Update on Homemade Soap

I gotta tell you, I am loving the homemade soap that I made with my friend, Kristi.  It really has made a difference in my skin! I can definitely tell that its improving the texture, look, and even clearing it up my skin a bit! I dont need to use anything else on my face, no moisturizer, nothing. I also ran out of soap the other day,while I was in the shower , I grabbed the baby's "natural" baby wash instead to use on my face, and it made my skin tight, itchy and red. Needless to say, I am using homemade soap on all the kids now, instead ;)

Gonna be making some more today and I am sooo excited!
Have a great day :)

Low Carb Noodless Lasagna

I tweaked a few recipes I found online and came up with this. Its really good. You dont even notice the noodles are missing. I made a big pot of spaghetti sauce last week as part of a bulk cooking session because I knew I wanted to make this. I also made one pan with noodles for my family the same night. Add a salad on the side and you have a great low carb meal!

So these pics were taken AFTER I dug into it, so not the best but I wanted you to see what it looks like as opposed to NOT having a picture LOL I made it into layers, just as I would regular lasagna. One layer of meat sauce, one of ricotta mixture.

Recipe: (makes an 8x8 pan)

Ricotta mixture:

15 oz carton of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
approx 4 oz of  mozzarella cheese

Mix all together and set aside.

Meat Sauce:

1lb of ground beef (I use grass fed sirloin)
whatever spaghetti sauce you use and however much you want LOL
Mix those together and put a layer on the bottom of your pan

Next layer with some of the ricotta mixture
and repeatt again with the meat sauce
Add the final layer of ricota and then add about 4 more oz of mozzerella and a bit of parmesan cheese to top it off.

Bake at 350 for about 40-50 mins and let cool a bit before serving. (I let mine overcook a little hence the reason the cheese is a bit dark, but that doesnt bother me.)

This makes generous portions, so can even be frozen in individual servings for meals later. I decided that since I had some busy days ahead of me that I would just leave it out in the fridge to eat for several meals.

Enjoy!

Almond Power Bars

So I found this recipe online the other day and was stokedddd! I haven't shared this here, but I am on a low carb diet, well most of the time, and need to eat in a way that keeps my blood sugar steady. I do fail quite often with this way of eating, but have been trying for the last couple of months to stay on it for the health benefits as well as the obvious- losing weight (lost almost 20 lbs so far!).

One thing that always causes me to slip up is my sweets. Gotta love em', but they don't love me ;) I almost have to have something sweet everyday or its torture. Not really, but close. I am leary of artificial sweetners, but will drink a diet Dr. Pepper if I am so inclined (and the headache that comes after is pretty crucial). I really prefer to eat a natural diet from things that God has made, since I know that is probably the best for me..I mean duh, He is the one who knit me so wonderfully in my mother's womb, so why would I listen to some moron person who tells me to eat foods low in fat, laced in chemicals over a yummy steak? Crazy!

Oh the Almond Power Bars!! YES! They are YUMMY and easy to make! I found the recipe HERE!







So of course, I tweaked the recipe a little, but not really alot...dont think it needed it at all..but I only had butter (*used all my coconut oil on my granola) and used all honey instead of the maple syrup since its lower in carbs per tablespoon.

Here's what mine looked like.....ahhh so good! I am going to cut them in little, tiny pieces and savor one each time I get a craving for something bad. I havent figured the carb content yet, but will update this post when I do. I am also thinking of trying this with peanuts next time because peanut butter and chocolate rocks!




Enjoy!!

Blueberry Cream Cheese Baked French Toast

Can you say that title really fast?

So I am in love with this recipe. I found a couple of baked French Toast recipes online last week after trying to find a solution to my busy Sunday mornings. I cook a big breakfast, since our church service runs into lunch time, but it can be overwhelming to do that plus get 4 kids ready...not to mention that I try to at least shower before church ;)

Anyways, all the recipes sounded good, but some seemed to have too much sugar, some not enough flavor...some too many eggs..you get the idea. So anyways, I concocted something pretty darn good and thought I would share it. This will be made the night before and baked in the morning or you could totally assemble this early on in the day and have for dinner. I'd do it.

So first I made an "Egg Bread" in my bread machine...any kind of bread will do. Just make sure its a heartier type bread. If you want the recipe, leave me a comment and I'll post it for ya.

So take your bread, cut it into cubes and put it into a well oiled or sprayed 13x9 pan like this (just put about half of it in there, your gonna make two layers):

Once you've done that, you add whatever fruit/s you happen to have on hand. My local Sprouts had an awesome deal on blueberries last week, so I stocked up! So after you add the fruit, you just strategically or not so strategically place dollops of cream cheese around.  Then put another layer of your bread and then more fruit and cream cheese till your out of both. I used a pound of blueberries and 8 ounces of cream cheese in mine. You don't have to be that drastic, if you dont wanna  :p

So after you've done that, take 6 eggs, 1 1/2 cups of milk, some vanilla extract we like alot) and a 1/2 cup of maple syrup  (not that yucky high fructose stuff either...reallllll maple syrup or use the other stuff at your own risk ;p) Mix it all up and pour evenly over the bread/ fruit mixture. Smoosh it all down really good into the pan so everything fits.

