Sabby In Suburbia

Doin’ The Science, a Famous Mouse, ROAR! & Laundry Gremlins

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:32:00 +0000

So, I put up a post about granola and a tidbit about changes to come and then disappear for two months. I mean it was good granola, but still. For shame.

Well, I’m here to finally update you on what’s going on with us and everything that’s happened over the last few months. First of all, the biggest change is that I’m going back to work again.

I know, I know. Didn’t I write a similar post a year or so ago? Yes. Yes I did. However, this time it’s a much better deal and I’m crossing my fingers that it all works out. The best thing is that this job is WAY closer to home so the commute is totally manageable. I’ve already started there part time while our new lab (remember I’m a mad scientist by trade) is being finished up. It’s shiny and new and I’m really excited about this new adventure. Doin’ the science…it’s what I love.

Well, then while things are changing why not add a little fun to the mix??

SURPRISE kiddos…we’re going to Disney World!!!

(Me and B on the one and only Dumbo…there’s actually two now)

And when I say surprise, I mean we woke them up at 3am and said, “SURPRISE!” We were at the Magic Kingdom by lunch that day. It was so fun and the kids are at such a great age to enjoy all things Mickey. The last time we went, Braden was not quite a year old and Lanham was 4. This time they were almost 6 and 10. Tons of fun, exhausting, but totally memorable and we all loved it. I might do a Disney post soon with more pics.

One other BIG exciting thing I’ve been working on lately is shooting for the Listen To Your Mother – Chicago show.

(The cast showing some claws during our group photo shoot. ROAR!)

Some very cool local bloggy friends (Tracey & Melisa) just happen to be the producers of this fab show. They graciously asked me to shoot both the rehearsals and the show and it’s just been so much fun!

If you don’t know about LTYM, then you have to check out their site and see your local show if possible. You won’t regret it. All things motherhood from so many perspectives. Laughs and tears. Wonderful. Just wonderful. And I get to capture it all. A very fun challenge. These ladies are awesome!

In that same line, I also purchased a new camera and lens recently. Adding to my camera bag. Fun stuff. More on that some other day too, but loving the new body. Perverted camera talk.

So, let’s see…new job. House of Mouse. LTYM shoot.

Oh, yes…spiders. AKA Laundry Gremlins.

I detest spiders. There’s not much more to say, I just dislike them VERY much. I know that they are a n’th of my size. I know they are good for the environment. I know I know I know.

I. Don’t. Care. They creep me out and I know I’m not alone in this. ahem. Point?

Derek had to travel last week. With the new job starting, I was still catching up from our recent trip. While I’m sorting laundry I happen upon this sucker…

Excuse the phone pic. I just had to have proof of this critter since Derek seems to think I make up the spiders that I find in our house. Like a fish story…only with spiders. It was THIS big I swear. At the top of the photo you can see how big it is compared my my laundry basket. EW!

Our text convo went something like this…

Me: Now do you believe me? I can’t go back into the laundry room anymore.

Derek: Puhleaze. I will spray tomorrow if I get home too late tonight.

Me. Please my ***! This thing is HUGE and has totally ruined laundry day. I found it and sprayed it.

Derek: Did it come after you?? Are you ok?? <sarcasm>

Me: I’m shaking. So is B. I’m calling the Orkin man.

Derek: I will spray the whole house TODAY!

Me: Not doing laundry.

Derek: ONE spider and you already killed it!

Me: I’m not certain its dead, but it crawled into the laundry piles so I can’t touch the clothes.

A few moments later, I sent him this…

I added the quarter for dramatic effect.

Me: Dead but I’m still not doing laundry.

Silence on his end.

Oh…Laundry gremlins? Welll, there was this crazy flooding in our area. Like two days off of school flooding. Rain days. Not snow days. Weird. Basically our district was so flooded that buses weren’t able to get around so they shut us down for a few days. Several neighbors got water in their basements. One particular friend is now claiming that creepy basement zombies have taken over her basement. To make her feel better, I texted her the above spider pics. She’s certain they are relatives of the basement zombies. Laundry gremlins. They torture me and ruin my day. Definitely gremlin like behavior.

With that, I hope to keep in better touch with you all through life’s constant changes. When I’m not Doin’ the Science, jet setting (hahahaha), playing photog or battling gremlins.

Simply Suzanne Granola Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 17:17:00 +0000

Hi everyone! I’m here with a long overdue post about a product I was luckily enough to try recently. As you know, my cooking and eating habits for myself and my family vary between homey and rich to healthy and all natural. Basically, we love our fruits, veggies and whole grains, but indulging in homemade cheesecake is ok once in a while too.

So, I was very pleased to have the Simply Suzanne granola company contact me about trying a few of their products. Simply Suzanne is an all natural food company that specializes in sweet and savory granola and trail mixes.

All of their products are certified vegan and Kosher. Simply Suzanne is a Detroit, Michigan company too…love my Midwestern peeps!!

First up, I tried the Apple Rosemary Pecan Trail Mix.

Now, I have to admit, the idea of rosemary in my granola was a little strange to me. However, its very subtle and I only tasted the rosemary in about every other bite. The dried apples are tasty too, more chewy than the usual crispy dried apples. I’m a nut fan, so I would have enjoyed a few more pecans and a little less raisins, but that’s just personal taste. Love the short and simple ingredient list of these products…

Overall, a healthy and delicious snack. Great for munching right out of the bag.

Next, I tried the Original Sweet & Savory Granola.

This granola is made in small batches and has a peanuty flavor with a hint of cinnamon. Again, a really short list of great ingredients. LOVE!

It was great for topping my homemade yogurt and just eating straight out of the bag. However, what I really liked was the recipe that Simple Suzanne gave to me for Goat Cheese Granola balls.

Basically, I took the granola and put it into a large plastic baggie and crushed it with my rolling pin. Then, I took small pieces of goat cheese and rolled them into balls. After that, I rolled them in the crushed granola. These were a hit a recent WOWN party served with pear slices. Instead of leaving them in ball shapes, I pressed them into little disks for easier eating. Yum!

Final verdict? Well, this definitely is a new take on granola flavor for me and I actually enjoyed the change. Most granolas that I like are more on the sweet side. I would recommend these to anyone looking for a healthy treat that is both good for you and tasty. It’s especially suited to those that are conscious of natural and simple ingredients. Overall, I would try Simply Susanne again and I’d love to check out the Cranberry Pepita and Dark Chocolate trail mix.

Currently, Simply Suzanne products can be found in Chicago at Kroger stores, several Whole Foods Chicago locations, Arista Foods, as well as Angelo Caputo’s. They are also in Ohio at Kroger stores and both Jungle Jim’s locations. I recently found these tasty treats at my local Meijer, another Midwestern grocery chain.

So, what are your favorite healthy snacks? Have you ever tried granola that contains savory ingredients? I’d love to hear your feedback.

Also, stay tuned…I have some very important life changes to announce very soon!

Disclosure: Simply Suzanne sent me products to try and review. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Here’s a little story about Breaking Copyright Laws

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 19:02:00 +0000

Readers, I’ve always loved you. Your comments make me laugh, your feedback is always helpful and now you’re even protecting me from content theft. You see, I was contacted by a very sweet reader not too long ago saying that she was pretty sure an image from my most popular post was being used on someone’s online boutique shop. Not only was it being used there, but also on their corresponding Facebook page!!

I checked it out and sure enough, there was this image…

It’s definitely low resolution and probably copied and pasted from Pinterest.

