tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69591986449439703122024-03-05T09:19:03.021-08:00ScrimpulousThe surprising adventures of a young self-employed family!<br>
Waste less. Save more. Get smarter. Make things.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-27951724665711407492012-05-10T13:00:00.000-07:002012-05-10T13:00:01.774-07:00Taco Muffins are amazing<div style="-moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 20px; width: 550;">
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"Taco muffins" </div>
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Last night we tried out one of the billion recipes circulating around Pinterest, Taco Muffins. They were amazing.</div>
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Take your flour tortillas (we make our own lately) and cut out circles to fit in your muffin tins.</div>
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Fill with seasoned ground beef and cheese.</div>
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Bake at 400* until cheese is melted and tortilla edges are browned.</div>
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Remove from tray and top with sour cream, salsa, lettuce and tomato.</div>
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Devour instantly.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-54189309427588933722012-05-09T21:23:00.000-07:002012-05-09T21:23:50.972-07:00Only Shepherds Pie can be the temperature of ice and lava simultaneously.<div style="-moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 20px; width: 550;">
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<img src="http://distilleryimage1.instagram.com/861b440c971b11e180c9123138016265_6.jpg" style="-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 10px #888; -webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 10px #888; box-shadow: 0 0 10px #888; margin-bottom: 0.4em;" /><br />
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"Only Shepherds Pie can be the temperature of ice and lava simultaneously. " </div>
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There's always a lot of swearing when it's (frozen) Shepherds Pie night.</div>
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Holly always makes two, we eat one that day and freeze the second for a quick and easy meal.</div>
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It's easy but it's never quick because the damn thing never thaws right. Even after sitting on the counter all day and in the oven for over two hours, there's a good chance of an icy pocket right in the middle (of my piece).</div>
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EFF</div>
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You</div>
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PIE.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-70361801477470253452012-05-09T21:13:00.000-07:002012-05-09T21:13:09.532-07:00Ouch my teeth<div style="-moz-border-radius: 5px; -webkit-border-radius: 5px; border-radius: 5px; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 18px; margin: 0px auto; padding: 20px; width: 550;">
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"Ouch my teeth" </div>
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Oreo Cakesters are sickeningly delicious and feel terrible on my cavities.</div>
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After I ate two packs I looked at the nutritional info to see what the damage was. </div>
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not good.</div>
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these will kill you.</div>
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Actually, I had a McDonalds apple pie a few days ago which (in my mind) seemed like a 'healthy' snack but those are even worse than the Cakesters. A McDonalds pie has 38% of your recommended fat for a day. I guess they're really bad because they're deep fried rather than baked. fffffuuuuuu </div>
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I should just stop looking at the nutritional info and buy stretchy pants.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-40706884729616993652012-04-03T20:35:00.000-07:002012-04-03T20:35:54.206-07:00Astro Original Greek Yogurt- Review and Great Deal!See these 4 tubs of yogurt? They only cost me $3! Can you believe it!?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6Cuaz8Ym-edRIM2uohrfq1lzjOG_1D3VzvrVfmRHa1tPxghIplGgP_p8AA6_jDzcQO-vIGjBTKG8wtUvsMlz_q94zjbaLY74Aq1qfusLVMJwRMTiiAPTkaRTKanX6HWDxtZ_n5uiT4rS/s1600/DSC04227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6Cuaz8Ym-edRIM2uohrfq1lzjOG_1D3VzvrVfmRHa1tPxghIplGgP_p8AA6_jDzcQO-vIGjBTKG8wtUvsMlz_q94zjbaLY74Aq1qfusLVMJwRMTiiAPTkaRTKanX6HWDxtZ_n5uiT4rS/s320/DSC04227.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
My local grocery store had a big sale on these 500g tubs of yogurt a couple weeks ago, I had never tried Greek yogurt before but for $1 I figured it wasn't much of a loss if we didn't like it and it could always just be frozen for smoothies if it wasn't great.<br />
There wasn't much selection but I grabbed a peach low fat and a honey flavor, both still had 2 weeks left on the best before date. I didn't want to buy too much in case we didn't like it. The peach was pretty meh, we didn't finish it and it went into the freezer but the honey was awesome! It's slightly sweet but doesn't taste like honey, it's thick and has a slight tangy cream cheese taste. It tastes almost exactly like the filling for my no bake cheesecake, which consists of a block of cream cheese with half a tub of Cool Whip blended in. I like it, Mr likes it and the kid likes it. It's good on it's own or as a parfait with fruit and granola. It's the best damn yogurt I've ever tasted, we don't usually finish an entire tub but we ate all of this one up no problem!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieADDhXzHjr6YJYzq76crjwilT9GHMAl0DNxOnt_toSHo-3zZBw6LEIzFtopqig8UHBwhKc9sqCDPnxBntnUONBG0xd2IjPCu7XVcwkbDs6J310NvRKiES-iZsDx0byFk9McB041M1wF_q/s1600/DSC04229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieADDhXzHjr6YJYzq76crjwilT9GHMAl0DNxOnt_toSHo-3zZBw6LEIzFtopqig8UHBwhKc9sqCDPnxBntnUONBG0xd2IjPCu7XVcwkbDs6J310NvRKiES-iZsDx0byFk9McB041M1wF_q/s320/DSC04229.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
So I've been checking back every couple days and the sale was still on but the yogurt shelf was empty or just had plain. I pretty much gave up hope until I sorted through my coupons the other day and saw that I had a $1 off coupon for this exact brand and type and the coupon expired that very day! I had to check one last time, I didn't want the coupon to go to waste! I had to go get a few things anyway so I checked the dairy aisle first and grabbed up 4 of them when I saw that the shelf had been filled. I would have grabbed more but really 4 seemed a bit excessive to me even as I added them to my basket. So they were $1 each plus $1 off coupon, I got all 4 for the price of half a tub at regular price (these sell for $5.99 each!). I picked them up on the 31st and they are good until the 12th. We've already eaten about half a tub so hopefully we use most or all of them up.<br />
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I would have to say that this is probably the best deal I've had on anything ever! Yes, I realize that maybe I'm a little too excited about it but it's very tasty and I LOVE a good deal!Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-78196549564385449532012-02-15T21:25:00.000-08:002012-02-15T21:25:24.881-08:00Another Informative Cracked Article-5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up PoorMan, I just love browsing Cracked and my most favorite thing of all on the site is the lists. I just posted one of their <a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2012/02/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being.html">lists</a> a while ago but I came across this one written by the same person titled "<a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor_p2/">The 5 Stupidest Habits You Develop Growing Up Poor</a>" and I can honestly say that from my personal experience that every point he brought up is true, at least in my case.<br>
I grew up very poor even though my parents made decent money. Where did it all go? Money just seemed to be piddled away due to lack of foresight, impulse purchases, restaurant food, lack of budgeting, etc. When I moved out on my own I started living the same way, it never even occurred to me to do it any other way because that was how I grew up, I was working 50-60 hours a week and only paying $300 a month for my apartment but still never seemed to have any money left at the end of the month. I didn't even have a savings account! If only I knew the things then that I know now. I cringe to even think of how much money just went to waste on disposable items, food and entertainment. Thankfully all of that changed or I wouldn't be writing this blog!<br>
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Here's a summary of the 5 points as well as my comments but really just go check out the actual article, the guy is hilarious, he approaches bleak topics with a very dark humor that I just love!<br>
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<a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2012/02/another-informative-cracked-article-5.html#more">Read more »</a>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-17116622385292212472012-02-01T23:11:00.000-08:002012-02-01T23:11:38.161-08:005 Things Nobody Tells You About Being PoorI just came across <a href="http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-things-nobody-tells-you-about-being-poor/">this article</a> on <a href="http://www.cracked.com/">Cracked</a> and even though the way their articles are written always give me a good laugh there is complete truth to this one and it's a good honest read. I'll sum up the points of it here but you should definitely go check out the whole article, you might learn something. But be warned, the language is very NSFW, which to me makes it a lot funnier!<br />
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<ol><li> You get charged for using your own money (bank overdrafts and fees)</li>
<li>There is an industry that profits by keeping you poor (payday loans)</li>
<li>No credit can be just as damaging as bad credit (being financially responsible by never taking out a loan, etc)</li>
<li>Your next expensive disaster is always around the corner (not having an emergency fund will cost you more)</li>
<li>You're always in survival mode (working crappy jobs just to pay the bills instead of taking a risk for a better job or school because it's more expensive right away)</li>
