Pintest

Colorful Christmas Mantle

2014-01-03T14:03:00.001-08:00

I like color, fun, and bright in the house during Christmas. Using glitter present garland, stocking holders, regular garland, and some fun picks I was able to create this mantle display. Of course, the wreath is from a previous year that matches well.

Christmas Candy Cane Wreath

2014-01-03T13:43:00.001-08:00

Wreaths are really my favorite part of any holiday. Dressing them and making them match a theme is so much fun!

This year, we decided to go with a candy cane theme on our house and we definitely needed a wreath to match! Here is what I came up with using a regular wreath, a few picks I picked up at the local craft store, plastic candy canes, and of course ribbon!

Old Mirror - New Chalkboard!

2013-04-08T15:57:00.001-07:00

I came into contact with this old beautiful mirror a little while ago. The only problem? There was no glass in it any longer. It sat in my living room for months just waiting to be re-purposed but I couldn't figure out what to do with it.

Here is the before:

After much thinking, I painted it with chalkboard paint I had left over in the garage and took off to find the perfect poem. Here is the final result and it was not as hard as you would think! I found a tutorial that suggested keeping the chalkboard damp as you wrote on it and I would suggest it too. It made the writing neater and easier to continue the writing.

Hallway Collage

2013-04-08T15:35:00.002-07:00

After seeing so many amazing posts with canvas collages, I knew I needed to do one ASAP in my upstairs hallway. You can see this wall from downstairs as well, so it had to look fabulous. I found a couple great collages and waited for a good coupon to come my way.

Well the day came last week when I received 70% off of an online canvas people site and I went on my way with ordering. Imagine my frustration though when every.single.collage I pinned had a size canvas on it that this company did not offer! So to my computer I went and worked hard to find a good amount of canvas that would fit my wall while utilizing the coupon I needed.

Here was the result! I am so happy with it (see below for dimensions)

My wall is 88" long

The two outer pictures are 16x16

The next ones are 11x11

And the large center one is 18x24

I hope this helps someone else on their canvas design journey!

Little Mermaid 5th birthday

2013-03-19T12:14:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was my daughter's 5th birthday and we decided to go all out for it. We even had Ariel attending the royal celebration! I searched all over pinterest for ideas for a classy, fun, beautiful party and here was the outcome!

Royal guests were directed into the clubhouse. I made this sign from scrap wood, some tulle, and flowers with shells glued inside for a beach effect.

Once inside, the royal guests were able to select wands and crowns (for the girls) while the boys were able to pick out an eye patch and sword.

The dessert table was a huge success! I worked on cupcakes with brown sugar on top and chocolate shells all week. The chocolate shells were very easy to make with molding chocolate (bought at a local craft store) and a plastic mold also bought at the craft store. I handmade the seaweed as well. This was probably the easiest part of the party! I found tulle type material at the local fabric store (on clearance even) and cut into long strips. I tried to make the edges uneven for a better seaweed effect. Then I took the strands and sewed a straight line down the middle so it would bunch up. Looked great and got a ton of compliments on it!

The blue cups are actually blue jello with a sweetish fish inside. Also easy to make and were a big hit. Just take blue jello, refrigerate, and right before serving cut a slit in the top and place the fish inside.

The marshmallow octopus were not hard to make at all but, were time consuming. Making sure all parts of the marshmallow was covered and making sure the legs were long enough to show after the marshmallow was placed on top. I did these 2 days before and stored in an air tight container.

Rock candy made a nice effect to the table and the bonus was I didn't have to do anything to it other than place in a nice cup!

Stained and decorated treasure chest with the party favors in and around. I decided on small sand toys along with a bottlecap necklace for each kid. The girls had princesses to chose from while the boys had pirate necklaces.

Fall wreath

2012-08-16T15:53:00.001-07:00

With the kids going back to school, the leaves falling off the trees, and the ~~weather cooling down~~ scorching heat, it is starting to feel like fall is coming! It was time to pull down my summer time sandals on my door and put up a new wreath. I searched far and wide on pinterest for a good fall/autumn wreath but, nothing really struck me as my style. What to do, what to do... make my own of course! I scrolled through pages of ideas and came up with something that kind of mixed a bunch together. A trip to the craft store was in my future.

