Eggs Florentine

So this is what I had for dinner.


Garlic, sliced
Mexican Squash (or Zucchini or yellow squash)
Handful of spinach leaves
Green Onion Stalk
Green Bell Pepper, sliced
Olive Oil
Sea Salt
2 eggs

I sliced up some garlic, Mexican squash, green onion, bell pepper and added a handful of spinach to a frying pan.  I topped it all with some olive oil and sea salt.  I turned up the heat to medium and sauteed a little while I added 2 eggs on top.  I stir everything up while it cooked.  Then when it was done, I served it up all nice and pretty on a plate.  I suppose you could add cheese or serve it with toast.  But I ate it as is.  Best of all it was ready in 10 minutes or less.

BBQ Chicken Fajita Salad

I have been gone, I know.  Did you know I moved?  I digress.  I made myself dinner tonight and I loved it.  I have affectionately named it BBQ Chicken Fajita Salad.  Call it what you like but it's rather easy to make. 
1 T (or so) Olive Oil
Sea Salt
3-5 oz already cooked chicken breast (I have some cooked and frozen in the freezer and heat as I need it)
1 bell pepper (I used green but you can use all colors if you want), sliced
6 mushrooms (average size - nothing special), sliced
Salad/Lettuce/Spinach
BBQ sauce - I use Walden Farms

Make your salad however you like.  I only had lettuce and spinach.  Set aside on a plate. 
In a small pan add olive oil and sea salt.  Turn on medium heat and add chopped veggies.  Joe was chopping onions for something and I grabbed a pinch of onions.  Saute' until soft but still crunchy (peppers and onions.) 
Add chicken to pan and add about 1 T (more or less) of BBQ sauce on top.  Cook and break chicken into bite sized pieces while it's heating.  The goal here is to brown it and create BBQ looking marks with the cooked sauce.
Top salad with chicken and veggies and enjoy.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Canning & Year's Supply.

Lately I have been canning.  My parents got me a pressure canner for Christmas because Katie Forsberg taught 2 canning classes at church and got me excited about canning.  I always wanted to learn.  My friend Madeline used to do it all the time, but I thought it was this horrible process.  I suppose it could be if you have to cut up a bunch of fruit and spend all day doing it.  But I haven't had that experience yet so for me it is very easy, refreshing, exciting and rewarding.  Since Christmas I have canned beans, ground beef, chicken (twice,) made my own spaghetti sauce and canned it, and am planning to do another batch of ground beef tonight.  Joe loves how easy it is to have prepared meats available to use.  No worry about freezer burn or food spoilage.  I love it!!  I want to make some fruit juice jelly next.
Also I have been working on our year's supply.  I highly recommend using this site and signing up for their baby steps.  I am a little behind but I am in the process of assembling our 72-hour kits.  Joe has also made me a can rotation shelf for the kitchen island and I am excited to use it.  The plans were off this site too, but since Joe has awesome carpenter skills, he made a custom one that would fit our shelves (length and height.)
So canning is actually helping us build our year's supply even more.  I can about 6-7 quart jars at a time and we maybe use 1 or 2 per week (total.)

Easy Salsa Mix

My sister (in-law) Rebecca (and Chad and family) gave us a couple of items for Christmas this year. One was a jar of salsa mix and the ingredients to make it. There was also a jar of Ranch dressing mix. I've written down the recipes before and have them in a notebook, but decided posting it here would be best. Since I've only tried the Salsa, I am only posting that now.

Easy Salsa Mix

1 C Dried Cilantro

¼ C Garlic Powder

½ C Dried Minced Onion

¼ C Dried Sweet Pepper Flakes

1 T Salt

1 T Pepper (optional - if you like it hot)

Combine all ingredients, mix well. Store in airtight container.

Use 1-2 T of mix with a can of Rotel® (or generic) Tomatoes and Chilis. Let refrigerate to blend flavors. Serve as you would any salsa.

