Day 21 of 365: Insurgent Review

At my school the teachers are given a Joliet Reads book every month. Last year Divergent was one of the books. I read a few chapters and instantly loved it! I was so excited to get my hands on Insurgent. Well long story short, life happened and I never got around to reading it. During winter break I started reading a few chapters before bed each night and I finally finished it. Those that are looking to read this book must read Divergent first. I had to go back a few times to check on characters that I forgot about.

There are a lot of plot twists and the book definitely keeps you on your toes. There was a point in the book, around the middle I believe, that I literally couldn't put the book down. I try to go to bed by 10:30 every night and I was up till after midnight because I had to see what happened next. Luckily baby G chose that night to sleep through the night! If you are a Hunger Games fan and are looking for the next series, I definitely recommend this book. Bonus: it is set in Chicago which is pretty cool. They mention Wacker Dr. and Madison St. a few times. I loved the ending of Insurgent and am looking forward to reading Allegiant (the third book in the series). I have heard terrible things about it, which is upsetting but I need to know what happens. I saw the trailer for the movie, Divergent, and I'm not super happy with their choice of actors, especially for Tris, the main character. But after reading Insurgent, I am excited to see the movie and to see how Insurgent will be on the big screen.

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 21: Check over all areas

Areas have been checked over and other than reorganizing the medicine cabinet and moving some things around in my closet, things look pretty good! I liked this challenge but there were some days that really needed a whole week or weekend to complete. I also wish there were tips on the pin that made organizing some of the areas easier.

Well, talk to you tomorrow.

Day 20 of 365: Doggy Cupcakes


My doggy nephew turned one last week and I made him these peanut butter carrot doggy cupcakes from amycollette.blogspot.com. I made them for Napa's first birthday too and they were a big hit among the k-9's.

Here's what you need:

-1 cup white flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1/4 cup peanut butter
-1/4 cup vegetable oil
-1 cup shredded carrots
-1 tsp vanilla
-1/3 cup honey
-1 egg
-cream cheese with honey



Spray the measuring cup with cooking spray to prevent the honey from sticking

Directions:
-Mix flour and baking soda together and then add all other ingredients.
-Pour mixture in mini muffin tins (mine made 12 minis and 2 regular sized for the birthday doggy)
-Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
-Frost with wiped non-fat cream cheese mixed with a teaspoon of honey.
-I added a treat for the birthday boy

 Here is the birthday boy, Hawk, waiting patiently for his treat!

His cupcake didn't last long

My Napa chowing down

Holly was camera shy while she was eating

My little Napa without a cupcake in her face

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 20: Den/Loft

The only thing that needs organizing in my loft are baby G's toys. I grabbed a canvas tote that I bought on black Friday and used that to contain some of the toys.

Well talk to you tomorrow!

Day 19 of 365: Avocado Puff Pastries

Well my monthly food club was a few days ago and I thought this was the perfect place to try one of my appetizer pins. I love avocado and cream cheese so I really wanted to try these. Here is my attempt at Avocado Puff Pastries from averiecooks.com:

 

Ingredients:

1 large sheet puffed pastry, thawed
1 ripe avocado, halved and mashed (approximately 1 tablespoon of avocado per pastry square)
1/3 cup cream cheese (approximately 1 teaspoon of cream cheese per pastry square)
1/3 cup salsa (approximately 1 teaspoon of salsa per pastry square)
salt and pepper, sprinkled to taste
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F and prepare a baking sheet with either parchment paper or spray them well with cooking spray.
2. Thaw one large square of puffed pastry. Flour your countertop or working surface and roll out the pastry square as thinly as possible.  With a pizza cutter or knife, slice the puffed pastry into approximately 2-inch by 2-inch squares.  From the one thinly rolled large sheet of frozen puffed pastry, I created 16 squares.
3. On half the squares (8 squares for me), place a dollop of avocado, then cream cheese, then salsa, season with salt and pepper.  Use the remaining squares as the lids and place one lid over the filling mounds. Seal the pastry packages by pressing the edges with a fork, taking care to seal the edges well, pressing the fork in repeatedly, so no filling escapes during baking.
4. In a small bowl, beat an egg with a fork, and apply an egg wash to each of the pastry packages.
5. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until desired browning and puffing has occurred. Watch them closely after 10 minutes in case your oven is hotter or your brand of puffed pastry cooks faster.
6. Remove from the oven and serve. Pastries are best fresh, but extras will keep for up to 48 hours airtight in the refrigerator; reheat gently in micro before serving. 

