Wordless Wednesday~ Dog Pile

Two things wrong with this picture. 1- They are not allowed on the furniture. 2- I think they are trying to slowly suffocate the pug.

Toasted Italian Beef Sandwiches

Here is another great recipe I have found and tried from All Recipes. This is one of my husbands favorite sandwiches. I like making it because it is super easy and tastes really good!

Ingredients:

3 cups beef broth
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon onion salt
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 bay leaf
2 (.7 ounce) packages dry Italian-style salad dressing mix
1 (5 pound) chuck roast
1 package Mozzarella Cheese Slices
1 package of Sub Buns



Directions:

Combine water with salt, ground black pepper, oregano, basil, onion salt, parsley, garlic powder, bay leaf, and salad dressing mix in a saucepan. Stir well, and bring to a boil.

Place roast in slow cooker, and pour salad dressing mixture over the meat.

Cover, and cook on Low for 8 hours. Take out of pot and shred, then return and cook additional to 1-2 hours. When done, remove bay leaf, and shred meat with a fork.


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill sub buns with meat mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake until buns are toasted and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. Serve.

*You can also fill with your choice of toppings. Sauteed mushrooms, roasted peppers, and onions also make excellent fillers.

Favorite Things Friday~ Beauty Products

Today’s Favorite Things Friday is about my favorite health and beauty items. These are items that I love so much that I will pay full price for them. If you know me, I’m a cheapie, so that’s saying something about the quality of these items!

1. O.P.I Nail Polishes. The color selection is phenomenal, it dries quick, doesn’t chip, and the names they come up with for each color are a hoot.

2. Essie Smoothies Body Lotion in Blueberry & Banana. This smell so good! It absorbs quickly and isn’t greasy or sticky.

3. Burt’s Bees Sensitive Facial Cleaner. I have a bucket full of facial cleaners. They all leave my face red, blotchy, and looking like Freddy Kruger. This is the first facial cleanser that I have used that does none of the above. It has an Elmer’s Glue consistency, which makes me think it’s sticking to all the dirt and dead skin, then washes right off.

4. Aquolina Pink Sugar Hair Perfume. This stuff smells AMAZING! If you like cotton candy scent, you must try this. A few squirts on your hair is all you need, so it lasts a long time. It has a fun, flirty scent. Perfect for summer. This is one of my husbands favorite scents too. I don’t wear body perfume, but I love how this smells in my hair.

5. Olay Regenerist Facial Serum. This goes on smooth, dries quickly, and does not leave my face oily.

6. PUR Minerals Mascara and Pot Eyeliner. I’ve been using mascara for many years, and this is the best I have found yet. No clumps going on, no flakes after hours of wear. The pot eyeliner does not smudge and no raccoon eyes after hours of wear.

I’d love to hear about some of your favorite beauty items!

No School, Old School Craft Day

The girls didn't have school on Monday. I like to get the girls involved in crafts on no school days. This keeps them entertained for a while and helps me encourage creativity in their lives.

Mariah had a science fair project to work on at a friends house, so I had to think up something to do with Allison. Something fun, but not so great that Mariah would feel like she missed out on participating. I started thinking about crafts I enjoyed doing as a kid. My mom never had much money to buy fancy materials for us to work with, so we had to come up with ideas on our own. I remembered spending hours cutting out cool things from mom's used magazines and making collages. Also, we would go out and find odd shaped leaves and iron them between sheets of wax paper.

I gathered up a few old magazines and Allison set off to work on her collage.

Since it's winter and all of our leaves are dried up and dead, we used red and purple crayon shavings to melt between the wax paper. Allison ended up cutting them into heart shapes, decorated them with stickers, and will pass those out to her grandparents and cousins for homemade Valentine cards.

I forgot how much fun it could be to work with everyday basic items. I am going to incorporate those kinds of projects into our crafting activities more often!

Wordless Wednesday- Hidden Cottage Shed

My backyard neighbors have this fantastic tree in their yard, and tucked in beside it is this adorable little cottage shed. I love looking out my window and seeing it out there. It seems like it should be in a fairytale.

Chicken Hot Wings

We serve these hot wings at every Super Bowl Party. They are a HUGE hit. My father in law swears these taste just like wings you get at the bar. I'm not a huge fan of eating leftovers cold, but these are fantastic the next day. I also find that even with the cayenne pepper and paprika added to the chicken, my kids will eat these if I don't put sauce on theirs.

