Monday, October 27, 2014

Halloween Decorations

I know most of you probably already have your houses all decorated and ready to go for Halloween, but if not, here's a great way to get ready for the big day.  This is how I decorated my house, and I love it! 

It's so simple and makes such a big impact.  I used the Martha Stewart brand window statics and wall stickers from Michaels in my windows.  But you could easily create your own with black paper and a stencil.   
And let's not forget the pumpkins!  I actually grew 5 of these pumpkins myself!  It's the first time I've been really successful at growing pumpkins.  It was so exciting to be able to carve my own pumpkins for Halloween.  The one in the middle in the back is my mom's that she bought.  We had a pumpkin carving party, and she helped me carve my pumpkins.  She did the one in the very front, which I think looks awesome. :)

I hope you all have a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Homemade Ginger Beer

If you're as much of a fan of Moscow Mules and Dark & Stormies as I am, then you know how expensive it is to buy ginger beer.  It's roughly $7 for a four pack of bottles.  That's more expensive than regular beer!  So I was super excited when a friend of mine told me it was super easy to make my own ginger beer.  He directed me to this recipe by Tori Avey.  I gave it a go, and was pleasantly surprised by how delicious and fizzy it was.  And since it cost me roughly $1-$2 to make two whole liters, I'll be making my own ginger beer from here on out. :)



Moscow Mule
  1. Pour 1-2 shots of vodka and ginger beer over ice in a copper cup.
  2. Squeeze one lime wedge into drink and stir.
  3. Enjoy!
Dark & Stormy
  1. Pour 1-2 shots of dark rum and ginger beer over ice in a low ball glass.
  2. Squeeze one lime wedge into drink and stir.
  3. Enjoy!

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Roasted Chile Tomato Salsa

At the moment I have a plethora of tomatoes sitting in my garage that are all ripe.  This is due to an early hard frost and subsequent harvest to try to save as much from my garden as possible.  So what to do with all of these delicious tomatoes?  Normally I would make a whole ton of vodka or regular pasta sauce.  However, that is a rather time consuming process, and with two little ones demanding my attention, that is a no go this year.  Instead, I've been making batches of fresh salsa.  There is a little, local farm stand not far from my house that I frequent during the end of summer and early fall.  It is so close that the Rowselettes and I usually go on a bike ride to visit it.  They had some amazing Anaheim chiles this year, so I decided to use them in my salsa.  This stuff is seriously good!


 
Roasted Chile Tomato Salsa
  • 6 medium Anaheim chiles, seeds and ribs removed
  • 1/2 large red onion, cut into quarters
  • 2 jalapenos, seeds and ribs removed 
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 c. fresh cilantro
  • 1/2 large lime, juiced
  • 12 small to medium tomatoes 
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees farenheit.
  2. Place Anaheim chiles on a baking sheet lined with tinfoil.
  3. Spray the peppers with olive oil spray and roast for 15 min.
  4. Once the peppers are done, put all ingredients except tomatoes in a food processor.
  5. Process on high until all ingredients are finely minced.
  6. Add tomatoes to food processor.  
  7. Process on high until tomatoes are liquefied. 


In case you weren't sure what an Anaheim chile looks like, this is it. :)




The smell of the chiles roasting is amazing!









My favorite part about this salsa is how easy it is to make!  You can even roast the chiles a few days ahead of time and store them in a resealable bag in the fridge.  This salsa will be good for a couple of weeks in the refrigerator, but I doubt it will last that long. :)    

Side note: It was recommended to me by another blogger to increase the size of my photos.  What do you guys think of the larger pictures?

Monday, October 6, 2014

Burt's Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil

Occasionally I find a product so awesome, I just have to share it with you all.  So today I'm going to give you the low down on this Burt's Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil
I've been using this body oil since I had the Rowsellettes, and it has worked wonders on the stretch marks I got from breast feeding and my c-section scar.  My scar, while still visible, looks really good.  My husband keeps commenting on how you can hardly see it anymore.  I attribute this mainly to the Vitamin E oil in this product.  Vitamin E is traditionally known to help minimize scarring. 

But the really amazing thing is how it has virtually faded away my stretch marks to nothing in the 6 months I've been using it!  As a person who'd never had stretch marks in my life, it was rather disheartening to wake up one morning with a plethora due to my milk coming in for breast feeding.  I vowed not to let it get any worse and started using this oil.  And sure enough, within a couple of months, I could see a vast improvement in the appearance of the stretch marks.  Hallelujah!  I love you, Mama Bee Oil. :)