Now, this tutorial is very very popular and I know it has been pinned thousands of times on Pinterest. However, I never thought that this would lead to someone using my image to promote a business. My image was being used to sell items on someone else’s “boutique” website. Now, doesn’t that seem strange to post pictures of items for sale that you didn’t even make? And I’m not selling them either, so how exactly do you plan on selling necklaces that my friends and neighbors now wear? Just wondering. <end rant>

My first step was to contact the website and tell them to remove my image immediately. I informed them that this was breaking copyright law. The person running the website wrote me back and in a very snippy tone, informed ME that she was an attorney. She said that the images she used were not copyright protected since they did not have watermarking and there wasn’t a copyright statement on my blog. There was a whole lot more, but I don’t want to get into it. Basically, she had the nerve to get defensive with me about using my images without my permission. Grrrrr.

Then I thought…could she be right? Did I incorrectly believe all of this time that my blog was protected under copyright law? That my words, my tutorials and my images were my own and no one else to use?

Well, my husband, also an attorney, and I spent a great deal of time researching copyright law and how it pertains to bloggers. At first, I was infuriated with my stupidity. But then here is what we found:

Today, almost all things are copyrighted the moment they are written or images are uploaded to your blog
These written words and images are protected by copyright law with or WITHOUT a copyright notice on your blog
You can register for a copyright, but it is not necessary. You are still copyright protected without registration.
Ideas, names and slogans can not be copyrighted
Fair Use : a very fuzzy and debatable area of copyright law. Basically, you can use someone else’s material without permission if you want to provide criticism, make a comment, report it as news or for teaching and research purposes. However, fair use is controversial and therefore your best bet is to ALWAYS ask permission.
Blogger to Blogger courtesy: Always link back to someone that inspires you. I’m constantly inspired by other bloggers on Pinterest. Then, I create something similar and link back to them. I think it’s the best form of flattery in the blogging world.

Important links:

U.S. Copyright Law

U.S. Copyright Law FAQ’s

My research also produced some sad stories from other DIY bloggers. This one from Addicted 2 Decorating is, as she puts it, infuriating! You should also check out House of Hepworths experience too. She has some great ideas for protecting your blog.

So, after this experience and research, I have decided to add a copyright notice to my blog and a terms of use blurb. Although, under the law, these things are not necessary, they possibly deter those that want to steal your images and words. Also, I have added more watermarking to my images as well. That way they will give some credit back to me if/when they are pinned on Pinterest.

I hope this post helps bring some much needed copyright information to all of you and doesn’t come off as some mean rant. Until this happened to me, I certainly didn’t know any of the details. I just wrongly assumed that I was protected and that most people respect the work of others. Blogging is certainly a fun outlet for me and not a job. However, I do spend a good amount of time on each post and editing images and therefore when someone tries to use my work without permission, I get beyond frustrated.

Feel free to comment on any issues you have had with copyright law. I would love to become more knowledgeable about the law and how it effects bloggers.

Super Bowl Snack Off :: Slow Cooker BBQ Spare Ribs

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 22:37:00 +0000

Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner and that means food and fun! Even though da-Bears won’t be playing this year, I’m sure we’ll be watching football somewhere that weekend. I can almost guarantee it.

What luck to be contacted by Wafair to participate in their Super Bowl Snack Off. The rules? Basically, come up with a great game day recipe to use in this awesome new Hamilton Beach Stay and Go slow cooker…

First of all, this baby has a lot of fun bells and whistles that my other slow cooker is lacking. This is truly a slow cooker for parties and tailgating.

It has this snapping lid/rubber seal feature…

to keep spills at bay. And then these fold down handles…

….which make it perfect east storing too!

The slow cooker is already a much loved appliance in our house (see bottom of post for more recipes). We even use it for parties to keep things warm when they come off the grill, like hot dogs. For this Super Bowl Snack Off challenge, I was excited to try out a new recipe . Something new to us, something yummy, something American and football. RIBS! Yep, ribs in a slow cooker. Now, I’m sure that there are some grilling enthusiasts out there just balking at this idea, but it’s Illinois and it’s cold. So why not find a way to make ribs indoors?

Now, I have to admit this was my first attempt at any sort of rib dish. It always seemed so daunting…we watched a few too many episodes of Pitmasters. Anyway, fear be gone! This recipe is simple. Plus, you still get that BBQ flavor and fall off the bone texture you want with ribs.

First, you season your ribs the night before you want to cook them with this…

I personally love the McCormick’s Grill Mates Barbeque seasoning. It has a smokey sweet flavor and I often use it on chicken and pork for the grill. However, it also works great as a rub and gives an added flavor on top of the usual barbeque sauce. If you do not have this, do not worry too much about it. You could make your own rub or skip this step completely.

So, I season, then cover the ribs overnight in the refrigerator. The next morning, I broil them for 5 minutes or so on each side using the same baking sheet that I had them on overnight.

Then you just put them in the slow cooker and cover them in a mixture of honey, barbeque sauce and a little more of the barbeque seasoning.

After 8 hours on low you’ll have this…

Remove them from the slow cooker…

Brush on some more sauce…

And it’s GAME DAY food time!

Slow Cooker BBQ Spare Ribs

5 lbs pork spare ribs
McCormick’s BBQ seasoning for rub, plus 1 Tablespoon for sauce ***see note below
1 1/2 cups barbeque sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
1/2 cup honey

Cut ribs in half or thirds so that they will fit in a slow cooker. Place ribs on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or foil for easier clean up. Sprinkle both sides ribs with BBQ seasoning or other seasoning of your choice. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Remove plastic wrap and preheat broiler. Broil ribs for 5 minutes, then flip and broil the other side for 5 minutes more. Meanwhile, mix together barbeque sauce, honey and barbeque seasoning. Move ribs to slow cooker. Pour all but about 1/4 cup of the sauce mixture over the ribs and use tongs to get flip them and get them covered on all sides. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 3 to 4 hours. Transfer ribs to a plate. Discard liquid in slow cooker. Warm up reserved sauce and then brush onto cooked ribs. Serve and enjoy!

This recipe is easily adaptable to all kinds of ribs and sauces, so have fun playing with it a little. I want to try some Korean style short ribs next.

Hope you all have a fun and safe Super Bowl Sunday! Thanks to Wayfair for including me in this challenge!

More slow cooker recipes:

Disclosure: Wayfair sent a Hamilton Beach Stay or Go slow cooker for my review and a gift card to cover my recipe ingredients. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Sabby’s Household Tips & Tricks :: Laundry

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 01:30:00 +0000

I’ve never claimed to be an expert at this homemaking gig. Nope. I’m a constant student in this “field” and learn new things all the time. From keeping a clean and organized home to meal planning and couponing, I’ve come a long way since the beginning of my stay at home mom journey. Blogging and blog reading have been enormously helpful along with the Pinterest era. So, I’ve decided that it might be helpful to share some of my favorite household tips and tricks with you guys.

First up in this new series:

Laundry. It happens. And with a family of four that includes two boys who are in sports and two parents that frequent the gym, it happens A LOT! Over the years I’ve come up with some strategies that work for our family and today I’d like to share them with you. Why? Well, that’s how we all learn great new ideas. Plus, after talking with some of my neighborhood girlfriends, I realize that we all tackle laundry SO differently. Again, this is just what works for us.

So what’s the key to my plan of attack on laundry???

Laundry Day!

Yes, I actually have just one day during the week that I do all of our laundry for the most part. Shocking? It is for a lot of my girlfriends and for families larger than ours, maybe this just wouldn’t work at all. However, let me explain why this works before totally writing off this idea.

