Sweet Potato Chili

 So many things on my plate lately.  Decided was going to make gifts for all family members so as to save the money to buy my kids their presents they want.  I crochet alot lately and have alot of yarn from other projects in the past that I have vowed to myself to use every drop making these gifts.  My kids want a few things made too so I am working on getting their gifts done and scouring pinterest for cool new ideas for things to make all other family members.  I will be driving to MI over the holidays so making the gifts also helps me to save for the gas to do this.
 So I was given a big bag of sweet potatoes and went onto pinterest to find a recipe using them to make for dinner and found a recipe for Sweet Potato Lentil Chili.  I changed the recipe to fit what I had in the house so didn't have to go to the store.  I had leftover black beans from black bean burgers made the day before so I threw them in.  I had 4 tomatoes on the cupboard so chopped and threw them in.  I had 3/4 of a jar of marinara in the fridge so dumped it in also.  As the sweet potatoes cooked I smashed some of them so I could thicken the chili up some.  Threw in burger (fried), chopped onion, chili powder, water, chicken bouillon, cumin, seasoned salt, pepper, garlic powder, frozen corn, lots of sweet potatoes peeled and cubed, sugar, and butter to make it rich in flavor. Turned out very good.
 I had a can of pumpkin so I went on pinterest and found a recipe for pumpkin bars so I decided to make them for the tribe.  I like usual did some substitutions (always do). One thing I did that I liked was sprinkle pumpkin pie spice over the frosting.
 Things I would like to accomplish this week are:  Christmas cards wrote out,  List of everyone's names with what I have for them or what I am going to make them wrote down,  Write down a budget for Christmas presents for the kids and expenses for our trip over the holiday's.  Now lets see what I actually get done.  Lol.

Off to work on the list.

Make Do!

Thinking About Christmas in August...and more!

 Every year I have all these ideas of things I want to make everyone for Christmas and by the time I get started I am rushing.  Every single year I tell myself at Christmas "next" year I will start making these things in the summer.  Well I am actually going to do it this year.  I am surfing the web for pictures of crafts to jump start my imagination.  I rarely ever find anything I actually make exact.  I always change it up and make it my own.  Makes it more fun!   I like to try to make all handmade gifts for parents, siblings, aunts uncles and save the cash I would have spent to put towards those Christmas lists that will be tacked on my fridge like a week before Christmas.  They change their minds a million times before then.  lol.   I don't like to buy to early for the kids because I just know what they wanted in Sept. is not what they will want in December.

Looking around at my living room wondering what happened.  I got up at 7 and started cleaning and you know how you feel like you have accomplished something when you get a certain amount of stuff done then you do a little more and you start to feel like your gaining.  Well I was at that point and then The Country Music Awards came on and I decided to watch and that was all it took.  I stopped moving for awhile and everyone else kept moving.  Now I am looking at what I woke up at 7 and seen and I wonder why did I work all day to be in the same place at night.  lol    A day in the life!!

Thinking about what will be for dinner tomorrow so I know whether I need to sit something out tonight.  Often times I will decide I am in the mood for chili and I didn't soak the beans so I try to make a point to think about it the night before.   Chili does sound good so I probably should soak me some kidney beans.  I will wake up feeling prepared which isn't always the case but it will be tomorrow.  I will probably pair with a loaf of homemade bread from the breadmaker of which I have 3.  I pick them up occasionally at garage sales so I can run all three on the dough cycle and freeze the dough for pizza or fried bread (delish) on days I have no time.  You can find them at garage sales for 5 bucks alot of the time.  Good investment!!  Only takes a minute to through the ingredients in and turn it on and walk away for a couple three hours.  I taped the recipe on the inside of my cupboard door so I never have to look for it.  I just open the cupboard.  I have a homemade egg noodle one there and a pizza dough also.

Well off to bed so I can be alert and ready to start some homemade gifts tomorrow!  Nite all!!