They were a hit at club and they turned out great!! I cooked them for 15 minutes and that was a perfect amount of time.

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day19: Car

This one wasn't too difficult because I just got my car in October. I did have to get some Christmas presents out of the back (Baby G got a ton of gifts!!) After I cleaned some garbage (receipts, granola bar wrappers, etc) it looked brand new again! I really don't keep much in my car other than a snow scraper and baby G's stroller so there wasn't much to organize.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 18 of 365: Nail Quick Dry

Over my winter break I went and got a no chip manicure. It was my first manicure since baby G was born and I was excited to get out of the house. $35 plus $7 tip and 2 weeks later I am sitting here picking off the nail polish because I one, do not have enough time to go back and 2, not spending money for them to take the polish off. So now I am trying to be frugal and do my own nails, but seriously what is the point when they smudge or smear in the first hour. I saw this idea a while ago to put your hands in ice water to get your nails to set quickly at home.

Wow, that's cold!

All you need is:
1 bowl
cold water
a few ice cubes
3 minutes

Step one: get materials ready ahead of time by putting cold water in a bowl with a few ice cubes
Step two: paint nails desired number of coats
Step three: put hand in cold water and wait three minutes

Pros:                                                                                          Cons:
-nails dry quickly                                                                        -SUPER COLD!!!
-cheap
-I had all the materials

Good luck!!

 

 

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 18: Attic/Basement

Well this is an easy one for me! My attic has room for maybe 4 Rubbermaid totes and they are as organized as can be. And a basement is on my wish list for the next house! So...talk to you tomorrow!

Day 17 of 365: DIY Curtain Rod Picture Hanger

This pin is something I completed a while back in my attempt to finally decorate the house we have been living in for 6 years. I saw the DIY Curtain Rod Picture Hanger and instantly fell in love. However, the pin was just a picture so I had to figure it out on my own (with help from a few people including my grandpa.

 

I got a curtain rod and picture frames from IKEA and some decorative ribbon from Michaels. For the frames I bought two that were 8 x 10 (I believe) with a mat that would accommodate a 5 x 7 photo. The center frame is a little larger and I put an 8 x 10 photo in there. If you look closely the top and bottom of the center frame have a white boarder because the photo was a little too short. So it's not exactly an 8 x 10 frame. Anyways, I gave the wooden frames to my grandpa and had him drill holes in the top of the frames so that I could run ribbon through it. That was the most difficult part because you had to make the ribbon the exact length to have even frames. Once the frames had ribbon I put them on the curtain rod and hung the brackets on the wall. I love the way it turned out and it was a relatively inexpensive project! IKEA's frames and curtain rods are very cheap!

 

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 17: Living Room

With so many deadlines at work: yearbook, report cards :( I have had zero time to organize my living room (its actually a mess of baby G's toys, my school/work stuff and the hubby's paperwork. I think that finishing the 21 day challenge by the end of January will be just as good of an accomplishment. So long story short today's challenge is being postponed.

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 16 of 365: Teething Biscuits

For today's post, I made teething biscuits original from imprintalish.com because baby G is teething so bad. I am pretty sure he is going to wake up one morning with 4 more teeth any day now. He has been chewing on everything and anything: table legs, his feet, my arm (ouch!), you name it he probably tried to chew on it.

Homemade Teething Biscuits

1 cup flour
1 cup dry infant oatmeal or rice cereal
1 ripe medium mashed banana (1/3 cup-you can substitute pureed carrots, sweet potato, natural apple sauce, etc.)
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons water

Makes about a dozen, depending on how big of shapes you use.

-Preheat oven to 425ºF. In a bowl, mix together flour, cereal and cinnamon.
-Add in oil, banana and water. Mix until dough comes together to form a firm, non-sticky dough. I added a tablespoon of apple sauce because my mix was still dry in areas.

-On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out about 1/2 inch thick and cut into shapes.

-Bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10-12 minutes, or until slightly brown. Allow to cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Baby G enjoying his treat!

Enjoy!

