Eggs

I'm going to keep trying out new Pinterest projects.  It feels good to know that all the time in front of a computer actually leads to stuff happening in real life.  haha!

Boiling Eggs

Found here: http://its-fitting.com/2012/01/good-enough-to-eat-do-you-know-how-to-boil-an-egg.html

Apparently, I've been boiling eggs wrong for a very long time.  I used to put them in the water and boil them for 10 minutes.  What you actually need to do is bring the water to a boil, then turn the heat off.  I also have read in a few places to put a lid on the pot, take them off the burner and let them sit for 15 minutes.  Either way, the eggs turn out perfect!  After 9 years on my own, I can finally hard boil an egg. haha!  Next on the docket is learning how to peel them without loosing chunks of egg.  I resorted to running them under cold water and that worked pretty well.  Do you have a technique that works well?

Easy Deviled Eggs

Found here (tip 2):  http://www.aimlessdirection.com/2008/17-tips-to-make-your-life-easier/

Before discovering this simple trick, making deviled eggs was pretty messy and I missed out on a lot of the filling when transferring from bowl to egg.  All you have to do is put the yolks, mayonnaise and mustard in a big baggie, seal the bag, mush it all together, cut off the corner and fill!  I only got one spoon dirty to put mayo in the bag.  It was awesome!

Next time I need to make deviled eggs for something, I think I'm going to try making this.

I like my deviled eggs simple - just mayo, mustard and paprika.  What's your favorite way to make deviled eggs?  Do you have something you like to add in?

Flower Photography

I enjoy photography, but it's been a while since I took intentional photos.  I took some pictures in my mom's garden on Fourth of July.  The colors really popped since it was such a beautiful day outside.

Is there something you love to do that you haven't in a while?

Cleaning Pinterest style

Here are some more Pinterest Projects I've tried recently!

Cleaning your toilet with Baking Soda

Found here: http://lifehackery.com/2008/07/22/home-4/

The blog stated if you leave a cup of baking soda in your toilet for an hour, it will be sparkling clean. Maybe if your toilet is already clean, it will work to "freshen it" but it didn't seem to be significantly cleaner. There are 75 uses listed so I was hoping maybe some of the other tips would work?

Vinegar & Dawn for soap scum

Found here: http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2012/01/dawn-vinegar-soap-scum-killa.html

Mixing equal parts Vinegar & Dawn and spray on the tub/shower.  Leave for an hour, wipe with a sponge and rinse.  WORKS!!!  I too have tried scrubbing with a brush and using multiple cleaners and my tub was still gross looking. I don't know that the person before me ever actually cleaned. I just assumed it was old and stained.  I mixed up vinegar and Palmolive since that's what I had on hand.  It was too think to spray through the bottle I had so I ended up pouring it on.  Wearing gloves, I coated the entire tub.  After an hour, I wiped it down with a sponge and rinsed it off and my tub was white!!! Clean!  Oh man, I was so excited.  As embarrassing as it is, I'm posting pictures so you can see the difference.  My bathrooms pretty dark so the picture doesn't really do it justice.  There was definitely still some permanent staining, but this mixture did a better job than any of the cleaners I'd tried.

Cleaning your lint trap

Found here (tip 17): http://www.aimlessdirection.com/2008/17-tips-to-make-your-life-easier/

To get your drier to dry better, clean your lint trap.  Don't just clean the lint off, clean the trap. If you pull out your lint trap and try to rinse it and water sits on top, the trap is plugged up and you need to clean it.  I used an old toothbrush.  Since then, I use a dry toothbrush to clean the trap when I'm done with several loads of laundry.  You can see all the extra lint coming off that you didn't notice before.  My dryer is back to working efficiently!

What are some of your best cleaning tips?

Book Review: Redeeming Love

I love to read!  I don't read nearly as much as I used to, but the girls at work have been reading a lot and so it's motivated me to pick up a book again.  I figured I could share my thoughts on the books I've been reading with quick book reviews.

I re-read a book that I absolutely love called Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  If you want to read an absolutely amazing love story about redemption and persistence, then pick up this book.  Francine Rivers is an incredible author who writes books that I can't put down.  Even though I'd read this book before, I stayed up until 5am to finish it.  It's that good.

You can click on the picture above to check it out on Amazon!

A Story of Love That Won't Let Go - No Matter What!

California’s gold country, 1850. A time when men sold their souls for a bag of gold and women sold their bodies for a place to sleep.  

Angel expects nothing from men but betrayal. Sold into prostitution as a child, she survives by keeping her hatred alive. And what she hates most are the men who use her, leaving her empty and dead inside.  

Then she meets Michael Hosea, a man who seeks his Father’s heart in everything. Michael obeys God’s call to marry Angel and to love her unconditionally. Slowly, day by day, he defies Angel’s every bitter expectation, until despite her resistance, her frozen heart begins to thaw.  

