One Lovely Blog :)

Kelli at Outside My Kitchen Window, Amy at Keeping up with the Schultz Family Becca at Becca's Backyard and Angie who has a ton of blogs, one being From Pigpen To Paradise have presented me with the One Lovely Blog Award. You can see I'm a little behind on these...



Here are the rules if you want to pass along the award:
1. Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you've newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

**I know some of you have already received this - Just want you to know I love your lovely blogs as well :)

The Work of Childhood
A Mommy's Adventures
Live Life Simply
Jolly Mom - her Craft Site!

A Little Fun With Me and Lu
Adventures of a Flake
A Wednesday Afternoon
Hand Me My Apron - go see the ice cream bucket casserole tip!
Psalm 104:24
Mother Is Not Concerned
There is no place like home - she has great paper crafting ideas on Wednesdays!
Frugal Femina - The Way To a Man's Heart carnival is fun :)

Homeschool Creations

Bonus! Smoothies Ahead!

There was a huge box sitting on our doorstep yesterday. I swore to my husband that I had not ordered anything so we couldn't wait to see what arrived. We tore it open (literally) to find these awesome surprises! A few weeks back someone from Chiquita Smoothies contacted me about sending some smoothie related items. Woo Hoo! How did they know my food processor has to be specially rigged to work? I am blessed.

I know most of you are thinking, "Why would I need a mix to make a smoothie? They are as simple as it gets." In the next few days I will try them out (can't wait to try the Banana Colada) and let you know!

And just to let you know....playing in the cupboards never gets old. The baby started this mess. The older girls joined right in!

Enjoy your weekend. We are going to the Twins game in Tampa :)

Kid Friendly Friday - Cleaning

Welcome to Kid Friendly Friday where we share anything that is kid related.

Anyone with kids knows the dangers of chemicals around the house. I'm sharing two things that seriously limit the cleaning products you need to have around.

The book Organic Housekeeping by Ellen Sandbeck is a great resource for non-toxic cleaning. I was able to find it at my library. I'm sure most of you already know that vinegar is one serious all purpose cleaner. I have used it in the past but needed the reminder. I have used an already prepared spray to clean my fruits and veggies but this stuff can be expensive. Instead, spray the food with vinegar and then with hydrogen peroxide. Two spray bottles and a bottle of each vinegar and hydrogen peroxide is less than one bottle of the prepared spray. Plus, you can use your vinegar to clean pretty much everything. Did you know that instead if Jet Dry, you can pour vinegar into the rinse dispenser in your dish washer for sparkly dishes? Lots of other quick, easy, and non-toxic tips in this book! Less chemicals = happier me.

Last week I gathered up all my Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards and bought a steam cleaner. I had seen them on many blogs lately - product giveaways do work, and no, I am not getting anything for this plug of their product :) I have mostly tile floors in the house and a crawling baby. I need these floors clean but don't want baby crawling all over harsh chemicals either!

The beauty of the steam cleaner is

1. You are using only water, no cleaners

2. The steam is hot enough to disinfect

3. The pads that are used get thrown in the washing machine - so no waste!

4. Easy, quick and does the job fantastically

Sherry at A Little Fun With Me and Lu is starting a Kids in the Kitchen carnival on Thursdays starting in a few weeks. She cooks a dessert with her daughter every Wednesday (go see) and has inspired me to cook with my girls more often. Start getting those little aprons out!

Enter your own Kid Friendly Friday post into Mr. Linky below (just click on the Mr. Linky box and he'll come up in another screen). Recipes, reviews, crafts...you name it. Come back to see what other great ideas are posted. Thank you for participating ~ Enjoy your weekend.

Thousand Word Thursday

This short week really has me out of sorts. My computer has been acting funny and Mr. Linky (for me with the cheapy membership) is still not working. Not sure if we'll be able to use it for tomorrow's Kid Friendly Friday. I still have not gotten to look at the posts from last Friday because I was out of town for the weekend. I can't even get it together enough today to think of three random things with Michelle over at Psalm 104:24

The endless rainy days (thank you!) must be making this little guy happy. I picked up the plants a few years ago from FreeCycle and finally one has potential!! Isn't he adorable??

Cheaper Than Therapy holds A Thousand Word Thursday each week. Go visit to check out other pictures!

Cute Site

It turns out that most of you are like me (the ones that comment anyway)...jeans, tee, flip flops....Kara suggested this site....I wanted to pass it along because it made me laugh!

Kara has left a new comment on your post "Aloha Friday - Fashion Inept Mom Seeking Advice :)...":

Like most of the commenters, my closet is full of jeans and long sleeved t-shirts in a variety of colors. :) Then occasionally I need something fancy and I panic. This blog is fun - "How to Not Dress Like a Mom"

http://nomoremomjeans.blogspot.com/

Tempt My Tummy - Roasted Eggplant Dip

Hello Everyone! We spent the long weekend at the beach (beautiful!) so there is now some catching up to do :) Last week I made hummus after reading about Michelle's hummus and it was amazing. As luck would have it, I had an eggplant (and everything else on hand) AND just received this hummus-y recipe from Everyday Foods.....yummy AND easy!

Roasted Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant
4 garlic cloves (skin on)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons tahini

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

paprika, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 425. Place eggplant and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet and rub with 2 tablespoons oil. Roast until garlic is soft and golden. Remove garlic and set aside. Continue roasting eggplant until soft and deflated - 20 to 25 minutes more. Let cool 20 minutes.

2. Slice eggplant open and scrape flesh into a food processor. Peel garlic and add to bowl, along with lemon juice, tahini, salt and 2 tablespoons oil. Process until smooth.

Can be refrigerated up to 2 days. Serve drizzled with more oil and sprinkle of paprika. Great on pita wedges, pita chips, or crackers.

Enjoy!

Visit Blessed with Grace for more Tempt My Tummy recipes!

Take Me Back 80's

*****EDIT*****LOL - I originally put 1993...1994...etc. but this is for SURE the 80's!!!

Welcome to Take Me Back Tuesday! You can participate and/or check out other Take Me Back Tuesday posts at A Giveaway Addicted Mommy.

This is me and my (still) good friends Andrea and Lori. This must have been right after Christmas because we got Cabbage Patch Kids. 1983 - Third grade. The jacket I am wearing EVERYONE had in our small town. If you were a kid, you had a "Packer Jacket" with the flap in the back (guys jackets didn't have the flap but a maroon and gold collar) and your name embroidered on the front. In high school you just moved on to a nicer quality jacket which had your letters on it. Andrea (top picture) moved to Texas when we were younger so she was exempt :) The picture with Lori was on our way to Winter Carnival festivities. Fun stuff!

This picture, which is 1983 or 1984 ( edit...this is 1985 - 5th grade), is the epitome of 80's elementary school fashion. I'm working it ALL here....big bow, springy earrings, layered shirts, polo collar UP, springy bracelets, bandanna around the waist, pin striped pants...which are most likely rolled or pinned tight around the ankles. Make fun all you want - LOL - at least I wasn't in my 20's sporting the same style. I'm sure blue eye shadow would have been involved at that point.