I always test any diy products I blog about on here.  This one received the longest test yet – almost 2 years.  I love this deodorant.  It’s super easy to make and so freakin’ cheap!  It smells good and is not going to give me cancer.  (*bonus*)  I decided to try this almost 2 years ago because I was so tired of buying expensive deodorant!

Like anything, there are pros and cons to this deodorant.

Pros:

• inexpensive
• easy
• smells good
• healthy

Possible Cons (depending on your preferences):

• NOT an antiperspirant (so you will still sweat)
• application is with fingers not a deodorant stick
• gets a little “melty” in high heat
• there are concerns about the cornstarch causing yeast infections – I have never had a problem.

Here is the original link where I found the ingredients:

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2010/04/how-to-make-your-own-deodorant.html

After reading the ingredients and being unsuccessful in my attempts to find Arrowroot powder in a “normal” grocery store, I decided to take the original poster’s advice and use cornstarch.

Here is my recipe:

Now because this is not an antiperspirant and you will still sweat, you will have some discoloration in your clothing (armpit areas).  This will not be the yellow discoloration caused by many antiperspirants!  This is from sweat, not the deodorant itself!  If you need a way to get rid of those stains, check out my favorite stain pre-treater!  I use this and it works awesomely!

http://justalittlebs.com/2011/12/01/homemade-stain-treater/

I truly love this deodorant!  It lasts for roughly 5 months so it is an awesome money-saver and totally healthy!  Plus I don’t have to remember to buy it every two weeks at the grocery store which is such a plus for me since I can’t even remember what day of the week it is.

Here’s to smelling yummy for only pennies!

I do my best baking when the girls have sleepovers.  Any other Saturday morning, you can usually find me snuggled under a blanket with a child or two with a warm cup ‘o joe.  (Unless I’m already out at the soccer field or at the volleyball courts which has also been known to happen ~also, with a warm cup ‘o joe.)

This morning my daughter and her friend Maddie requested cinnamon rolls.  I went to my trusted source, The Pioneer Woman, but she makes the real deal which requires lots of time spent waiting for the dough to rise.  So I googled “EASY cinnamon rolls” which took me to this website:

http://centercutcook.com/fast-and-easy-cinnamon-rolls/

Within 2 hours, I had baked yummy gooey cinnamon rolls, eaten one of the delectable delights, and cleaned up all the dishes.  Oh I lie; I lie, lie, lie.  The dishes are still sitting in the sink!  But seriously, from start to licking-my-fingers-finish, this just took a little over an hour.

I know this recipe may seem a bit daunting, but really it’s not.  The directions are more of a guideline.  Your cinnamon roll will probably not be rolled up super tight and you will have a mess of cinnamon, sugar, flour, dough, etc. all over the counter (and possibly your floor, ahem) but they will still taste delicious!  I don’t even have a rolling pin; I used a wine bottle (somehow I have a few of those).  And even with all these distractions (aka kids) around, I had these rolls in the oven within 30 minutes.

TOTALLY worth the mess.  I WILL be making these again! Quite possibly, at the next sleepover.

I bought a TUB of vanilla protein powder.  A TUB.

So…I’ve been perusing Pinterest’s plethora of smoothie recipes that use vanilla protein powder, and found this one.  Here’s the original source:  http://social.popsugar.com/Orange-Creamsicle-Smoothie-23713597

YUMMY.

Enjoy!

I had a 4lb. pork roast calling to me from the refrigerator.

“Get out the crock pot!

I’m easy to make!

Look up a new recipe before you drown me in that spaghetti sauce!”

And then a random sighting on Pinterest led to this pin entitled “Clean Eating” with a beautiful picture of a pulled pork sandwich.  Clean eating, you say?  I always practice this!  I make sure I my hands are clean before I eat.  The dishes upon which I heap my food are mostly clean.  And the table at which I sit…well, it’s occasionally clean.  I think that counts for something.

My point is this:  I am sure “clean eating” is some incredibly focused, healthy way to approach food in one’s life.  For me, it was a pretty picture and an easy recipe for which I had all the ingredients on hand!  And with a 4 lb. roast getting ready to turn on me (much like my used-to-be-sweet 12 year old daughter these days), I was ready to join the clean movement!  (the eating movement?)  Anyway…

Here is the original link and recipe from a lovely site called “The Gracious Pantry.”

http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-slow-cooker-pulled-pork-sandwiches/

I made two changes due to ingredients not in my pantry – the nerve!  AND I did not serve mine with a bun (because I’m clean eating, don’t you know?!).  Ok, I had no buns.

“Yes, we have no bananas…we have no bananas today…”

BUT I made mashed potatoes!  (I did scrub them thoroughly first…)

AND I cut up strawberries as a side.  (This isn’t really part of the recipe, but I just wanted my mom to know that I served a well-rounded meal.  Hi, Mom!)

