Remove Permanent Marker

Christmas 2010 my husband and I bought our daughter a wooden play kitchen from Target. She loves and it's a great gift that she still plays with today....oh and it was expensive; at least for us. Anyways, my daughter took a black permanent marker a colored on her kitchen set.

So, I tried just about everything that I had read online and co-workers had suggested and nothing worked. But then, I read on Pinterest that you could use Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and what better news to learn of, the Dollar Tree sells them. My store doesn't carry the name brand which is fine because it worked!!!!! This took me about 3 minutes to get the marker off, but it worked! I'm so happy. I was at the point of thinking about painting the whole kitchen play set, which I really didn't want to do. Needless to say we do not have any permanent markers in our house!

Tadah!!!!!

 

Well, if your child decided to color on things that they shouldn't....I hope this helps!

Salsa

My Salsa Recipe 

Don't you just love summer time with all of the fresh produce?

 

Ingredients: 

5-6 Roma tomatoes

1-2 jalapenos (depending on how hot you want it)

1 medium onion (I used red, but you can use yellow or white)

1 lime 

1 bunch of cilantro

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground pepper

Pinch of sugar

Directions:

Chop onion and cook in a pan on low to medium heat for 5 minutes, then add minced garlic for 2 to 3 minutes. At this point you can add the diced tomatoes, jalapeno, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes and stir periodically. Remove from the stove, then add cilantro and lime. To finish this off I add a pinch of sugar.

*Remember to dice the entire jalapeno with the seeds.... unless you don't like hot spice. Sometimes a habanero is good to add for some extra heat, just be careful not to burn yourself.I use gloves and wash everything I was using with warm soap and water right away.

You can eat this right away or let it sit over night to get even tastier. So it's great to take to parties because you can make it a few days a head of time.

Glitter Shoes Project

Supplies:

Shoes
Glitter (the finer the better and I used 3 shades of purple to give it more detail)
Mod Podge
Bowl (that you don't mind throwing away, paper bower or cup)
1 inch craft brush (you know the kind with a sponge end and wooded handle)
Newspaper

Directions:

Lay newspaper over your work area.

Pour approximately 1/3 cup mod podge into bowl and add glitter and I'm talking a good bit of glitter because this takes about 5 coats.

Stir the glitter with your brush and get to painting! Allow each layer to semi-dry before reapplying. This is a great project to do while you're watching a movie. Every 15 minutes apply another coat.

Allow shoes to dry over night before wearing.

  I bought these for $2!

 

And I believe I took them from drab to fab!!!

American Flag Jello Cake

This might not be the prettiest cake to make, but it sure does taste good and is a crowd pleaser at 4th of July parties.  Happy 4th of July Everyone!!!

Ingredients: 

1 box white cake mix

1   3 ounce box raspberry gelatin

2 cups raspberries (2 standard packages from the grocery store)

1/2 cup blueberries

12 ounces whipped topping

1 1/2 cups water

Handful of ice

Directions: 

• Bake cake in a 9inx13in pan as directions show on the box. Once the cake is done baking place on a cooling rack and use a fork or butter knife and poke holes all over the cake. 

• In a sauce pan boil 1 1/2 cups water, once boiled remove from heat and add gelatin. Stir gelatin until completely dissolved, then and one handful of ice. 

• Pour all of the gelatin over the cake, then place cake in the refrigerator with a cover for 2 hours.

• Cover cake with whipped topping and fruit. Place back in the refrigerator until time to serve. 

• Be sure to keep this cake refrigerated between servings.

This cake can be made so many different ways, with oranges, cherries or strawberries or any flavor that sounds delicious to you.

Loaded Potato Soup

Crock Pot Loaded Potato Soup 

Ingredients:

4 pounds russet potatoes

1 medium/large onion (I used red, because that's what I had)

3 cups vegetable mix- carrots, broccoli, cauliflower (I used a frozen bag) 

3 tablespoons minced garlic from a jar or 8-10 cloves of garlic

64 ounces chicken broth

16 oz cream cheese

1 tablespoon salt

Toppings: crumbled bacon, shredded cheese and green onions

Directions: 

• Wash potatoes with skins on and chop into 1/2 cubes, dice the onion and mince the garlic, if from cloves. 

• Place potatoes, onion, vegetable mix, garlic, salt and chicken broth in the crock pot. 

• Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.

• Add the cream cheese and puree soup with an immersion blender.

• Top the soup with bacon, shredded cheese and green onion

This is delicious and requires little work to make. Being a family of three we ate on this for a few days. I fried a whole pound of bacon and kept the extra in the refrigerator so each night I would just have to warm it up on a plate to top the soup. I also chopped the green onion and kept in the refrigerator for easy dinner prep.

Lemon Sprite Cake

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups butter (3 sticks), softened
3 cups sugar
5 eggs (room temperature)
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon extract
1 cup Sprite (lemon-lime soda)
1/4 cup powdered sugar



Directions

Cream together the butter and sugar for 15 to 20 minutes with an electric mixer on medium. Add eggs, one at a time. Add flour, lemon extract and fold in the Sprite.   

Pour into a well-greased Bundt pan. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 60 to 75 minutes. 

Remove from oven and sit on wire cooling rack for 15 minutes. Take a cake plate and place it over the cake in the Bundt pan. Carefully flip the pan and the cake plate over. Remove the Bundt pan and allow the cake to completely cool. Once cool, use a sifter and dust cake with powdered sugar.  

So, I've Started a Blog

I have started a blog....here we go! 

I am excited to start this blog because I love to cook and craft. My hope is to share my passions with others who have similar interests. 

Between working full-time, being a supportive wife and a mother of the sweetest little girl; I am trying to figure out exactly what it is I supposed to do with my "grown-up life".  I hope that this new venture with this blog will help me figure it out or at least point me in the right direction.


Sarah