Getting Her to Clean Her Room

My daughter loves to clean but she hates cleaning her room. I can't say I blame her though I've never been a fan of room cleaning. Why is that I wonder?

Everytime we tell her she needs to clean her room she moans and complains (but yet she'll go organize the silverware or tupperware drawer without being told). So I started setting the kitchen timer to 5 minutes and have her pick up a specific item, like her crayons. If she has any time left after picking up said item I add that to the next 5 minutes for the next item to get picked up.  So if she had 3 minutes left to spare, she will now have 8 minutes to do the next task, maybe putting her clothes away.  I keep this up until her room is clean.  She thinks this is great fun.  How awesome is that for me? :)  I know this will get old for her one day but for now it's been working like a charm to get her to clean her room without complaints so that makes me one happy mama!

MMMMMeatloaf

I.love.meatloaf. It's really not a glamorous dish, but it's oh so good. I remember my Grandma Dorothy would make meatloaf a lot when I was younger and her house would always smell so good when she was making it. I's kinda become a hobby of mine. Meatloaf? A hobby? Yea, you see I find a meatloaf recipe and I have to try it. Therefore it's a hobby...Sorta.

I have made tons of meatloaves and I don't think I've tasted a meatloaf I didn't like. However, you will never find me ordering it at a restaurant. Not sure exactly why that is, I just figure some things are better left made in your own kitchen.

I do have one tiny little problem with my meatloaf  hobby.  My husband.  He prefers I make one specific meatloaf.  Sure he will eat and like other meatloaves, but if I'm not making "the meatloaf" I will get "the look".  I try telling him if I made "the meatloaf' all the time it wouldn't be as good. Kinda like how holidays only come once a year. I mean how much fun would the 4th of July really be if it was everyday? He doesn't agree.

Below you will find the recipe for "the meatloaf". It is one of my top 2 favorite meatloaf recipes.  I found the recipe in one of my mom's cookbooks many years ago.  I'm pretty sure it came out of a microwave cookbook. I however, do not cook mine in the microwave because I thought that would just be, well, weird. I adapted it for the oven.  (I have made a different meatloaf in the microwave once when I was short on time and to my surprise it was really good.)

Sweet and Sour Meatloaf ("The Meatloaf")
What you need:
2lbs ground round or ground sirloin (I have substituted ground beef and ground chuck and it didn't taste as good)
8 oz can tomato sauce*
1/4 cup white vinegar*
1/4 cup brown sugar*
1 tsp yellow mustard*
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

What you do:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Combine tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and mustard in small saucepan over low heat a few minutes. Stir occasionally.  Set aside. 
Mix together meat, bread crumbs, egg, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup of the prepared sauce. (I use my hands to do this, not sure if this is the norm as far as meatloaf making goes, but I find it is much easier)
Form into loaf and put in greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.
Bake 45 minutes to 1 hour (until meat thermometer reads 160°F) basting often.
Serve with remaining sauce.

*I double these ingredients because my family likes having lots of sauce.

I hope you try this recipe out!

Want Cash?

Got your attention?? I know I'm late jumping on the Ebates band wagon, but better late than never right?!  Ebates is a website that you go through to earn cash back for your online purchases.  I signed up just before the holiday season and got a nice little check in the mail just for Christmas shopping. Not to shabby for sitting at my home computer ordering Christmas presents hey?

What you do:
Sign up on the Ebates website. It takes like 5 minutes, if that.
Then, when you are doing your online shopping go to Ebates. Log into your account, pick the store you are going to shop at, (it will bring up the store's website) then you just shop as usual. It's that simple. So simple in fact, I thought I did it wrong the first time I used it haha.

It keeps track of how much money you earn and every so often they will mail you a check. There are tons of stores and yes, stores you would normally shop at, not off the wall places. They also tend to have a list of coupon codes each store is currently offering. And, if that's not enough money saving goodness, every so often different stores will offer double cash back!

Just for signing up, they sent me a Target gift card! Who couldn't use a Target gift card? (I think you can pick from a few other places too)





Have you signed up for Ebates yet?