Stick this in the fridge overnight or for at least 6 hours or so for all the liquids to be sucked up by the bread. Then when you are ready to eat it, stick it into a 350 degree oven covered until the last 10 minutes or so (mine baked for 30-40 mins) so that the maple syrup in the recipe can get the bread sorta carmelized. I sprinkled mine with a bit of cinnamon when I pulled it out of the oven to rest for about 10 mins too.

Pour on a little more syrup and you are ready to go!

Enjoy!!!

And she finally sews something useful....

Yup, I did it. Finally. My machine cooperated and I was actually able to whip something up in a couple of hours today.
I have issues. I get bored and impatient very quickly...especially with crafts but this one was instant gratification. It was very easy to put together, and it helped that I found an excellent tutorial for beginners....this blog really had great step by step directions.  

For those of you who dont know what its called, its a Taggie blanket. This site sells them for a small fortune. I have lots of flannel on hand (for those diapers I am supposed to be sewing) and bought a few yards of coordinating ribbon. The total for this blanket was under $3.00 for me. Seems like a good deal, eh?

And here is the finished product!

Is this for me?

Oh, straight to the mouth, just like everything else when you are 7 months old :)

 Now that is what its for! Thanks, Mom.

Just another thing crossed off my list of to do's for July, but this one was far more rewarding than the rest. The closet just doesnt smile at me the way she does :)

Until next time..

Projects completed so far....

So if you remember, I posted this list in the beginning of July of projects I wanted to complete. I am still working through my list, and actually had another added that I forgot to list-- SOAP MAKING! I have been wanting to do this for a long time now, and just recently got the nerve to do it, thanks to having another friend that is like minded in these sort of endeavors. We had a great time making it today, and I will show the finished product as soon as its cut...but for now, here it is in it's current state...the gel stage:

I can't wait to use it. It contains lots of great oils- olive, coconut, palm and shea butter. There are NO chemicals or anything else added. The next batch we are going to add some essential oils...


Ok, so with only about a week and a half left in the month, here's my updated to do list...the things I have done are crossed off....and a few things were actually added in that will push a couple of my projects over to the next month's to do's...

*Get that garden planted! I dont know exactly how much time we have left to plant anything (as I am not green thumb inclined LOL) but we need to plant something this summer...going to do some searching on this but if anyone who reads this knows if I still have some time or a link to a schedule of things that can be planted in my zone and the dates that plant up until...leave me a comment! (finally got cool enough to plant the garden this past Sunday (the 18th) I am working on getting our projected harvest dates on the calendar also)

*Clean out school room closet- This has been a thorn in my side for a while and I am really looking forward to getting this done.**IN PROCESS I actually went ahead and started cleaning out the WHOLE school room instead..the closet will be done AFTER since moving things around seemed like a better idea :P I am creating a "teaching wall" where our maps, white board, and reference charts will go, as well as a place for a table and our bulletin boards. I'll share pics when I am finished with it.

*Clean out hall closet- I am hoping to convert this from a coat/storage closet to a toy closet. I plan on putting in some shelves and whatever fits in there stays, whatever doesn't, goes!

*Organize toys- see above- This was actually a great project for me...now all the toys are neat and orderly and ready to play with, without being in our school room or in the kids rooms only to be left out and readily accessible. With them put away in the closet, I can easily regulate them ;) This closet goes 3 feet back..so it holds a lot of stuff , and I havent gotten everything in it yet. The board games will all be out of reach of the 2 and 5 yr olds...I am really not liking stepping on monopoly houses ;p

 

*Sew fitted/pre-fold diapers for baby- she is growing out of her prefolds fast and I NEED to get these done this month. I will hopefully have my 2 yr old completely potty trained this month, and with that means saving money since I dont use cloth on him anymore.

**Paint Little Kids room. I have my youngest son moved in with his sister in her cotton candy pink room..nuff said ;)

          ** Sew Taggie Blanket for Baby A



So as of today, I need to finish up the school room...or at least put a big dent in the work in there....organizing books and getting things where I want them in there, and sewing is a big to do. Problem is, I am NOT an experienced seamstress and that will take me a while to figure out...but I have been practicing off and on and think I can get some of it done with no problem...we'll see. Will post pics of any of those completed projects as well!

Have a great day!

Update on Garden Plans!

I just found out that the septic system is on the other side of the house and that its safe to plant in the ground! It was going to be almost impossible for hubby to have time to make planter boxes for me, so I am sooo glad I can go ahead and start working the land to get it ready! We live on an acre and a half, so the septic is a good distance away from where our garden will be :)

Now, to figure out where to put this little precious thing while I do that work?

Any ideas? LOL