Crazy Blessings in Paradise

Its been awhile since I've made a post.  It has been a crazy past couple of years and my plate has been very full.  Thankfully things have started slowing down or at least coming together to a point I am able to take a few minutes to update things on social media. 2 years ago my grandma passed away and while going through her things my cousin and I came across a box of recipes, as well as a comic strip I will NEVER put on here (shame on you grandma).  I'm always on the look out for things that are different.  That is one of my personality traits, I like things that are different.  This recipe written down by my great grandmother stuck out to me.  It wasn't until this year that I was able to try and take the time to make them.   Apparently it was a big hit at the Christmas functions I have brought them to.  So as requested by those that have been privileged to try them, here is that recipe!!  ORANGE NO BAKE COOKIES  ...

 I have tried many Pintrest recipes and most of them have not turned out as ones my family enjoys.  But this one is an exception.  I absolutely LOVE this recipe!  I love it because it uses things I already have on hand and it takes little time and effort on my part (as long as I set timers ;)   ).  My family love it because it tastes amazing! I found it on this blog  Your Homebased Mom ...although I have tweaked it a bit to fit our lifestyle a little better it still turns out great! 30 Minute Rolls 1 C plus 2 Tbsp hot water 1/3 C oil 2 packages of ready to rise yeast 1/4 C sugar 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 egg 3 1/2 C all purpose or bread flour Heat oven to 400 degrees. In your mixer bowl combine the water, oil, yeast and sugar and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Using your dough hook, mix in the salt, egg and flour. Knead with hook (or by hand as I do) until well incorporated and dough is soft and smooth. (Just a few minutes) Form dough into 10-14 balls an...

Okay so I decided the Tooth Fairy was just way too pathetic.  We never did the whole tooth fairy thing when I was growing up so to me its not such a big deal.  I also don't believe in giving kids a bunch of money for something that every single person in the world goes through and no one has had to actually work to get a tooth out (okay so some may work harder at getting it out sooner then others, but really it would come out eventually either way).  Now my mom did have a good idea in the fact that if it is a healthy tooth with no cavities or brown spots it gets money and the last tooth will get a bunch of money as long as no baby teeth had cavities (none of the previous ones that fell out).  I feel okay in doing this because they at least had to work to keep the teeth in a healthy condition therefore they earned the money and it wasn't just given to them for not doing a thing. Back to the topic of the Tooth Fairy, again not really a "boy" thing to me.  I did ...

Okay so I got this off Pintrest.  This is a site that has the info! http://www.savingadvice.com/articles/2013/01/10/1013660_52-week-save-money-challenge.html    This was NOT my idea LOL! Week 1 save $1 Week 2 save $2 ...... Week 52 asve $52 By the end of the year (52 weeks) you will have over $1,000!!!! This is awesome! I'm going to do the first 26 weeks and I will have $351.  Then if I don't think I will be able to go up to $52 I'm going to start the first 26 weeks over again.  That will still  give me over $700!

So this is my newest creation!  I am known in my family for "making" recipes...that I later can't repeat LOL.  On Christmas Eve I wanted to make Ham and Potato soup.  I messaged my sister for the recipe she uses.  But she didn't get back to me in time.  So...here is what we ended up with.  And it was DELICIOUS! (this is whats left) 6 potatoes chopped and peeled 1 cup of baby carrots chopped 1 cup of celery chopped 1/2 cup of corn 1 cup of ham torn up, cut up, cubed...whatever put in pot of water and boiled in sauce pan I combined 2c water, 12/c flour, and  3T corn starch...continue stiring until thick paste add to pot of potatoes and veggies Stir in well Add 1c cheddar cheese Add in (to taste, how ever much you feel is right for your family.  We lean toward lost of garlic) garlic, black pepper, salt, basil, dried onion, parsley Let simmer for 30 minutes YUM!!

We made our own ornaments tonight out of Corn Starch and Baking Soda.  Was fun and easy!  Added cinnamon for color!  The Modge Podge smeared the pictures but they still turned out pretty cute.  If anyone has any ideas of how NOT to get the pictures to smear let me know!