Dung Bunnies. (Bunnies made of Dung). And a Kid Stove.

Yes, you read that right. I just had to share this with you. I've been surfing the web since Joel fell asleep, and I ran across this website that sells rabbits molded out of horse manure. Apparently, you put them in your garden and over the course of the year, it disintegrates and fertilizes your plants. I know that manure makes a great fertilizer; this takes it to a whole new level.

In other news, I'm in the process of crafting something! I haven't done anything crafty lately, and I was feeling the itch. I was in a felt-food-making-frenzy this past winter, and I knew that I wanted to make a little kitchen to go with it. I found this today, and it serves as the inspiration for what I'm currently making. Basically you take a plastic container and add the red coils for the burners, and voila, you have yourself a kid stove. Mine's a little different than hers. She used paper to create the stovetop, however since the plastic container I'm using doesn't have a clear bottom, that would not have worked for me. I am using the blue plastic container that the wet swiffer refills come in. I know, those things aren't very eco-friendly, however back when Licorice the Rabbit (not to be confused with a dung bunny) was alive, they were what did the best job at cleaning up after him.

First I spraypainted the swiffer container's lid black. Next I tried red pipe cleaners to make the coils, however that didn't work out too well. I switched tactics and instead grabbed a small round butter lid and spraypainted it red. I'm still waiting for it to dry, but once it's dry, I'll glue it down to the black surface with some craft adhesive. I also will need a second one, but that will have to wait until I finish up the next tub of butter. I also used a cap from a 2 liter of pop, spray painted black, as the knob to "turn on" the burners. I am planning on gluing it down, however then it will not turn. If you have any ideas as to how to make it turn, please let me know!

Here's some half-way done pics:

What $2.52 Can Buy You

Yep. It's quite the haul, isn't it? The cheese was 2/$3. The coffee filters were 99c. The soup was on clearance for 80c. The toothpaste was $4.50 but you got $4.50 back in Register Rewards so it's like it's free! The deodorant was on sale for $2 plus I had a 75c off coupon. I used $8.50 in Register Rewards (RRs), so I only had to pay $2.52 OOP (out of pocket).

Now I can't get that song out of my mind. You know, the one that goes, "Get down with OOP! Yeah you know me! Get down with OOP! Yeah you know me! ..." Oh wait, it's OPP. Nevermind.

Menu Planning Monday: 5-18-09

For those of you who are visiting me from orgjunkie.com, hello! Let me introduce myself briefly. I'm a new SAHM to a beautiful little boy. I've been on maternity leave from teaching since my son was born in February and since then have been laid off due to a levy failure in my school district. My husband's salary is only about half of mine so needless to say, we're living pretty tightly now!

I had my first menu planning experience when I was in middle school. My best friend was in charge of cooking dinner every night for her family. Her mom was a dietician at a nursing home and so she was probably used to coming up with meal plans. She would write everything out on a calendar and post it on the fridge so her daughter knew what she was supposed to make each day.

Fast forward 15 years. I've embraced it on and off for several years, however now that I'm a SAHM, I'm going to stick with it! (I think). Wish me luck :) Without any further ado, on to the meal planning.

Due to the fact that we have not one, but two weddings to attend this weekend, plus one rehearsal dinner and a graduation party, I don’t have to cook a whole lot this week. I think that three homemade meals will be enough, and leftovers will fill in the rest.

BBQ Pork in the crockpot to use up a bottle of barbecue sauce, and Jenny’s Baked Oatmeal Bars.

Extreme Nachos, consisting of some tortilla chips (we currently have 2 ½ bags to use up), ground turkey browned with taco seasonings, cheese, and salsa. I first made this in eighth grade for Spanish Class when everyone would bring in a Spanish or Mexican dish, and we would party like it was 1999. Even though back then 1999 would still be five years in the future.

And for dessert and/or breakfast, something that really doesn’t go with nachos but does use cereal (which is always a good thing when you’re trying to use up twenty boxes):Breakfast bars.

And last but not least: Chicken and rice with Asparagus Sauce that uses several egg yolks. To use up the whites, I’ll make Egg Drop Soup and Egg White Cookies.

What to do with those Envelopes

You know, those envelopes that come with each and every bill... and since I've given up on paying the bills, those envelopes are really starting to stack up.

JUST KIDDING! I pay my bills, I promise. I just pay them all online so I don't have to use the evelopes. Also don't have to spend $$$ on stamps. Cha-ching!

Every week I grab a few of those freebie envelopes and use the blank white side to write down my grocery list. (I use one envelope per store). Then you can slip the coupons into the correct envelope, and voila, you're organized! (And if you have some double-secret-probation* coupons that you don't want other nearby shoppers to see, you can use those security envelopes with the blue or black lining!)

Now if I could just stick to my lists and to my budget...

*Sorry for the Animal House reference. I have it on the brain right now because we were talking it about it yesterday at my friend's graduation party. Toga! Toga! Toga!