</ol><br />
And if that made you depressed check out one of their other articles, they have tons of cute lists and weird stuff.Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-85771706958482881602012-01-24T07:49:00.000-08:002012-01-24T07:49:00.153-08:00Newborn Baby Stuff-What your really need and what you don't<blockquote class="tr_bq">Old post alert! I have a couple mostly written drafts that I kind of forgot about after quite a long time. I'll be filling them in, updating them a bit and posting them in the next little while. No use in wasting a perfectly good but no longer personally relevant post!</blockquote><br />
We really didn't do much research before buying baby stuff and we could have saved a great deal of money by not buying some things and getting other items gently used. We listened to family members that hadn't had children in 20 years, buying items they told us we absolutely needed to have as well as following lists that other people posted on the internet and just buying things we thought were cute. Shopping with other people was the worst because they would always point out items that they deemed essential.<br />
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<b><u>Essentials </u></b><br />
<ul><li>Diapers: Only get 1 or 2 packages of newborn size, you may not need them for long, I think we only needed them for 2 weeks before Alice was into a size 1. If your baby is small you can always go out to get more or get someone to pick them up for you.</li>
<li>Receiving blankets: Babies leak at an astounding rate, you will need to mop up spills that you never thought could come out of such a small creature. A large receiving blanket can also be used to swaddle or go over the stroller to keep out the sun while on walks</li>
<li>Baby washcloths and towels: You will need to give a lot of baths to clean up the aforementioned leaks.</li>
<li>Baby shampoo: You can use this as body wash as well. We bought a huge bottle and just used it up a couple weeks ago.</li>
<li>A sling or carrier (<a href="http://www.mobywrap.com/">Moby</a> type wrap, <a href="http://www.ergobabycarrier.com/">Ergo</a> or <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/BabyEtte">Ring-Sling</a>) </li>
<li>Convertible car seat: You can use this kind from birth until your baby is bigger, saves you from buying an infant car seat and then having to buy another once your baby reaches the weight limit of 20 pounds or so (it will be sooner than you think!)</li>
<li>Onesies that snap at the crotch: you will be changing a lot of diapers and you want the quickest, easiest access possible, especially late at night.</li>
<li>Stretchy waist pants: Easy on,easy off, young babies don't really straighten their legs to make it easier for you to put pants on them. Baby jeans? Hahahahaha </li>
</ul><br />
<u><b>Might Need</b></u><br />
<br />
<ul><li>Lightweight stroller: If you plan on wearing your baby you may not need to buy a stroller at all. A lot of carriers are good until your baby becomes a toddler and by then they might just want to walk everywhere anyway.</li>
<li>Jumperoo: We found this to be quite useful, we put our lady chick in there and got some stuff done around here, kept her busy and happy for up to an hour sometimes! We were able to resell it for a good amount too.</li>
<li>Pump: If you're planning on boobing your kid you won't be able to get away from them for more than an hour or 2, and believe me, you WILL want to get away from your kid at some point. It doesn't matter how cute they are, you will want and need a break! Pumps are expensive, see if a friend has one they are done with and just replace the shield and hoses or give it a good boil.</li>
</ul><br />
<u><b>For Later</b></u><br />
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<ul><li>Shoes: You won't be able to get them on or keep them on your tiny person's little curled up feet and your baby doesn't need them until they start to walk anyway. At 7 1/2 months old I could finally get shoes on my kid, she outgrew 3 sizes of cute shoes before she even wore them</li>
<li>High chair: You don't need one until your baby starts solid foods and wants to be included in family meals when they are at least 6 months old. No use in having it take up space for that long before you need it. Jon hates ours with a vengeance. The day we bought it he nearly threw it into traffic.</li>
</ul><br />
<u><b>Don't bother</b></u><br />
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<ul><li>Scented body washes and lotions: Those "relaxing, calming or bedtime"scents may smell nice but they aren't going to help your baby sleep. Just use baby shampoo to wash your little dude, it smells nice</li>
<li>Bassinets: As soon as your baby can roll over they can roll out of these</li>
<li>Change table: We have a kitchen cart from Ikea that we used for our microwave for years, perfect size to strap a soft change pad onto</li>
<li>Baby books: Most books have a corresponding website</li>
<li>Diaper genie: The refills are expensive and apparently they don't work that well keeping the smell in and are sometimes hard to use. We use a metal canister garbage can with a foot lever lined with a scented bag that we get from the dollar store. We change it whenever it gets full/every 2 or 3 days and it holds the smell in just fine and it's hands free.</li>
<li>Diaper bag: I just use a large purse, you really don't need to bring that much stuff with you if you're just running out for groceries. I used to bring tons of stuff with me but I've pared it down to just 2 diapers, travel wipes case, a receiving blanket, a folding change pad and a plastic bag. That's it. If I'm going on a lengthier outing then I bring 1 more diaper and a change of clothes.</li>
<li>Travel system: It seemed like a good idea so that's what we went with, an infant car seat that attaches to a stroller. Nope. The stroller is extremely heavy with a very large wheel base. We could barely get it through doorways and down aisles or onto a bus and walks to the store took more time and effort than they should have. It could only be steered with 2 hands, making it nearly impossible to hold a grocery basket and push at the same time. Our baby had already outgrown the carseat in height by the time she was 7 months old. We've since bought a lightweight stroller and convertible carseat.</li>
<li>Newborn sized clothes: We had one newborn outfit when Alice was born, she wore it home from the hospital and maybe once more before she outgrew it. It was a gift, all of our other clothes were 0-3 months, so what if they were a bit baggy on her. You don't know how big your baby is going to be, buy bigger. If they are on the smaller size or preemie you can always buy more clothes in that case.</li>
<li>Frilly/Fussy Clothes: Don't even bother trying to get on a turtleneck or 1 piece that has to be taken completely off every diaper change. Ditto for clothes with big puffy skirts, you won't be able to get the whole thing out of the way and it's going to be a disaster if you have to change a poo diaper while your little lady is wearing it. Grandparents WILL buy all of these things for you, just smile, nod and then give the offending outfit away. They don't know any better, that's how kids were dressed eleventy thousand years ago. I guess they hadn't invented the crotch snap back then.</li>
</ul><br />
<u><b>What to buy used:</b></u><br />
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<ul><li>Jumperoo/Exersaucer: We bought ours new but should have bought used. Our kid loved it but learned to crawl soon after and didn't want to play in it anymore. We got just a couple months use out of it.</li>
<li>Bouncy Chair/Swing: Don't pay the $50+ for a new one, somebody will have one on Craigslist for probably $20, these don't get used for that long either</li>
<li>Clothes: Babies outgrow clothes at an astounding rate, you'll put an outfit on your baby and a week later that same outfit will be too tight. We hardly bought anything new, a lot of clothes were found with tags still on from thrift and consignment stores.</li>
<li>Baby tub: These are outgrown pretty fast as well, you'll be lucky to get 7 months out of it before your baby wants the big tub.</li>
<li>Strollers: You can get really nice, gently used strollers for a good price on Craigslist. I notice that most the time the person states the reason for selling as they have a car and just use the carrier when they need to go into a store or need to upgrade to a double, etc.<br />
</li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<u><b>Never buy used:</b></u><br />
<br />
<ul><li>Carseats- If it's been in an accident then it's no longer safe to use and should be replaced. You have no way of telling when you buy one from Craigslist, you only have the word of the seller. Carseats also expire after a certain number of years, usually five or six from the manufacturers date.</li>
<li>Walkers-Outlawed in Canada. Looks like an exersaucer with wheels. Gives babies who otherwise wouldn't be able to walk the ability to move too fast and reach too many hazards. I've also seen these on Craigslist, people find them in storage from 20 years ago when they had kids and are trying to get rid of them.</li>
<li>Drop-side cribs- They are now illegal but not everybody knows this so may be trying to sell one they found in their storage/attic, etc</li>
</ul><br />
I'm sure there are probably more things to add to all of the lists but that's all I could think of for now. <br />
<ul></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-81477827191004561442012-01-21T07:32:00.000-08:002012-01-21T07:32:00.767-08:00Rich Frosted Chocolate Mug CakeLately I've really been enjoying making various mug cakes. They are ready in just a couple minutes and make less dirty dishes than making a whole cake, not to mention that a whole cake would go to waste for us because there aren't enough people to eat it!<br />
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I think I've finally perfected the chocolate one the last time I made them so I'm going to present my recipe on the blog. Sorry, no pictures of the process since I made them quickly and late at night when the baby (oops, toddler now!) was resisting going to sleep. They were so rich and yummy!<br />
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Here's what you need to make 2. Just half the recipe if you are alone and have a chocolate craving. Or make the whole thing and devour it and feel sorry for yourself when you get the biggest stomach ache you've ever had in you life!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXFbx5Ju9GPeJc7ONPcLS1czUQoxX0SjEcwC88z2elASpMRW0MnvvKOuc5RT24vcZLa-jARAAiQ8s9eDtZ_lXEph6_Smu2Ok-QhaqNZ1zrqj04oIapTMNUFHr_1MYsODB7Ui6uOrxt8xg/s1600/DSC03935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXFbx5Ju9GPeJc7ONPcLS1czUQoxX0SjEcwC88z2elASpMRW0MnvvKOuc5RT24vcZLa-jARAAiQ8s9eDtZ_lXEph6_Smu2Ok-QhaqNZ1zrqj04oIapTMNUFHr_1MYsODB7Ui6uOrxt8xg/s320/DSC03935.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