*Disclaimer: I have not been paid or compensated otherwise by Ebates to write this.  These are my honest thoughts and opinions about the website and wanted to share this money saving tip!

Another Oreo Dessert

Have you noticed the Oreo craze lately?  There seems to be Oreo desserts popping up all over the Internet and in cooking magazines lately and seeing as my family LOVES Oreos I will be trying a lot of these recipes out.  I made the Oreo Pudding Poke Cake this week.  Super simple, super cheap to make, and super yummy! It almost reminds me of the magical goodness when cake and semi melted ice cream meet.

What you will need:

1 Box any Chocolate Cake mix

(plus ingredients called for on box to make cake, usually oil,eggs, and water)

2 (4 oz) pkgs instant Oreo pudding mix

4 cups of milk

Crushed Oreo Cookies for topping, I used about 10
(although this is optional, I can't imagine why you would opt NOT to add it!)

What you will do:

Make cake according to directions on  box in a greased 13X9 pan.

Whisk together pudding mixes and milk 

When cake comes out of the oven use a wooden spoon to poke holes all over the cake.  My wooden spoon has a rectangular handle... hmmm.

Pour pudding over cake. Allow cake to cool on counter about 10 minutes and then put into fridge to fully set up. About 1 hour.

Sprinkle crushed Oreos on top of cake 

 YUM!!

 

My family said they preferred the Oreo Cups over this but yet they wouldn't let me give any away to the neighbors. 

Full recipe for easy printing:

Oreo Poke Cake

Ingredients

1 Box any Chocolate Cake mix

(plus ingredients called for on box to make cake, usually oil,eggs, and water)

2 (4 oz) pkgs instant Oreo pudding mix

4 cups of milk

Crushed Oreo Cookies for topping, I used about 10 (although this is optional, I can't imagine why you would opt NOT to add it!)

Directions

Make cake according to directions on box and bake in a well greased 13 x 9 pan.

Just before cake is done, start making pudding.  In medium bowl whisk together pudding mixes and milk just to get all the lumps out.  Let pudding mixture sit for about 2 minutes.  You want it to thicken slightly so it isn't runny but not fully thickened into pudding. 

When cake is finished and still warm poke holes all over cake using a wooden spoon handle or straw,  Pour pudding mixture over warm cake.  Allow to cool several minutes on counter then put in fridge to set up.  About an hour.

Once it is set, top with crushed Oreo cookies.

I store in fridge.

Source:The Country Cook

Under Kitchen Sink Makeover

It's funny how one simple little idea can turn into a full afternoon project.  It was this cute little bag dispenser that did me in.

After looking at the original inspriation of this bag dispenser on the House Of Grace I decided my cabinet under the sink was in DESPERATE need of a makeover. So, I rounded up the fam and off we went to the home improvement store. Here is how it all turned out:

BEFORE
YUCK! Unorganized mess!

The bottom of the cabinet had old contact paper that was peeling and water stained.
I scrapped most of that up and vaccuumed.

I put down new contact paper.
Although not a fan of most contact paper, I liked this particular design. 

I added a shelf for more storage and when I say I added the shelf I installed it with my own two hands, not the hubs. I'm pretty proud of my home improvement skills here. (Let's hope they stay up)

Another shelf 

 My version of the plastic bag dispenser. 

I actually made two since I had TONS of plastic bags. 

One is metal the other is cardboard. 

First I removed the paper label and washed them out.

Then I spray painted them grey.

(You could leave them as is or paint/decorate them however you like)

Cut hole in lid and stuff with bags.

Complete Finished Project
Yes, that's a HUGE container of vinegar...
I buy my vinegar in bulk.. Don't hate.



All in all I'm happy with the way it turned out.  Much better than the mess I had going on before!  Did you do any home makeovers this weekend?

Source:House Of Grace

Snow Excited!