First of all, I HATE having clothes scattered in all different stages of laundry. Some in the dryer, some in the washer, some ready to be put away etc. By dedicating one day to be laundry day I don’t ever have that problem anymore. It all gets done and put away in one day. Sounds daunting? Believe me, its not! In fact, it keeps us way more organized and tidy.

How does this happen? First, I gather all of the laundry, including bed sheets and bathroom towels, and quickly get a load started. While that first load is already washing, I finish sorting my loads out into piles on the laundry room floor or in my empty baskets.

Then, I just continue to tackle it all throughout the day. Usually I pick a day at the beginning of the week, lately its been Mondays. Since I know I’ll be home most of the day, I plan a nice dinner and usually get some big cleaning chores out of the way too. By dinner time, I have all of my laundry done for the week, sorted into baskets for each bedroom.

Yes, I’m sure you haven’t seen a forest green laundry basket since the 90’s, but the thing is unbreakable and still works. It was a high school graduation gift! Honest. Class of 1995!

Moving on…The kids get home from school and take their laundry up to their rooms to put it all away.

They bring the empty baskets back downstairs and we’re done! Now, I admit we have our off weeks. Sometimes D and I are busy and I our basket of clean clothes might sit in our room for a few days untouched. Sometimes, we just HAVE to have a special pair of perfectly fitting jeans that make our rears looks pounds lighter cleaned on a Friday. No biggie! Because for the most part, Laundry Day works great for us and maybe it can work for you too!

Helpful hints:

You must have separate hampers in each room = 3 hampers. I bought these easy to carry mesh ones from Walmart for the boys’ and a rattan one for us. All of them have handles. They keep the dirty clothes off the floor and in an easy to see and easy to use hamper. No excuses!
You need separate baskets for folding for each room to make putting clothes away a snap.
While folding, I stack clothes according to how they will be put away, ie. stacks of underwear, paired socks, stacks of jeans. This makes it really easy for my youngest in particular. He just takes his stack of whatever and puts it away. If he had it all mixed together he might just freak. He’s SO my child.
Loads – yes I separate my stuff. Shoot me. Jeans don’t need to wrestle with my pretty undies, m’kay?
Buying detergent you love in bulk. I’ve tried several different types of detergents and have had some major disappointments. Some clothes literally coming out of the wash cycle still smelling of sweat. YUCK! So, when I see a good sale and have coupons, I stock up as much as I can. This saves money and we always have detergent handy.
Skipping softener…sometimes. I’ve been kind of weaning myself off of softener lately. I seem to use it when I wash our living room blankets just to freshen them up a bit. However, I really don’t ever use it on clothes anymore. Money saver!
Get the kids involved! I’ve slowly been getting my kids involved in the laundry process, but a lot of it happens while they’re at school. If they are around, I set them to tasks like sock sorting.

He looks a little too eager here I know. It’s not always the case for sure, but they can and do help.

So, what about you guys? How do the tackle the dreaded mounds of laundry? I’d LOVE to hear from you all and get even more ideas in my routine. Please feel free to share in the comments!

Also, if you like my laundry room be sure to check out my laundry room redo!

All You Need Is Love…

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:48:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Can you believe we’re almost to Valentine’s Day? We’re getting some pretty chilly weather here today so I thought I’d share a little printable with you all to warm you up!

I’m HUGE Beatles fan and this is one of my favorite songs. I printed the image out on 8.5x11 card stock and put it in my “seasonal” 8x10 frame.

You can download this PDF file HERE or click the image above.

Click HERE, HERE or HERE to check out more of my seasonal frame ideas.

Happy Valentine’s Day a little early!

The 2nd Annual WOWN Holiday Photo Shoot!

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 20:46:00 +0000

For those of you that are new to my blog, I’m blessed to hang out with some wonderful ladies in my neighborhood. Somewhere along the way we became known as the WOW group, as in the “Women of W******”, the name of our neighborhood. Then we added someone from outside of the hood. We even had a fun shower for her bambino. Her name starts with an N…hence WOWN. Genius, I know, but it stuck and the rest is history.

Anywho, last year we had such a fun time doing mini photo shoots for Christmas with all of their families, that we just had to do it again.

Here’s neighbor Katie’s beautiful gals…

They’ve been my little muses since the beginning and it such a nice change from shooting two boys all the time. I’m sure my boys feel the same way actually.

With the exception of the background color, I pretty much used the same set up as last year. I wasn’t certain about the black backdrop, but boy did it turn out great! The kids really popped and it was such a warm cozy look.

Here are some more of my favorites…

And if I had to pick a favorite…

There is just something about the above picture that is perfect to me. The red with the black background and her perfect eyes. I don’t know, but if I had to pick just one that would be it.

Luckily I don’t have to pick just one, because there are SO many great ones. Like this…

She’s a daughter of a gym friend of mine that’s outside the WOWN group. We had planned on outdoor photos, but the weather just didn’t work for us this fall. So, we added their family to the Christmas shoot and it all worked out really well. Not going to lie, I love these pictures with the missing teeth. Those are moments that every parent/kid should have immortalized.

Her parents are pretty cute too don’t you think?

Oh and we added yet another family this year too! Katie’s sister was able to come to town with her three little ones. Her daughter is just so sweet…

This post is getting a little picture heavy so if you’re interested in seeing more images from this shoot, check out my Sabby In Suburbia Facebook page!

Thanks to all my lovely WOWN friends and the “B” Family for letting me capture your families this holiday season! It’s always an honor and so much fun!

Christmas Happenings & Happy New Year to all!

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 04:33:00 +0000

Well, like most of you, we were super busy getting ready for Christmas this year and time just slipped away. So, here I am trying to give you a little update on our holidays and wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Let’s see…D and I plunged ourselves into holiday treat making last weekend and I’m just wrapping them up for delivery to friends today. We made homemade caramels and Toffee Butter Crunch like we do every year. Then I went a little cuckoo and made a double batch of my favorite soft sugar cookies.

That’s about 12 dozen cookies total! A little overboard, but they are SO DELISH. Obviously, we’ll eat our share and deliver the rest to all of the lovely friends and neighbors who have been so great to us this year.

I’ve gotten pretty quick with the whole baking process, so why not add something to the already overfilled Christmas plate and try out something new?? One new thing I tested out for my cookies this year was using royal icing and a “flooding” technique for decorating.

I’ve wanted to try it for a few years and this year I actually had the time to do it.

Let me just say this…its NOT that easy. It’s actually one of the harder baking type things I’ve every tried. No joke. I referenced Bake at 350 a lot and it was a huge help. Not going to lie, I almost gave up after the first few cookies. Ask the D-man. He was standing there while I was elbow deep in cookies and thinned royal icing and saw the frazzle begin. However, I took a deep breath and after a few more cookies, I started to get a rhythm going.

I really do LOVE how these cookies look and for special occasions I’ll definitely do it again. However, my old technique that I used last Christmas works pretty well too. Less mess, much quicker and the icing is premade.

You just take any white store bought icing, split it into small bowls, add your desired colors, microwave until thinned (about 30 seconds or more) and dip away!

I let them dry for several hours like this…

Then you can add more decoration to them or not. Or add sprinkles while they’re still wet.

Among all the treat making and delivering, we’ve been busy visiting family and friends and enjoying so much needed snuggle time with the kids. It has been a really great Christmas break and we’re not looking forward to getting back into reality just yet either.

Tomorrow we’re hosting several ‘hood friends for our annual New Year’s Eve gathering. The kiddos enjoy it as much as the parents and we’re all safe and sound in our own neighborhood. I hope you all have had a blessed and fun filled holiday season.

Thanks for reading and here’s to a wonderful 2013!

