All Natural - Homemade Items

A while back I had posted about some things that I found and my journey through discovering different things that come with making basic needs for our homes as well as some things that we use to cook with. I had gotten some nasty comments and "know-it-all"- ish remarks so I stopped it. However, I was still planning and doing them as I ran out of things and felt I could.

Recently I had some personal friends ask me about it and how it was going. I informed them on what I had learned and what I thought was nice and not worth with each of what I tried. Then I moved. When I finally got connected with the internet and started going through my emails for this page, I realized I had some viewers that were actually really interested. They still wanted updates on the cloth diapering and the other things.

With that said, I decided I would start sharing with you my journey of it all. Some things were a fail or not worth it because of where we live but others have been extremely fantastic.

This is just an introduction to start it back up. Over time I will post some recipes, pictures, and thoughts on different things from homemade spices to homemade cleaners and more.

If this is something that doesn't interest you, I kindly ask that you skip past these posts. There is no need to make rude or negative remarks.

I look forward to starting this up again!

Projects

Now that we have our house and are settled in, I started doing some small projects around the house that I knew I wanted to do for the playroom, decor for the holidays, and for the girls' rooms.

I also had several comments asking about things I will be making for the holiday parties, events, and our own traditions. I thought I would do it all in one post.  Organize my list of "to-do's" then show the finished product of each.

DIY Projects (Decor):

For the Playroom:
Stuff Animal Hammock - DONE
2 Artwork Displays (one for each child) - A's DONE, working on E's.

For the Girls' Room:
A a baby doll hammock in her play corner - DONE
Baby E stuff animal hammock
Tulle Pom Poms
Baby E bunting
Baby E picture frame
Garland - MAYBE

Christmas Decor:
Posterboard Trees x2
Bunting
Initial Tree topper
Family Thumb prints

Food:

Children's Holiday Party:

Mini Chicken Pot Pies

Mini Cheeseburger Pies

Airman Cookie Drive:

Peppermint Crunch Brownie Cookies

Cranberry Noels

Peanut Butter Cookies

Neiman Marcus Cookies

For SF workers on Christmas Day:

Christmas Tree Brownies

Pumpkin Bread Muffins

Cherry Chocolate Cookies

If there are any recipes that you would like me to share from these, please let me know. 

I plan to post pictures of the finished projects of the decor stuff as well. 

Ice Pumpkin Cookies

During the Fall and Winter months it seems that I am always baking for different events, whether they are parties, cookie drives, or other volunteer opportunities, it seems I bake a lot. Each year I like to try new things, but I also have my favorites that end up carrying over every year. The last several years I made the Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread. I'm pretty sure I posted that recipe at some point because it is absolutely amazing.

This year, because we still did not have internet (recipes are shared/saved on pinterest), I started fresh. I used recipes from cookbooks in the house and magazines.

This one was a hit! I made it for the Thanksgiving Feast for Mr. Man's work.

Here's the recipe!

For the cookies:
2.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1.5 cups white sugar
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the icing:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp of milk
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.
Set aside.
In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and softened  butter.
Add pumpkin, egg, and vanilla extract to that mixture.
Beat until creamy.
Slowly mix in the dry ingredients.
Drop on cookie sheet in 1 inch balls, flatten slightly.
Bake for 15-20 minutes.
Cool the cookies before adding the icing.

To make the glaze:
Combine confectioner's sugar, milk, butter and vanilla extract.
Milk may need to be added as necessary to achieve the drizzling consistency.

This recipe came from one of my Parent's magazines. This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Hope you enjoy! I know many others did! 

Meal Plan

Now that we are moved and settled I thought I could start getting back to sharing our meal plan. Since we live so far from base, I have decided that I will shop for 2 weeks at a time and utilize local markets and bakerys for things we need last minute. Today I shopped for the next two weeks so I can tell you  how much I spent exactly. The only thing is that this trip and the next couple will be filled of things for parties and such as well. That's what happens around the holidays, right? After today, I figured by doing it this way (I had been doing weekly before this week) I saved about $50-$80 if not more - easily.

