serving: Fruit and Cheese

This weekend was my grandparents 60 year Anniversary! Amazing, right?

For this celebration, the family threw a party for them. For the party I asked if I could set up the food. I LOVE to cater for those who do not know. If I had the choice to do anything, it would be to cater.

I wanted to show you how I chose to arrange the food on the table. I am showing this to help give you ideas when you have the need to serve, not to brag about this spread. :) 

 

 

 

Thank you for looking!

-Beth

Baked Mozzarella

Ok so I LOVE Mozzarella Sticks! lol  

Do I need fried mozzarella sticks? Nope! :)

SO...Tonight I made baked mozzarella sticks. I have heard of these but have never thought that they would be good at all. The best part of the cheese stick is the FRIED outside right?!

Well let me tell ya, these were actually pretty good. Not the same, but very close, and definetly healthier than the alternative.

Here is what I used:  String cheese, milk, bread crumbs, and italian seasoning.  (I wanted to use italian bread crumbs but all I had was original so I just seasoned them. )

The first thing I did was place the string cheese in a bowl of milk

Next, I put them in a Gallon Ziplock bag with the breadcrumbs and seasoning.

I did not measure this, but I used close to 1/2 cup of the

 breadcrumbs and 1tbs italian seasoning.

Now shake!

This did not coat very well so I repeated the steps and dipped them

back into the milk and then back into the breadcrumbs.

Perfect!

 

I put these in the oven at 375 for 10 mins and turned at 5 mins.

I pulled these out when the breadcrumbs were toasted

Now the final step was my favorite!!

Yum!

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to read this simple yet great alternative to fried mozzarella sticks!

Feel free to share!

-Beth



DIY Banner

Here is what the banner looked like on the wall. It turned out exactly how I wanted it! See previous blog for DIY instructions!

DIY Banner

Hi! Hope you are having a great day! It has gone from very cold, thunderstorm, warm, and back to cold all in one day here. Gotta love this Texas weather!

So this weekend my family will be celebrating my grandparents 60 wedding anniversary. I helping with this party and made a banner tonight that I wanted to share. These are super easy and look great! I love making these. The last one I made was for a wedding shower and I was asked by several how I made it. Now everything I make is done a little different, on this one tonight I made pendants.

So the theme for the 60 wedding anniversary is Diamonds! So I had to use something with sparkle. I also had to match the colors of the other decor already purchased. I simply took a napkin that was already purchased and took it to the store with me to match the right colors.

First thing I did for this one was make sure that I had enough paper for the pendents. I used one 12X12 piece of paper per pendent. This can get pricy so watch for sales on scrapbook paper. I bought a pack that was a cream color that had 10 different patterns. I drew my pendants free hand and cut them all by hand. You may choose to measure and use a paper cutter, I did not.

Next, I used a stencil to trace the letters onto a different color paper.

These letters are 4in. so I could trace out four letters per 12X12 sheet. 

 

Next thing I did was attach the letters to the pendents, I used hot glue.

Oh and we cant forget about the sparkle!

So here is what I had once I attached the letters and the "diamonds"

Now I am going to use ribbon and tulle to hang these.

The ribbon I chose had a pattern on it which made it very easy to line up but left me short by one pendent! Yes I will now go to the store to buy an entire new spool for one pendent! lol 

I cut the ribbon in sections of 4 patterns, if that makes sence.

I then folded the ribbon in half to attach to the back of the pendent.

 Again, I used hot glue.

 

 

SO here is what I had when I finished attaching the ribbon:

Yes that is the "A" out to the side Ribbon-less! lol 

 

Now when I hang these at the party I will run tulle through the ribbon. I do not have a picture of that here because the tulle I chose has glitter in it and I did not want it all over my house :) 

 

I will post a picture of the banner on here once I have it hanging so that you can see how it looks on the wall.

 

 

Thank you for reading this post. Please feel free to share it by posting my link.

 

-Beth



Respect

Ok so where I live, a shooting took place last night. A woman was shot and man who shot her was gunned down as in the hospital.

I am not writing this to talk about this tragic though...

I follow a Facebook page that is a scanner for my county. Last night this page was posting updates on this event. As they were posting updates, they were also having to monitor and delete post that ppl were posting that were disrespectful and providing info that they were asking not be shared.

SO tonight they post that they have been deleting comments and "ask that out of respect for the family, no one else comment or post on their page anything surrounding this event."

Low and behold, there are instantly over 25 posts that are disrespectful, rude, and of course all about this event.

I just don't understand!?!

If you don't like a page that YOU CHOOSE to follow, quit following. Simple right? I guess not.