Fall Family Photo Shoots

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 19:45:00 +0000

With my return the stay-at-home world, came the return to photography. Getting back into photo shoot mode was harder than I expected. Mostly just nerves and my perfectionist nature. I decided to only book a few families to ease into it.

I’ve been dying to share these pics on my blog, but I wanted to wait knowing that the families might use these pictures for Christmas cards. Then some of my readers know these families and might receive those cards, etc. You get it right? Anyway, on to the pics!

First up, is the “D” Family…

You might not recognize this little man…

But he’s the adorable little baby that was in the WOWN Holiday shoot last year.

All grown up and just turned the Big 1!

Glasses. Wow, that’s a new challenge, but I’m so thankful that the “D” family mama and I are friends.

She was patient with me getting just the right angle to get the least amount of glare. I think we were both really happy with how it all turned out.

Next up, the “B” Family…

Now, this family was also in our WOWN holiday shoot last year. The mom and I are ‘hood friends and her family is a ton of fun.

And her husband was a great photog assistant as well…who knew?

The kids handled the less than ideal weather situation really well. We had a very odd fall this year in Illinois. One that didn’t make for great outdoor photography weather.

Aren’t they sweet?

Of course, the parents are pretty cute too…

So there you have it…my photography hobby is back on. I really loved getting the chance to use my camera in a family portrait format again. The other great thing? I finally forced myself to bust out my Photoshop CS5 software. And you know what? I LOVE IT! I always read that its so much more powerful than Elements, but seriously? Its amazing!

A big thanks to both of these fabulous families for letting me create some beautiful memories with you and helping me get back into a hobby/small business that I love so much. Mwah!

Oh and one last thing…neighbor Katie and I put together the WOWN Holiday photo shoot again this year!!! Looking forward to sharing those with you really soon!

Homemade Yogurt…so easy you’ll thank me later

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 22:15:00 +0000

Yep, homemade yogurt. Sounds crazy? A little too “granola”? I used to read posts over at The Frugal Girl’s blog and think “Why the heck is this chick making yogurt?”. I mean the stuff is everywhere and even the generic stuff is pretty good.

Well, curiosity got the best of me and I decided to try a recipe for homemade yogurt in the crockpot. I just couldn’t be bothered with making something on the stove, so I figured the crockpot method might be a good fit. Ummm…..let’s just put that in the FAIL category. I even tried that recipe a second time with the same bad result. Too sour and soupy. Garbage.

After a few months, I stumbled upon The Frugal Girl’s post on homemade yogurt again. Her recipe uses common kitchen equipment so…One more try? Sure!

And this time…

SUCCESS!!!

Yummy, thick and creamy homemade yogurt. Here is a pic of me trying the DQ Blizzard flip test with my fresh yogurt…

The only thing that sometimes comes out of the jars when you flip them is a bit of liquid, which is just the whey separating out. Not a big deal at all. I just pour it into the sink every time I open up the container. I’ve heard of some great uses for the whey and might try that in the future.

For the exact recipe and lots of helpful pictures, check out The Frugal Girl’s post. Her recipe calls for a whole gallon of milk, which yields four quarts of yogurt. For my first two batches, I decided to cut it in half (half gallon of milk = two quarts of yogurt). Recently, I made my first whole gallon recipe.

I’m happy to report all three times have been a complete success. Call me crazy, but I get such a great feeling when I make something like this from scratch. It’s similar to my yeast bread making adventures. It just feels like magic? My husband laughs. I told him, “Ta da! I made yogurt. I’m god-like!” He eye rolls. Ok. So I’m not freakin’ Copperfield, but its still a great feeling and you might enjoy it too.

The other reason I love making homemade yogurt: I control what goes in it! Sugar, no sugar, low fat, organic (haven’t tried that), vanilla, maple syrup. My choice! Also, with choices come the things I get to exclude: gelatin, pectin, corn syrup, artificial sweeteners and colors, etc. Now, I’m a lucky gal in that we don’t have any food allergies or food restrictions in our household, however every time I make yogurt I think about how great this recipe would be for a family with those issues. Totally customizable.

So far, I’ve only made the sweetened vanilla version because that is mostly what my family eats. The kids also like berry flavored yogurt so I bought some berry preserves…

Now, this might seem simple and you might laugh that I took pictures of how I add preserves to my yogurt, but trust me. This is helpful.

I start with a dollop of preserves in a bowl…

Then I spread the preserves around the bottom of the bowl.

Add a few scoops of yogurt…

Then FOLD the yogurt and preserves together. DO NOT stir like crazy!

Seems simple enough and I’m sure you’re probably laughing at me even though I asked you nicely not to. However, if you really like thicker, creamier yogurt you need to fold the preserves into the yogurt. Stirring breaks down the structure of the yogurt. The more you stir, the thinner it gets. Trust me. I’ve done it. And of course, thinner yogurt is still totally edible. I just like the thicker stuff.

Adjustments That I Made and Tips:

Low Fat, 1% milk – I wanted a lower fat yogurt and although I read that low fat milk produces thinner yogurt, I did not have any issues using them.
Adding powdered milk – I used this in my last two batches and it seemed to thicken the yogurt up a bit more without adding fat; I added 1/4 cup per gallon of milk while heating to 185 degrees.
My starter – I used plain name brand first, my own homemade second and then vanilla flavored Activia third. All worked fine. Obviously the flavored starter will only work if you’re making vanilla yogurt.
Sterilize your canning jars in the dishwasher – makes life easier and I haven’t had contamination issues.

So, there is my homemade yogurt experience so far. My kids and I totally love this recipe and I’m making a new batch tomorrow. D-man isn’t as impressed as we are, but he likes the whipped chocolate version from the store. Not sure how I could make that at home. Any ideas are welcome as usual. Until, then more yogurt for me and the boys!

Button Monogram Wall Art

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 21:05:00 +0000

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share my guest post today at Everyday Mom Ideas! It features a super easy and frugal piece that I just whipped up recently…

For a full tutorial and more pictures, check out my guest post on Everyday Mom Ideas!

Humor for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 02 Dec 2012 17:47:00 +0000

I need some laughter. Actually, I always need some laughter. It’s the holidays and I’m sure you could use a few laughs too. Everyone is bustling around trying to buy gifts. Money is tight for most people = STRESS! And stores and parking lots are packed. Then people do stuff like this…

Grrrrr! So, here are some things that have made me laugh recently.

Holiday Decorating…

My husband doesn’t understand foo foo girly decoration stuff. Heck, neither do I most of the time. However, I do understand that a large outdoor bow for our very large wreath is not disposable. It’s not considered a consumable. Nope. It’s a reusable. Well, he didn’t get that memo and somehow he tossed my very large bow last year while taking down the holiday decorations.

While pulling out all of our holiday décor this year, my very large wreath looked very naked. Too naked to be hung proudly above the garage.

Me: You killed Christmas.

Derek: What?

Me: You threw away my very large bow. You have killed Christmas like the Grinch.

Derek: Seriously?

A few days later…

Kids: Where’s that big wreath that you usually hang above the garage?

Me to the kids: Oh you mean the one with the very large bow? Well, daddy threw it away and now I’m not sure if Santa will come. He’s killed Christmas.

Kids: WHAT?

I searched several stores for a replacement very large bow and apparently waiting three days post-Black Friday isn’t the best time to go on that hunt.

Finally, I went to Party City and found a somewhat decent replacement bow. I called my husband to tell him that I saved Christmas. His eye roll could be heard through the phone.