Now that A eats with us, I have gone as far as to plan breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. It just seems to be the easiest and helps us save money. If any of you are interested in the breakfast, lunch, and snack planning then I would be happy to share. Just let me know!

I will list our meals this week, then next week I will share one of the recipes if there is any requests.

Our meals for the next two weeks:

Week 1:
Chicken Soft Tacos
Red Beans and Rice with Sausage
Italian Steaks
Boiled Whole Chicken
Shrimp Skewers
Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs
Baked Chex Chicken

Week 2:
Beef Strganoff
Stewed Chicken with Rice
Tuna Stuffed Bell Peppers
Swedish Meatballs with Pasta
Mustard Chicken
Butter Beans with Sausage over Rice
Oven Roast

I spent $200 for this trip. I bought the basics along with this, which include our "fancy" weekend breakfasts along with planned breakfast, lunches, and snacks. This was also my first trip doing this, so I had bought in bulk to stock the pantry of things like wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, and other things we use frequently in the house.

This trip also included groceries for a holiday party where I am bringing mini chicken pot pies and mini cheeseburger pies. I bought enough to make 48 of each.

Hope you enjoyed this post, and I am happy to get back to doing this. I love seeing what I spend and how we eat throughout the weeks.

Any recipes for any recipes mentioned here, please just comment and I will post!

Memories: Bad Weather

This morning we had an awful thunderstorm. It was lightning real bad and we could see it through our shutters even though they were closed. The thunder was extremely loud. It has been a long time since Wiley and I experienced something like that since England doesn't have much of that. Arianna slept all night until this started happening, which was about 4:50am. Wiley was awake getting ready for w

ork, so when she woke up I just brought her to our room with me. We laid there while we watched and listened. The lights even went out. The funny part was that every time it would lightning, Arianna knew the thunder was coming right after. She would start giggling then would bury her head in my armpit with her bum in the air. I really do think it scared her even though she would laugh about it. She went back to sleep once it calmed down a few minutes later. When she woke up at 9:20am, I had coughed. She thought it was thunder. She did the exact same thing - giggled and buried her head in my armpit with her butt in the air. It was so funny. I couldn't stop laughing, but I tried to explain to her that it was me coughing and not the bad weather. Then she pops her little head up and says, "OH!" like she realized it was me and not the weather. Things like this is what makes being a Mommy so amazing.

A's Favorite Books {19 Months}

A loves to read. I wish I would have started doing this sooner, so I plan on back tracking through her favorite books during different stages of her development.

I will start with what her favorites are right now, then go back and post on ones at different ages to keep for reference with the new baby to see the differences and the similarities.

I always read to A from the time she was born. Every night before bed, I would read her a short story. As she got older, she started playing with the books. Then when she was old enough, she started bringing the books to me. Sometimes she would sit and let me read to her, but other times she was just bringing them to me for the sake of bringing them to me. I think they go through different stages and I believe every child at some point and time become very curious about books as long as they are within their reach and in their life.

Now that A is much older, she is loving her books. She will flip through the pages herself and just look at the pictures or she will bring them to me or Mr. Man to read to her. I love to watch her pick out a book because it shows what she is interested in that point and time.

Here are her most "go to" book right now.

"Where is Baby's Belly Button" by Karen Kate
This book is such a good book. At first A was not interested in this book. It is a lift the flap book so I thought she would be in to it earlier than she was. When she was 18 months, she recognized this book and always brought it to us. It caught her eye because it had a baby on it and she is really into babies. She has been knowing most of her body parts since she was about 15 months old. The basics like - ears, nose, mouth, fingers, toes, hair, tummy, heart, teeth and so on. But this book helped her to recognize her body parts as a whole and introduced her to her belly button. She now knows her hands, feet, and so on. She understands that her belly button is a part of her tummy.