EARLY START ON HANDMADE CHRISTMAS GIFTS

Hey anyone thinking of making handmade presents for Christmas gifts this year, get started!  I always wait till fall when it feels like you should be doing crafts but then it feels like you have to rush.  I started a few weeks ago and that way if I need a basket to put the gift in I will have time to go to Goodwill and get one verses buying anything new.  I am getting baskets and spray painting them to make them new again!
Here are some of the things I am making for my Etsy Store too.  I can't tell to much on here about what I am making because my family might spy on my blog. LOL

P.S. Here is a couple of my newest creations...Long roomy purses.

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FRUGAL USES FOR COFFEE FILTERS

I just found this frugal bit of information on facebook and thought I would pass it along!!!

Coffee filters …. Who knew! And you can buy 1,000 at the dollar store for almost nothing - even the large ones.
1. Cover bowls or dishes when cooking in the microwave. Coffee filters make excellent covers.
2. Clean windows, mirrors, and chrome… Coffee filters are lint-free so they’ll leave windows sparkling.
3. Protect China by separating your good dishes with a coffee filter between each dish.
4. Filter broken cork from wine? If you break the cork when opening a wine bottle, filter the wine through a coffee filter.
5. Protect a cast-iron skillet. Place a coffee filter in the skillet to absorb moisture and prevent rust.
6. Apply shoe polish. Ball up a lint-free coffee filter.
7. Recycle frying oil. After frying, strain oil through a sieve lined with a coffee filter.
8. Weigh chopped foods. Place chopped ingredients in a coffee filter on a kitchen scale.
9. Hold tacos. Coffee filters make convenient wrappers for messy foods.
10. Stop the soil from leaking out of a plant pot. Line a plant pot with a coffee filter to prevent the soil from going through the drainage holes.
11. Prevent a Popsicle from dripping. Poke one or two holes as needed in a coffee filter.
12. Do you think we used expensive strips to wax eyebrows? Use strips of coffee filters..
13. Put a few in a plate and put your fried bacon, French fries, chicken fingers, etc on them. It soaks out all the grease.
14. Keep in the bathroom. They make great “razor nick fixers.”
15. As a sewing backing. Use a filter as an easy-to-tear backing for embroidering or appliqueing soft fabrics.
16. Put baking soda into a coffee filter and insert into shoes or a closet to absorb or prevent odors.
17. Use them to strain soup stock and to tie fresh herbs in to put in soups and stews.
18. Use a coffee filter to prevent spilling when you add fluids to your car.
19. Use them as a spoon rest while cooking and clean up small counter spills.
20. Can use to hold dry ingredients when baking or when cutting a piece of fruit or veggies.. Saves on having extra bowls to wash.
21. Use them to wrap Christmas ornaments for storage.
22. Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls.
23. Use them to sprout seeds.. Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout.
24. Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book.
25. Use as a disposable “snack bowl” for popcorn, chips, etc.
Not just for coffee–

source: http://allincook.com/coffee-filters/

USE FOR SCRAP YARN

Just thought I would add a few pictures of some of the things I have been making and have listed in my Etsy Store "ItsAllArtShop" !  These are yarn scraps tucked inside a crochet bag for wild birds to use to make their nests!  Its cool to find those empty nests later in the trees and find all your yarn scraps used in them!
Good way to prevent waste.

MINI CORN DOG MUFFINS (GREAT IDEA)

I just found a really cool recipe!  One of those ones that makes you say why didn't I think of that!!
I would think it would be great if you used the Jiffy corn bread mixes also!

Mini Corn Dog Muffins (makes 36 mini muffins)

6 hot dogs (whichever kind is your preference - we use natural casing dogs) 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal 

½ cup sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg 

Preheat oven to 350, and spray your mini muffin tins with cooking spray.  In a medium skillet on medium heat, brown the hot dogs for about 5-8 minutes (just until they start browning, you don't want them to be burnt or for the skin to be too tough).  Remove from heat and cut each hot dog into 6 pieces.  

