31 Days and 33 Pins Later...

January is over!  Even with illnesses and weather in the way I managed to get through 33 pins, albeit some of them were just for research purposes but I thoroughly went through the websites and took notes for future projects.  Here are my projects for the rest of January...

Monday's have been crock pot nights around here because of Derek having swimming lessons.  This makes it easy for me to have dinner ready when they get home and I don't have to worry about making something while I'm home with Brooke.  (dinner time is NOT her best!)  This week I made beer crock pot chicken.  I put a ton more spices in it than it calls for, especially garlic.  I had chicken legs in the freezer so that's what I used.  It calls for pretty much any kind of chicken you have on hand!  And both kids ate it too. WIN!

Brooke rarely takes naps but when she does I like to take advantage of that time by doing something with Derek one on one.  Usually a craft project, playing a game, and some learning.  This week, although Brooke didn't nap, I was still able to do a few things with him.

He LOVES cars.  So I made a track around the house using painters tape. (easily comes off of hardwood floors and carpet).  He had a great time helping me design it and pushing his cars along the track.  He even made another track the next day.  The idea came from here.

After making a craft project one day (using random pieces of paper, crayons, stickers, scissors, and glue), while Brooke was having a snack in the high chair, we did a little scissor practice.  One of the things that he needs to work on is using scissors.  He picked them out himself about a year ago, soon after he turned 3, but we rarely use them.  Until recently his interest in art projects had tapered off.  Now that he is interested again I leave craft supplies out on the kitchen table so he can work on things while I am preparing meals.  To do some scissor practice I printed some pages from this website.  They have straight lines, curved lines, etc. for little ones to practice this skill.  He did much better this time than he did a few months ago when we practiced.

Finally, breakfast for dinner is a favorite around here.  We used to do it every Wednesday but eventually got tired of it.  Now we only do it about once a month.  This week we had pancakes, sausage, and watermelon.  However, I did make some bacon for Derek because in the past he has never liked sausage.  I made him a snowman out of his pancakes and bacon!  I was unable to post the original site where I found this as it has since been blocked on Pinterest, but here is a picture of my final product.  The original uses marshmallows for snow but I only had white chocolate chips. I'm sure you could use raisins and yogurt covered raisins to make it healthier, but that's why I served watermelon with dinner!  haha.

27 Days In...

Well, it's 27 days into 2013.  I was doing pretty well keeping up with completing my "pins", then the family got sick this week.  Knock on wood, I am the only one who stayed healthy.  So the majority of this week was spent cleaning and cleaning and cleaning.  Very few recipes were made and my "day of indoor fun" with my son was postponed due to his recovery from the stomach bug.

These are the very few things I have accomplished in the last 11 days...

I had some bananas that were going bad but I was tired of making banana bread/muffins.  I used this recipe for making banana cookies.  I omitted the orange zest and did not put icing on them.  When my son and I started to make the cookies, we went to add the egg and realized, oops!, no egg.  I happened to see something that I pinned!  Use a banana in place of an egg when baking!  So my cookies ended up with 3 bananas instead of 2 but they tasted just fine!  Bam! 2 pins in one recipe!

That same night for dinner we made pizza.  I made it using a dough recipe that I had pinned and used last year.  (So I can't count it for 2013!)  Pizza dough recipe here.  It uses Greek yogurt and self-rising flour.  That's it!  I added some seasoning to it as well.  It is very sticky and you need to put down quite a bit of flour when rolling it out.  I was able to make 3 batches of dough out of one large container of yogurt.  I wrapped 2 batches in plastic wrap then put them in zipper storage bags with the directions written on them.  In the freezer they went!  Tonight's pizza was made with frozen dough! 

We made individual pizzas using cookie cutters.  We chose to make stars.  The tiny stars only have cheese on them, they are for the baby.  Derek helped "decorate" the pizzas.  A fun dinner for the whole family!

Sticking with the food theme, I rarely make pork for dinner.  I am just not a fan. Bryan likes pork so I have been trying to find some new recipes. This week I tried 6-spice pork tenderloin.  Not bad.  I would make it again.  I found the Chinese 5 spice blend at my grocery store.  It was a little pricey but I have a few recipes that call for it.

I managed to try one more recipe before the craziness started.  I made these oven chicken packs.  They were good and easy.  Also, it would be easy to personalize them for each family member.  I put more food in our packs than in our son's pack.

all of the ingredients in the pack

wrapped up and ready to cook...each pack is labeled so I know who they belong to

finished product yum!

