Homemade Meatballs Without Eggs

Homemade meatballs are high up on my family's favorite dinner lists. They are pretty simple to make and you can freeze you extra meatballs for your crock pot later in the week. Two dinners done in one.

While I was prepping for dinner the other night with my original meatball recipe HERE....I realized I was out of eggs. The cook in me a year ago would have said, " well I don't have my egg I can't make my meatballs." But not the cook in me today. The cook in me today searched through my cupboards and pondered what would work like an egg.

Viola! Then it clicked. I am always researching about how Paleo diets; or should I say a healthy lifestyle; and what they use to substitute certain foods. Therefore today I am letting you in on the yet so simple secret next time you run out of egg for your meatballs. Or if you want to choose not to use an egg in your meatball. Now on I am no longer using an egg.

No egg= Use grounded flax seed and a little bit of water in your meatball mix.  I used 1 Tablespoon of grounded flax seed and about 2 Tablespoons of water. 

My meatballs turned out perfect. They did not crack or fall apart. Not even when I took them off the cooking sheet.

TIP: If your meat mixture is not yet meeting that sticky consistency yet just add a tiny bit off milk.

The Best Homemade Popsicles

One of the best parts of enjoying summer as a child are the Popsicles. Am I right?  As a Mom you know it's summer if you take your child with you grocery shopping and you hit the Popsicle isle. As a Mom I feel like I hit a jack pot if there on sale 2 for $5. 

That was till the other week. We decided we should make our own Popsicles. How hard could it possibly be. I have passed by those glamorized DIY ideas on pinterest because lets be honest, I like simple.

Therefore the girls and I headed out to the store and bought some fun character ice trays, Popsicle sticks, orange juice and our favorite strawberry pro biotic smoothie. The best part about these homemade Popsicles are...

• They are the perfect size for all ages. Even the youngsters like my 2 year old Daughter. 
• They are quick to make and simple.
• Cost effective
• You can pick out your choice of juice. May it be organic, a  pro biotic smoothie drink, you get my drift.
• You can make a lot of Popsicles if you prefer if you buy a bottle of juice. This is why it's cost effective. 

How To Make Homemade Popsicles

1. Buy all your supplies. Juice, ice tray, and Popsicle sticks.
2. Pour the juice into the ice tray and place into your freezer for about 5-10 minutes. Or until the juice is halfway hard.
3. Slowly and carefully place the Popsicle sticks into the middle of each halfway frozen Popsicles. 
4. Leave in freezer till they are completely frozen. I have noticed juice freezes quicker. They should be ready within an hour or two. 
5. Be careful removing the Popsicles. Remove them just as you would an ice cube. 
6. Most importantly...enjoy!

Homemade Kool-Aid Playdough (recipe)

As a child I loved playdough. One of my childhood memories is playing with playdough at our kitchen table for hours. So once our daughters were old enough I just had to introduce them to the wonderful invention of playdough.

 I finally started making my daughters playdough instead of buying it at the stores. It's a great way to invite them into the kitchen and help. Kids love to help any ways they can in the kitchen.

We are a huge fan of the kool-aid recipe. Not only does it smell fruity and not like your traditional playdough, the kool-aid gives it vibrant colors.

Homemade Kool-Aid Playdough

1 cup of flour

1/2 cup of salt (fine salt works best)

2 teaspoons of cream of tarter ( found in the spice section of your local grocery store)

1 tablespoon of veggie oil

1 cup of water

1 kool-aid packet

1. Add all ingredients together in a sauce pan. 
2. Turn stove on love heat while mixing till it meets a playdough consistency.
3. Take out of pan and place on a cutting board and kneed the playdough. (You may have to wait for it to cool down a bit.)
4. Once it's completely cooled down it's ready to play! Or you may store it. We store ours in plastic bags right now and it works great. 
   