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients for the corn muffin mixture.  Add the egg, milk and vegetable oil and stir until just combined.  Fill each cup in the muffin tins about 3/4 full.  Place and press one piece of hot dog into the center of each muffin cup.  Cook for 10 minutes at 350, then increase heat to 400 and cook another 3-5 minutes - you want them to be nicely browned, but not burnt, so watch them closely.  Remove from oven and cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing from trays.  Serve with your favorite hot dog condiments.  

http://www.littlebcooks.blogspot.com

Surfing around looking for money saving meals, I will add as I find them.  Have a great Sunday!

GIFT IDEAS AND JUST PLAIN LIFE

  Been awhile since I have been on here but hopefully I can slowly add all the new recipes and money saving ideas I have found!  Life just seems to happen and things you enjoy get put on the back burner.  No matter what I still have 8 people living in my house and they all have to eat so I am always looking for new recipes and ways to cut my grocery bill.   The latest thing I have been doing is spending most every Sat. morning at the flea market getting produce at a huge discount.  We can eat a whole lot healthier now. I looked at the farm market and found that if I go to the flea market instead and look around I found better prices cause there wasn't as much competition.  I now found the one I like and go to that one every Sat. !
  Spent 3 weeks visiting family in Michigan.  That was great!  I spent the whole time camping at my Dads with my sister and brother.  We fished nearly everyday since my Dad lives on a lake.  My brother and I cleaned all the fish together every night.  I am so glad to have a family that I am this close with.   Needless to say I now have 5 big bags of filet's from Blue Gill, Perch, Sunfish, and Shiners.  Gonna have us a fish fry soon!
  My sister and I have been brainstorming about what to do that would be fun and frugal at Christmas this year.  We came up with this:  We gave each other a limit of 5 dollars.  We also decided that nothing had to be new.  If you go to Goodwill and find the perfect gift than get it!   We also decided we would hit up all the free sites to gather as many samples as possible and stack our coupons and get things for free at stores to make up themed gift baskets.  You can always find tea and coffee samples and there are tons of coffee mugs at the goodwill to put in a basket that you could spray paint, also from Goodwill.  Throw in a book from the same place and maybe a candle with a pretty candle holder (all still from Goodwill) maybe some homemade cookies or bread, etc. and you have a very thoughtful and nice gift.  I love getting these type of gifts.  I love to wander the  knick knack isle of Goodwill just letting my mind wander.  I grab a nice basket and invision what color it would look good in and then start putting things in it that would go good together.  It is never this fun in a department store if you ask me.  I don't even go to dept. stores anymore.  You get so much more at Thrift shops!   You could also add in a few homemade items like a small crochet lap blanket or crocheted book bag.  So fun!!
  If you have idea's please add them here in the comments.  I would love the help with new ideas for gifts!  I bought some Soup cookbooks while in MI at a .69 cent Salvation army sale so when I get through them I will start putting some of the recipes on here too.  Just in time for fall!    I love fall!  
  Very tired from a very long week of cleaning, catching up, unpacking,  laundry, more laundry, being a referee to children,  cooking,  did I say cleaning!  lol        Off to bed!  Bye

BREADMAKER ROSEMARY BREAD (DELISH)

       Breadmaking day!  I found an awesome recipe for bread called Breadmaker Rosemary Bread.  I have made it twice tweaked it and I love it and so does my family!  I made two loaves of that today and two loaves of white bread.  Sliced it and froze part of it in the wax paper bags that I saved out of the cereal boxes.  These work great for this.  You just fold the top down a few times and then tape it shut, write the name of the bread and the date and whip in the freezer for later in the week when you don't feel like making bread.  We used this bread for cheeseburgers and it was so good.  I thought about buttering it and sprinkling with garlic powder and baking on a cookie sheet on 425 degree's till crispy and serve with Lasagna, goulash, or spaghetti.  Gonna try this soon!  I slice my bread with an electric bread knife and then stack it and cut in half down the whole stack to make manageable slices.

