A chocolate difference

A chocolate covered difference.I had another wonderful experience couponing today! Despite the fact that there were two little people in my cart who ate a whole bag of chocolate! Can we say HYPER…I know you moms out there understand what it’s like to open food in the store to keep the tantrum at bay. 
I’m starting to get the hang of it! Finally, I’ve tried a few times before and failed (in my opinion). Today’s best score was some Bam Wam frozen burrito, we hardly eat things like this but I couldn’t resist. The price was $.97 my coupon was for $1.00 off, then a cash back app (ibota) had a $1.50 cash back offer. I made a $1.50 on 10 of these…awesome. 
My tide deal made me do the “victory dance” in the middle of the isle! 28 pods for $4.00, normally $8.97 for 24. This offer also had a $1.50 cash back deal, so I got 24 pods for $2.50! Y’all would’ve done the dance too!
I was typing this post and eating my score on Easter candy which was pretty awesome too, 14 bags for $12! (No judgement) I ate a Milky Way, it’s not my type of the candy normally but while I’m diet cheating and hiding from the kids in the closet I decided to try it. It tasted so different from what I remember. I ate this during my childhood in Poland but I was positive it looked and tasted totally different. The taste I remembered was more like a marshmallow covered in chocolate, similar to a three musketeers bar. 
Of course I researched this and realized I was right on the taste and smell I remembered. It’s amazing how we are able to remember things based on the smell! 
All this has me missing and thinking of Poland and the amazing food I enjoyed as a kid. I’m thinking I’ll make something Polish and taste tomorrow, be sure to check it out!

   
 

Super easy Kitchen art

The easiest DIY kitchen art   I’ve spent a great deal of time personalizing our home, I want it to be a reflection of my crafty side. A large number of ideas are inspired on Pinterest! In case I haven’t said it lately I absolutely love Pinterest!!!!    
Anyway this was a very easy, mess free to create even with the help of my kids! Any time I’m working on something that won’t make a big mess I enlist the help of my 3&1 year old. We picked out all the less than perfect silverware washed it and dryer it off to preven speckles. I had the kids arrange the silverware in form of the letters and began using the hot glue gun. As I was almost done I realized my 1 year old pulled the E totally apart! I decided it would be better to use something stronger, I considered using gorilla glue (hubby’s suggestion) but decided it may be too dangerous with the kids (who at this point are all in on the project). I settled on command strips (cut to size and placed on the flat surface), for the silverware to stick together and to the wall. 
It took less than 30 minutes and turned out beautifully! 
    

 

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My first couponing trip!I’ve wanted to be a coupons to since the very first episode of Extreme Couponers, who didn’t? I’ve used a coupon here and there but nothing to celebrate. With my recent layoff, hubby’s retirement and the decision to stay home for the kids we need to save money in every way. 
After about a week of preparations I decided to try a small trip and see how I did. I read the Krazy coupon lady’s site…like it was the bible. I decided to try a few of the deals she explained, she breaks down everything down to the specific coupon. I made a list the night before clipped my coupons and set out to purchase some dog food on a bogo + coupon making it free (never mind the fact that I don’t have a dog), Oreos, string cheese, paper towels, candy (which I’m eating in celebration as I type) and a kick start. After rebates ,coupons and a very annoyed Walmart associate I think it was a success! $17!!!Whoot whoot!  

  
Tonight I’ve clipped coupons for tide, suave, pampers and more candy! Hoping for an even better day tomorrow.
Have any of you couponed? How did it work out?? 

