A mini tip

A while back I started taking steps to make sure my girls were as safe as they possibly could be, not just safe, but taken care of. On a car ride I got to thinking about their safety in the car. Of course they are always buckled up and car seats properly installed, but what else could be done? What if we were in an accident and I could not give their information to anyone? 

I ran across an idea on pinterest and loved this idea- having your children's information on their car seats for any emergencies. Of course I took an extra step so that their information is not just laid out there for anyone to look through my car window and see. 

So I hopped on my computer and simply typed up a few key pieces of need to know info. Names, birthday, parent's names, parent's phone number (I gave each girl a different number), and their medical record number. I printed this out and cut it into a info card so I could cover it. 

After I taped them securely to the car seat base I taped the info closed, but not too difficult to open. 

I hope this inspires other parents to do the same for your children. And please always make sure your car seats are installed properly. If you have an infant, the car seat should always been rear facing. The law (in CA at least) is to keep your child in a rear facing seat until they are at least one year old AND 20 pounds, but the new recommendation is to wait until your child is two years old. 

Taco Pie Dinner

I found (and altered) this recipe a few years back and everyone that I have made it for really really enjoyed it. 

Taco Pie

1 package of crescent rolls
1 lb of lean ground beef
1 packet of taco seasoning
2/3 cup of water
16 oz of light sour cream
2 cups of mexican style cheese
1 small can of sliced olives
optional- 1 small diced tomato
16 oz of plain tortilla chips crushed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the crescent rolls flat on a 9"x13" dish, I push them down as flat as I can and let them go up the sides of the dish too. No need to grease the dish first. Bake according for 10-12 minutes.

While the rolls are bakinng flat, brown the ground beef and drain of fat. Next stir in the water and taco seasoning. 

After the rolls are done baking, pour the ground beef on top. Next pour on the sour cream, then olives, then the cheese. Next top with crushed tortilla chips. Place the dish back into the oven at 350 degrees and bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

Let rest for 5-10 minutes to cool down, then serve it up! 

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Yummy time! 

My hubby isn't one for sweets, but these cookies are one of his favorite sweets that I make for him (besides the PB fudge). 

It is a fairly easy cookie recipe so here we go!

2 1/4 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 cup of butter, softened
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1 cup of light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp of salt
2 tsp of vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup of peanut butter chips

Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Mix the flour, baking soda, butter, both sugars, and salt together until crumbled dough. Create a hole in the middle and add in the eggs and vanilla. Mix completely and stir in both kinds of chips. 

Drop cookie dough into one inch balls, about 2 inches apart from each other on an ungreased cookie sheet. 

Bake for 8-10 minutes each. 

Depending on the size of your cookies, this recipe makes between 3-4 dozen cookies.

Bonus recipe:
This one I found on pinterest so I can not take credit, but if cookie dough is a big temptation for you to eat like it is for me here is an egg free dough just for eating!

3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1/4 cup of butter, softened
1/4 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of 2% milk
1 cup of all purpose flour
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Mix all together in a medium size bowl and enjoy. This is perfect for a girls night! 

Growing plants from seeds

Ever since I was a little girl I have loved, loved, loved gardening! When I was little my parents allowed to be have a green thumb and use a good amount of the backyard for growing vegetables. Now that I have little girls I hope to inspire them to find their inner farmer. A few months back I sat down with my daughter and we germinated some seeds; lemon, fugi apple, green apple, red delicious apple, and orange seeds. 

For those who don't know about germination, it is quite simple. Each tree is a bit different and I suggest researching how long to germinate each one before doing it. Mostly you can bet that it is between 6-8 weeks. 

First step is to take the seeds out of the fruit and clean them off. Next soak in some water, I soaked mine for 15 minutes. 

Next take a wet paper towel, place seeds on paper towel, and fold up (leave about an inch between seeds). 

Take a plastic baggy and label it the name of your seed and date it, for your own records. Place the wet paper towel inside the bag and place in a cool dry place, the best place is inside the fridge. 