Very large bow shopping bonus situation…

What REALLY made my trip Party City a score was not just my new very large bow. I also became the lucky recipient of this in change…

Yep, it’s a sign. I should frame it. It says, look at me and laugh. And I did. Although a very concerned neighbor/Facebook friend told me to burn it and he would gladly reimburse me. Sorry L.M., I’m holding on to it for now. It’s my Dolla Makes Me Holla, Honey Boo Boo good luck dollar. Don’t judge.

More Boo!

Yes, Halloween is clearly old news. However, my kids and husband have taken to ganging up on me. And scaring me. And hiding in dark corners and jumping out at me. What gives? Freaking outnumbered is what gives. Help!

Upper half of the female body talk…

While doing a little blog reading catch up browsing, I stumbled upon a post by Jen from The Martha Project. Jen’s a local blogger that I’ve met once before and she wrote a hysterical bit on Vicky Secret bras and just boob issues in general. Check it out HERE.

I’m not stalking you Jen…a totally random stumble on an old post of yours. I had a similar Vicky Secret experience, but in a totally opposite size direction. Does the half full, stretched out water balloon ring a bell for any readers? Well, that’s when members of the IBTC (I’ll message you what this stands for if you don’t know) grow up, nurse their young and then lose some of their baby weight. Anywho…check out Jen’s post. Very funny!!!

On the subject of toughness…

Me: Who is tougher mommy or daddy?

We both flex our muscles.

Braden: Daddy. Cuz he has fur on his arms.

Yes, he does honey. Thank goodness for that. I will concede to his toughness.

Well, that’s all for now. Hope that was good for a few laughs at least. Feel free to share some of the funny love with me too. I love a good laugh…or 10!

Happy Holidays!

L’s Room :: The Final Reveal

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 17:41:00 +0000

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Where did the time go? We’re now in full Christmas mode and putting the finishing touches are our Christmas décor. So, I thought I better finally get around to posting pictures on Lanham’s bedroom updates.

The bed is the same as it was before. The comforter was still in good shape and I love the pop of color on the new grey colored walls.

Above the bed is some new homemade wall art. I simply took one of our well loved baseballs out to the back yard for a photo shoot. A little vintage editing and then I sent it off to Walgreens for a poster sized print. I found the frame at Michaels on clearance for only 6 bucks!! Awesome for a wooden poster sized frame.

Moving to the next wall, you can see I made my first attempt at painting stripes…

And I LOVE it! I didn’t want to do the whole room because I thought I if we get tired of the red we can easier paint over one wall. Plus it saved me oddles of time! I think it looks great with my homemade Sox wall art.

Lanham loves it too!

Looking across the room, we have Lanham’s closet which I revealed before…

This makes me want to redo all of the closets in the house! Don’t panic D-man. I’ll be patient.

Next to the closet, I installed a new shelf to store all of Lanham’s awards and baseballs…

The shelf is from Ikea (Ekby series) and was super easy to install.

I hung one of the photo transfer pieces above a rack that we used to hang ball caps.

Boys collect SO may hats!

And one last “wall art” creation…

Well, I really didn’t create it as much as buy it. Lanham already had a few Chicago team pennants. I ordered the rest of the Chicago teams (minus one rival I that shall not be named here) and hung them across the room like a banner. Love the colors and its just a fun look for a boys room. I used 3M Command picture hangers to attach them to the wall.

On final look…

BTW…it is SO hard to take pictures of a room that is either streaming with light or super dark depending on the time of day.

We’re all pretty happy about this small budget bedroom update for our big boy/little man. Hope you enjoyed the tour! And now it’s on to B’s bedroom update.

L’s Room :: The Closet Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 14:00:00 +0000

Lanham’s room had the typical builder grade white flimsy metal closet system. It’s been somewhat functional over the years, but since we were redecorating most of his room, why not tackle the closet?

Here’s what we started with…

A few years ago, I decided I wanted the kids to help me with laundry, especially my oldest. In order for him to help he had to be able to reach stuff. That’s when I installed the hanging double closet rod. It’s similar to this one on Amazon. Again, it served its purpose over the years, but it was kind of wobbly since it hangs from the upper rail.

On the other side, I installed a hanging canvas cubby (similar to this one) in both of my boys’ closets. It makes it easy for them to put away folded items. I just put the out of season up high and the current season stuff down low. Same the with above double bar system.

This all worked fairly well for the past 3 or so years. I just hated the sloppy factor of it all. The canvas cubby got especially sloppy and the kids would just shove the folded items in to the lower slots. Shirts would be lost for the season.

The hanging side worked better, but there wasn’t enough hanging space for all of Lanham’s clothes. I also wanted larger shelves for heavy folded jeans. His jeans were getting too big and heavy for his dresser and they wouldn’t fit in the drawer anymore. I knew we needed to make a change that would let the closet grow with him through his teen years.

The project…

We removed the entire builder grade system and we were left with a lot of holes to patch.

BIG Thanks to my hubby for helping me out with this one! The huge holes were pretty much the same kind that I was left with when I redid the laundry room. Massive holes from the anchors. ugh.

After TONS of closet research, I decided on the Rubbermaid Configurations 3-to-6-Foot Classic Custom Closet Kit. It has awesome reviews on Amazon and a lot of reviewers posted some nice photos as well. Deciding on which kit to purchase in this line was time consuming, but if you scroll down on the Amazon kit link above, there is a great information section on all the Rubbermaid kits.

The only difference between the Classic and Deluxe kits is 3 shelves vs. 6 shelves. I did want the extra shelving space, but I found that for $20 I could get an additional two shelves with the 26-Inch Add-On Shelving Kit. So, the Classic kit plus the Shelving kit comes to $90 and that gives me 5 shelves. Compared to the Deluxe kit for $130 with 6 shelves. That’s $40 for one extra a shelf? Makes NO sense.

Anyway, here’s the kit…

And they also suggest configurations based on your closet width on the back…

This was SERIOUSLY a snap to install. A little leveling and a little tinkering with where we wanted hanging items and shelving was all it took. Sorry, no photos because we did most of the install at night and just wanted to get it done.

Basically, it’s a hanging rail system across the top with vertical bars hanging down from that. The shelving is attached to the vertical bars with brackets and the rods attach to the shelves. The instructions were easy to follow and everything you need is included in the kit. Well, except for the long screws to attach the system to the studs.

Here’s the result…

We did this project in late summer, so his short sleeves and swim trunks are easily accessible. Currently, we have the jeans down on the lowest shelf and the trunks are up high for next summer. I love that we still have space up above, succeeding in my room to grow idea.

And yes, I did put the doors back on. It was just easier to photograph with them removed.

So far, we all love this system. Lanham can find his stuff easily and put it away on laundry day. I’m pretty sure I’ll get a similar set up for B’s room in the future.

And one last before and after shot…

Call me crazy, but the “After” shot just makes me giddy. No comments D-man. Without my organizational habits, I’m certain that our world might blow up in one little POOF. Be happy I’m saving you from such dangers.

Next up…the Tween Room Reveal!

Thank The Troops with Shutterfly

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 22:32:00 +0000

Shutterfly has come up with a great way to say thanks to all of our troops that serve our country this Veterans Day weekend.

Shutterfly is running a Thank The Troops initiative to send thank you cards to all of our American heros. This comes as no cost to you and it’s a nice way to show your support this Veteran’s Day. Simply go to Shutterfly’s Thank The Troops Facebook page, select a card and add a message. Shutterfly will take care of the rest.

Again, Happy Veteran’s Day to all of you that have given so much for our freedom.

Disclosure: I received a Shutterfly credit in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed are 100% mine and honest. No other compensation was received.

