Try oil cleansing for natural skincare

here is another great idea to pamper yourself... not only for cheap, but without chemicals!

let me know when you try it.... and i'll do the same (am needing castor oil)

Try oil cleansing for natural skincare

i love ginger. it is just so yummy and i have never thought about making my own pickled ginger... but here is the recipe.

and it is so good for you. next, i need to get a recipe to make pickled garlic. that is super duper good!

next on my grocery list... ginger and salt!

Homemade Pickled Ginger - Eat well and thrive

yummy yummy treat on a snow day (not getting bored at all here!)
1 treat turned into 3 treats, so think of it as a buy one get 2 free!!!

cinnamon roasted almonds (are currently in the oven)

here is the recipe from Pretty Little Posies

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

1 egg white

1 tsp. vanilla

3 cups whole almonds

1/2 cup sugar (a bit less)

1/2 cup brown sugar (i use a bit less)

1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or more!!!)

1/4 tsp. salt

i don't measure much when i cook. it is all roughly. but turns out yummy!

first, beat your egg white to a stiff peak (about 5-7 minutes, depending on how fast your beater is) in a big bowl

add in the vanilla and beat a bit more

then mix in your almonds

in a jar/baggie/something close-able mix the sugar and cinnamon and salt

then stir all together in the big bowl, or put the lid on and shake shake shake

spread onto a LIGHTLY greased cookie sheet (with foil on to make it easy)

put in oven at 250* (not 450, like i did one time on accident) for one hour and check on it about every 15 min or so

pull out and let cool for about 1 min THEN

eat all of it before anyone in your family gets any!!!

hope you all enjoy!!!

ooey and gooey, right after i put them in the oven

  almost done, looking a lot less gooey and a lot more crispy and yummy

and don't forget... don't share!

okay... so as i was waiting for the almonds, i got distracted found another recipe for a banana frittata and it smells so good, while i'm waiting for my almonds. 

here is the recipe

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar
• some cinnamon and vanilla
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 large bananas, sliced
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or coconut oil
• 1/2 tablespoon butter or coconut oil

Directions

1. In a bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Gradually pour in the milk, stirring constantly, until a smooth batter is formed. Add the eggs, one at time, stirring well each addition. Stir in sliced bananas.
2. Heat oil and butter in a nine inch non-stick skillet over medium heat. Pour the mixture in by spoonfuls, spreading the mixture evenly across the pan. When the bottom has turned a golden brown turn the frittata and cook over low heat until golden brown on the other side. Sprinkle with sugar and serve warm.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and eat up 

as i was finishing this, curly found a recipe in one of her magazines and started cooking it. 

this is super kid friendly, pretty healthy and delish!!!

ingredients

4 whole graham crackers

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup peanut butter (or almond/soy/whatever butter)

4 T honey (i used raw, it's always yummier!!!

1/4 cup coconut flakes

1. wash your hands with soap and water

2. put graham crackers in a medium sized plastic bag. roll a rolling pin back and forth over the crackers until they are fine crumbs.

3. in a small bowl, mix cracker crumbs, raisins, peanut butter and honey.

4. roll a teaspoonful of batter into a ball, and flatten it into a cookie shape. press lightly into the coconut flakes. 

enjoy!!!

all of these recipes turned out absolutely wonderful. and i did them all within 1 hour. now, i'm not sure if we'll be able to get them all, especially since it is pizza time on pizza friday night, but it sure was fun to make!

This winter - Delight in beautifully nutritious edible flowers

i love to find little tidbits of information on how to be happy and look beautiful.

this just might be my next project, sometime.

