DIY Pore Strips

Over the years, I have found that I love DIY beauty products! When I was in school we did "homemade" facials with strawberries, honey, lemon, and even kiwi. I now make my own makeup remover and will never buy store-bought again. Sugar & salt scrubs are awesome, too! I could go on and on. I will post some of these eventually, but I want to share something else with you tonight. DIY pore strips! Yes. That's right. No more buying those expensive strips. 

 All you need is unflavored gelatin, milk, and a q-tip or fan brush!

Ingredients

1 tsp. unflavored gelatin

1 tsp. milk

Directions

Mix ingredients well in a small microwave-safe dish. Heat in the microwave for about 10 seconds or until mixture is a thick liquid. Once cool enough to touch, brush over the bridge of your nose. (Do this quickly because the mixture will begin to get too thick to spread.) Let sit 10 minutes then peel off.

Cheesy Jalapeno Cornbread

We've tried most of the freezer slow cooker meals that I put together, but we have yet to try the pork stew. It suggests to serve it with cornbread so I decided to follow that suggestion. I have some fresh jalapenos waiting around to be used, so I thought I would switch up the normal cornbread recipe. You can choose to use the peppers and cheese along with me, or you can omit one, or both, to fit your taste preference.

In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, mix eggs, milk, and 1/4 c. butter.

In a separate bowl, mix peppers and cheese.

Pour egg mixture, all at once, into flour mixture and gently stir just until moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy.

Dump peppers and cheese into mixture and stir until evenly mixed throughout. Do not over mix.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and heat either a cast iron skillet or a 9x5 inch loaf pan for about 3-5 minutes.

Remove pan and put the additional 1 Tbsp of butter in pan and let melt. Spread to coat.

Pour batter evenly into pan and bake approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool slightly before removing from pan. Serve warm.

Look at this goodness! Warm, cheesy, a hint of spiciness....so good!

Ingredients

1 c. flour

3/4 c. cornmeal

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. salt

2 eggs, beaten

1 c. milk

1/4 c. butter, melted (may substitute oil)

additional butter (1 Tbsp.) for greasing dish

2 large jalapenos, diced

1 c. cheese, shredded (I used Colby Jack)

Directions

In medium bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

In a small bowl, mix eggs, milk, and 1/4 c. butter.

In a separate bowl, mix peppers and cheese.

Pour egg mixture, all at once, into flour mixture and gently stir just until moistened. Batter will be slightly lumpy.

Dump peppers and cheese into mixture and stir until evenly mixed throughout. Do not over mix.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and heat either a cast iron skillet or a 9x5 inch loaf pan for about 3-5 minutes.

Remove pan and put the additional 1 Tbsp of butter in pan and let melt. Spread to coat.

Pour batter evenly into pan and bake approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool slightly before removing from pan. Serve warm.

An Easier Way to Peel a Banana

When grabbing a banana for breakfast this morning, I stopped before I started peeling it. It seems like most people peel a banana the same way. You grab the stem like this and pull back, hoping that it snaps apart cleanly rather than just mushing down.

 Most of the time that method works just fine. But sometimes, when it does mush together, you end up with a partly soggy banana and the peel under your fingernails from trying to cut under the stem to open it up. Have you ever wondered if there was an easier way? There is! 

Grab the other end and pinch.

 Using both hands, gently pull apart in two sections.

 It will split right open and then pull down.

 You will then have a perfectly peeled banana that will make all the monkeys in this world jealous.

Quick and Easy No-Bake Granola Bars

So I was doing Pre-School hour with the kiddos, but it ended up attracting the older kids, too! Anyhow, these granola bars are delicious!! They are quick, easy, and the little ones love to help make them.

