Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Fun New Blog to Follow

My mom has entered the world of blogging as well!!! Her blog is chatterfromtexas.blogspot.com.  She has a lot of really great recipes, and also does a lot of promoting for our etsy shop as well!!!  Please take a minute, stop by and check it out, and follow her as well if you get a minute :). 

Hope everyone has a wonderful evening, I will add some new stuff soon! *after I quit procrastinating haha*

Monday, May 23, 2011

Got a minute?

I have been featured in a really cool treasury on etsy today.  Could everyone please stop in, take a look around, and let them know that thisandthat879 sent you!!!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dda8db77d546d9153be2a7e/open-my-new-favorite-bns-team-round-3-by?index=0&page=4#comments

Saturday, May 14, 2011

fun new picture for sale in my etsy shop

I have another item I am very excited to offer in my etsy shop.  :).  My dog LOVES to ride our motorcycle, so we captured some shots of her pre-ride!!! They are so cute!!! Currently for sale as a notecard, or a picture.  Stop by and check it out and tell me what ya think.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/74080323/dog-on-hog-5x7

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Get Healthy Challenge

After watching a show on TV the other day, *I honestly can not remember the name*, I realized how terrible the food people in America are eating really is.  I can not even really go to the grocery store any more without feeling sick to my stomach.  I have decided that even though it means more work for me, I am cutting out as much processed food as I possibly can.  I mean really, have you gone to the store and seen how many items have hugh fructose corn syrup in them?? Next time you are there, try it.  See if you can find something that DOESN'T have it.  Yeah yeah yeah, they say its fine "in moderation", and maybe in moderation it is.  But people don't realize that there is no "moderation" when it comes to high fructose corn syrup because it is in almost everything we buy.  No wonder so many people have cancer and diabetes.  We are all being lied to and fed crap. 

So I am going to start making all of our snacks for myself, my children, and my husband.  I plan on each week after going to the store on sunday evening, preparing 6 different snacks for the week.  I am really bad about having easy to grab foods in the house, and being a breastfeeding mom of a almost 2 yr old, its REALLY hard to keep weight on, because well, I forget to eat.  Ive even gotten to where I am 5-10 lbs less than I was before I was pregnant. And being 5'2", being barely over 100 lbs is not necessarily a good thing.

ALso, all of my recipes will be budget friendly.  We do not have a high grocery budget, so that is going to be a huge consideration for me.  I am also going to start using everything I have stocked up in my pantry, and have had for ages, and then I will spend a few weeks basically starting fresh with all new items!!!!!

My first snack, even though its not necessarily the cheapest, but is very very heart healthy is to always have walnuts, and grapes on hand.  Grapes are pretty cheap right now, at less than 2$ a lb. Walnuts on the other hand are about $6 a lb.  So, for about 8$ a week, maybe a little less, we always have that to nibble on between meals.  Not to mention grapes and walnuts both help with elasticity with the artery walls in your heart.  So, for one snack, I guess I will splurge!!!!!!

Also, on top of my list, is drinking more water.  I have always had a problem with drinking enough water.  A lot of days I don't drink any at all.  I have a couple of reuable water bottles I am rotating in the fridge so its always cold.  My goal is to drink between 64-80 oz of water each day.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Quick and easy rice krispy treats

My oldest daughter had a friend over tonight, and so I had them make themselves some rice krispys treats.  This is super quick and easy and fun to make :) I remember making these with my grandmother when I was a kid

First get about 1-2 tbsp of butter.  Put in about 1 bag of marshmellows and microwave for 25-30 seconds at a time until they are all soft and melted.

Pour in cereal, and stir until it is the consistency you are wanting.  Put in a pan and and flatten them down, and then put them in the fridge to set for a little while!!

Thats all there is to it.  These are so good, and they always disappear very quickly, especially with teens in the house.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Green Pool

Ever walk outside and see your pool has turned green?  Happened to us the other day.  We walked outside, and much to my disgust my above ground pool was GREEN.  VERY VERY green.  So, I automatically came inside to see what I could do about it.  In just a short time, I read that you have to actually scrub it to get it off, as the green stuff has grown on the walls and floors, and then use shock treatment on it.

So, back outside I went.  I hunted down the shop broom, and washed it off with the hose.  I got it and scrubbed the bottom of the pool the best I could, and then we went through with the leaf skimmer and got all the stuff we could out of the water.  I took apart the pump, and hosed off the filter really good as well.  Put it all back together, and turned it on.  Let it run for about 20 minutes.  It was so bad you could not even see through the water at all.  I got some shock, and put about 1.5x as much in as I should have.  Then we got out the pool cover, and covered it up. 

I figured I would have to repeat this a couple times at least.  BUT much to my surpise the next day I went outside, and took off the cover and found completely seethrough BLUE clear water!!!!!! 

All in all it only took me about 20 minutes to take care of the problem.  Very simple, and quick, and I am glad I did it when I did and did not let it get worse.  The main thing to remember is you have to scrub it off, and let the filter run, not just put in the chemicals. 

So I learned my lesson.  My pool stays covered now :)

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Best Ever Chicken and Dumplin Recipe

This is the best chicken and dumplin recipe that I have come across yet.  My mother in law gave it to me, and its so simple and easy, and also cheap!!!!  It does take some time for the chicken to cook, but actual work time is less than 30 minutes.

Recipe:
1 whole chicken or chicken breasts
cheap bisquits *in the refridgerated section....DO NOT use the buttered kind, just the plain ol cheap ones!!!*

Cook the chicken.  Tear meat off bones, and PUT BACK IN THE WATER you used to cook the chicken.  Tear up the bisquits, and put them in the water.  Let cook for about 20-30 minutes. 

There ya have it.  SO easy and so good :)

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

New Offer In my Etsy shop!

I am so excited to offer a new product in our etsy shop.  I don't usually have time to introduce each new item, but I am so excited about there I had to share!!  SO, introducing, our customizable notecards!!!!!

These are so cool, because you can use your own pictures.  All you do is send us up to 6 digital pictures of your choice, and we will do all the work.  You can order any amount of these cards, from 1, to 6 or we can even do a custom order for even more!!

I personally use the notecards in our shop whenever I  need to send a birthday card, thank you card, or any other occasion card. They are absolutely beautiful and everyone loves receiving them.  And of course shipping on all of our notecards is free!!!!

Here is the link to the customizable notecards. http://www.etsy.com/listing/73312763/set-of-note-cards-made-from-your

You can also see some of the other beautiful notecards we have to offer here
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thisandthat879?section_id=7840115