Mocha Coffee Creamer

3 cups Sugar

2 Cups Milk powder (I prefer Nido by Carnation, whole milk)

1/2 Cocoa Powder (baker's)

In a large bowl ( i use a food processor), mix together ingredients until blended.  Store in air tight container, add to coffee a few teaspoons at a time until it reaches your taste.  Can also be added to hot water for a delicious Hot Chocolate.

Soy Milk powder or Rice flour can be substituted for the Milk powder, and Splenda or powdered Sugar alternative can be substituted for the Sugar.  Carob can be subbed for the Cocoa powder.  If you choose to Substitute, you may need to play with the ratio a little to make it taste right to you.

Chili Dog Nachos

2lb ground beef

Med. Onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

Cumin (to taste)

Chili powder (to taste)

Salt/Pepper

small can chopped Jalapeno peppers (drained)

Black or Pinto beans, drained and rinsed (if desired)

one 16oz can tomato sauce
4 Hot Dogs, sliced or Chopped 

Brown ground beef with chopped onion and garlic until onion is translucent, add in Cumin and chili-powder and Salt and pepper.  Cook until spices are moistened and blended in.  Add can of Jalapeno peppers and beans and the tomato sauce, and Hot Dogs.  Simmer for 5 mins or until it thickens.  Top with cheese, olives, sour cream, and guac and dip your favorite corn chip!


...i cannot believe i forgot the HOT DOGS!!

Permasick not fun.

I have been perma sick since November so i really haven't gotten too much done in the world of canning.  I have been pre-cooking and freezing chicken and ground beef as it goes on sale, though.  This is SUCH a time saver for many meals, and i get to use my Food Saver i got for free from Freecycle.  I totally recommend freecycle by the way, great way to find items and pass on items!

The chicken lately has been boneless/skinless chicken breast, but a few weeks ago whole chickens were on sale!  I quarter the whole chickens (wings go in the soup pot bag in the freezer) and pile them in my super large roaster and bake with the lid on until nice and golden, at 425 (about an hour to hour and a half).  The Chicken breasts i throw in my medium roaster (doesn't matter if they overlap) and roast with the lid on to keep the moisture in for about 45-60mins at 425.  The quartered chicken just gets cooled and packaged by 'dinner'.  The chicken breast gets cooled and  cubed up and then packaged by the pound for meals i want chunk chicken for.

Cooked ingredients just save time.  I now have chicken ready for a chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and veggies, or cubed chicken ready for a salad topping, chicken salad sammiches, or stir fry!  All i have to do is add it to the pan, heat, and eat.

Canning shall commence as soon as i kick this current bug.  Always a bad idea to can when you aren't feeling well!  I have Spaghetti Sauce and Chili on deck ready to throw together and process!  We are running low on both items (i did do a tiny bit of canning one week when i felt better), as well as chicken/turkey stock, and beef stock.
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In other news i have discovered the wonders of http://www.aslobcomesclean.com/.  Nony is a funny and fresh perspective to cleaning and decluttering, and she totally promotes Fly Lady as a great starting place...which is exactly where i started!!  I am now to a point where i need to hone and pinpoint MY home's problem areas.  I am not Marla Cilley, i do not have the same house or the same lifestyle, so its time for me to make it MINE.  I started out with some charts (instead of the control journal) that i can put stickers on to reward myself.  This week i have been battling a fun epic snot cold, so my stickers are spotty...but i DO have stickers up!  i was going to work on a few 'spring clean/deep clean' items, but decided that it can wait a few days until i start to feel more human.  I did get under the couch cleaned out, so that is a pretty big thing.  I also have decided to at least buy a bouquet or 2 of fresh flowers every week, if anything to make up for the fact that i have no skill with house plants.  I did buy a miniature potted rose plant, so we will see how long i can keep that alive LOL!  have to put a WATER PLANT on my weekly schedule for next week, if i can keep it alive there may be hope for slowly adding a few more.


now to head to bed and rest up to see what tomorrow brings.

Absolutely Brilliant!!