This bread calls for a Tablespoon of dried Rosemary  per  loaf which sounds like alot but it is so good and not overbearing at all.  Here is the tweaked recipe:

Breadmaker Rosemary Bread Recipe

1 cup water
3 Tbsp Olive oil (I was out and used vegetable oil and it was great)
1 1/2 tsp  White sugar
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp Ground Black pepper
1 Tbsp Dried Rosemary
2 1/2  cups  Bread Flour (I used all purpose and turned out great)
1 1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Place ingredients in the breadmaker in the order given in the recipe.
Select white bread setting and push start.

PANCAKES FOR NOW AND LATER!

Tonight I  made pancakes, enough for tonight and alot to wrap individually and freeze for later.  Once I haul out the large grill I want to cook enough that I don't have to haul it out again right away.  I usually make them from scratch but I had went to a super double coupon event a month ago and got the large boxes of Bisquick for 2 dollars a box so I used that mixed with water.  Once I used up all the batter I had mixed up I decided to take a box of blueberry muffin mix (the kind with the small can of wild blueberries in it) and mix it with everything the box says to add and then I added an equal amount of bisquick to it and water enough to have a medium thick batter.

 I cooked them all up and they were delicious.  I ended up with a huge bowl of pancakes and after dinner there were alot left to freeze for breakfasts for the next couple weeks.

Talk about a frugal meal!  You can add eggs and milk instead of water but we happen to be out of milk for the moment and I fried eggs with these so I only put eggs in the blueberry ones because it called for it.  You could do this with apple cinnamon, banana nut, raspberry, and wildberry muffin mixes also.  If I ever make just pancakes for dinner I always use milk and eggs in them so everyone is getting their protein in the meal also.   This is where all the cereal bags (wax paper bags out of the cereal boxes) I saved will come in handy. I can put 3 or more pancakes in each one and then stack them and put in a larger ziploc bag to place in the freezer so you can take out a few at a time.  I love when I find a use for the bags I saved.  Its almost like there's a calculator in my head adding up the savings.  Love it!!

EASY CHICKEN DISHES, STORING RECYCLED BAGS, EASTER, CEREAL STORAGE, AND MORE!

  Been working on looking up and printing homeschool worksheets and fun activities.  I put up a shelf that has sections in it for pencils and papers to hang under their attendance sheets.  Hopefully this will help me to be better organized and give the kids a place to find what they need without hunting forever for it.
  Spent part of the day looking for Easter coloring pages so the kids can color them and hang them around for Easter.  They seem happier to make the decorations themselves.   I found some really cute ones!  I think I will help them color them tomorrow and hang them up.  My sister is coming to visit over Easter and since she decorated like crazy for Christmas when we were in MI it is now my turn to Easterfy  my house!  lol
  Made fried potatoes with cheese melted over it, baked chicken, and corn for dinner with some left over homemade whole grain bread.  It got some oohs and ahhs so I was happy.  Not sure what we will have tomorrow.  Thinking I should make double of whatever I make so I can freeze one meal for when my sister is here because we have so many plans that I need to be prepared with food cooked ahead.  I already took 15 pounds of chicken legs and boiled them down, deboned it, froze the broth and put the chicken in a big stockpot and poured 4 bottles of my .55 cents a bottle bbq sauce over it.  I rinsed the bottles out with a small amount of water and dumped that in too.  Simmered this for an hour and done!  Delicious!   I froze two big bowls, one small one and we ate one bowl.  Total cost was  11 dollars for 3 and a half meals with leftovers at each meal for a lunch too.  So easy and a big bowl of broth for soup!
  Another easy meal is what I made a couple days ago.  You take a couple pounds of chicken legs, thighs, breasts, whatever you have and put them in a baking pan.  You then take a couple cups of long cooking rice and dump over the chicken, cut up an onion and dump over the chicken and rice.  Open a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of celery soup and put both in a bowl and fill each can with milk and pour that in with the soup, stir ( if you like your rice mushy like me you can add more liquid and it will soak it up)  pour over the rice, onions, and chicken.  Salt and Pepper and a few dots of butter over the top, cover with foil, bake for a couple hours.  Keep checking after an hour and a half.  I don't time things I go by the smell so you will want to keep an eye on it and  write down what it takes you.  This is easy and cheap, my family loves it!

