Plans for the upcoming month(s)....

So I have alot I'd like to attempt this month so stay tuned! First things first is the cloth diapering of my 11 month old. Wish me luck! My cousin mailed me out a few gbaby diapers and I think a few others and I think my husbands cousin may be sending me a few fuzzibunz to try out. The goal is to figure out which I like best, and then make the switch. Not only to I always try to be more frugal, but If I can be environmentally conscious at the same time, then that's the route i'm taking.
Izzie and I have made a few plans for her home schooling for the next month. I think I will post the completed lesson plan on here next week. One option was to focus on learning about different countries around the world "Around the world in 30 days" if you will. The goal would be to boost cultural awareness and acceptance through learning utilizing art, math, music, food, books, and games. Any suggestions are always welcome.
I'm going to go ahead and put it out there, Im also going to TRY to be pretty ambitious on the homemade front. I launched Little Bugs Boutique last week, and have a few example items up for sale on the facebook page. obviously i'm going to try to keep adding to that this month if our budget allows me to purchase a few supplies. Im also going to be trying a number of recipes for homemade items that I have come across and I'll go ahead and let you guys know how they all work out so if you'd like to attempt it also you can, of I can let you know how awful things turn out and try to spare you the trouble.  if anyone has tried any of these things already I would love to hear your personal experience.

All Homemade from scratch :)

dishwasher detergent
Household cleaners (I already use a homemade wood polish, counter cleaner, and stainless steel cleaner,
                               which I will also share)
Graham crackers
Ritz crackers
saltine crackers
butter
mayonaise
dog treats
croutons
marshmallows
ricotta cheese
cinnamon raisin bread



I feel ambitious :) Anyone else try any homemade recipes that are awsome? anyone ever make yogurt? Thants one i;d like to try too but im a little scared to.
I mentioned to my husband that if we had our own house i would love to have egg laying hens. just 3 of them. he looked at me like i was crazy. Its not the first time ive mentioned it, but i think he was surprised that i haven't given up on the idea.  He begged that i don't stop shaving my armpits, come to think of it, id save alot of money on razors......... hehehehe lol

Easy AND Delish Homemade bread

     

I don't have a breadmaker. I wish I did, but I don't. I love making a good homemade bread, and absolutely nothing can compare to the smell of fresh bread baking. The recipe below is the one that I learned on. It was the first bread I ever made by hand, and it is still one of my all time favorites! Its got a bit of a crusty top, but a smooth soft center. yum! 

Ingredients

3/4 cup warm water

1 pkg active dry yeast

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vegetable shortening

1/2 cup milk

3 cups flour (approx.)

In large mixing bowl, mix yeast in warm water, stirring until completely. Add salt, sugar, shortening, and milk. Stir. Add 2 cups of the flour and mix well using hands or a mixer with bread hooks. Add flour until a cohesive dough forms, and the dough "chases" the mixers. Put dough in a buttered bowl turning so the top of the dough is also greased. Cover bowl with damp hand towel and let rise for 1 hour. After letting dough rise, punch it down in the bowl, then place it on a flowered surface and knead well. Place formed dough into a buttered bread pa. Cover again and let rise for 30 minutes. Uncover and score the top of the dough 3 times. Bake in preheated oven at 375 degrees for 30-45 minutes until browned.

Dont forget the basics....

 This past week I took a trip down memory lane. One of the most basic kids crafts/activities that there is. The pine cone bird feeder. My daughter, Izzie and her 2 best friends were so excited when we did these, I explained the project then sent them off in search of pine cones. When they got back and we were slathering on the peanut butter and making a huge birdseed mess all over my porch, the neighbor kids started gathering. They were asking what we were doing. Apparently most of them (not all) had never seen this basic project done. I was shocked. Me and my Izzie do this every summer. Its one way we ring in the warm weather, and bird watching season... I would never miss it, no matter how messy. The point here, don't forget the basics. Today is a day where memories are made. What kind of memories are you leaving your children?

The girls were so proud of their work!

Easter Sucess!!!!

