Hoo are you?

Sorry this is late:) This week has been sooo crazy, two days of doing plays at our local library!! Over 1,000 kids and 11 performances later and I am pooped!! Anyway, here are my answers for this week!

1. How many times a year do you get your hair cut?

probably 3 or 4, I am soo bad about trimming my hair!

2. Where is the worst place to be stuck waiting?

A doctors office or any office for you appointment! I hate being on time and waiting to get in.

3. What are your favorite pizza toppings?

Canadian bacon!!!

4. What's your favorite thing about where you live?

The awesome library!!

5. What's your favorite fruit? Veggie?

Fruit: Watermelon  Veggie: Broccoli-yum

What are your answers?? Hope you all have a happy Halloween!!

Menu Board Pics

Hear are they Halloween days of the week that I created!

All images are 4x6

CLICK HERE

Thanks to Summer Designs and Crazy 4 Monograms for the kits!



Homemade Caramel!!

This stuff is super yummy, worked great on my apples and is really pretty easy to make!!! Enjoy!!

Caramel

1/2 cup butter
1 cup light corn syrup
dash of salt
2 cups brown sugar
1- 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan. Add salt, syrup, and sugar. Cook of MEDIUM heat until it comes to full boil, about 10-12 min. Stir in milk and cook until soft ball stage (245 degrees on candy therm.) Remove from heat and add vanilla.

Now you can dip apples, cool and use as ice cream topping or whatever you want!! Its soo creamy and yummy!!

Hoo are You?

Here are my answers:

1.What was your favorite meal growing up?

 BBQ Baby Back Ribs.. yummilicous and soo messy!!

 2. What's your favorite month?

December- I used to always say I would be married in December and I was!! Love the cold, the snow, ( came from growing up in Southern Cali and wishing we had it!) and you can't forget Christmas!

3. What store is most represented in your wardrobe?

Rue 21- great sales and cute stuff!

  4. How many times do you go to the movie theater each month/year?

 I am lucky to get to a movie once a year. I just like to Redbox them and lounge in my living with my jammies cuddling up with my hubby eating ice cream.... however, Harry Potter always calls my name!!

5. Fill in the blank- I've never been able to ___________________

draw anything other than stick figures. My sibelings have great talent in that area but its nilich for me!!

Here is a set from a previous one

1. List 3 words that remind you of fall.
Leaves, pumpkins, cinnamon


2. Do you wear jewelry often?
always have my wedding ring (of course:), a CTR ring and its about 50/50 on earrings. I love necklaces but with little ones they aren't the easiest to wear.

3. Do you like your toe nails painted or natural?
I love to paint them but then I just leave it until it looks nasty and then start all over!

4. Do you ever wear a hat?
LOVE hats, don't wear them as often as I used to but LOVE to have them!

5. Do you have someone that you talk to everyday on the phone?
 I can actually go DAYS without talking to anyone but the most common callers are my hubby and my mom :)

Spider Nachos

I got the idea from While You Were Sleeping but decided to add my own twist.

YUMMY!!! and not too creepy:)

It was really easy to make:)

Here is an ingredient list I used but you can be as creative as you want!!

Tortilla chips
Refried Beans
Taco-Seasoned Hamburger
Chopped Tomatoes
Nacho Cheese or any grated cheese

Layer on a pizza pan. Put in 350 degree oven for 5-10 min until cheese is melted and heated through. Put about 1/4 cup sour cream in a ziplock bag and snip off corner to make a spider web on top!! Serve and enjoy the yummy nachos!!!

I think next time I am going to add some guacolmole:) Let me know what you do with yours!!!

Halloween Menu Board

So I finally broke down and made a menu board. I have wanted one for a while and I had looked at all the different blogs with their ideas but I just couldn't find one that worked for me (or that I had the supplies on hand). Today it just all came together. I kept walking past a picture frame I got for 25 cents at a yard sale this summer wondering what pictures I was going to put in it... but today the light bulb came on! I could use this for my menu board and it would be cute because I could customize it every month and change it whenever I was getting 'board; with it! :) So here it was I did (Sorry I didn't take pictures) The frame had 8- 4x6 picture frame spots. I created 7 cards (one for each day of the week ) and 1 card to celebrate the month (so Halloween) and printed them out on just plain paper, stuck them in the frame and used a dry erase marker to write on the glass! Simple, easy and super cute ( my opinion! ) This could be done with any picture frame so be imaginative and show us what you can do!