  I forgot to take an after picture but believe me the rice cooks up all moist and delicious!

My cereal cupboard was getting to be quite unorganized with half bags of cereal everywhere so I took a bunch of the applesauce, mayo, and peanut butter containers that I been washing and dumped then into them.  I kept all the cereal bags because you can cut them open and use them like waxed paper under no-bakes or to wrap burger in to tape up and freeze etc.    I took all of them and folded them and put them all in a clean chicken nugget bag to store.

I taped up my gallon size ziploc bag box so it wouldn't tear when I folded up my washed cheese, splenda, chicken nugget, etc. bags and placed them in the box for later use.

When we get the homemade decorations done and hung I will take pictures for all to see.  Good night!

HANDMADE EASTER BASKET IDEAS, GIFTS, MODPODGE RECIPE

    Well its time to think about Easter baskets and what to get the kids.   I could just go to the store and buy a basket that we wouldn't know what to do with after Easter and waste money that we could have spent on the contents or we could make our baskets from something we already have.  It never fails that if I would go buy something like that, a week later I would see something I could have done that wouldn't have cost anything and would have been way more interesting.  I looked around on the internet and here are some of the frugal ideas I found.

     

  Now I had to think of something to make for teens (or my sister and older kids) that they wouldn't think was to lame.  I decided since they all have Ipods or a phone that needs to be charged each night that the project I had found made out of  Baby lotion or Baby soap bottles (I am sure there are plenty of others that would work) would be one thing they might use.  Here's a picture.

  I would think that sun tan lotion bottles would work too!  You can use fabric and modpodge to coat the outside of the holder.  I am going to try spray paint on the outside only.  I inside you could use felt or leave white.

        Here is a recipe for homemade modpodge.

Mod Podge in a Pint Jar (matte)

Fill jar half way up with white glue (like Elmers)

Then fill jar up with water.

Shake Well.

This is a 50-50 mixture glue/water.

It will have a Matte finish

If you would like a Glossy finish, add 1 TBS of clear varnish.

Shake it!

HOW I SPENT MY SATURDAY AND MORE!

  Went to Walmart and the Dollar Tree today partly cause I needed some things but mostly because it was 60 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.  I had a few projects in mind to make for Easter for my kids and wanted to see if any of the things it would take to make them would be there.  I got dish soap, band-aids, toothpaste, aluminum foil, batteries, SEEDS (yay!), a couple Easter decorations, potting soil and a few other things.  I love when its time to start the seeds indoors!  Another thing I found there was the original "Topsy Turvy" that was advertised on tv.  The planter for tomatoes that hangs upside down.  I bought 2 of them because 1 dollar was a far cry from the original 19.99 that they started out as.  I can't make it for 1 dollar.  That was my "find" of the day.

  I headed over to Walmart because they have what I have coupons for at the best price.  I had went to the website for Mt. Olive Pickles and filled out the subscribe page for special offers and if you did that you got a coupon sent to you snail mail.  I filled it out a couple dozen times to see if they would sent more than one and guess what they did and the coupon amount is 1 dollar off any of the Mt. Olive Products.  I took 14 coupons with me and had to stop in the store and look up on the internet on my phone Walmarts coupon policy to see if they had a limit on how many of the same coupon you could use and they do not so I got 10 bottles of pickles for .98 cents a jar and 2 free squeeze bottles of relish, 1 bottle of sweet jerkins, and one bottle of these little salad peppers that unless I go get the jar I have no idea how to spell their name.

  Then of course my son had to make a pit-stop at the toy dept. to spend some of his money he saved which was right next to the gardening dept. so I thought I would take a look and see if they had any additional seeds that I might need.  I have a few herbs that I want to plant which are Basil, Cilantro, and Parsley and I only found Parsley at the dollar store so I found the rest here.  I did get Oregano at the dollar store too.    I am now set to get my seedlings started tomorrow.  I am also going to make some of those bird feeders that I put on my last post also.