The original recipe said this made 20 servings.  Mine made enough to feed my family of 7 (3 of whom eat like fairly normal adults) with 2 or 3 servings leftover.   So maybe this is part of the “clean eating” thing?  Perhaps I didn’t wash my hands well enough.

Super easy.

Super delicious.

I’m making this one again.

Maybe next time I’ll get some buns AND mop the floor first.  Maybe.

My kids LOVE St. Patrick’s Day.  And by LOVE, I mean they create these intricate little traps for leprechauns consisting of  old paper towel and toilet paper rolls, markers, shoe boxes, spaghetti sauce jars, and other small nuisances crafting goodies.

I cannot stand this.  It drives me crazy.  The “leprechaun” is expected to stomp through these traps (gently so as not to create tears the next morning) ALMOST getting caught by the brilliant contraptions.  Then because he is so impressed by their craftsmanship and cleverness, he leaves gold coins and chocolate for the children.

Are you kidding me?

Do I not have enough pressure in my life?  I mean…I have to remember every child I bring every place I go.  I have to remember that the laundry in the chute will not clean itself.  I have to remember that everyone will be hungry around 6:00 pm and go-gurts and/or half-rotten apples will not suffice.  My brain is FULL.

AND I have a child with a birthday on St. Patrick’s Day.  I thought that this might ease the pressure ordained by those darn leprechaun traps, but that just isn’t the case.  My children can’t remember their multiplication tables or that they should never wear orange shirts with red pants, but they ALWAYS remember to build their leprechaun traps.

*sigh*

Enough complaining.

I found this great idea on Twitter and I am going to make these for my little leprechaun-fans.  I might even add a bit of green food coloring…

…if I remember.

I found the recipe here:  http://www.ezrapoundcake.com/archives/19887

I’m off to investigate the stench coming from the laundry chute and see what I can create for tonight’s dinner.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Ok, so these are not the healthiest or the granola-iest…but they are moderately healthy and extremely yummy!!  I adapted a recipe I found on www.themarathonmom.com .

** Here are the alterations I made:

The original recipe called for 2 Tablespoons of wheat germ instead of the ground flax seed.  I didn’t have any wheat germ or I might have done a tablespoon of each.

The original recipe also called for 1/2 cup of coconut which I would have LOVED, but I wanted my kids to actually eat these and they won’t touch it with coconut in it!

I plan to try these with almond butter so my peanut-allergic son can enjoy these next time.

I cut mine into bars, wrapped them in foil, and put them in the snack drawer in the refrigerator.  They were gone in two days.

Enjoy!

So I am about to share the secret to the softest, most delectable chocolate chip cookies I have ever made:

Cornstarch.

Seriously.  Such a cheap, forgotten ingredient that creates such chewy delectable joy and delight.

When my daughter’s teacher reminded me that I had signed up to make cookies for her fourth grade class Valentine’s Day party, I asked my daughter which cookie she wanted me to bake.  She said,  ”Duh, Mom…your soft chocolate chip cookies.”  (And then she rolled her eyes, spun around with her soccer ball at her feet, and dribbled off…she really loves me, that one.)

But although these chocolate chip cookies are a little ball of heaven on their own, I wanted to dress them up purty for the special day.  So with my daughter’s permission (given as she was practicing juggling her soccer ball off her head, her feet, the living room ceiling fan) I decided to give the cookies a little white chocolate bath and prettify them with Valentine sprinkles.

This is the result:

Fancy Schmancy Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will include my recipe for the chocolate chip cookies below, but to add the white chocolate beauty is very simple.  I just  put 2 cups white chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl, added 2 Tb. vegetable oil, and set the microwave for 1 minute at 70% power.  After that, just stir until completely melted and mixed.  Then I just dipped the cooled cookie in halfway, set it on parchment paper and immediately sprinkled on the all-important Valentine pinks and reds.

Just imagine what white chocolate creations you could make!  You could dip fruit, rice krispie treats, potato chips…

My kids LOVED these and as impressive as they may look, are really super easy.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I blame my good friend Trish.

It all started at Friday morning’s bible study with the seemingly innocent question, “Who wants Chipotle?”  When I hesitated for frugal and caloric reasons, my friend Trish insisted that I wanted it and proceeded to place my order.  (Arm twisted.)  In a very disciplined manner, I cut my fat juicy barbacoa burrito in half, placed the other half in the refrigerator for Saturday’s lunch, and began to knosh on the goodness and joy that is a Chipotle burrito.  All seemed well.

And then 4:00 hit.  That 4:00 monster that gnaws at my innards and demands irrational things like Lucky Charms, leftover half-eaten doughnuts, and yesterday – the remainder of my Chipotle burrito.  My husband was going to be home late from work and wanted to have pizza as a family when he was home, and so the rationalization began.

“I’ll just eat what’s left of my burrito now, and won’t eat pizza later with the family.”

“It’s healthier than pizza anyway; just look at all this corn and these tomatoes (wrapped up in all that sour cream).”