Holiday Cards from Tiny Prints

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 04 Nov 2012 15:19:00 +0000

Yep. It’s that time again. Halloween is over. Let the shopping begin. And with that comes the time to order Christmas Cards too! This year I’ve decided to use Tiny Prints for our Christmas Cards. You know I love snapping pics of my boys whenever I can, so I’m really excited to create this year’s card.

Tiny Prints has so many adorable cards to choose from whether you like bright colors, simple/modern or religious based cards. I love their contemporary yet classic designs.

This one just makes me smile…

Love the accordion style of this one…

Or these really adorable ornament shapes…

Ooooo chevron…

Tiny Prints is also happy to announce that their cards feature new Premium DoubleThick™ Matte Paper. I’m such a sucker for fancy stationery. It’s going to be hard to chose which one to use this year for sure.

So be sure to check out Tiny Prints for your Holiday Card needs this year. I’m sure you’ll find more than a few cards you just LOVE.

Disclosure: I received a Tiny Prints credit in exchange for this post. The opinions expressed are 100% mine and honest. No other compensation was received.

Loving Fall :: Our New Tree

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 18:22:00 +0000

We had one heck of a wind storm in July 2011. It wiped out so many trees on our street, including the one right in front of our house.

It was a Bradford Pear tree. If you don’t know about them, they are cute little fat trees that are commonly planted in newer neighborhoods. They grow fast and dense. The problem starts when they get a too top heavy from lack of pruning. Unfortunately, these trees are often planted on the “city side” of the street and therefore pruning isn’t really a priority. One major storm and down they go.

I only knew about them because my parents had one our my childhood home. It had a short thick trunk and a beautifully (top heavy) top. Then we had an ice storm which added more weight to it. Oh, I also forgot to mention that these trees sometimes fail to shed their leaves completely in the fall, so the ice just clings to it! So, the ice, plus the wind and that tree came right through the dinning room picture window. Scary!!

So when we moved into our house I knew that our lush and quickly growing Bradford tree’s days were numbered. And then last summer, my fears came true.

Crazy gusty wind storm with nothing to slow it down but a sea of suburbia Bradford Pear trees. Several other Bradford trees were lost in this storm. In fact, this landed right in front of our driveway from another neighbors tree…

The worst thing about it was that again, the tree was on the “city side”. You basically have to beg the city to come and take it down. This was JULY 2011! You would have thought they could squeeze us in before winter. They did come around and remove the broken part. However, we were left with half a tree smack dab in front of our house for the entire winter. It was kind of like Two-Face. One side looked normal…the other was completely gone. Wish I had a picture, but it wasn’t exactly a proud homeowner moment.

Finally this spring, the city came and took the sad thing down. We were hoping to plant a tree right away. Unfortunately it took them several more months to remove the stump! Grrrrr.

Well, fall is a beautiful time to plant trees too and after the awful drought we had this summer, it was probably for the best anyway.

So here’s our little tree, showing off its fall color.

It is an ‘October Glory’ maple and I’m in love! Even though its still kind of pint sized, the color show is so gorgeous!

We picked it for several reason. Obviously, the tree has glorious fall color. My mom has one in her yard and its just breathtaking. Secondly, this variety has medium to fast growth, so we might actually get some shade out of it in our lifetime.

I also love the idea that we’ve kind of made our mark on this street forever. My parent planted several trees at my childhood home and its fun to go back and see how huge they are now.

One last shot for fun…

Happy fall everyone!

One Rotisserie Chicken = Multiple Meals and Homemade Stock

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:47:00 +0000

Our local grocery store often sells rotisserie chickens for $5. Sometimes even less! When they are on sale like this, I grab at least one. Do you know there are SO many ways to utilize this meal starter besides the obvious chicken and a side of veggies?

For example, the last time I picked up a rotisserie chicken, I pulled all the meat off the bones (aka pickin’ the bird), keeping the breasts separate from the rest of the meat. That night I used the breast meat for chicken wraps with an assortment of veggies, cheeses and dressings.

Then, I used the rest of the chicken meat for a healthy chicken noodle soup recipe, utilizing the bones from the rotisserie chicken to make homemade chicken stock. Sure, making stock might sound daunting, but its much easier than I imagined. Here’s the resulting stock from my first try using only one rotisserie carcass…

And the yummy resulting soup that I made with my very first batch of stock…

Derek said that this was the most delicious chicken noodle soup that I’ve ever made. That’s HUGE coming from my “It’s ok.” hubby. I think it’s the stock. It seriously seemed to add a whole load of flavor compared to my usual canned broth based soup. I decided then and there that I would be repeating my stock recipe. To make a larger batch, I saved bones in freezer bags whenever we ate bone-in chicken. This includes chicken leg quarters, split breasts or whole chickens.

When I made this soup, I happened to have zucchini and yellow squash so that’s what I put in it. I feel like soup recipes, especially ones that contain a few different vegetables, are made to be adjusted and suited to the season and tastes of the family. Get creative and toss in whatever you enjoy!

Chicken Noodle Soup with Vegetables

3 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 medium white onion, finely chopped
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 each yellow squash and zucchini, cut into rounds and then halved
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
6 cups chicken stock or broth (I used some homemade stock and some canned broth)
1 1/2 cups green beans, frozen
1 1/2 cups corn, frozen
6 oz. No-Yolk wide noodles, uncooked
1 teaspoon hot sauce (read this somewhere but it really adds just a hint of flavor, no heat)
2+ cups chicken meat (mine was mostly dark meat leftover from my rotisserie chicken)
Pinches of salt, fresh ground black pepper
1 –2 teaspoons of dill, dried (optional)

Place oil into a large stock pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion, carrots, zucchini, yellow squash in the oil. Cook and stir until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in fresh garlic; mix it for 30 seconds and then stir in the stock or broth.
Increase heat until it just starts to boil. Add in the green beans and corn, bringing mixture back to a boil.
Stir in noodles and cook for a few minutes less that the package directions.
Finally, add hot sauce, chicken, and seasonings to taste. Add dill if using. Serve immediately.

And now onto to the stock...

Homemade Chicken Stock

3+ chicken carcasses
2 carrots, halved
2 stalks of celery, halved
1 large onion, quartered
2 bay leaves
water

Place chicken bones at the bottom of a large stock pot.
Add carrots, celery and onion.
Add water until everything is covered plus two inches higher.
Bring to a low gentle boil and skim off any dark foam that rises to the top of the pot.
Lower temperature and continue to simmer for 4 hours, skimming foam as needed. Do NOT boil! Add one cup or two of water if liquid levels get low.
Remove from heat, strain and discard all bones, vegetables and solids through a sieve.
Let resulting stock cool in the fridge overnight.
Skim solidified fat and discard. Use right away or refrigerate for up two 2 days. Can be frozen for up to 3 months.

A few tips…

Save chicken carcasses and bones in the freezer until you have enough to make a nice big pot of stock. I saved bones from chicken leg quarters and split chicken breasts along with my rotisserie chicken carcasses.
After the stock has cooled, it will become gelatinous. (See picture below) And this, believe it or not, is a good thing. You can read why stock is so beneficial here and here. I’m sold!
Leave the skins on the onions and carrots. They add more flavor!
I prefer not to add salt to the stock. That way I can add salt as needed to my future dishes. Plus, there already will be some salt from the rotisserie bits.
You can also add a ‘bouquet garni”, which is basically fresh herbs tied together and simmered along with the bones and veggies to add more flavor. I don’t usually have these items fresh from day to day, but would love to try this addition sometime.