I may be in the minority here, but the weatherman says it's going to snow and I couldn't be happier. I love a good snow, that is as long as I'm not driving anywhere far in it, and by that I mean no more than a few blocks.  We haven't gotten but a dusting so far this winter and I'd say we are due.  I also want to use my new shovel. The hubs finally bought me a shovel with a scrapper blade and yes I am excited about it.
Is anyone else excited for snow?

Those Oreo Things

MOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!! Can you make those Oreo things? I hear this quite often, and what's great is those Oreo things take absolutely no time at all to make and boy are they yummy!!

While on jury duty a few years back a co-juror (hmmm?? is that what you would call it?) told me about the Kraft Food magazine and I've had a subscription to it ever since.  Inside that magazine I found this recipe and thought my family loves Oreos, so I made them and now  they are requested weekly.

Cookies 'N Cream Pudding (or as known in my house as "Those Oreo Things")

What You Will Need

8 Oreo Cookies, divided (I use 11)

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

2 cups cold milk

3/4 cup thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping, divided

What You Will Do

Break 1 cookie into 4 pieces; reserve for garnish. (I use 1 full cookie for each) Crush remaining cookies. Beat pudding mix and milk with wire whisk 2 minutes.  Stir in crushed cookies and 1/2 cup Cool Whip.  Spoon into 4 dessert dishes; top with remaining Cool Whip and reserved cookies.

You could also use sugar free pudding, skim milk, and low fat or fat free Cool Whip to make it a more figure friendly dessert :) 

I have also made this using chocolate pudding and chocolate pudding and mint Oreos! YUM!

Source:Kraft Foods

The Great Decluttering Act

Every so often I look around and realize we have waaaaay too much stuff laying around... or simply not enough room for it all.  After the holidays is usually one of those times.  I get all ready to sort through stuff and as I look around I just don't know where to begin (seems to happen the most in my daughter's room) and my motivation goes right out the window and I am back to where I started. In a house full of clutter.

However, while browsing pinterest I came across this and thought, Hey I can do this! It's a full year of things to do to declutter your home.  It has specific tasks assigned to each day and most really shouldn't take more than 20 minutes (I said most, I'm personally not looking forward to the storage shelf week).  I have printed this out and taped it to the inside of one of my kitchen cabinet doors so I can easily keep up with it every day.  Click on Complete Calendar below picture to get the calendar for yourself. 

Complete Calendar

Hope you find this as helpful as I did!

Source: MySimplerLife

Thursday Night TV Love!

Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle, Jersey Shore --What more could a girl ask for?!! The new episodes start tonight!

 Well I am Twilight obssesed so of course I dig anything vampire...

Love me some Salvatore Brothers!

Quickly becoming a new addiciton.

My guilty pleasure... Trash TV at it's finest. GTL anyone?



Back to School

Well Christmas Break is officially over.  The kids went back to school today, and while it's nice having them home, I do look forward to getting back into a daily routine, even if the daily routine means we are busy, busy, BUSY!!  The two older kids are in multiple after school activities, so our afternoons can become quite hectic and with all the paper work they bring home from school, dance, sports, etc it's easy to misplace something, and no one wants to be that mom, you know the one who forgets to send the permission slip back for the field trip, or doesn't bring the dance costume on dress rehearsal day. So, a few years back I went on a hunt for a system to keep all their important paperwork in one place. This is what I came up with:

I went over to the office supply store and found two magnetic wall files (one for each kid) and stuck them on the side of my fridge and VOILA!!! All their paperwork is easily found (and off my counter top).

Ham Sauce

Every New Year's Day we make a ham, and a ham dinner would not be complete without my Grandma Edna's delicious ham sauce. 

What you will need

Combine in saucepan

Simmer

Here's the full recipe:

Grandma Edna's Ham Sauce
(I double the recipe)

¼  cup Dijon mustard
8oz can crushed pineapple (drained)
½ cup light brown sugar

Mix together all ingredients in small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Simmer 5 minutes.  Serve over ham.
Enjoy! It's that easy.

Happy New Year!

Wishing you all a safe and healthy New Year!