Blog Move

I have decided to move my blog over to wordpress. You can find me at amoonhalffull.com Thanks and Happy New Year!

31 Days of Pinterest, Day #4: Freezing Cookie Dough

I was introduced to a delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. While it claims to be the "best ever", I can't really say that it is any better than the Toll House recipe we all know and love. I whipped up a batch of dough to bake and knew that I would want to take some cookies later in the week to my son's gymnastic teacher, Ms. Sarah. I also knew that with myself being the household "cookie monster", cookies would not last until the appropriate day. I decided to try freezing the dough. The whole process was really easy. I baked up some cookies straight from the freezer today. They turned out just as promised, delicious.

31 days of Pinterest: Day # 3 - Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

Like I said before, these 31 days of Pinterest trials are going to take a while since I am not forcing myself to complete this goal in a strict timeframe. Tonight I made Vegetarian Quinoa Chili. I found it a few nights ago when I was trying to make a meal from food I already had around the house. The amazing thing is, I had most of the veggies for this recipe already in the fridge. I had bought these veggies a few weeks ago in hopes to make another recipe, but I was lazy and let them sit and nearly rot. They needed to be used really soon.

While I had the veggies, I was missing the proper amount of canned tomatoes, so I wasn't able to cook this recipe until I went grocery shopping. I decided to prep the veggies so that they were ready to go, I am trying to be a better time manager. After cutting all the veggies, I realized I had enough for two batches. I put half the cut vegetables in the freezer to be used when I make this recipe again and the other half in the fridge in preparation for tonight. Feeling extra great about my freezer these days. Helping me save money and time.

This chili recipe is super easy. Having most the prep work done ahead of time made it that much easier, of course. The results were delicious. A hearty, healthy chili. I will make this again and not just because I already have the veggies cut in the freezer ready to go, that is just an extra bonus.

31 Days of Pinterest, Day #2: Cleaning with White Vinegar

I love buying cleaning supplies. I guess I think that I will find that ONE product that will make my heart sing and inspire me to clean, clean, clean. The same is true about Pinterest. I love pinning those cleaning tips but as I have found, no matter how many solutions I pin, my house won't become clean unless I actually clean it. In looking for homemade natural cleaning products, vinegar is the main star. Today I tried two of my "vinegar" pins.

The first is really simple, using white vinegar to clean and disinfect the bath toys. Here is the original link. I loosely followed the directions. I filled the baby's tub with water and dumped in some vinegar, I didn't measure so I have no idea how much I used. I then dumped the bath toys in. We didn't have any toys that were too terrible, just a few cups that had soap scum in the bottoms. The vinegar plus some wiping with a sponge got the toys clean and sparkling. I got an added bonus in using the baby tub as a receptacle in which to soak the toys. It is now clean too.

I also made my own spray shower cleaner. You can find the directions here. I didn't have any Dawn so I used what I had on hand, some kind of eco-friendly dish soap from Costco. I figured it was worth a shot. The recipe couldn't be easier, equal parts vinegar and dish soap combined in a spray bottle. The vinegar had to be heated first in the microwave. Not sure how important this step was except for maybe in helping the two ingredients mix together easier.

Now my shower stall was cleanish thanks to yesterday's cleaning experiments, however the walls of the shower were really covered with soap scum. The Magic Eraser didn't really work as effortlessly as I had hoped on this portion of the shower. I need something that will practically clean itself with minimal scrubbing on my part. I sprayed this stuff on the walls of the shower and let it sit. I scrubbed a bit and rinsed. I noticed a major difference and was really encouraged. I did have to reapply and repeat due to the deferred maintenance of my shower. I was able to get a sparkling shower stall without scrubbing like a maniac. I did get an old toothbrush and gave the tougher areas a once over, seriously I brush my teeth with more aggression than I scrubbed the shower, and everything came off. Amazing!  I would say it works as well if not better than any commercially prepared natural product. It is definitely cheaper. It even works as well as bleach based shower sprays. I loved that I didn't have to fear for my lungs or that I was going asphyxiate myself from the caustic fumes. Best of all, I could clean effectively while my kids were around, again without fear of the toxic chemicals.

I am falling in love with white vinegar. Too bad the smell isn't that pleasant. In this recipe, the dish soap does a good job of diluting the vinegar smell, but it isn't 100%. I could stand the smell, perhaps I don't even mind it, but my husband is really bothered by the scent of vinegar. I hope he gets used to it because I have found my new favorite cleaning ingredient.

31 Days of Pinterest, Day #1: Cleaning the Shower. Borax and Magic Eraser

When I first joined Pinterest, I have to admit I didn't get what all the fuss was about. Once I joined, all of a sudden people started "following" me. I still didn't get it. After poking around a bit, I started to get the hang of it. I discovered the coolness that is Pinterest. Like a friend said, it is like shopping without spending money. I love pinning. I collect recipes, cleaning tips, craft projects, and home decorating ideas. I have about five different theme parties in the works. I will probably never be able to realize all of them before the kids start picking their own themes, but a lady can dream.

