Shower Curtain Up-cycle

Shower Me with Savings!

Just in case you haven’t noticed yet,  

I am not one to spend my money carelessly.

If I can find a way to make it for less I will.

When I went to buy a shower curtain I was thrown

into classic sticker shock! There was no way I was

going to pay 30 dollars for a curtain that hangs near

the facilities, and where my pigpen of a boy cleans up

after a hard day of play. Nope, not me, and not $30.00.

After many shopping trips and coupon clipping I

gave up an went the route of DIY!

Boring Hotel-Style Basic Shower Curtain

$10.00

Now, I have learned the hard way that for some projects, pinning

is a MUST and for others, over-pinning is IMPERATIVE!

To my dismay, the curtain was not straight to begin with

and the polyester was very slick to sew on. It took a lot of patience.

I had to pin and measure each ribbon and sew them one at a time.

Then, begin the process over, measuring from the last  stripes

placement.

Trendy Ribbon: $4.00

Uniquely designed, custom shower curtain

for only $14.00 = Awesomeness!

A 50% Savings…

I leave you triumphant!

Linked up: *Before&After Party   *Made by You Mondays

Just Something I whipped up Monday

Making the world cuter Monday   Market yourself Monday

Motivate Me Monday  Craft 

The sasse life Pin It

Birthday Brunch

My favorite meal is breakfast!

I like to start my day right. This brunch was for my husband’s

birthday but it was also because we had my nice, her husband,

and her two adorable kids over for the weekend…..

A perfect excuse for a brunch!

 

I have decided to start a new category called “Because of YOU!”

I love blogging and I love being creative and doing my

own thing. I also believe in giving credit where credit is due.

There are many things in blog-world that simply are

great as is and I want to try them without any

changes, but then I also want to share the experience

on my blog as my own.

So this is my first “Because of YOU!” post

Thank you to

Real Mom Kitchen

and her

Overnight Blueberry French Toast w/ Blueberry Syrup 

(Real Mom Kitchen is a new fave of mine. Take some time

to check her blog out she is amazing!)

I have to say this was an amazing breakfast dish.

I was afraid that it may come off as too sweet but it

was perfect, even the syrup was not that sicky-sweet, that

some syrups turn out to be.

French Toast:

12 slices bread, cut into cubes (french or Texas toast work well)

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, cut in cubes

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

12 large eggs   1/3 cup maple syrup

2 cups milk (I use 1 cup milk and 1 cup cream)

1. Arrange 1/2 of the bread cubes in a greased 9 x 13 pan.
2. Sprinkle cream cheese cubes and blueberries evenly over the bread cubes.
3. Top with remaining bread cubes.
4. Mix together eggs, milk, and syrup.
5. Pour over bread cubes and cover pan with foil. Let chill in refrigerator overnight.
6. Bake covered with foil at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
7. Remove the foil and bake for another 30 minutes or until fluffy and golden.
8. Top with sauce. Serves 8.

 

When I made the syrup I made a double batch to

add to my Very Vanilla Cake layered thank you gifts

featured here. What I did not tell you is that as we

finished the Very Vanilla cake off we poured the left over

syrup on the cake too. Wow what a great combo!

Blueberry Syrup:

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 Tablespoon butter

Cook water, sugar, and cornstarch until thickened.

Stir in blueberries and simmer for 10 minutes.

Add butter and stir until melted.

Not only was this simple and fast but costs about an 8th

of what you would pay in the store!

   

(sorry for the poor photo quality it was about 3 a.m.)

I paired this scrumptious casserole with sausage patties,

Scrambles eggs and a simple fruit salad! Add a little

Mother Nature and a simple table cloth and you

feel like you are at a bed and breakfast in the country!

 

Isn’t it funny how small touches like a table cloth or

eating outside makes life wonderful!

Linked up:

Be different Act Normal    day and age design  six sisters stuff

*Iheartnaptime- Sundae Scoop

Pin It

A Day of Cooking, several weeks of meals.

 

I have been cooking like crazy!

This is what I have been up too.

My biggest problem when trying to cook at home

as opposed to eating out is trying to remember to take

meat out of the freezer, or even deciding what I

want to take out of the freezer! So when my

mother in law told be about cooking ahead and freezing

the pre-cooked meat, I couldn’t wait to try it.

I started with hamburger and I was so excited that

I not only found it on sale but I grabbed a managers

special and got my meat for .99 per lb. WOW!

(One draw back though it was only 80% lean and I nearly

always buy 90% for health. But right now w/my husband

in school and me still looking for employment,

I dare not pass it up.)

*In a skillet scramble your hamburger and add your basic

seasonings that lends itself to any hamburger recipe.

Mine is Garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and a little

beef bouillon powder for flavor.Now let the meat cool slightly. 

 

*heart health tip: if you wait to add salt to when you

serve food you tend to add less and it is more gratifying.

Salt also tends to make your hamburger shrink.

 

Then I placed the cooked meat in meal-sized proportions

in these ultra cool Ziploc Freezer Vacuum bags! 

(BTWI am not getting paid to say this.. I wish,

but I am not.Just thought it was a cool item

to share, and many people do not know about them.)

You can find them next to all the other freezer bags

they come in both gallon and quart size. The first

time you purchase them you have to get the box

with the pump included,but it is cleanable

and reusable.

Once you seal your food you use the

hand pump to suck the air out of the bag.

This is what prevents freezer-burn!

My son LOVES this tool and it made a great fun

and productive mommy/me project!

   While my hamburger was cooking, I mixed up mini-meat-loafs

to freeze ahead as well.

(Of which I will have a separate post about.)

Once my hamburger was put away and cleaned up.

I started on my chicken. It too was on sale so

I made a day of it!

You really follow the same basic steps except omit the

beef bouillon.

 

I was hesitant about freezing my meals

this way at first; thinking it may be dry or taste like

leftovers but to my surprise this is not the case!

To re-heat: simply place meat in small skillet

or sauce pan with about 1-2 tbs.water and heat to

desired temperature! Add other spices or ingredients

to customize the meal.

I use the hamburger for meals such as spaghetti,

sloppy joes, tacos, burritos, SOS, biscuits and gravy,

stroganoff, taco salad, nachos,casseroles ect.

For the chicken I use it on top of salads, make tacos,

alfredo,soups,chicken salad, and casseroles!

In one evening I was able to complete dinner for

the night and save about 30min. prep time for

13 additional meals! Which saved me

6 and 1/2 future hours of cooking! Fwweeew!

 

* additional tips: *

When grilling chicken throw on a few more breasts,

cube them and place in freezer bags for a quick 

“grilled chicken salad”for later! 

When making cookie dough, double the recipe,roll extra

dough, place on cookie sheets and freeze for a couple of hours.

Once frozen,pop them off and place in freezer bags for baking later!

 

Linked up at:

 

Pin It