Kisses, Kitty and Kids

So this has to be the most generic post ever!! But as tired as I am tonight, this is all your gonna get! I would like to give my friend over at Living So Abundantly for kindly taking this photo of my husband and I. I am sure he greatly appreciates it being posted on my blog :0)

Kisses

My kid, my kitty and my husband!

Perfect Pancakes

Perfect Pancake Recipe

• 
  
  1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 
  
  1 T baking powder
• 
  
  1/2 t baking soda
• 
  
  1/2 t salt
• 
  
  4 T butter melted
• 
  
  2 eggs
• 
  
  2 cups buttermilk

Mix the dry ingredients together, mix the wet ingredients together and combine. If the batter is to thick, add a little extra buttermilk (when I say Grandma's pancakes were thin, I wasn't joking).

Click here to read the story of Grandma's Perfect Pancakes.

Grandmas Perfect Pancake

There are many opinions out there on what constitutes the perfect pancake. Some like their flapjacks thick and fluffy, while others like theirs thin and a little crispy on the edges. My perfect pancake was inspired from my Grandmother. A couple times a year, we would go to Florida to visit her ( I grew up in Ohio) and I couldn't wait to eat her pancakes every single morning. I would have been happy to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner!!! They were thin, crispy on the edges and tasted like buttermilk. When she died, she took her recipe with her. She never wrote it down and never let anyone help her make them. I tried for years to re-create my Grandmas pancakes and finally found a recipe that was very very similar. Hope you enjoy them as much as I have!!!! Click here for the recipe.

Dolphins!

While in Key West, we went on this amazing boat trip! We were in Key West with another couple and rented a private charter boat. The tour was suppose to include dolphin sitings, snorkeling and a trip to a sand bar to go shelling. Well, the dolphin siting was amazing! I have actually done dolphin cruises a couple times, and never saw anything like this. Even the captain of the boat was amazed! We counted at least 27 dolphins all swimming along with the boat, it was absolutely amazing! Savannah was so excited and kept pointed say "I see it, I see it!".  Here are the photos :0)





Beetle Larvae and insect pieces found in Similac

So, I am not going to link this up to any site, but wanted to use my blog to voice my disgust at this!!! This should be every woman's number one reason NOT to use formula. If this can happen to Similac, it could happen to any formula company. If you breastfeed your child, you probably will never have to worry about having your infant ingest beetle larvae or insect pieces. Feel free to click here and read Similac's statement about their findings. All I can say is at least they did a voluntary recall on the formula.

My favorite kichen appliances

I try to be a minimalist. Where I feel I fall short in that area is my kitchen. When we bought our house 4 years ago, I new I was making a comprimise on the kitchen size. We choose a larger living space instead of a larger kitchen, there making it impossible to own every kitchen gadget!! I had to downsize a bit and keep only those kitchen appliances that I really utilized!

1. My Kitchen Aid Mixer. I couldn't live with out this! Heaven help me if it ever breaks down, I seriously couldn't get along with out it!
2. I love my food processor!! I liked it before having a baby, but I like it even more now that I have a kid! It makes baby food with ease, and saves lots of prep time cutting vegetables and we all know as moms we need all the help we can get!
3. I have a wonderful electric griddle. It folds up and the top comes off and can be placed in the dishwasher. The folding feature makes it a space saver, and the dishwasher safe griddle plates makes clean up a breeze! I use it to make quesidillas, cheesesteak sandwhiches and lots of yummy breakfast items. I hate making one pancake at a time. I can cook at least 4 at a time with my griddle!
4. My rice cooker. I can see how most people can live without a rice cooker. My husband puts it best when he says I should have been born Asian, because I could eat rice every day! We probably have rice with dinner at least 4 times a week. It is a breeze to just put the rice in the rice cooker and go! No worries about it burning on the bottom, or the rice to water ratio. The rice cooker does it all for me!!!

Jolly good time!

 Savannah having a jolly good time, with a sleepy cat at the Hemingway House in Key West, FL. The Hemingway house was full of cats, all with their signature 6 toed paws. My Savannah didn't care about how historical the place was, she just wanted to find all the cats! They were hiding under things, in things and on top of things!! She had a great time...and so did we :0)

Money Saving ideas for Christmas

As I saw a friend post on Facebook, there are less than 100 days left until Christmas!!!! I LOVE Christmas and the giving spirit that goes with it. However, we all can't afford to spend a lot of money on Christmas gifts. Throughout the years, I have come up with many ideas of how to give nice Christmas gifts, with out breaking the bank. Here are a few I would like to share!!!

