Time to get chopping!

My Aunt Evelyn gave me a fabulous new kitchen gadget that I am totally loving! It's a Vidalia Chop Wizard. My husband always wants to buy freshly chopped onions, bell peppers and celery (what we cajuns call the holy cooking trinity!) When you buy a container of chopped veggies it increases the cost of them considerably! But my new little WIZARD has changed all that! So now I buy my veggies whole and chop away because it is REALLY so quick and easy! Before you pull out all your Thanksgiving recipes, go check out one of these sweet things and stop all that onion crying in the kitchen! I seriously could go on and on about how well this little gizmo works! lol!
 

Blair's "CUPCAKE MARTINI"

~The family beach vacation always brings forth a new recipe to add to the "keeper" file! This is certainly one of those!
    Blair, AKA, The Dessert Diva, treated us to her new CUPCAKE MARTINI's! Oh my, DELISH! Thought I would share this recipe with you so you can treat yourself to this LAVISH martini!


CUPCAKE MARTINI:
~1 oz vodka
~1.5 oz cranberry juice
~1 tsp. Petit four flavoring (we got ours at A BAKER's Choice in Lafayette, LA) If you can't locate that, then use 1/2 tsp. ~vanilla and 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring.
~A Bottle of Chilled Champagne
~whipped cream
~multi colored sprinkles 
~cherries

Prepare martini glasses by dipping rim in whip cream and then sprinkles. (we had to improvise, as our CONDO didn't have martini glasses!)

Mix vodka, flavoring and cranberry juice in shaker with ice, shake and fill glasses half full.

Drop a cherry in the bottom and top off with chilled champagne!

The Dessert Diva with her fabulous concoction!

Cheers!

Enjoy!!!

At Last..A Mercury Glass Lamp!

I have been on a mission for a long time now, trying to find a glass lamp that I could paint like mercury glass! Specifically,  I wanted a garage sale find... searched and searched... no luck! I finally found one at Hobby Lobby today! At least it was 50% off! but the really groovy orange lampshade was not gonna match the room, (although I LOVE the orange and white lampshade!) Will have to use that on another project! So I also bought the neutral lampshade to top off my "soon to be" mercury lamp!

    Here are a few of the supplies I had on hand to start off! Have been having the LOOKING GLass paint for a while, just waiting for this magical moment!

 The anticipation was killing me.... so I jumped right in! Only to find out that the lamp base was TOO small to fit my hand in! Dang, now what... spray inside lamp, lightly misting and let paint roll around the inside where you can't reach! Do this a few times and let dry. I sped it up with a blow dryer.

Mix 1 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water and put in a spray bottle. Mist the inside, then dab with a paper towel...here is where I had to improvise because my hand wouldn't fit inside the lamp. So I put a paper towel on a stick and swooshed it gently around inside to smudge off some of the paint. Then with a sea sponge and a sponge brush on a stick, I added some sponged metallic paints on the inside where I had smudged off some of the mirror paint! While the paint dried I hot glued beaded fringe to the inside of the neutral lampshade. 

I am SO pleased with my lamp. It looks great in my newly decorated guest room! 

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! 

here are a couple of before and afters! 

Now I am on a mission to find a GARAGE SALE LAMP for the orange and white shade!!! It'll look great in my twin's bedroom! :)

YUM, YUM, Summer FUN! Iced Mocha Pops!

I have fallen in love with iced coffee! Frappuccino's.... mmm! I am a decaf person, for health reasons, but I LOVE COFFEE! Especially the AROMA! Well, say hello to my new coffee popsicle!

1. First I brewed 2 cups  coffee in my KEURIG! If you don't have one yet, then click NOW!!!

 

2.  Ingredients:

Mix in a mixing bowl, the 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 cup of half and half, 3/4 cup of condensed milk, ( I used the fat free) and 2 Tablespoons of chocolate syrup.

3. Pour into freezer pop molds and freeze.

4. Enjoy!

Re-purposing old clothes, that you can't bear to live without!

So today, on my every other weekly appearance on our local ABC news show, during The Money Saving Segment, I talked about re-purposing old clothes/things! Sometimes I am amazed at the wild crap I think up! I had this Leopard skirt...has been hanging in my closet for at least 10 years! But I couldn't bare to get rid of it because I LOVE ANIMAL PRINTS! I wear leopard even when it's not VOGUE to do so! SO as I was trying to think of a new idea for my little 2 minute segment, I thought, hey wait, I could cut my skirt and use it as a circular continuous scarf. But I wanted it to be a LIVE DEMO, so I didn't cut it prior to the show!Yikes, that's like trying out a recipe on your supper club ladies and not giving it a test drive, but Our Lady of Perpetual Craftiness was with me and it all worked out... I love my new scarf and now I have a SHORT skirt and a SCARF! 
SO here is a video of my little scarf demo!
be patient with the ad before it!

So, Back to that Keurig! Mmmm! hot chocolate...