   
   
   
   

Common questions I had for homemade playdough:

Does it make their hands messy colored from the kool-aid? No it does not do either.
How long does it last? It truly depends on how you store it and take care of it. It can be a couple weeks to a couple months
How much does this recipe make? It makes a good handful. Equivalent almost a a sandwich bag.
How long does it take to make? It took me only 5 minutes not even for one batch.
Is it really cost efficient? Yes!

DIY: Homemade Laundry Detergent Updated

   Doing laundry can become expensive when you have a family So an idea clicked in my head; I'll start making my own detergent! In my spare time I researched different homemade laundry detergents recipes. Take note, I'm very picky! I wanted something that wouldn't fade my colors and at the same time still brighten my whites. With it being homemade I wanted it to be able to fight stains and still smell good. I found a lot of the detergents were pretty much the same. Some people added some different things here and there. This is the recipe I came across that I really liked. I Made the laundry and tested it before sharing with you.

Here is an idea how long this laundry batch can last your family. It has potential to last up to a year. Up to 6 loads of laundry a week; measured 2 ounces of the detergent per load. 

Cost: 26 dollars and some odd change. I bought all my supplies at our local grocery store; Meijers. You should be able to find all these products at any local grocery store. 

Homemade laundry detergent
1 Box of borax (4lb)
1 Box super washing soda (3lb)
1 container oxy clean (3lb) Optional; help brighten your whites!
2 Bars of zote soap
1-2 Purex crystals, Optional; helps your clothes and towels from coming out of the dryer rough and makes them smell good!!
2 Boxes of baking soda (2lbs each)
big bucket
SMALL cheese grader only. TIP:You must use a small cheese grader so you don't end up with big flakes. You don't want to clog up your washer.
All these are found in the laundry detergent isle expect the baking soda is in the cooking isle

It truly is easy to make. The only time consuming part is grading the soaps. 
  Add in the ingredients then add your shredded soap on top and mix.
 Voila your all done!
   My first couple loads came out great.
 I used only one purex crystals and think next time ill use two.
Hope it works for you!

Homemade Strawberry Jam (recipe)

I finally made my first batch of strawberry jam and canned a few extras to freeze. I have to admit I am pretty darn proud of myself. Six years ago when my husband and I first married, Canning let alone making my own strawberry jam never crossed my mind.

It is such a simple process to make. I feel that anyone could make strawberry jam. Here is the recipe. Please note I did use my own measurements when I made my strawberry jam because I did not have the exact amount of strawberries other recipes call for. Although I'm sure you could easily figure it out. After all isn't that how you know your a good cook?

Homemade Strawberry Jam (freezer)

You will need...

• canning jars
• big boiling pot(for the jars)
• Sauce pan (for boiling the lids)
• Tongs (for pulling out the hot jars and lids)
• spoon to stir
• labels (for the name and date)
• blender or food processor ( I don't have a food processor. My blender worked great.)
• Pot for the jam mixture
• I did not have the true canning necessities yet so I managed a more natural way. I don't think you can do that with other canning recipes.

Ingredients

• strawberries (I had only 2 cups of strawberries once blended 
• pectin (1 box) (I did not use the whole box.)
• sugar 
• lemon juice (I used 1-2 table spoons with my recipe)

Preparation

1. Start sterilizing your jars by letting them come to a boil in the big pot on the stove. You may start this and let them boil while you start making your jam.
2. Cut the tops off your strawberries and blend them till their smooth. You may have them a little chunky if you prefer. 
3. Add the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, and pectin into a pot on the stove. 
4. Stir the jam mixture and let it come to a boil. It will become sticky and a little on the thick side. But not too thick that happens once it settles when your finished canning the jam.
5. Pull out the jars with the tongs and pour your jam mixture into the jars. ( I wasn't sure if I had to wait till they were cooled off or not. I did not wait and nothing bad happened.)
6. Seal your jars and let them cool.
7. lastly label your jam with the date and put it in the freezer.

I am proud to say my four year old brags to others about my jam and others are asking where their jar is!