Snapped this picture this morning of my second attempt at homemade stock.

Gelatinous. Check! This time I used a lot of saved up bones and it made twice as much stock. I reserved enough to make soup tomorrow and then froze the rest. Such an easy project with HUGE payoffs.

So there you have it…rotisserie chicken = multiple meals. And I really didn’t even touch the countless possibilities. We’ve used rotisserie chickens for everything from tacos to casseroles. Just remember…save those bones!

Pinterest Cooking :: White Chicken Enchiladas

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 14:32:00 +0000

Is it crazy weird to admit that I’ve never made enchiladas before? Blame on the country mouse thing I suppose. I’ve certainly eaten them in several Mexican joints over the years, I just never tried my hand at them at home before. So I ran across a pin claiming “The BEST white chicken enchilada EVER” and had to check it out. The ingredients were super simple and blogger Joyful Momma claims that its kid friendly. I’m in.

White Chicken Enchiladas (from Joyful Momma)

10 soft taco shells (I actually used corn enchilada shells that I unexpectedly found.)
2 cups cooked, shredded chicken (SEE THE END OF POST)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
3 Tbsp. butter
3 Tbsp. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan or casserole dish.

2. Mix chicken and 1 cup cheese. Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

3. In a sauce pan, melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute. Add broth and whisk until smooth. Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

4. Stir in sour cream and chilies. To avoid curdling,be careful not to boil.

5. Pour sauce over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

6. Bake 22 min and then under high broil for 3 min to brown the cheese.

Shredded Chicken:

This recipe calls for 2 cups of shredded chicken. Of course the easiest route would be to use rotisserie chicken and I might do that in the future. HOwever, this time I already had two chicken breasts thawed so I used those. I seasoned them with cumin, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper. Then I cooked them until they well browned in a skillet with a little canola oil. Next, I added enough water to the skillet to cover them half way, a few squirts of lime juice, put a lid on the skillet and braised them until they were completely cooked, turning once. This adds moisture to the chicken and makes them easier to shred. Sorry I didn’t take pictures of this step.

They were a hit! I was surprised how much the boys were loving this recipe. The chilies are very mild and only add a little more flavor to the dish. I did a little browsing of other white enchiladas and might try some variations on this recipe in the future. For instance, adding onions to the chicken mixture. Also, it seems like this recipe is all over Pinterest from different bloggers. Does anyone know its original source? I think it’s a very similar, yet simplified version of PW’s White Enchiladas. Her version is a little more labor intensive, but the pictures say it all. YUM!

Hope you enjoyed this culinary not-so-adventurous adventure of mine. Just proves once again, your kids will eat what you provide. Just keep trying!

L’s Room: “I’m not a baby anymore” Updates and Mod Podge Image Transfer

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:19:00 +0000

Lanham’s room was one of the very first rooms we painted when we bought our house. It was dark DARK blue on two walls and it felt like a cave when we first saw it. We painted it a pale blue. A blue that I thought at the time was a “mature” blue, not baby blue. Turns out that over time, it looked more baby boy blue than I thought.

Here’s a picture of what it used to look like when we painted it 6+ years ago.

The childish (according to Lanham) factor paired with wear and tear over time, meant a repainting job was due for his room. While I was at it, I talked to Lanham about his current baseball theme. He still wanted to keep the baseball room, but we both agreed that it needed to be “tweened” up a bit.

The “I’m not a baby anymore” Plan:

Paint – updated color that he/we can live with through the tween/teen years
Shelving – a place to put all of his favorite trophies and trinkets
Artwork and Team Pennants – update the artwork and add his favorite team pennants to the walls
New Blinds – his room is the last room to get new blinds

Obviously we started with the paint choice, but I’ll get to that later when I reveal the entire room. For now, I’d like to share how I reworked some of his “baby” baseball art into “cooler” big kid art.

We had these two canvas pieces from his original room.

They’re very cute and I thought about donating them. However, they were in such great shape I thought I should try to reuse the canvases to save a few bucks. New blank canvases alone aren’t cheap.

After spray painting both of the canvases, I decided the best plan would be to try out my photo transfer technique that I used before with portraits I took of the boys. I was actually excited to try the transfer technique again and wanted to answer some questions for my readers. It seems that some of you have had trouble using my transfer method, so I wanted to be sure that it actually still worked for me too.

Here’s one of the images just before I applied the Mod Podge…

A few differences this this time around…

1) Before, I had only used black and white images, so I was a little nervous about the red dot in the above image. Crossed fingers, hoped for the best.

2) Any part of paper that you use in the transfer process will attach to the canvas, even if there aren’t any images in certain spots. There will be dried Mod Podge in the spaces that are white on your print out. I trimmed my images pretty tight this time.

3) My images contained words and logos this time, so I printed my images in reverse. This will allow them to transfer in the correct way.

After applying the Mod Podge and placing my images, I let the canvases sit overnight just like I did in the past.

The next day, I began the tedious rubbing process. When I sprayed the images with water, there was a pink tint and I got a little worried.

However, once I started rubbing off the paper, the images were the nice dark black that I wanted. Woo hoo!

I added a few accents to each canvas using craft paint, bases on one and a red stripe on the other.

There is still a ghost-like appearance to the transferred images, but that’s normal and I kind of like the old worn look that it brings to the artwork.

Here’s the second smaller canvas…

The red dot didn’t really cause any trouble during the transfer process. When I tried to remove the excess Mod Podge and air bubbles, some of the Mod Podge that seeped out was a slight pinky color. That didn’t effect the resulting image transfer though, minus a small amount of bleeding. To make the dot pop, I used some of the same red paint from the stripe.

Lanham LOVES the new White Sox artwork and it looks great in his new big kid tween room. Can’t wait to share the rest of our room updates soon!

Oh and I have to say that I was happy to have this process work out for my the second time around. Please please PLEASE email me with any questions or concerns that you’re having with this process. I’d love to help!

Check out my complete Mod Podge Image Transfer Tutorial for step by step instructions!

Pinterest FAIL! Homemade Gel Freshener

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 18:31:00 +0000

Disclosure of both the good, the bad and the ugly is something I enjoy seeing in blogland. So, I’m here today to share my most current Pinterest FAIL!

We have two stinky boys in our house. I mean seriously…what IS it with boys? And mine are still little boys…is this going to get worse? ugh.

To fight the stinky fight, I’m a big fan of the store bought smelly things that don’t require electricity. Why no plugin's? Well, once the boys turned one of my Glade oil diffusers upside down and the oil leaked all over the floor. Not pretty. Pretty smelling, but not pretty to look at or clean up. Especially since the oil was Harvest Apple…which is RED!

Those smelly dodads add up. So, homemade gel freshener? Why not! Sounded like a great idea to me.

Here’s the original Pin…

Source: tipnut.com via Kelly on Pinterest

It sounded simple enough. I followed the directions and putting it all together went really well. Until I took a peek inside of one of the jars this week…

EWWWWWWW! Mold!

I checked the rest of the jars and they all had mold. It didn’t help that the food coloring I chose was a bright great either.

This all happened in less than two weeks time and since there is a significant amount of mold, I assume the molds been in them for at least a week. Yuck!

Supposedly the addition of salt will keep mold at bay, but I added salt and STILL got this science project. I know some recipes called for alcohol and maybe that would help. Until then, Glad and Febreeze will be getting some moo-lah from us for the time being.

Any suggestions on this one? Any unwanted science experiments in your home?

Happy Birthday to My Beloved D-man!

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Superdad.

Superhubs.

Superstripey Superfriend.

Supercute.

Superfunny.