  My daughters have a project tomorrow to do also.  I had an old spice rack out in my garage that I brought in and they are going to clean it up and paint it a bright color and make it into a nail polish holder.  Excited about that cause It is such a cool way to display and store all that nail polish in a big container in my closet in my bathroom.

  I was at Michael's Craft Supply store a few months ago and while I was there they marked down their unfinished bird houses to 1 and 2 dollars.  I bought every one that someone else didn't grab.  I told my kids they could paint some of them and I am going to paint one of the big ones to put up outside on the tree.

    Got a really good deal on them!!

Heading to bed so I can get up and get tons done!!  Goodnight!

2 LITER BOTTLE HANGING PLANTERS

  Had to stop my housework and share something I seen on facebook.  It is so cool!   A good way to use 2 liter bottles.  Maybe grow some herbs on your porch.  I think I would hang on the side of my house that isn't getting steady sun so the roots don't get to warm or (suggested by a friend) paint the bottom black or I thought maybe line the inside with peat moss before adding potting soil.

http://fooyoh.com/contributeda/7940823

MUST HAVE KITCHEN TOOL OF A FRUGAL KITCHEN!!

  Still in pain with teeth!  UGHH!!   I had two pulled after a week of horrible pain then figured I would recover slowly because it was a very rough extraction and now it looks like the extraction irritated the tooth next to it and now that one is infected.  Going on two weeks of alternating Vicodin and Ibuprofen to deal with the pain.  Not happy cause I never take anything stronger than ibuprofen and I have no choice right now.  I called the dentist who by the way is the best!!  He called in a stronger antibiotic and more pain med and I will be seen next Tuesday.

  Well thats that but daily life goes on anyway.  Making homemade chicken soup tomorrow which I already boiled a whole chicken today for.  I bought this pasta that I had a coupon for so I got for a quarter, yay! that I always have when we go to Chicago's "Italian Village Restaurant" in their first course of chicken soup.  Ditalini Pasta is very short little tube shaped noodles.  It reminds me of our times at that restaurant.  Its the oldest Italian Restaurant in Chicago and its really awesome!  Anyway I am making the soup and two pumpkin pies tomorrow.  I had found Libby's Pumpkin on closeout and I had coupons to go with that, I got them cheap so I am going to make some homemade crusts and whip out two pies for tomorrow and if I feel good enough I would like to make 4 extra for freezing as I talked about in one of the last two blog posts I posted.
I used to use a fork to cut the shortening into my flour and just figured it was the labor you had to go through to have a homemade crust but I was at a thrift store in Michigan recently and picked up a pastry cutter for .47 cents that looked like the one my mom used to have when I was a kid and when I used it for the first time I was so excited at how easy and fast it worked.  I can't believe I went without this for so many years.  What was I thinking?!?!  Oh well its never too late!!  I love it, everyone should have one right away.  It truly cuts 3/4 of the time it takes to cut your shortening in.
            MUST HAVE KITCHEN TOOL FOR FRUGAL KITCHENS!!!

  Have alot to post but meds got me tired so when this tooth thing is resolved I will be doing longer posts.
Have a great weekend.   Comment about your favorite kitchen tool that you can't live without!

CLEANING ROUTINE

    I was reading an article about establishing a daily routine to get it all done and stay on top of things.  I try to stay on top of things but like with any "normal" mom/wife I fall behind quite often.  Let me get a headache or toothache and have to sit down for a little while.  Everything I thought I had accomplished starts to come undone.  As I sat here reading others blogs and ideas on this I realized I guess I do have a somewhat routine and never even thought about it I just get up and start in and try to get to that point (I am sure all women know exactly what this means) where you feel like you are over the hump and can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  The point where you start following people around and tell them to put there glass away when they are done and put the laundry by the washer not on the bathroom floor.  My family seem to have a problem with using 25 glasses a day.  I have threatened to get rid of all but 8 glasses so they have no choice but to use the same glass over and over in one day.   Also the glasses are always on end tables, mantel,dressers, floor, table, counter, etc. never in the sink (unless I put them there).