Ingredients:

oil for deep frying                                     

1/2 cup butter *real butter, not a spread*

1/2 cup Franks hot sauce (you can use another brand, but I think Franks is what makes these wings so good)

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

20 chicken wings

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a deep fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). The oil should be just enough to cover wings entirely. Combine the butter, hot sauce, pepper and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir together and heat until butter is melted and mixture is well blended. Remove from heat and reserve for serving.
2. In a small bowl mix together the flour, paprika, cayenne pepper and salt. Place chicken wings in a large ziptop bag. Pour flour mixture over the wings, seal bag, and shake until all the pieces are coated with the mixture. Refrigerate for 60 to 90 minutes.
3. Fry coated wings in hot oil for 10 to 15 minutes, or until wings begin to turn brown. Remove from heat, place wings in serving bowl, add hot sauce mixture and stir together. Serve.

Colored Sand

We were at Hobby Lobby the other day, and my girls wanted some of those plastic sand containers. You know the ones that are shaped like hearts and bears that you fill with different colored sand. Those were pretty inexpensive, but when I saw how much the sand was to fill them with, I about choked. I was certain we could probably dye our own, so I set off to Lowe's and grabbed a 50lb bag of play sand for $3, came home, and tried my hand at coloring my own.

What you need:

Play sand. I like the bags Lowe's carries. It is very soft and fine. Home Depot's seem very rough and gritty.
Food Coloring
Water
bowls


Directions:

Fill bowl with desired amount of sand.
Fill bowl with just enough water to cover the sand. Apply several drops of food coloring in the shade of your choosing. Apply more drops if you wish for a darker color.
Let sand sit for several hours. You can also stir the sand every once in a while to ensure the coloring is being evenly distributed.
Dump the sand onto a flat surface (I used an old cookie sheet) to dry. This could take a while, so if you are in a hurry, you can dry out sand in the oven. Heat oven to 250 degrees and put sand in with the oven door opened until it is dry.

All of this was made for a LOT less than you can purchase the colored sand for in the stores. The 50lb bag was only $3 and that will get you a lot of sand to color and play with!

Favorite Things Friday~ Meijer Brand Grocery Items

It's Friday, so this means it's time for another Favorite Things Friday posting. This week I want to tell you about my favorite Meijer Brand items. If you don't have a Meijer store then I feel bad for you! They have the cleanest stores, trendy merchandise, and great prices. I've been shopping there every week for the past 13 years. Over these years I have been comparing their store brand items with the national brands, and have found that in some cases, the store brand is by far better than the national brands!

Taste Wise Or For Functionality, We Prefer These Meijer Brand Items:

Orange Juice,  toilet paper, glass cleaner, pumpkin and apple pies from the bakery section, Double o’s cookies, colby jack cheese sticks, and pasta noodles. (My kids love spaghetti. I recently made it with the national brand noodles and they refused to eat it. Will be sticking with Meijer Brand from now on).

(pop tarts are split down the middle here. My husband says he doesn't like them, the kids prefer them over Kellogg's).


Because We Can't Tell Any Difference In Taste Or Functionality, We Prefer These Meijer Brand Items And Will Buy Them If There Is No National Brand Sale Making Them Cheaper Than The Meijer Brand:

butter, milk, Parmesan cheese, cheese (all varieties- shredded, slices, cubes), eggs, sugar, salt, flour, spices (pretty much any baking staple), soap scrub pads, cough and cold medicine, frozen veggies, chicken and beef broth, pretzels, popcorn, frozen veggies, and chocolate chips.


However, There Are A Few Things That We Steer Clear Of:

Floss picks- the string tends to break before you are finished flossing

Dog bulk bin treats- these are actually fine for some dogs. I have fed them in the past to my pugs. However, my boxers both broke out with an allergic reaction and had to take benedryl. 

Meijer Branded sodas and fruit snacks. They just don't taste good to us.


What are some of your favorite Meijer Brand Items?

Motherhoods Messy Moments

                                                      


One of my Facebook friends posted this up the other day and I got a good laugh out of it. If you are a mom, I’m sure you can relate.

I’ve been with my husband for 15 years. Before we lived together I had this wildly insane vision of how beautiful our lives were going to be once we moved in together. Dinner was always going to be hot and waiting on the table when he got home from work, the house sparkling clean, and we would all enjoy a peaceful evening together. My kids would not be introduced to McDonald’s, character clothes, especially Sesame Street, or baby talk. My husband would never see me without makeup on, my hair would be brushed daily, and I was not going to be a mom who sat around in pajamas all day. And passing gas around my husband? Oh no, never!

