Fragrance in the vacuum

Here's a quick tip for the evening.  To add fragrance to your house without chemicals or candles, add a few drops of essential oil to your vacuum bag or depending on your type of bag you can put the oil on a cloth and place next to the bag.  The scent doesn't last a long time but long enough for me. 

I use whatever oil seems nice that day.  If the kids are sick I add eucalyptus, rosemary, and lavendar and it has a VapoRub effect. 


I am working on tweaking a whole wheat bread recipe.  Stay tuned!  In the meantime using the family as guinea pigs ;o)

Painting edges

I am by no stretch of the imagination a good painter, and no one would ever hire me (not that I would want them to) but as a mom there are just things we have to do.  Painting the house is one of those things.  With one income we definitely can't afford to hire someone so I am slowly perfecting the art of not screwing up too bad!  I found a great tip through Pinterest (surprised?) about how this lady makes transitioning between colors crisp and neat and I tried it in our stairwell when changing colors and it was great!!  Then I got to thinking that this same process may solve my edging issues.  Yes, there are gadgets to help and I claim full user error here.... I can't get those darn things to work and then it creates a TON of touch ups.  This process adds a bit of work but in my opinion it pays off!! 

 Tape off the area to be painted (baseboards AND ceiling)  I have found this new green Frog tape that I LOVE, but of course when I go to take pictures to post I ran out HAHA 

 Then paint the edges in the existing baseboard/ceiling color.  In theory any paint that bleeds under will be the correct color and go unnoticed but this will seal the tape!

 Paint as normal and remove the tape.  TA DA!!  The only issue I have had is 2 spots where the tape pulled off a little too much but I am pretty sure that was also user error ;o)

I am seriously pleased!!  Now I need to search Pinterest for how to keep the walls from looking streaky.  Leave me any comments that can help!! 

Hamburgers, Hotdogs, Hustle your buns

Throwback to Williamson Road Rec Club Cheerleading with the title!  

One thing that is very difficult to find dairy free are buns!  Who would have thought that? Not me, that's for sure!  Then you start reading all of these labels and wonder half of the ingredients REALLY are?!  Then wonder why are we eating it if we don't know what it is?  So I took a chance and just made a regular batch of bread and formed it into buns and we haven't looked back!  It takes a little more thought to planning baking days and menus but worth it! You will find the complete recipe and instructions HERE for making the dough.  Keep everything the same except forming into loaves.   The key I found with buns is trial and error to get them the size that you want.  Make them slightly smaller because they will rise!  Our first batch of hotdog buns were similar to footballs, yummy but huge! Also, buns need to be pushed down slightly 1-2 times during their rise to keep them from turning into footballs.

 My internet is running SUPER slow so I will rearrange these another day.  I finish typing and have to wait for the words to catch up, quite reminiscent of the old dial up days.  Here are some hot dog buns cooling.  I use a well oiled 9x13 glass Pyrex dish and I usually put 8 buns total.

 SO delicious and I do recommend using buns the same day they are baked.

 I can also get 5 hamburger buns in a well oiled glass pie pan.

 OOPPSSSS too much pressure on fingertips

 Imperfect but delicious!  Below worked great for Salmon Burgers!!

Baby on the couch

Here's another easy tip, when your little one wants to be on the couch but can't climb on and off alone try putting the cushions on the floor.  If they are like our kids they will think that this freedom is amazing!!  I usually try to save this trick for evenings when looking for a way to keep crabby ones occupied until bedtime or if I need to get a project finished this is a crowd pleaser!  Not only can they get on and off by themselves, this makes any falls relatively short as well as padded. 

 Seriously, look at that little face!  "I'm on the couch alone and I'm the stuff!"

Ketchup & BBQ Sauce: One Pot One Hour

Here are 2 more super simple recipes for everyday staples to be homemade.  I have tried many different recipes but these are the best for us.  ALL of the seasoning ratios are approximate! Some days it may take less honey, other days more honey, this is just a base that you can build on and customize for your own family's tastes. 


Not only do I try to save money and cut down on excess/chemical ingredients but also saving time.  By combining ketchup and barbeque sauce on the same day I can use the same pot and cut cut time and dishes!!  From start to finish today including breaking to take pictures, the sauces were actually done in 50 minutes!  

I start with the ketchup by adding 2- 12oz cans of tomato paste, 1 cup of honey, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup of water, few splashes of worcestershire sauce, heaping tablespoon of garlic and onion powder, and about 3/4 tablespoon of salt.  Stir this all together and let it bubble and reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.  I leave my spatula in the pot and place a lid on top.  The spatula keeps the lid propped up and the lid keeps the splatter from going all over the place! After 20 minutes taste and adjust seasoning as needed or can also add more water (small amounts at a time) if the consistency is too thick.  It will also thicken more as it cools.  That's it!  Your ketchup is done!!

 I take out enough to fill my squeeze bottle and a pint jar.  I fill the squeeze bottle in ice water because the ketchup is so hot that I don't want to damage the plastic.

 Here's roughly the amount left in the pot.

To this pot add in 2 heaping palm fulls of brown sugar, about a tablespoon of molasses, tablespoon of garlic and onion powder, tablespoon of chili powder, a few splashes of cider vinegar, splash of worcestershire sauce, a few drops of liquid smoke.  Let this simmer just like the ketchup and after 20 minutes give it a taste and adjust as needed. 

 After it cooks down it will begin to darken.  It is actually darker than the picture shows.

 So here's the final product! BBQ and ketchup and you know exactly what's in them!!