Here is what you need:
-wreath (I always buy the green foam ones since they are cheaper)
-bag of spanish moss
-floral bunches (I bought two with mixes in them)
-small foam pumpkins or other veggie that represents fall to you
-yarn (this is the standard cheaper yarn in a burnt orange)
-letter
-arcyrlic paint
-round sponge brush
-spray glue (I used elmers)
-hot glue gun

TOTAL: $40 and I have enough to make something else

This is what's left after making the wreath.

-----------------------------------------
Instructions:

Step One: Use small round sponge brush to paint polka dots on wooden letter. Set aside to dry.

Step Two: Wrap yarn tightly around the wreath. Go about two-thirds around the wreath and make a knot at the end. I made an indent with my nail so I knew where to stop.

Step Three: Spray glue on the part of the wreath that does not have any yarn on it and carefully place moss. Make sure to not have any wreath showing (other than the back side which is fine).

Step Four: Pull the flowers and leaves off of the floral bunches and figure out where they would look best in the moss part of your wreath.

Step Five: Use the hot glue gun to place said pieces in step four.

Step Six: Tie the wooden letter with the same yarn used on the wreath. Tie tightly around the wreath.

Step Seven: Use yarn or ribbon to make the top hanging part of the wreath and tie off.

Step Eight: ENJOY!

Fruit ice pops

2012-05-19T23:44:00.003-07:00

Found these on pinterest and knew they would be a big hit with my kids, since they love ice pops!! We try to avoid artificial colors in our house since it makes my boys go a bit loco! We made them in the evening, and the first thing in the morning, the kids ran to the freezer to check if they were ready! I was able to save them for a playdate we had, and all the kids enjoyed them. The only thing I did differently was to cut the juice with water to reduce the sugar.

Original pin is from here
http://www.lilsugar.com/How-Make-Fresh-Fruit-Popsicles-18393455

Cut up fruit, we also used fresh strawberries and kiwi, some frozen blueberries and grapes I had in the freezer.

Fill the mold with the cut up fruit, then fill with juice/water mix, then add the sticks, we lost a handle, so made do with a Popsicle stick!

One of the kids enjoying the finished product!!

Cute homemade card

2012-05-19T23:37:00.002-07:00

Found this super cute idea for cards to make from the kids for the grandmas for Mother's day.

Found the idea here
http://theeducatorsspinonit.blogspot.com/2011/09/grandparents-day-card.html

This is the version we made, basically took some scrap paper, and then got the kids to do their handprints, added a photo, and voila, a super cute card the grandmas loved!! I also made extras so I could keep them for myself!!

Kitchen Chalkboard

2012-05-18T08:15:00.001-07:00

Chalkboards are all the craze right now. I loved the idea of having a chalkboard on the kitchen wall but I just could not bring myself to paint the wall with black. I took down a bunch of pictures to re-decorate a couple months ago and this frame was left over. The inspiration hit when I saw it sitting at the top of the stairs, empty, and such a big beautiful frame.

Taking out the glass was the hardest part (believe it or not) as the manufacturer put the tabs in after they put the glass in. Once the glass was carefully removed, I painted the backing of the frame (it was a light weight wood) with chalkboard paint (3 coats) and let it dry. Once it was dry, I placed back in the frame and hung up. My only quirk with it is when I write against the grain, it takes a little more effort. But all in all, it works just as well as it needs to!

Viola! A beautiful framed chalkboard in the kitchen without painting the wall!

Mexican Pizza

2012-05-17T11:42:00.004-07:00

Looking around on Pinterest the other day for a recipe, I came across a dish that looked SO good and easy to make! Out of all the ingredients I only needed the crescent rolls so I sent my husband on a quick grocery store run. The original recipe can be found here. The only thing I changed was no green onions and I put the tomatoes under the cheese. The kids (all 3 of them) had seconds and my husband scraped off the olives and had thirds on it! Also, we do not normally eat red meat but I thought I would stick with the recipe the first time through. Next time will be with ground turkey.

Pretty good, easy, fast dish if you ask me!

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground beef

1 envelope taco seasoning mix

2 (8 oz.) cans Pillsbury crescent rolls

1 (16 oz.) can refried beans (I used the jalapeño kind)

2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup sliced black olives

4 green onions, chopped

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Brown ground beef or turkey and drain. Add any taco seasoning to the ground meat according to the package directions.