I was discussing with a friend about how my 6yo has worn through the knees of almost all the jeans i bought him to start Kindy with. As a parent, its super super frustrating to find reasonably priced clothing for kids as it is, and then to have him come home with holes in the knees from playground play is enraging at best.

Mr. Chris happened to find a cool blog with a really cool tip, reinforce those knees BEFORE they get trashed. http://thefrugalgirls.com/2010/01/how-to-prevent-knee-holes-in-jeans-and-pants.html

I took this one step further because there was no way i was going to spend almost $2 per pair of jeans when i can get a 17 x 36 piece of thermabond for $2.45/yd. (that is nearly 30 4x6 patches!) I got the heavy duty no-sew stuff for applique work. I bonded it with my iron to scraps from a pair of my jeans that were just plain worn out...almost more hole than jeans! and took care of knees on 8 pairs of kid jeans with one leg, and still have plenty of material and thermabond left over.

only tip with that method: make sure you round the corners on your patches so they don't peel up! and try not to dry jeans on hi heat, always safer to go with low.

Canning-mania!!!

I have jumped into the revered art of Food Storage. Not just shoving food into the freezer, or canning some jams or pickles...nope, i am canning things that must be canned by pressure canner! So far i have put up Pinto Beans, Baked beans, veggie beef soup, and Beef stock. I have chicken---yes CHICKEN-- processing as i write this, and some chicken broth on deck to go in later today, and some apples in the fridge awaiting peeling/coring to be made into apple sauce (it can be just Water Bath canned).

Its not because the world is 'ending', or Jesus is on the next train through Clarksville, or Zombies are around the corner (ok, there are but we don't talk about them..)...but rather WHY NOT? Why not know exactly what is in your food? Why not have home-cooked convenience food at your fingertips for a fraction of the cost to get it from the grocery store? In jars that can be washed and re-used time and time again? The only waste is the lids used for canning, but i am planning to remedy that in the future with some Tattler Brand reusable canning lids.

My family has already gleaned from the bounty already put away, and is super excited every new batch i put up.

Snappy Snappy!

sometimes my world just needs snaps. Snaps on aprons, snaps on towels, snaps on cloth diapers, snaps to make some things in my life easier.

i have thought long and hard about selling these products, but really who would buy them? The market is actually pretty small in my opinion, and i would rather share the idea for free than capitalize on it in an over-capitalized world. especially when i know that you can do this yourself as well with jsut a small investment in the right equiptment! My price/labor is minimal, it literally takes me 2 minutes to add snaps to something, and then i put my stuff away and move on with my day. I couldn't imagine the time i COULD spend manufacturing items for sale! The clutter and backstock would be epic.

i am more than happy to add snaps to items FOR people for a small cost of equiptment and time, around $2/snap ...especially since everyone likes a different style of towel or apron ;).

Here are a few samples of what i have done with snaps:

Vintage Apron, Added snaps so that the top ties crossed my back.

Dish towel. Zach got tired of them always being on the floor, so i fixed it. They can also be used for a child (or adult) bib.

snap detail.

I had added snaps to my cobbler aprons because the ties wouldn't stay tied. Then i gained weight. I needed just a TINY bit more room, so i cut the handles off a reusable bag that one of the dogs ate (yes, i have a habit of saving usable things...shhh) and added snaps to each end to make it so my apron fit me better. I can barely function without an apron as you can tell from the horror that is the vintage apron...it was Battle Birthday Cake that day...

Snap detail. I also added snaps so i can snap one of my dish towels to my apron to keep it handy for hand wiping.

Strawberry Cake

2 1/3 c Sifted All Purpose flour (sifting makes it fluffy)

1 1/3 c sugar

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2/3 c shortening

2/3 c Kirkland Organic Strawberry spread (or Smuckers simply fruit)

2/3 c soured milk (2T lemon juice or vinegar, fill to 2/3 line with milk)

3 egg whites

5-6 drops pink food color if desired.

sift dry ingredients together in a large bowl, add shortening, strawberry spread, and soured milk. mix until flour is dampened, then beat for 2 min on high. Add 3 egg whites and food color, beat 2 minutes longer. Bake in greased and floured9 x 13 (or 2 9" round) pan for 35 min at 350.