Day 19- Mountains and Rainbows

 I found the pin for rainbow waffles last night right before Jordyn went to bed and she insisted we have them for breakfast...so we did. Jordyn loved how colorful they were (so did I) and James just liked the fact that he got waffles for breakfast. This was super easy to do, although a little messy, and it made boring waffles fun.

Step 1: You make your waffle recipe like normal and then split the batter into different containers (I used glass measuring cups because that made it easy to pour).
Step 2: You add liquid food coloring to make the colors you want
Step 3: (This is why it is messy) you pour the colors in stripes onto your waffle iron
Step 4: Cook for the amount of time you normally would
Step 5: Admire your cool looking waffle!

1st attempt

I didn't make enough of the blue and green so we had some super pink pancakes toward the end

I told you it was messy...because it takes more time to do the stripes the batter ran off the iron

According to the weather channel it was supposed to rain cats and dogs today...but it didn't. So I had planned some fun inside activities to do today. First on our agenda was pillow mountain, Jordyn and I gathered almost all the pillows from the house and made a pillow mountain to play on.

(I'm not sure why 80% of my pictures are coming out with lines in them...I think I need a new camera)

We crawled through the pillows and jumped on the mountain...we even tried to climb the pillow mountain. It was a great activity to get Jordyn moving and it was hard to get hurt since we were surrounded by pillows.

Jordyn laughed and laughed we even had fun trying to rebuild the mountain to see if it would be easier to climb or if it would topple...most of the time it just toppled.

It was a great rainy day activity, I had fun too.

King...I mean Princess of the mountain

James got to play some too

Day 18- Glitter

I love glitter! I always have and probably always will, when I saw that I could glitter my keys I got really excited! This is a super easy way to make your keys fancy. All you need is your key, some glue, glitter, and clear nail polish.

You start with your key...

Next you cover the top portion with glue

Then you sprinkle glitter over the glue and let it dry for at least an hour

Add 2 top coats of clear nail polish...this will keep all the glitter on the key and off your clothes and everything else

I liked it so much I let Jordyn chose a color for our house key...of course she chose pink :)

After I did it I rubber the glitter with my nail to make sure it wouldn't flake off and it didn't, but you have to do 2 coats of polish.
Also, I used a really fine glitter not the big flakes...I know Martha Stewart has great fine glitter but I am sure there are other brands too.

Day 17- Knives and Lemon Juice

It's kind of hard to see the spots because they blend into the table...but I promise they are there

I do not take care of my nice knives the way I should. I probably would take better care of them if I was in charge of the dishes, but I am not Jonathan is and he is not a fan of hand washing anything. So most days the knives find there way into the dishwasher where they get nice and clean. Unfortunately they get some rust spots on them in the process.

I found a semi-solution! I say "semi" because it worked on almost every spot. You take your knives with rust spots and place them in lemon juice for a little while; when you take them out you rinse them off using the scrubbing side of the sponge. As you scrub the knives the spots go away like magic...some will have disappeared before you start the scrubbing. However, as I said above not every single spot came off but 98% of them did. I am going to re-soak the ones that have 1 spot left tomorrow and see if I can get them off.

No spots!! Good as new :)

Day 16- Chairs and Chicken Salad

This was not something I found on pinterest, but I figured since this project has taken the place of my pinterest projects I would show you. Ever since I received my kitchen table and chair set I have wanted to update them by painting the legs and spindles black. My sister just got an apartment so she bought a kitchen table and chairs and had to refinish them, so while she did that I did mine too. It's amazing how something so small can make such a big difference in one room. I won't lie to you this wasn't the quickest or easiest project but it was worth it. The first thing I had to do was lightly sand every part of the chair I wanted to paint. Next I primed it and then painted it black. Sounds easy but it was tedious work.

After and before of the back

Before and after of the front

There has been a really yummy looking chicken salad floating around pinterest for the past few months, avocado chicken salad. I like avocado so I had been wanting to try it, but every time I went to the grocery store I would forget to buy the main ingredient...avocado. Last time I was there I made a point to buy one so I could try it. It was so worth wait, this chicken salad was delicious! (and better for you...no mayonnaise!) The recipe on the pin did not have quantities of each ingredient so I made it up...

super yummy lunch

Avocado Chicken Salad

1 large can chicken
1 avocado
2 green onions
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp salt
pinch pepper

In a medium size bowl scoop out the inside of the avocado and mash it up so it is creamy
Dice the green onions
Add the onion, chicken, lime juice, salt, and pepper to the avocado and stir it all together

Serve with chips, crackers, or on a sandwich

Day 15- Baking Soda and Apple Cider Vinegar

My hair looks clean and fresh doesn't it?!

