Meatloaf Cupcakes

I suppose these would be more aptly named Meatloaf Muffins, since you make them in muffin tins. But in a (failed) attempt to get Isaac to eat them, we called them Meatloaf Cupcakes. But Isaac doesn't like red meat, so even the word "cupcake" wouldn't persuade him to try it.

These are awesome. James and I agree that the best part of a meatloaf is the crunchy part on the end. When you make it in muffin tins, there is much more of the crunchy end deliciousness. So we loved these. Plus, it takes WAY less time to cook than a loaf. This is a really easy, quick, weeknight dinner!

I got this idea on Pinterest, but I didn't use that recipe. I used my recipe, because it's awesome. Here it is. I've posted it before. It's really easy.

Once you mix everything together, just put the mixture in muffin tins...

Then smother it with ketchup...

Then bake it for 30 mintues in a pre-heated 350 degree oven.

And here's what you get.

It's really good. You won't be sorry you made it.

Bipolar Blogging

Oh wow. Zero posts in April. I have a theory about myself. I am a bipolar blogger. I post a bunch of blogs in a row, and then nothing for a long period of time. I really should get better about that. Maybe this summer?

Since my last post, there has been a lot of developements in our family. Alex is crawling around like crazy! He's eating table food, and standing up and cruising along furniture. The is this close to walking. Also, I gave him a hair cut and -BAM- now he's blond. Here are the before and after pics.

Isaac has since learned the art of sucking up. He tells me, "Mommy, you pretty" on a daily basis. And to avoid going to bed he says, "I want to snuggle with my mommy!" He's good. He also had his first "man injury" at the park a few weeks ago. He was climbing up some stepping bars to get to the slide, slipped, and ended up with one leg on either side, crushing his, um, well... stuff. He cried, and he cried hard. When I asked him whatn hurt, he hesitated and then said, "My butt." Haha! I know I shouldn't laugh, but it was a tiny bit funny.

Anyway, I wanted to let you guys know that I have been cooking A LOT lately, so there will be some posts popping up in the near future, as soon as I find time. So stay tuned!

Refill Your Swiffer!

So I found this thing on Pinterest yesterday. It was an article on how to refill your Swiffer Wet Jet. I was actually just about to stop using my Swiffer because I prefer to use more natural cleaning products nowadays. I had about four squirts left in my Wet Jet, so I emptied it and went to work on getting that darn cap off!

Here's what you do.

Boil a small pot of water on the stove, and dip the cap part of the Swiffer Wet Jet bottle into the water for about 90 seconds. Then simply twist the cap off. The heat helps soften the plastic enough so you can just give it a good twist and it will come right off. But make sure to use a towel or something because that cap gets pretty hot.

The cap has these little flaps inside that catch on the bottle so that you can't open it again. Your next step is to cut those off. The article I read says to use a finger nail clipper to just snip them off. I actually made James do this part. Well, I didn't so much make him, as he just took over this part. He loves stuff like this. He said a sharp knife and a steady hand worked way better than a finger nail clipper. Anyway, now you can screw and unscrew the cap at your leisure - no boiling required!

 

I decided to use my favorite all-purpose cleaner. I'm pretty much in love with Mrs Meyer's basil scented stuff. It smells so fresh and wonderful! And this bottle is super cost-effective. It's about $8, and it's concentrated, so 1/4 cup makes a gallon of cleaner. This bottle lasts a looong time.

 

So I mixed up a half gallon of my favorite basil scented cleaner and I refilled my Wet Jet! I was SO super happy about finding out this wonderful little tidbit. I really like my Wet Jet, and the fact that I can now use it with my favorite kind of cleaner (that's more healthy for my dog and my kids) really got me excited. I know, that's pathetic, but I try to find joy in the little things. :) 

 

Aaaaand, I had some cleaner left over, so I poured it into a handy little spray bottle. I only have a little bit left of the all-purpose cleaner I keep in the bathroom, so this will be a great replacement for that.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

I've been toying with the idea of making my own laundry detergent for a while now. I was hesitant because I have an HE washer, and I wasn't sure if it was okay to use the homemade stuff in it. But everything I've read says it is. So I decided to trust the interweb and go for it. There are several different recipes out there. They mainly have the same ingredients, just different measurements. This is the one I used.

