Weekly Review #1

Okay, first I’d like to say a big thank you to the amazing people that I got all these ideas and recipes from. The link to their website is posted after each review.

Now, let’s start off by going over what I tried out this week. Some of these I did a week or two ago. But hey, I’ve got some catching up to do! This first Weekly Review is going to basically be a Pinterest themed review. Heck, most of them will be! But I will post pictures of how mine turned out(most of them anyway) and a link to where I got the recipe/idea from.

This weeks listing:
      1) Staining with a coffee grounds/apple cider vinegar mixture
      2) Bacon wrapped/stuffed jalapeños
      3) Watermelon jam
      4) Homemade ice cream
      5) Cereal box star
      6) Caramel(boiled sweetened condensed milk)
      7) Microwave caramel
      8) Strawberry freezer jam
      9) Overnight oats
    10) Sherry’s Aussie chicken
    11) White chicken enchiladas
    12) Cheesy chicken crescent roll casserole
    13) Mod podge picture to canvas
    14) Homemade deodorant
    15) Homemade lotion
    16) Ditching the “‘poo” aka homemade shampoo and conditioner

1) Staining with a coffee grounds/apple cider vinegar mixture. Cheap, easy, and it works. All I had to get was something to stain, I did a shelf with pegs in it and a frame. Everything else was already in my kitchen. Which is always nice when you are doing things on the cheap because you have a budget and a cheap husband hehe. The only thing was that it smelled. Obviously. It was a lot of vinegar so of course it’s going to be potent. And it stained everything it touched. Again, obviously. I will most definitely be using it again. Only thing I will do next time is make sure to wear gloves, use an SOS pad instead if the loose steal wool stuff, and put it in a jar instead of a plastic container. The loose steal wool didn’t really hold the liquid in so the mess was even bigger than expected. And the jar instead of plastic container because it would just hold it better, the plastic container leaked when I tried to shake it together.

2) Bacon wrapped/stuffed jalapeños. Bacon. Cheese. Jalapeños. Where can you go wrong?! Only things I would change is use a full slice of bacon, don’t precook the bacon, and just cook it longer in the oven to cook the bacon through. But they were still delicious!Bacon wrapped/stuffed jalapenos

3) Watermelon jam. So super tasty and do easy to do. Hardest part was getting the seeds out. And I didn’t have a blender at the time so I just used a potato masher. Which left it kinda chunky, but I actually liked it that way. Not super sweet and not quite the flavor you would expect. I highly recommend it and will be making more soon!

4) Homemade ice cream. No machine required! Okay, we’ll a hand mixer was required, but who doesn’t have one of those?! It was super tasty and easy to add stuff into it. I left half plain vanilla and the other half I put in some creamy peanut butter and sliced banana. So super tasty, especially with some watermelon jam or strawberry freezer jam on it!Homemade(no machine required!) Ice Cream

5) Cereal Box or card stock star. Super cute, but not as easy as you’d think. Or at least a small star wasn’t easy to do. Only because trying to get it bent along the score marks was difficult at the points. I made mine out of a Dr. Pepper box and left it with just the Dr. Pepper design. But painting it or using some scrapbook paper would be cute too.

6) Caramel(boiled sweetened condensed milk can). Super easy but time consuming. I did mine for about 3 – 3 1/2 hours making sure to keep the can covered with water. Which meant putting more water in every 15 – 20 min. But, it turned out to be a thick caramel sauce and super tasty. If you have the time and a can, go for it!Caramel(boiled can)

7) Microwave caramel. Oh my. Words escape me when trying do describe this. Only took about 15 min to prepare and then another little while to let it set up. Tasted just like old school homemade caramels! Tastes like the real thing, easy, and fast. Right up my ally and will be doing it again!Microwave Caramel

8) Strawberry freezer jam. I technically got the idea from Pinterest but ended up using the recipe inside the Sure-Gel box. Why? Not because I didn’t like the recipe I found, but because I couldn’t access it. So I had to go with what I could. Still waiting on it to set up, but when I snuck a taste(and snuck some more for my ice cream) it was super tasty! It was super easy and fast to make. No worrying over a pot of fruit wondering I it will turn out. Definitely recommend this one to any beginner canners out there like myself. Strawberry Freezer Jam