Easter dinner was a total sucess! It was awesome! I picked up a bone-in shank portion on sale for $1.16/lb. I have never prepared one of these before, normally opting for the spiral sliced pre-cooked variety. When I opened it up IT HAD SKIN! EW!!!! I was completely grossed out. Ok, deep breath, we can deal with this. So I cut the skin and peeled it off, exposing mass quantities of fat. Ok, next hurtle. So i cut off all the fat that i could. Alright, that wasn't so bad. Pretty simple actually. Now I can handle this. I was a little worried that without the skin it could be dry, but I slow cooked it with a honey glaze and it was great! tasted delish! So here's the recipe for you!

Honey Glazed Shank Portion Ham

Ingredients

1 (5 pound) shank portion ham
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups honey
2 tbsp butter

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place ham in foil lined pan (you DEFINITELY want foil). Cook ham for 5 hours in oven. After ham slowcooks, in a small saucepan heat the brown sugar, honey, and butter. Add about 1/2 cup of the pan drippings to the glaze. Brush glaze over the ham. Put back in oven and set to 325 degrees for additional 1 hour, basting every 20 min. Cover loosely with foil to prevent burning if it starts to get too brown. ENJOY!

My other big success were my pull-apart herb biscuits. they are wonderful. Recipe as follows:

Ingredients

1 tube refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (grands size)
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 tbsp grated parmesean cheese
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme

separate biscuits and cut into quarters. In an ungreased round pan, 9-in (i use a metal pie pan combine remaining ingredients and mix together. Add biscuits and toss to coat. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-12 min, until golden brown. Invert on plate to serve :)

Cheezy Black Bean and rice dinner/dip

Ok, so my pantry is empty...sad day to cook dinner for me. what to cook? well my husband is in the field training for a few days so its just me and the minions. SO, what i did was just throw together all that junk that sits in the back of the pantry. The result? Yummy :) The kids showed it down. I served this as a dip with tortilla chips. a bit more fun, but it could definitely be a beans and rice main course.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 can black beans, mostly drained
1 can Rotel
1 can corn
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 garlic clove minced
1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
1 tsp chili powder
4 cups cooked white rice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
crushed red pepper as desired for spiciness

Heat oil on med-high skillet. Add onion, peppers, garlic, corn, and Rotel and simmer until soft. Remove from heat. In med saucepan mix together all ingredients. Heat stirring frequently. Serve. HA! easy as that. Plus yummy. next time your pantry is running low, or even when its not, you could try this!

Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs

So Today I tried to make homemade Cadbury eggs from the instructables site. It was a disaster. A melty sticky, messy horrible disaster. I couldn't make them into eggs. It was gross. Plus, personally, I don't think they were that yummy.....HOWEVER, these turned out really yummy.  I used the stuff I had on hand to play around with peanut butter. I saw a few different recipes for these online, but I mixed them all up, did my own thing and voila! Just promise me one thing...don't ask how many calories are in them. I don't know, and don't wanna :)
Ingredients

8 oz powdered confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tbsp butter - room temperature
1/2 tablespoon milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 a package of  semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp shortening  
 

In a medium mixing bowl, combine together powdered sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla extract and milk until blended. Put Shape mixture into small egg shapes (makes about 12).  Freeze peanut butter eggs for 1 hour. 

Melt chocolate into in double boiler with shortening or put in microwave for short bursts stiring frequently until melted and smooth.  Stick a skewer (I used a metal one for kebabs) in peanut butter egg and dip it in chocolate using a spoon to make sure it is covered. Place on metal baking sheet and use spoon to smooth out top covering skewer hole. While still wet you can add sprinkles. Place in refrigerator to set. once fully set you can decorate with icing if desired :) Yummy!

Shaped Peanut Butter Eggs

Dipped

ready to set, i used the muffin pan to keep them separate.

Roll-up Place Matt

Rolled up place mat.

 I am grossed out. Every time we go out to eat if they dont provide one of those little kids meal menu/place mat things what are you supposed to do? I decided to get crafty with this little problem.No more baby eating off gross nasty table! Unfortunately i didnt actually take pictures as I went along, it was what i like to call "craft vomit". "Craft vomit" is something that happens suddenly, unplanned, and with no thought. Sometimes it works out, sometimes its a huge disaster. Fortunately for me, this time it worked out great. When I make my next one I'll take step by step photos. Until then, I found something similar at My Patchwork. Its a little different, but you get the idea! I used double wide bias tape to edge the whole thing and pre-sewed the pocket before attaching it to the place mat. To finish it off i added a leaf detail to the ties. By the way, did you know that place mat is two words? thank you spellchecker for showing me that! HA! learn something new everyday... Anyhow, It was pretty simple, like I said before, ill update this with a step-by-step later!