I think this fairytale vision bubble burst about 2 weeks into our new domestic life. We had a new baby, I had no idea how tired one could get waking every 2 hours to tend to her, and I could barely drag myself to the shower most days.

Here we are now, many years later with another kid added to the mix and I laugh at how silly my thinking was back then. That must have been the result of too many hours logged into watching Disney princess movies. I still haven’t figured out how to stay on top of all the laundry. I’ve had french fries whipped at my head as I’m driving down the road, dishes that seem to sit in the sink far too long, and if Jason ever dares to ask where his hot meal is when he walks in the door, I’m fully prepared to stuff a Poptart in the toaster and pass that off as a hot meal. My cute pajamas now consist of a Cookie Monster shirt and Elmo pants, cosmetics last forever since I hardly put them on anymore, and I think the ponytail hair tie is the best invention in the world. There are days that Jason will say “Babe, you are so beautiful, just not today.” It’s said in jest, but 15 years ago I probably would have been mortified if he had said that then. I've also found that passing gas is the best way to get the bed all to yourself. I love the comfort level you get with that many years of togetherness.

Motherhood is messy. It changes your whole thought process, makes you do things you swore you would never do, and can snatch the prettiness right out from under you. But, at the end of the day, I love looking at my children and being able to say “Those are mine. I made them, and they are pretty awesome.” There's nothing more beautiful than that.

Childhood Nostalogia

My husband and I were watching tv the other night and something in a commercial reminded me of that 80’s cartoon, Poochie. I turned to my husband and asked if he ever watched that show as a kid.

“What’s a poochie?” was his response.

“What do you mean, “What’s a poochie?” She was only the most awesome, pink dog in the world! What about the Popples? Don’t you remember them?”

Blank stare.

“Huggabunch? Jem? Gummi Bears? Did you live under a rock as a kid?”

At this point he is standing so he can leave. He knows the conversation is one sided from here on out, and he is not about to listen to the ramblings of his 80’s obsessed wife. Now I am sitting alone, feeling all nostalgic and missing my childhood. I miss Saturday morning cartoons. I also miss Pogo Balls, She-Ra, Pound Puppies, and ALF. Sleeping under sheet forts, catching lightning bugs, climbing my neighbors big pine tree, and Mr. Bubbles Baths. I miss going to the store and hoping mom would let me get a candy bar when we were done, riding a bike with no hands, not thinking twice about taking a bite out of the snow, and seeing my friends every day at school.

Then I start thinking about my girls. What are they going to remember most about their childhood? Am I doing all I can to create lasting memories for them? Will their husbands look at them like they have two heads when they say “Your mom didn’t make you wear silly holiday headbands, drag you to every kiddie movie in the theater, or dump glitter all over your room and pretend it was from the Tooth Fairy?” I sure hope so.

Tortilla Pie

I've been making tortillas pretty much the same for years. While edible, they weren't spectacular. I recently came across this recipe in Sandra Lee’s Semi Homemade magazine and WOW, it is good! I won’t be making tortillas the same anymore!

Ingredients:

1- 10 oz can green enchilada sauce

1/4 cup whipping cream

4 8 inch flour tortillas

1 can refried beans (I used regular, but if you like hot foods, you can use the spicy variety)

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

2 cups cooked and shredded chicken breast

Directions:

1- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2- In a small bowl, stir together enchilada sauce and cream. Spoon 1/4 cup enchilada cream mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan or deep dish pie plate. Top with 1 tortilla and 1/3 each of the beans, cheese, and chicken. Repeat twice with the tortillas, remaining beans, cheese, and chicken., ending with the remaining tortilla. Pour remaining enchilada cream mixture over the top. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

3- Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover, bake for 10 more minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes.

4- Serve with a side of Spanish style rice, lime wedges, and/or fresh cilantro if you like.

Water Bottle Dog Toy

If your dogs are anything like mine, they love stuffed animals. They also love water bottles. I, on the other hand, don't like the mess they create with either of these items. They rip the stuffing out and leave it all over the house, and the chewed up water bottles make my house look like a trash dump when they are done playing with them.

I was visiting a friend and she had this dog toy that was a plush animal with a water bottle in it instead of the filling. This gave me the idea to make my own.

Allison has been learning to sew from her grandmother. I'm glad she's taking an interest in it. I didn't learn how until I was an adult, and at times, my skills leave a lot to be desired! I figured this would be a good project for her to take on. It seemed simple enough and she could practice those sewing skills.


