Hello Fall and Bread Making!

Ahh goodbye summer, picnics, and pools but we're ok with that because it gives way to FALL and fun fall activities like pumpkin carving, planting mums, crock pot recipes, and bread making!

I had been pretty obsessed with Danielle of Blissful and Domestic and her family's plan to live on $14,000 a year.  While her suggestions are great, they don't all fit the needs of our family, HOWEVER I was intrigued that she makes her own bread all the time.  

After trying a couple of recipes, this one is by far the best and easiest!  I actually fell asleep (thanks Baby 3) during the rising stage and overshot it by 40 minutes--did not make a difference in the least!

Try baking your own sandwich bread this fall, it's a lot of work, no lie, but it really makes your PB&J sandwich special.  Plus you can devote a Sunday when you are at home watching football to make a few loaves and kids can help too!  Caroline helped me with these two loaves!

Easy Homemade Bread  (Adapted from The Wannabe Country Girl)

1 packet of yeast

7 cups of flour (bread or all purpose) 

4 cups of warm water

1/4 Olive Oil

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tbsp of Sugar

1.  Dissolve yeast according to package add sugar and let sit till foamy.

2.  In a separate bowl, add flour, salt, oil, and water.

3.  Stir that mixture ( or if you have a Kitchen Aid, attach the dough hook and give it a whirl!)

4.  Add yeast mixture and continue to stir until completely incorporated.  If you aren't using a dough hook you will have to take the dough out and knead it until it forms a ball.

5.  Once the ball is formed, plop it onto a sheet of parchment paper or saran wrap and spray the bowl you just used with cooking spray and then plop it back into the bowl.

6.  Cover with a towel and find a nice warm and dark place for your bowl.  Some people choose their stove top, but I go with the top of the the dryer.  It also forces me to do a load of wash, so I kill two birds with one stone haha.  ( You should have seen the hubby's face when I asked him to get the bread dough from the laundry room in the basement haha)

7.  Let it sit for about 45 minutes until it is nice and fluffy.

8.  Take it out and sprinkle flour on top.  Cut in half and store the half that you don't want to use right away in the fridge or freezer.

9.  Take the other half and roll it out into a rectangle shape.  Roll it up like a fruit roll up and tuck the ends inward.

10.  Spray a loaf pan and pop it into the oven at 350 for 25 minutes!

Cleaning MAGIC

I'm not sure if I am nesting or just in the cleaning mood for these past few weeks!  I have been scouring the internet trying to find ways to fix little things in our house that have been driving me crazy.  For instance the mildew and rust stains in the bath tub.  Now I clean my bathroom probably twice a week--it's one of the things I am crazy about, that and the kitchen.  I will allow myself to step on the same toy for a week, but I don't miss my twice a week bathroom cleanings.  Anyways, I clean my bathroom a lot, but I could NOT get those stubborn mildew and rust stains out of the grout.  GRR!

So...after some digging I found a home remedy that was cheap and easy and made my bath tub look BRAND NEW. 

1.  Ok, so go to Sally Beauty Supply and get Cellu Cotton.  It's basically a long cotton ball that can easily be torn apart.

2.  Break the cotton coil into strip to fit your tub.

3.  Put gloves on and open your windows (it's best to do this when you will be out of the house or at night when you can shut the bathroom door so fumes don't escape and leave the bathroom window open and fan on to ventilate).

4.  In a pot/pan/bucket, pour a little bit of bleach and soak your cotton strips.  Place the strips on your mildew infected areas.  It should stick up there like caulking.

5.  Let it sit for at least 3 hours (the longer the better)

6.  Remove and rinse the area with hot water from the shower head. 

7.  Go back to the rust stains and use a magic eraser to get rid of those and then you are DONE!

Magic Eraser Trial Size:  $1.76

Cellu Cotton:  $1.99

Bleach:  Had it already

Total for a shiny new tub:  $3.75

Back to School Faves!

Our favorite things for Back to School!

http://www.theminisocial.com/Event.aspx?l=00010606036700000000

We are channeling Oprah today!  I spent a ridiculous amount of time on Pinterest the other day and found some seriously cool things to start the year off right!

The item featured above is called Knot Genie and they are on sale right now on the Mini Social for 8.99!  The makers claim to gets knots out of hair of varying lengths.  The bristles bend so damage of the cuticle.  The hair is supposed to remain shinier than normal!  With the amount of curls in our house, this one may be worth it for us especially when school starts and baths and hair washing are a daily occurrence.  

   

http://www.ecomom.com/eco-friendly-gear/school/lunch-boxes/to-go-ware-repeat-utensil-set-cnf.html

These are also very cool!  To Go Ware, RePEat Utensils.  This would be great for older kids who may not accidently throw them away.  For 11.99, you can provide utensils for the kiddies and be eco-friendly while doing it!

http://downeastbasics.com/girls.aspx

The adorable skirt featured above is from Down East Basics.  If you haven't checked out their site, you have to soon!  They only carry women's, girls', and home decor.  Their aesthetic is close to JCrew but at a fraction of the price!  Plus, their sale right now is discounted an additional 30%!