(Sorta) Homemade Chicken and Dumplings

Thank you Bobbie for the delish original recipe, I've changed it around a bit over the years for our family, and its more of a soup than the original which was an awesome think kind of stew. ill have to get her permission and post it later....


Ingrediants

2 boxes of Chicken broth
fresh green beans cut into small pieces
fresh carrots peeled and cut into small pieces
2-3 large potatoes peeled and cut to bite size pieces
1/2 onion finely chopped
2 containers of refrigerated biscuits (use butter biscuits for a different flavor)
1 lb cooked shredded chicken (I pre-boil mine and shred it beforehand)

Heat chicken broth in large pot over med heat. Add chicken. Add onion, potatoes, carrots, and grean beans. Add salt and pepper as desired. Open refrigerated biscuits and separate. Cut each into small pieces and add to pot. Biscuits will puff up, but that's ok, just stir occasionally and let them cook. Allow to remain on med heat for about 45 min to an hour until biscuits are done and no longer floating. Enjoy!!!

Note: This recipe doesnt really work in a slow cooker...the dumplings dont cook correctly.

Dumplings puffing up

What it looks like when done.

Cleaning The Bath Toys

I no longer buy bath toys that squirt or have any holes whatsoever....but i do have toys from prior to me making that decision. I have heard so many different things about cleaning bath toys. I get so grossed out. When you go to squeeze them out and nasty black junk comes out. ew. well I am tired of throwing them out too. Can I seal that hole up? yes I can!!! Ok so the first step is to actually clean out the existing junk. I have read that cleaning them with bleach can be bad cause then you kids are bathing in bleach...I'm sure that's probably not a huge thing if you let them dry first. cant be much worse than cleaner you use in the actual tub. Just sayin. Anyhow, I did a mixture of all sorts of cleaning. sort of a pain, but I wont ever have to do it again. So first I prepared all the cleaning area. I had boiling water on the stove in a large pot. I also set up my sink with one side filled with 1/10 bleach water and the other side with soapy water. First thing I didn't was boil the rubber toys for about 10 min. I didn't have any trouble with them melting. The plastic just becomes very soft which is what you want. Next I took them from the boiling water using tongs to put them in a bowl to move them. one by one I put them in the bleach solution and filled each one with bleach and smushed it around rubbing the sides together to break apart the yuck then squirted it out a few times until each one was running clear. Then I allowed them all to soak while full in the bleach for about 15-20 min. After they had soaked I emptied them out and moved them to the soap solution, rinsing them thoroughly inside and out. Then i let them dry for 24 hours. After they are ALL THE WAY dry you'll need to fire up the glue gun and get a cup of cool water. This is where it gets tricky to explain. I took the glue gun and put in in the hole on the toy. I put a pretty generous amount of glue inside (not full or anything, just enough to make an inside plug) and then pulled the glue gun out slowly only putting a little bit on the outside. Next, while it was still hot, i dipped a finger in the cool water and pushed down on the glue making it flat. since your finger is wet it wont get burnt if you are careful. After the glue dries you can remove any excess. Give a gentle squeeze to make sure its closed off and they are ready to be played with again. I'm a total germaphobe and I'm satisfied with this so that should say something. Happy bathing (much happier since there is no mold)!!!!!

Toys in the "Hot tub"

Final wash

Sealed and mold and mildew free!!!!

Edible Peanut Butter Play Dough

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Honey

2 Cups Powdered Sugar (maybe a tad bit more) 

 

 

Mix together all ingredients. Add more powdered sugar until desired consistency that will be easy to mold. Make sure to store in an airtight container. Molds really easily, doesnt get sticky. It was a huge hit! I gave the little minion some cheerios and other small yummies to add as decorations. I thought it tasted really sweet, but still, it works! And no crumbles like store bought dough! 