When the time has come you can open up the towel and you should see some sprouts! (I wish I had taken a picture of mine! Next time I will!) Not all seeds will sprout, but if you have some then yay! 

I like to plant my seedlings somewhere safe so I use small plastic cups full of planting soil. I keep them inside as well, especially right now since it is winter and the east bay has been getting it's fair share of frost. I keep mine in the dining room window, its a great place for them and my 3 year old loves to watch them grow. 

                                   (Forgive my sloppy handwriting on the cup please!) 

When your seedlings are old enough you can move them into bigger pots and outside. I hope you do well with your gardening. 

If you want to start a garden, but don't know your hardiness zone, here is a good link- http://www.garden.org/zipzone/

Good luck and I hope you grow many wonderful things!

Easy white bread recipe

This white bread recipe is for those who do no have a bread machine (just like me!) and really want to make their own bread. Okay, ready, set, go!

White Bread recipe

2 cups of warm water (110 degrees f)
2/3 cup of white granulated sugar
2 packets of rapid rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp of salt
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
6 cups of bread flour

Start by dissolving the sugar into the warm water, then stir in the yeast packets. Allow it time to proof, this will look foamy. 

Next mix the vegetable oil and salt into the yeast, either by hand or kitchen mixer (I use my kitchen aid). Then slowly add in or knead the bread flour until completely mixed and smooth.

  

After place the dough into a well oiled large bowl and turn the dough to coat in oil. Place a damp cloth on top of the dough and allow to double in size, this should take about a hour. 

(This was pre-coating in oil)

Next punch down the dough and knead for a few minutes. Shape into 2 loaves and place in 2 well oiled 9"x5" loaf pans. Let the dough rise until it is about 1" about the loaf pan. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool down completely. These freeze beautifully if you need to freeze them too.  

Breastfeeding and baby food

Breastfeeding

Since I am almost done weaning my youngest from breastfeeding I decided to write a little bit about it. I loved breastfeeding my girls. I breastfed my oldest for 16 months and my youngest for 17 months. There is such an amazing feeling knowing that you are giving your child the best start that they can have, the best food, the immunities to disease, and bonding with your child the way no one else can. 

Sometimes it is hard, going out places and getting looks from people can be embarrassing (even if you are using a nursing cover). The fact that you have to completely alter your wardrobe so your shirts and bras provide convenience to breastfeed. And lets not forget about pumping! 

Before I had my girls I had no idea that while breastfeeding I couldn't take most medicines when I got sick. While breastfeeding my oldest I got really sick and took some medicine- that disgusting pink bottle, you all know what I am talking about. Almost immediately my milk supply almost dried up! I did a bunch of research and got fenugreek pills and that brought my milk supply right back up. After that I was super careful and refused to take anything when I got sick!  

Best advice I got and have given out about breastfeeding is this- keep yourself calm. In the beginning it can be really hard, especially for a first time mom. You tense up, you worry. Relax! When you tense up and stress, so does baby. Take a deep breath and calm down. 

There are other things that help. There are teas that are supposed to help increase milk supply, fenugreek helps, and eating a lot of dark green leafy vegetables (mostly spinach). 

If you are shy, buy a nursing cover. Of if you are crafty or have crafty friend/family have them make you a custom one. My mom made my nursing cover out of left over fabric from my oldest daughter's bedding that we had made. We used this template- 

http://www.blisstree.com/2010/06/03/sex-relationships/free-pattern-to-sew-your-own-nursing-cover/

The best website about breastfeeding is www.kellymom.com! Whenever I had questions I always consulted that site. 

Baby Food

If you are like me then you like to know exactly what your baby is eating, what better way to make sure you know than making it yourself. When your baby is old enough to start eating baby food, I recommend making it yourself. No, you don't need the magic baby bullet mixer that they sell on tv and online. All you need is a blender and some ice cube trays. 