“Num-num-num-gnosh…”

I finished the other half even though I wasn’t THAT hungry.  (I just couldn’t rationalize putting 1/4 of the burrito back in the refrigerator.)   And then I felt extremely full-to-the-point-of-almost-bursting for the next several hours as I transported 5 children to an indoor soccer game, entertained them and mopped up their spilled water, and transported them home.

The good news is I didn’t eat any pizza.  I drank one glass of wine and called it a night.

The bad news is I was starving by 7 a.m.

Starving + Pinterest = this:

Baking bread

Amish Cinnamon Bread and Super Moist Banana Bread.

Prepared, mixed, and baked by 10:30 a.m.

Thankfully, I have 5 kids around to help with the bread “disposal.”  (You can see from the picture that they’ve already started.)  But even with their help, I have a feeling it’s going to be a long, delicious day.

And it’s ALL Trish’s fault.  ;)

(Recipes follow.)

I received a sewing machine from my parents for Christmas 2011.  I was so excited to use it that it sat in the box, unopened, until November 2012!  Whoops!  Actually, I was excited to have my own sewing machine.  I had recently recovered some living room pillows which cheaply changed the look of my entire living room!  I was inspired to see what other frugal fun I could have with sewing.  Although I’m not an expert seamstress by any means, I know my way around the basics of a sewing machine thanks to the summer that my mom signed up my sister and I to take a sewing class with a local seamstress.

Christmas 2012.  I decided to put my sewing to the test and make some “unpaper towels” for gifts for some of my friends and family.  I had seen these on Pinterest, and loved the idea for 3 main reasons:

1.  They were “green” a.k.a. environmentally friendly, which is very important to some of my family members in particular.

2.  They were fun.  I could personalize them to match their personalities, their styles, their kitchens.

3.  They were inexpensive.  Fabric is very affordable and the biggest cost was my time which I donated willingly!

I LOVE the way these turned out!  I made some with snaps so they could be placed on a paper towel holder like a true roll of towels.  I made some without snaps for those who keep their kitchen towels/rags in a drawer instead of in the open.  AND I have made myself some with the leftover material!

Here is the tutorial I referred to as I made my towels.  It was incredibly helpful and informative!

http://www.sewastraightline.com/2010/04/rolled-kitchen-towels-tutorial-and.html

**One thing I changed from the original tutorial was instead of buying expensive terrycloth, I bought inexpensive bath towels.  And for the unpaper towels I made for myself, I just cut up my old bath towels that were starting to rip and get holes anyway!

And here is a sample of one of my towels – aren’t those chicks cute and kitschy?!  I gave these to my book club friends because… well,  they’re my chicks, ya know?

Unpaper Towels

Finally, I discovered an added bonus to these gifts.  As I was creating the unpaper towels for my friends and family, I was thinking about them a lot.  As I washed and ironed and pinned and sewed, I prayed for them.  I prayed for their marriages, their families, their workplaces…their hearts.  It was an amazing way to feel connected with some of the people who mean the most to me.  And it actually turned out to be a gift to me as well.

So there is one thing my family is not great at – sending birthday gifts on time.  I could use the excuse that my sisters and their families live SO far away (Colorado and Minnesota), and I could use the excuse that I have a lot on my plate at my own humble abode, and I could even use the excuse that I like to see their faces when they receive a gift in person…but in reality, I just hate going to the post office.  Ok, so that’s not the only reason, but unfortunately it’s near the top of the list.

But the fun part of this is that because we all know this about each other, it stretches out the gift-giving and gift-receiving (hence, the BIRTHDAY!) for a loooong time, and is actually even more fun when we do finally send or receive our gifts!  So with that big ‘ol disclaimer:  I just gave my sister Jen some birthday cookies when she was home in November.  That’s right, FEBRUARY birthday cookies.  Oh don’t worry…I didn’t bake them in February!  (Or maybe I did and ate them before I could mail them??  That would make a better story, wouldn’t it?!)

But these February-November cookies were (in my estimation) worth the wait.

Salted Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies

YUM.

In fact, my sister said she may take them to a “gourmet” cookie exchange one of her friends is hosting.  Now if that isn’t a compliment, I’m not sure what is!

I found the recipe on Pinterest, from a website called The Diary of Dave’s Wife.  Here is the link:

www.thediaryofdave’swife.com

I followed the recipe exactly except instead of buying the “caramel bits” I just used regular old caramels and chopped them into 4 pieces until I had enough to fill 1 cup.  I chopped up my pretzels using a food processor.  I also used stale pretzels and they turned out fine.  (Someday I may write a post about how my husband never finishes his food.  He leaves 2 inches of any food or beverage in the bottom of the bag, bottle, can, etc.  Oy vey.)  Also, on one batch I forgot to sprinkle the salt on top of the cookie dough and (gasp!) they still turned out delicious!

This is an easy cookie to make, delicious to eat, and impressive to share.  POI-FECT!