived Easter wreath concoction involved a foam wreath form (not the size and shape I originally wanted because apparently there was a run on wreath forms last week), fun fur (not in the color I wanted because Micheal's does not carry green fun fur), and a two pack of birds from the Dollar Store (these, at least were what I wanted.)

I went home that night, got out my hot glue gun and went to work.  It was an easy, but time consuming process.  I glued the end of the fun fur on the foam form to start and then just wrapped around and around and around, stopping every six or eight revolutions to squeeze some glue on the back of the wreath and press the strand of fun fur down into it.  Approximately one hour (and one burned finger...why do I ALWAYS burn myself every time I use a hot glue gun?) later I had my first draft of the Easter wreath.  I will not show a photo here.  Let's just say that when I showed it to my husband he said, "Uh...it's really furry."  Which was followed by, "Is that all there is?"  Clearly this was not the reaction that I was shooting for.

A better woman would have admitted defeat and moved on to another idea.  But not me!  I'm far too stubborn.  (Plus I hate wasting time...and starting over would be admitting that my previous attempt was a waste of time.)  We just happened to be in TJ Maxx the next day and I spotted a little container of cute Easter eggs for $8.  Perfect.  I took them home and glued them to the front of the wreath.  (And, yes, I burned myself again.  I have a big, white blister to prove it.)  But here is the result:

I definitely think it would look better with just green fun fur as the background so that it looked like the eggs were sitting in grass.  (That was the original idea.)  But, all-in-all, I think it's cute.  And if anyone doesn't agree with me they can stick it in their ear.  =)  Just kidding.  OK not kidding.

Cheap Chic

I love TJ Maxx.  I could so easily spend hundreds of dollars there weekly.  But I don't.  In fact, one of my great joys is finding items that are perfect for my home and also on clearance.  Finding something on clearance at TJ Maxx is kind of like winning the lottery.  Or maybe it's just me.

At any rate, today my husband and I were browsing the aisles when we ran across a wood plank with a wrought iron shelf.  It was on clearance for $9.  My husband picked it up to show me because he thought it looked interesting, but then put it back because he didn't see what we'd do with it.  I rescued it because I had just the idea.

We brought the shelf home and hung it by our door from the kitchen to the garage.  I had a simple glass vase that came with the roses from hubby on Valentine's day.  I also had river rocks in my craft closet and dried basil and lavender left over from another decorating project.  Voila!  I love it.  The vase is a tad too small for the shelf, but it will do until I run across something better. 

One of my latest decorating kicks has been to try to instill more greenery into our indoor lives.  We've picked up some houseplants, I've been decorating with more dried herbs, and we've even done a few tasteful silk plant type things.  It makes the house feel more fresh and vibrant. 

At any rate, my $9 find made my day. 

Puddin' Head - But Not Frosting

We had guests over tonight visiting from Salt Lake City and I wanted to throw together some treats for everyone after dinner.  I put a pan of brownies in the oven (made from a mix...because who makes brownies from scratch?  I love making things from scratch...but brownies are luscious just as they are...from the Duncan Hines box.)  So, anyway, my brownies are baking in the oven and I want to put something on top that will make them just a little special.  I'm racking my brain when I remember a recipe I had seen a few weeks ago on Pinterest and been meaning to try.  It was touted as the "only frosting you will ever make again." 

Ingredients:
One small box instant pudding mix in your choice of flavor (I went with Cookies and Cream)
One cup of milk
One small container of Cool Whip (or about 2/3 of a large container)

I didn't have the Cool Whip in the house so I ran to the store and came back.  I still had time to whip up the frosting before the brownies were done.  As promised, it was ridiculously easy.  First whisk your cup of milk into the instant pudding.  Then fold in your Cool Whip and...you're done!  I didn't even defrost the Cool Whip (obviously) and with a little extra stirring it was still a great consistency.  I spooned my Puddin' Head into a gallon size Zip Lock baggie, cut off the tip and piped the Puddin' Head onto the brownies.

Now I will admit that I think labeling this as a "frosting" is a bit of a stretch.   It's more like a flavored whipped cream.  However, given that I am one of those people that thinks frosting is almost universally too thick and too sweet, I can see using this concoction in place of frosting in virtually any application that would traditionally call for frosting.  It will not, however, work on items that you do not intend to consume immediately as it will melt.  So, instead of calling it frosting, I call it Puddin' Head.

Now that I've told you what it isn't, let me tell you what it is...DELICIOUS!  So good that my husband licked the bowl, and my friends said that it made the brownies "so much better."  "Normally," said my girlfriend, "I don't like frosting on brownies because it is just sweet on sweet, but this made the brownies better...so light and fluffy, they just slid right down."  Music to my ears!

Needless to say, I will be trying this again...next time with a different flavor...maybe pistachio!