Great stuff...

Some days I really just want to pull my hair out. Of course, then I would be bald, and it's hard to imagine me bald. Scary really. Anyway, this is one of those days. For the most part things went really well, and then in a span of about an hour, it all just went to crap.

Anyway, I did have a good morning. As many parents with light colored carpet know, red Kool-aid, kids, and carpet don't mix well. I have this yucky beige colored carpet throughout my house, I just don't like beige that well, although it's better than white, it still sucks. But, it's what I've got, at least for a few years.  Well, after only a year in the house, I have a myriad of red spots decorating said beige carpet throughout the living room. And nothing I tried would take it out, I thought it was destined just to have red spots. Had a professional come and clean it, said they were permanent and nothing would take it out. I gave up. Then a week or so ago I had an idea. Google. I don't know why it took me so long to do that, I mean, I google everything else, I'm on the computer most of the day for school, it just never crossed my mind. There are bunches of sites that come up and they all seemed to say similar things:
1. Dawn
2. Water
3. White cloths
4. Iron

It works!! Oh my gosh, it works. The first few spots I didn't have the iron nearly hot enough and it didn't work as good as it did once I got a nice hot cotton setting. And I got the stain wet with the soapy solution instead of just having the white cloths wet. So, you get a bowl of warm water, put 10 drops of dawn in it. Wet your cloth and the spot you want to work on, spread the cloth over the spot, and put the iron on top. Leave it 3-4 minutes, and then check, the red transfer's to the cloth!!! Do this repeatedly until most if not all of the stain is gone. They say you can then use spot shot and things, but I didn't have that, I just scrubbed a little more. I still have several spots to work on as this process took a while to perfect, but I'm so stoked that at least they aren't bright red spots anymore! If you are going to try something similar, I highly recommend trying it in an inconspicuous area to make sure you don't burn a spot in your carpet or something silly. I am by no means a professional, but it worked for me.

We had a new dinner courtesy of Pinterest tonight. Pepperoni roll-ups. They were inhaled before I could snap a picture, so you'll have to just imagine it.
1 can of refrigerator crescent rolls
Pepperoni (about 4 per roll)
2 string cheese sticks cut into 4 pieces each.
marinara, spaghetti, or pizza sauce for dipping

Place pepperoni's and cheese in each crescent roll before rolling up. Bake according to package directions. Warm sauce in separate bowl. Voila. Watch them disappear in minutes!

School is done for the semester, yay!! I can concentrate on Christmas stuff now. This semester was very trying and I know the hard stuff is still yet to come. I remember why I quit when I was young though. Of course it doesn't get easier, either. I'm not looking forward to next semester, but I'm going to try really hard not to think about it for a week or so.

'Til next time.

Oh Pinterest, how I love thee.......

.....let me count the ways....I'm not addicted to it as some, at least not yet anyway, however I have found TONS literally, tons of stuff that I want to try out. My first endeavor was homemade hand soap. Someone actually posted a link on Facebook and that's where I found the original recipe, but there are lots and lots of recipes on Pinterest. They are all basically the same with slight variations here or there. My first attempt was so-so in the success category. I definitely had liquid hand soap, but it was more in the consistency of snot. Nonetheless, it worked! And it made one whole gallon, which lasted me almost two months! With three bathrooms and a kitchen, 4 children and 2 adults, and as much as we wash our hands, that's pretty darn good. So, for $4.19 (the price of the bar of soap) we got about 7-8 weeks of soap. For the next batch, I decided the recipe definitely had to have the glycerin, so I ordered 16 oz for $4.35 from my most favorite essential oil supplier. And because I still have plenty of essential oils on hand (a small bottle lasts a long time) I didn't have to order any this time, but if you want a little scent in your soap (if it doesn't have any already), essential oils are safe for most sensitive skin, if blended in a carrier (soap included), they don't recommend rubbing the oils directly on the skin, they are too strong.


I won't go into what scents work best for what, that is an entirely different post and gets into aromatherapy, which is not my strong suit, I just know what scents I like. But some basics: tea tree is good for cleaning, as is eucalyptus (my personal favorite), lavender is relaxing (another favorite) while mint and peppermint are refreshing. The website I listed above has some awesome combination oils as well as individual, some are more expensive than others, it all varies with the market value.


The second batch worked out much better, although it's still a little bit stringy, I think that one more adjustment to the recipe and it will be as close to perfect as it gets without lots of added chemicals. And a gallon of soap, even in the refill bottles for about $4.30 is practically unheard of, even at Wal-Mart. In fact, if the next batch works as good as I hope, it will also be great shower quality soap, we all know how expensive that stuff is, at least the good stuff.


