Confessions of a Ranch-aholic

Hello. My name is Stephanie and I’m a Ranch-aholic.

I love Ranch on anything.

Hell, everything!

But what I don’t like is the ranch you buy at the grocery store that’s so full of ingredients that are impossible to pronounce and that taste like a chemical reaction gone bad in my mouth.

So I've been searching, hoping, and waiting for a homemade ranch mix to drop into my lap and I finally found one!


I made this myself from ingredients I already had in my spice cabinet. I only left out the chives she listed, simply because I didn't have them and it’s not something I keep around.

It was DE-LISH and is better than anything you can find in a bottle!

Gwen has even listed a recipe for a “Try It” sized amount, so you can make a quick batch for dinner and try it before committing to the full recipe. Check it out and tell me what you think!

DIY: Room Deodorizer and Air Freshener

One of the pitfalls of living in a house full of men (little or otherwise) is learning to deal with stank. That’s right, stank; more than stink and well on it’s way to rank!

I’ve spent a lot of money the last few years on air fresheners, smelly candles, and scent boosters for the laundry, but they’ve all been a fairly temporary solution to a continuing issue. So what’s a mom to do?

I have seen some pretty neat and quick ideas for making your own air fresheners at home, either by melting or warming with your Scentsy warmer or by using essential oils mixed with baking soda to make a custom scent for your home.

Rather than keeping my Scentsy warmer on all day in the stinkiest of places (the hall bath) I decided to combine two pins I saw on Pinterest this week and make my own with what I already had on hand!

To make one of these for yourself, you will need the following:

• 1 empty, clean, DRY jar with a lid
• Baking soda, enough to fill your jar half-way
• In-laundry scent booster of your choice. I used Downey Unstopables in Fresh because it was what I had.
• Spoon
• Dry-erase marker
• Hammer
• Small nail, like a finishing nail
• Piece of scrapbook paper cut to fit the lid (optional)

Start by filling your jar about halfway with baking soda. I used a small canning jar, so it only took about three tablespoons of baking soda. The baking soda acts as a deodorizer by absorbing odors from the air.

Next pour in enough of your scent-booster beads to cover the top of the baking soda. At this stage you can either choose to mix them in with the baking soda or leave them “floating” on top. I left mine on top because I like the layered look. The scent-booster beads give off a really refreshing amount of scent without being perfumey.

Put your lid on the jar and start marking out a piercing pattern with your dry-erase marker. If you don’t have a dry-erase marker, a Sharpie is fine to use as well, you’ll just need to wipe it off later with rubbing alcohol.

With your hammer, gently tap the nail over each dot you drew for your pattern. You do not want the nail to go all the way through the lid, just enough to make a tiny hole for the air to filter through. Be careful of wayward thumbs and fingers!

When you have finished piercing all of your holes, give the top of the lid a wipe down to get rid of the dry-erase marks. You can either leave the jar like this, or decorate with scrapbook paper and ribbon to make it pretty! I recommend that if you use a piece of paper over the lid, carefully pierce the paper with the nail over the lid through the same holes you made earlier; that way, the airflow stays uninterrupted.

I made four of these this week; one for each bathroom, one for the master bedroom, and one for Hub’s office at work! So far these seem to work best in a warm environment, like on a window sill or on a high shelf near a heating vent.

If you like this tutorial, let me know by pinning or leaving a comment! And if you happen to make one for yourself, make sure to show it off!

Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings

A few weeks ago, I told you about a new recipe (at least new to me!) that I found for Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings on Pinterest.

Source: busycooks.about.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

 

As good as my house smelled all day, it was an unfortunate bust for us. I’m not sure if it was the combination of seasonings, my crockpot or what, but neither the boys or I were very impressed with this dish.

But Hubs ate it.

Probably just to make me feel better.

Do you have a favorite Chicken and Dumplings recipe that turns out great every time? Let me know so I can try it out too!

