November and Buttoning Down The Hatches

It is that time of year when I see how long I can go without turning the furnace on, the outdoor decor for Summer comes into the basement and I pull out the cold weather clothes. I bet all of you are doing similar things. Many people don’t like the early darkness that comes with Fall. I never have minded it for a few reasons. When my kids were little, I didn’t have to worry about them outside and they were snug and warm come 5pm. Also, there is a coziness to it for me. Finally, I think I am a night person who feels more comfortable in my own skin in the dark hours. What about you?

New Product

I read about this product in the Good Housekeeping Ifmagazine and went online and ordered one right away. It is called Wad-free. It is for use with sheets and the like to keep them from getting wadded up in the washer and dryer. The product was on Shark Tank. It works amazingly well. If you would like to order one (or more) this is the address; https://wadfree.com/ . They cost less than $20.

Hacks

*If you’re shopping online and close to the amount of purchase needed to get free shipping you might be tempted to order another item (probably that you don’t really need) to reach the free shipping level. However, if you order a gift card to get to that level you can then use the gift card on your next purchase from that online site and that is really helpful!

*If you have a houseplant that is prone to drying out quickly when you repot it next time put a kitchen sponge in the bottom of the pot under the soil. The sponge will act as a reservoir absorbing and holding water to feed back to the plant.

*If you are a fan of brown rice and feel it takes a little too long to cook, here’s a way to hasten the process. Soak the rice in a covered pot with a ratio of 2 to 1 water to rice and leave it in the fridge overnight. Since the rice absorbs the water, it will take half the time to cook when you’re ready.

Google Street View is wonderful but if the idea of someone seeing your home or vehicle license plate has you a little weirded out there is some thing you can do about it. Pull up your address on Street View, click on the three dots on the toolbar, choose “report a problem”, and then select the option to blur your home, license plate, face, etc. Then drag the red box over the part of the view you want blurred. Submit it and viola’!

Recipes

Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

My grand daughter requested these for her birthday treat. I couldn’t find any recipe per say so I just chopped up Oreos and added them to the regular recipe for the traditional treat. You could add candy corn, chocolate of any kind, jelly belly, or any other cookie or candy for a seasonal treat or a special grandchild’s birthday.

Cheesy Tator Tot Meatloaf Casserole (thisisnotdietfood.com)

This is a twist on the traditional dish that I am sure your family would love. Mine does! It definitely isn’t diet food, though.

• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Hickory & Brown Sugar barbecue sauce
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 30 Ritz crackers
• 2 oz Lipton onion soup mix
• 2 eggs, large
• 24 oz frozen tater tots
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend
• 1/4 cup real bacon bits

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Dump ketchup and barbecue sauce into a small mixing bowl.
3. Stir well and set aside.
4. Dump ground beef into a large mixing bowl.
5. Place the Ritz crackers in a large Ziploc bag and use a rolling pin to crush them.
6. Pour the Ritz cracker crumbs into the bowl with the ground beef.
7. Add the onion soup mix, eggs and 1/2 cup of the ketchup and barbecue sauce mixture to bowl with the ground beef.
8. Use your hands to combine all of the ingredients well.
9. Press the meat mixture into a greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
10. Spread the remaining ketchup and barbecue sauce mixture on top of the meat.
11. Place the frozen tater tots in a single layer on top of the sauce.

Mexican Street Corn Chicken (easyfamilyrecipes.com)

• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast (4-6 thin chicken breasts)
• ▢3 cups sweet corn (2 cans, drained)
• ▢1/4 cup mayonnaise
• ▢1/4 cup sour cream
• ▢1/2 tbsp lime juice
• ▢1½ tsp chili powder
• ▢1/2 tsp salt
• ▢1/2 tsp garlic powder
• ▢1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Topping

• ▢1/4 cup queso fresco crumbled
• ▢1/4 cup cilantro chopped

• In a large bowl, combine the sweet corn, mayonnaise, sour cream, lime juice, and chili powder and mix to combine.
• In a casserole dish, lay the thin chicken breasts flat in the dish. Then season with salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper. Spread the corn mixture evenly over the top of the chicken.
• Bake at 350˚F, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through (165˚F internal temp.) Then remove from the oven and garnish the top with crumbled queso fresco and chopped cilantro.

*If you are one of the people that cilantro tastes like soap, just leave it off.

Crafts

Again, I have been quite productive in this department. I will share some of my projects with you.

Berry Basket Pumpkin

I just took two berry baskets and painted them orange. I turned one upside down and glued it to the other. Then I took a piece of cord for the stem and also glued that down. I added a silk leaf and burlap bow. I have gotten several compliments on it.

Slinky Pumpkin

I bought some slinkies from Dollar Tree. I glued the ends together and stuck a stem and leaf in the middle. That’s all there is to it and they are cute!

I bought a skeleton book folding pattern from Etsy for $4.99 and created a skull from an old hardcover book. I covered the book with black paper to go with the theme. Book folding is really fun and easy.

Decorative (and still useful) Clipboard

I used a plain clipboard from Dollar Tree and covered it with scrapbooking paper using Mod Podge. I lightly sanded the edges to take and extra bits off and then tied various ribbons on the clip part that went with the colors of the paper. It is a nice little extra gift and is useful as well as pretty.

Candy Corn Hats

I used a free pattern I found on Pinterest for this so if you’re interested in doing one you can easily find it there. I also made some hats with this pattern for my grandsons at their jobs to use this winter. Where they work the colors of black, red and blue were appropriate and I changed the ratio of each color. You can take this basic patter and do any color you want.

Pink Ribbon Wreath

To commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness month I made this wreath using a ribbon wreath form and pink balloons from Dollar Tree. I also added some ribbon strips here and there and used floral wire for a hanger. The ribbons and balloons were tied on the wreath form. I only tied on 3 rungs of the form and left the fourth one which doesn’t show, empty.

Scarecrow Wreath

I used a witch’s hat form from Dollar Tree for this. I wrapped the top in wide burlap which I secured with hot glue. To the top I cut a bunch of grass off of a child’s skirt, tied it together and hot glued it on. The brim of the witch’s hat has ribbon and cord tied to it. I took a Dollar Tree pumpkin cut out and painted the face. Once that was dry I tied and glued it to the underside of the brim. To add a little extra pizzazz I glued a wooden turkey I had kicking around and a couple of leaves to the hat. I attached floral wire to the back for the hanger.

I hope you are having a wonderful Fall and that something interested you in this post. Leave a comment. Ask a question. I love to hear from you! Thanks for reading.3