I saw, I pinned ..

I conquered!

I took on the task of the Pinterest burlap stockings that I was swooning over! Although mine not be quite up to par with the cutie patooties I pinned and I might not have that pretty mantle . . I am proud!

These were my inspiration . .


So . . once again, I headed over to Hobby Lobby. Found some white fabric in the clearance bin (1.5 yards for $4!). Then I grabbed some burlap (and paired it with a 40% off coupon, of course). I had my supplies for 4 stockings . . and spent just $8. The best part of these was that . . I did not sew. O_O Glue gun to the rescue! Man, I love my glue gun.

And .. my turn out!




& I just had to spruce up those boring white 3m hooks with some red satin bows. Overall, I think it was a success!

We welcome .. the reward jar!

So, with Christmas right around the corner, I am forever seeing all of these toy deals .. for which we have too many of! How can I pass them up!? I can't. I had to get creative. I really enjoy shopping for my kids, naturally . . but they are now to the age (2 and 3!) that I need to show that rewards, like new toys, are much sweeter when they are earned. Since I have been having some troubles teaching Ian why he needs to pick up his room, I figured .. a reward jar could be a great solution! Helps me give to them while teaching a lesson at the same time. Win win.


So . . holiday sales were perfect for this! I scored some great deals on additions to our collections. We have a quite a few collections and this should also help us add on . . in a reasonable manner.

So I snatched up a cute jar from, you guessed it . . Hobby Lobby. With their 50% glassware sale it was only $6. :) It's a good size jar with a wide mouth so that we won't have any problem putting things in and taking them back out. I loaded it up with mini playdohs, Squinkies, GoGo Crazybones, Littlest Pets, stickers & more.


Since we had a good day and they didn't give daddy any trouble with brushing their teeth, I let them go ahead and give the reward jar a whirl


& he chose . .


My plan is to let them choose one reward a day, granted we have a good day. I am planning to make a 'chore' chart next that will go hand in hand with our reward jar. More of that to come soon!

PS - I should probably start a rewards system for MYSELF. ;)

I'm backkkkk!

Yes, I know. Again. I've been doing lots of little projects and whatnot around the house and I am ready to do some documenting! So I am going to attempt to get into the swing of things and routinely blog. Once again.

But for now . . I will blog my Parmesan Spinach & Mushroom Turkey meatballs recipe! I usually sort of cook 'to taste'. I rarely measure, unless I am baking. I get asked for recipes from time to time though and I am always all 'uhhhhhhh'. So I think I will start trying to actually jot down my recipes occasionally.

Anyways!


What you need:




1 lb Ground Turkey (or ground beef, if you prefer!)
1 cup of finely chopped mushrooms
1/2 cup of steam spinach (Side Note: Spinach holds a ton of moisture, so I find the best way to 'strain' it is to dump it into a clean towel and twist it 'dry'.)
1/3 cup of Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder (You can use fresh garlic if you like! I'd do about two cloves.)
1 teaspoon of basil
Salt & pepper to taste!
and 1 egg!

I start with dumping my spinach & mushrooms into my ground turkey and mixing that up as best as possible. You wanna make sure you break up the spinach so you don't end up with it concentrated in one area. Next, I toss in all of my seasonings, cheese, breadcrumbs .. and give that a good mix. By now, it's probably pretty dry and not sticking together very well. So that's when I add my egg!



Once it's all mixed again, that egg should have helped the consistency! Then, get to rolling. I make mine about 1.5-2'' or so. Yields about 20 meatballs. :)



Into the oven they go, 350 degrees for 30 minutes. & voila!




Delish & probably my fave way to sneak my kiddos some of their 'less favorite' veggies.