Unroll crescent rolls into rectangles. Place in ungreased 11 1/2 inch x 16 1/2 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Press dough over the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust. Bake at 375 oven for 11 to 13

minutes or just until golden brown (this took about 15 minutes for me).

Microwave beans in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Carefully spread beans over warm crust creating a thin layer.

Top with cooked meat mixture, sprinkle with cheese followed by tomatoes, black olives and green onion. Return to oven for 3-6 more minutes until cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Custom initial

2012-05-09T11:56:00.002-07:00

As I am sure you have seen the initial of your last name displayed is very "in" right now. I, personally, love the look but everyone has one. Thinking about what I could possibly do to make it stand out, I thought about scrapbooking paper! It took less than 20 minutes to do (which is good if you have little kids like me) all while being easy and inexpensive.

What you will need:

Wooden initial - Mine was from Michaels and cost under $3
Scrapbooking Paper cut up squares - I have a bunch that I saved from other projects or you can just cut up 3 pages into squares and rectangles.
Mod Podge
Small Paint Brush
Spray Adhesive

What you do:

Lay your wooden initial down on a clean surface.
Pick up a retangle and figure out where it would fit best. You may need to trim here and there but really the more colors and shapes the better anyway!
Mod Podge each strip with paint brush and lay down on letter.
Once you have them down go over the seams with more mod podge making sure to spread evenly to not leave white streaks.
Take outside and spray with adhesive
Let dry :-)

Super easy and you can customize to the colors of your home or room it will be displayed in.

ENJOY!

Magnetic Chalkboard

2012-05-07T12:49:00.003-07:00

As I am sure you have all seen the oil drip pan magnetic board is all over Pinterest at the moment. I thought it was a good idea but I am not a fan of the bright silver hanging on a wall. After a lot of thought, I came to the decision to paint the pan with chalkboard paint. What an amazing deal to have a huge magnetic chalkboard for the kids for under $30!

Here are some examples floating around from Pinterest at the moment. You can click the picture and it will take you to the original source.

I set about on my project. Laying the oil drip pan flat on our outdoor table, we painted 3 coats of the chalkboard paint and let dry for 24 hours (it was in the sun also, so I am sure it dried pretty quickly). Afterwards, I brought it inside and hung up with no damage 2 way tape to the wall. I was a little skeptical it would hold but so far so good and it feels pretty sturdy. I kept staring at the board thinking it needed something else. Digging through our stash of paint, I discovered a paint sample 1/2 pint I bought in the oops paint section a while back (it was 50 cents and who can resist that?!). Taping off the edges of the pan with painters tape (I only use the green tape now!) and set about to paint the edges. I am very happy with the finished product, and so are my kids!

Oil Drip Pan - $10 at Walmart
Chalkboard Paint - $15 (for a lot more than I used so this can be used for several other projects)
Painters Tape - $0 (already had)
Paint - $0 (already had)
TOTAL - $25

Home inspiration

2012-04-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Home inspiration. Okay, so we moved to our home when I was 22 weeks pregnant with our twins and had an almost 2 year old running around. House decorating got put on hold for a little while... well honestly until recently. My living room is the first room you see when you walk in the door and really left something to be desired.

I did what any person would do, and enlisted to help of my facebook friends. Everyone had a suggestion: painting the walls, putting up art work, moving things around. Then one friend asked if she could come over to help me. And that she did! Not only did she come with suggestions but she brought things with her to show me what it would look like. I took her ideas and ran with it! The end product, I am definitely proud of and wanted to show you what under $200 in just a few purchases can really do to a home!

Ikea white shadow frames with matting: $19.99 each. Scrapbooking paper: already on hand (but if you bought it would be about $1 each). Throw pillows from discount store: $40 total. Tree bought 2nd hand for $20. The lamp was being thrown out by its owner since the shade broke. It was a brown color. We changed the color (spray paint) and glued the shade back together and viola!

Hope this inspires you to look around 2nd hand and keep your eyes peeled for some good deals!

Chicken Thigh Quick Meal

2012-04-20T20:24:00.001-07:00

While at Costco the other day I saw some chicken thighs and thought I could find something to do with them. We normally eat chicken breasts so this would be fun to find a new recipe. This quick meal comes from All Recipes with a few modifications of my own.

