Up first is my latest iteration of Cheryl's ice cream. I made plain vanilla this time by substituting 2 teaspoons vanilla extract for the mint, and made strawberry shortcakes as a treat last Sunday. So good!
Next experiment in food came in the form of zucchini.
I ran across this recipe, and thought it would be worth a try.
In the original post, the author noted they even smelled like tots. This was not my experience...however they were tasty, and my kids all had to try two. Making fry sauce from ketchup and mayo helped them choke them down. Mr. Pickup said they were ok, but I didn't need to make them again. However, with the amount of zucchini that shows up around here in summer, I may make these again.
With the building of a house, preparing meals gets tricky. I've loved the following recipes:
Breakfast in a crockpot. My kids love breakfast any time of day!
Crockpot Chicken Chili. I've made this a few times. So yummy!
Baked potato soup in a crock pot....seriously easy and delicious. Living in potato country, this was such a cheap and effective way to feed everyone on a cold winter's night.
Finally, a salad that makes Brussels Sprouts edible! I tried this salad, minus the nuts and pomegranates, and it was very tasty.
With all this cooking comes preparation and the inevitable clean up. We participate in Bountiful Baskets, which means I have a lot of produce to wash and store at one time. I love using vinegar to wash my fruit and vegetables.
I came across this pin that explains things perfectly:
I do find that my apples and tomatoes still have some waxy residue, even using this method, but a quick scrub with Dawn takes care of that.
Since I currently don't have a dishwasher to use, I am always on the hunt to make this job easier. I finally gave up having the kids wash the dishes...I always ended up cleaning them a second time. The kids still get to dry, though. :)
I ran across this idea on pinterest to use a dryer sheet to clean a tough baked-on dish. So, I thought I'd try soaking the dish over night with the dryer sheet inside. Not impressed.
I still had to scrub the dish, and pulled out my old reliable, baking soda, to aid in the process. Bummer. Since reading a bit more, maybe I was supposed to scrub with the dryer sheet. I think I'll save dryer sheets for laundry and dusting.
Wishing you a fun weekend with your family! It's a cold and windy day here, but I'm so happy to be able to work inside the house this weekend. The doors and finish carpentry materials were delivered, and it's time for my favorite house building activity...making our house look homey. We even ordered the cabinets today!
p.s. I keep forgetting to thank a couple folks who've featured my work lately.
Allfreesewing.com put a designer profile of me on their website. I'm so excited to be considered a designer!
Also, a while back Knock off Decor featured my Triptych Paintings. Thanks, Beckie!
10 happy thoughts:
Hey I have a LOVE item for you to try out! With dishes!!! It also cleans porcelin sinks that are suppost to be white like a charm! What? A Fine Grit Sandpaper Sponge. Seriously. It stays under my sink and it's heaven! Gets off every hard on baked food! Cleans the bottoms of copper pans like a charm, and cleans the sink and makes it bright white! Let me know if you give it a try! I LOVE IT!!! In fact... I think I'll post about it later this week!!!
The first photo makes me hungry for those strawberries upstairs in the fridge!! Yum!!
I'd love to have you join in Project Pinterest on Thursdays on my blog! I LOVE Pinterest too!
Thank you for sharing all of these! You never know when trying out all those pins and I love seeing your experiences with them first!!
PS. Not to pick/preach/soapbox on you, but did you know that dryer sheets are THE most toxic item in the home?! Just wanted to make sure you knew. What you do with the info is up to you, but I won't even use them in the dryer let alone baseboards and such (as tempting as it is), and I can not imagine using them on dishes. I don't think people realize.
I love hearing about the pins you've tried, Chris. And those crock pot recipes sound great!
Thanks for sharing your successful pins. I love to hear what other people like!
Those dishes look delicious, and good for you for trying them out. It is so easy to pin something, but I fall into the trap of not executing! I hope the construction is proceeding well.
Ice cream!!! One day I must try making it one day... Brussel sprouts in a salad. That's a new one to me. Hmm a little skeptical but I should probably try it before deciding either way eh?
I have tried the ice cream too. Really interested in dryer sheets for dusting, do tell.
Mmmm...I want to try some of those recipes you said you liked!
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