But with her unexpected softening comes overwhelming feelings of unworthiness and fear. And so Angel runs. Back to the darkness, away from her husband’s pursuing love, terrified of the truth she no longer can deny: Her final healing must come from the One who loves her even more than Michael does…the One who will never let her go.  

A powerful retelling of the story of Gomer and Hosea, Redeeming Love is a life-changing story of God’s unconditional, redemptive, all-consuming love.

Getting it done

I had a four day weekend last week since I took my birthday off and Tuesday was my day off.  I spent Saturday & Sunday organizing and cleaning my apartment and it felt great! I was able to just sit around and relax on Monday and Tuesday.  Granted, I lost motivation a few times, but I pushed through and now, my apartment is tidy and clean and it feel great! 

I didn't want to just get things picked up, I wanted to get things organized.  This has sort of been an ongoing projects as I've been getting rid of things I'm not using and wearing and moving things around to find the best spots and I was determined this was the weekend I would be finishing.  Friday night, before I got started, I was inspired to change things up a bit.  I decided to change the purpose of my coat closet.

I turned my coat closet into a craft/art/photograph closet.  The few things that were in there fit in my bedroom or outdoor storage closet.  I'm so excited because it worked out perfectly!  In the bottom, I have two sets of drawers that have art and gift wrap supplies.  To the side are bags and wrapping paper.  In the top of the closet I have a few more art supplies and all of my photographs and scrapbook book supplies.  I've also hung one of my crocheted bags to be able to hold my plastic bags.

This actually motivated me further because I originally wanted to make full on scrapbooks but everything has sat in one closet or another for years. Going through these pictures and supplies again reminded me that I am ready to get my pictures out so I can really enjoy them.  A little while back, I decided to try to make photobooks instead of scrapbooks. I love the look of scrapbooks, but trying to decide what to use and how to arrange things just takes too much time.  After much research, I downloaded My Publisher and have one book almost complete.  I'm excited to order it and see how it turns out.  It was definitely quicker than scrapbooking would be and I have a scanner so anything I was planning on putting in a scrapbook, I can scan and add to the photobook.

I definitely feels good to be writing this post, look around my apartment and see how clean and tidy everything is.  It makes me happy! :)

Garlic Spaghetti

Spaghetti with Garlicky Bread Crumbs

Original Pin     Recipe: FamFriendsFood

Simply toss pasta with 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil, breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon juice, garlic powder salt, and black pepper.  I'm really bad about just tossing stuff together to make a meal, but I saw this recipe and thought, I can do that!  So I did! It was delicious! I didn't have the breadcrumbs or parsley, but it was still amazing.  The lemon juice really made the flavors pop.  Definitely recommend this for a quick meal.

Granola, Scones and Berries

I love Pinterest!  Great ideas and a lot of handy tips.  I'm trying to take advantage of Pinterest and use what I find, not just pin and not use anything.  The other day, I finally went grocery shopping (I'm really, really bad about keeping groceries) and bought items to specifically make some recipes from Pinterest.  I'm going to link back to the original blogs or websites but if you want to find the Pinterest link, you can find me by clicking the Pinterest button to the right.

5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Granola Bars
Original Pin     Recipe: how sweet it is

Oats, peanut butter, honey, peanuts (Chia seeds - I didn't use these and they're optional.) are the only necessary ingredients.  I added chocolate chips and white chocolate chips.  The pan I used was smaller so they were thicker.  I also didn't have spray so I had to use butter and the sides got a little, toasty.  It tastes good though!  I can even imagine it being good warmed up with some milk over it or maybe melting a little more peanut butter on the top.  This was quick and easy to make!

Easy, Irresistible Scones
Original Pin     Recipe: Southern Living

I LOVE scones.  Especially the mini ones from Target, so when I found this recipe, I got excited.  I decided to go with the savory bacon, cheddar and chive scones.  My batter didn't turn out quite right.  I think I mixed it for too long.  It was definitely crumbly when I made it into the little "mound" so I had to work it a little more to get it to stick together and the individual pieces fell apart a bit.  These are AWESOME though.  Especially heated up a bit.  mmmm!  The fiance approves too!

Rinsing Fruit in Vinegar
Original Pin   Idea: A Pretty Life

Finally, I tried rinsing fruit off with vinegar.  It worked!  It definitely left behind traces of dirt in the water and everything looked clean.  The strawberries still haven't molded. The skins are a little "stretchier" than usual, but they taste just fine.  I have a non-washed and washed strawberry sitting next to each other in my fridge to see how well it really works.

Can't lie, I'm kinda proud of these pictures.  I think they turned out nicely.

Update - The strawberries ended up looking about the same after a week.  I'll probably keep doing the rinse just to get them clean, but I didn't notice it extending the life any.

Have you ever made scones before? If so, do you have a recipe you would recommend?  I'm always on the hunt for good (and easy) recipes!