First, you need an awesome washer and dryer in a cool color. Okay, you don't need that, but it sure makes doing laundry more fun! And I just wanted to show off my new washer and dryer, which I love.

Now here's what you do need.

Fels-Naptha (this is soap) - 2 cups, finely grated
Washing Soda - 1 cup (note: this is NOT the same as baking soda)
Borax - 1 cup
Oxygen stain remover, like Sun or Oxyclean (optional) - 1/3 cup

You can get all of these things at Wal-Mart in the laundry aisle. They are pretty easy to find. And they're very inexpensive, which is a plus. I used about 2/3 of the bar of Fels-Naptha to get two cups, so if you want to make a bigger batch, you should get a few bars. The rest of the stuff will last a while, which is why making your own laundry detergent is dirt cheap. Haha, dirt. Get it? Laundry gets rid of dirt? .... tough crowd.

I always feel weird when I say Fels-Naptha. Like I'm trying to say Napsa, but I have a lisp. But I digress...

First you want to grate the bar of Fels-Naptha with the smallest holes your grater has. The smaller you grate it, the better it will blend with all the powders you mix it with.

Then you want to let it sit uncovered over night. I used a couple of plates to spread it out so it would dry out faster. You could use a baking sheet, or whatever strikes your fancy. Just keep it out of reach of kids (or husbands) because it looks a lot like grated cheese. Once it has dried out a bit, just crumble it with your fingers and it will almost turn to powder. This way it will mix better with the other ingredients.

Put all the ingredients into a container.

Then mix it all up. I just put the lid on and shook it. Then I took an old measuring spoon (1 tbsp) and put it in the container for... well, measuring.

Use one heaping tablespoon for normal loads, and two tablespoons for more heavily soiled loads. This has worked out well for us.

I ended up paying around $12 for all these supplies. If you want to do more batches, you'll need to buy more Fels Naptha, but that's cheap, so no big deal. I would guess that all the laundry soap I can make from these supplies will probably last me about six months. That's six months of laundry detergent for the price of one bottle of Tide. Awesome!

Random Acts of Kindness

I learned something today.

I learned that February is Random Act of Kindness Month.

I also learned how a random act of kindness can affect someone.

This morning, I decided to stop at Starbucks for a drink, and to also get a breakfast sandwich, since they had a promotion running and I had never tried one before. When I got to the window to pay, the barista gave me my sandwich, handed me my drink, and then informed me that he wouldn't be accepting my payment this morning because the lady in the car ahead of me had taken care of it.

I just kind of stared at him at first. I've heard of these types of things happening, but I'd never experienced it before. I was shocked that people actually do this. Shocked, and very happy. Then I said to him, "Are you kidding me?" He smiled and said, "Nope!" I thanked him, and drove off.

That's it. It absolutely made my morning. And suddenly, I realized why people do this. To make someone else's day. To make someone feel exactly how I felt at that moment.

So, to the lady who paid for my order at Starbucks this morning - mission accomplished.

Throughout the morning, I was thinking of ways to pay it forward. I just knew I had to. I wanted to make someone's day, too. So I will, and I have an idea of how and when, but that I'll keep to myself. :)

Anyway, I then realized something else. I realized that when someone performs a random act of kindness, the recipient isn't the only one who is affected. That barista at Starbucks, I bet he thought it sure was a nice thing for that lady to do. And I bet it put him in a better mood. And I bet he told a co-worker or two about it because, let's be honest, it's not something you see all that often. And I bet it warmed their hearts a little, too.