I do have to say that I will wait until baby G has more teeth and is able to actually chew these because he would be fine for the first 5 minutes and then a bigger chunk would break off and he would (gross) gag on it and scare me and the hubby beyond belief. He seems to love the taste of them but we are waiting a few weeks before we try them again.
**UPDATE** These teething biscuits are great dog treats! I ended up giving my dog some of the stars because of baby G choking on them. Like I mentioned before, maybe when he's older.

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 16: Jewelry

This past summer I was inspired at Hobby Lobby to create my own jewelry holder using drawer knobs and pulls. I am not that handy but have a very hand grandpa so with my ideas and his skills this is what I have now:



I love how this keeps the jewelry off my dresser
but allows me to see what I have at a glance!

 

A drawer pull for rings

 

Another drawer pull for earrings

Well that's it for today, talk to you tomorrow!

Day 15 of 365: Steam Clean Microwave

For today's pin I chose to steam clean my microwave. I see this pin all the time so I decided to give it a try. I wish the pictures were a little better cause it's hard to tell how clean it got. 

You need: 

1 cup hot water

1 cup vineger 

Microwave safe bowl 

Mix water and vineger in a microwave safe bowl and put in microwave for 10 minutes. Wipe out microwave afterward, which is the great part. The gunk literally wipes right off! I do have one burn mark that won't come off but other than that my microwave looks great. Good trick!

Before

After

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 15: Dressers

When I was decluttering my house I went through and got rid of a bunch of stuff. Today I just reorganized my drawers: one for tank tops, two for tees, one for summer stuff (which should be in storage but I have no space), and 2 for pajama bottoms and yoga pants. I also cleaned off the top and put all the clothes that were stacked there away. No pics of this one :( but I am happy with the results! Nothing like a clean dresser. 6 more days of organizing!!

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 14 of 365: Name Graph

I have pinned quite a few teaching ideas and I am always looking for new fun ideas for my students. I started math tutoring recently and I saw this name graph idea and thought it would be perfect. When I introduced the idea to my students they were super excited. They really like being creative and this project allows for them to create their own unique "picture". Because my students need constant practice with perimeter and area I tied that idea in with the project. Here are a couple examples:

 

There are many things you could have students do with this name graph project: coordinate graphing, perimeter, area, symmetry, transformations, etc. If you use this in your classroom and have other ideas please share!

***21 Day Organizational Project Update***

Day 14: Backyard

Well, we just got another 2 inches of snow and my backyard consists of a 9 x 9 foot patio, I can't really organize anything today. I do have a container garden that I will need to fix up once spring comes. I will have to add another thing to the spring list: garage and backyard.

Well talk to you tomorrow!

Day 13 of 365: Baked Turkey Wings

Now that baby G is 9 months old he is trying so many new foods. He just tried chicken for that last three days so it is time to try turkey. I didn't want to make an entire turkey, we would be eating turkey for days. So I went in search of turkey breast at our local grocery store, Berkots. They only have turkey wings, legs and thighs so I went for the wings. I found a recipe for Turkey wings on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a try. I'm not going to lie, turkey wings are huge and look very intimidating. The recipe was actually really easy and tasty. I only cooked 2 turkey wings and it was plenty of food for they hubby and me.

This is the only picture I took, right before it went in the oven.

Baked Turkey Wings

 

4 turkey wings
3 tablespoons seasoning salt
3 tablespoons black pepper
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 14-ounce can of low fat/low sodium cream of celery soup
1 sliced onion

 

Directions:

1. Wash wings under cold water. Pat dry.
2. Combine seasoning: salt, pepper, and garlic. Season wings with mixture and set aside.
3. In a large roasting pan, add the cream of celery soup and 1/2 cup of water and mix together.
4. Place the seasoned turkey wings into the roasting pan so each is partly submerged in the soup.
5. Add onions on top.
6. Cover the dish with foil or lid.
7. Bake at 375 for an hour and 30 minutes, turning the wings halfway through.

 

The original recipe from Miss Robbie said to cook for only 1 hour, but the reviews said that wasn't enough time. 1 1/2 hours seemed to be perfect for my oven. I served with a side of steamed broccoli and stuffing.

***21 Day Organizational Challenge Update***

Day 13: Linen Closet

I didn't need to do much to organize my linen "closet". I separated the sheets and pillow cases and the beach towels and put them on the highest shelf. I also took out the kitchen towels and put them in the kitchen (duh!) to free up room for things like toilet paper.