For the cake:<br />
<ul><li>1/2 cup flour</li>
<li>1/2 cup sugar</li>
<li>1/4 cup cocoa powder</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon baking powder </li>
<li>1/4 cup milk</li>
<li>1/4 cup oil</li>
<li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract</li>
<li>1 egg</li>
<li>a handful of random melt-able chocolate (we had these truffle things that we were given for Christmas so I used 6 of them) use whatever you have around, chocolate chips, half a mars bar, whatever, as long as you can microwave it!</li>
</ul>I defeated the purpose of making cake in a mug by mixing my stuff in bowls, if I was only making one I would have mixed it in the mug, it's just easier to do it this way if you're making multiples!<br />
<br />
Mix all of the dry ingredients together in one bowl and whisk the milk, oil, egg, and vanilla in another. Pour the wet into the dry and combine. Now microwave whatever chocolate you are using until it's just melted and stir it into your batter. Pour half into each mug and microwave for 1 minute 45 seconds. You may have to play around with the time depending on your microwave, start with 1 minute and then add 30 seconds, it might be done after that long.<br />
<br />
The cake and mugs are going to be very hot so they will have to sit for a bit, this gives you time to mix up the frosting. For this you need:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>1/2 cup icing sugar</li>
<li>2 tablespoons cocoa powder</li>
<li>1 tablespoon soft butter or margarine</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon milk or cream</li>
</ul>Just mix everything together with a fork, easy as that! You can spread the frosting right onto the hot cake before serving or you can do what we did, our cakes were really deep so we just spooned on a dollop of frosting for every inch of cake we ate! <br />
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*A quick change for if you want brownies in a mug instead of cake, omit the baking powder and use 2 eggs instead of one<br />
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*Other yummy add-ins: sprinkle of cinnamon, teaspoon of instant coffee, caramel, a peppermint patty pushed halfway down into the batter, etc!Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-56987440482036923532012-01-19T00:12:00.000-08:002012-01-20T00:11:05.626-08:00We're still here...........but we're tired. The kid is just starting to sleep a bit better after cutting molars at only 14 months old so hopefully I can pick back up and post on the blog more often. It's been a whole month with zero posts, I have been cooking and baking but it's been the same stuff I've already posted.<br />
<br />
So here's a quick update on how we're doing:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Grocery budget. Still doing decently, coming in around $250-$280 for the past couple months depending on whether we need to pick up any bulk items</li>
<li>Schedule. Awesome, Alice and I are up between 8 and 9 every day, she naps between 1 and 2, she's in her own bed and asleep by 8 most nights with the occasional exception where she won't sleep until 9. So much better than it used to be but she still wakes up a lot at night. I've also been getting dinner ready by 6 and we get the apartment cleaned up before 8. No more dishes sitting around all night and crumbs all over the floor</li>
<li>Spending. Oops, we've done quite a bit of shopping due to receiving Christmas money, cashing our Swagbucks in for Amazon and Paypal giftcards and forgetting about the once every 3 months HST rebate cheque. I shop a lot more wisely than I used to, most items were useful things, kitchen stuff, socks, underwear and whatnot. Jon bought more gear. I put money into Alice's RESP.</li>
<li>Saving for a house. Putting a bit away at a time, it's going to take a very long time to get enough to buy a house. At this point we might be better off moving to a 2 bedroom place this summer, something on the top floor so that we're not bothered by people upstairs. I honestly don't know how much longer I can put up with the noise, right now they are talking loudly and thumping around right above me.</li>
<li>Takeout. The occasional lunch, something cheap like a slice of pizza or McDonalds with a coupon. We're doing very good! We have a planned takeout night coming up for my birthday, we're ordering in Thai or Chinese but making our own rice to save about $2.</li>
<li>Treats. If we want sweets I usually just bake something. We rarely buy chocolate or pop now. I haven't had licorice since the summer! Today we both had a can of Coke and a chocolate bar and I really didn't feel well for a while after.</li>
<li>Exercise. I have not resumed jogging, I would like to do it in the morning but it doesn't fit into my schedule and I'm too tired at night and just want to rest. The weather has also been pretty crappy, this morning it was so cold that I didn't take Alice to baby time at the library. When it's not unusually chilly it's pouring rain.</li>
<li>Job search. I honestly haven't really been trying after the initial attempt. I'm so tired from so many night wakings, feedings and trying to stay awake long enough to get her back into her own bed that I don't know how I would have managed if someone had hired me! Will try again if Alice ever gets to the point where she's sleeping halfway through the night. 15 months of sleep deprivation is really taking it's toll on me. I think I need to just leave for a weekend, hide out somewhere and sleep. Haha.</li>
</ul>I think that's about it for now, it's midnight and I've been interrupted trying to write this post about half a dozen times now.Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-83802380504603651372011-12-18T08:30:00.002-08:002011-12-18T08:30:01.404-08:0021 Fast cheap and healthy snacks for you and your kidsI'm going to start off by saying that we've always been horrible when it comes to organizing meals other than dinner. We used to have our morning coffee/tea at 9 or 10, then maybe some cereal around 11 or 12 and then stare blankly at the cupboards and fridge around 2 or 3 when we were really hungry. This usually resulted in grabbing takeout, eating too much and then not having dinner until very late at night when the lunch food coma wore off. Not to mention that you really don't feel like doing much when you're very full so a lot of lazing around was going on.<br />
<br />
We've drastically changed our eating habits now that Alice is with us, she's tiny and needs to eat small amounts more often since she's constantly on the go and growing. Everything needs to be healthy as well to fuel her little body and brain when she's playing hard. She also doesn't like to sit in her chair for extended periods of time and gets restless and throws her food when she gets bored.<br />
<br />
Snacking also works a lot better for me than sitting down and eating a midday meal, snacks are faster to prepare, you can eat them on the go or while you work on things around the house and they keep my blood sugar even as I'm one of those people that gets dizzy and cranky between meals.<br />
<br />
So here's a list of some of the things we have throughout the day between meals or as a small lunch.<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Veggies and dip - Celery, carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes and cauliflower with salad dressing. Ranch dressing is our favorite, caesar is tasty as well.</li>
<li>Sliced fruit with dip - Apples, oranges, nectarines, peaches, strawberries, mangoes, etc. Try almond butter for apples and yogurt with a bit of honey for the softer fruit.</li>
<li>Dry cereal - Cheerios, Honeycomb, Vector, Captain Crunch, etc. Not the healthiest option but pretty tasty. </li>
<li>Granola - An even healthier alternative to the cereal, but costs a bit more. Eat it dry or microwave some with water or soymilk for a yummy hot cereal.</li>
<li>Yogurt and berry parfait - Vanilla yogurt + fresh berries + sprinkle of granola</li>
<li>Popcorn - Air popped or DIY in the microwave preferably. Go easy on the butter! Give it a shake of cinnamon sugar, parmesan cheese or chili powder for a bit of a kick</li>
<li>Toast - 12 grain bread with peanut butter or almond butter, add sliced banana or strawberries with a drizzle of honey</li>
<li><a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2011/06/pita-chips-or-tortilla-chips.html">Pita chips</a> - These easy to make chips are great on their own or with hummus</li>
<li>Crackers & cheese - Not the cheapest option on the list since cheese is a bit pricy but better for you than french fries</li>
<li>Mixed Nuts - Kids love to break things. Food + safe fun is a great combo. Don't feel like cracking them open and dealing with the mess? Buy a big bag of mixed dry roasted nuts or trail mix.</li>
<li>Dry soy beans - Super healthy and fairly inexpensive. We got a big jar from Costco that lasted over a month.</li>
<li>Ants on a log- Celery sticks filled with peanut butter or Cheez Whiz, use raisins or dried cranberries as the "ants"</li>
<li>Edamame and rice-We always have a bag of frozen, peeled edamame in our freezer. Fry some up in olive oil, garlic and onion, scoop them on top of your rice and give them a salt and pepper or sprinkle of parmesan</li>
<li>Smoothies-Make these any way you like! Milk or fruit juice blended with fruit and ice, both kinds are tasty, filling and good for you.</li>
<li>Nachos- Throw the chips topped with cheese into the oven for a couple minutes while you chop up some tomatoes and avocado to go on top. Garnish with sour cream or squeeze half a lime over the entire thing!</li>
<li>Quesadillas- I like to make a quick version using just 1 tortilla and whatever leftover meat, cheese and veggies are in the fridge. Bake or fry.</li>
<li>Grilled cheese with ham. We usually do this when there isn't enough deli meat left to make a sandwich, just 1 slice is enough. Grilled cheese is great with tomato soup.</li>
<li>Mini pizzas on a bagel, tortilla or whatever bread you have handy. Toast the bread, spread with a tablespoon of pasta sauce, add some pepperoni or ham, some cheese and then pop it into the oven just until the cheese melts. "Pizza toast" is still one of my favorite snacks.</li>
<li>Quick mac and cheese. Cook and drain a half package of pasta. Don't rinse it, just dump it back into the pot, add a teaspoon of margarine, a splash of milk and a handful of grated cheese. Put it back on the warm burner and stir until everything is combined, salt and pepper to taste.</li>
