Friday Confession

Without my Pampered Chef steamer and a tablespoon of butter, my family may never eat vegetables with dinner…

Before the End of the Year {Bucket List}

There are a few things that have been weighing on my mind recently and I figure here is as good a place as any to organize my thoughts!

I’ve needed to trim my budget for awhile now and I’d like to decrease my ecological footprint a little bit so here are the things I plan to do by the end of the year:

* Find five more freezer meals my family will enjoy

* Start cloth diapering (including cloth wipes) (Approx $40/month savings)

* Get rid of paper towels (Approx $10/month savings)

* Get rid of ziploc bags for sandwiches and snacks (Approx $5/month savings)

* Make my own laundry detergent (recipe via: The Duggars) (Approx $15/month savings)

*Make my own dishwasher detergent (trying this recipe) (Approx $12/month savings)

I promise I’m not turning into a crunchy hippie…just trying to save money!!!

Catching Some Waves

I grew up going to the Pacific Ocean when visiting California, so when people in Florida refer to “waves” I kinda giggle to myself. You never see anything over a couple of feet unless we’re in the middle of a hurricane.

That wasn’t going to stop Hayden from trying out his boogie board!

It took Dallin a little longer to get used to the water, but he finally warmed up to it!

This is how Kaylee rolls

Make Your Own Brown Sugar

So here’s the story…about 1:30 this afternoon I took advantage of a napping baby and decided to make chocolate chip cookies. They are the BEST chocolate chip cookies in the world. I know what you’re thinking…your grandma’s are better, but sadly, you are wrong. These cookies use twice the amount of salt as most cookies combined with milk chocolate chips, as apposed to semi-sweet, which makes for an irresistible balance of salty and sweet.

Anyway…I opened my trusty Tupperware that houses my brown sugar and, much to my dismay, there was only about 2 tablespoons left! I always have brown sugar!

So, if you were paying attention…you know that I have a napping baby so there’s not a chance I’m going to the store!

I learned in home ec that brown sugar is simply granulated sugar and molasses, so I set to work.

This is quite a complicated and tedious process, requiring TWO whole ingredients and a fork.

For light brown sugar all you need is:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp molasses

Mix with a fork until combined. It’ll be all kinds of annoying and crumbly for a bit but just keep at it and you’ll end up with soft, fluffy light brown sugar!

If you want dark brown sugar then simply add another tbsp molasses!

I’d say it worked just fine!