I preferred to buy organic fruits and vegetables from the local farmers market. All you need to do is cook the food, blend it up, pour it into ice cube trays, and freeze. 

I would start my girls out with one food at a time to introduce it to them. Once they got to like it, I began to blend flavors together. Strawberry banana, mango banana, carrot and peas, corn and carrot, apples and spinach, and anything else they seemed to like.

Don't forget to add in protein when they are old enough. Chicken goes great with veggies and some certain fruits like plum and apple. 

Hope this helps someone! 

Desserts

Every so often I like to have a small treat for myself, but I don't want to bake a bunch of cookies, brownies, or an entire cake. Not too long ago I found a recipe on pinterest for a peanut butter cake in a mug. Single serving cake? Excellent! I tried it and liked it, but thought it should be updated for people who want to cut back on sugar. So here is the original recipe in link-
 http://lacreativitedelafille.blogspot.com/2012/06/peanut-butter-mug-cake.html

Here is my version of the recipe- Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cake in a Mug

4 tbsp of all purpose flour
4 tbsp of Splenda
1/4 tsp of baking powder
1 egg
3 tbsp of natural Peanut Butter, I like to use Skippy Natural
3 tbsp of milk, I use 2%
3 tbsp of vegetable oil

Mix all together in a large mug until smooth and completely mixed. Microwave for 1 1/2-2 minutes. Do not overcook or it turns rubbery. I feel like its done for me after 1:45 minutes. 

You can add in other things it you like. Keep it sugar free and add a spoonful of sugar free cool whip. Or go the other route like I did, toss in a small handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. You can also pour some chocolate syrup on or anything else that you fancy. 

(Not the prettiest picture, I know, but when it comes to a fast treat, its not about pretty!)


Another great treat to make are brownies! I often make these for my hubby to take to work and his co workers LOVE them! A real quick recipes and you'll have brownies from scratch!

1/2 cup of butter, melted
1 cup of white granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1/3 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of baking powder

First off, get an 8"x8" baking pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray then coat with flour. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.

Next mix the hot melted butter with sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder one at a time until completely smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. 

Bake for 25-30 minutes, do not over bake. I find mine are done at 27 minutes, so check every couple minutes if not done after 25. 

With my batch yesterday I decided to add a little something and pour melted Andies mints on top.

                                                     Melted the mints down in a small pan

                               
                                                  Poured on top of freshly baked brownies

Now you don't need to use the mints, the brownies stand up on their own. I was just craving a little mint yesterday! These brownies are really soft and absolutely perfect. Please give these a try!

Sugar Free Apple Pie

I love holidays, birthdays, or any other excuse to bake for family and friends, but sometimes it's difficult to please everyone especially when half of the family can't eat sugar. I have a few recipes that are almost sugar free, usually only a few grams of sugar per slice. Today I wanted to share the sugar free apple pie that I make for holidays. Now, I did not come up with this recipe, its originally from Splenda's website and here is the link-

http://recipes.splenda.com/recipes/1397035-Nostalgic-Apple-Pie

The issue I found with Splenda's recipe is that they recommend using 1 prepared double pie crusts, but when I went shopping for my ingredients I found that all of the prepared crusts have a ton of sugar in them! Way too much for diabetics! I also felt the recipe calls for way to much apple, I usually had to throw some away because I couldn't fit anymore inside. So here is the recipe and my recommendations. 

1 package of Betty Crocker's pie crust mix- 2 envelopes of mix inside. 

6 cups of baking apple slices, peeled and cored (for those who don't know, its green apples) 

1 cup of Splenda

3 tbsp of cornstarch

3/4 tsp of cinnamon

1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1/8 tsp of salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place one pie crust inside a 9" pie tin. 

Place apples into a large bowl and set aside. Mix splenda, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt all together in a second bowl. Sprinkle the mixture over the apples and toss to coat. Pour the apples into the pie tin. Place the second pie crust on top, sealing the sides closed. Make a small opening on top of the pie crust with a sharp knife. 

Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the top is a golden brown. Serve cool. I like to serve with sugar free cool whip or sugar free vanilla ice cream! Yum!

Breakfast burritos

I feel so lucky to be a stay at home mom and take care of my beautiful little girls so I try as hard as I can to show my appreciation for the hard work my hubby does as often as I can. One of the ways I do this is by making him delicious breakfast burritos for his ride to work. I feel better about him eating the burritos I make compared to any breakfast burritos that you buy in the freezer aisle at the store, at least I know exactly what is my burritos! 

So here is the recipe and step by step photos! 

1/2 a package of bacon

1 lb of sausage or links

1 package of hash browns or potatoes o'brian

10 eggs

1/4 cup of milk

salt and pepper (to taste)

1 package of tortillas (about 30 is safe)

1 package of mexican cheese mix

First off, fry up some bacon! After its cooked, set it on a paper towel to drain, then chop up.

Next cook the sausage in the same pan. When done set off the side and slice up.

In a bowl mix the eggs, 1/4 cup of milk, salt and pepper

                           Next cook the potatoes in the same pan that you had cooked the bacon and sausage

                                         Add the chopped bacon and sausage into the potatoes 

                                            Pour in the egg mixture and stir until completely cooked

Put the mixture into tortillas and add cheese on top. Normally I add salsa too, but the jar was too stubborn today!

Next wrap the burritos in saran wrap and place in freezer bags!

Microwave for about 1:30 to 2 minutes depending on how full each one is. Enjoy!

Rainy days with Kids

It is a rainy day today so indoor activities it is! Keeping a 3 year old and a 17 month old entertained all day while stuck inside is difficult work. Luckily I have taken some time and planned out what to do with the two of them today.

Art time! My girls looooove to draw and paint. It gets boring for children to constantly use the same coloring books over and over so when I love when have the opportunity to introduce them to something new. One of my biggest goals in life (as a mother) is to culture my girls and let them fall in love with great artist and musicians. One way I have been doing that is I have found a great website that you can print out drawings of famous paintings for kids to color in!

http://www.supercoloring.com/pages/category/artsculture/famous-paintings/

Another great thing to do with preschool age kids is print out some worksheets to further their education. My three year old is not in preschool yet, however because of all the work we do she can write her alphabet and numbers, draw shapes, knows the name of her shapes, and is getting a lot better at coloring in the lines. I love this website for free preschool worksheets- http://www.kidslearningstation.com/ and kids love them too!

Also to come today, I am making my hubby some breakfast burritos that can be frozen and reheated. I will post the recipe and pictures later today :) 

Bye ya'll!

Organizing your documents

The Keeper of Everything Important

Many people I know like to call me OCD. I prefer the joke that I have CDO because that is the order the letters should go in. In all honesty I love to be organized, it makes me feel good and balanced. When I need to find something, it is exactly where I put it and it always will be. Having kids sometimes throws a wrench in my organization, but I shall overcome! 

One thing I have always felt needed to be in an orderly fashion are important documents. If there was ever an emergency these documents should be easy to find. Hence the emergency binder! All that is needed are three things- a binder (small or large, depending on how many documents you have), sheet protectors, and the documents you want to keep safe.

Inside is table of contents (to keep track of what is in it) followed by marriage license, SSNs, birth certificates, passports, wills, deeds, or whatever else is meaningful. Since this binder holds very important information it is best to keep it in your safe or a very very good hiding spot. This can really save a headache when you are looking for your information! 

 

Healthy Salmon Dinner

To combat the delicious peanut butter fudge from yesterday I definitely had to go with a healthy dinner so salmon it is! Once again, easy peasy recipe for a yummy dinner. On general I despise seafood and my hubby loves it so every once in a while I like to treat him and serve salmon, the only seafood that I like.

I have several salmon recipes, but having little energy last night I went with my tried and true simple recipe, so here it is!