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter (a full stick)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley

6-7 chicken thighs (mine were bone-in and had skin)

Preheat the oven broiler. I had it set on the convection oven. Lightly grease a baking pan (I use Pam butter flavor)

In a microwave safe bowl, mix the butter, soy sauce, pepper, and parsley. On high, I microwaved for 1 minute, stirred, and returned for 30 more seconds.

Arrange chicken on the baking pan, and coat with the butter mixture, reserving some of the mixture for basting.

Broil chicken for 30 minutes in preheated oven, until juices run clear, turning every 5 minutes and basting with remaining butter mixture. Sprinkle with parsley to serve.

I paired this with the glaze carrot recipe I will be writing right after this as well as Radiatori noodles. This is a great meal to pair with rice though as well.

Enjoy!

Lemon Chicken

2012-04-14T20:20:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I have had this one recipe pinned for awhile now. Today, I decided to give it a shot. Here is the original recipe, and below is what I actually did. I had one fresh lemon on hand so I improvised a little bit and my husband is allergic to garlic so you will see I omit that ingredient most of the time.

Recipe:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup white wine

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1½ teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 boneless chicken breasts, skinless

1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, turn off the heat, add the white wine, lemon zest, lemon juice, oregano, thyme, and 1 teaspoon salt and pour into a 9 X 12-inch baking dish.

Pat the chicken breasts dry and place them smooth side up over the sauce. Brush the chicken breasts with olive oil and sprinkle them liberally with salt and pepper. Cut the lemon in 8 wedges and tuck it among the pieces of chicken.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken breasts, until the chicken is done and the skin is lightly browned. If the chicken isn’t browned enough, put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and serve hot with the pan juices.

Now because I used skinless, it did not brown (even with going in the broiler). I also thought I covered the breasts in salt but it could have used more, so don't be afraid of that step like I was. The final outcome was good. I have had tastier chicken but this was juicy and was rather healthy. My 2 year old twins gobbled it up and asked for seconds. I also paired with rice this time but I think this is a dish more suited for potatoes.

Easter Egg garland

2012-04-12T23:56:00.001-07:00

Got this idea from pinterest, and it was a quick and easy project. The first time I tried it I used thread, but my son pulled on it and it broke. I re-did it using ribbon to be able to keep it up until Easter! I even put it in my Easter box and plan to bring it out next year! This is a bad pic, but the only one I have.

Here is the original pin

Nutella, Strawberry & Banana crepes

2012-04-12T23:51:00.002-07:00

This is was of my most favorite dishes I have EVER made, I seriously think I could eat this everyday!

It looks great and is fairly easy to make. This is too good to only be made on holidays! I made this for Easter morning, and can't wait to make it again!!

Here is where I found the recipe.

BASIC CREPE (recipe via)
What you need:
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp melted butter
What you do:
1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together flour and eggs (it’ll obviously be very thick and paste-y).
2. Slowly mix in the milk and water, whisking constantly.
3. Add salt and butter; beat until smooth.
4. Heat your crepe pan or frying pan and oil lightly (you need to start working with the batter right away, or the butter will begin to congeal and make it lumpy).
5. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter into the center and then tilt the pan in a circular motion until the batter spreads out evenly. Important: do not walk away from the stove at any point during this process – it’s very speedy, and you need to monitor it closely.
6. Cook the crepe for 1-2 minutes, or until the first side is lightly golden, then loosen with a spatula, flip, and cook the other side.
I was able to get 5 crepes out of this – I filled two with Nutella, bananas, and strawberries, and sprinkled the other three with lemon juice and superfine sugar. Amaaaazing.

Seriously go make this NOW!!

Easter Egg Cupcakes

2012-04-12T23:43:00.003-07:00

So in this post I am actually combing two pins to share. I love mandarin cake, so decided to try this cake recipe and make cupcakes with it.
The original recipe can be found here.

Mandarin Magic Cake

Yield: 24 servings.
1 (18 oz.) yellow cake mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges and juice
1 (20 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 small box instant vanilla pudding mix
9 oz. Cool Whip
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, and mandarin oranges and juice; pour into a 9 by 13 inch greased and floured pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until done. Mix the whole can of pineapple along with the juices with pudding powder and Cool Whip. Spread over the cooled cake. Keep this cake refrigerated.

Now I skipped the frosting, because we are making these for an easter egg hunt and they must be kept refrigerated, but I have tried this frosting and it is delicious!!