These comments were so nasty toward the individual who did the shooting, the family in mourning not understanding what caused him to do this, and toward the Admins of the page.

The comments went something like this : -respect! How dare u ask us to respect this guy and his family- what kind of page asks us to respect a murderer- just delete me because I have no respect for this fool- they deserve to rot in a morgue-

You get the picture.

Ok so I was raised that EVERYONE deserves respect. I was taught that you treat your neighbor as yourself and you love everyone. Is it easy, no. Is it necessary, yes.

I guess what really got to me were the comments coming in seconds and minutes later, after asking to be respectful, were do far from what was being asked.

There are so many Facebook pages and blogs out there. We all have the choice whether or not we choose to follow them. Makes no sense to me to post hate instead of just leaving?

Ok so rant over, would love your opinions on this..

-Beth

Tilapia with Mushroom Shrimp Sauce

I have been a busy bee today!

This will be my first of many post of recipes and I hope you will enjoy them :) 

Tonight I made Talapia with a Mushroom Shrimp Sauce. Very Easy! I do make some things from scratch, but this is one of my easy meals! There is not always time to make things from scratch, right?!  This meal takes about 10 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes to cook .

I did not take a picture of the tilapia package, but we buy our tilapia at many places. I have purchased it at Walmart, Costco, and recently Aldi.  I will say that I will only buy the fish that is in individual packages or fresh.   I also use small peeled and devained shrimp. I purchase these at walmart, as they so far have been the lowest price.

I always lay the fish and the shrimp out on my counter about an hour before I begin cooking, just to make sure they are thawed. If I make this on a weeknight, I place them in the fridge in the morning. Note, I only use about a handful of shrimp so if you buy a large bag, you can put what you need in a ziplock and leave the rest in the freezer. I buy the small bags and use close to half of it for this dish.

So here is how I get started:

I start by dicing a small package of mushrooms, half of a small white onion, and I grate approx. 1/4 -1/2 cup of cheese. I have uses a lot of different cheeses in this. I typically stick to white cheeses, so choose the one you enjoy. Tonight I used pepperjack, which was what I had on hand. 

 

Once I get these diced, I add all of the onion and 1 tbs garlic to a skillet to saute. I use butter or olive oil, tonight I used butter.  Once I get the onions in, I prep the baking dish I will cook the fish in. I put 2 tbs butter in a baking dish and place in the oven on 375. Once the onions begin to cook,

 I pull the baking sheet out of the oven and place the fish in it. I only season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. The sauce will be where the flavor and seasonings are.

 

Next, I put the fish in the oven. After doing this,

I add the mushrooms to the skillet and continue to cook.

Once the onions are browning, you are ready to add the shrimp.

This will only need to cook for a couple of minutes before you add one to two cans of Cream of Shrimp. To feed four ppl I would use two cans.

Now add the cheese

Stir this on medium heat until it begins to simmer, reduce to low and let thicken.

The fish has been in the oven close to 15 minutes now. It should be time to pull it out and see if it is finished. I learned from my mom to test fish with a fork. If it is flaky it is finished. If it is real soft, put it back in for an additional 5 minutes.

Finished! Now to plate it and eat it!

 

 

Recap:

*I used Tilapia, Small shrimp, 1/2 cup of pepperjack cheese, mushrooms, half of an onion, cream of shrimp soup, minced garlic

*Make this to YOUR taste. We love mushrooms so I put quite a bit in ours. I am not a huge fan of onions and choose to only put half of a small onion.

*We love tilapia, but this will go well with any white fish.

*I have only found the cream of shrimp at Tom Thumb and Walmart on occasion. When I see it, I always purchase at least 3 cans.

*you may note that I did not salt any of this. The canned soups typically have a lot of sodium already in them. You will not need the added salt.

 

Thank you for reading this and I hope that you will be making this in your kitchen, I know that it is a regular in mine!  If you do make this or have any questions please comment below. I would love to hear from you!

 

As always I would love if you chose to share this recipe, just please include a link to my blog if you do.

 

Have a great evening!

 

-Beth



Homemade Laundry Soap

Hi, I hope you are enjoying your weekend! I know that I am.  As you know, I have found a new interest for natural and chemical free products, as well as DIY product that are cost efficient.

So...Today I made my own laundry soap!

Like the lipbalm, I did my homework and looked at a LOT of different ways to do it. Here is how I chose to do mine:

 

I started by gathering everything I needed

Next I found something that would hold a large amount

and would make the least mess as possible! So

I found a cardboard box that I already had and lined it with a trashbag. 

 

Next I grated three bars of Fels Naptha.