Recipe:

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white corn syrup
2 cups quick oats
2 cups rice crispies
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup craisins (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla

First, in a medium to large size bowl, mix your quick oats, rice crispies, and craisins. Set aside.
Next, mix your brown sugar and corn syrup together in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from heat. Stir in the peanut butter, chocolate chips, and vanilla. Mix well and pour over the dry mixture. Stir well until mixture becomes sticky and there is no oatmeal or rice crispies on the bottom of the bowl. (If you're wondering, the kids and I kind of made this mistake :P) Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and press down until mixture is flat and even. Let cool and enjoy! :)

Zucchini Fruit Snacks

Okay, so this may seem a little weird, but it's pretty darn cool. You can make fruit snacks out of zucchini! Who says candy can't be healthy?! I used black cherry kool aid and they came out tasting a little more like black licorice than cherry. I also had really small pieces so they became a little chewier. If you keep the pieces a little bigger they will become more "gummy". Have fun and experiment! I think I'm going to try fruit punch flavor next time...

Start with some zucchini. Peel zucchini, slice in half, and take all of the seeds/guts out.

Dice zucchini into chunks or strips. Try to keep them all similar in size. Keep in mind that these will shrink to half the size. 

 Heat water, kool aid and sugar until sugar is dissolved.

Add zucchini and bring to a boil.

 Boil 30 minutes. Drain well.

Spread evenly on dehydrator trays or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Dehydrate or bake in preheated oven at 140-170 degrees (may need to just use "warm" setting)

Let dehydrate for 6-12 hours, depending on the size you cut the pieces. Just watch them and make sure they aren't wet to the touch. 

Let cool completely and store in airtight container or Ziploc.

Ingredients

3 c. zucchini

1 1/2 c. water

1 c. sugar

2 packets kool aid

Directions

Peel zucchini, slice in half, and take all of the seeds/guts out.

Dice zucchini into chunks or strips. Try to keep them all similar in size. Keep in mind that these will shrink to half the size.

Heat water, kool aid and sugar until sugar is dissolved.

Add zucchini and bring to a boil.

Boil 30 minutes. Drain well.

Spread evenly on dehydrator trays or on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Dehydrate or bake in preheated oven at 140-170 degrees (may need to just use "warm" setting)

Let dehydrate for 6-12 hours, depending on the size you cut the pieces. Just watch them and make sure they aren't wet to the touch.

Let cool completely and store in airtight container or Ziploc.

Creamy Frozen Dessert

Having leftover pie filling from my No Bake Cheesecake, I didn't really want to just throw it away. Remembering an easy pie that a friend had told me about years ago, I decided doing something similar. You usually put this over a graham cracker crust, but I'm out of graham crackers so I decided to just make it and scoop it out of a bowl like ice cream. If you have the time or ingredients for a crust, go for it!

Ingredients

8 oz. whipped topping, thawed

1-2 cups pie filling (any flavor, but I used my leftover blueberry filling)

Directions

Mix ingredients well. Spread in a freezer-safe dish (or over a graham cracker crust) and cover. Freeze at least 1 hour or until frozen.

Easy Baby Quilt

I'm happy to report that my sister had a little boy this morning! I was talking to my mom after he was born and she was talking about needing to pick up a blanket for him. It got me thinking about this flannel fabric I had of little teddy bears and balloons. I decided to make a small blanket for the little one. I used the border technique that I used for my bordered fleece throw. When I was finishing up, I realized that, because I was using batting, I should have done the free-hand quilting first, then I should have done the border. If you do this, I would suggest doing it that way, but I will show you what I did anyway. Then you can see where I screwed up. Lol!

I started with my flannel piece, then cut out a piece of cotton fabric and batting about 2 inches smaller than the flannel fabric. Here is the blue cotton fabric and the batting.

Lay the flannel piece, right side down. Top it with the batting, then the blue fabric, right side up. (This is where you should probably pin it in place and free hand quilt it instead.)

Next, I folded in all 4 edges and pinned in place.

When you get to the corners, tuck the center down...

....fold one edge in...

...then lay it flat and pin in place. Sew all the way around.

Now is when I did the free hand quilting. I've been telling you to do that first because of the way it puckers and puffs in certain areas. (This is the back.)

(And here is the front.) At least it will be fluffy and cozy, right?