Ingredients for the cupcakes

Ingredients for the frosting, I think mixed green food coloring to the coconut then we stuck it onto the frosted cupcakes, then added M&M eggs. It was fun to do with the kids!

They were perfect to take to the Karate school easter egg hunt potluck!

This is the link for the idea for the cupcakes.

Reward chart

2012-04-12T23:31:00.001-07:00

Now I have 4 year old twin boys and a 2 year old boy, and lately I've been feeling more like a drill Sargent or referee than a mum! I've tried a few different chore/reward chart, but most of them have been too complicated and/or too time consuming for me to stick to! Now I came across this one and it seems fairly simple. We created it today, and I've never seen my boys so excited about a reward chart. All night they were talking about the good things which would let them move up the chart! So I'm keeping my fingers crossed the excitement does not wear off!

The idea came from this site, via pinterest.

I started off with an assortment of card stock and also found some punch out letters to use. I gave my kids a clothespin each and had them decorate them with markers.

Here is the finished product, I just cut the rectangles from different colored card stock, then taped them together with painting tape. I might laminate it, or at least stick it onto cardboard for more strength. I then put a command strip hook on the side of our entertainment center and used a clip to hold it up. My list reads "Awesome, good job, smiley face, start, unhappy face, oh no!, warning and time out". Each morning the pins start on "start" and if they do something good, they get to move up one board, something bad, they go down one. Now once they get to time out, it's a time out. There are some things like hitting, which automatically go straight to time out. Each time they reach awesome, they get a marble in a jar. They can trade 10 marbles for 10 or 25 cents (have not decided on the monetary amount yet! I will do a follow up post in a couple of weeks to see how it works for us!

Oatmeal with fruit oven bake

2012-04-09T21:38:00.001-07:00

Here (from Inspired Taste) is the second half of our Easter breakfast! This was very sweet and a hit with all the kids (of course!) plus super easy to make. Our local store did not have any strawberries in stock so I made it with just bananas, which was fine but the bananas were not my favorite in this recipe. The Chinese 5 spice was found with the Chinese food in the grocery store, not with all the other spices.

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned rolled oats

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

1 teaspoon Chinese five spice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup walnut pieces, chopped

1 cup sliced strawberries

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 cups milk

1 large egg

3 tablespoons butter, melted

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 ripe banana, peeled, 1/2-inch slices

Preheat oven to 375°F and generously spray the inside of a 10-1/2 by 7 inch baking dish with cooking spray and place on a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, mix together the oats, sugar, baking powder, orange zest, Chinese five spice, salt, half the walnuts, half the strawberries and half the chocolate. (Save the other half of strawberries, walnuts and chocolate for the top of the oatmeal).

In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, butter and vanilla extract. Add the oat mixture to prepared baking dish. Arrange the remaining strawberries, walnuts and chocolate on top. Add the banana slices to the top then pour the milk mixture over everything. Gently shimmy/shake the baking dish to help the milk mixture go throughout the oats.

Bake 40 minutes or until the top is nicely golden brown and the milk mixture has set. For an extra tasty top, sprinkle a tablespoon or so of extra brown sugar on top then place back in the oven under the broiler and broil for 20-30 seconds. Serve warm with an extra sprinkle of sugar or drizzle of maple syrup.

Good overall but, next time I make this, I am planning on doing strawberries and blueberries for a different flavor.

Best BBQ Chicken

2012-04-09T21:38:00.000-07:00

We are a huge BBQ family. If the sun is shining (which is the majority of the year) we are typically BBQing or slow cooking! I was in search of a good marinade for chicken breast and came across this one on All Recipes. First let's go over the ingredients. Most of these I have just sitting in my pantry and fridge. Hopefully you do too. This is the full recipe but I highly suggest you split the recipe in half, which is what I am writing down for you. The full recipe is available with the link above.

Ingredients

3/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1-1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon finely minced fresh parsley
- 4-6 chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients except the chicken breast

The oil will begin to separate from the other liquids. It is okay.

I always pound the chicken breast before marinating for a juicer and faster cooking meat.

Pound the meat between two sheets of plastic until about 1/4" thick. This is what it should look like afterwards.

This is why I say to cut the recipe in half. This is 5 chicken boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

You can marinate for as little or as long as you would like. I typically let it sit in the fridge for 1-2 hours before cooking.

