Tutorial Tuesday: smash recipe book

Ready for another gift idea? Here we go:

Recipe Smash Book

You will need:

Smash Book...Micheal's, use a coupon!

recipes that have been put on cards, cut from magazines, printed...and are making a mess!

You'll need some washi tape and some glue. 

And some way to label your sections. I used the card dividers from a recipe box.

Glue the recipe dividers on the different pages to divide each of the sections...desserts, main dishes, etc.

Then use the washi tape to put the recipes into the book. If you have cards that have more writing on the back...just attach it on the top so you can flip the card up to read the back.

You can also hand write some new recipes into the book to make it even more personal. With the magazine recipes I cut out the picture too so I still have the perty visual to go with the recipe. The smash book is about the same size as a lot of cook books and is a great way to organize the recipes and get rid of clutter. It also would be a great present for those who are just starting out...leaving some extra room for them to add their own recipes.

Happy Smashing!

Sarah

Monday Munchies: Mango Salsa

We have a lot of salmon...in Alaska...who would of thunk! Anywhoo, we have a lot of salmon and I'm always looking for different ways to make it. I had a mango that really needed to be used and I thought a fresh mango salsa would go really well with some grilled salmon.

You will need: 

a lime

a jalapeño...I only used a 1/3

cilantro

an avocado

a mango

half a red onion

half a cucumber

Everyone know how to cut a mango? If not, I'll do a tutorial on the best way to cut one! Leave a comment and I'll do it.

Chop up everything into  bit size pieces and squeeze half a lime over it and mix. Really very easy right?

Serve with grilled salmon that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.

YUM!

Enjoy!

Sarah

Frugalista Fridays: Cleaning

If anybody out there knows me....and finds out that I'm writing a blog post on cleaning...well they may think I'm crazy. But in all honesty, I have gotten better...I promise! My list today is going to go over some simple, cheap ways to clean. They are also ways that in general are better for your health. Let's get started:

1. Vinegar is your friend. White that is. You can clean almost anything with vinegar.Mix it in a 1:1 ratio and stick in a spray bottle. You can clean the following with this mixture: 

~ Bathroom tile

~ toilets

~ sinks

~ kitchen counters

~ Windows--dry with old newspaper...you'll never go back to paper-towels

~ Mirrors

A large bottle of vinegar will last for a while. And the smell evaporates within 15 minutes...promise! But if you still don't like the smell you can soak any type of citrus in a jar for about 2 weeks...or longer...the essential oils, especially from the orange will leach into the vinegar adding a scent and some extra cleaning power.

Now why use vinegar? It's non-toxic and it cleans just as well as bleach. It's also really cheap.

2. Baking Soda....got stinky socks? Stuck on grit in your sink? Smelly anything? Use baking soda. It will knock your socks off. You can combine the baking soda and vinegar and it gets really fizzy....but it makes the vinegar have a little bit of grit and scrubbing power. Again this ingredient is...uber cheap.

3. Rags. Get rid of the paper towels and start cutting up the old t-shirts that aren't fit to be worn into rags. They are reusable and they are made from something you already have...can't get much cheaper than FREE.

If you have any other ideas, leave a comment!

Sarah

Tuesday Tutorial: sugar scrub

I've decided to do a series on items you can make as Christmas Gifts. I will create a tutorial on each item in the series, so you'll have plenty of instructions!

Now why am I doing this so early? Because we all need time to do it. I also think that homemade Christmas gifts, or gifts in general can have so much more meaning. You took the time to make something, which shows you care.

Levels of difficulty will vary from super easy to a little more difficult. Hope you all enjoy it and are able to get some good ideas for some homemade gifts.

For the first tutorial we're going to make something really easy. And fast. oh and cheap frugal!

Sugar Scrub!

You will need:

Sugar

Salt

Dawn dish detergent with Olay

Containers to put it in...I used small mason jars

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of salt

1/4 of a bottle of dawn soap

Mix it all together. You can put more or less detergent depending on the consistency of the scrub you want.

Put into a couple of jars and enjoy!

You could use small Tupperware jars, mason jars, or reuse a small bottle.

Put a ribbon around it and you have a delicious smelling scrub!

Use on hands and feet as a great exfoliant.

Happy Gifting!