What you need:

1 stuffed animal. *If your kids don't have any that they can part with, you can get them pretty cheap at Goodwill (mine are 75¢).

1 empty water bottle

basic sewing supplies- needle, thread, scissors


Instructions:

Snip an opening around the seam of the stuffed animal large enough to insert your water bottle. Remove stuffing and replace with water bottle. Sew the opening closed.

*If your stuffed animal has any hard piece for eyes or nose, be sure to remove those before giving it to your dog to prevent choking.

*Tip- if your dogs will chew up the water bottle pretty quickly, you can sew on velcro pieces to make changing out the water bottle a lot easier.
Also, if your dogs chew holes in stuffed animals, use a stuffed animal that is made of heavy duty material.

Favorite Things Friday~ Favorite Children's Books

We have these big green bins all over our town that are for donating books. The sign reads something like “Donate books, do the world good” or something similar. Allison likes to read out loud any signs she sees, and once she read this, she became excited. “Can we go home and go through my books? I have so many that I don’t read anymore. I’m sure I could do the world a lot of good!” It’s true, she has a zillion books, and I think getting rid of some would do the world (or at least her room) a lot of good. As we were going through her books making keep and giveaway piles, I kept finding books that were “my favorite.” Books we have read so many times, books I like to give for gifts, and books that I just think every kid should read. I'm a firm believer that early childhood reading fosters a love for reading all through life.

That got me thinking. I thought why not start a favorite things post? So, for now, Friday will be “Favorite Things Friday.” This week, of course, will be my “favorite children’s books.”

                                                    ~My Favorite Children’s Books~


Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

This is one of my favorite books to give at baby showers. I don’t know how many times we have read this one, but it’s a great bedtime book. It covers just about everything a child could possibly say “Good Night” to.

If You Give a Mouse A Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Actually any of the books in the If You Give A... Series are wonderful. These books are humorous, fun, creative, and really get the imagination going.

Sandra Boynton board books

We love the Sandra Boynton board books. My daughters are getting a little old for them now, but they are so silly and fun to read! If your children aren't old enough to read yet, there are a lot of rhyming words, so it is easy for the kids to memorize and “read” along with you.

Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

This is a great story that teaches children about friendship and give a lesson on selfishness and self absorption. It also sends the message that it is good to share.

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss

Ok, so who doesn’t love a Dr. Seuss book? We probably have every one ever written, but this is my favorite. It’s just another fun, silly, imaginative book that really engages my children.

Love you Forever by Robert N. Munsch

This one has got to be my most favorite. It’s a book about unconditional motherly love, and no matter how many years pass, a child will always be a mother’s baby. This is another book that I love to put into a baby shower basket.

Not so Wordless Wednesday- 8 years gone already?

Today's Wordless Wednesday is not so wordless.

My youngest child just turned 8. I was just thinking the other day how happy I was that we are done with the baby and toddler stages. No more diapers, strollers, messy spit up stains, tantrums in the middle of IHOP, or The Doodlebops. Don’t get me wrong, I love babies. I just like knowing I can hand them back over and not not deal with any of the messy parts of baby raising anymore. Even though I’m glad we are passed all that, I find myself feeling a little sad at how quick we got to the 8 year mark with Allison. We were riding in the car on Sunday, and from the back seat I hear her playing with her plastic princess phone. Cute that she still finds little toy phones fun to play with, for sure, but I started to panic for a minute when I heard how she was using it.

Allison (to her sister): “I just sent you a text. Did you get it? You didn’t? Well, I’m not resending it. I need to snap some photos with my phones camera. Maybe I can get a Facebook to put them on.”

It was just a little reminder that she’s not a baby anymore. She’s already well on her way to eye rolling, gum snapping, and being glued to electronics like there’s no tomorrow preteen hood. My baby is definitely not a baby anymore.

As I was rounding up some photos to have printed off, I got lost in looking at all of the pictures we’ve taken of her over the years. Here are a few of my favorites. Pretty soon we’ll be trading in plastic dress up shoes for high heels, toy Chevy's for a real car, and boys will be bringing her flowers so she doesn’t have to pick her own. Someday I may think to myself “Boy, I’m glad those younger years are over” but for now, I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.

Little Random Thoughts....



Every woman should have a secret stash of chocolate.

You know how Donkey thinks parfaits are the best thing on the whole damn planet? I agree.

I want to learn a new language this year.

I love a good book and a hot tea on a cold day.