So, what do you need to do if you want to make good hand soap:


A pot that will hold a gallon of water without overflowing
Empty pump-type soap containers
Cheese grater
Container to hold the extra soap (1 use an empty 1 gallon ice cream pail)
Funnel
Large plastic spoon or ladel for stirring
handmixer or blender


1bar of soap: Castille soap (I like Dr. Bronner's and Target carries it in store and Amazon has it in bulk online), Yardley's, Mrs. Meyer's, Kiss My Face or any natural soap is great, but really you can use anything except Dove.
1-2 tbsp of glycerin (best deal is on the wholesale site, but you can get it at the pharmacy area of your grocery or drug store, they may have it behind the counter if it's not on the shelf)
1gallon of water


Grate bar of soap, warm your water on the stove, just before it boils mix soap, glycerin, and any essential oils you might want to use together until soap is melted. Once all combined it will look milky/hazy. Let sit 8-12 hours or overnight. Soap will thicken. If it becomes too thick to spoon, take your hand mixer and blend until you get a smoother consistence. Using your funnel ladel/spoon your soap into the pumps and pour the rest into your extra container, and there you have it! Lots of soap for a little $$.


I've also been trying lots of new recipes for family meals like the crockpot breakfast I posted last Sunday morning, and Crockpot potato soup in the crockpot on Monday. I have many many more to try, yay.


I've even added a bunch of crochet projects to my Store. I have a bunch more I want to offer, some really cute patterns I have to try out, but most of those will probably be worked on after Christmas as I have so many things I'm working on to get done by Christmas. Thankfully school for me will be done next week and I will only be schooling the kids half time through Christmas break, we aren't taking it completely off because there really is no good reason to not be doing something for most of those days, but they will be off when their dad is home for his 96's and that will be good. We are looking forward to those days together.


That's it for now, back to the research paper I go....

So I've been busy lately......

I think that should pretty much be the title of every blog post that I eventually get around to, lol. I have been very busy. I don't keep up with blogging the things I'm busy with as much as I would like to, either. But, on the other hand, I do facebook an awful lot, and yes, I just used Facebook as a verb, lol. Whether that is proper or not, I'm not too concerned. So, anyway, I should be working on putting together my Power Point that is due today or finishing the reading on the Chapter that I am taking a test on as well today, but alas, I promised this recipe to many of my friends and family. I'm going to be trying a bunch of new recipes the next couple of weeks and most of them utilize the crock-pot. I love my crock-pot, especially in the winter time, I should really use it more year round, because it's so easy to just put a bunch of stuff in it and let it get yummy all by itself. I'm all about fast and easy, while I am neither. ;0)

So, the breakfast recipe I found here. You need at the very least a 5 qt. crock pot for this recipe, but you could half it if yours is smaller. The recipe as written yeilds enough to feed at least 8 grown men who eat a lot, lol, maybe even 10. We have enough left over to feed us all for another breakfast. I made some tweaks just because that is what I do, lol. So basically my recipe was as follows:

2lbs. frozen hashbrowns

1/2 an onion, peeled and chopped (it says a whole onion, but we are not really onion people)

1tsp. minced garlic

1 small green pepper seeded and chopped

12 stripes of bacon

8 link sausage

2cups shredded cheese (I used a colby/cheddar blend, and 1/2 cup more because we are cheese people)

12 eggs (it seems like a lot, but it's not)

1cup whole milk (I used 1% and it was just fine)

1tsp dried dill (I wasn't sure about this, but did it anyway, and yes, it was yummy!)

1/2 tsp. salt (I use ground sea salt)

1/2 tsp. pepper (I use coarse ground black pepper)

I cut my bacon into one inch strips before cooking it just seemed easier than frying it, cooling it and THEN cutting it, and then I cut my sausage links into thirds (still frozen, be careful if you do this use the sharpest knife in your supply and watch your fingers so the sausage doesn't roll out from under the knife and you end up with finger in your breakfast. I saute'd all the meats first and then added the veggies and minced garlic when the meat was about 1/2 way cooked. Remove from heat. Drain juices, if any are left, if you use turkey bacon or sausage there won't be much, if any remaining fat. 

Spray your crock with PAM or other non stick spray. I don't recommend using the crock pot bags for this recipe, I'm not sure they would work very well, but someone might want to try it, I know it makes clean up of the crock pot easier. 

In separate bowl beat eggs, milk, dill, salt, and pepper until combined. 

Layer 1/3 of the hashbrowns in the bottom of the crock pot, then 1/3 of the meat on top of that, then 1/3 of the cheese, continue for two more layers, ending with a layer of cheese. Pour egg mixture over the top. I went back and forth instead of pouring it all in the middle to promote even cooking. Cover and cook on low overnight for 8-10 hours. Verify done-ness by sticking a thermometer in the middle of the casserole, it should reach at least 160 degrees F. Mine was about 175. Enjoy!

I will definitely share other recipes as I try them, and after finals are all done on the 15th I hope to have a bunch of crafty things to share as well... If you don't have Pintrest, I highly recommend it as I have found tons of good ideas and recipes there. If you need an invite let me know here or on Facebook and I will gladly send you one!

Til next time!