<li>PB and jam. A classic for a reason, it's quick, filling and tasty.</li>
<li>Sandwich rollup- Basically a sandwich made from a tortilla. PB+jam, veggie cream cheese+deli turkey, fruit cream cheese+sliced strawberries. Make it any way you like!</li>
</ol>If you're at home, most of these should be on hand already. Planning a day out? Bring some snacks, save a LOT of cash. Don't forget to bring your own water or <a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2011/05/brew-you-own-iced-tea-for-just-015.html">Iced tea</a>.<br />
<br />
More of a full lunch person? Combine a few of the items to make a full meal: have a fruit, veggie and cheese plate or a smoothie with your sandwich.<br />
<br />
What kind of snacks do you rely on? <br />
<ol></ol>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-28248320888401238552011-12-06T23:20:00.001-08:002011-12-06T23:23:03.187-08:00DIY Laundry DetergentI've been eagerly waiting to run out of laundry soap so that I could make my own, I found this recipe quite some time ago and it seemed to be the simplest one to make. I actually halved it though just because I only had the one container to store the soap in and it takes me a good 6 months to go through the contents of it anyway. It only took about 10 minutes total to make so that was a plus for me as well!<br>
<br>
Here's how you do it!<br>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_o-LqeUImE_OPImRuvtbZJIHAOO1U6u6zZFcqJQ6fxplJIf4DnrOwNETkpzR76z28WK__Tcqlwb61WF1CK2carXiN-Pieq4Zn-8OHPEaf9Icp0kfHegfJYYI9qniQoR9GpD97xGlLo0/s1600/DSC03667.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3_o-LqeUImE_OPImRuvtbZJIHAOO1U6u6zZFcqJQ6fxplJIf4DnrOwNETkpzR76z28WK__Tcqlwb61WF1CK2carXiN-Pieq4Zn-8OHPEaf9Icp0kfHegfJYYI9qniQoR9GpD97xGlLo0/s320/DSC03667.JPG" width="320"></a></div><br>
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<a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2011/05/diy-laundry-detergent.html#more">Read more »</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-17370966359157813022011-12-03T07:35:00.002-08:002011-12-03T07:35:00.597-08:00Orange Cleaner- Made From Orange Peels!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsh7fKatOVtPssSgU9U30PfvMmncysn2dGIRY8_5nLau053CvK10qT0pGoIQNrGzNnewoAEh0zDt-svRhN0iF5dlcRBZkIwUYuvngKfhuXq2BU4S3L6wyvA0kVAC2ND3I3wK0U3UNgtSM/s1600/DSC03583.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsh7fKatOVtPssSgU9U30PfvMmncysn2dGIRY8_5nLau053CvK10qT0pGoIQNrGzNnewoAEh0zDt-svRhN0iF5dlcRBZkIwUYuvngKfhuXq2BU4S3L6wyvA0kVAC2ND3I3wK0U3UNgtSM/s320/DSC03583.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Here's an awesome idea for a non-toxic cleaner that I got from one of my favorite blogs <a href="http://www.pennilessparenting.com/">Penniless Parenting</a>, her post on it is<a href="http://www.pennilessparenting.com/2010/11/homemade-orange-cleaner.html"> here</a>. check out her site, she has a ton of money saving ideas as well as recipes and other things.<br />
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I started buying Bio-Life products, similar to Method products when I was pregnant with Alice and couldn't stand the smell of most cleaning products. Not to mention that I didn't want to subject myself to any potentially dangerous fumes while Ladybutt was still on the inside. The Method products are fairly expensive though at over $5 a bottle and still had a weird chemical smell. I rinsed out and kept the bottle when it was all gone because I intended to use it for a different cleaner recipe but still hadn't been able to find essential oils near where I live.<br />
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The orange cleaner recipe is simple, just orange peels and vinegar. So you're actually making use of something that would normally go straight into the garbage. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTquNYYloUZ3fwHUbxQ8lXdeQNju2sbmVcnS3iWaBHsD3gfsFHVXyFDVN0C31oSTSfcdCHf8NnilHLLMqU9plwYUkOgkPAH2Rz0EGFd6vPWJK8JrYinScfUiqjQmk8KkiE7X83Cg0L_jM/s1600/DSC03262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTquNYYloUZ3fwHUbxQ8lXdeQNju2sbmVcnS3iWaBHsD3gfsFHVXyFDVN0C31oSTSfcdCHf8NnilHLLMqU9plwYUkOgkPAH2Rz0EGFd6vPWJK8JrYinScfUiqjQmk8KkiE7X83Cg0L_jM/s320/DSC03262.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
All you have to do is pack your orange peels into whatever container you would like to use and fill it up to the top with vinegar. Then let it sit for a minimum of 2 weeks, the vinegar will pull all of the orange oil out of the peels, that's the good grease-busting stuff. I just had this small container, if you use something bigger you can keep adding peels and vinegar to it until it's full.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpUiCHbIaUTOWzeAt-S2-ytZDRwJktcOCJv5qgO9aEJ8tL1qBIiaDwzfGCNRLj0eMr2QbMcYvQ-QqfXiNB8TiN5RMcUdZM50p2armHA1glkoIIsbTCOjhDiZC6Cgr9k9liy_9ngja94Y/s1600/DSC03263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivpUiCHbIaUTOWzeAt-S2-ytZDRwJktcOCJv5qgO9aEJ8tL1qBIiaDwzfGCNRLj0eMr2QbMcYvQ-QqfXiNB8TiN5RMcUdZM50p2armHA1glkoIIsbTCOjhDiZC6Cgr9k9liy_9ngja94Y/s320/DSC03263.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Here's mine after nearly 2 months of steeping, I could have topped it up with vinegar along the way but I honestly kind of forgot about it. I wasn't really in a rush to get to it anyway since I was still using up the last of my "bad" cleaning products. No use in throwing them out and wasting the money!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ddRe3EMAVt-xcirieHw2pZMv7iR11twycSwPMWTebLnvxyH4qwC7EO0BYLjB2wnDvuAMVcVnGLroGFLXf0XhQUODJ56v8idO2b64MUdAdFJWwFTRPrFyKfOjt5Jh6e_xeOa-4DBkjO0/s1600/DSC03584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8ddRe3EMAVt-xcirieHw2pZMv7iR11twycSwPMWTebLnvxyH4qwC7EO0BYLjB2wnDvuAMVcVnGLroGFLXf0XhQUODJ56v8idO2b64MUdAdFJWwFTRPrFyKfOjt5Jh6e_xeOa-4DBkjO0/s320/DSC03584.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Pour the liquid out into an easy to pour container such as a bowl with a spout or large measuring cup. I let mine sit for a couple minutes so it could all drain out and then squished at the peels with a spoon to try and squeeze out as much as I could.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXaVuK5Ai62LJqn_jb97-FZRClUZaLLGKNA0BAsHpOGAG2XYhLHShoVPNYwECYhFcN0PvzBgYcTfNKkzS5IRiWS21lRz09LRSS7vY5rUpsETBtGJk552W06XkN-kmSgp5WyD514CDJ9A/s1600/DSC03585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXaVuK5Ai62LJqn_jb97-FZRClUZaLLGKNA0BAsHpOGAG2XYhLHShoVPNYwECYhFcN0PvzBgYcTfNKkzS5IRiWS21lRz09LRSS7vY5rUpsETBtGJk552W06XkN-kmSgp5WyD514CDJ9A/s320/DSC03585.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
I ended up with just under 3/4 of a cup of concentrated cleaner. Not too bad!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB8XCg0sXjkeL68QvtP8Vo5o6U6RiE2sFdFwQ7FOAE2JU-j_YXNbpETWz2KPPEbgrPpmLPobwOI8prpaQ8XTfInY9hG3ydRNJYDY4HQ8ztUKj5uaWh2k3_Jw_12TSF8GKeR40C2ka55l4/s1600/DSC03586.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB8XCg0sXjkeL68QvtP8Vo5o6U6RiE2sFdFwQ7FOAE2JU-j_YXNbpETWz2KPPEbgrPpmLPobwOI8prpaQ8XTfInY9hG3ydRNJYDY4HQ8ztUKj5uaWh2k3_Jw_12TSF8GKeR40C2ka55l4/s320/DSC03586.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
I poured it into then measured out about 1 1/2 cups of water and added that. My cleaner still seemed pretty strong and dark colored so I went ahead and topped the bottle up with more water until it seemed right to me.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybFSgyt0JKjmXGxOs2f3CnlOYQMGq6JXf7ZcfacIbG8jbPclbore-5DwImeXZm9c56Y_lY5n_2sAV4dRM0gdmBWnFqcLulwl4yQQXJn_u0vb7EhA6-XAFDqC54fulK6T_yJ60mv0eMCQ/s1600/DSC03587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybFSgyt0JKjmXGxOs2f3CnlOYQMGq6JXf7ZcfacIbG8jbPclbore-5DwImeXZm9c56Y_lY5n_2sAV4dRM0gdmBWnFqcLulwl4yQQXJn_u0vb7EhA6-XAFDqC54fulK6T_yJ60mv0eMCQ/s320/DSC03587.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>And here's the finished orange cleaner! Nearly a full bottle of it for the price of less than a cup of vinegar! It has a nice orange smell and you can't really smell the vinegar at all which is great for me because I can't stand that smell.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbDlmjnF1zhoJE9mHXCvSooKXCB06mhFHZVOpVfTkQmE9tdUV37fpJ-Pyq10nqqzGh7Rnz1xeYmKICwrz5ITIeflKfaM9mB00IDVQes3lL8Sg8h8lrhFy93tap2RZLQSaoV55TVQ56zQ/s1600/DSC03588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbbDlmjnF1zhoJE9mHXCvSooKXCB06mhFHZVOpVfTkQmE9tdUV37fpJ-Pyq10nqqzGh7Rnz1xeYmKICwrz5ITIeflKfaM9mB00IDVQes3lL8Sg8h8lrhFy93tap2RZLQSaoV55TVQ56zQ/s320/DSC03588.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
So far I've only tried it out on a stinky metal diaper pail, the garbage was changed but the smell wouldn't go away. We sprayed it down and wiped it and it got rid of the smell no problem and made the metal nice and shiny. I plan on taking all of the burner plates off of my stove at some point and seeing if this will get rid of the burnt and caked on grease that was left for us by the previous tenant. Hopefully I can get to that within the next week, I'm just always using the stove so I haven't had a chance!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-49009307341636951822011-11-28T14:36:00.000-08:002011-11-28T14:36:53.127-08:00An UpdateI thought an update post would be in order since I've only been posting a recipe or DIY post once a week. I also didn't have anything ready to post last night/early this morning.<br />
<br />
So here's what we've been up to:<br />
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<ul><li>Our debt repayment schedule is still on track and we're looking to be debt free this spring hopefully</li>
<li>We're done getting Christmas presents and I have renamed my savings account "The House Fund". It only has $150 at the moment but it's a start. If I go back to work we should be able to have a decent downpayment in a year or so.</li>
<li>We've decided that we cannot deal with the renting situation for much longer and would like to buy a house. There is too much noise from neighboring apartments, people are smoking in our building, there was dog poo just outside the elevator for an entire day which is strange considering our lease said we weren't allowed to have a cat or dog, repairs are still not done after nearly a year and a half and our rent will be going up again in June. Why not use that money towards a mortgage payment and have something to show for it? We're just in the beginning plans of this but hope to be out of here in a year, we would have to upgrade by then to a larger space anyway</li>
<li>I'm working on updating my resume and will be out looking for a part-time job probably later this week. We need the extra income to save up for a house and I would like some adult interaction. Jon works from home and makes his own hours so he can hang out with Alice while I'm gone for a few hours a couple times a week. Alice is just now starting to eat a lot more solids and use her sippy cups, so she is finally able to go for more than 2 hours without nursing.</li>