I have now come to realize the danger that is Pinterest. Spending so much time repinning and not taking any time to actually use the good ideas that I have found. I have decided that I need to redeem my time spent on Pinterest by trying out the various tips and tricks. I want to try 31 pins. They may or may not be on consecutive days. I am setting no strict timeline. I am giving myself a pass on this one and will be happy to just accomplish any goal. The easiest and most practical to start off with is cleaning. I am in search of effective natural/non toxic cleaning solutions. Let me just say, since having the babies, it has been a constant struggle to clean the house. I am in process of establishing a routine but that is another post entirely.

My shower has been needing some attention for a while. It was in a dire disgusting condition hence no before pictures. I have too much pride, or perhaps shame, to post that. Which then rules out the need for after pics as well, nothing to compare it to so what is the point?! We'll see, maybe I will be so thrilled that I will want to show off my sparkling shower stall.

The first cleaning recommendation I decided to try was Borax. It is simple, cheap and has been around forever. I used it to scrub the shower floor. I have to say it worked as well if not better than a bleach based scouring powder. I was impressed with how easily the grime was removed and with minimal effort. In the end, there was a bit of muck left in the crevices of the patterned shower floor. It would have come up with a bit of elbow grease, but I wanted to find the easiest way to remove it. I decided to try a "Magic Eraser" on this remaining stuff. It came up easily. This is awesome because even with Comet, I have to scrub those crevices with a toothbrush to get them clean. I am impressed. Effective cleaning with no fumes. I guess technically this is two tips, but I'm sure my boards are overflowing with ideas and I will have a surplus to try. I am looking forward to possibly having a clean house in the end.

Our Little Ladybug

I wanted to make a ladybug costume for our baby girl. I figured a regular pattern made with a print that resembled a ladybug would work. I used McCalls pattern 5610. It was fairly easy to make, although I realized that my garment making skills were rusty. I learned some things and plan on sewing more clothes for this little peanut. I will get plenty of practice. I had read some reviews of the pattern that said the bloomers were too puffy. I found them delightful, super cute and yes, puffy. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the bloomers. I love that this is more of a pants and top outfit as opposed to a dress and panty. From what I hear, dresses are a real frustration when it comes to crawling. Baby girl isn't crawling yet but will be soon enough. This top is short enough to stay out of the way while crawling and yet frilly enough to be girly. I will be making this pattern again.

I started this pattern at the beginning of October and should have made the next size up. By the time Halloween arrived, I had to squeeze the little miss into the top. She looked adorable. The antennae, purchased from the pet department, really made the costume.

The Boy's Garbage Truck Costume

I am not an innovator. Every time I think I have an original idea, one Google search shows that 5 other people had the idea before me. Such is the case with my son's Halloween costume. You see, he is obsessed with “trash trucks”. I thought, why not make a garbage truck costume for him. A quick internet search showed me several examples of what I was aiming for. Glue gun in hand and a large selection of cardboard boxes, I got started. Once I found the properly proportioned cardboard box, the hopper portion of the truck was really simple to shape. To create the beveled edges of the hopper, I used the pre existing creases that form the box bottom and top. I cut a couple inches off each flap, both top and bottom, to make more space for the torso and the legs.

One of the outstanding Google-garbage-truck-costume-pioneers had drawn diagrams of their costume design and shared it on their blog. While I didn't use their method for the hopper, I did follow their pattern for the cab and the built-out portion of the hopper back. I figured, why reinvent the wheel? Especially when that one looked awesome. My husband had the idea to use plastic from a toy package for the windows and windshield. I think the effect is really stunning. I had planned to paint the logos but I ran out of time and ended up printing the WM decals and I found the MACK grill again, thanks to Google. I could have gotten more detailed but again, I ran out of time. The entire costume was made from things we had around the house, except for the paint. In the end. My little guy wasn't over-the-moon with the idea of wearing the costume. He willingly wore it to take pictures and get candy. The toy trash cans, bought on Amazon, really made the costume more appealing to the little guy. I glued a bag in the trash truck in the space behind where the boy was meant to stand. The idea was that he would collect candy in the little can and then dump it over his head and pour the candy into the hopper. THIS aspect of the costume was a hit. Ultimately, I was really surprised by this lack of enthusiasm considering he loves to pretend to be a trash truck. He sets up buckets in the yard and runs a “route” picking up trash. He even makes sound effects complete with hydraulic hisses and beeping when he backs up. It really doesn't matter, because I had so much fun making this costume. It is the first creative project I have done in a while.