Organizing our summer fun - the summer list

I saw this fabulous idea at MomAdvice last year, courtesty of Megan. It was such a hit at our house that we created a fall and Christmas list as well. Writing down the "don't want to miss" activities for each season and posting the list in a visible area (our fridge) really helps us keep our priorities in line. I am definitely one who benefits from accountability, and if I don't keep certain events and activities in front of me, time tends to get away. (Is it seriously June already?!? Yikes!)


What are your "don't want to miss" activities this summer? What tricks do you use to help make sure you schedule those activities before time gets away from you?

Handmade Christmas Challenge

photo by Wolfiewolf

I have been bookmarking ideas for Christmas presents for several months now. I'm planning to make personalized coloring pages, tutus, fairy wings, and some knitted goodies to name a few things. I can't disclose my full list, because my mom reads this blog! {{hee hee, are you wondering what you're getting, mom?!}}

I love the idea I saw in Amy's notebook from Handmade Homeschool for a totally handmade Christmas. What I liked best about this post is the idea of brainstorming ideas based on the type of gift. I've started my own list with categories for knitting, kitchen/baking, crafty, indulgent, and imaginative/artsy.

The scarf I'm making for Sweetpea obviously falls under knitting, and we will be baking and decorating cookies for several of our friends. Under the indulgent category, I'm going to try and make a peppermint scrub that I have bookmarked, and some scented sugars.

I'm not trying much out of my comfort zone, because I don't want to add to the stress of an already busy time of year - but for things I enjoy making, something that can be made quickly and easily, or something that is unique and that I think would be especially meaningful, I think it makes sense.

I'll also be checking out Tip Junkie's Mom Preneur Shop a Thon for goodies I don't know how or don't want to take the time to make. Have you checked it out? There are some great goodies to be had!

Are you making anything for friends or family this year? I'd love to hear your ideas! Anyone (besides mom) that would like to see my list, I'd be happy to email it to you.

For more handmade gift ideas, visit TipJunkie's roundup of ideas!

Crockpot Applesauce and "Mexican" Rice Skillet

We have lots of these:

So I was very excited to come across several recipes for applesauce over the past few weeks. I decided to try the crock pot applesauce, both for the ease of preparation and the yummy smell I imagined would permeate the house. I was not disappointed on either count!

I started out following this recipe, which I found in several locations, one of which was Amy's notebook.

The recipe goes like this:
4 large apples, skinned ,cored, and cut in quarters
juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 T brown sugar
1/4 cup H20

I made a double batch last Thursday, and when I came home from work, the house smelled divine. The apples mashed up like they were butter, and they were delicious, though I thought they had a bit too much lemon and cinnamon for my taste.

Easy enough to fix, I made another batch! This time, just apples and water, and then I combined the two batches together. For me, that was perfect!

So my slightly modified version of this recipe goes like this:
16 medium to large apples, cored and quartered
1 cup water
1T brown sugar
1t vanilla
1/2t cinnamon
juice of one lemon

As a side note, one of the recipes I saw called for leaving the peels on to achieve a beautiful pink color, then running the apples through a food mill. I love the pink color, but like the ease of just mashing with a potato masher or a fork. In the future, I think I will cut some pieces very small and leave the skins on to see if I can get the best of both worlds, applesaucily speaking.

Here is a close up of the deliciousness.



As an added bonus, I promised if my Mexican Rice Skillet turned out well, I'd share the recipe. I thought it was great, so here it is!

"Mexican" Rice Skillet
1 pound ground meat (I used my favorite frugal ground turkey from Cub Foods)
1 can black beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 12oz can of diced tomatoes – not drained (could substitute salsa, which was my original intention before I realized my huge stash had run out)
1 ½ cups of instant rice
1 cup water
1 package taco seasoning (I used the low sodium version)
4 slices of Velveeta cheese

Brown your ground meat, and if necessary, drain off the grease. Blend in the taco seasoning and 1 cup water. Add the tomatoes along with the juice from the can and the rice. Cover and cook until the rice is done. Add in the corn and beans. Mix well, and top with the Velveeta slices.
It will look something like this:


Recover and allow the Velveeta to start to melt, then mix well to incorporate the cheese. Sit back in awe of how great this looks, and how easy it was!

Make Your Own Pumpkin Spiced Latte

Fall is my favorite time of year - I love the cool nights, crisp mornings, the turning of the leaves, pumpkin picking, cider sipping...I could go on, but I will try and spare you any additional rambling.

I have been so excited to see the first leaves start to change color and the first few cool mornings, reaching for Sweetpea's jacket and jeans. (don't you just love a baby in jeans?) The other hint of fall that I noticed last week was slightly less "natural", but no less exciting - pumpkin spice creamer! Didn't see that coming? I normally drink my coffee "straight up". It has to be either totally plain or heavy on the sugar and creamer, I can't take any in between for some reason. My daycare provider introduced me to her seasonal favorite creamer last year, and I hate to admit I've been a pumpkin spice addict ever since. Luckily the stuff is only available through end of the year!

I guess that's why I was so excited to see TWO pumpkin spiced latte recipes on Amy's notebook in the past few weeks. I decided to go for the "more decadent" of the two versions that you can find here. I brewed my coffee as I normally would (apparently I drink it "strong") and while the coffee maker was doing it's thing, I started on the pumpkin concoction. I skipped the blender step, using my pampered chef whisk instead. I assembled the ingredients and heated it over medium/low heat, whisking regularly to dissolve the sugar into the milk.

(look at that, I liked it so much I wrote down the recipe! And no, that part of the burner isn't on, so it isn't going to catch fire)

After the pumpkin creaminess appeared to be sufficiently warm and frothy, I poured about half of it into my mug followed by coffee and a heavy shot of creamer -pumpkin spice flavor for good measure! I skipped the additional sugar since I was using extra sweet creamer.




(Isn't this a cute mug? I think anything would look good in this mug, it's my favorite! It was my Dad's, so it holds a special place in my heart.)

Back to the Latte - it was fantastic! Doesn't it look fantastic? It was a great treat and mid-week morning pick me up. It was delicious hot, but next time I'll make this as an iced version...if there is one thing I like better than fancied up hot coffee, it's fancy iced coffee!


For more fun experiments like this one, head over and check out Momadvice!

Notebook Experiment - Baby shower ideas

Amy's last notebook featured a link from Tip Junkie on Baby Shower Ideas. I have a few friends who might be in the market for a shower soon, so I clicked on through. Nikki was featured for her favors, games, and decorating ideas. If you want to check out the fab shower she threw for Holly, I've included a link here. I'm lovin the adorable baby clothing line that looks like garland all around the room? The girl is genius!

What I wanted to share, though, is a diaper cake (similar to those shown in Nikki's post) that doubled as both gift and decoration at a baby shower. This cake was a bit bigger than the ones I usually make, because this cake was for my friend who is having twins! (you can see her in the bottom photo - Hi Jayme!) I had a bunch of newborn diapers left over that had been gifted to me, so I went a little overboard, but I think it turned out very well. Since this was for a boy/girl twin pair, I used both "princess" and "all star" ribbon that I found at Wal Mart for $1 a spool. The trick is getting good at rolling diapers, and after that, it's pretty much a snap! And make sure you have enough rubber bands, that is key too. Since there really weren't directions on either TipJunkie or Nikki's sites for making a diaper cake, you can go here to find the tutorial I've used for my cakes. There are some other cool tips on that site too.






For more notebook experiments, head on over to Momadvice!