  When I get up I never leave my room without pulling up my comforter's and straightening the pillows.  Even if my bedroom is a mess it feels like the bedroom is ok as long as the bed is made.  I like to then go in and wipe down the bathrooms with either lysol cleaner or  bleach cleaner right before my shower.  I have to of course put away daughters makeup, lotion, hairspray, brushes, hairbands, and curling irons first and aside from the once a week deep cleaning of the sink and counter I take the towel after my shower and wipe sink and counter down with the damp towel.  Once a week it gets the works!  After the shower I whip up my hair so I feel put together, no makeup unless actually going to a Dr. or something important.   I then scoop up the laundry out of the bathroom (sometimes I light a candle)  and take to the washer.  

  Kids get woke up for breakfast and homeschooling (not always so easy, lol) at this point.  I strongly suggest to them that I want them to make their beds (not perfectly) and at least brush hair so they feel good and awake.

  When I get in the kitchen I unload the dishwasher (if I didn't do it the night before) and load it.  I never put pans in the dishwasher so if there are any I wash them and whatever else didn't fit and then put it away and wash off all the surfaces and spot clean the fronts of the appliances ( thorough cleaning with lysol once a week).  I always run a half sink of hot soapy water and leave it so as things get dirty I wash them so most times the dishes won't get built up.  I feel on top of things if I keep them up and counters clean even if I am cooking.  If I am baking I stick to one bowl when mixing and I wash it right away and use it for the next thing I am making.  If I dirty mixing spoons, spatula's, beaters, knives or anything I rinse it and throw right into soapy water and wash.  I keep a folded towel next to the sink so I can dry anything little that I need to.

  Next if I need bread made or something thawed for dinner I start the breadmaker and sit out what I need thawed.  Next I sweep (always)  then I take the bare floor vacuum and quick vacuum too cause I have dogs and I want to get the little bit of hair that sweeping doesn't get.

  Next (my washer is in a closet in my dining room with bi-fold doors) to the washer to fold clothes from the dryer from day before and go put them on everyones bed.  Put towels in the bathroom too.  I keep a sock basket in my room and thats where all the socks go unless there is a def. match then I match it and give to the right person.  I do not take the time daily to match socks.  I figure if I get them all in one place then its not hard for everyone to just grab a pair when they need them.   I then go and throw a new load in the washer.

  I head to the living room which I had probably already asked one of the kids to pick up the babies toys and get that vacuumed.  I do not feel like I can sit down and be relaxed unless these things are done.  It just feels like if I do not vacuum after sweeping that all the stuff on the carpet or vice versa will end up traveling as people walk around the house.   

  After this I just keep throwing laundry going  and go with the flow of whatever needs done.  I keep picking laundry up from bathrooms, grab cups left everywhere and wash right away.  If I feed the babies in the high chairs I make a point to never leave the trays dirty.  It for one is easier to wash them when they just used them so never leave them.  I sweep whatever they drop up right away and take them out.  I think my routine is to just try to keep on top of everything by doing it little  by little as the mess happens.  

  These steps are what I do everyday so I don't I feel off for the day!  I guess I never realized it has became a routine for me.  

  Whats your routine?   Always happy to learn something new!  Comment and let me know!

 

BIRTHDAY BOY and SPICE RACK TURNED NAIL POLISH HOLDER!

  Change of plans today, Grandbaby supposed to go to daycare for the day to share cupcakes for his birthday (3 years)  but he decided he did not want to go so he stayed home with Grandma for the day.  He was treated for an ear infection 1 week ago and it was questionable whether it was going away fast enough, so I took him to the Dr. for a recheck and it is going away slowly but surely.  I promised to take him to the store to pick out his birthday present so we did!  He walked in like he owned the store and picked out a bunny on a tricycle that was holding a sucker and said he wanted one for him and one for his sister.  He then ran down the isle and grabbed a big "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" ball and then turned around and grabbed a candy filled small tube of candy for easter that had a bunny on top  of it holding a fishing pole.  Last but not least he grabbed a small bag of miniature Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and then he ran to the register and that was it he was done and wanted to leave.  So we did!

