Everybody CLEAN up!!

Happy Turkey Day to one and all...so many things I post are either fun/food related I thought I would do a practical post since it is a day for being thankful, and many would be thankful to leave some bucks in their pockets. Here are two great things I have discovered....

Borax ~ Best. Product. EVER!!

You have seen that I did flubber with Borax. My recipe only calls for 2 tsp, and I had a whole box, so I looked and it said its a great laundry booster, can be used to neutralize odors in the dishwasher, disposal, can be made into a paste with water etc. So I tried all of the above and WOW. Such a great product. This big box cost $2.88! Let me say that as a laundry booster it is the best!

** Have a stinky front loading washer? I did, did being key here. The product that is sold for cleaning the washer is super expensive, so I loaded the washer with some dark towels, added my usual detergent and softener then added 1/4 cup of Borax to the wash and the towel came out without a funky odor and the washer smelled fresh. Amazing, since for some reason our dark towels have had a smell for weeks that could only be masked by softener, but once wet the smell returned. Not any more. So pleased and for only $2.88 in the detergent aisle. SCORE!

** Another great use was that my 22 month old got sick on the carpet, and it was sour milk, YUCK. So I made a paste, cleaned up the mess then put this paste on the carpet with a bit of water and let it dry, then vacuumed it up. Viola, no stinky mess.
Next....did you know that you can simply boil water, take an empty Swiffer WET JET bottle and place in the water as shown in the picture, leave for 1-2 minutes and grab a towel then twist off lid and fill with any cleaner (I used Mr. Clean and diluted it, about 1/4 cup then filled with water) then used just as I normally would. Cheap and easy.

Italian Beef

This is by far the best Italian Beef I have ever had. It is just as simple as it can be and I frequently make it on a Saturday just to keep in the fridge for quick lunches to take to work. I like it on a sub roll with mustard and horseradish. It is also delicious toasted with provolone cheese. Simply open the roll, broil for a few minutes (watch carefully they burn quick) add the beef to one side and the cheese to the other, broil until brown and bubbly. Enjoy.

Ingredients: Roast, small to med 2-5 pounds. I prefer rump roast. One jar of pepperonconi peppers with juice, pkg of italian beef, 1 pkg of dried french onion soup, 1 bottle of beer.

Dump all ingredients in the crock pot on low, for the day and then shred. It can be cooked on high for 5 hours or low for 6-8 hours.

Finished. ENJOY!!

Taco Bake an easy family favorite!!

This is a quick go to favorite that my family loves and is such an easy alternative to taco night. I find this is much easier too. I serve it with a salad and tortilla chips. I top it with sour cream. Yummy!!
Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2lbs of ground beef (chicken works too)
1 can of corn (mexi corn works too)
2 pkgs of taco seasoning (add water as directed)
1 can of Rotel tomatoes
1 pkg of soft taco shells
1 pkg of cheddar cheese (large)
Black beans (optional)
onion

Preheat oven to 375. Brown hamburger with chopped onion, drain. To drained hamburger add taco seasoning and follow package instructions, corn, tomatoes and black beans if you choose. Simmer until thickened. Add 1/4 or a hand full of cheddar cheese.

Next grab a 9x9 baking dish, spray with cooking oil and add a soft taco shell.

Layer the hamburger mixture and top with cheese, repeat layers about 3 and top with cheese for the final layer.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes until bubbly.

Finished.

My family loves this and it reheats great. Once assemble it can be frozen and baked later. I, many times pre- assemble over the weekend and then cook by Wed. ENJOY!!!

Play dough FUN!

Ingredients you will need are probably already in your pantry, which makes this even better. I like the consistency better than the store bough stuff too. It is way cheaper and fun for the kids to help. In a sauce pan add the following ingredients. 2 cups of water, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of salt, 1 tsp of cream of tartar and 1 tsp of cooking oil.

Cook on medium heat for about 5 min until it forms a ball and is difficult to stir.

Kneed this for a few minutes then cut into as many equal parts as you want. 4 works nicely.

To each divided piece add food coloring of choice, continue to kneed until color is even.

Taaa daaah. Play dough!

Lydia is finding it very hard to believe that momma is letting her play with this stuff, but she got the hang of it quickly.

I had some cookie cutters and plastic knife and fork that she decided to play with...we had a great time. As it turns out, she isn't a fan of any type of snake, play dough or real.

Store in plastic bag or container in the fridge and play with it as often as you like. Its a nice to distract her with while I prepare meals. Enjoy!