Sarah

Monday Munchies: Smoothie Time

What does one do when one has over-ripe peaches, frozen blueberries and a mango that needs to be eaten?

Put them in the food processor of course!

I would put them into a blender, but we don't have one...wah wah wah...

But let me tell you...it was still tasty.

Homemade Super Easy Smoothie

a handful of frozen blueberries

1 ripe peach chopped up

1 mango chopped up

put into the food processor

add a dash of OJ to make it a bit more liquidy

put into a cup with a straw...it goes down faster and you'll think you paid 8 bucks for it.

I would recommend using a blender, if ya have one!

Happy Monday!

Sarah

Monday Munchies: Zucchini Bread!

My garden has done quite well this year, well...save for the slug infestation...but nevertheless I have yielded quite the crop the year.

These are my second and third zucchini I have harvested. I have about 10 more growing so I'm hoping this nice weather sticks around so they can get bigger!

Of course one of the favorite ways to eat this lovely veggie is to make it into a bread. You still get the nutrients, right?

I shredded both of the zucchini to put into the bread.

I found a recipe online but changed it to make my own...mostly because I realized at this point I didn't have enough eggs or flour.

It got a little runny...I was a bit worried when I put it in the oven, but then it came out like...

...this. Perfect right? Did I mention we only have one loaf left after a day? Super tasty as well. So without further ado I give you...

Sarah's Fantastical Garden Zucchini Bread

(da da duh da!!!)

2 good sized zucchinis shredded

1 cup olive oil...could use veggie oil

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

(probably could have used less...)

2 cups flour

1 cup oats

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup water

1. Cream oil, eggs, vanilla, sugar together. Add water and mix well.

2. Add dry ingredients and beat well

3. Stir in zucchini until well combined

4. Pour batter into greased and floured pans (2 8x4 loaf pans)

5. Bake at 325 F or 165 C for about 50 minutes. Test the center until the tester comes out clean.

6. Cool bread in pans for about 20 minutes, remove from pans and cool bread completely before

Hope you enjoy it!

Sarah

little bit of this and that

My new year's resolution to declutter has not been successful!  My craft room is a disaster and my sewing corner is covered in so many layers of junk it's hard to find anything and deters any kind of sewing. I won't even go into what the rest of the house looks like! Yesterday I tackled my sewing corner and after getting rid of several layers I found leftover quilt squares and I got distracted...so much for cleaning! I turned them into a bib for Aria as she is an exuberant eater and her current stash of bibs are too small to cover her exuberance and her clothes :)! I used on old bib as a template and made it wider and longer.  While it's not too pretty it's functional and successfully covered her exuberance at lunch today! :)

I also have been working on getting rid of some of the lovely 70's decor in my bathroom.  I didn't want to do a whole bathroom overhaul so I settled for changing out the counter top, mirror and light fixture. I settled on that months ago but after taking down the mirror not much was getting done.

The counter transformation kit I had inherited was collecting dust in the garage and while I was in the process of getting the counter ready not much got accomplished til my mom was here. She is a go getter and I always get a lot done while she is here. She is the best!  I sanded the counter, applied the sealant, decorative chips and sanded them down.

 counter without the top sealant

Finished product

Doesn't that look better?  I have a white sink that I got at the habitat restore that I think will look much better than the yellow sink!!  I also have the new mirror and light fixture ready to be put in as soon as I patch up the wall and do a bit of painting.  I can't wait til it's all done!  I promise to post pics once it's all done!

Nathania

How does your garden grow?

I HATE slugs!!!  They gross me out soooo much. Besides being nasty and being way too fond of my lettuce why do they have to be so slimy!!! Yuck!!  I removed 10 of them from one of my poor plants....not sure if it will make a comeback but at least they have left the rest of my veggies alone. I remembered that I had purchased some Escar-Go (slug bait) last year so I dug it out and applied it liberally. Hopefully it saves my last lettuce plant!  My other plants are doing well and slug free :)! I just got my first zucchini of the summer and my squash are starting to grow!!! Yay!!

As you can see I have enough kale for a long time!! 

 I'm going to have to come up with a few more recipes than kale chips and boerekol to use it all up!

My sugar snap peas are huge this year and super tasty! 

Aria agrees as well and was eating them like candy!

Flowers from my garden

(delphinium, peony's and yarrow)

Nathania