  

http://www.wegivebooks.org/

We Give Books is a GREAT resource for parents of preschoolers.  It's totally free and you can read books to your kiddos online, so that mean if you are out and about in a doctor's office or car ride you can read pictures books instantly.  It's a philanthropic organization, so every time you login and read a book, they will donate a book to an organization of your choice.  Great for you, great for the cause!

https://www.capribluecandles.com/product_details.php?pid=1&cid=191&sub_cid=18

Finally this last one is for the mamas out there preparing the little ones for preschool and school.  Capri Blue Candles are HEAVEN!  They come with a hefty price tag ($30 for the largest candle) but they are oh so worth it!  My favorite scents are Aloha Orchid and Volcano.  They also sell them in Anthropologie stores.  So brew yourself a cup of tea, put your feet up, turn on one of House Hunters International and enjoy!  The smell will transplant you to all of those fun locations!  

(The above reflects my own opinion about the products featured.  I was not paid nor compensated for any of the reviews.  All referencing information is shown below each item.)

Bath Tub Fun

 We made bath paints today!  Super easy and provided fun in the bath tub!  All you need is 1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch, some baby shampoo (clear/yellow clear in color) and food coloring.  Mix together and you are done!

 The girls LOVED adding the color.  By the way, baby wipes can get almost anything out of skin, counter tops, and flooring haha.  The purple food coloring was splotched right between Laura's eyes.

 I did a massive bleach cleaning of the mildew in our tub the night before--lovely right?!?  Anyways, we were in need of new bath toys, so I headed to Walmart the day before and grabbed anti-microbial and anti-odor sponges.

We cut that them in shapes and letters.  It was the cheapest bath toy ever, which is great because Pete and I frequently have to throw out bath toys....

Oh and the best part was that they used the sponges to clean up their mess in the tub when they were done!  We just used these paints for one bath, but you could buy the tiny Gladware containers and store them for a couple of days for extended bath fun!

Smoked Salmon and Pea Pasta

I should call this the "empty the fridge" pasta dish :)  I had friends over earlier in the week and picked up some smoked salmon from Trader Joe's, along with some fat free cream cheese and capers to make mini salmon and caper sandwiches.  Anyways, I had extras so I threw everything together and thankfully the family enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

8 oz of fat free cream cheese
1 box of fettuccine
1 1/2 cups of frozen peas
6 oz (about half a package of smoked salmon)
1 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of milk
2 teaspoons of French Thyme
1 clove of garlic minced
salt and pepper to taste


1.  Boil water for pasta and cook pasta till al dente.
2.  In a large sauce pan over medium heat, pour chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Add garlic and stir.
3.  After the garlic has been incorporated, add the cream cheese and allow it to melt.
4.  Once the cream cheese has melted, add the milk and stir with a whisk.  Slowly add the thyme and salt and pepper.
5.  Finally add the peas and salmon and cook until the salmon is light pink in color and the peas have completely thawed and are warm.
6.  Drain the pasta and add the sauce to the pasta and wa-lah!  :)

The girls nibbled it right up!  :)  It was quick and looked way fancier than it actually was to create.  Enjoy!

Quick Meal: Chicken Parm Sandwiches

This recipe was born out of necessity!  I had to throw dinner together without that many ingredients and used up a lot of odds and ends in the fridge, so overall this recipe was pretty darn cheap and resourceful!

Ingredients:

3 pieces of whole wheat bread for bread crumbs

2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning

1 Teaspoon of Garlic powder

1 Egg White with a splash of water

1 cup of flour

2 Chicken Breasts Split (I actually split my two breasts into five pieces, two for the little mouths in the house)

Left over Spaghetti Sauce

1/2 cup of shredded Mozzarella

Toast for serving

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1.  Preheat oven to 350.

2.  Combine the first 3 ingredients into a food processor/magic bullet and pulse until breadcrumbs are made and pour into a shallow dish.

3.  Pour egg wash into a shallow dish and then the flour into another shallow dish.

4.  Heat the oil in a skillet over medium.

5.  Dredge the chicken pieces through the flour, egg, then breadcrumbs and brown each side-about 2-3 minutes each side.

6.  Once each piece is done, put them on a baking sheet and add about a tablespoon or two of spaghetti sauce and then add about a tablespoon or so of cheese.

7.  Bake for 16 minutes.  While you are baking toast your bread.

8.  Once the chicken has cooked and the cheese is nice and melty, put it into between your pieces of toast and serve!

This was a favorite of my husband!  I don't normally do sub-like sandwiches for dinner so he liked this surprise, plus it had the homemade element to it which made it a little special!

A Little Bit of Sparkle!

We had paper mache letters up in Laura's room that were painted a basic pink and green, but after our recent trip to Chicago's Land of Nod, I was instantly inspired by all the creativity that hung from their walls!  For those of you who haven't heard of Land of Nod, it's Crate and Barrel's kids' line.  They have adorable furniture, decor, and toys.  They only have a few stores throughout the country so I love visiting the Oak Brook store when we go to visit Pete's family in Chicago.

One of the coolest ideas that we saw was the yarn wrapped letters.  It was easy and it added neat texture to her walls.  I had the yarn lying around the house, so that part of the project was free.  As for the glittered letters, I repainted them teal (just one light brushed on coat) and then covered them with glue.  I used an old box to contain all the glitter.  It was an incredibly easy project and one that she really appreciated.  She says her room looks like Hollywood!  Haha!  If only I didn't figure out earlier that it would be this easy to impress my little one!  I had some helpers....well...they tried....oh and yes, they got into the glitter box when Mommy and Daddy weren't paying attention-MESS!

"I sooo good at painting Momma, I pom-iss!"-  Caroline

Caroline has asked when her name will be going up on the wall...very soon, Caro, very soon!