 

Skillet London Broil

Ingredients

• 2 lb London Broil or Top Round
• Mustard
• Salt and Pepper
• Seasoning of your choice, I used Nature's Seasons by Mortons
• Soft Butter (I use i cant believe its not butter)

 

 Cut away any fat from meat. Use a meat pounder to even out the thickness of steak if needed (about an nch thick. Heat cast iron skillet to medium high. Rub butter onto both sides of the steak. sprinkle with powdered mustard, salt, pepper, and any other desired seasonings. Place the steak in the hot pan to brown. Let cook for 3-5 minutes on each side to brown.  Remove from heat and cover skillet with foil. let steak rest for a few minutes. The foil will hold in the heat to cook the meat to med-med rare. Test for doneness by cutting a small slit in center of steak to check   color and warmth. slice and serve with a pan gravy. Good with Mashed potatoes of course! Delish!

My Laundry Soap

This is the recipe that I have gotten the most requests for. I started making my own laundry soap as a part of my never ending quest to save money. I love this recipe. It has passed both the baby diaper explosion test and the spaghetti sauce test which i think says alot.  Here is the recipe I use:

1 grated bar of soap (I use Ivory or Dove, although some recommend Fels Naptha)
1 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda

Grate the soap with a cheese grater. Make sure to use the super fine grater. It will look like finely shredded mozzarella. I always use a plastic bowl because for some reason I dont think it mixes at all in a metal bowl...maybe im crazy, but i dunno.
Then you add the Borax to the soap.

Add the washing soda to the mix.

Mix well. Then keep mixing. The more you stir the more fine the mixture becomes. The soap breaks down into more of a powder. I have found that Dove soap breaks down into a powder better but they both clean well so im not sure it matters. Once you have a fine powder you are done.

That's it. That simple. Plus its super cheap!  I use the little scoop from the formula can to measure it out. i use 2 of those per load (there are no "light" loads in this house). If you don't have one of those it would be about 2-3 tbsp per load. doesn't seem like alot but it works. Its low suds so it works in HE machines too. Since there really isn't a fragrance to it i use the cheap lavender fabric softener so it smells nice too. It doesn't bother me not to have that laundry soap smell, i don't sniff my clean clothes that often lol.  I buy the 6 pack of Ivory soap and grate it all at once and multiply the recipe by 6. that way I don't have to make it again for a long time. The great thing about this recipe is that its so super easy. I have had people tell me they quit making their own because of how irritating it is to grate the soap. I grate the soap while i'm either watching t.v. in the evening or while i'm sitting outside watching my daughter. Perfect!!!!

And then I was Mom...

      You never know what will happen in your life, who you will become, what will define you. Im not sure what I am meant to do. So far, I am "Mom". That's where I am in my life right now. I love it, but im always looking for new ways to do things. Im always looking to learn.
      I have been told im fairly creative and I like to think that's true. I make my own laundry soap, grow my own veggies (or as many as I can in military housing - HA), and try to reuse as much crap from my house as I can. When I can, I remake old clothes, paint, decorate, cook, and whatever else I can think of to do. My kids (5 and almost 1) are never for want of a project. We dont have a whole lotta money, but we do my best with what we have.
      I have recently had people ask me for some of my different recipes. My laundy soap, my semi-homemade soaps, and a few others. I always tell my kids to share, so I will too :) And I have alot to say! hahaha!!!!
     A little about me. I am an Air Force veteran, I served from 03- 07. I was married to my husband Matt in 03. He followed me around during my tour of active duty. I had my daughter Isabelle (Izzie) in 2005. It was a long road to get pregnant with her(endometriosis), which is a story for another day. I largely regreat my decision to get out of the military, and the civilian world just didnt seem to cut it for us. I worked for a collection agency (BLECH) and then worked for NetJets for awhile, which i enjoyed. Matt had been working as a mechanic and they really started cutting back his hours. He decided nothing would be like what we had in the military, we were just so used to the lifestyle, and he enlisted in the Army and I quit my job. We relocated a ton in those first 2 years, but now we live near Savannah, GA and we love the area.
     I had my son while my husband was deployed in Iraq (again, a story for another day) and he is 10 months old now. I stay at home, and teach my daughter what she should get in prek (I pulled her out due to bad teachers and bullying). I have great friends, wonderful experiences, and alot to say lol!  I try to stay organized, by my house is a constant project. It is pure chaos. Pure, noisy, beautiful chaos. It is my life.