Then, when I got to work, I told my students what had happened. They were so surprised! They kept asking me, "Why did she do that?" and "Did she know you?". So I explained to them that it was a random act of kindness, it's done for no reason at all, just to be nice. They thought that was so cool! These are kids who haven't experienced much kindness or generosity in their lives. What a great lesson for them!

I know I'm being all mush and corny, but I guess that what I'm trying to say is that this one little $6 random act of kindness touched a lot of people! And I know that when I pay it forward, it's going to touch a lot of people, too.

It wasn't until later that I found out it was Random Act of Kindness Month. I also found out who started the chain at Starbucks. Through Facebook, I found out that she had purchased the drink for the person in front of me, who paid it forward to me. It kind of makes me wish that I had bought the drink for the person behind me, but I'm glad I decided to wait. This way, it won't all happen at Starbucks (although that would be okay, too), but I can do it somewhere else where there will be a whole different group of people who can be affected by it.

People can be amazing. I'm glad I witnessed it. It makes me want to be amazing, too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yes, I know it's January. And no, I'm not crazy. I'm lazy. I took pictures of my super cute Thanksgiving treats that I brought to school for my students, and then didn't post about them. But now I will, because they're cute. I just love these things. I didn't actually eat any of them, but they're just so darn cute! Did I mention they're cute? Okay, enough of that. Here they are.

They're pilgrim hats! See, I told you they were cute!

You can probably figure out how I made them, but I'll brake it down for you anyway because if I didn't, then this blog post would be over, and, well, I like to talk... er, type.

It's really simple. You take a fudge stripe cookie and turn it upside-down. Then you take yellow frosting (white frosting with yellow food coloring, obviously) and smear it all over the bottom of a fun size peanut butter cup and smoosh it down onto the upside-down cookie so that the frosting oozes out around the edges. Then you take an orange mini M&M and place it on the yellow frosting for the buckle. That's all, folks! This is a really easy, quick, and cute Thanksgiving treat!

Inside-Out Pizza

Wowza! These past few months have been chaotic! With preparing for the holidays and all the various sicknesses that have made their way through our household, we've been very busy. But today I've decided to make time to post one of my family's new favorite recipes. This one is a hit with everyone, and, well, it's just plain fun!

I got the idea here, and pretty much followed it exactly. But here's what I did.

Here's what you'll need:
1 roll of thin crust refrigerated pizza dough
Pizza sauce
Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top
Olive oil or butter to brush on top
Italian seasoning to sprinkle on top
Mozzarella cheese
Whatever toppings you like (I used pepperoni)

First you want to roll the dough out and cut it into squares. I stretched it a little first, then cut it into 24 squares (that's 4 rows by 6 rows).

Then I chopped up a bunch of pepperoni. That's what the hubby likes.

Then I topped each square with cheese and pepperoni. Really pile it on. It's better with lots of cheese and toppings, and the dough will stretch when you wrap it up, so don't worry the toppings not fitting. They will.

Now fold the corners of the dough over the toppings and pinch them together in the middle. Do the same with the sides. This is what it should look like.

Then place the dough balls into a baking dish.

Then brush the top with olive oil, and sprinkle it with Italian seasoning and Parmesan cheese. Pop it in the oven and bake them according to the pizza dough package instructions. Usually it's about 15-20 minutes on 400 degrees.

It should look something like this when it's done. Mine looks a little funny on the right end because I made a few cheese-only ones for myself and marked them with some mozzarella on the top. I know, brilliant, right?

Serve them with a side of pizza sauce. This is perfect for my family because I like very little sauce on my pizza, and James likes lots of it. This way, each person controls how much or how little sauce they want.

These things are awesome! And they're fun, too! My whole family loves them. They're great for kids. And, I haven't tried this yet, but I think they'd freeze well. That way, you could just pop them in the oven from the freezer and have a nice quick meal! I am so going to try that.

You know it's good when it get's the two year-old seal of approval. :)