Banana Oatmeal Cookie (recipe)

I am always looking for more ways to incorporate healthy food with delicious foods such as desserts and special treats. All while trying to make sure they actually taste good. If our daughters enjoy it, I know I have succeeded. Lets be honest we find recipes that look absolutely amazing on pinterest and some do not always turn out like they should.

I came across this banana cookie recipe. It look simple, less time consuming, and delicious. I knew I had to give it a try. While the cookies were baking in the oven my home started to smell like the aroma of banana bread. At least that's what my 4 year old told me. It literally only took me a couple minutes to prepare. Which is perfect when your a busy mom on the go trying to eat healthy.

Banana Oatmeal Cookie

Ingredients included...

• 2 large bananas. (I use my old frozen ones I always have on hand from my freezer. Of course let them thaw first if you do too.)
• 1 cup of old fashion oats. 
• I added a half of a handful of raisins. (You may add chocolate chips instead, dried cranberries, etc.)

How To...

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mash or use a hand blender to get somewhat of a smooth consistency.
3. Add one cup of the Oats and raisins.
4. Mix well and place onto a cookie sheet.
5. Place into the oven for 15 minutes.
   
   

Our daughters loved the cookies and they disappeared as quickly as it took me to bake them. 

Enjoy!

Pine Cone Craft

This past week sure has been a little on the crazy side around here. I came down with the dreaded flu bug that's going around. It's not fair when moms get sick. Finally here is our pine cone craft me and my daughters did! We made bird feeders out of our pine cones. We choose this because not all the birds have flown south yet. Enjoy.

The Pine Cone Bird Feeder

Make sure you help your child with this craft.

What you will need.

1. Pine cone

2. Peanut butter

3. Bird feed

4. Spreading knife

5. String or yarn

6. Scissors (to cut string or yarn)

Instructions

1. Find a spot and tie on your string or yarn. I use my left over yarn scraps. 

2. Spread on the peanut butter with your child.

3. Roll the covered pine cone in the bird feed till it's all covered. 

3. Now you have a homemade bird feeder, and hang it outside where the squirrels can't get to it.

The Pumpkin Jar Craft

With Halloween around the corner and our love for crafting, we decided to make lighted pumpkin jars this past weekend. The girls had so much fun. Dad was even home to join in on the fun. Here is how we did it!

My girls pumpkin jars.

The girls hard at work painting. 

The Pumpkin Jar

Tools you will need

• Mason jar; any jar would really work.
• Paint brush
• Orange paint
• Glue 
• Black construction paper
• scissors 
• glow sticks, light, or tea candle

Instructions

1. You may need to prime your mason jars before painting them orange. I did not and they started to chip!
2. Paint your jar orange and let it dry! You may paint the top a green or brown to resemble the stem. My girls did not want to. 
3. Once it's dry cut out your face with the black construction paper for your pumpkin jar. 
4. Glue your face onto your orange jar.
5. Let it sit for a couple minutes to make sure the glue is dry.
6. Once it's dark put in the glow stick, light or candle to see it glow! We used glow stick from target's dollar section! They were in a pack of two for 1.00 dollar! The glow stick last for one whole night.

Enjoy!!

Baking Memories

Since it's fall now, one of our favorite things to do is bake. I remember growing up baking with my mother, and want to pass the tradition on with my own daughters. There are so many positives about baking with your children. You can get a little bit of math, science and of course memory making out of it too! Not to mention it warms your home up with the sweet aroma of homemade baking!
 This past weekend we made our favorite; homemade banana bread! I do not believe in banana bread from a box, sorry. The girls each take turns pouring in the ingredients. Evalyn is now learning how to the eggs. I made sure there were no egg shells, he he! We usually take turns mixing as well, but my kitchen aid mixer did the job this time. Once it's in the oven the girls are impatient. So we check how it's rising periodically, so they can see the progress. It saves me from the question, "is it ready yet?!"  I'm sure those of you who bake with young kids who don't understand it takes a little time in the oven, know what I mean! With the built up anticipation, it's ready! We all enjoy our warm, homemade, banana bread before bedtime!