Superstud Slip-n-Slide Extraordinaire.

Happy Birthday to my wonderful hubby! I’m making him his favorites for dinner tonight…baked manicotti and his yearly chocolate pie.
Hope you have a SUPER day babe! We love you!

Back to Bread Making – Challah Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 01:52:00 +0000

We’ve had a little cold snap here, a sure sign that fall officially starts tomorrow. So, I’m embracing this crisp fall weather and making my Italian Tortellini Soup tonight. And what goes better with soup than homemade bread?

I wanted to try something new and saw this lovely challah recipe over at one of my favorite blogs, Dinner A Love Story. Jenny used her cousins recipe that seems to be a proven winner and I had to give it a try.

Challah is basically a beautiful braided yeast bread that has a slightly sweet taste and contains eggs. Now, I didn’t do the traditional elaborate double braid seen in the original recipe. Shoot…I have trouble making a normal looking regular braided loaf (see the sad bump in this current loaf below). I blame it on having boys. And the fact that I don’t braid my own hair either. And my mom didn’t braid my hair much (sorry mom, but true). We’re a long line of non-braiders.

I digress.

Bread. Beautiful, shiny challah bread. On the menu tonight at our house. I was delighted at how easy it was to put together.

Here it is right before baking…

And the resulting yumminess…

Don’t mind her bump…it all tastes the same.

I think I’m becoming more confortable with yeast breads. They don’t scare me. Nope.

Oh and I followed the directions and let all the kneading happen in the mixer. Worked out perfect. Love that! Hate kneading. Evidence? Here and Here. I also cut the recipe in half, which makes one nice loaf.

Jewish bread with Italian soup? Sure, why not! I’m only a few days past Rosh Hashanah. Thanks to Jenny at DALS for introducing me to a home run once again!

Cranberry Cheesecake Bars

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 13:02:00 +0000

We are blessed to be able to visit my in-laws’ lake house each summer. I can’t thank them enough for the long lazy memory filled weekends they have given to us over the years.

So, one thing I can do is cook and I usually try to bring something to enjoy on each visit. On our last visit, I made these delicious Cranberry Cheesecake Bars that I found in Redbook magazine of all places. Actually, it was a nice little segment using a simple crust recipe five different ways. I had all of the ingredients on hand for this particular bar and got busy.

Super simple and delicious! They were like little mini cheesecakes and one was seriously not enough. Beware!

Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars (from Redbook magazine)

Ingredients

Orange Crust

1 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
3/4 cup(s) (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon(s) grated orange zest
1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
Yolk from 1 large egg
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

Topping

2 package(s) (8 ounces each) light cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup(s) light sour cream
2 tablespoon(s) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
1 can(s) (8-ounce) jellied cranberry sauce

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13- by 9-inch baking pan with foil, extending foil 2 inches beyond pan at both ends. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat butter and remaining mixture of ingredients with the paddle attachment of a mixer on medium speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes. On low speed, beat in flour mixture, scraping sides of the bowl until dough comes together. Drop small clumps of dough evenly into prepared pan. With floured fingers, press dough into even layer.
Bake 20 minutes or until surface is golden and set. Remove crust, keeping the oven on.
Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
Use the paddle attachment of a mixer on medium speed to beat cream cheese and sugar until creamy and smooth. On low speed, beat in eggs, then sour cream, flour, and vanilla until blended and smooth.
Whisk cranberry sauce in a small bowl until smooth. Stir in 3 tablespoons of the cheesecake batter until blended. Pour the remaining white batter over the warm crust, then spoon small dollops of the cranberry batter over the white batter and drag a small spatula across the surface until it looks marbled.
Bake 36 minutes or until surface looks dry and is set. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or until firm and cold.
Lift ends of foil to transfer to a cutting board. Cut lengthwise into 6 equal strips, about 1 1/2 inches wide. Cut each strip into 6 bars.

Linking up…

One Last Summer Getaway - Our Family’s Trip to Adler Planetarium

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 18:46:00 +0000

As most of you know, we are way out in the Chicago burbs, but me and the hubs are really into getting the kids to the city as much as possible. I grew up about 3 hours south of Chicago and didn’t visit it very often back then. We live close enough that there is no excuse to not have them see all that our great city has to offer. And they love it!

So, when Adler Planetarium contacted me about an opportunity to visit them one weekend, I jumped at the chance! My husband had visited the planetarium years ago in school, but this was a first visit for me and the kiddos.

We were all so excited to get away for a night after finishing our first full week of school. Upon checking into the beautiful Swissotel, the kids ran to the window to check out the spectacular view of Lake Michigan and Navy Pier.

Even though we go downtown pretty often, we rarely stay overnight. This was a treat for all of us and the novelty of it wasn’t lost on the boys.

After eating a lovely complimentary snack in our room, we headed out for dinner. The walk to Lou Malnati’s worked up quite an appetite in all of us.

We’re usually thin crust pizza people, so digging into the giant deep dish slices at Lou’s was a yummy break from the norm. The look on the boys’ faces when the giant deep dish arrived was priceless!

The next morning we got up and enjoyed some fun time at Swissotel’s pool.

That’s a mosaic tile behind Lanham, btw. The pool is on the 42nd floor and has almost 360 degree views of the city. Just gorgeous! I loved the work out area too. Unfortunately I forgot my workout gear and I think I could have used a little burn after all that pizza the night before. Oh well. Relax Sabrina. RELAX!

Next stop, Adler Planetarium.

I’ve said this before, but I love Chicago! The museum campus in itself is gorgeous. The magnificent old buildings and classic architecture set right up next to the lake. Beautiful!

Adler Planetarium has both interactive exhibits and shows to enjoy . We first picked out our show times and headed into the exhibits. Most of the shows are 20 minutes each, so you can stagger them throughout the day and visit the planetariums many exhibits in between.

And there is SO many things to see.

We checked out the “Our Solar System” exhibit first.

I loved how all the planets were hanging up this huge atrium overlooking the lake.

We ate lunch at Adler’s Café Galileo’s. I was really impressed by the variety of their menu. Not your typical burgers and fries. There were wraps, salads and of course great options for kids. After lunch, we went to see our first show, “Welcome to the Unviverse”.

The show really made me feel very VERY tiny and the vastness of our universe is kind of mind boggling. Lanham loved how it made feel like we were flying through space!

We explored some more and went to our second show, “Deep Space Adventure, The Searcher”. The show takes you through deep space with another intelligent being as your guide.

I think the kids enjoyed the Planet Explorers area of Adler the most.

It seemed to go on forever! A very interactive learning/play zone for kids of all ages.

There is a rocket ship where the boys could pretend to be astronauts and that totally got into working on their “mission”. Big BIG fans! We had to pull them away to make it to our last show, “3D Sun”.

There were so many things to check out at that we couldn’t possibly see it all in one day, so we will definitely be going back!

To end the day, we took a boat tour ride, courtesy of Shoreline Sightseeing, from the museum campus to Navy Pier.

The boat tour gave me a chance to take some great shots of the city skyline.

It was a pretty hot day in Chicago, so the boat ride on Lake Michigan was a nice place to cool off.

This trip was truly a fun packed quick getaway for the family and we loved every minute! A huge thanks to Adler Planetarium for making this weekend a really special treat. You can get more info on the planetarium at their website or check out their Facebook page. We also want to thank the Swissotel, Lou Malnati’s and Shoreline Sightseeing for their generous contributions to our family night away. We enjoyed it all so much!

Check out addition pictures of our fabulous weekend!

Disclosure: I received this visit in exchange for my review. All opinions are 100% my own and no other monetary compensation was received.