"I took the Moon for a Walk Last Night" by Carolyn Curtis and Alison Jay from Barefoot Books
This is the first larger book that A has become interested in and will actually sit and listen to the whole thing. I really love Barefoot Books. I have bought a lot of books, and I have bought from several different publishers. Nothing will top the originals, but for more modern yet classy books every parent should check out Barefoot Books. This book is a story about a little boy who takes the moon for a walk before bed. It talks about where they go, what they see, and what they do together.

"I Wish I were a Pilot" by Stella Haskamp
This book is also by Barefoot Books. It is about becoming different things in life from a pilot to a race car driver to a cowboy and more. This book has been a favorite of A's for a few months now. It's small and a board book, but it is also interesting and big... grows well with them. A really loves transportation things, like cars, bikes, boats, etc. This book includes all that. The end of the book also shows all the things they discuss in the book. This is the first book where I tested her by asking her where each thing was and she surprised me by pointing every single one of them out. The weird thing about it is that they do not use the words for the pictures in the actual book. For example, it talks about traveling on sea. It shows a picture of a boat, but it doesn't actually say the word boat yet she knew it was a boat and found it in the last page.

"Eight Silly Monkeys" 
This book is the story of the monkeys jumping on the bed. It's not just about jumping on the bed. It uses eating, tumbling, dancing, and so on. It has a variety of versions, like with lady bugs instead of monkeys. We were given the monkey version and A loves monkeys. She also loves the song so this has also been a favorite. It introduces her to numbers, too.

"Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman
This book is her second book that is larger that she will sit through. It is also a hard back with regular pages. Not a board book. It is much longer than "I Took the Moon for a Walk Last Night". She loves it because of the bird and talking about his mother. I am surprised with this book because I really thought this would be one when she was much, much older. Again, it was a gift.

Internet and Settled

We have finally settled into our house. We have been settled for about a month; however, we have been without internet. The Italians definitely take their sweet time with doing things that need to be done. I have felt so lost the last month without internet. No way to find addresses to go sightseeing or to find places to shop for things we would like for the house and so on. It's been very weird.

However, I must say that it has also been relaxing. I have not had to worry about drama or the randomness that life sometimes tosses out at you. We have been able to enjoy being a family and doing outdoor things. Mr. Man would come home every day and play with the baby while I cook, then we would watch a movie together.

Speaking of... A is really into Mickey Mouse (which she calls "Mouse"), Elmo, and Shrek (which she says "Ek"). She can spot any of these from a mile away in a store or wherever we are. She was introduced to Mickey Mouse and Shrek through some books she has, so then I introduced her to the shows since my Mom had gotten her some for Christmas last year. Then Mr. Man introduced her to Shrek. She has watched a lot of Disney and kid movies over the last month. She's not big into the TV though, but when she wants to cuddle that is what she goes for.

I have a list of things that I want to write about here to keep as a keepsake. From our travels to things that A has been doing to how we spent our Thanksgiving and more. The list is really long, and I am not sure I will ever catch up without having to post multiple times a day, so I apologize in advance. Hopefully I can get some pictures up soon of the growing pouch and the A.

Pregnancy is also going really well. I had my 28 week appointment and we discussed the 22 week scan. They found a spot on the heart, so they ask that I do another scan to see if it is still there. I guess it is a common thing, but normally fades away by 28 weeks. I have that appointment in a week. Then my 32 week appointment and so on. Sugar test went well. I had fruit punch flavored drink this time, and it was awful. With A, I had the orange and I actually enjoyed it. Weird. Other than that things are good, and we are finally getting settled and starting to feel normal again. This has definitely been one of the longest, most exhausting PCS's of life. Of course, I have only moved 3 times..... with many more to go - I'm sure.

So here's to updating. Hope it isn't too much for any of you! And I can't wait to start catching up with everyone else!! :)