<li>With the exception of maybe once a week Alice is asleep by 8pm and stays asleep for 3 hours. She still wakes me up a lot at night but it's slowly getting better.</li>
<li>I'm nearly consistently getting up around 8am now. Alice gets out of bed and plays until she needs her diaper changed and then she comes to wake me up, usually by putting a diaper on my face and yelling and patting at me. It's super cute. We let Jon sleep in a bit since he stays up late working most nights.</li>
<li>I haven't managed to go out jogging since the initial failed attempt from a while ago but I'm still hopeful that I can start again at some point. I would like to try to get up a bit earlier to accomplish this.</li>
<li>The basil and tomato plants have finally died off. I now have a renewable source of fresh green onions in my windowsill nearly ready to use. I have a couple of avocado pits that I'm soaking in water just to see if they will sprout. It's a fun project that doesn't cost anything and takes almost no effort.</li>
<li>We've done takeout just a couple of times and done a fair bit of shopping but nothing we feel guilty about. We don't spend a lot, we don't buy impulse items anymore, most of what we get is stuff we actually need.</li>
<li>Jon did a bunch of studio upgrading since a lot of software was on sale for very good prices, he can write everything off as work expenses on his taxes </li>
<li>I picked up a small Ikea high chair from a seller on Craigslist, it takes up about a third of the space the old one did. Now I just have to give the old one a quick cleanup and we should be able to resell it.</li>
<li>I'm doing even more decluttering. I've decided that I don't need the 3 pairs of high heels I have. There is very little chance I will wear them. They were all fairly pricey so I should be able to get a decent amount of money for them on Craigslist. I love them but I will sacrifice them for the house fund. Same goes for the couple of nice dresses I own, I only really wear dresses in the summer and then it's the same 2 or 3 sundresses.</li>
<li>Alice has a lot of toys and shoes that have been outgrown so those are all being sold as well. All of the toys that will be left are all things that she should be able to play with for the next 2 or 3 years. She also has a few Christmas presents that will replace the things that we are getting rid of. </li>
<li>I have a lot of household projects on the go that I intend to post here on the blog, I'm going to try to post more often. I have to make laundry soap this week so that post will be coming up soon</li>
<li>Jon made me a little shelf for over my baking/sewing table. It makes it easier to quickly grab ingredients needed for dinner and baking and makes my kitchen look more organized</li>
<li>The meal plan is a bit different now. I no longer plan a month of meals in advance, I found I was constantly going out to the store to pick up more meat or special ingredients. We've been placing a meat order with the butcher, they have set orders for set prices and we've also been picking up anything canned, frozen and bulk that we need early in the month. Now we just pick up fruit, veg and dairy once a week. We still have a ton of meat left and it's nearly the end of the month so we shouldn't need another meat order until halfway through December. We're also not sticking strictly to the $250 food budget. Last week I only had $20 left which was enough for the fruit, veg and dairy for the rest of the month but we were low on cereal and it was on sale for a very good price so I took out an extra $20 and bought 3 boxes as well as tooth paste and some other items.</li>
</ul>I think that's about it for what's been going on around here, we plan on having Christmas at home by ourselves this year so I have to think of a menu for that.Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-24915910403459912672011-11-21T14:15:00.002-08:002011-11-21T14:15:00.512-08:0022 Great Meat-Free Meals (Dinner)Meat is expensive so we try to do a meat-free meal for dinner once a week. We do this a lot more often in the summer when it's hot, we want to eat lighter and I don't want to use the oven or even the stove for extended periods of time. We usually go back to big, hearty, meaty meals once the cooler weather rolls around but this year we're trying to stick with a meat free day once or sometimes even twice a week. We're not fond of tofu or any other meat substitute products so we've incorporated a lot more beans into our diet to meet our iron and protein needs.<br />
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So in no particular seasonal order here's our list of things we've had for dinner so far!<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Macaroni and cheese (make your own cheese sauce)</li>
<li>Pasta with Tomato Cream Sauce (or any sauce, Red Pepper, Alfredo, etc)</li>
<li>Veggie Stirfry</li>
<li>Bean and Cheese Burritos</li>
<li>Minestrone Soup and biscuits</li>
<li>Homemade pizza (try basil, tomatoes and mozzarella)</li>
<li>Risotto</li>
<li>Cheese, cracker and veggie and dip platter</li>
<li>A big salad and breadsticks</li>
<li>Pasta or potato salad</li>
<li>Nachos</li>
<li>Loaded baked potato</li>
<li>Layered bean dip and tortilla chips</li>
<li>Bruschetta or olive cheese bread with butter parmesan linguine</li>
<li>Mexican rice (black beans, corn, tomatoes,cheese)</li>
<li>Bean chili</li>
<li>Grilled cheese and tomato soup</li>
<li>Spring rolls and a side of steamed veggies and rice</li>
<li>Lasagna</li>
<li>Cauliflower cheese soup</li>
<li>Bean, corn, green onion and tomato quesadillas</li>
<li>Pierogies fried with green onions and served with sour cream</li>
</ol>That's all that I could think of for now, feel free to suggest other veggie meals for us to add to our rotation!Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-45653206801154700932011-11-14T12:00:00.000-08:002011-11-14T12:00:01.184-08:00Make Your Own Makeup Remover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjY_s5_gDteqTtZ3tXo5VsFx8ubUyxlY1u0p3VNvOxQAydJ0_PpMpLkPszyCKTpSiS_hmcX9EOJ-cnq_V3E8TMwuQ-iGx8ZyWMH2981uY6e0zYy9891OYnC-21hmsORSJrTpeYLHpAjlQ/s1600/DSC03628.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjY_s5_gDteqTtZ3tXo5VsFx8ubUyxlY1u0p3VNvOxQAydJ0_PpMpLkPszyCKTpSiS_hmcX9EOJ-cnq_V3E8TMwuQ-iGx8ZyWMH2981uY6e0zYy9891OYnC-21hmsORSJrTpeYLHpAjlQ/s320/DSC03628.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>So the day has come that I've finally run out of makeup remover. My Walmart brand bottle has lasted me over a year especially since I don't even wear makeup every day anymore. I've already used up the cash I set aside every month for fun/other spending so buying a bottle would have to come out of the grocery money and I didn't really want to do that. So I checked out the DIY section on Pinterest and found a link to <a href="http://www.kristanlynn.com/2011/05/diy-clean-eyes.html"> this</a> "recipe" that uses things I already have at home.<br />
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Here's what you need:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy19_5ggQKLZbnIQFUP75K1IxRLiURYvyBsd5T2NhBIPJ6BvcUKXzQNIlnnON4WA6tLV31c7ecA_x16r-RarIy-kPdCzmEh641WiP0Hj9fxUvUwP6zEcmolB5-9Zjq7iUqAersgI5jRRM/s1600/DSC03622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy19_5ggQKLZbnIQFUP75K1IxRLiURYvyBsd5T2NhBIPJ6BvcUKXzQNIlnnON4WA6tLV31c7ecA_x16r-RarIy-kPdCzmEh641WiP0Hj9fxUvUwP6zEcmolB5-9Zjq7iUqAersgI5jRRM/s320/DSC03622.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><ul><li>1 cup water (I used the cold Brita water)</li>
<li>1 1/2 tablespoons baby shampoo</li>
<li>1/8 teaspoon olive oil</li>
</ul>That's it! Just mix everything together and you're done. This made enough to fill my entire bottle as well as a baby cube, I didn't have any tiny jars around to store the rest.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2VIYWxOUKDRUU60xKGKG3YOybPo44ZuqL6LpfM_jVwvzWcBAF-cCuQdjt1-KE7nueG7AVKcUF-kkkABkFKlPj4BWll3l3GcskLieURTqNYyuvPBBijg4tK5l0OAaynPgttgzGd9wvxs/s1600/DSC03626.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV2VIYWxOUKDRUU60xKGKG3YOybPo44ZuqL6LpfM_jVwvzWcBAF-cCuQdjt1-KE7nueG7AVKcUF-kkkABkFKlPj4BWll3l3GcskLieURTqNYyuvPBBijg4tK5l0OAaynPgttgzGd9wvxs/s320/DSC03626.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-phetm1fi83hY24stMc9UkwKqpdc2Ds8tZ7R-FtcGKfwZitepuaCFBt1ujqyoyWavMUTn8VC3T9eY1xNmNjzkOWbX3rFmD2G1uoH_X30CdNb11Yd8XPpI5MiVVCnntLW7wf2nAFedyM/s1600/DSC03627.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-phetm1fi83hY24stMc9UkwKqpdc2Ds8tZ7R-FtcGKfwZitepuaCFBt1ujqyoyWavMUTn8VC3T9eY1xNmNjzkOWbX3rFmD2G1uoH_X30CdNb11Yd8XPpI5MiVVCnntLW7wf2nAFedyM/s320/DSC03627.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This worked really well, it got all of my mascara off pretty easily. And I wear A LOT of eye makeup! <br />
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I realize that not everyone has baby shampoo around but you can get a teeny sample bottle from most pharmacies for just $1 or from the dollar store and each bottle has enough to make probably 2 or 3 batches. Sure beat the $5+ that it costs to get a small bottle of store-brand makeup remover.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-53112892037792286142011-11-07T20:41:00.000-08:002011-11-07T20:41:07.047-08:00Freebies arrived!!!We got all of this stuff in the mail late last week.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuRE_rrRlqdHwt96yHHA8_oJe5n28ubUlTtQD4JIkGErzJ2musBYdw89uX3J7zaAFxjfznmvNzcPkFdjnSC07wKVBdc2DrkmuQkDUin655ytscelPnP537KQoSIzOeglvIPY6Y3FJKOM/s1600/DSC03595.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimuRE_rrRlqdHwt96yHHA8_oJe5n28ubUlTtQD4JIkGErzJ2musBYdw89uX3J7zaAFxjfznmvNzcPkFdjnSC07wKVBdc2DrkmuQkDUin655ytscelPnP537KQoSIzOeglvIPY6Y3FJKOM/s320/DSC03595.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The P+G Brandsaver sample pack <a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2011/10/freebies-p-brand-sampler-oct-2011.html">mentioned previously</a> and a Kashi bar sample which came with a coupon for a free box of bars!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlka0qLPyNxMmvWGd1iyIwcL76J-wXlUtp0Tle2Pxs63xXMP7RhDFIZ-Nkw1_6z2UPQYg0HIpqjCJ8YqWX_fEkMPYk1dle6iWTxJxIw94iulJcQi4axvuplORkEUySo-OTbOuw_e4pvo/s1600/DSC03597.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvlka0qLPyNxMmvWGd1iyIwcL76J-wXlUtp0Tle2Pxs63xXMP7RhDFIZ-Nkw1_6z2UPQYg0HIpqjCJ8YqWX_fEkMPYk1dle6iWTxJxIw94iulJcQi4axvuplORkEUySo-OTbOuw_e4pvo/s320/DSC03597.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0mBFQZkvf3j_AQwg7IaRudh-fex4Ku3pqoxXifvTLiuWeLh52DpdmI5Zq1rl0qFQTrTbTJToDwR-wpZyUnwdvbMrq41raWQia-_v2aTmv4K1AIjK1yepLYb2wV6Z-U9fj2iI4BJCZGE/s1600/DSC03596.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX0mBFQZkvf3j_AQwg7IaRudh-fex4Ku3pqoxXifvTLiuWeLh52DpdmI5Zq1rl0qFQTrTbTJToDwR-wpZyUnwdvbMrq41raWQia-_v2aTmv4K1AIjK1yepLYb2wV6Z-U9fj2iI4BJCZGE/s320/DSC03596.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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Jon, Alice and I shared the bar. Jon didn't like it but I thought it was pretty good, comparable to Nutrigrain bars. I'll probably use the coupon to get the same flavor (blackberry). It will be a good snack to keep in the stroller that Alice and I can share after baby time at the library when we get home a bit late for lunch or when we're out getting groceries.<br />