Breakfast is a difficult meal for me. I am usually not hungry until a few hours after I wake up.  And then it's too late to make something.  I also do not like to eat "breakfast food" on a daily basis.  For a while I just made protein shakes because they were fast and I could drink them on the go.  I'm trying to get back to that, when I remember ;)  I could not link this idea but here is a picture of the shake I made.  It was pretty good!

Recipe: Chocolate banana protein shake: 1 scoop chocolate protein, 1 medium banana, 1 cup light soy milk (or unsweetened almond milk), 1 tbsp natural peanut butter. Add a few ice cubes for a smoothie texture.

I was only able to do one craft project.  I made an infinity scarf out of old tee-shirts.  It definitely took longer than the directions said it would though.

the tee shirts I used...I was saving them for some sort of project

the loops

finished product

wearing my creation

I'm hoping to accomplish more this week to finish up my first month.  Now that everyone is healthy it should be doable!

Week 2 1/2 and Already Slacking

Doing one idea a day is challenging.  Or it means mostly just doing the food ideas, which means different meals every night.  This would be fine, if we didn’t have kids.  There is no way my 3 ½ year old will eat a new dinner every night…even most nights.  He likes what he likes.  However, I have still managed to stay ahead of the game.  Today is January 16 and I have 21 pins on the “2013 Projects” board.  Some days I do a few.  Also, I have had a cold for a few days so that made it a little harder to implement some of the fun ideas I have for the kids.

These are some of the things I have completed:

GARDENING: I really want to grow a vegetable garden.  Unfortunately, my yard is full of shade and rocks.  I found a few sites that offer information on growing plants in the shade as well as containers.  Even vegetables.  So I spent some time looking at the sites and taking notes as to what I can do to possibly have a “container vegetable garden” on the deck this year.  These are the sights that I searched:

http://docakilah.wordpress.com/2012/08/22/no-garden-here-are-66-things-you-can-can-grow-at-home-in-containers/

http://www.vegetable-garden-guide.com/how-to-grow-carrots.html

http://www.sunset.com/garden/fruits-veggies/best-crops-for-pots-00400000012139/

GROCERY BUDGET: December was a crazy month with getting ready for Christmas and home improvement projects.  We kind of got off track with meal planning and sticking to our grocery budget.  I needed to get back on track. So just to refresh my memory, and to see if there were any new tips that I didn’t know of, I did some grocery budget research.  These are the sites that I checked out:

http://www.parents.com/blogs/thrifty-frugal-mom/2012/05/03/must-read/4-things-i-do-to-keep-our-grocery-budget-at-200mo-for-a-family-of-four/?socsrc=pmmpin071012GroceryBudget

http://www.grocerybudget101.com/content.php/8-menus?s=785b670f394b48ff1fa2215fea1eb038

ORGANIZATION:  Being a mom I am in my car a lot.  I am driving out son to preschool, our daughter to swim, grocery shopping, story times, mom’s groups, and we take my car on the weekends for family outings.  My car needs to be organized.  The following website has great ideas for organizing the car.  I used some of her ideas, but I still did my own thing.  I used a large tote in the trunk to organize the things I might need.  I have extra clothes for each child, each outfit in a Ziploc bag, then the dirties can go in the bag.  I have extra diapers and wipes for the baby and pull-ups for the older one in case we are out late and he needs to change before bedtime.  There are blankets for each child in the car (so they can keep warm in the winter since they do not wear coats in the car).  In between the car seats is a basket with games and toys for our son so he has things to do if we are on a longer trip.  There is also an old diaper wipe box with snacks in it for him.

Trunk Organization: diapers, wipes, bibs, spoons, blankets, extra clothes for kids, reusable shopping bags

back seat: blankets, basket with car toys, snacks

snack box

There is always trash in my car, from myself or the boy and his snacks.  The idea to use a Cascade dishsoap container for a car trash can was fabulous!  I wrapped mine in colored “duck” tape.  That way it would be easy to wipe clean when food and drink inevitably gets all over it.

Car Trash Can

CROCK POT:  I tried a few different Crock Pot recipes, despite Bryan’s general dislike of the Crock Pot.  I love it and it makes my life easier.  No pictures of any of these meals.