Here is the finished product with next weeks menu on it! Isn't it cute? and so festive too!!

CLICK HERE for the images used:)

Hoo are you...

I found this really cool link party called Hoo are You Tuesdays and so here are my answers for this week!!  Check back for more each Tuesday!!

1. How tall are you? How tall do you WISH you were?

I am 5'8'' and sometimes I wish I was 5' 6'' so jeans would be long enough and I would be the same height as my husband again!

2. Do you have a birthmark? Where?

My right leg has white splotchy patches from my big toe all the way up to my hip!

3. What is your biggest money waster?

The good "finds' I find at the Dollar Tree but really don't need!

4. What song are you tired of?

I really don't get tired of songs.. I just cycle through them! Love music!!

5. What stresses you out most?

Wondering if we will have have a steady income and a steady job... or if we have to go back to school:(

Here are five past questions:
1. If you could add one room to our house, what would it be?

I would add a family room so I could a realy living room meaning one room in my house that didn't get destroyed constantly:)
2. How many pillows do you sleep with at night?
I sleep with at least 2 sometimes 3:)
3. What is the best costume you've ever worn for Halloween?
My Cruella DeVil outfit last year! Total hotness@
4. If you could erase one item off the face of the earth, what would it be?
Misquitoes
5. Where do you do your best thinking?
In bed right before I fall asleep, need to find time to think again since I just fall into bed these days!!

So thats me for this week!! Hope you all have a great one!

YW Value Cards

Here are some cards I made for the 8 Young Women Values!! Hope you like them! I printed them out and are going to make them into magnets but do whatever you think of :)

FAITH DOWNLOAD

DIVINE NATURE DOWNLOAD

INDIVIDUAL WORTH DOWNLOAD

KNOWLEDGE DOWNLOAD

CHOICE AND ACCOUNTABILTY DOWNLOAD

GOOD WORKS DOWNLOAD

INTEGRITY DOWNLOAD

VIRTUE DOWNLOAD

Created by a kit from Hot Pink Pansy

Skillet Lemon Chicken

So we tried this tonight and it was delish! In fact so delish that I didn't get time for pictures!!

Lemon Chicken

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast (halved it thick)
2 tablespoons oil
1 tablespoon margarine
1 medium onion (or 1 tablespoon dried)
1 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons lemon juice

In plasic bag (or tin pie dish) sift together flour, salt and pepper. Lightly coat chicken and save excess seasoned flour.
In large skillet, warm 1 tablespoon oil over med. heart. Brown chicken, about 5 min on each side. Transfer to plate and set aside.
Melt marg. in skillet, add onion and cook until soft. Stir in reserved seasoned flour and cook until flour incorporated. Add broth and lemon juice stirring constantly. Return chicken to skillet, reduce heat to med-low and cover. Cook until chicken is tender and opaque thoughout. Serve chicken with sauce.

Cal.250, Fat 12g, Cholesterol 66mg, sodium 635mg, protien 28g, carbs. 7g

Let me know what you think!

Mint Ice Cream

So, during my last doctors appointment before Ammon was born we were watching the food network channel in the waiting room (not a nice channel for those that are pregnant:)) and I saw a really simple recipe for mint ice cream. So the other night we tried it out and YUMMY!!!! It turned out sooo creamy and just delicious! Here it is for you to try:)

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients

2 cups sweetened condensed milk, chilled

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/4 tsp. peppermint extract (I used mint)

1/8 tsp. green food coloring

1 cup mini chocolate morsels

Directions

Mix the condensed milk, cream, flavoring, and food coloring until smooth. Chill thoughly. Follow ice cream maker instuctions. When mixture turns slushy looking at chocolate morsels. Freeze until ripened to your likeing (we did overnight and it was perfect) ENJOY!!!

