Tres Leches Cake

Tres Leches Cake is a delicious dessert that's simple enough for any meal, but rich enough for a holiday treat. Preheat oven to 325. (300 for glass pans) In a large bowl sift together: 1 1/2 C cake flour a pinch of salt 1 tsp baking powder In another bowl, mix thoroughly: 1/3 cup oil 1 C white sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract  Slowly beat in, one at a time 5 eggs. Be sure to mix in each egg before proceeding to the next one. When the mixture...

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Disheveled Thanksgiving Post Recap

Over the years we've posted quite a few Thanksgiving posts, so we thought this year we'd assemble them into one handy post. Here's some recipes, tips, and tricks for the week: -A handy chart for turkey thawing times -Another for roasting times, no guessing, and no dried-out bird -"Thankful Tree" craft for all month, all week, or just your Thanksgiving get-together -Super easy, but delicious cranberry sauce -DIY pumpkin pie spice- tasty and...

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Burt's Bees Intense Hydration...Day One

From time to time, you may see posts from me about BzzAgent kits. I LOVE being a BzzAgent. Not only are the freebies fantastic- but the opportunity to share so much about new products is amazing. I just received my Bzzkit for the Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Campaign. They asked us this time for a "before" photo to help document our skin journey. I feel like I should just warn you....my camera took amazing macro photos, you can really see the...

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My Favorite Toothpaste Recipe

Natural toothpaste recipes that actually taste good are few and far between. Googleing will give you a few options, but this one remains my favorite. I make a pretty decent-sized batch, In a bowl, combine 1 part coconut oil with 1 part baking soda. My big batches are 3 Tablespoons of each. That's basically it, if you don't care for flavorings. If you'd like to flavor your toothpaste, also add 1 packet of stevia sweetener. ONLY stevia and xylitol...

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Delicious and Easy Pumpkin Muffins

Autumn is in there air, and pumpkin is in everything! Yummo! Here's a quick and easy recipe I whipped up one day when I just couldn't find one that fit my craving. Preheat oven to 375. Just toss this all in a bowl: 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (adds a great flavor) 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice. (I keep a jar of homemade around all year.) 1 beaten egg 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/4...

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Cloud Dough

There's a new sensation in our house, and for the time being has replaced our much-loved homemade playdough. Cloud dough. It's mold-able, it's soft, it's interesting to feel, and it's easy to clean up! You've gotta love it when your manipulative toys are messy fun but don't linger. We made what looks like is a "half-batch" judging by the posts on the internet- but it was just the right amount for one little four-year-old. It was crazy simple: Mix...

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Peanut Butter-less Pinecone Bird-feeders: Great For Kids With Allergies

Pinecone bird-feeders are always a big hit, for the kids having fun making them, and for the birds who get a tasty treat. We've been unable to make any for a few years though, because our youngest is allergic to peanuts. Then I read a genius idea somewhere on the internet- use shortening to stick the seeds! Now, the idea is super, but I felt that shortening wouldn't be a great choice for birdies, so I went with a choice birds love, and is better...

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Lemon-Ginger Throat Soother

This weekend, I was SO glad to have a big jar of this on hand! Chuck-full of lemon and ginger, this honey concoction is great as tea, or an additive to teas in soothing Autumn and Winter throat ailments. I made a big (family-sized) jar, so I needed 2 or 3 lemons, and about 3 inches of ginger. If you make a small bit, you'll need just one lemon, and just an inch of ginger. Cut your lemons into fourths, then slice very thinly. Grate...

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Need Recipe Ideas?

It happens to all of us. One week there is just no inspiration and no energy to make anything besides salad, a chicken breast, and a carton of mediocre ice cream. Those are the days when you wish you had a personal chef, or that at least the take out guy would appear. Instead of languidly flipping through your old cookbooks, why not take a quick look into your inbox at a Weekly Recipes e-mail? Our weekly newsletter is chock full of beautiful...

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Ella the Elephant is all Ears

This week The Princess and I are working on Ee, and the color grey. OF COURSE this week will involve ELEPHANTS! And, since we are also doing a lot of ear things....we needed to do some elephant ears. How cute are little hand-print elephant ears? Super cute! First I found an elephant face clip art. I erased the ears, broadened the lines for little hands to cut, and put it in a document for printing. I printed on draft so that The Princess could paint...

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Little One Errand Food: Part 2

Today we're heading into the city today, and decided to make our snack box within the themes of this week's school stuff. We are working on the letter G. (The Princess is so excited that her name has a big G AND a little g!) We also worked with the color green. Today's snack box is a G/green box. We have: a fruit salad with grapes, kiwi, and green apples. goldfish crackers. (OK, so they're whales here...don't tell The Princess!) her favorite-...

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Make Your Own Learning Games: Color Sorting and Matching Box

Whether or not you are homeschooling, many education games will keep your little ones entertained for hours. One of ours is this color sorting and matching game. And since we've found boxes that the egg-carton base fits in, it's just gotten better ;-) You can either start with a 1 1/2 dozen carton- cut in half, or cut down a bigger 2+ flat into a 3x3 square. I used to keep my egg-carton games (I have more I'll be sharing...) in gallon zipper...

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How I Make My Pillowcase Dresses

There are probably 1001 ways to make pillowcase dresses, and everyone has their favorite. This is the way I make mine for several reasons: -I like the way it looks. -Sometimes I don't have matching ribbon or want the straps to be from the same fabric- this is adaptable for it. -I can also use bias tape for the straps. -The straps can be tied to fit a growing child, you're not limited to the size it's first made like the dresses that use the ribbon...

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Quick Tip: Freezer Organization

Since we just have a small, above the fridge type freezer- and 5 people, I am forever working on ways to maximize our space. This also helps minimize our food budget! The key to keeping a freezer effective and efficient is organization. One of my favorite findings is freezing items FLAT so they stack and fit nicely. I also LOVE using baskets to keep things grouped together, AND to keep them from falling out on me. Another tip that homemakers...

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