Menu Planning Week # &*)()*&%^

Hey, there! Remember me? LOL I know it's been a REALLY long time since I've done a menu plan, and trust me if it hasn't proved that the system actually works! I seriously spend more time these days thinking about what's for dinner than i should, so soon I'll be right back on the planning bandwagon!

In the mean time, I've been using a couple NEW recipes I've been discovering on Pinterest with great success!

Source: famfriendsfood.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Skinny Spaghetti: This is a "skinny spaghetti" recipe I cam across, and I have to say it fared pretty well. both of the boys liked it, as did Hubs. I paired it with some steamed broccoli for a meat-free meal, but both the Hubs and Logan were hungry again after less than an hour after dinner. Maybe next time I'll pair it with some fish or baked chicken?

Source: food.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Egg-Free Peanut Butter Cookies: I made these yummy peanut butter cookies about two weeks ago because I ran out of eggs and I was SERIOUSLY needing a cookie-kick. These were FANTASTIC and i will definitely be making these again; it may even replace my old stand-by recipe!
The following pins are things I really want to try:

Source: thekitchn.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia: We really don't eat enough fish in our house, short of breaded fish fillets, fish sticks, and tuna sandwiches. I'm hoping that by adding at least one fish-dish a week to the rotation, we can start gaining healthier benefits from it over the fried, breaded stuff. This recipe seems to be a way to do that; I love the flavor combination used here with the ginger and cilantro!

Source: cookingwithjoey.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Crockpot. Pizza. Pasta. Just sounds like heaven in a bowl, doesn't it? I love the idea of getting all of those pizza flavors without the pizza prices and pizza heat. Who really wants to spend over $20.00 for a decent pizza or crank the heat in the summer by making your own? Can't wait to try this one out!

Source: tastebook.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

Massa Sovada (Portuguese Sweet Bread): I hate to say it, but this is one type of bread that I have NEVER tasted, and according to my husband's family, is absolutely necessary. For the last 12+ years, Hubs, his brothers and his sister have spoken non-stop about the delicious sweetbread their  mother would make and have them deliver around the neighborhood. I'm hoping I can do it some justice by trying to make it myself. PRAY FOR ME!

5 Ways Weekly Posts

Have you enjoyed my "5 Ways..." posts from Pinterest finds? I'd like to make this a regularly scheduled post each week. Send me a suggestion, I'd love to search out "5 Ways..." to help you!

Check out the previous posts here!

Handy Helpers

Every mom has an arsenal of great ideas in her head about taking care of her family; here are some great resources I wanted to share with you!

Gardening for Dummies (like me!)

Source: mysquarefootgarden.net via Stephanie on Pinterest

Earthquake Prepardness

Source: humboldt.edu via Stephanie on Pinterest

Homeschooling your pre-schooler

Source: tlsbooks.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

30 Days meal plan of family favorites

Source: littlenannygoat.blogspot.com via Stephanie on Pinterest

What are some of your Handy Helpers?

You Really CAN Regrow Green Onions!

So, last week on Pinterest (oh, how I both love and loath it!) I saw several people re-pinning this tutorial on How To Regrow Green Onions, and decided to give it a try myself to see if it would really work.

Here is a picture of the five original onion shoots (Is that the correct term? Shoots?) in a canning jar on my kitchen window from day 1, last Tuesday.

Hi, baby onions!

And here is a picture, one week later of the same shoots (I'm still stickin' with shoots here...).

WooHoo!

Now why you ask would I even do this.

1. I know that green onions are cheap to buy. I only paid $0.98 for the original bunch... So that's not the reason.
2. It's green. Yeah, so are the tops... That's not a reason either.
3. My five year old is a science/math nut and wants to know how stuff works...

Hey, your roots are showing!

BINGO!

In the end, we turned this into a little science experiment of sorts. We sat together on the first day Googling the heck out of this tutorial.

But yeah, you can do it too. The best part is having a little "farm" in your own kitchen, an never running out if it's right there, right?

Now off to sprout an avocado seed in a baby food jar.

What, don't tell me your mom never did this....