I Think Winter Has Said Goodbye

Yes, it’s true. I think Winter has left us. I know this for sure because my only grand daughter put the first brush out by the curb for pick up. The yard looks clean again. As I am typing the sun is out and people are busy all around me doing yard work.

It has been awhile since my last post. Life has a way of getting in the WAY! Also, I have to collect enough tips, hacks, recipes, etc. to write a decent post. As always, I hope you find something of interest and please leave comments. I absolutely love them! By the way, you can leave hacks in the comments that you would like to share. That would be very cool!

Project:

My cousin and I got together to make a spring decoration for our mailboxes. It was a lot of fun and the project turned out great. We watched a video on YouTube that guided us through. Here is the link to the video we followed. We changed the colors to go with a Spring theme but otherwise it is the same.
https://misskopykat.blogspot.com/2014/12/curly-deco-mesh-mailbox-topper.html

I used a bungee cord to hold the mailbox topper secure and hid the cord with the ribbon. My mail-woman was very impressed!

One of the things I have picked back up after many years is my grocery list template. I created a new one to suit my needs at this time. In my mind I went through each room in the house and wrote down every item that I need to purchase regularly, semi-regularly or occasionally. I ran several copies so that I would have them on hand. When I run out of an item at home I just circle or highlight it on the list and viola(!) I have my shopping list for the store! Below is a screen shot of most of my list.

Here are some hacks to check out:

• When brushing your teeth, turn off the water. Only run it to wet your brush and to rinse your mouth. It saves up to five gallons a day.
• Need a quick neck pillow or heating pad to ease tension and or soreness? Fill a long sock with 2 cups of rice and microwave for 30 seconds. When I was visiting my son once my shoulder was so sore and we made one of these and it was fast, easy and best of all really helped. If you have some essential oil on hand you could add a few drops to the rice for a soothing aroma.
• If you need a dry Swiffer pad and are out of them, you can always use and old sock to whisk up the dust from the floor. As a matter of fact, I save old socks for this and for regular dusting. They work great!
• If you have coats you are no longer using and want to donate them there’s a website for that. The website will tell you where, near you (by entering your zip-code) there is a location that will accept and distribute donated coats. Just go to onewarmcoat.org
• Did you know that if you use PayPal to pay for something online that you can enjoy free return shipping courtesy of PayPal? Yep! Just select PayPal at checkout if it is offered.
• If you’re like me your mind races at bedtime with things that you need to do tomorrow. Start a ritual at bedtime of writing down all the things you have to do the next day so that you can relax and sleep without worrying. I have done this for years and it really helps!
• Here are a couple of ideas for soup cans (or any tin can). You can decorate an unopened can with paint, lace, patterned paper, or virtually anything you want that you can make adhere to the can. Then pop your cake, pie or appetizer plate on top. There you have a display for your delicious treat! You can also make a tiny cake with an empty, clean, BPA-free tin can. Spray with cooking spray and dust with flour. Pour in you batter (about 2/3 of the can) and bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes. This works for bread too.

Recipes:

Cast Iron Skillet Cookie

This was a recipe from http://hipfoodiemom.com

It says to use a 9 to 10 inch skillet. I have made it twice and once with an 8 inch skillet and once with a 10. The 8 inch one definitely turned out the best and came out of the pan very easily. The 10 inch cookie wouldn’t come out of the pan easily and was too thin. It might have been my error but I am sticking with the smaller pan anyway. I have switched it up and used the variety pack of chips which has peanut butter, vanilla and semi-sweet in the bag and it was awesome. My one grandson said this is what he wants for his birthday treat this year because he was so impressed!

Pizza Lasagna

I made lasagna with a pizza twist! It was received well at dinner that night. I still used the ricotta and mozzarella cheeses but instead of the traditional meat filling I used pepperoni. I also substituted pizza sauce for the marinara. It was really great for a change. You could do a Mexican spin on it with tortillas, maybe enchilada sauce and some cheddar cheese. Live on the edge people!

I hope that you enjoyed reading this and thank you for waiting patiently while I slayed some dragons and stormed a couple of castles in my life. I will see you soon!