Place marinated chicken breast on the BBQ over low heat for 20-30 minutes.

Finished product!

I typically serve with veggies and either potatoes or rice. The best part is that the flavor of the meat goes with so many side dishes. Enjoy!

Easter Bunny Tracks

2012-04-08T14:23:00.002-07:00

Okay if you have little ones around and you do the Easter Bunny, now is the time to cover their eyes, send them out of the room, or come back when they are in bed! I am going to show you how to do the infamous bunny tracks in your home.

Things you need:

Pencil

1 piece of thick paper or cardboard

Scissors

Powder (baking soda, corn starch, baking powder, baby powder...)

Optional: Bunny feet template

To make stecil, you need a thicker paper (I use cardstock) as the powder is going to start to weight down the paper after a few tracks.

Trace bunny feet onto the cardstock with pencil. I free handed mine but you can find several templates through google images. Cut out the bunny feet by gently bending paper in half to get a small slit in the foot then cut around in a circle. This is slightly time consuming but, it does not need to be perfect.

Find the location you would like the bunny feet to start at and place your paper/cardboard down on the ground. Sprinkle powder (I used corn starch as it does not have a smell to it) in said location. Carefully lift stencil up in one upwards motion and move to the next hop spot. Continue until you get the the baskets.

Destroy all evidence of stencils and powder anywhere else in the house! Also remember that it is okay if the powder sprinkles out of the stencil a little, a bunny hopping down would cause that anyway!

Omelet Muffins

2012-04-08T12:09:00.002-07:00

This was the first year that I had to make a good Easter breakfast for the family. I quickly went through recipes trying to find a balance between healthy and sweet. In the end I decided to do two recipes: Omelet Muffins and Baked Oatmeal with Bananas.

Here is the Omelet Muffins. I do not normally eat eggs or sausage but I did eat these, they were delicious! Here is the original recipe from Neat Pins. The only thing I changed was not putting in broccoli. The final product was fluffy (not dry like I was afraid it would be). My 4 year old devoured two in one sitting. And I was also afraid they would stick to the pan and turn into basically scrambled eggs. They popped out really easily and kept their shape!

Ingredients1 pound Italian Sausage (sweet, mild, hot variety depending on your preference)
1 cup broccoli florets
8 large eggs
1/4 cup milk (I used 2% as that was what was in the house)
1/2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp baking powder
salt & pepper to taste
Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese as needed

Optional: 1 cup broccoli florets

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large saute pan, over medium high heat, brown Italian Sausage for about 5 minutes, or until the sausage is no longer pink. Remove from heat (if using, stir in broccoli)

In large bowl whisk together eggs, milk, oil and baking powder. Season with salt and pepper.

Lightly spray a 12 count muffin pan using Pam (I used the butter flavored ones). Spoon out the sausage evenly into each muffin.

Ladle the egg mixture over sausage and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

After 20 minutes....

Definitely a great recipe and worth a try!

Awesome Tub Scrub

2012-04-06T21:37:00.003-07:00

I found this Tub Scrub through Pinterest, but it is a Martha Steward recipe. This is my second time making it. It works really well and smells great!

Put one teaspoon of liquid soap and several drops of an antibacterial essential oil (such as tea tree, eucalyptus, rosemary, or peppermint) to one cup of baking soda. Add just enough water to form a paste, and use it with a sponge or brush to scrub bathtub surfaces.

I replaced the soap and essential oil with Dr. Bonners peppermint soap. Love Love Love this stuff!!! Warning, I do recommend using gloves, as I found it does dry my skin out a bit.

Vinegar

2012-04-06T21:34:00.000-07:00

After checking out lots of homemade cleaning recipes on Pinterest, I've decided vinegar is one of my most favorite homemade cleaning ingredients. Yes, the smell kinda sucks at first! But thankfully it does not make your house smell like vinegar once you have cleaned!!

2 of my most favorite uses, do not even leave a scent. I stopped buying a rinse agent for my dishwasher, and instead fill it will vinegar, and it does just a good a job, and I also used vinegar in the fabric softener dispenser in my washing machine. Now I totally did not believe it would work, but my towels came out super soft (with no vinegar scent!). It's cheap and antibacterial - win, win!!

I have some other homemade recipes, some are great and some have failed. Look for those posts coming soon!