Friday's Gardening

For those of you who need some gardening tips, my old roommate Nicole does a gardening post on her blog called Friday's Gardening. She was a horticulture major at BYU-Idaho and is putting her knowledge to good use. Every Friday she posts new tips on gardening, whether it be household plants, vegetable gardens, or landscaping she does it all. So take a look on Fridays or go and look up the archived Friday's Gardening for more great plant tips.

Here is the Link

-Brigitte

Yummy Crepes

Ingredients:

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/3 cups milk

2 Tbsp butter or margarine

1 cup flour

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients together until lumps are out. Tip: mix wet ingredients first and slowly add dry. This works especially well in a kitchen aid! Pour onto hot skillet or crepe pan with a ladle sized scoop. Tilt the pan around until the batter is evenly applied as lightly as possible. Cook about 2 minutes on each side.

Serve with fresh fruit, ice cream, peanut butter, nutella, syrup, or anything else that sounds good. My favorite has nutella and peanut butter with cool whip. Yummy!

Tip of the Week- Cleaning Velcro!

If you ever have velcro that gets a bunch of fuzz stuck in it, try washing it in warm soapy water with a hard bristled tooth brush. It will reach into all those crevices to get the thing clean as new!

Tip of the Week

Easy Microwave cleaning.

Don't bother with easy off. To get stuff stuck on the inside of your microwave all you need is take the wet rag you've been cleaning with! Put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds (not too long it will get hot). Spray it down and easily wipe away the mess! Thats it, simple and easy and costs nothing.

Tip of the Week

Spring! That means time to expose those toes that have been trapped all winter. When you get ready to paint those tootsies, if your polish has gotten clumpy or sticky, put a couple drops of nail polish remover inside and shake up. Continue the process until the polish has thinned out to the way you want it.

Easy-to-"Dew" Chicken

My family used to call this Rice-Krispie chicken. It's super fast and easy and delicious! It's great served with rice a'roni, potatoes, veggies, whatever you want!

6-8 boneless chicken breasts

1 cube butter or margarine

4-6 cups Rice Krispies crushed in plastic bag

Coat the chicken on both sides with butter, salt and pepper. Sprinkle both sides with rice krispies going heavier on top. Place in shallow 13x9 baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min until done. I like to cover with foil the first 30 and remove for the last 15. Voila. That's it!

Caramel Popcorn

This recipe is for the most amazing caramel popcorn in the world. If you have ever had me make it or have tried my grandma's you know. This is her recipe. Try it tomorrow. You won't be sorry. (This is for SOFT caramel popcorn. Not the glazed stuff.)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 lb. brown sugar (2 1/4 cups)

I cup white sugar

1 cube butter

1 tsp vanilla

Combine sugar, syrup, milk and butter. Bring to boil. Cook to softball stage stirring constantly ( 225 degrees). Pour over 3 gallons of popcorn. Stir until popcorn is covered. Mold into balls if desired.

Tips on this recipe: I make my popcorn first and sort out any unpopped kernels so I'm not rushed at the end. Also, cooking the caramel in an electric skillet is m favorite because its way less messy.

Blog Templates

Does anybody have any good sites for blog templates? The one I used for this and my site is www.pyzam.com. I've also used cutestblogontheblock.blogspot.com. If you have any favorite sites please comment!!

Update: Found a site I love, http://sjhblogdesign.blogspot.com

Tip of the Week

Use tennis balls in the dryer when washing towels, large blankets, pillows, or even just a big load. It keeps the load from balling up and cuts drying time almost in half. Start with just a couple if you're nervous and work up to about 4-6 for large comforters. 

Window Treatments

Window treatments can do wonders for a house. However, they can often be very expensive. I learned a little trick my junior year that is great for newlyweds or trying to decorate on a budget. Adjustable curtain rods can be found for $4-10 at shopko and other similar stores. What's nice is they come in several finishes so you can choose what looks best for your place. I particularly like the brushed bronze and black. They look metal but are really plastic which makes them so cheap. They're easy to put up in a weekend but still makes a big difference! Use curtains or even drape a sheer fabric around the rod to create a more relaxed feel!

Scrapbooking

So, for most of my scrapbooking and crafty ideas I always go to Pebbles in my Pocket. It's a little store (house) on State Street across from University Mall in ProvOrem. They have tons of great products, ideas, and kits. They are how I found the stuff to make this Valentine's book and where Matt learned how to make these paper flowers. Go to their website and sign up to receive %40 off coupons every month! And, for all of you out-of-towners, they have catalogs and even items online to order and have shipped! What could be better?

Easter Decorating

Use thick blades of grass as stamps or just lightly paint them on plain tablemats to "spring" them up a bit!

Stick blades of crass or maybe even cut tissue paper to some votives to make them look like they are fresh and very cute!
Ok, so I'm a big fan of Martha. When I saw these ideas I fell in love! One of my favorite things around Easter time is fresh wheat grass. It's so fun to grow in a little pot and "hide" a couple eggs inside to give as gifts! They're low maintenance too so it's great. If you are hosting Easter dinner or any spring event at your house soon here are a couple of great decorating ideas!

Let's get it started!

This blog is meant to help all of us who would like some good tips on cooking, decorating, blogging, pretty much anything! If you'd like to be an author on this page please let me know because I'd love to have anyone interested participate! We're going to try to label each post with "recipe," "blogging," "decorating," "coupons," "events," etc. That way if someone is looking for something particular it's easier to find. Hopefully this will become a great place for us all to exchange some good ideas!