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I also had enough Swagbucks to get a $25 PayPal giftcard which I used to order one of Jon's Christmas presents from Etsy. My points are nearly high enough to order another card soon. I'll probably use it on Etsy as well.<br />
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I also cashed in my Huggies points to order a $15 Starbucks gift card. I rarely ever buy Huggies anymore since they never send out coupons, have very little points per package, I find the diapers stiff feeling and leaky and they rarely go on sale for a decent price. So I definitely wasn't going to be adding any more points to my account and was just waiting for a reward to be posted that would use up my meager 375 points.Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-38130621239774476702011-10-31T13:00:00.000-07:002011-10-31T13:00:02.165-07:00Pizza Dough Breadsticks<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSVG73UFRu01tmj4_BBnar3xAQKB_ls5YkTpmMlhM7XnwjRoTlmW2uoBy4-LaYB4XWcimPXb3zVA0Y3yyjhCCHYBUhBjN-cmfNKFL7Y1QgwdKWsYVULK-4L2UgctcnqsWVZ-bQr2taZA/s1600/DSC03511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilSVG73UFRu01tmj4_BBnar3xAQKB_ls5YkTpmMlhM7XnwjRoTlmW2uoBy4-LaYB4XWcimPXb3zVA0Y3yyjhCCHYBUhBjN-cmfNKFL7Y1QgwdKWsYVULK-4L2UgctcnqsWVZ-bQr2taZA/s320/DSC03511.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>So a while ago we somehow ended up with absolutely nothing that we could have for lunch. We were busy working and cleaning and hadn't planned on doing groceries until the next day. We did have food but it consisted of mostly frozen meat, cereal and a couple of apples. There was no cheese, bread, deli meat or pasta. No potatoes for a quick batch of fries. What we did have was baking supplies, a bit of butter, garlic, a teeny bit of Italian seasoning and about a tablespoon of Parmesan stuck to the bottom of the tub.<br />
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We were pretty hungry (and also busy) so I didn't take any photos of the process and as you can see we already ate a bunch of what was there on the pan! These were easy to make, not much work at all, just a bit of waiting so we had some apples with almond butter while we waited and cleaned.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG4hdG52x5lpUJR2FuQ5wR24_TMEXAzbrdhH6lpbPKOUVfm5tPlbNxlKqnXg8fFwdcTbwJJCDMHaU3V412A_gSYObqcTrxP9bweQewU1q2SBf7d-44GcD5aUW834wkGXl2rOOnoljvFM/s1600/DSC03510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpG4hdG52x5lpUJR2FuQ5wR24_TMEXAzbrdhH6lpbPKOUVfm5tPlbNxlKqnXg8fFwdcTbwJJCDMHaU3V412A_gSYObqcTrxP9bweQewU1q2SBf7d-44GcD5aUW834wkGXl2rOOnoljvFM/s320/DSC03510.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Just start by mixing up a batch of <a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2011/05/cheap-and-easy-pizza-dough.html">pizza dough</a>. No need to let it sit and rise before you work with it this time though. I did mine 2 different ways. Jon wanted breadsticks and I wanted garlic bread so I cut the dough into 2 pieces, I half I flattened into a pie plate, the other half I rolled into sticks. Then I covered them with a clean tea towel and let them sit to rise for about 45 minutes or so.<br />
When the time was up I turned my oven on to 400 and made my garlic butter. I just finely chopped a large garlic clove and microwaved it in about 2 tablespoons of butter. I brushed a bit over the breadsticks and then cut some grooves into the loaf of garlic bread and poured the rest over the top. Then everything got a sprinkle of Italian seasoning, Parmesan and sea salt. I popped them into the oven for about 20 minutes, the garlic bread needed an additional 5 due to the thickness.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5U9fgcghPXG_iKnqMOixJ8WEHDp_eH7AV_-aJaXFeXix52ar69RTD-SCWhrk_TPyDCJy_C_vUDgaq8h7C5hauClx-eKXzGJUf_E9JllzI7ex7PleanW0uxwKK6ymjZr3RwlVS2mQFfo/s1600/DSC03512.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm5U9fgcghPXG_iKnqMOixJ8WEHDp_eH7AV_-aJaXFeXix52ar69RTD-SCWhrk_TPyDCJy_C_vUDgaq8h7C5hauClx-eKXzGJUf_E9JllzI7ex7PleanW0uxwKK6ymjZr3RwlVS2mQFfo/s320/DSC03512.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>These were sooo good even though we didn't have anything to use for a dipping sauce. We ate all of the garlic bread right away since it was so moist and garlicky, the breadsticks went with chili that we had for dinner.<br />
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I can't wait to try making these again, I'll probably just use a half batch of dough to do the garlic bread and add some cheddar on top to make garlic cheese bread.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-48483382177563294592011-10-31T12:37:00.000-07:002011-10-31T12:37:33.331-07:00Free Coffee at McDonald's in Canada Oct.31-Nov.6Free small coffee all this week from McDonalds! <br />
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No purchase or coupon necessary, just go up and ask for a small coffee however you happen to take it.<br />
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We'll probably go every day this week since we have a McD's just a block away instead of making coffee at home in the afternoon, it will also be a nice treat when we go to pick up groceries tomorrow. Their coffee is surprisingly decent and you can't beat free!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFwBn5sHJ4Q2yy220dxWxk7AWHXg-aT_iIblQfpVQxlKYJq-DW5LgOHWqTWBDbeIlwrIyDJz2a06HdYCTj12hUAfFQeRYzuy6swqqj8tsxFcz6SyjG0h2sh1dGmgaOP6gEq1Elm9AC8LN/s1600/free+coffee.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNFwBn5sHJ4Q2yy220dxWxk7AWHXg-aT_iIblQfpVQxlKYJq-DW5LgOHWqTWBDbeIlwrIyDJz2a06HdYCTj12hUAfFQeRYzuy6swqqj8tsxFcz6SyjG0h2sh1dGmgaOP6gEq1Elm9AC8LN/s320/free+coffee.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-61624576100251893662011-10-24T07:00:00.010-07:002011-10-24T07:00:01.903-07:00Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream FrostingLady LaLa (Alice) just turned a year old. Of course I made her a cake, I wasn't about to go out and buy her something from the store. I find that store bought cakes tend to have a way too sweet, greasy feeling frosting that seems like it's made with lard instead of real butter and usually only come in 2 flavors: white or brown. Not to mention the preservatives and whatnot they may contain, not something I want to give to a one year old. I could have made her a cake from a box but I wanted something with real veggies in it.<br>
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<a href="http://scrimpulous.blogspot.com/2011/10/carrot-cake-with-cream-cheese.html#more">Read more »</a>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-32939520525142553342011-10-17T15:08:00.000-07:002011-10-17T15:08:58.340-07:00Baked Mac and CheeseBaked mac and cheese is something we have for dinner fairly often, it's quick, easy, filling and an ultimate comfort food. It's also a pretty cheap meal. You can add leftover ham, bacon or veggies to it and it makes enough for leftovers for lunch the next day.<br />
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Here's what you need:<br />
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<ul>
<li>2 cups of milk</li>
<li>1 cup of grated cheese (whatever kind you like, I usually use cheddar)</li>
<li>1 bag of pasta (my bag is 500g)</li>
<li>about a quarter of a regular sized onion (or half of a small onion)</li>
<li>1 large clove of garlic</li>
<li>2 tablespoons flour</li>
<li>a handful of crackers, whatever kind you like ( I stole some of Alice's Goldfish crackers), you can also use breadcrumbs </li>
<li>salt and pepper </li>
<li>1 tablespoon oil</li>
</ul>
Start by getting the pasta on to cook, the sauce part won't take very long at all and it's easier if everything is ready at the same time. You want the pasta a bit firm because it's going into the oven covered in sauce and it will finish cooking in there.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNluUhUANgOsREaeih8JawP6PXTBpKwqER8UmcRBfFms-LwGjBPxuzFPtfYm1dd4xZf6XH4RrIwmf1e7c3F_g8P3KrQ4Z-MePYTck6e-Sw3kYpzlrI7V3VgAlyWNnTf50F-80OfRca1N4/s1600/DSC03445.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNluUhUANgOsREaeih8JawP6PXTBpKwqER8UmcRBfFms-LwGjBPxuzFPtfYm1dd4xZf6XH4RrIwmf1e7c3F_g8P3KrQ4Z-MePYTck6e-Sw3kYpzlrI7V3VgAlyWNnTf50F-80OfRca1N4/s320/DSC03445.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ingredients</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Finely dice the garlic and onion and fry in the oil until golden. Just a minute on medium heat should do it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpxfmye4szYxr1Z1qGM3cYOkCFT0r5jb5gbmduNafIWgfqP9Sb7U4AyXwmrDfaHLVZMGQLtLby40_lDmy_NYxfHRNhZmuVmH7Hzc_eIClcPgi3UuwP9nowc8BK15jkALa8lXD6VG8wy4/s1600/DSC03447.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpxfmye4szYxr1Z1qGM3cYOkCFT0r5jb5gbmduNafIWgfqP9Sb7U4AyXwmrDfaHLVZMGQLtLby40_lDmy_NYxfHRNhZmuVmH7Hzc_eIClcPgi3UuwP9nowc8BK15jkALa8lXD6VG8wy4/s320/DSC03447.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Onion and garlic frying up</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Pour in the milk and continue cooking on medium. I go ahead and give it a generous salt and peppering at this point, not sure why. Most people would wait until the sauce was done but I would probably forget if I waited I guess.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiCfhwxlcl3wF2rigsGKHx2zskMJ_-KKsSqKg6Ik1hFLUtWTZYXeAXaDXv0qDivheq-JrEQdoI0Edc3cnfjTKA4gDzt3mgqEDc5TsgJp-KWZgyav9rOLTqvHbVCQE8Z1jrxZTkVGI5q_Q/s1600/DSC03448.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiCfhwxlcl3wF2rigsGKHx2zskMJ_-KKsSqKg6Ik1hFLUtWTZYXeAXaDXv0qDivheq-JrEQdoI0Edc3cnfjTKA4gDzt3mgqEDc5TsgJp-KWZgyav9rOLTqvHbVCQE8Z1jrxZTkVGI5q_Q/s320/DSC03448.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Add zee malk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When the milk is hot and starting to bubble mix the flour with about a quarter cup of water and stir it really well. This is used to thicken the sauce and you don't want chunks of flour. Blech. I realize that most people prefer to mix flour right into butter to make a<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roux"> roux</a> but I find this way easier. Plus I don't want to fry the onion and garlic in a separate pan, the less dishes the better. I've tried adding the flour first but it sticks to the onions and makes them weird and clumpy.