Make your own Goo Gone

I have used goo gone for a while now- to get the sticky labels off of jars & it works, but it is so stinky... and probably toxic- so when I found this great idea--- I thought I'm going to try it. 

its easy & really works.  Just mix equal amounts of coconut oil and baking soda.  I put the jar of coconut oil in a pan of water on the stove & heat it up until it's liquid- then measure it out and mix the soda into it.  Then when you need it, just scoop a bit out and rub it on- and wash off. 

Here is a brand that we like on amazon

Peppermint Chex-Mix

Hi!! It's been a few days since you've heard from me, I wish I could say it's because I've been away on a SUNNY WARM island!!  But it's just been a busy, crazy week... I want to be done with all my Christmas shopping by the 30th of November- and I'm almost there-  

 A few posts ago I showed you some pictures from our Christmas Party last year, and this was one of the things I said I would share the "how to's" on.  It's our favorite!  Peppermint Chex-mix... so here you go, it's very easy and oh so good!  

I like to embellish it a bit for presentation, so in the recipe when you add the last 1/2 of the peppermint- I also add some red & green sprinkles too. Then when you put it in your serving dish- put a few red & green gum drops & round peppermints on top... and you have a great little treat that says ENJOY!!

Storing Potatoes

I just went and bought some potatoes & onions from a local farmer-- we stock up on them every winter. Right now they are still in the bags in the garage, but soon I will take them out of the bags and pour them into lrg. plastic milk crates- I like to store them this way because the crates have holes in them to allow air flow & you can stack them 2 or 3 high.  Here is a trick to help keep potatoes from budding- just place a couple of apples in with them- it works like magic!  

Happy Tuesday... if you have any great tips, please share... I would love to post them for others to use!!

Heaven in a cup!!

Have you tried the Steven's Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa Mix? If you haven't- RUN now to the store and get some!  My friend Lisa introduced me to this a week ago & it is soooo YUMMY!

I have a couple of recipes for homemade pumpkin spice drinks, but this is so simple & quick!  Then if you want to step it up a notch...

get you some of these little babies!!  I will be honest, I hadn't tried them before- and the day after Halloween we went shopping for (more candy) - go figure :) but it was 50% off so hey, of course you need it!! LOL anyway my friends told me I had to try these- so I bought a couple of bags.  And you guessed it.... I put a couple into my Pumpkin Spice drink & oh my it was a little bit of heaven.

So wonderful that I decided to put the cocoa mix & the kisses in 2 jars that are very conveniently on my counter... calling my name!!  But I am happy to say that I have limited myself to 1 cup a day!!  So heat you up a cup of water or milk, add the pumpkin spice mix, drop in 1 or 2 pumpkin spice kisses, add a squirt of whipping cream and a sprinkle of nut meg -- sit back and relax!! The only thing that makes it better is to be all cozied up by the fireplace- sipping it with the people you love the most!! I love fall - ENJOY! 

T-Shirt Scarfs

A few weeks ago me and a couple of my friends stopped at the DI to pick up some t-shirts.... let me show you what we made with them!!

first lay your t-shirt out on a cutting board- then with the rotary cutter, cut pieces 1 inch wide.  Please note that we learned the hard way.... the best shirts to get are: large or xtra large- use ones WITHOUT any side seams.

as you can see you will get about 18 pieces per shirt.
Once you have them all cut.... 

take each one and wrap around your thumbs like this...and pull outward, as you pull it tight they will curl up like a rope

you can store them like this on a hanger... and interchange the colors you want to match what you're wearing 

these are the colors we did today, I'm on the look out for a burnt orange & mustard yellow to add for fall. If you look close on the olive green colored one you can see tiny knots... this is what I decided to do with the one shirt that I bought with side seams- the seams don't curl, so I cut the piece where the seam was and then tied it back together with a small double knot.  I like the look of a few of them mixed in. So get a trip to the DI planned soon or better yet, raid your closet & use those old t-shirts to make some cute scarfs.  Then when your husband asks you if you have seen his favorite old shirt you can say-- I'm wearing it doesn't it look great!! LOL 

How to clean up all that GLITTER

Tis the season for all that SPARKLE!!! And I'll admit it- I do love the glitter- but oh how I don't like having it all over EVERYTHING!!!  And cleaning it up for months!!

So today I am going to give you a great tip... when you need to clean the sparkle up, grab this!!!

yep.. a lint roller!!!  It works like magic!

so the next time you have the glitter mess.. grab your lint roller & clean it up in a jiffy!!!  I've never tried it on my face, but there's an idea! It seems like I WEAR as much as I use!  LOL

Cinnamon Rolls you can Freeze

I have been doing a lot of freezer meals and I love them. I have been searching for a great cinnamon roll recipe that I can freeze. I have tried a bunch of different recipes and decided to combine some of them that I like.

Makes 3 dozen cinnamon rolls
Dough
-4 cups of warm milk (I used 1%)
-4 Tbsp of yeast
-6 cups of whole wheat flour
-6 cups of white flour
-4 eggs
-1 cup sugar
-4 tsp salt
-1 cup shortening

Warm 4 cups of milk in microwave for about 2 mins. Mix together all ingredient except 6 cups of flour (I used 6 cups of my whole wheat flour first).

Stir in the remaining 6 cups of flour. Once all mixed you may need to add some more flour if it still is sticky.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Spray a oven save bowl with cooking spray, and play dough in bowl. When oven is preheated, turn oven off and play bowl in oven. Let dough rise for about 20-30 mins depending on your oven.

When dough has risen, punch it down. Sprinkle flour on counter and place dough on counter. Roll dough into a rectangle.

Next take a stick of butter or margarine (make sure it's at room temperature so it's easy to spread) and whip it until smooth. Spread it all over the dough. Try not to get too close to the edges.

Take some cinnamon sugar and brown sugar and sprinkle all over. I really don't use any measurements on this part, I just estimate. You may also add at this time raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, crushed candy bars or anything you want.

 Next you want roll up your dough. Try to roll really tight.

Mark about 1 inch lines at the top of your dough so you know where to cut it. My mother-in-law told me to cut my cinnamon rolls with floss, and it works AMAZING!!

Now is the time where you can bake all your cinnamon rolls, freeze them or half and half.

To serve: Let the cinnamon rolls rise for about 30-35 mins. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake them for 15-20 mins depending on your oven

To freeze: Take the unbaked cinnamon rolls and place them on a baking sheet and freeze them for about an hour. When they are done you may place them in one gallon freezer baggies. Label the bag- Put frozen cinnamon rolls on a sprayed baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap place in oven overnight.  In the morning, preheat oven 375 degrees F and bake for 15-18 mins depending on your oven.

While the cinnamon rolls are baking you can make the frosting.
-3 oz of cream cheese (room temperature)
-1/4 butter
-1 cup powered sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract ( I have use almond and lemon extract too)
-1 tsp of milk

Take cream cheese and blend until smooth. Then add the butter and blend until smooth. Add milk, vanilla, and powered sugar until creamy. You might have to add more milk depending on the consistency you want.

I hope you enjoy these delicious cinnamon rolls just like my family does!!!