Trying Some New Things

  Last week a friend posted on her Facebook that she made powdered sugar.  I had to try it!  Now, I'm very picky about my powdered sugar especially when it comes to cake decorating.  I only buy Domino 10x powdered sugar, so I know even though knowing how to make powdered sugar I won't do it too often.  It is nice to know how in a pinch and can save a lot of money especially if you get granulated sugar on sale.
  All you have to do is put a cup of sugar in the blender (I knew I was keeping that thing around for a reason) and turn it on for a few minutes.

Before:

 After:

  I know hard to tell the difference in the pictures, but now I have cheap powdered sugar for French toast, keeping fondant from sticking, and making marshmallows!  Yes, I made those too.  They are so good, and I even forgot the vanilla extract.  It's like eating a Peep without the sugar coating.  Here is the recipe: marshmallows.

The goo:

 Let it set:

 Dredge it with the powdered sugar:

 Final product!

 I used fondant cutters to make flower and heart marshmallows, but it left a lot of scraps.  You can't reroll marshmallows. ;)  But, it make a lot!  30 oz!  That's almost enough to make 2 batches of marshmallow fondant, and that's a lot of fondant.  I have not tried to make fondant out of it yet.  I need to do more research b/c I think I could skip a step or two. 
  In other news, today I made English muffins, cinnamon rolls, laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, and liquid dish soap.  The verdict is still out on the liquid dish soap.

Getting Nutty!

  A few weeks ago Allison started eating almonds and really enjoying them, so I stocked up on them and decided to experiment with them.  I made almond butter, extract, and milk.  The butter turned out well, and everyone enjoyed it (I made cashew butter tonight).  The extract has a few more weeks before I'll know how it turned out.  The milk, well, I won't be making that again.
  Here's how to make the butter:

Add 8-10 oz nuts in food processor

Turn processor on and scrape sides as needed.

 Run processor until smooth.  May take anywhere from a few minutes up to 15 mins.

 Final product!



  Here's the extract:

  Just add 6 almonds to 8 oz vodka or rum, store in a dark place, and wait 6 weeks.  That simple!

And the milk...

  I'm not wasting people's time by posting pictures.  You basically soak almonds for 12 hours, grind them up in the blender with water, strain through cheesecloth, then blend again with vanilla bean and dates.  For all the work, it only makes about 10 oz of milk.  Super easy to make but not worth my time.  I'll just buy almond milk on sale with coupons.

In 7 Minutes or Less

  Yesterday I had 7 minutes to spare.  Mary-Kate was napping, and Allison was content eating a snack at the table (very rare).  I decided to do a few things that I've been wanting to try for awhile.  I decided to make body scrub and blowing bubbles.
  The body scrub:
       1 Cup sugar
       Slightly more than a 1/3 Cup olive oil
      10-15 drop essential oil
    Mix all ingredients and store in a jar.
  The results were great!  I made 2 kinds, lavendar for nighttime and orange mint for morning.  My skin is so soft.  I will definitely be making this for gifts.  I just need to learn to make cute labels.

  Blowing bubbles:
    3/4 Cup water
    1/4 Cup Dish soap
    1/2 Tbs glycerin or corn syrup
   Mix ingredients and leave in an open container (left mine in the mixing cup) overnight.  It was super windy today, and the bubbles worked great.  The glycerin made the bubbles super strong and wind resistant.  Once we get done with the gallon of milk in the fridge, I'll be making a gallon of the solution to have on hand.  Plus, I'm trying to use the dish soap so that I can make my own dish soap. 
  There you have it, you can make simple things in very little time.  The only reason I know how long it took was because I was talking to my husband on the phone while doing all of it. :)