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30CnQbw0-0jqVJvbeiATKYNCJsjWQYI5wXwbA8KewqSjIH8KNH0oi7ONH0pY6HBjNgk7ILl8jq7DxWc-kQJlKiz9x0yRk6Bx3DVArE4nQR-lnhiBgKiZ3iMsoYGrjXBcTJUGQkMZOz3g/s1600/DSC03449.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi30CnQbw0-0jqVJvbeiATKYNCJsjWQYI5wXwbA8KewqSjIH8KNH0oi7ONH0pY6HBjNgk7ILl8jq7DxWc-kQJlKiz9x0yRk6Bx3DVArE4nQR-lnhiBgKiZ3iMsoYGrjXBcTJUGQkMZOz3g/s320/DSC03449.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flour and water</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Dump the flour mix into the hot milk and get stirring! You will need to whisk constantly because this stuff thickens up super fast! When it seems like it's as thick as it's going to get turn the burner off and add all but a handful of cheese.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPB8zaxptnjRqobUmXvCEAlwNG-7eJSyXCyA69VLpNprdecCZ7vcPhvn3yngGBh6mIvkd7gS5KHkHUCG04rjU3VByqjF8aF8F_xp9IOGLOe_Pfxu9rxGsKr1bpI05L8_WlFasvapGsiY/s1600/DSC03450.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPB8zaxptnjRqobUmXvCEAlwNG-7eJSyXCyA69VLpNprdecCZ7vcPhvn3yngGBh6mIvkd7gS5KHkHUCG04rjU3VByqjF8aF8F_xp9IOGLOe_Pfxu9rxGsKr1bpI05L8_WlFasvapGsiY/s320/DSC03450.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Creamy cheese sauce</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So at this point my camera battery dies and needs to be charged.<br />
<br />
Pretend you see me stirring the sauce into the drained mostly cooked pasta, pouring it into a baking dish, crumbling some crackers over the top and sprinkling the last of the cheese on. Also pretend you see the dish going into the oven at 350 for 10 minutes.<br />
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This was the aftermath of dinner when the battery was just charged enough to get a photo. It's supposed to be 6 servings but we were pretty hungry.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3TQqJHVh_K-P2b3ctDwzM0YsuNLNk21dmtcuY9AnnjVlX5Wf84R2qC3ZUu9rhx2P5-sqZ3a9x7tmXnBT2H6aRCg4KFJb-6MeidRHMFO5yxvhYcIAGqkkDvzfkI_12Fej3qKyHj6KWlbw/s1600/DSC03451.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3TQqJHVh_K-P2b3ctDwzM0YsuNLNk21dmtcuY9AnnjVlX5Wf84R2qC3ZUu9rhx2P5-sqZ3a9x7tmXnBT2H6aRCg4KFJb-6MeidRHMFO5yxvhYcIAGqkkDvzfkI_12Fej3qKyHj6KWlbw/s320/DSC03451.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mostly eated</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-52807037011980362082011-10-12T18:02:00.002-07:002011-10-14T11:25:22.244-07:00Freebies: P&G Brand Sampler Oct 2011A new P&G Brand Sampler promotion was launched today. Usually you can get some good stuff for filling out a short survey.<br />
<br />
Today we ordered Pantene shampoo, Dawn dish soap, Gain laundry detergent, Crest mouthwash, and Gilette Proglide Razor. All free!<br />
A sample size shampoo is like hotel-size, you can get 3-4 uses out of them usually. The razor lasts me about 4 months, I've got 2 of them in the past year already and just threw the last one out on Monday.<br />
<br />
Go here: https://www.pgbrandsampler.ca<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/en_CA/images/home/photo_products.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://www.pgbrandsampler.ca/en_CA/images/home/photo_products.png" width="400" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-33885718644375035432011-10-10T21:32:00.000-07:002011-10-10T21:32:36.958-07:00Red Velvet Brownies with Buttercream Frosting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawIDcs7KbtjcTfymOcPD5YFU-VI1XYqYZRXwMSqgPFF_W4U0lIWx0zP3TBkGTbOb4bnKq65DT7i6QJuHY_1DkIPWqaWulpDLF4G8GUaIFUykvAUNu3wvYlGkdsGQiqZOe5xcqwkr_sNk/s1600/DSC03443.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjawIDcs7KbtjcTfymOcPD5YFU-VI1XYqYZRXwMSqgPFF_W4U0lIWx0zP3TBkGTbOb4bnKq65DT7i6QJuHY_1DkIPWqaWulpDLF4G8GUaIFUykvAUNu3wvYlGkdsGQiqZOe5xcqwkr_sNk/s320/DSC03443.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I've been spending an obscene amount of time on Pinterest lately, mostly just drooling over food and bookmarking recipes. I noticed that a lot of people are apparently obsessed with red velvet things and these brownies kept popping up over and over again. I figured I would give it a try, something a bit different than the usual brownies and blondies and whatnot. It was originally with white chocolate buttercream but I substituted it with the buttercream recipe that I've always used. I don't like white chocolate so I don't have any around.<br />
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Pardon the lack of pictures of the process, we had an early start to the day, I already had them out of the oven before I realized I should have taken pictures of what I was doing<br />
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Here's what you need:<br />
<br />
<u>For the brownies</u><br />
<ul>
<li> 3 tablespoons cocoa powder</li>
<li> 2 tablespoons red food coloring</li>
<li> 2 teaspoons vanilla extract</li>
<li> 1/2 cup soft unsalted butter</li>
<li> 1 1/2 cups sugar</li>
<li> 2 eggs</li>
<li> 1 1/4 cups flour</li>
<li> 1/4 teaspoon salt</li>
</ul>
<u>For the buttercream</u><br />
<ul>
<li>1/2 cup soft unsalted butter</li>
<li>1 small bag of powdered sugar ( about 2 cups)</li>
<li> 1 teaspoon vanilla extract</li>
<li>2 tablespoons cream ( I used the 18% that we have for coffee)</li>
</ul>
I started by making the frosting first so that I didn't have to clean my mixing bowl (and so that I could eat some while the brownies were mixing!) The frosting is the easiest part anyway. Just put everything in the mixing bowl and whisk until it's fluffy! That's it, it's done. I put mine in the fridge because I wasn't sure when I would get around to frosting the brownies.<br />
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Preheat your oven to 350 and grease and flour a pan, a smallish one, 8x8, 6x10, whatever you have. I used my springform pan because it's easier to get stuff out of.<br />
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Start the brownies off by mixing together the butter, sugar and vanilla until it's creamy. Then add the cocoa powder and food coloring, when that is combined beat in the egg and salt. Now you can add the flour, you're going to have to stop and scrape the sides of the bowl a couple times to make sure everything is red. Pour into your pan, my batter was pretty thick and I had to use a spatula to spread it around.<br />
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Bake for 30-40 minutes, a toothpick or knife should come out clean when you stab the brownies. I think mine went for about 45 minutes due to baby shenanigans and were too dry and a bit too dark on the bottom. 35 minutes probably would have been perfect.<br />
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Let the brownies cool completely before attempting to remove them from the pan, about an hour should do it. If you put the frosting in the fridge then take it out and let it sit for the hour as well and it should be ready to use. Frost, slice and serve!<br />
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*I only used about half the frosting, the rest went into the fridge for a carrot cake that I'm making soon.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUTxLgoMcK5VqxndFRs1q3yeiVvUPCb2u69RABCQpBaX2lvEDYXwolm2-fbYEB_pNwupvelFrROh9cB1RDQy-MjmeQqsLyux_vl1Fy1hN8xQL96bi5Qhktwq_s2Ax5p4wxCuD6adYEbGM/s1600/DSC03439.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUTxLgoMcK5VqxndFRs1q3yeiVvUPCb2u69RABCQpBaX2lvEDYXwolm2-fbYEB_pNwupvelFrROh9cB1RDQy-MjmeQqsLyux_vl1Fy1hN8xQL96bi5Qhktwq_s2Ax5p4wxCuD6adYEbGM/s320/DSC03439.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNT5fCY88uB0G_hBS7YC5vqG7c9LSrKmDd6hWRGJxr2FmIV2azLklF6CN2iI9cEytM8HzYZWlqJDk1Ayfo800NZZ07yyKJ6q-86cDxRVDVbznLdKvzUeBBQUam8h_xRVJSUrbxEtybAE/s1600/DSC03442.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJNT5fCY88uB0G_hBS7YC5vqG7c9LSrKmDd6hWRGJxr2FmIV2azLklF6CN2iI9cEytM8HzYZWlqJDk1Ayfo800NZZ07yyKJ6q-86cDxRVDVbznLdKvzUeBBQUam8h_xRVJSUrbxEtybAE/s320/DSC03442.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaz_LV67d7-Psx8V16MJ1SK1uWYQp_Jes695KtqPABps22pEMvVau_693-PWh5bV3IzvorE29jzL56d6vQmcaIP5LxWXr7B07BmslchR8CA7Fyb62PtB9Dj-o2piTAkK3hJwptHrF6I70/s1600/DSC03444.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaz_LV67d7-Psx8V16MJ1SK1uWYQp_Jes695KtqPABps22pEMvVau_693-PWh5bV3IzvorE29jzL56d6vQmcaIP5LxWXr7B07BmslchR8CA7Fyb62PtB9Dj-o2piTAkK3hJwptHrF6I70/s320/DSC03444.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The verdict on these brownies? Eh. Not great, I don't really see what the fuss is, is it just because they are red? I know I overcooked mine but the flavor really wasn't anything special, just very mildly chocolatey. Maybe I'm just used to more chocolate in my desserts?Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-26781138089015716872011-10-06T07:00:00.002-07:002011-10-06T07:00:02.228-07:00The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies!It's true, these really are the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had. I was pretty sick of the recipe I had for chocolate chip cookies, they never turned out the same and most of the time they were all thin and spread out and weird. I Googled and this recipe kept popping up over and over again. So I made it and it was awesome and made really soft, chewy cookies. I will use this one forever. I've even cheated and made it with margarine when butter wasn't a decent price and it was still pretty good. I recommend using real butter though, they just taste better!<br />
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Start by preheating the oven to 325 and gathering your ingredients:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzK6CTTDYYox6odi2PQIFNDbQgfYbMOeku4EU9DIzGhArFBSfHBHf06sA0ZDl4aO3CeO8NRj6juCqTNHrTEShPgQgS9eRiDE0uS9u_BDESUTtlJzs4dwK9VpBOA4zihLd-U-RQM4pNQiQ/s1600/DSC03421.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzK6CTTDYYox6odi2PQIFNDbQgfYbMOeku4EU9DIzGhArFBSfHBHf06sA0ZDl4aO3CeO8NRj6juCqTNHrTEShPgQgS9eRiDE0uS9u_BDESUTtlJzs4dwK9VpBOA4zihLd-U-RQM4pNQiQ/s320/DSC03421.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuff you need</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<ul><li>2 cups flour</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon baking soda</li>
<li>1/2 teaspoon salt</li>
<li>3/4 cup melted unsalted butter (if all you have is salted butter or margarine skip the salt in the recipe!)</li>
<li>1 cup packed brown sugar</li>
<li>1/2 cup white sugar</li>
<li>1 tablespoon vanilla </li>