Make your own Nursing Pads

Now that Ammon is here, I am back to nursing and realized (again) just how stupidly expensive nursing pads are! I rememberd how many times I just would have a permenant wet spot on my shirt and how embarrassing it was. So I got online and found some helpful tutorials on how to make your own!! Here is what I did and sooo far no leaks:)

Materials

Flannel-to wick moisture away from breast
Fleece-to prevent leakage
Thread

Directions

Using an old cd (I used a roll of masking tape) or anything circular, cut our three layers of flannel for each pad.

Cut out one circle of fleece.

Layer together and use a zigzag stitch around edge. Cut as close to seam as possible and you are done!!

To use place flannel against breast and fleece towards your shirt.

I have used mine for a few days and haven't had any leaks and they are soft and don't itch:) Hope this works for you! I used an old flannel sheet and some fleece scraps and made 8 sets to last me between washings.  

Crib or Rabbit Hutch?

So, if you have read my other blog you would know that we are the proud owners of two fairly big rabbits. Fudge and Domino. Nathan adores his "B's" and we are happy that he has some pets of his own. The only problem was... hutch? We got them for free and they came with a carrying cage but it was too tiny for them to stay in forever! They also were making a huge mess in my house (every morning was a cleaning job!) After we moved to Riverton last summer, Nathan's crib became very unsafe. It was old and the screws were getting stripped and so on. I was planning on using it for a bonfire or something when a brilliant idea hit me. Why not make it into a rabbit hutch? The frame is in good shape, it is just the right size and it would be really easy to make the bottom a few feet off the ground!! So that is is exaclty what we did with the help of my mom:).

So first we wired the corners so they would stay sturdy. Also so the drop side wouldn't try to fall (the inital problem making the crib unsafe!)

Then my mom cut some boards for slats and used zip ties to fasten wire around the bottom.

We used the crib bottom as a top that easily swings up and down thanks to the funky metal slats that held it in the bottom!

Ta Da! Rabbit Hutch!

Fudge enjoying the new life outside!

Domino chilling in the shade!

So, you never know what some craxy piece of furniture you have may become some day:)

Make your own Strawberry Syrup:)

This week Safeway had an awesome sale on strawberries ($1 a lb!) so consequently I bought about 5 or 6 lbs of strawberries got home and said, 'okay now what!'. What was I going to do with all the strawberries! Then a thought occured to me.. why not try making strawberry syrup for panacakes, waffles, ice cream, etc.? So I found myself a recipe, made a small sample batch (yummy!) and then decided to can some syrup for our family! Here is my recipe and pics of what I did... I am sure there are about a hundred different ways you could do this and I just did what I wanted and so feel free to do the same! To each thier own:)

Strawberry Syrup

8 cups strawberries (about 3 1/2 lbs.)

7 cups sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

1. If you are going to can your syrup, make sure you get your lids, rings, and jars ready in thier boiling water before you start to make the juice:)

2. Wash and cut strawberries into fourths.

3. Puree the strawberries in a food processor (I found myself a little tiny one at Wal-Mart a few years ago for $3. Best thing I ever bought)!

4. Mix strawberries and lemon juice together in saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and bring to boil for 1 minute.

5. Remove from heat and scrape off any foam that may have aquired on top.

6. Ladle into you hot jars.

7. Wipe rim, put lid on and screw on rings until JUST fingertight. Replace in boiling water.

8. Make sure jars are covered with boiling water. Place lid on top of pot and let boil for 15 min. Remove jars from water bath and let cool for 24 hours. Check lids to make sure sealed. And you are done!!

This yields about 64 oz. of syrup

Okay so my experince had a few twists! I first burned my arm with a jar full of hot water. Then in a bizarre twist the lid off of my jar IN the water came off!! How that happened is still a mystery to me!! I don't know what happens when some boiling water gets into your jar of jelly/syrup? Any ideas? I replace the lid and ring after draining some of the water out so I canned it but would love to know if it is safe? Anyone had that happen to them? Hopefully I can get the jars out without any injuries:) Have fun canning!!

So the one on the left is the one with water (see the watery look...) but after a while you can't really tell so.....

Okay???