I think my dermatologist is related to Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. I can never leave there without her stealing something off my body.

Buying a fancy washer and dryer does not make laundry more fun to do.

What’s the big deal over Beyonce’s baby name? What did anyone expect from someone who got "bootylicious" in the dictionary?

Why is it so hard to open a pickle jar?

Nothing makes me happier than an unexpected phone call from someone I have not spoken to in a while.

I can’t wait for my kids to get home from school. I have a new craft project I want to work on with them.

I’m getting over the whole Facebook thing. Too many complainers on there.

This is my new favorite saying:

　

Sign Up for Be the Match Bone Marrow Registry Free!

Throughout the month of January, American Express is covering the costs associated with joining the Be The Match Bone Marrow Registry. The total cost to add a new member to the registry is usually around $100.00.

Patients with blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, sickle cell and other life-threatening diseases depend on the Be The Match Registry to find a match to save their life.

It's easy to join the Be The Match Registry:
1. Confirm you meet basic registry guidelines (you must be between 18-60): http://marrow.org/Join/Join_the_Registry.aspx
2. Complete the online form and order your registration kit.
3. Follow the instructions in your kit to collect a swab of cheek cells and return the kit.

Adults from these backgrounds are especially needed:

• Black or African American
• American Indian or Alaska Native
• Asian, including South Asian
• Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander
• Hispanic or Latino
• Multiple race

I signed up a few years back and have yet to be called, but will be ready when or if they do. We all want to live, and there is no greater gift than the gift of life! I hope you will all take a minute to read through the site, and even if you aren't eligible, they offer other ways you can lend your support, just click on the "Ways to Give" tab.

Kroger's Private Selection Frozen Food Review

I’ve been thinking about ways to lower the grocery bill lately, so when BzzAgent sent me an invite to try the Kroger’s Private Selection line of frozen products, I was eager to sign up. I was offered 3 coupons for a free product in each category: appetizers, pizza, and dessert. With my coupons in hand, I headed out to Kroger to choose my products. It took a while to decide what to get from each category because everything looked so tempting! I ended up purchasing the Mushroom Walnut Profiteroles, The Fire Roasted Veggie Pizza, Almond Croissants, and since I couldn't decide on just 1 dessert, bought the Mini Eclairs as well.

I scheduled a lunch date with my family. We started with the mushrooms. There were 9 mushrooms in all. It took 15 minutes to bake. Once finished baking, we sampled. The bread bowl was nice and firm and the center had a succulent cream cheese, chopped walnut, and mushroom filling. The texture was just right, not too runny, not too lumpy. These were simply delicious! These cost $6.99.

Next we moved on to the pizza. I wasn't holding out high hopes for this because I like meat on my pizza and a thick crust, and unfortunately, the only variety my Kroger seemed to carry was the veggie thin crust. I was surprised that I actually did enjoy the pizza. It baked in about 10 minutes, less than half the time of other oven baked pizzas I’ve made in the past. The crust baked up nice and crisp, the veggies were firm and didn't get soggy from baking. The veggies also had a nice punch of flavor to them! I would really love to try the meat variety if my Kroger ever decides to carry it in the future. I was pretty surprised at the shelf placement of this product. It was located at the very end of the freezer case in the last slot of the top shelf right hand corner. Very hard to find. I figured Kroger would want to feature their line of pizza front and center in their freezer cases, but that just was not the case with the pizza. These cost $4.99.

Last was the dessert. We ended up eating the mini eclairs because the croissants have to rise overnight. We thawed the mini eclairs while we were eating the appetizers and pizza. They were fully thawed in about 35 minutes. You get 20 eclairs in the box. The chocolate layer was not too thick and had just the right amount of sweetness. The center filling was sweet and creamy, but not too sweet. It complimented the filling perfectly. These cost $4.99.

As for the Almond Croissants, those need to be thawed over night in order for them to rise properly. Once they were done baking we had our first bite of pure heaven. These were take a bite and close your eyes to enjoy the taste even more good! These have a nice flaky crust, with a delicious buttery almond flavor. Simply divine. These also run $4.99 for a box of 3 croissants.

Price point wise, these did not help me reach my goal of saving money at the store. I found the Private Selection line to be priced equal to the National Brand line. However, taste trumps price here, and these are products I don’t mind paying the price for. There were many other frozen items to choose from also. I recommend stopping in your nearest Kroger store soon and having a look for yourself at all the wonderful frozen goodies Kroger is offering in their Private Selection line.