Came across these decadent Hot Chocolate K cups for the Keurig! Wait, you DIDN't get your KEURIG yet? Okay, first things first... click the cute little Keurig Coffee maker and get one!

then ...you gotta try these decadent Hot Cocoa K-cups! YUMMERS!



Hurry before Winter is over!

Bedside caddy, still clearing the clutter!

I am on a mission to alleviate some of the clutter in my life! I have put away all of the small appliances that used to sit on my counter, with the exception of my fabulous kitchen aid mixer, which I fully intend to PIMP OUT to the max! (that's a whole nother post!) ... which brings me to my night stand. The reading glasses, the remote, the cell phone, with it's charger...more clutter! So I decided to gather up more sewing scraps, to make a bedside caddy! I did mine Leopard Print of course! The minute I finished mine, the kids each wanted one, guess I'll be sewing a while!
     Here are the step by step instructions to make one, which you can adjust according to your needs:

1. Cut one piece of lining of your choice 11"x 27".
2. Cut the front piece 11" x 11".
3. For front pocket, cut a piece 6 1/2" x 11".  You can embellish it or layer fabric to create a more interesting design at this point!

4. Measure the size of items to be put in pocket and then mark where you want to place the divider stitches. Place the pocket on top of the 11" x 11" piece matching edges at the bottom.  Stitch the pocket to the piece by sewing in the seamlines where you want the sized  dividers.

I spaced them for an Iphone, reading glasses, and the remote.

5. Now sew the lining to the top raw edge of the caddy, then fold the whole piece in half, right sides together. Pin at sides and sew all around, LEAVING a 1 1/2" space open on one side of the lining, so that you may turn it right side OUT once sewed. Press at sides to smooth the edges and then hand sew the 1 1/2" opening closed. You can top stitch all the way around if you desire. You might want to use some double stick velcro on bed and the caddy so the caddy doesn't fall out when you make the bed. Remember to use scraps of fabrics and old clothes wisely! The lining I used here was the lining of some old curtains!

Will have to share the pillow cases I've been making too!

Cutest little cupcake pops!

My daughter has the cutest little bakery in Scott, LA. Very unique specialty desserts, cupcakes and bonbons! I just found the cutest little mold to give to Blair, for her Specialty Bonbons @  The Dessert Diva! This little mold makes the cutest little cupcake shaped bonbon! Sounds easy to use and comes out SO CUTE!!

To order the mold click here:

Hemp Seeds, a little seed that packs a Big Nutritional punch!

Sometimes I get on kicks! But because I often stray from an ALL healthy diet, there are some things I do to over compensate for my FUDGING! These little tiny shelled seeds are jam packed with nutrients your body needs! I have started to use them on almost everything I eat or cook! You can sprinkle them on salads, add them to your granola/cereal,  add them to your casseroles, mix them in with your breading for oven baking, add them to your smoothies or shakes! The possibilities are endless!

You can google the  nutritional value of these little babies, (not to be confused with the part of the plant otherwise known as marijuana! No, they are NOT gonna make you HIGH!)
Here is a little bit of info that I found, after my holistic person referred these to me:
"Benefits

Hemp is a high protein seed containing all nine of the essential amino acids (like flax). It also has high amounts of fatty acids and fiber as well as containing vitamin E and trace minerals. It has a balanced ratio of omega 3 to 6 fats at around a three to one ratio. This won’t help correct your omega balance if it’s off, but it gives you the right balance to start with.

Further the protein content of the hemp seed is supposed to be very digestible. Many people noted their personal experience of finding that hemp seed protein did not cause bloating or gas, like some of their whey, or other protein shakes did.

And, get this, unlike soy which has super high amounts of phytic acid (that anti-nutrient that prevents us from absorbing minerals), hemp seed doesn’t contain phytic acid. At the very least, this makes hemp seed a step up from soy." 

* A superior vegetarian source of protein considered easily digestible.
* A rich source of phytonutrients, the disease-protective element of plants with benefits protecting your immunity, bloodstream, tissues, cells, skin, organs and mitochondria.
* The richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids"~Nutiva.com

Here is some pumpkin bread I made to day, adding the hemp seed as a BIG BOOST to the top of the  bread! In what ways can you add this super little protein to your diet??
Wanna try some? Check it out here and start adding some great protein to your menus!


Click here:

Don’t waste money on a full pot, when all you want is one cup!

I love this little machine! About 4 years ago I bought each of my adult kids a keurig Single cup coffee pot for Christmas!  That was the BEST gift I have ever given! Not only can you use the k cups with an assortment of brews and flavors, you can also use your own favorite coffee grinds which saves bunches of money! After all, this blog is about money saving tips too! My favorite thing about the Keurig is that I am the only coffee drinker in the house, so making a whole pot of coffee is wasteful! There are new and improved units available now, but my original Keurig is still brewing great coffee! Check 'em out on Amazon today! p.s. I also recommend the extra little brewing filter cup! Click the picture to check out the options. I totally love this little machine!


...you might want to add this great variety pack of coffee, ready to use:
 and if you wanna brew your own coffee grinds, this little filter cup is super also!

 Happy Brewing!