How I Spend Most of My Time

  If you look at my blog lately, you think I have all the time in the world to do all this stuff.  You couldn't be more wrong.  I have 10 mins here, 30 mins there.  I spend most of my time with my girls and taking care of them.  Here is a typical day with a 2.5 yr old and 10 month old:
   5/5:30--Allison wakes up and gets to watch tv while I get up and get ready, start laundry, make Brandon's lunch if he's home, clean, make breakfast, and whatever else I can think of
  7/7:30--MK wakes up, and Allison stops watching tv. I nurse her and when finished and if it's MWF, I vacuum and steam mop afterwards
  8--breakfast (usually Allison's snack by this point)
  9-11--MK naps.  Allison and I go outside and play or play inside depending on the weather, but we play the WHOLE 2 hours
 11--nurse MK again and then get lunch ready
 11:30/11:45--lunch
 Depending what time we get done with lunch, we will run a quick errand, but we have to be back before 1:30 for MK's afternoon nap.
  1:30/2--MK naps.  Allison gets to watch a movie on my bed, rest, and eat a snack (usually almonds).  During this time, I prep dinner, eat my lunch or juice, pay bills, return phone calls and e-mails, finish up laundry, and do whatever else I can think of
 3:00/3:30--MK wakes up, and I nurse again.  We then run errands but hurry back b/c the girls are ready for dinner between 4:30 and 5.
 5:30--bathtime
 6:30--girls go to bed.  I then eat dinner if I didn't have time to feed myself, clean the house, do any little DIY things, get my juicer ready for in the morning, stuff diapers if it's MWF, and then maybe get on the computer. 
  I try to get to bed between 8:30 and 9.  I'm goal is to get used to going to bed early so that I can get up before 5 and have some alone time when I have energy (I'm a big morning person).  It has yet to happen.  I guess my body needs all the sleep. 
  One thing I've decided to start doing during the day once a week with Allison is a craft, something more than coloring, painting, and play dough.  Those are daily things.  I am not a crafty person, but I'm ready to have some fun with my baby and watch her imagination explode.  Here is our 1st craft (stole the idea from MOPS):

  She liked it for a minute.  I did most of it.  Even though I would like to do this once a week, I know reality will hit.  I won't always make it to the store every week, but I'm looking forward to the projects we might potentially do.
  Man, I need to go to bed.  I can't focus.  Time for bed.  I'm up late.  It's 9:15. ;)

Bottomless Vanilla Extract!

  I bake a lot and use a lot of vanilla, so I was so excited to find this in the Farm Store the other day.  It's so easy that I might make into gifts someday.  It's a recipe for bottomless vanilla extract.  It takes a month for the extract to be ready, but it's worth it to have extra for years.  Here are the easy steps:
  1. Get a 10-12 oz bottle that seals tightly (I think a mason jar will work fine)
  2. Split 3 vanilla beans and then cut them in cross sections
  3.  Place beans into bottle
  4.  Fill bottle with light rum
  5.  Close bottle and shake
  6. Store bottle in a dark place
  7.  Shake bottle occasionally for 4 weeks
  8.  As you use the extract, replace volume with the rum.

Here is a picture of my extract just a 2 days after I started the process:

The Tooth and Nothing But the Tooth

  One I like is great teeth.  Seriously.  Back when Brandon and I were dating and he told me he had a fake tooth, I had to think about our relationship and if I could handle a flawed mouth.  Anyway, for a few years my teeth have been extremely sensitive, and it's all due to over brushing and brushing too hard.  I switched to super soft toothbrushes and sensitive toothpaste.  Recently, my teeth were even more sensitive with the sensitive toothpaste.  With all my DIY stuff, I decided to look into making my own toothpaste.
  Well, did you know fluoride is outlawed in most of Europe?  It's not good for your teeth at all.  There are so many natural ways to clean your teeth and make them strong and healthy.  One way is gargle pure cranberry juice, and another is way is tooth soap.
  Tooth soap?  It's exactly what it sounds like, and it is super easy to make. 

  Here are the ingredients: 

    1 T Castile soap

    5 T coconut oil

    1 T olive oil

    Essential oil

    Clean dispenser

 Mix all the ingredients

 Put mixture in dispenser and use

    Ok, I have to admit these are my pictures of my 1st attempt.  I had to redo it.  I melted the coconut oil the 1st time around, and it didn't work.  2nd time, I warmed up the oil to soften it, and then mixed with the others.  I added quite a bit of peppermint and orange oils.  The verdict:  it tastes like flavorless soap.  But, my teeth feel super clean, and my breath doesn't seem to get bad as quickly even in the morning.  I'm giving it a month before I make my final decision on it, but so far no nerve pain.

Bribery with Fruit Snacks

  1st off, I'm not pushing Allison to potty train, but we have found some type of agreement.  Until now when I mentioned the potty, she would run away and act like a cat getting near water.  Now when I offer fruit snacks, she happily sit on the potty while eating them (and has the phone).  She has yet to pee in the potty, but sitting on it is a big improvement. 

  Since fruit snacks is her new thing, I thought I would make my own since the store bought ones are so bad, filled with corn syrup and artificial colors and flavors.  They were somewhat a success.  They are made out of fruit (strawberries in this case) applesauce, apple juice, and gelatin.  Allison likes them just fine, but I think I will tweak it a little.  More fruit of whatever kind I'm making, and instead of apple juice, I'll make juice from the fruit with my juicer. 

See I even make Lego shapes. (they are the only molds I have)

 I even separated them in 1 oz servings in little baggies.  It made 12 baggies.