What to do with kids game balls

I love this idea of what to do with your kids game balls.  Ours were rolling around on top of their shelf so I saw this idea on pinterest and had to do it.  I went to Old Time Pottery and bought these two clear glass vases for $10 each and put the balls in them.  Love it.  

cool-kids-rooms.com is where I found the idea!  

Macaroni and Cheese baked

I got this recipe from Alton Brown on food tv and it is really good.  I have to say though that it takes a while to prepare it so it is not one of my "go to quick recipes" at all.  But I am posting it for those of you who want to impress the mother in law or hubby.  It presents nice and it tastes great.  When I am in a hurry I usually make mine in the crockpot which is a recipe from Paula Dean but my hubby decided at 4pm to tell me he wanted me to make mac and cheese so I dug up this recipe.  It gets rave reviews online and in my house!http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/baked-macaroni-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Back to school Alphabet letter cookies

My kids have always loved the stuffed icing cookies at the bakery.  They are so expensive that I have never bought them one before. (Grandma has though!)  So this is where I got my inspiration for this years "back to school" treat that the kids and I make every year right before school starts.  I usually find someone elses idea in a magazine or online but this year I was really short of time and had to come up with this at the store!  So here it is, our creation of alphabet letter google eye guys.  Don't you love the title?  And it's so easy for kids to do!

2 boxes of bakery small chocolate chip cookies

white icing ( we colored ours with blue food coloring since that was what kids wanted to do)

candy eyes (I got them in cake section at Michaels)

Black Wilson sparkle gel (to write the letters on the cookies)

Frost flat side of cookie and then put other cookie on top.  Frost top of that cookie.  Draw the letter on cookie and then add eyes.  Good practice for young kids with their letters!

Linda's Easy Koolaid Pie

Ok, so I am all about an easy yummy recipe.  This recipe was shared by a friend so we will call it Linda's Koolaid Pie.

1 packet of Koolaid (I used grape)
1 can condensed milk
1 tub of whipped cream

Mix together and put in a graham cracker crust.  Or make your own easy crust which is what I did.
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c melted butter
1 1/2 c graham crackers crushed
Mix together and put in bottom of pie plate.
(bake in oven for 7min on 350) Let it cool before you put anything in the pie crust!

Put in fridge for 1 hr before serving

The Best Chicken Tacos Ever!

http://www.goodlifeeats.com/2010/09/crock-pot-mexican-chicken.html I have to give credit to the above link for this awesome dinner I made tonight. Now I am never going to be called Martha Stewart for sure but if you ate at my house tonight you would have been impressed. I found this chicken taco recipe online today while looking for a crockpot chicken taco recipe. I love pinterest and most of my recent recipes come from there. My husband raved about these. And he doesn't rave about my cooking much so you must believe me when I say these are so good that they taste restaurant quality yum yum! And they are so easy too. So click on the link above and forgive me for not taking a picture since I ate them so fast I didn't have time to take one.

Easy chocolate chip cake cookies 1 box yellow or white cake mix 2 eggs beaten 5 T melted butter 2 C mini chocolate chips Mix together, put in a 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 20 min! I have to thank imalazymom.com for this awesome recipe. The boys and I made this tonight to suprise my hubby who has been working alot lately. He loves chocolate so it sounded like the perfect thing to make at 730 at night! The kids helped me mix all of this together and also helped me eat it!

Menu Planning Easy

I am really trying to get better about meal planning. I love the peacefulmom.com/menuplanning where she has a free book in how to save money and how to menu plan. Menu planning is the secret to success. Let me give you an example....think easy girls!

Sun...make chicken in crockpot with potatoes and carrots
Mon...use leftover chicken in chicken quesadillas
Tues...make breakfast for dinner....hashbrown potatoes and sausage biscuits
wed....use leftover sausage and make some bacon and eggs for some breakfast burritos with leftover hasbrowns
thurs...tacos
fri....tacos soup
sat...grilled cheese/taco or tomato soup

think easy....think leftovers....
Some more easy....
Eckridge sausage and baked beans
bean burritos
cheese quesadillas
see my potatoe and beef casserole recipe above
sandwich night
nachos
mac and cheese with ham/ salad
enchiladas (beef, bean, cheese, chicken)
taco salad (on top of dorritos)
spaghetti/garlic bread

My advice....write on the fridge either what you have in the pantry to make that week (see examples) or write down the week (see awesome website above) that gives you the print out that you can write down your weekly menu from breakfast to dinnner. Honestly I do that really good sometimes and then sometimes (especially since baseball started) where I am lucky to write down my 5meals i have ingredients for the week for. But just putting that on your fridge makes life easier because when yoiu need dinner, look on your fridge to see (and remind yourself) what you have to cook for dinner. Also .....let the crockpot be your friend!

A simple shoe organizer can change your life!

I love to find things that make my life easier. The internet has made us all so smart now. The ideas you can find online are endless. One of my favorites ideas is the over the door hanging shoe organizer. My friend Penny told me about this. (and suprisingly she doesnt have a website)

I use it in my pantry to hold all of my kids snacks, aluminum foil, sandwich baggies, etc. I also have one in my hall closet door for the winter gloves, hats, scarves, etc. It makes it so much easier to find that stuff. Just something simple like that can change your stress level!

Easy Hamburger Casserole

This is a super easy recipe and is one of my hubbys favs. I've had the recipe for so long I can't remember where I got it. (the pictures is taken BEFORE it is cooked. It doesn't look as pretty cooked but tastes great)

Hamburger Casserole

1 lb ground beef
2 tspn butter
4 medium sized potatoes (or bag of Simply Potatoes-diced potatoes with onion in the fridge section. Green bag. I do this more!)
1 tspn salt
dash pepper
can of tomato soup

Brown beef with butter, drain. Cut potatoes in cubes and spread in glass pan (or put the bag of Simply Potatoes in pan-see how easy). Cover with 1/2 meat and 1/2 soup. (and onion if you choose) Season with salt and pepper. Repeat layering. Bake 1 1/2 hrs in 350 oven. You can add cheese 10min before it is done if you want also.

Scrapbook room organization tips

I am excited about "our" scrapbook room that J and I are using. J put together the scrap paper bins. It makes it so much easier to find the color scrap piece you need quicker. They are magazine cardboard holders she found at an office store.

Next is my way of organizing my stickers. I used a carry folder box. Where the letters would be I put my subjects that i have the most stickers for. Example....boys, christmas, Easter, fishing, school, etc.... It doesnt look very organized but I love it because I can find what I need so quickly. They overflow and stretch out the box but it works for me.

My shelves (on my tables that are from Walmart) are shoe racks I found at Target years ago. I love how I have more space for my pictures and working area now that stuff is above the working area on the shelves.

The cricut machine is now on the bedside table we had in the spare room and the cricut stuff is all in one of the drawers.

Underneath my tables are the sliding out bins you can buy at any craft store like Michaels, Hobby Lobby etc. They have all of my scrapbook paper in. Each pullout has a label on it like "boys, Holidays, school, girlie, sports, etc". This made life easier for me because I could find paper I wanted quickly.

In my closet I put these $10 shelves I found at Target for my scrapbooks and my idea books. They are sturdy plastic and work just great for something affordable but helps me to get organized. J and I have been searching the web for ideas for months to create our new scrapbook room and I think this first stage is just what we needed. Can't wait for stage two!

I love http://cookscleansplayswithpaper.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-art-room.html who helped me to be inspired with some of these ideas!