Here's our linen "closet"

Well, talk to you tomorrow!

Day 12 of 365:

It my quest for organizing my closet I needed a solution to storing my boots. I came across this pin in my organizing board. It is so simple I can't believe I didn't think of this on my own. 

 Materials needed:

Pant hanger 

Boots

(That's it)

 Only advice I have is to make sure you clip the boots on the inside so that if the hangers leave a mark it won't be noticeable. Such an amazing idea and who doesn't have extra pants hangers laying around!!

***21 Day Organizing Challenge Update*** 

Day 12: Crafts 

This was so hard to do for me. Before baby G was even a thought in my mind I had a whole room dedicated to crafting. The hubby also called it his office but it was definitely more crafty. Then I learned I was pregnant and had to do something with allllllll of my stuff. My craft room is now a nursery. There are 4 areas dedicated to craft materials and they all could use a little organizing. I have a Rubbermaid container that has all my ribbon, paint and other craft supplies. I also made canvas totes that I found on Pinterest 2 summers ago with my Grandma and one of them is dedicated to my sewing supplies. In my bedroom and closet I have all my scrapbook stuff. I have gone through and organized that a few time to try and condense all my materials but I can't part with any of it (even stupid stickers like my toilet paper and pretzel ones).  So here are some pics of things I organized and materials I used to make it look neater. 

This mason jar holds all my sewing odds and ends

I put all my random buttons in this cute little jar

Here is the canvas tote my Grandma and I made out of a diaper box. 

Well here's to another day of organizing complete! Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 11 of 365: 

When I first joined Pinterest there were pre-selected boards and one of those was My Favorite Movies. There was also a board called Movies I'd Like to See. Mirror Mirror was the first movie pinned to that board. I finally got around to see it Saturday night, thanks to Netflix. 

It is a cute and silly twist on Snow White and it's so hard to hate the queen cause it's Julia Roberts. The dwarves are funny and lovable. I was also pleased with the twist at the end. I enjoyed this flick but I'm glad I didn't have to pay to see it. Love free trials of Netflix. 

***21 Day Organization Challenge Update***

Day 11: Garage 

It is far too cold and windy out to organize my garage. I will be saving this one for spring. :)

Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 10 of 365: 

Here is another late pin...I had great plans for blogging Friday night but after I drank today's pin, I put a movie on and passed out! That Warm Bodies was actually entertaining, it had a strange twist on the typical "zombie". The hubby and I also watched Admission with Tina Fey and Paul Rudd- not. funny. at. all. I enjoyed it but I was expecting a comedy. (BTW Comcast is offering a free preview of HBO, so we were checking out some free movies while they last) Ok, on to today's pin- a drink recipe called Red Wine Clementine Spritzers! Delicious!! Might be my new favorite drink. 

Clementine and Red Wine Spritzers

makes 4 cocktails

1 bottle red wine (anything light to medium boxy, unoaked, not super sweet) 
2 bottled clementine soda (I used Izze)
ice and straws

Fill each glass with ice. Fill each glass a third of the way full with clementine soda. Top with wine and serve immediately! 

The picture from where the pin originated (joythebaker) shows a clear distinction from the clementine soda and red wine.  I found it was hard to pour the drink and not have it mix. I also used Cabernet Sauvignon instead of the wine in the original recipe and it was perfect. I will be experimenting in the future with different Izze sodas and different wines. It's like an instant sangria. Yum!

***21 Day Organization Challenge Update***
Day 10: bedroom closet

I've been working on this area since I started this challenge. I knew it would take me way more that a day to organize. Sadly, I only organized my half of the closet. My hubby has been working a lot and hasn't had time to really go through his things. 

I did not take photos but I can tell you some things I did. 
1. I used my new scarf organizer to get rid of some clutter
2. I hung boots on pant hangers (see Day 11's post)
3. I finally removed all maternity clothes from my closet and stored them for future use 
4. I separated my clothes-tanks, short sleeved, long sleeved, pants, skirts, dresses
5. I used bins to store things that are less frequently used: holiday socks, winter gear (hats, gloves, etc., some jewelry, shoes, bags, etc.
6. I donated a bag full of clothes that I no longer wear

I'd consider this a successful Friday! Talk to you tomorrow!