Teething Biscuits

We go through teething biscuits quickly, mostly due to my 18 month old being addicted to them, but it adds up when the boxes range from $3-4.00. When I found out that I can make them myself, I decided to give them a try. The result, my kiddo loves them!

Banana Teething Biscuits
1 cup whole wheat rice cereal
1 cup whole wheat or all purpose flour
1 overly ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

First combine the rice cereal and flour in a medium bowl, create a hole in the middle of mixture and set aside.  

In a second bowl, mash the banana with vanilla, olive oil and water. 

Pour the banana mix into the flour and stir together. If its too dry, add water as you mix. The dough should be sticky, but not "stick to your fingers" sticky. Keep adding a little water until it is at the consistency you want.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface until dough is 1/4" thick. Use a cookie cutter of any shape you want. Place on a cookie sheet and pop in the oven. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on size of cookie cutter used. I chose a small circle and baked for 10 minutes. 

Chicken and Broccoli Cream Over Rice

A favorite dish of my family never had a real title, we always called it Mom's Chicken and Broccoli goulash. Of course it's not real goulash because goulash is more of a soup made from beef, lamb, pork or veal. Whatever we call it, when we get asked what we want for special occasions we always ask for this. 

It is a really simple recipe and super fast to make. Not many ingredients either!

Chicken and Broccoli Cream
3 chicken breasts (or 3 cups), cooked and chopped
3 cans of cream of chicken (I prefer low sodium)
1 cup of low fat mayo
2 tbsp of lemon juice
3 tsp of curry powder
3 cups of broccoli, chopped and frozen
2-3 cups of white rice, depending on how many people are coming to dinner

In a medium pot, stir together cream of chicken, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder. Once this is thoroughly mixed, add in chicken and broccoli and let it simmer on low heat. Stir occasionally, letting the cream mix heat all around until broccoli is cooked and warm. 

Cook your rice according to the box/bag. 

Once the cream mix is hot and cooked through, serve it up! Some let to mix it right away, pouring it over their rice. Others like to mix as they take bites. Either way, its yummy! 

Also, it is really good with a side of french bread and a nice salad. 

Writers Block

I found myself with nothing to write about this weekend which made me sad, but fear not! I have a few projects planned. This week my hubby and I are working on creating a cat scratching post for our kitty. We purchased the wood today and we just need a few more things and we will be set.

Also I will be starting a new health project. I recently read the benefits of Evening Primrose capsules so tomorrow I am heading to a store to find them. I will document the benefits I experience with the pills. Supposedly Evening Primrose is good for the skin and PMS. As a woman, yay! Since having kids my hormones have been bonkers creating havoc on my skin. 

Speaking of the things that having kids can do to you, my hair is also on the chopping block. Literally. I think it may be time for a haircut. Not sure what to do yet, but oh boy is it needed! Before kids my hair was long, sleek, and straight. Now its frizzy and curly! I like to do hair treatments for it, my favorite is this-

1/2 cup of EVOO, warmed in the microwave

1/4 cup of honey

Get your hair wet first and brush out tangles. Mix honey into hot EVOO until honey is melted. Rub in the treatment onto scalp once it's cooled down enough to touch. Wrap in a shower cap or damp towel. Let it sit for 30 minutes then wash out with shampoo. Blow dry and style. 

Thats all, y'all! 

White Cake or Cupcakes

Feeling sick all week, my body was fighting off a cold that spread around my whole family so my motivation was really lacking. To make up to my girls for mommy's lethargic playing I decided to bake them a little cake. 

It's just a simple white cake topped with left over strawberry frosting. Here is the recipe:

White Cake

1 cup of white granulated sugar

1/2 cup of butter, softened

2 eggs, let come to room temperature

2 tsp of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

1 3/4 tsp of baking powder

1/2 cup of 2% milk

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9" round cake pan, 9"x9" pan or cupcake pan.

Blend sugar and butter until creamed together. Add in eggs, one at a time, then stir in vanilla extract. Next fold in flour and baking powder. Stir together until completely mixed then add in milk. Mix until completely smooth. 

Pour into your prepared dish and bake for 30-40 minutes. I baked for 35 minutes. 

I shaped my cake into a heart to make my girls smile. 

Money Saving Tip

One simple way I save money for our family is by pre-planning our meals. I like to make a list of meals we enjoy, making a note of if there will be left overs or not.

While I make my menu, I make my shopping list. I downloaded the perfect app on my phone; a simple shopping list app. The name of the app is actually Shopping List! Not sure what phones the app will work on, I have the Nokia Lumia 900. 

When it was just husband and I, I would plan out a month of meals. Buy all the grocerys and freeze as much as I could. Now that there are four of us I only do 2 weeks at a time. 

My typical shopping trip for every 2 weeks runs us about $100. Not bad huh! 

Nursing Cover

I wrote a little bit about breastfeeding before, but I didn't get around to writing about nursing covers. If you are like me then a little privacy is very much appreciated. I understand a lot of moms out there don't feel the need for nursing covers, but I definitely did  when out in public and around friends. Not only did my cover make me feel more comfortable, but our friends and family felt more at ease too. 

The problem I had was I didn't like the covers out there. I wanted something more personal and special since I was going to use it for a long time. A little research later and I found online steps on how to make your own nursing cover! Of course I didn't have a sewing machine then and knew nothing about sewing so I called in my mom to help me out. 

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

It was very simple to make and for the fraction of the price of buying a cover. We already had the fabric. Months before we had a family friend make my daughter's crib bedding and we had some extra fabric left over. In total the project cost me $4.00. 

Here is what you need:
1 yard of fabric
thread to match
2 D rings
1/2 of corset boning, 1/4" wide

The link I provided goes through each step with pictures to help. 

You can also add on a little square pocket for things you may need, such as a burp cloth or binky. 

Here is how my nursing cover came out- 

Monsters Be Gone

My 3 year old started early with the "monsters are in my closet" bit, I think it was because we moved into a new house and it was a little scary for her. Since then the monster theory comes and goes for her. When this began I looked for the best answer I could give her. We tried watching Monsters Inc., but she hated it and was even scared of Sully. Then I found an idea and put it to use; a Monster Be Gone Spray. Last night she had really bad dreams and tonight told us that the monsters were back so Mommy had to go spray the entire room and closet. 

The idea is so simple and yet glorious! You need a can of your favorite air freshener (I use febreeze lavender). Take a sheet of paper and measure it around the can. Then write and draw whatever you want to. I drew things that make my daughter happy like flowers and hearts and wrote "NO MONSTER SPRAY". Tape the sheet to the can and introduce it to your child. The first time we used it I had my daughter show me all the places she thought the monsters were and sprayed. 

My daughter loves this. Her bedroom smells good and she feels safe. I hope this helps some parents out there who are dealing with monsters under the bed or in the closet. 

And I hope one day my daughter will come to love Monsters Inc. because that is an awesome movie!