2 fillets of medium size
2-3 lemons, depending on size
2 tbsp of butter (1 tbsp per fillet)
salt and pepper
(optional) sprigs of rosemary or parsley

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

First lay out a good size piece of foil, enough to wrap up both fillets laying flat. Slice the lemons and lay them out on the foil. Lay the salmon fillets on top of the lemon slices and place a tbsp of butter on top of each fillet. Lastly salt and pepper the fillets to your liking, I use just a few dashes of each.

Create a bag around the salmon using the foil and place on a baking tray. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes depending on the size of your fillets. I like to check mine after 30, sometimes it is ready to come out, others need another 10 minutes.

Last step- eat your yummy salmon!

Peanut Butter Fudge

This recipe is one of my hubby's favorite treats! Delicious peanut butter fudge! It is so easy and fast to make that if you have the ingredients and a few minutes, you really have no excuse not to try it!

Peanut Butter Fudge
              4 cups of powdered sugar
              1.5 cups of peanut butter (I prefer Skippy Natural)
              1 cup of butter, softened (or margarine, which ever you prefer)
              1 tsp of vanilla extract
              8x8 or 9x9 dish, sprayed with cooking spray and covered in wax paper

I prep everything before I start. 4 cups of sugar in a large bowl, 1 tsp of vanilla extract off to the side, softened butter in a pan, and peanut butter in the pan too. 

Prep your 8x8 or 9x9 dish by spraying it with cooking spray and covering with wax paper. 

Melt the butter and peanut butter in the pan, over medium heat, until fully melted and mixed. You can also use the microwave for this part, approximately 2 minutes will do the treat, but check every 30 seconds to stir. 

Pour the melted butter and peanut butter into the bowl with the sugar and add in the vanilla extract. Stir, stir, stir! 

Now, this fudge wont be smooth and creamy like chocolate fudge is, this will look and feel doughy and that is perfect! Once it is completely mixed, pour into the prepared pan and stick into the fridge for 2-3 hours. 

Enjoy!!

My very first post

As a stay at home mom I often try to find ways to save money around the house. For the past six months I decided to stop spending money and make a few of the things I used to buy. So for my first post I decided to share my recipes for a body scrub, facial scrub, and facial toner. 

The body scrub is really simple and cheap! 

                       1 tsp. of raw honey

                       1/4 cup of olive oil (I used EVOO)

                       1 cup of raw or granulated sugar

                       2 tsp of lemon zest

Mix the honey and EVOO together, add in sugar, and then the zest. I keep my scrub in a clear glass jar. This only keeps for a few weeks, but if you use it everyday it won't really matter. My skin loves it, I always feel so soft and smooth after my showers!

The facial scrub is just as easy and the best scrub I've ever used.

                      1/3 cup of brown sugar

                      1/2 tsp of lemon juice

                      1/2 tsp of witch hazel

                      1 tbsp of olive oil

                      1/2 tsp of raw honey 

                      2-4 drops of tea tree oil 

Mix together in a small jar exactly as the recipe says, this keeps for a few weeks as well. I use mine every morning since I like the way it makes my skin feel all day long. I use the scrub on my face first, then use a natural cleanser after to cut down on the oily feeling, but it is still very soft after.

Lastly, the toner. About 6 months back I ran out of my favorite facial toner, but at the time I had a hard time spending money on myself. My solution was to keep my old toner spray bottle and make my own!

                     1 cup of water

                     1/2 cup of lemon juice

                     2/3 cup of witch hazel

                     3-4 drops of tea tree oil

Mix and pour into any bottle you plan on using. I prefer a spray bottle, but some like to pour onto cotton balls.

Also if you don't care for tea tree oil, you don't have to use it. I prefer to use it because my skin does continue to break out. Tea tree oil is great stuff, if you have not used it before or looked into it, you definitely should! 

That is all for today folks! Thank you for reading!!!