1. Homemade cards - one of my hobbies is card making.Throughout the year I try to always make four of every card. By Christmas time, I have quite a stash. They make a great gift for teachers and friends who enjoy sending out cards!
2. Food - there are so many things you could do with this one! From cookie mixes to homemade caramel corn, place the goodies in a pretty tin and you have a nice gift!
3. Deals, deals, deals - I try to watch out for deals all year long. I have a space in my guest room closet designated to gifts. I will often get coupons in the mail for spend $10.00 get $10.00 off. Use some self-control and go spend $11.00 at the store. You get a nice $10.00 gift for a $1.00!!! Place a little post-it note on the item to remind yourself how much you spent. That way you already have your $10.00 Christmas gift for the Christmas party at work, without breaking the bank.
4. Photo collection - what Grandparent wouldn't like a nice little photo album or photo collection? You could either make it yourself, or watch for coupon codes for sites such as Shutterfly and Snapfish and make photo gifts for a fraction of the price!
5. Re-gifting - yes, in some circles this might be REALLY taboo, but let's face it, we have all been given gifts that we have and will NEVER use!! I am not a scented lotion person, yet I get lots of scented lotion every year. I set most of it aside (unless I really like a certain one) and re-gift them to people I know really like scented lotion. Please, don't hate me for this one :0)
6. Recipe Collection - this is a great idea for newly weds, or people just getting out of the house. Type up your favorite (or their favorite) recipes and place them in a nice binder. It will be a great resource for years to come!
7. Make Christmas Ornaments - we did this as a kid EVERY year. I am not a big fan of this one because I am a minimalist and feel most people already have too many Christmas Ornaments. But it is a fun project to do with kids. We would use old Christmas cards, Popsicle sticks and glitter. Use the Popsicle sticks to make a frame for the Christmas cards. Decorate with glitter and use ribbon to hang on the tree.
8. Sewing projects - If you know how to sew and like doing it, take on some sewing projects throughout the year. By Christmas, you will have a nice collection of gifts!
9. Organize - what do I mean by this?? Well, it this takes some planning. I did a project like this for my Grandma. I took all her pictures out of her old photo albums (those static cling ones) and put them in acid free albums. Took me weeks to go through them all!! I wrapped the new albums up and the whole family looked through them Christmas day.
10. Photo DVD - you can either scan in old photos, or use one you already have on the computer. Make a slide show, set it to music and burn it on a DVD. Great gift for older family members that really don't need anything, and do not get on the Internet to see all your family latest photos.

Hope some of these ideas help you!!! I am sure you can come up with many more ideas, feel free to leave a comment and tell me what they are!!!!!!!!

Helpful tip for new bloggers!

I certainly wouldn't call myself a seasoned blogger. However, I have a resource I would like to share that has helped me out tremendously!!!! My good friend over at Living So Abundantly created a "Memes" page. It is a wonderful resource when you are scratching your head trying to figure out what to blog about that week! I have honestly done many searches for a concise meme resource and have found hers to be the best. So check it out! You won't regret it. Have any blogging tips? Feel free to leave a comment and share!

Sunset in Paradise

Sunset in Key West, FL

Frugal Gift giving idea.

Every Christmas my mom would make a big batch of caramel corn. It was always hard not to eat it all and save some for gifts!!! She must have hid some of it because every year people would look forward to getting a bag of my mom's caramel corn. I have carried this tradition on not only because of how good it tastes, but also because it is a frugal gift giving idea. You can make a double batch of this recipe and have enough for you and those you want to bless with a gift and not spend a lot of money. I usually put the caramel corn in a Ziploc bag and then place it in a festive tin (or you could decorate the Ziploc bag). Every year my little brother-in-laws eat theirs before even leaving the house!! Enjoy!!!

Key West Iguana

We had an awesome time in Key West, Florida! It was our last hoorah before baby number two makes his entrance into the world! They had some really neat wildlife including this large reptile. The green iguana is NOT native to Florida. They came to Florida from the exotic animal trade. People would purchase iguanas as pets and not be able to maintain them. Their owners would then let the iguanas go into the wild where they flourished thanks to Florida's tropical environment.

Caramel Corn

Caramel Corn

• 1 cup unpopped popcorn (note that three bags popped plain microwave popcorn will also work)
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp vanilla

In a very large roasting pan ( I use the pan I cook my Thanksgiving turkey in and I spray it with cooking spray first) place the popped popcorn, set aside.
In a heavy sauce pan, combine butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt. Place over medium heat. Stir frequently while ingredients melt together. Once it comes to a boil, quit stirring and let boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat immedietly and add baking soda and vanilla. Be careful, this step will make the caramel double in size for a moment!!! Stir until well combined and pour over popcorn. Using a wooden spoon coated with cooking spray mix well. Place into a 250 degree oven. Stir every 15 minutes for one hour. When done, place caramel corn on cooking spray coated baking sheets to cool. Once cool, break up and place into bags (or just eat a bunch!).

Note: The cooking spray makes clean up much easier.

This recipe is linked to Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Tip Junkie