Beaded Bracelets

Joseph wanted to get out my beading supplies since Adam wasn't home nor has he used them lately.  Then Joshua wanted to bead too.  They each made a necklace to give as gifts for Christmas.  I then made a couple bracelets and finished some I had already started or had laid out to do.  I am posting the photos here.  If you are interested in buying one or having us make one we'll sell them for $10-$14.  Most of these will be given as gifts this Christmas, but if there's one you like that I can make that works too.  All money for this goes to the costs of the beads and any profit is put into my children's (mostly Adam's) bank account to save for his mission in 6 years.  He earns money other ways too.

This bracelet has orange, green, gold and pearl colored glass and plastic beads with a gold-colored circle toggle clasp. $12.

This bracelet has clear and pearly white plastic beads and pink heart-shaped glass beads with a silver-colored heart toggle clasp.  $10.

This bracelet is made with blue iridescent, pearly white and clear plastic beads.  It also has silver -colored metal beads and silver bead caps.  I didn't have any more silver toggle claps so it has a gold-circle toggle clasp.  $12

This bracelet has a gold-colored hummingbird charm in the middle surrounded by light blue, gold, and dark blue glass beads with a few clear plastic beads.  It has a gold circle toggle clasp.   $14

This bracelet is cute and dainty in design.  The beads are smaller in size.  There are plastic black, pink glass hearts, and silver metal beads and bead caps.  It has a silver heart toggle clasp.  Made for a larger wrist (larger than mine.) $12

Similar to the blue and white one above, except this one is black and white with clear and silver beads and caps.  All plastic beads. Gold heart toggle clasp.  Joseph made me a necklace to match this one, so I will need to make myself a bracelet similar to this one to wear with my necklace.  I will post a photo of the necklace when I unwrap it for Christmas.  Yes, I've seen it because I strung it, but he laid out all the beads for it.  I plan to give this one as a gift, but I have many black beads to make again, but will make with a silver clasp when I buy more.  $12.

So that was what we worked on today.  Made two for presents and now that I think about it, I could give another one as a gift.  And maybe one day I'll do one as a give-away.  But not enough people read my blog yet to do that.

   

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I did not invent this recipe. I have found it online in many places. I originally found it connected to the Duggar's family website. I suppose I could just link to the recipe on their site however I want you to read my blog. I've even looked up the ingredients of the ingredients and created an ingredient listing you can add to bottles if you decide to give it away as a gift. We make this as a family, I do most of the work, but everyone has helped. We've made it twice so far and it lasts our family of 6 about 8-9 months. It would probably last a little longer because we gave some bottles away the first time. Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 Fels Naptha soap bar, grated
1 cup washing soda
1/2 cup borax

Essential oil for scent if desired



Instructions:

Grate the soap bar (I use a food processor, but it's soft enough to do by hand – here's where the little helpers come in)

Add to a sauce pan filled with about 2 cups of hot water. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring continually, until the soap completely dissolves. The soap will try to blend together during the stirring process, just keep stirring until it's completely dissolved.

Put washing soda and borax in a 5-gallon bucket. Fill to top with hot water. Pour in the hot, melted soap mixture. Stir well, until all the powder is dissolved. Cover and let set overnight. The next morning, stir the mixture. Mix equal amounts of soap concentrate and water in smaller laundry-detergent dispensers or containers. Shake before using. I add a couple of drops of essential oils to individual containers of detergent. Scents to try are lavender, rosemary, anise, or tea tree.



Directions for use: Use ⅝ C for top load and ½C for front load machines. I measure the caps of the detergent bottles I use and then compare to above measurements. Usually a cap full is enough, but some caps are smaller than others.



Picture of mixture once it's done.  These are helpful so you'll know yours is right.  It will get thick as it sits.

Ingredient listing:

Ingredients: Water, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Borate, Soap (Stoddard solvent, Fatty acids, C8-C18 and C18-unsaturated, sodium salts, Hydrocarbons, terpene processing by-products~Terpene processing by-products)

Legal Disclaimer: Harmful if swallowed. Possible eye and skin irritant. As with all cleaning products, keep crystals and solution out of reach of children and pets. Avoid contact with eyes and mucous membranes or prolonged contact with sun. In case of eye contact, flush with water for 15 minutes and call a physician. Do not ingest. If swallowed, do not induce vomiting. Drink a glassful of water and seek prompt medical attention.