Pinterest Project #23 - Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Another one of my vegetarian freezer dishes is Cheesy Vegetable Chowder. Here's my inspiration. And here's my version:

The chowder includes onion, carrot, zucchini (substituted this for celery), garlic, potatoes and broccoli. For some weird reason, the recipe uses chicken broth, but I used vegetable broth so that it's totally vegetarian. It's really good and pretty hearty too!

Pinterest Project #22 - Wooden Tray

We are in the middle of our family birthday extravaganza (Dad - 4/9, Wayne - 4/16, Mom - 4/30, and me - 5/6). The next project was a gift for my mom's birthday. Here is the inspiration. And here is my version:

I got the unfinished wood tray from Michael's, painted it with one of those small bottles of acrylic paint, and then covered the bottom with Modge Podge over a piece of scrapbook paper. The entire thing is then sprayed with acrylic sealant. Added a box of homemade notecards and had a nice birthday gift for my mom. Happy Birthday, Mom!

Pinterest Project #21 - Turkey Burgers

Let's face it - I often dread dinner time. After working all day, the first thing my 5 year old often blurts out as I am walking in the door is, "What are we having for dinner?" That wouldn't be such a bad question if it wasn't so many times followed by sounds that would make you think that I was forcing him to eat something horribly weird like bugs or something (and, of course, it would be a better question if I could actually put my things down, get his younger brother inside, actually get all the way in the door, pee, etc.). When I saw a recipe for turkey burgers on Pinterest, I jumped for joy for two reasons:

1. Lucky for us, both our boys love grilled hot dogs, so a frequent meal at this house includes hamburgers (for the adults), hot dogs, french fries, and (if I am feeling like I need to make an effort to be somewhat healthy) a veggie or fruit.

2. We don't eat a lot of red meat at home because it's pricey and because our boys don't really like it. So, turkey burgers were a better fit. I could buy ground turkey in bulk and use it for the other recipes that require it, and then freeze everything.

So, here's the inspiration.

And here's the turkey burger all grilled and ready at dinner time tonight:

These burgers are really good, better for you than hamburgers, and contain my favorite toppings (onions and cheese) already!

Pinterest Project #20 - Homemade bubble bath and bath salts

Evan's school is doing a fundraiser at their Spring Fling. Each grade level is responsible for putting together a themed basket that will then be raffled off at the event. The Pre-K basket theme is "Let's Give Mom a Break." Other parents are donating slippers, chocolate, teas, and gift cards for all sorts of things like spa services, manis/pedis, restaurants, hotels, etc. Since my goal for the year is to handmake everything we gift, I decided that this was a perfect opportunity to stretch that goal even to my kids' school events. I thought bath products would fit in with the theme well and since I made bath salts for Valentine's Day (read about that here) that turned out well, I thought I would try some bubble bath.

Here's the inspiration (actually a different recipe than I used the first time!).

And here are my items:

I am throwing in a mesh sponge, exfoliating mesh sponge and 4-in-1 foot wand as well to complete the donation.

Pinterest Project #19 - Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

So I mentioned in the last post that tomorrow (April 9) is my dad's birthday. Tonight I made him some very yummy mint chocolate chip cookies I found on Pinterest.

Here's the inspiration:
http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/mint-chocolate-chip-cookies/22bebeda-ea36-441a-9909-ae78409d6da6

And here are my cookies:

These things are totally delicious! Of course, I share my dad's love of anything mint. But included in these cookies are Andes mint pieces, dark chocolate chips and mint extract. YUM!!!

Pinterest Projects #17 and #18 - Papa's Birthday Gifts

Tuesday is my Dad's birthday. He is totally impossible to buy anything for because he has everything! And in light of my goal to try to make gifts for everyone this year, I decided to try to make him some treats instead of buying something. Dad's favorite treats are pistachios, Twizzlers, and anything mint-related. You'll have to wait until the next post for the mint-related item, but here are his Twizzlers and pistachios...

Inspiration found here:
http://www.thedatingdivas.com/erika/dads-stache/ and http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/14-days-of-valentines-with-free.html

And here are mine:

I found the jar on the left at Hobby Lobby, and it turned out to be the perfect size for a 2 pound bag of Twizzlers. I painted on it with black chalkboard paint (because that's what I had!) using a contact paper stencil that I cut out with my Silhouette. It says "Papa's Stache." Love it! The red and white chevron pattern is from duct tape from the $1 bin at Target. And the jar on the right is just a big mason jar filled with about a pound and a half of pistachios. The sides of the jar are decorated with that same tape, and the gift tag says, "We're nuts about you! Happy Birthday!"

Part 3 of Dad's/Papa's birthday gift will be made tomorrow night and delivered on Tuesday (his actual birthday). Stay tuned....

Pinterest Project #16 - Homemade Laundry Detergent

Making laundry detergent is something I've been interested in doing for a long time (I really like the Duggars, and they make their own detergent!), but the timing just never worked out for whatever reason. But we're almost out of detergent and I need Pinterest projects, so I finally got around to doing it!

Here's my inspiration: http://www.howdoesshe.com/cheaper-and-better-diy-laundry-detergent/

And here's my version:

So, for about $20-25 (I can't remember exactly, and despite my best intentions to keep the receipt until I got around to making this stuff, my anti-hoarding tendencies kicked in and it must have gotten thrown away) and one trip to Walmart, here's laundry detergent for about 9-12 months. As you'll notice from the ingredients below, you'll note that this recipe contains Oxyclean (stain fighter) and Purex crystals (fabric softener), so no laundry "extras" needed. However, you can totally leave these items out, cutting the cost significantly, because those are the most expensive ingredients. Each load only takes about 1 tablespoon, and this batch filled up my previous 200-load detergent bucket about 2/3 of the way.

Just in case you're curious, here are the ingredients:
1 box (4 pounds 12 ounces) Borax
1 box (3 pounds 7 ounces) Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda
1 box (3 pounds) Oxyclean - totally optional, but we have little kids. We need it!
2 bars (14.1 ounces) Zote soap
2 boxes (2 pounds) Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
1 bottle (55 ounces) Purex Crystals Fabric Softener - we don't usually use fabric softener, but since we're not washing cloth diapers anymore, thought I would give it a try! totally optional

All you have to do to "make" the detergent is:
1. Grate the Zote soap (thanks to Wayne for doing this in our food processor while I mixed the other ingredients).
2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bucket. (I layered the ingredients one by one, over and over again, so that I wouldn't have to mix too vigorously. This stuff is really powdery!)
3. Use 1-2 tablespoons per load.

I look forward to using the new detergent, and will try to remember to report back about how it works.