<li>1 egg</li>
<li>1egg yolk</li>
<li>an entire bag of chocolate chips (I used this bag of Caramilk thingies I had in the freezer)</li>
</ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifbTIZxoTalo8k7j3ARIC6p6X1aIE_rDBtgwYlU4-GQ5aiTK6JyYgtoh0nmoQ3JK9WBbVk-Ru-RqBn6oyrFxQCMYGiud000ebcoNXSMfM7EPqSTOyH4vWG8lYmwZckW_ragRT_JUM2AI/s1600/DSC03422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhifbTIZxoTalo8k7j3ARIC6p6X1aIE_rDBtgwYlU4-GQ5aiTK6JyYgtoh0nmoQ3JK9WBbVk-Ru-RqBn6oyrFxQCMYGiud000ebcoNXSMfM7EPqSTOyH4vWG8lYmwZckW_ragRT_JUM2AI/s320/DSC03422.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Butter, sugar, vanilla and egg</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Start by melting the butter and mixing it with the sugar and vanilla for a few minutes until it's nice and fluffy, then beat in the eggs. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a separate bowl and add to the mixer. Mix until just combined ( it should look pebbley) and then add the chocolate chips and give it another quick mix. You don't want to overmix it, the dough will be tough and the cookies will be hard. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjNVhTWQGpxYJits2E45tSoHnaqxhDwXz-OPNi-qu7ayH5BAGt2ht4s62n9lYsxPqyMiC0yfHcZc2Jbvmw8SXFFKmkaSpTVt1BwCwfjRubh1e2sFr3TNF-nT-VwP5TbG7G1rQKrnPGEk/s1600/DSC03425.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtjNVhTWQGpxYJits2E45tSoHnaqxhDwXz-OPNi-qu7ayH5BAGt2ht4s62n9lYsxPqyMiC0yfHcZc2Jbvmw8SXFFKmkaSpTVt1BwCwfjRubh1e2sFr3TNF-nT-VwP5TbG7G1rQKrnPGEk/s320/DSC03425.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dry ingredients added and just barely mixed</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKL1eAZuK3kNxELLFTVI_WAH7RswaC4PzwYM9jltubFM2ZQ_3XbyMq50SvoNCEgXnNJrsV_fMFHMynwz8uPfeLX8LZg0s7qkBMw9WClJde8PCRFBuUCckKWRy3YFVQ3vvcJJWm5ZWExsE/s1600/DSC03426.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKL1eAZuK3kNxELLFTVI_WAH7RswaC4PzwYM9jltubFM2ZQ_3XbyMq50SvoNCEgXnNJrsV_fMFHMynwz8uPfeLX8LZg0s7qkBMw9WClJde8PCRFBuUCckKWRy3YFVQ3vvcJJWm5ZWExsE/s320/DSC03426.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Your finished dough</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WtIsWHJtggvUiFeljOKurQORH45x8cRwhGASAnD7OaV22xB2kLkINlS5peRgOA44xONy6LmIkzQ68jOIs0HSnsyiC8R3PQop64-y2Mpsz6xzNrfpicU8k9lFMV9dcmJbEnnvBKbfzlo/s1600/DSC03423.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6WtIsWHJtggvUiFeljOKurQORH45x8cRwhGASAnD7OaV22xB2kLkINlS5peRgOA44xONy6LmIkzQ68jOIs0HSnsyiC8R3PQop64-y2Mpsz6xzNrfpicU8k9lFMV9dcmJbEnnvBKbfzlo/s320/DSC03423.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chopped Frozen Tiny Caramilks</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Grab a good sized handful of dough and lightly flatten it into a "cookie patty", no need to roll it into a ball or anything. Bake at 325 for 16-20 minutes. Make as many as you want and freeze the rest of the patties for whenever you get a cookie craving.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handful of dough</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5WE0jZpqD5mn8LsKFkfccTMQHClpxjsMlOqfO2-gAJbQc5fLOEnfWlK0QH6mFwGIwRlGCAjloyyeYUfYkn_hCr-T3lDeimAAgSswqBcDWC1P72KpRYqzJOtJr-afGiLTxnRoeb3ZPXE/s1600/DSC03428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy5WE0jZpqD5mn8LsKFkfccTMQHClpxjsMlOqfO2-gAJbQc5fLOEnfWlK0QH6mFwGIwRlGCAjloyyeYUfYkn_hCr-T3lDeimAAgSswqBcDWC1P72KpRYqzJOtJr-afGiLTxnRoeb3ZPXE/s320/DSC03428.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squish!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">4 cookies for us to nom right away about to go in the oven</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rest can go in the fridge or freezer</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTE7iEVnsIJyYeSgkJhpqFdBllZR-rfvmx1qno8Tpywsyu3x8lYIt3_U36bEsnxY9wU3bvOVU95ASEQF_HS6hXxTa1INZP-3dCM7X3kIWaHRGebszAWLa6QNeEUmhIxVC88rCiIkGTmM/s1600/DSC03432.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSTE7iEVnsIJyYeSgkJhpqFdBllZR-rfvmx1qno8Tpywsyu3x8lYIt3_U36bEsnxY9wU3bvOVU95ASEQF_HS6hXxTa1INZP-3dCM7X3kIWaHRGebszAWLa6QNeEUmhIxVC88rCiIkGTmM/s320/DSC03432.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hot cookies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebAdr6W97XMS8Feb4O49GihNYLjSsW3LyIRyta3DDCILSlyZS9FqblF1POgZFhHzZA9yhK2fUr-TBfbQ9XF7yRtUMboRVUU6fY4AJr4Ud9_o4m9_2kAosb0K1J4um-QHW6ydyaS0-914/s1600/DSC03433.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiebAdr6W97XMS8Feb4O49GihNYLjSsW3LyIRyta3DDCILSlyZS9FqblF1POgZFhHzZA9yhK2fUr-TBfbQ9XF7yRtUMboRVUU6fY4AJr4Ud9_o4m9_2kAosb0K1J4um-QHW6ydyaS0-914/s320/DSC03433.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OM</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_07xzQA6VuibflM6TqZqFhW2sSqmTF0EM8YW3nCEVA2XdsdEUnkZYnEOkAX2m-kzjrCmOMUKOK7pcHnVMNmNCLuNpQ1MdMJk7YbRR5GSRCyMoA576UFnmLSsK0CL_NJpt1QH60u_Vi7g/s1600/DSC03434.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_07xzQA6VuibflM6TqZqFhW2sSqmTF0EM8YW3nCEVA2XdsdEUnkZYnEOkAX2m-kzjrCmOMUKOK7pcHnVMNmNCLuNpQ1MdMJk7YbRR5GSRCyMoA576UFnmLSsK0CL_NJpt1QH60u_Vi7g/s320/DSC03434.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NOM!</td></tr>
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<ul></ul>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-64363840537596512032011-10-03T08:00:00.002-07:002011-10-03T22:17:00.600-07:00Vanilla Soy MochaBleh. It's dreary and rainy and chilly and I want a mocha. Starbucks is too far away especially since it's pouring out and spending the $4+ for a tall mocha with soy and added vanilla syrup isn't really within the budget right now. I'm reserving my Starbucks treat for when they have Gingerbread again closer to Christmas.<br />
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So I'm going to try this DIY style and hopefully it's good. I have vanilla soy, I have chocolate syrup and I have coffee concentrate normally used for iced coffee. Sadly I do not have whipped cream or chocolate shavings. Boo.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigb6vlyb59n-jjqRerNrbirDCXa0fcSII55BqmjrRIzC0lYm4jFtU9oZYuVfy5QC9rJJcO9nl9dLBss4AxX4DdxTQ5xMH7fs46_EH3WfCVGLdDfZCLhZWBbRmDNT-3ye5PJGPFRMc6uVY/s1600/DSC03394.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigb6vlyb59n-jjqRerNrbirDCXa0fcSII55BqmjrRIzC0lYm4jFtU9oZYuVfy5QC9rJJcO9nl9dLBss4AxX4DdxTQ5xMH7fs46_EH3WfCVGLdDfZCLhZWBbRmDNT-3ye5PJGPFRMc6uVY/s320/DSC03394.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
So I'm starting by microwaving 1/3 cup coffee concentrate and 2/3 cup vanilla soy milk until it's nice and hot. I left just a bit of room for the chocolate sauce and a dab of cream. I also had to add a bit of simple syrup because I like my stuff super sweet.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPH6vdPt9gHpXcbG0KcRgDncfhmk57gZf5SG1SdbBhM5YXviCsUoVpxqOCm83rjwGVgh7-KEhLP0f4-CUZESsWX_sYtU_bYdFjM81pgrdEsfAEqZsHmOjxiov0vvY_LSSt86aWUvkw8c/s1600/DSC03396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiPH6vdPt9gHpXcbG0KcRgDncfhmk57gZf5SG1SdbBhM5YXviCsUoVpxqOCm83rjwGVgh7-KEhLP0f4-CUZESsWX_sYtU_bYdFjM81pgrdEsfAEqZsHmOjxiov0vvY_LSSt86aWUvkw8c/s200/DSC03396.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rZT7WeYfC6fPZZsavhselt_mA09vVyTKAGCswESbp-SPkMLc1qmsulKbNq4iLCCuEshBGOcZn5_ox_wanqWGT2z8BUnYfOWjBthhBBqhNiQjq89dT74Q-Qc2k8vmvq96JbfrGqbP-U8/s1600/DSC03395.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rZT7WeYfC6fPZZsavhselt_mA09vVyTKAGCswESbp-SPkMLc1qmsulKbNq4iLCCuEshBGOcZn5_ox_wanqWGT2z8BUnYfOWjBthhBBqhNiQjq89dT74Q-Qc2k8vmvq96JbfrGqbP-U8/s200/DSC03395.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>Holy crap, I just remembered we have these! Mmmmm, sprinkles!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDRUmX1-rZUWY6Ar-db4p-wdJDFZ3wB5RRbVm4nftCoczNOB9NORD8XtdYnrJzYkGhmB1vFbSLDeAhwEQpPUWXCgQ2nzaqxh4pLk7dBO-OQH6IzY_tuzv397n3P95TXgQDyqELDPPx-E/s1600/DSC03399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQDRUmX1-rZUWY6Ar-db4p-wdJDFZ3wB5RRbVm4nftCoczNOB9NORD8XtdYnrJzYkGhmB1vFbSLDeAhwEQpPUWXCgQ2nzaqxh4pLk7dBO-OQH6IzY_tuzv397n3P95TXgQDyqELDPPx-E/s320/DSC03399.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The verdict: Not quite Starbucks quality, maybe because I'm not normal and always get a ton of whipped cream on my drink, even if it's made with soy. That may be the problem, it just doesn't taste creamy or vanilla-ey enough, it's still quite enjoyable and better than a lot of other coffee shop drinks I've had.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAZ2VLmrF3zUyQ78JwV1jhYURVBrjkzusPLcDxY1S8GFRyw4NUSoWCrnfWfLf_NXRw1MGw14W_BhSo-KrBujOvxi_BNEWTCRZ8WmgIsN_wG-pjqbxaCS464WsmBLp1p9pljn7sVYth50/s1600/DSC03401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAZ2VLmrF3zUyQ78JwV1jhYURVBrjkzusPLcDxY1S8GFRyw4NUSoWCrnfWfLf_NXRw1MGw14W_BhSo-KrBujOvxi_BNEWTCRZ8WmgIsN_wG-pjqbxaCS464WsmBLp1p9pljn7sVYth50/s320/DSC03401.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08112893918654366664noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6959198644943970312.post-81066242526469428082011-10-02T00:11:00.001-07:002011-10-02T00:44:18.334-07:00Jon's Goals For OctoberIn October, I'm going to experiment with adding 2x20min naps and getting
up a little earlier, instead of fighting Alice's natural wake up time. I re-read the section on sleep in <a href="http://amzn.to/pNmDb7">The 4-Hour Body</a> a couple days ago and the concept of polyphasic sleep appeals to me. I often want to work on projects at night but I'm too fatigued or lose attention too quickly to use my time effectively.<br />
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I
plan to finish a few of the books I have started by committing an hour or more to reading each day, likely first thing in the morning or when I'm bored during the day instead of watching videos.<br />
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I plan to reduce non-work related, non-research related video watching to just 2 hours each day. This means I won't be taking full advantage to my Netflix trial I have going now but I'm not going to miss anything.<br />
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I'm going to track my wasteful internet time using <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rescuetime-productivity-meter-/">RescueTimer for Firefox</a>. I'm going to track it for a couple weeks, which will likely result in an immediate behavior change, then I may even go as far as blocking certain sites during the day, or after X visits each day. If I only check Facebook and Twitter twice a day my life isn't going to get worse, but I'm sure to gain at least an extra hour of free time each day.<br />
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I'm going to record and complete another sample pack to sell. For the product I have in mind it will take 5 hours to complete. I just have to get started.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0