Turkey Countdown Recipe #2

Cranberry Blueberry Pie

In case you don't know I love cranberries!  I drink cranberry juice everyday, and cook with them whenever possible.  This is my favorite pie recipe that has been putting smiles on faces for the last 5 years :)

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 2 cups fresh cranberries (or frozen)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen blueberries
• double crust pie crust
• tin foil

In large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, cranberries, lemon juice and blueberries. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture boils, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and simmer until the cranberries pop and the mixture starts to thicken. Let it cool for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 450 and place the bottom pie crust in the pie plate.  Pour the mixture in the pie plate and place the top crust on.  ( I love a good lattice work pie, although for this pie I like to use a small cookie cutter and cut out 2 hearts in the middle separated by cut lines before I place the top crust)

cut a sheet of foil in 2 inch strips and place them around the edge of your pie.  This will keep your edge from burning before the top and middle are done.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the top has browned. Cool for 2-3 hours before serving.

ENJOY!

If you have a favorite pie recipe leave it below.  I would love to try it out!

Turkey Countdown Recipe #1

I love a good thanksgiving meal and want to share with you some recipes that I have used over the years.  Today I am craving cranberries so we will start with the sauce. 

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 orange, zest and juiced
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick

Put all the ingredients into a saucepan over medium heat and simmer until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve at room temperature or cool and refrigerate. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving. ( I prefer room temp when eating it on thanksgiving, but also great refrigerated on a turkey sandwich the next day)

For those that don't know what the zest of an orange is:  Take a cheese grater to the outside of the orange.  All the pretty orange color goes in the pot, so scrape the entire orange until it is white.

Wordless Wednesday 8-10-2011

Bye Bye pumpkins

My children's favorite thing to do after Halloween is to put their pumpkins outside to decay naturally in hopes that the next spring will bring more pumpkins.  Well last Halloween they picked a spot in the back near the porch, which at the time I didn't consider what would happen when we needed to cut the grass that was getting as tall as the plant.  We had a great plan growing for awhile about 10 seeds sprouted, had healthy leaves and flowers with a couple small pumpkins....if only I remembered to put tell my wonderful husband that they were there.  He went out to cut the grass one morning while I had the kids at the YMCA and when I came home all that was left was a few stems :(
Fortunately some of the stems were growing leaves, and to keep another disaster from happening I transplanted them into the front garden beds where my squash had since withered away.  Now we have had 2 months straight of 90+ heat and very little rain, and the pumpkin is still in the same condition I planted it in.  Our hopes of home grown pumpkin by Halloween is looking very slim...now just praying I get a few small ones for pumpkin pie.
If you have any advice on what I can do to help them thrive please tell me!

CC Bums laundry review

I have been in love with EVERYTHING Cami makes for quite some time now.  Mama cloth, family wipes, fitteds...all amazing!  When she decided to sell samples of her laundry detergent I couldn't pass it up.  I was amazed by the ingredients she used, it has everything in it that you would normally put in a homemade powder detergent- Borax, washing soda, and Felsnaptha.  Something I hadn't seen before is Kosher salt, it acts a a natural softener which worked wonders when I put them out on the line.  I usually have to throw my diapers in the dryer with my dryer balls to soften them up, but while testing the detergent I didn't have to!

I picked a nighttime diaper and about 7 daytime diapers (a few fitteds, prefolds and flats) and only used them in the rotation for the biggest test of all, the battle with ammonia stink.  Everyone has it at some point, and we have been through a lot of WAHM detergents trying to find the best routine.  Most ending with the ammonia coming back after the second wash. With CC Bums it stayed away even on the nighttime diapers!

She puts the sample in wonderful reusable plastic containers as well.  I have a couple set aside for our upcoming trip to the beach.  
To check out everything that Cami can do visit her facebook page or check out her store on Hyenacart.

Wordless Wednesday

My son's favorite thing to do.

Flat challenge Day 2

So far it has been a very poopy however uneventful (thankfully) challenge.  I have starting origami folding the diapers as soon as they are dry so they are ready to go onto a very mobile little man.  I am using 2 covers (swaddlebees) and a nighttime wool soaker (made by me) to go over the very trim diapers.
Night time has been my biggest challenge with a very super peer on my hands it is hard to get it to last the whole night.  So last night I folded one of the flats into a square and placed it in the soaker zone inside the flat.  With that and the wool he lasted the whole night, however I am going to add a layer of fleece tonight as he tossed a little last night and I think it was because he is used to fleece touching his skin all night.
Here is a pic of my little man with his flat in on.  He wasn't very cooperative for this picture. :)

 

Washing day  was today during naptime.  The easiest time of the day to do so, since at night I am working on orders for the store.  Luckily the ick factor of handwashing pooper diapers isn't there so I didn't mind getting my hands in and scrubing the diapers.  I feel it works better than using a plunger to get the diaper clean.  My oldest even helped to hang the diapers and wipes on the IKEA rack.  You can see the gorgeous flats donated to me by Diaper Junction, as well as some IKEA ones I picked up to help me get through my trip at the end of the week.