Pork Tenderloin with Apples: http://mycrossfitpaleojourney.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/crockpot-honey-apple-pork-loin/

Crock Pot “Fried” Rice:  I used leftover rice from Chinese take out, zucchini, carrots, onion, and chicken.  Quite tasty!  (We also topped it with Sriracha for spice)

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/05/crockpot-fried-rice-recipe.html

Sausage/Green Beans/Potatoes:  Even the 9 month old ate this!  And the 3 ½ year old at least tried the sausage.  I personally think it could use some more flavor, a little bland, so next time I will add something to it.

http://getcrocked.com/2011/11/23/crock-pot-smoked-sausage-green-beans-and-potatoes/

OTHER:

My family came over for dinner for my mom’s birthday.  Derek asked to make her a cake so we made a yellow cake…from scratch!  First time I have ever done that!  We made a bundt cake and topped it with a chocolate glaze and rainbow jimmies.  This is the recipe we used:

http://www.easy-cake-ideas.com/yellow-cake-recipe.html

Since the baby is 9 months old, we are definitely off of pureed food.  I needed some new ideas on what to give her to eat.  I mostly remember what we gave out son, but the food rules have changed.  Even in the short three years since he was a baby.  This website offers many good ideas for finger foods for little ones.

http://www.ivillage.com/how-feed-baby-finger-foods-babies-love/6-b-404118

Under the Table Hammock:  Thought this would be fun for Derek, I think I need to tie it differently though, he wasn’t really suspended off of the ground.  We tried it quickly one evening so I will have to give it another go.

Under the Table Hammock

40 Must-See Places:  This website lists 40 places to take your kids before they are grown.  It also gives a suggested age.  I was looking for ideas on a place to go on a mini vacation this year.  A few places that I wanted to take my kids were already on this list along with some I had never thought of or even heard about!

http://www.ivillage.com/must-see-places-take-kids-theyre-grown/6-b-454632

Phew!  That was a busy 10 days since my last post.  It may not seem like a big deal, mostly it was just research.  I still used some of my pins to plan for the future!

2013 Goal--To Use My "Pins"

I had my second child in April of 2012 and since then I have been a SAHM.  Over the last year I started getting really into Pinterest.  It has become an addiction.  It’s a great and fast way to find ideas for pretty much anything.  By the end of December, I had 295 recipes on my “Food” board.  I had to break it up and put them onto different boards by type of food.  I was finding it difficult to find recipes that I KNEW I had pinned and sometimes I would repin the same thing because I forgot about it. 

After pinning so many things, (recipes, craft projects, kids projects, etc.), I decided I really wanted to actually DO some of them.  I had created a board called “I DID THIS” to help me keep track of the things I had already done (76 in 2012…I must have joined early in 2012 because I used some ideas for Valentine’s Day), but that wasn’t enough.  So I decided that in 2013, I will do at least one item from one of my Pinterest boards a day.  That’s right A DAY.  That’s (at least) 365 Pinterest projects/ideas that will be accomplished by me this year! 

A new board was created on January 1: “2013 Projects”.  My plan is to repin the things I do onto this board to keep track. 

Below are the things I did from January 1-6.  I have included the link to the website where my pin came from.  I can’t believe I have already done 8 things in 6 days!

Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

http://www.justaddasliceoflove.blogspot.com/2012/04/spinach-and-cheese-lasagna-rolls.html

We also began our “Jar of Happiness” whenever something happy happens, we date it and jot it on a piece of paper and add it to the jar (I am using a Mason jar).  Then on NYE, empty it and read them all!  Hopefully we will keep up with it throughout the year! Unfortunately, I could not include the website for this as it is apparently blocked now.  But here is a picture:

Easy Garlic Chicken   http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-garlic-chicken-5478

Energy Bites—OMG they taste like candy.  So yummy!  They ended up being sticker than I expected but still good.   http://www.inspiringbydesign.com/pt/?id=47574

Easy Taco Casserole  http://www.recipe.com/beef-and-bean-taco-casserole/

PAY DAY...I saw this and thought, hey why not?  Each week of the year you deposit that amount of money into an account.  So this is week one, $1 goes into an account…next week, $2…etc.  Since the pay checks come in weekly, it’ll be easy to remember to transfer the money on Fridays! 

http://www.sistersavealot.com/main-coupons/successfully-save-1378-52-weeks

Healthy Breakfast Cookies—I have made these before but this time I tried them a little differently than how the recipe was written.  I did not add Craisins, and I added cinnamon for flavor.  My 9 month old eats them too!

http://highstyleonasmallbudget.blogspot.com/2012/02/healthy-breakfast-cookies.html

Already Prepared Eggs---Thought this was a great idea for having eggs already cooked for a breakfast sandwich.  Sometimes it’s hard for Bryan to get something together for breakfast, usually cereal or something.  This gives him the option to grab an egg and make a breakfast sandwich at work, or take a couple of them and eat them with some microwavable grits.  I had one this morning and just put it on a bagel with a piece of cheese, microwaved for 30 seconds and it was tasty. I just did eggs with s/p, no veggies (this time).  oops! Forgot to take a picture of this one!

http://www.amyskitchencreations.blogspot.com/2012/05/eggs-for-breakfast-sandwiches.html