I'm BA-ACK

I finally did it tonight. I dragged the beast back out and did some sewing. The other day I thrifted a few things of clothing for Joel (the winter clothing), and one of the pieces I bought was a 3-6 month long sleeve onesie that I knew would fit him this summer. I figured it would be an easy fix to cut off the sleeves and make it a short sleeve onesie. Here it is:

Yes, it's the Cleveland Browns. Yes, I know they suck. But hey, how about those CAVS?! (Just a side note, my brother's girlfriend went to high school with LeBron James. He also lives a few minutes from my parents' house. That's my claim to fame. Okay it's my six-degrees-of-separation claim to fame).

After I finished the onesie I decided to get started on these undercover crates. Go check out Laura's blog. She's one heck of a crafter!

It was hard to get anything done because Joel didn't want to take a nap. I discovered that he is fascinated with long, skinny pieces of fabric when dangled in front of him. It gave him about twenty minutes of pleasure as I wore my arm out waving it around like a madwoman.



I've got two crate slipcovers done; one to go. I think I'm done for the night though. I'll probably work on it next week, possibly for "Tackle it Tuesday."

Here's some pics!


I really hate sewing sometimes.


The finished product. Toy storage for Joel! The orange fabric I acquired years ago when my then-boyfriend's uncle got sent to prison (true story). The sports fabric was a thrifted find. It's a jersey knit sheet and was in excellent condition!

Picnic Graduation Par-TAY

My friend is graduating from Columbus College of Art and Design this weekend. Woot, woot! Congrats T-3 :) In order to celebrate, we’ll be having a picnic at the park. I’m in charge of making egg salad and Watergate salad. I think I’ll also whip up some Special K cookies or some Chocolate Covered Corn Flakes to use up some of the twenty-five boxes of cereal we have in the cupboard. (okay, I’m exaggerating… we actually only have twenty boxes of cereal).

We actually do have twenty boxes of cereal… yikes! Someone needs to put the brakes on buying cereal, huh? Maybe there's a ten-step program I can enroll in or something.

Do you like deviled eggs? No? What about these deviled eggs? Even if you don’t click on a any other link on this post, you need to check out these deviled eggs. You won’t be sorry! You will feel complete after checking out these deviled eggs 

Slaving over a Hot Stove

Before I get into using up what's in my fridge, I have to share something I saw on tv with you. I was up with Joel, flipping through the channels (nothing good on HGTV or the food network) when I ran across a movie with "The Mac Guy" (Justin Long) in it. He was this loser high-school dropout with the mullet to end all mullets. He had this shirtless space-cadet-of-a-friend, and they were trying to figure out how to make money without getting a job. The friend recommended buying things at thrift stores, painting them white, calling it "shabby chic," and selling it on ebay just like his mom. YES! They should have went that direction with the movie. Instead they decided to come up with a Sasquatch plot. It would have been much better if they followed them around to thrift stores and watch them paint furniture, don't you think?

I really need to get out my sewing machine. It's still been put away since my friend's shower back in April. I just can't bring myself to drag it all out because I'm so happy with the cleanliness (I am not a clean seamstress. I make a terrible mess!)

So I guess I'll blog about some recipes that I've prepared lately. I have tons of BBQ sauce to use up (seven bottles I think). I actually even bought another bottle last night because I had a dollar off coupon, and the bottle was only eight cents after the coupon!

The other day my mom sent me home with some grilled chicken. I sliced it up, added some BBQ sauce, tossed it into a tortilla with some sauteed green and red peppers and onions, and some shredded cheese.... easy peasy meal, and it was delicious! I ended up making too much peppers and onions, so I had to come up with another recipe to use it up.

Next up: breakfast burritos. My mom also sent me home with some hashbrowns. I made some scrambled eggs and half a pound of sausage and mixed it with the hashbrowns and sauteed peppers and onions. We used the leftover tortillas, and it was fantastic :)

But alas I still had peppers and onions left, not to mention half a pound of sausage, so today I made up some meatloaf. The best part is- it used up the barbecue sauce too!

I also have a couple cucumbers to use up (and some sour cream), so I figured I'd also make gyros with that delicious cucumber sauce. I couldn't find lamb at the store (nor did I really want to pay for it), so I found a recipe that called for ground beef (I used ground turkey). It said to bake up a meatloaf, slice it thin and stuff it into a pita with the cucumber sauce.

And last but not least, I made some candied citron coffee cake to use up the rest of the sour cream. You know me- I can't follow a recipe to save my life! I didn't have enough butter, so I used more sour cream than it called for, 1/2 cup less flour, extra candied fruit, no nuts, and no almond extract (I couldn't find it... I wonder if I ran out). It's still in the oven, but it smells pretty tasty!

So what are y'all cooking? Do you have any good bbq sauce recipes (or Salsa recipes) for me to try? (I have just as many jars of salsa as I do bottle of bbq sauce). If so, leave me a comment with the recipe or a link. Thanks!