9) Overnight oats. So easy and fast to make. Just one time making it and you’ll have the recipe memorized. And so tasty. Our fave is peanut butter and banana. It’s healthy, sweet, tasty, and helps with breast milk supply. Where can you go wrong?! Definitely worth a try.Overnight Oats

*Notice I picked all the mushrooms off of mine =) *
10) Sherry’s Aussie chicken. A must have in your dinner arsenal. Quick to make and tastes do good. Chickeny, bacony, cheesy goodness. Another, “where can you go wrong?”. Sherry's Aussie Chicken

11) White chicken enchiladas. Not our favorite. I’m not quite sure what I was expecting, but it just didn’t live up to whatever it was. Probably won’t be making it again anytime soon.White Chicken Enchiladas

12) Cheesy Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole. One of those recipes that is better the next day. I ended up having to cook it longer than the recipe said because the bottom of the rolls hadn’t cooked through. But it wasn’t too hard to make and ended up being quite tasty!Chicken Roll Ups

13) Mod podge picture to canvas. First let’s all say it together. Mod podge. One of my new loves. I’m totally addicted to it now. And I can’t wait to try and make my own. This was a super easy, super cheap way to make my own canvas picture. Sure you don’t get the “full” effect of the canvas because it’s just a picture glued to a canvas. But I still love it. And I have many plans for doing some for the house!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the point in the post when we discuss my newest love and addiction. Coconut oil! Who knew something could be such a multitasker?! I’m like Alton Brown and love a good multitasker and this has to be the all time winner. What did I make with it you wonder? Well let me tell you…

14) Homemade deodorant. Yes! That’s right, deodorant. It works so well, smells so good, and is so cheap! Why didn’t I know about this sooner? Only thing I recommend is being careful when applying after shaving and wet your underarms before applying. Other than that…do it!!

15) Homemade lotion. Again, yes! That’s right, lotion. Sure it didn’t turn into the whipped butter like lotion I was expecting, but I still used it and loved it. It’s truly amazing how well it works.

My next, and last for this week, may make some go “eeww”. But don’t let it! It works well, is super duper cheap, and is healthy! What is it you ask?

16) I ditched the “‘poo”. That’s right, I stopped using shampoo. And conditioner too actually. Or at least the store bought stuff. Now let me tell you, I love my biolage. And I was a firm believer that you needed a good shampoo and a good thick conditioner to get truly clean, soft, healthy hair. But, I’m slowly changing that way of thinking. The store bought shampoo strips your hair of its natural oil and all sorts of other stuff that I had no idea about. I won’t go into detail because you can read it at the original website I found it at. But after using my new baking soda/water “shampoo” and water/apple cider vinegar rinse “conditioner”, my hair feels and looks fuller and softer. And it takes and holds onto being styled better. I’m going through the “transition” phase right now so my hair is on the oily side. But it’s only been a couple weeks and I seem to be on the down slope of it. I highly recommend at least trying it for a week or two. Especially if you have thin hair or are losing your hair like I have been. Thank you Gabriel and having my hormones all jacked up from being pregnant and giving birth lol.

Okay! So there we go. There are others I could have added but I feel kinda bad throwing so many at you all at once. So I’ll leave them for next time. Speaking of next time, how about a brief preview of what I’ll be talking about? I’ll be giving my opinions on…

     1) Bacon ranch slow cooker chicken
     2) Roasted Cabbage
     3) Spicy Fall sugar scrub

      And who knows what else!

Please feel free to leave a comment or question. Heck, feel free to give your own review! And please remember, these are my own opinions. Whatever I post that is someone else’s opinion will be quoted, referenced, and I will give link to said opinion/quote. And if I get an idea or recipe from someone else’s website and post about it here, I will always give a link to that website.

Stay tuned in every Saturday for a Weekly Review of things I tried, saw, did, etc!