Fruit Bars

I love how my blog has turned into a recipe sharing site more than anything! I LOVE to cook!

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup quick cooking rolled oats (i use regular, add about 10 min to cooking time)

2/3 c packed brown sugar

1/4tsp baking soda

1/2cup butter or margerine

1 recipe Filling (i just use 1 Cup natural applesauce mixed with 1/3 c Simply Fruit and some pumpkin pie spice... but you can add dried fruit or nuts as well to the applesauce)

combine flour, oats, baking soda, and sugar. Cut in butter/margerine until crumbly. reserve 1/2 cup, and press the remainder in thebottom of a 9x9 pan. spread filling and sprinkle remainder of the crumb mix on top. Bake for 30-40 min at 350*(until golden brown on top).

Egg Noodles

this sort of has turned into a Recipe blog when i wasn't looking HAHA

1 Cup flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt/dash pepper

1 egg

2 tablespoons water (i just use the egg shell)

combine flour and salt/pepper, make a well in the center and mix egg and water with a fork. Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff, but pliable dough. Knead 10-12 strokes until it is smooth and all the flour is incorperated. let rest 15 minutes. begin rolling out from center, flipping the dough over every few rolls to keep it from sticking to the counter (or it will pop back like elastic) until it is about 12x6 or so (give or take) Let it rest another 15 minutes. cut into strips or shapes, and add to boiling broth stirring constantly so they don't stick. Cook for 5-6 min, until al dente.

Home Made deoderant!!

2-4 tablespoons Coconut Oil

1/4 C Arrowroot or Corn starch

1/4 C baking soda

mix well, may need to adjust dry quantities a bit. store in a small airtight container in a cool place, may need refrigerated on hot days. Use fingers to apply :) don't use right after shaving ....OUCH!

here is another site for the recipe

http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/03/update-homemade-deoderant.html

Brownie in a Mug!

I came across this LOVELY recipe one night, and am now an addict. I love getting treats i don't have to share...that i can make in 5 min after bed time!!

Brownie in a Mug

4 Tbl Flour

4 Tbl sugar

2 Tbl baking cocoa (the unsweetened)

dash salt

2Tbl oil

2Tbl water

1/4 tsp vanilla

Spray a little nonstick into a microwaveable coffee mug (butter or oil works too if you don't spray), mix flour, sugar, cocoa and salt in your mug. Add oil, water, and vanilla. Mix well scraping the bottom to get all the dry stuff incorporated.

nuke 1-1.5 min. Let cool for just a minute!! It is HOT!! Yummy topped with a little ice cream :)

More on my FLYing adventures....

i began Fly Lady back in January when i was deep in my annual Seasonal Depression...my house trashed, my floors sticky and crunchy...laundry rotating on the couch. I have proudly been babystepping the system for 6 months now!! My family is mostly on-board (we are still working on baby-stepping the kiddoes into keeping their rooms tidy), and we have made LOTS of changes in our habits including 'decluttering' the dish cabinet because i was tired of washing 2 dishwasher loads of dishes per day in my small portable dishwasher. I labeled a bowl, plate, cup and silverware for each member of the family, and moved the rest to the very TOP of the cupboard (company). We now wash each dish after each meal and get it put away to keep the sink clear (because my family now understands now nice it is to have a shiney sink!!)

i have gotten rid of countless bags of un-needed items, donating them to the thrift store if i couldn't think of specific people that could use my stuff. We still have a long way to go, but its amazing how much stuff i have gotten rid of in just 6 months.

DH was able to rip out the 35 year old living room carpet to reveal beautiful hard wood floors because all the excess junk in the livingroom is GONE!! My bedroom has become a haven, where before it was a dumping ground for the stash n dash (Its like Marla has been to my house HAHA I thought i was the only one besides my mom that did stash n dash)! And now i have a new bedspread on the way to make my bed even more special, and a place to put the Jammy Bag my mama made me when i was little :

The Apron

2 weeks ago i decided i needed some new aprons, and the frugal Taycia wanted inexpensive but durable. I first checked the ones on the Flylady.net website. Cute, big pocket vests--$19.99 plus shipping. OUCH! I know that purchases from her shop fund the program and keep it free...but I have already spent my $$ on the Rubba tools and Duster LOL!! I looked elsewhere online and found some CUTE cobbler style ones from plentyofaprons.com. Now, i love cobbler aprons, especially if they are long enough in back to cover my butt as i tend to wipe my hands on my butt more often than on a towel. $8.95 each for v-neck aprons plus shipping was too good to pass up! So i ordered a couple, and waited....and waited....and am still waiting. By last Thursday the waiting had been driving me CRAZY, and the link won't give me tracking info and i am grumpy. So i was working on decluttering in the bigger Attic room and came across the bag'o'shirts to be 'recycled'. Most of these shirts are Zach's old dress shirts that he has worn a hole in the elbow and i was planning on taking them down to the Cleaners and just having the sleeves hemmed but never got around to it. I had the genious idea of recycling the fabric into an apron, but wasn't quite sure on how i was going to accomplish this. So as soon as we got home from Story Time, and i got my kiddoes fed their lunch I began creating. I started just cutting and pressing and sewing and Bonzai'd zach's Blattner shirt into:

I loved the design so much that i made 2 more out of other shirts the same day. The pockets are the salvagable material from the sleeves, the side buttons are from the sleeve cuff as well. Needless to say i will be sending the Aprons i ordered back and getting my $25 back, especially since i made three aprons from old shirts in about 2 hours.

Five minutes.

Know what i can do in five minutes? I can pick up the stray toys that migrated to the living room and toss them as far as my kids rooms (they get a timer later to pick all that up BWAHAHAHA), straighten the couch cushions, get blankets stuffed back into the 'blanket basket', and still have time to deal with the papers Miss Jo left on the dining table.

In 10 minutes i can vacuum, or spot clean windows, or dust the main floor, or quick clean the man room (Dust AND vacuum).

In 15 minutes i can get my kitchen from a sinkful of dishes to spotless, save for some of the ground in grunge on the cabinets...but that is another 15 minute project. I can also fold and put away one load of laundry in 15 mn or less.

What can you do in just a handful of minutes? Get out an egg timer and do it now!!