Up cycled chairs

A few weeks ago at a very routine Habitat for Humanity Restore trip I stumbled across 8 beautiful antique chairs for $5 each, the lady mentions they were left overs from an old estate sale. I knew I had to have them! I wasn’t really sure what I would use them for but I knew they would be going home with me (these random moments make me so glad I drive a jeep and usually have space for my finds). After a few days of day dreaming I decided the chairs should be repainted and reupholstered somehow to be used as part of my boutique set up, again a pin on Pinterests sparked that thought (they were used as clothing and display racks). The chairs had an original woven seat 💺made from some kind of raffia material, it had definitely seen better days and would need to be redone. The goal with my crafts is to spend as little money as possible so purchasing batting, fabric e.t.c to change the seat into a functioning one was out of the question. After a few minutes of googling I came across a post in which the lady redid her chairs for decorative purposes using ribbon. The idea and overall look were amazing but I needed the seat to be strong enough to hold products and occasionally people, I got the idea of weaving fabric into the seat area.
My family seldom uses the flat sheets which come in the bedding set and I keep them for free material… I have used them for everything from redoing a couch to a drop cloth for painting.
The first thing I did was pressure wash all the years of wear and tear from the chairs, then I used a pair of rose bush trimmers to cut the wooden seat off and began to paint. I knew the chairs would get beaten up quite a bit during use so I chose several colors of out door paint. I have a ton of paint purchased at the Restore can by can with almost every trip, but at $3-$7 buck a can how can I not???!!! I also applied two coats of semi gloss clear polyurethane to ensure the chairs were durable and let them dry for a few hours. This particular day we were having some amazing Georgia weather with 94 degree heat so the chairs didn’t take long to dry and about an hour in to their drying I added another polyurethane coat.
While I waited for the chairs to dry I cut ✂ an old flat sheet using pinking shears into about 3′ strips (no need to measure 📏 the material, freehand is just fine). The first strip was wrapped around the corner of the chair and tied off pulling the long remnant across to the opposite side, placing the material over the rail, wrapping here as well and bringing it to the top. The material is then billed straight across to the back and this time wrapped under the rail, creating an under over effect (refer to picture with the teal chair). This motion continues horizontally and is tied off at the end. At this point turn the chair around for easy access and repeats the process interweaving the first set of fabric. The first filling provided a loose layer which I filled with more and more fabric just weaving each strip, it would have been much easier I I had a crocheting needle around by I managed. Each chair took about 2 hours not including drying time and proved to be sturdy enough for DH who is a little over 215lbs to jump on them. I was able to make 8 chairs two of each color and one kind size sheet produced enough material for two seats. Since I already had all the materials on hand the total cost for these chairs was $5 each, I found similar ones for sale on etsy for $45 whoa.

Fun 🎉 quick and inexpensive project!

Extended vacation

I’ve been on a sort of extended vacation from the blog, life just took a few unexpected twists and turns. I did spend some of my time crafting and cooking some amazing things and for the most part I took pictures. I’ll spend the next few days blogging hope yall enjoy!

Eli meets Oreo

This post has absolutely nothing to do with cooking, crafting or diying, it does have everything to do with my crazy rainbow kids. Each of my children is filled with loads of character and quite a few personalities, I absolutely love them all (even though a few of us don’t get along).  My soon to be three year old daughter Illy has been sharing everything with babylili (baby Eli), most recently she shared Oreos with her brother. I walked out of the room with my phone in hand and caught this precious look. Many of our family members have tried to caption this picture, mine is #what do I have something on my face, grandma said #Illy did it another funny one was #whooo what was that!

Oh ill be laughing at this for years to come! I hope it made you all giggle at least a little!

Crock-pot Cabbage

A few weeks ago I purchased a very large crock-pot as a replacement for the one I lost during the move from Texas.  Ever since I’ve been on a crazy crock-pot kick!

Vegetables in my house come best served out of a can lol, I’m not a big salad or fresh veggie eater. Every now and again Ill be at the store and some vegetable will intrigue me and I’ll buy it promising that ill make it before it spoils this time.  So there I was faced with a head of cabbage with yellowing outside leaves, still on my frugal kick I could not just let it spoil. However the kids had Dr. Appointments today and I wouldn’t be back home till late, I decided to cut the cabbage up and try my stove top recipe in the crock-pot.

     1 head of cabbage

        1lb of smoked sausage

           1 medium yellow onion

                 2 TBS of L.B.Jamison’s soup base

       ¼ cup of water

This was a very easy dish to prepare it took less time than my two year old did eating a bowl of cereal.  I took the core out of the cabbage and cut it up in to small pieces the crumbled it up some more. The sausage and onion were both diced into 8^th’s, then all ingredients went into the crock-pot adding 2 tbs of L.B’s. I only added ¼ cup of water because cabbage makes its own water and just needs a little to help get started. I set the crock-pot for 6 hours on low and left for the day.  This was an even better dish then when it’s made on the stove! My 11 year old picky eater had 3 helpings, almost licking the pot clean!  I must add another cabbage head when babe gets home, hopefully we can have some left overs.  Cabbage always tastes better the second day.