FFA - Free For All Friday from Sassy Sites!

since i have been procrastinating some time, i took some pics of the girls room. i started this about 6 months ago 

and am still working on the finishing touches. i just finished this swing not too long ago. and i love it!

and i thought of this all by myself. i love using the rope for hair clips. the girls think its cute!

i just have to figure out something for leaves. either toilet paper rolls, or fabric leaves... thoughts???

it might not look like it, but this is a very organized and small closet for 2 little girls. i saw this floating shoe rack somewhere in blogland, after they saw it on some fancy-pancy store's website, for like 200$. this cost me uhhh... about nothing, except for the hardware to put it in the wall. and the paint. this is actually wood from a pallet the hubz brought home. along, with the coat hook on the wall.  

 here is a closer view of the floating shoe rack. pretty cool huh? it's easy. i figured it out. got some smaller wood strips, screwed the purple pieces into them, then used supports and got them into the wall. maybe i should brush up on proper lingo here, but i hope that helps some. if anyone wants to know how i did it, i can do a better tutorial, i'm sure!

 here is another coat rack, right behind the girls' door, with a couple pictures. i want to get a shelf here too, so, that should fill up the blank spot. and another picture i think. i used ribbon to hang the frames, got the frames from the dollar tree

 pretty flowers i painted on the wall. its cute with their little table underneath, however, their room is a mess, so no pictures of the floor right now

*****************************

and watch for the update of this. this is in the hallway and it is going to be chore central -- or the "helping hands". this part, i just put in a couple nails, put twine on, did mini clothes pins (from dollar tree -- love that store), hot glued (and burned fingers) buttons on and have the kids chore charts laminated. i have a great idea to finish this, but i have to wait for all the little ones to be here and us not have anything going on for it.

. 

we have had a number of snow days here recently... and i'm getting some tons done in my days off work. 

valentine's wreath for curly's teacher at school

i saw the idea somewhere (sorry, i forgot the original source), but then i added to it. take toilet paper rolls (which i think is one of the best mediums for crafts!!! and so cheap), cut in strips and paint. it took me a coupel days a i painted the outside, with curly's help, then the next day painted the inside. i used hot glue to put the hearts together. i tried more kid friendly glue, but they didn't work well. so glue gun... and no burns even! then i added the ribbon (here is my hint, i used the ribbon to make the hearts into more of a circle/wreath shape. before it was lop-sided. i think this is much better). then i added the little hangy down things. stickers from the 1$ section at Target, stuck onto the cardboard that came with the stickers. (pictures are from curly too!)

she put these on the fridge and then took pics, i just had to post her creativity!

 here is the wreath on my room divider thing (still not sure what i'm actually going to do with it, but focus on the wreath)

curly took this picture, but you kinda see it better than on the screen. 

********UPDATE 2/9/2011********
curly gave the wreath to her teacher and the teacher loved it! yay! so proud of her!

easy-peasy hair tie for curly (but she isn't here right now to model for me)

once again, i don't have the original source, but i've seen these a lot. take a regular hair band, lots of ribbon, fold ribbon in half and loop over the hair tie and pull. i tied knots into different strips and burned the edges of the ribbon. i'm thinking that i might add some beads or something into it too, just for more fun!

and painted a bookshelf for the boys room. this bookshelf was originally green, made by an old roommate of hubz. i guess it was supposed to be a handmade dvd rack. anyway, i turned it to a bookshelf, then started painting it to pink and purple for the girls room. then i found a different one on CL a while ago and this little gem has been in the closet. until now. the boys needed a bookshelf, their room is turning to the space theme and this will look great. right now, it's just black (leftover from their wall... and i got that gallon for about 4$ on the mis-tint section. still not sure how you mis-tint black, but i'm not that picky!!!)

, but i'm going to do something else to it... open to suggestions!!!

this is the ceiling fan we picked up from home depot

 i love it. and there is buzz lightyear hanging from the ceiling too.. to infinity and beyond!

and of course, star trek, from my nerdy hubz. love him! this is totally vintage

its a space room... this black wall will have a mural of the earth on it. wait and see. it's gonna look cool!!! as we mix star wars, star trek, tron, buzz lightyear and whatever else

but of course, still a work in progress, like everything is around here!