 Home to make spaghetti and meatballs (Bryce's choice), chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and sprinkles, chocolate ice cream, and cookies.  Yum!  He blew out his candles, was sang to and opened lots of presents.  Of course what is he playing with now?  Balloons!!  LOL

  Tomorrow needs to be bread making day cause we are very very low!  I want to make a couple pumpkin pies but need to make a run to store for shortening to make my crusts.  I want to make 6 and freeze 4.  I am going to make then freeze in the pie tins lined with parchment paper and then pop out of pans and put in freezer bags so when I want to make them I will drop them back into a pan and bake.  Need also to decide which meals to make and  freeze ahead cause we are running low.

  I found a very cute idea the other day on  the internet to turn an old spice rack into a nail polish holder for my girls.  I happen to have a very old spice rack that needed something done to it.  Here's a picture.  This is going to be my weekend project then I will post pictures of mine.

   Excited to make this for my girls, they have tons of nail polish and this is a great way to display it so they can clearly see what they have.  And I was just letting this shelf sit in the garage!  So glad I found this good idea.  Love it when I find a way to make a place for something to get it organized.  So much easier to keep things put away when it has it's own place!

MY NEW OPEN PANTRY, POPCICLE RECIPE

  Still recovering from the two teeth being removed.  Should be better but somethings not right.  I am still in pain 4 days later.  Got a message into the dentist, just waiting for an answer back.  Pain meds till then I guess.

  I bagged up a bunch of water bottles today and marked them as drainage  bottles for my large containers that have no drainage holes.  They are marked and in their waiting spot in the garage.

  I bagged up and marked all the containers that were cut down to size for planters and put them in the garage too.  I had bought my kids a couple bottles of sparkling juice and washed those bottles to use for putting water in and inserting upside down into the soil to slowly release the water as needed.  Love this idea, I do this with all my indoor plants!

  I went to the super doubles sale at Harris Teeter (doubles up to 2 dollars) and spent 32 and saved 75 dollars.  Here's a picture of my book shelf that I converted into an open pantry.

 The pantry is getting full too!

When I left Harris Teeter I got in the truck and noticed we parked in front of a tree that was in full bloom with these really pretty pink flowers.  Needless to say I went home with a pretty little "FREE"  bouquet of flowers!

   I found a cute way to make popcicle's for kids on the internet to and thought I would share it on here for whoever would like to try them.  Sprite with gummy bears!  How easy and fun is that!  I saved all the sticks from the corndogs I bought with coupons this weekend to make these.

   Spent most of the day doing laundry and it was ziploc bag washing day so my window has a large cup with lots of utensils in it with all different ziploc bags upside down over them.

  My dad gave me a rotisserie a long time ago and I cannot believe how easy these are to use.  I stuck the chicken I paid 3.00 for (caught them on sale for .67 cents a pound and bought all 4 that they had there) in the rotisserie and turned the knob to 90 minutes and that's it.  In 90 minutes it dings and its done and tastes really great.  I also got to the store when they marked Masterpiece BBQ sauce to a closeout price of .55 cents each!  I bought all that they had 29 bottles.   I use BBQ sauce for so much.  Its cheaper to buy it made at that price then to make it.  I paired the chicken with Loaded Mashed Instant potatoes that I got for .50 cents a box (which has two packets in each box) with double couponing.  Cheap dinner and tasted like restaurant food.

  Tomorrow I think I will rotisserie the other 3 chickens and debone and freeze for later.  I do not usually buy boxed meals but the store had Hamburger Helper 10 for 10 and I had 1 dollar off 3 so that makes a cheap meal.  I am going to replace burger for chicken and that would be delicious if the chicken was rotisseried.  Yum!

  Well back to laundry  and picking up the house so do not have to wake up to it.  Be back tomorrow!