 (Warning, this was a workout to grade all three bars lol)

 

 

Once this was grated, I added the remaining ingredients into the box.

Borax, Baking Soda, Super Baking Soda, Oxy clean

 

Next, I used a metal spoon and stired everything together.

Do this slowly or you will be breathing this stuff!

(Yes I had it flying around in the air lol)

 

Finished!

Now I am resourceful so I chose to use a popcorn tin that I had saved from Christmas, SO glad i chose to save this! I am the only one who sees inside my laundry room, so appearance was not top priority here. You may choose to use a glass jar, plastic container, etc.

Oh, and I will use the spoon from the oxy clean :)

 

Ok so lets recap:

 

*you will need 3 bars of Fels Naptha, 1 box of Borax, 1 large box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda, 1 Large box of Arm and Hammer Super Laundry Baking Soda, and one small container of Oxy Clean

 

*Using the trashbag inside of the box made for VERY easy clean up!

 

*You do not have to use the Oxy Clean, I chose to because my husband always has oil stains on his clothing.

 

*From the research I have been doing, this is safe for ALL washing machines. I have also read that this may cause a build up like any cleaner. To clean your washer, simply run your washer empty with hot water and one cup of vinegar.

 

*You will only use 2 tbs of this per load!!!  This will last you approx. a year!

 

*And the best part?? This only cost $15 to make!!

 

I look forward to updating you all on how this is working for our use! Thank you for taking the time to read this. As always, please feel free to share this, however, please provide a link to my blog when you do.

 

Have a Great Day!

 

-Beth





Natural Lip Balm

Ok so I LOVE lip balm/chapstick whichever term you prefer. I mean who doesnt like using this stuff right?? Ok so I have mentioned earlier that I have been looking into chemical free and natural products. DO you know what is in some of these things? No? Well here is a list I found off of a website of a product I am sure that many of you enjoy using....

 ozokerite, squalane, ethylhexyl palmitate, petrolatum, myristyl myristate, myristyl lactate, flavor, cetyl alcohol, myristyl laurate, myristyl alcohol, BHT, menthol, tocopheryl acetate [vitamin E]

Yep...If I cant pronounce these things, I am not real sure that I want them on my face, much less near my mouth.

Anywho, I started looking around online to see what products you would use to make your own all natural lip balm and I found a LOT of different variations of these things. SO...I decided to just combine things that I thought sounded good and went from there. This is what I used:

Beeswax
Shea Butter
Almond Oil
Peppermint Oil

So thats it! Here is what I did:

I gathered all of my ingredients together

 

Here is a closer look at the products

 

 

Next I grated my Beeswax, approx 3tbs rounded over. The brick of beeswax was $15, as you can see in the pic, but after grating only 3 tbs, there was a tiny nick in the corner lol  This thing is going to last a LONG time!

 

Now you have to melt it. I do not have a double broiler, which is what most people would use for this. So I used a glass pie plate and sat it over a pan of boiling water. This stuff melts fast!

I used a small wisk to stir this. Now we add the shea butter. I used approx 2 tbs.

This melted very quickly as well, and it too turned clear.

Next I added the almond oil (4 tbs)  and pepperment oil (1/8 tsp) then removed it from the heat. This is difficult to see, but when I added the oil it began to harden the wax, so I used the wisk and continued to stir as I removed from heat.

 

The final step is to pour or ladel the lipbalm into small containers. You can purchase the plastic tubes, like the ones you buy your chapstick in currently. I on the other hand found these cute pink containers and could not pass them up!

This was what I had once I spooned the wax into the containers. Note that I only purchased four because this was something I was trying for the first time. It could have easily made six.

I let mine sit overnight and this is what I had:

 

 

Lets break this down:

I used wax paper to keep my counter clean.

I used a metal table spoon, a teaspoon, and a wisk

I used a glass pie plate but you can use a double broiler if u have one

I used 3 tbs beeswax, 2 tbs shea butter, 4 tbs almond oil, 1/8 peppermint oil

*hint*Use a napkin while still hot to clean out pan, water makes it worse

 

BONUS!!!  My kitchen smelled amazing for hours!!

 

Well guys, thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave any questions or comments. I would also love to hear if you make this and what your experience was :)   

 

 

**I would also like to add that if you use this in your blog or post on any social media site, please be respectful and share my link :)  



Day 1 :)

So, this is me.....

I wanted to start this blog, well, to share! I love to cook and to craft. I am always being asked for a recipe or to show someone how to do something...Well here it is! :)  I have also recently began to gain an interest in natural and chemical free cleaning supplies and hygine products.

Well here we go!