Spinach and Chicken roll ups with risotto

This is a great chicken recipe, that my husband absolutely loves. I hope you do too.
Ingredients (a list in the beginning, just for my friend Amy D.)

Chicken breast (4) parmesan 1 cup, 1 block of cream cheese, garlic, onion, 1 pkg of chopped spinach, salt and pepper, egg, milk, bread crumbs, aborio rice, chicken broth, white wine, bread crumbs, jar of favorite spaghetti sauce and veggie of choice.
Thaw spinach in microwave, about 1 min and add to strainer. Squeeze all the water out, there is a bunch! Also soften cream cheese and preheat oven to 375.
While preparing spinach and cream cheese, pound chicken breast between plastic wrap until it is thinner and able to be rolled. It will almost double the size.

Next put cream cheese, about 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, 1 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper, chop 2 cloves of garlic and spinach in a bowl and mix.

Prepare an egg wash with 1 egg and milk, take remaining parmesan and add to bowl with a handful of bread crumbs.

Spread spinach mixture onto chicken and roll up, dip in egg wash and roll into bread crumbs, put into baking dish.

Bake for 1 hour at 375.

Heat up spaghetti sauce, in a separate pan bring chicken broth to a simmer. Add olive oil in a large skillet and saute' garlic and onions then add arborio rice, which is risotto (find it in the pasta aisle or sometimes rice or Italian specialty aisle). Stir for about 1 minute.

When it looks like this, add a splash of white wine (1/4 cup).

As you stir the wine will dissolve, for about 30 min stir almost constantly and add a ladle of broth until almost dry then continue to add one ladle at a time test at about 20-25 min and it should be like rice, it will have a creamy consistency.

Chicken when finished.

The finished plate....MMMmmmm good!

Jell-o candied popcorn.

Candied popcorn using sweetened condensed milk and Jell-0. So yummy and easy, it is something that you can do a lot with. I am always looking for something homemade that will keep while I am making my my more fresh items for stuffing gift baskets around the holidays. This could be the base for a unique sweet and salty party mix, adding pretzels, cereal, candy or whatever you like. If you are less adventurous, the basic popcorn is delicious. I plan on making several and making a rainbow bag of flavors.

First pop your popcorn, have a shallow baking dish lined with foil and generously buttered or sprayed with cooking oil. Put popcorn in here in a thin layer about 10 cups making sure there are no unpopped kernels. Pre heat oven to 300 degrees.

Next pour a can of sweetened condensed milk and package of Jell-o into a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir constantly, as this will burn easily. This is berry blue and we also made strawberry. Both were good, although grape is probably my favorite.

Cook until it is all dissolved, about 3-4 minutes, the mixture will be a little thick and you will no longer be able to see the jello granules.

Pour the sauce over the popcorn and mix. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

Spray wax paper with cooking oil and let cool until sugar is hard and crack into pieces. Store in air-tight bowl.

FluBBeR!!

Flubber! A fun craft that the boys LOVE. So simple and cheap, you must try this

Items needed. School glue, white or clear works, food coloring, water and borax.

Step one pour out 2 cups of glue, 2 bottles.

Mix glue and 1 1/2 cups of warm water plus a few drops of food coloring. Stir together.

In another bowl disolve 2 tsp of Borax into 1 1/3 cups of very warm water, when disolved combine the two bowls. A chemical reaction happens causing a polymer or Flubber.

Ewwwwww. Get your hands in it and mix until the water is gone. Do not panic, it looks like something went wrong at first, but keep kneading the goo and it will all absorb quite nicely.

I wondered if the boys were too old for this? Never fear they are 9 and 10 1/2 and have been busy for about an hour. I am going to get more glue, they want more colors and have requested clear glue as well. It's the simple things! Have fun.

Cinnamon roll pancakes

I make pancakes all the time, and never from a box, here is my favorite recipe with a fun new twist.
2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 tsp of baking powder, 3 tbsp of sugar 1/2 tsp of salt and mix. Next add 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3tbsp of melted butter, 2 eggs and 1 tsp of vanilla. Whisk all this together to form a batter. This is the basic pancake recipe I have followed for years. Now for the twist.

Take 4 tbsp of butter, melt in a bowl and add brown sugar to form a paste, sprinkle with cinnamon, about 1/2 tsp stirring well. Put in plastic bag and cut the corner for a pipping bag.

3/4 cup of batter in non stick pan then swirl the cinnamon sugar in a swirl pattern.

All done and so very yummy. My kiddos loved them!