I have always tried to find shampoo that was cheap, worked, and was as close to natural/green as possible. However, every bottle has a nice list of ingredients and chemicals in it. So, I found a new way to wash my hair. You use baking soda as shampoo and apple cider vinegar as a conditioner. Sounds pretty odd doesn't it?! The baking soda helps to remove the dirt but not strip the natural oils.  It is a little weird but it works. When you wash and condition with this stuff it doesn't get soapy which is hard to get used to, especially when you are used to the suds. All you have to do is put the mixture all over your head, until you feel like all your hair is covered, and then squish it around like you would normal shampoo and conditioner. Other pinners have said you have to try it for a few weeks because your scalp and hair have to get used to using it and relearn how much oil to produce. I have used it for a few days and my hair looks just as clean and fresh as when I used regular shampoo and conditioner...but now I am not soaking my hair in a bunch of chemicals, and it is all natural and green...and cheaper too! If you are wondering my hair does not smell like vinegar.

I put my new products in ketchup and mustard bottles from the dollar store.

Shampoo
1TBS baking soda
1 cup water
put them in a container and shake

Conditioner
1TBS apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
put them in a container and shake

Easy enough?! In reading what other have to say about it...if it is drying your hair out use less baking soda and if your hair is too oily add a little bit more.

Day 14- Rugs and Teriyaki Chiken

I have been updating and fixing up my house lately little by little. Today I went on a mini-shopping spree! I got a few items for my bookcases and a new rug for the kitchen. We had a rug that my mom gave us which looked fine until I redid the handles on the cabinets...then it did not look so hot. So, I found a really pretty paisley rug, but it slips and slides all over the floor. I found a cure for the slip-n-slide rug, you draw lines of caulk every six inches on the backside of the rug. You let it dry really well and then no more sliding!! YEAH!

For dinner I made delicious crockpot teriyaki chicken and served it with rice and stir-fry veggies. The chicken was sooooo good and smelled great while it was cooking. Everyone really enjoyed it. It is also a recipe that doesn't require too many ingredients, only 5 to be exact. As you can probably guess I was missing something I needed so I had 7 ingredients because I had to make a little of my own soy sauce (my recipe with the substitution is below and the link to the original is also listed.)

Rave Reviews:
Paula (my mom) stated, "this is really really good, I need the recipe for this!"
Jonathan asked me , "Were you planning on having this for leftovers tomorrow, because I want some more now."
Jordyn said excitedly, "Mommy this is really really good, I didn't know it was good." (she says the funniest things sometimes)
Steven (my sisters "boyfriend") said, "This IS really good."

Slow Cooker Sweet Teriyaki Chicken Recipe:

1/2 c. soy sauce
4 TBS worshchestire sauce
1 TBS water
1 c. sugar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 an onion, chopped
5 chicken breasts

Put all of the ingredients but chicken into a pot over medium heat until boiling
Pour over chicken in crock pot
Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours

The original recipe is from the Six Sisters blog

Day 13-Freezer Meal

Last week I saw a pin for freezer crockpot meals, two things I like crockpots and pulling something out of the freezer that is just about ready to be served. One recipe looked really yummy, beef soup...yummy. It was a pretty easy recipe and it made two bags (AKA two meals). She had some other meals as well but I decided to start with one.
While you are making this your house will smell delicious, my mom came through the door and said, "it smells just like a restaurant in here." This meal took no more than 30 minutes to put together and will be an easy meal for a day when we have 50 thousand things going on once Jordyn starts school.

Freezer Meal: Savory Vegetable Beef Soup
1 Onion and
2TBS minced garlic
1 lb Ground Beef
2 whole carrots chopped per bag
3 Red Potatoes chopped per bag
1 can tomato soup split between bags
1/2 TBSP Worcestershire per bag
1/2 cup Beef Broth per bag
1 TBSP Parsley per bag
1 tsp Basil per bag
1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
1/2 tsp salt per bag
1/2 tsp pepper per bag
1 TBSP Sugar per bag

In a pan brown the ground beef with onion and garlic
While it is in the chop the other veggies
divide everything evenly between 2 bags

 Place in Crockpot with 1.5 cups of water and 15 oz Beef Broth. Cook on LOW 8 Hours.

I got the idea for this from Melissa Fallis Test Kitchen

Day 12- Fizzy Fun

 Lilly and Elijah, my niece and nephew spent the day at our house today. I was trying to think up creative indoor activities since it was rainy or humid outside just about all day. Of course Pinterest has tons of fun ideas! I decided to let them do a little science experiment with baking soda and vinegar. Jordyn and Elijah had a blast playing with it. Such a simple project that entertained them for quite a while...I even had to get out more vinegar because they used it up so fast.