 L.B.Jamison’s soup base (the yellow chunks on top) is one of the greatest discoveries, my MA introduced me to it and I’ve been hooked ever since. I use it whenever a recipe calls for chicken broth or sometimes just to add extra flavor, it also makes amazingly tasteful and easy chicken soup!

I couldn’t get a finished picture, it smelled too good and we just dived right in!

Honey Baking Soda Mask

I’ve never really been a beauty expert, and I don’t spend nearly enough cleaning and moisturizing my face daily. Lately I’ve been brushing my teeth hair and splashing some water on my face before we are all out of the door. I wish I had time to do make up but shish I have 3 kids who has that kinda time!  Every now and again I do apply some sort of a face mask to remove the mess left over in my pores, I normally buy some $3 kit at Walmart but somehow it skipped my mind the last trip.  I decided to see what nifty ideas Pinterest would have for household remedies.  I found one with baking soda and honey, both of which I already had on hand.  I caught a mean sale on baking soda for $.24 a box and I had to stock up!

I placed a table spoon of baking soda on a plate and added a table spoon of honey over it, mixed the two together with my finger.  Then I began to apply it, I immediately notice the past was not thick enough so I began to add a half a teaspoon of baking soda till I got a thicker paste.  The thicker face stuck on my face much better, I left it on for about 15 minutes then rinsed off with warm water. After I dried my face I noticed how smooth and soft it felt, I will never ever ever purchase another face mask!

Homemade Bread Crumbs

While masking breakfast this morning I discovered two bags with 3 pieces of bread left behind.  Since I’m on a frugal kick I just couldn’t bring myself to throw them away. I remembered my babcia making something which resembled bread crumbs, the polish name is bulka tarta.  This is used for breading and thickening various dishes, I decided to try this out.

I laid the bread pieces on an ungreased baking pan (I wrap mine up in aluminum foil for easy cleaning) and placed them in the oven at 350F for 10-15 minutes. I let them cool off for a while in the oven after I turned it off, so that the bread would be able to settle.  Next I crumbled the bread pieces and put them in a blender on the chop setting for a few minutes until in breadcrumb form. I didn’t add any seasoning into this because I plan to use it in a few Polish dishes but I think Italian seasoning would work nicely.

    halfway through and the finished product 

Apple Dumplings

These have been circulating on Pinterest for a while now again I’ve been meaning to try this out for the longest and just haven’t had time. However, this morning they popped into my head as I had a major craving for apple pie, oh this was an amazing apple pie substitute with only things I had on hand already.

1 package of crescents (I use great value and it worked great)

1 Large Apple

3 Tablespoons of Cinnamon

1 ½ Cups of Butter

1 Cup of White Sugar

1 Cup of Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 Mountain Dew Can

1 Glass Baking Dish

It’s best to start with cutting the washed apple into 8 pieces to match the pre cut triangles of the crescent dough. Be sure to throw away the core and peel the skin off of the apples, if baked with skin it will a little harder to cut into the dumpling.  Next unroll the crescent dough into the pre cut triangle and place one apple slice on each triangle sprinkling very lightly with cinnamon, then roll up the pastry.  Place all the pastries in a glass baking dish while you prepare the sauce mixture. In a medium bowl add melted butter, sugar and vanilla extract and mix well, pour the mixture over the dumplings evenly. Lastly pour the mountain dew on each corner of the baking dish (be sure not to pour it over the dumplings).

I sprinkled the cinnamon rather generously and it was not over powering at all

      They came out kind of bulky and did not fit in just one baking dish.

        Pouring the dew felt a little weird at first but it worked out perfectly

This dish is quick and simple and definitely a sure Monster-in-law pleaser! Paired with vanilla ice cream it’s the perfect dessert to a great meal. My kids fell in love and each had a second helping. I just can’t wait till Babe comes home so he can try it!!!

 I let them cool off for a few muinutes and served with vanilla ice cream!!!!