This is the start of our fizzy fun...

It's hard to tell but it bubbles pretty well

Even after there was this much vinegar on the tray they could still add more and make it bubble

The best part about this was that they both loved it! They told me how cool it was over and over again. Elijah said," I have never done anything like this before it is so fun!"

Step 1: cover a surface with baking soda
Step 2: in cups put vinegar with a drop of whatever color food coloring you want
Step 3: Let the kids have droppers and they can drop dots or big squeezes all over the baking soda and watch it fizz and bubble

Day 11- Pictures and More Clean Showers

As you all know I have been reorganizing my bookshelves. Today I worked on another shelf, Jonathan and I had set it up a few days ago but didn't get the pictures up on the wall. I had seen a way to put pictures up on the wall easily. You put a dab of toothpaste on the back of the frame where the nail will be and press it against the wall, that way you will know exactly where to put the nail so your picture will be in the exact right place. This was a HUGE help!! When we have hung pictures up in the past I think we poked 50 holes in the wall before it was in the perfect place.

toothpaste on the wire of the frame

toothpaste dot...right where the nail goes

the finished product...two very straight in line pictures

The other day I found the miracle shower cleaner. So when I saw that I could make it a daily cleaner I had to do it. You use the same mixture of half vinegar half dawn and put it in kitchen wand (not sure if that is what it's called but that's my name for it). Having it in this handy wand allows you to scrub down the tub each day quickly while you are taking a shower!

Day 10- Finger Paint

Yesterday it was raining when I wanted to go to the pool with the kids...figures. So I got on my very favorite website, Pinterest, and looked for something for the kids to do. I found edible finger paint on a sensory board. Yeah, a sensory activity for James and a fun activity for Jordyn. It is always nice to find something both kids will enjoy. I started making the paints yesterday but we didn't get to use them until today because they were still too hot.

This is how little man started, not too messy

James liked it because he could squish it, move it, and eat it...what more could a little man ask for?! As you can see he enjoyed decorating his body and mouth more than making beautiful art. I did give him some paper but it is a wrinkled mess now.

Yummy mommy can  I have more and more and more

not too messy but his face was so sweet I had to share

What a mess...but he was happy

Look mommy I have a blue beard

Jordyn painted her beautiful picture and then was done with it. She thought it was cool that it could be eaten but she wouldn't try it, I think she was grossed out by the mess James was making with his paint.

Jordyn's artwork and plate of paints

(sorry it is so dark) Jordyn painting

So how do you make this fun edible paint?!

Edible Paint
1 cup cornstartch
1 cup cold water
3 cups boiling water
Food coloring

In a pot mix together the cold water and cornstratch
Slowly add the boiling water stirring in until it is well mixed
Put on stove over med-high heat and stir until it is the consistency of custard

Separate into jars or bowls and add food coloring...I used baby food jars and they were the perfect size
It only took a few drops in each jar to get these pretty colors.
Also, your child may be slightly stained afterwards but it all comes off in the bathtub :)

Day 9- Cake and Splatter

I love cake...it is probably my favorite dessert of all time. I also probably eat way too much of it when it is in the house and I make cakes and cupcakes on a regular babsis...they are just too yummy not to have in the house. Two things I have been wanting to try are the Paula Dean cake mix recipe and splatter cupcakes. The cupcakes were delicious but they were not as "splattery" as the picture on Pinterest showed...that was disappointing. It was not easy to splatter the cupcakes; according to the directions all you had to do was put blobs in the liner and then drizzle over the top. Sounds easy right...wrong. The blob part was easy, but the drizzle part did not work out so well. The batter wanted to blob not drizzle so as you can see in the picture there are more blobby spots and not so many drizzly spots. Even though it didn't go as planned they tasted good .

Straight out of the oven

Sorry it is blurry but this is the inside

If you are wondering what is on top it's whipped cream. If you have never tried whipped cream on a cupcake instead of frosting you should it is delicious and much easier than making homemade frosting.
The Paula Dean cake mix recipe didn't take a whole lot but it made a big difference. It was richer and tasted more homemade than the regular box recipe. All you need is extra eggs, butter, and milk instead of eggs.

Paula Dean Cake Mix
1 box cake mix
Add 1 extra egg...you can add 2 if you want to
Double the amount of oil but use butter instead
Use milk instead of water

easy enough?!

If you want to try the splatter cupcakes this is the link Rainbow Splatter Cupcakes