Winter Gardens!

How is yours doing?

I have a second round of zucchini and green beans coming along very nicely. Lots of eggplant and butternut squash too!

And then there's the greens. Different kinds of lettuce, chard, some beets are starting to pop out of the ground, broccoli...

Square foot gardening really is the way to go. I don't follow the rules per say but the idea that you can get so much out of so little space is 100% spot on. Less weeding too because the edible plants shade the weeds from the sun so they don't take over! It is amazing how little maintenance our garden is this year, we even installed an automatic watering system; all we have to do is go out and pick our homegrown produce!

Spider Cookies

There's still time to make these! Go, now!

One spider = one country choice organic 'oreo', 4 thin pretzel sticks snapped in half and some simple butter icing. Let me explain

I had a mini breakdown when I first gave these a shot; the icing of these delicious little cookies is not gooey enough to hold the pretzel sticks in place and I didn't know what to do, I was depending on these spiders! Genius husband to the rescue. Yet again! After removing the icing from each cookie I applied a big glob of homemade butter icing which solidifies when refridgerated. Those pretzels weren't going anywhere!

Butter Icing

100g butter, softened
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2-3 drops vanilla essence
1-2 Tbsps milk

Beat the butter until it is pale and fluffy

Sift in the powdered sugar, add the vanilla essence and milk until you have a light, fluffy mixture

Add extra milk if you need the mixture to spread easier (or a little boiling water, my preferred melting agent)

Put a big blob on one cookie and squish it together with the partner piece

Open back up and place the pretzels firmly into the icing and replace the top cookie piece

And you're done!

I made these for P's class party; each child was given two raisins and a little icing to stick the eyes on their spider :)

Linking up with Sunday Showcase and Tatertots & Jello

Spiced Applesauce Cake (and muffins)

Apple, cinnamon, cream cheese... gooey, moist cake.

This, I think, is one of my favorite cakes EVER. That is saying a lot coming from a chick who will do almost anything for a good chocolate cake, not the tiniest bit of chocolate in this cake but still just as delicious!

I found the recipe last year on smitten kitchen who had adapted their recipe from gourmet.com. I have also made some changes to the recipe and I think have finally perfected it! The only change I plan to make in the future is to cook it in 2 round cake pans and put some of the frosting between the two layers as well as on top

My Spiced Applesauce Cake

For cake
1 1/2C all-purpose flour

1/2C whole wheat pastry flour (can up this more though I think!)
2t baking powder
1/2t baking soda
1/2t salt
3/4t cinnamon
1/2t ground ginger
1/8t ground cloves

1/8t nutmeg
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened + 1/4C applesauce
3/4C packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2C unsweetened applesauce

For frosting
5 ounces cream cheese, softened
3T unsalted butter, softened
1/4t pure vanilla extract
1C confectioners sugar
1/2t cinnamon

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and fluffy - about 2-3 minutes

Add one egg at a time beating between each addition then beat in applesauce

At low speed mix in dry ingredients (original recipe has you mix it all first but I'm more of a dump it all on top kinda gal)

Pour into a greased 8 or 9 inch square pan and smooth

Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Be sure not to overcook so your cake stays moist. Let cool 15 minutes in the pan

For muffins bake at 400F for 20 minutes or so

Once cooled make the frosting by beating cream cheese, butter and vanilla until fluffy (make sure everything is really softened!)

Sift in sugar and cinnamon and mix well

Spread over cooled cake (or ontop of each muffin)

I like to make this a day in advance and let it sit over night and fester. We're not afraid of a little bacteria ;)

Have a Healthy Halloween

Halloween = candy, right? Well, it doesn't have to. I consciously chose to organize P's school party this Halloween so we could avoid the candy overload we had last year. Of course they got a couple yummy treats but I tried to make it more about the experience and fun little add-ons; I think we did pretty well!

What do you think?

Each child got a box full of goodies with a spider sucker made with a Yummy Earth lollipop, a little bag of Annie's organic fruit gummies, jack-o-lantern sticker page and a container of homemade orange glittery playdough along with a little cookie cutter for creating.

I made a real effort to supply them with something fun and relatively healthy without going over budget. I got the candy free from Amazon, my husband found the containers for me though sources say you can find them at hobby stores, I couldn't. The stickers and boxes (went with boxes instead of plastic bags) are from Oriental Trading Company, cookie cutters from Hobby Lobby (50% off!) and we made the playdough ourselves of course! If my calculations are correct I ended up spending roughly $1.98 per child on a fun little box that the kids all really enjoyed. They were all attacking me with their little spiders after removing their lollipops ;)

I also made up a little box for his teacher which wasn't quite as cheap but a lot of fun to put together! We mummified a candy bar using a long strip of muslin from my sewing stash, threw a few lollipops in there for her and her kiddos, printed a personalized eCard from Oriental Trading Co. and also included a Target gift card that I got for free. So, a little pricier but still perfectly affordable, and even if it weren't, I have no problem spending a little more considering everything she does for and with our little ones each day! She's an awesome teacher! 

Looking forward to what tomorrow's round of goody boxes brings!

How do you avoid candy overload in your home? Any fun, healthy ideas for goody bags/boxes or party activities and favors?

Spider Suckers

Turn a single sucker into something extra special! Dress a lollipop up with a couple pipe cleaners (chenille stem) and some googly eyes and you've got yourself an 8 legged lollipop!

To make your own spider sucker take 2 pipe cleaners and cut them in half so you have 4 pieces (I tried using 4 full sized ones but it doesn't work as well). 

Lay the lollipop directly in the middle of all 4 and wrap each side up and around the lollipop stick once, bringing the stems to the opposite side. 

Bending the legs is a little tricky, the spiders tip over if you don't get them just right but it can be done! Super glue a couple googly eyes on and your little guy is all ready for Halloween! (seriously, don't mess around with other glues, the eyes don't stay on! I tried)

Toilet Paper Pumpkins

These little guys make me happy inside

1 roll of toilet paper, 2 sheets of orange tissue paper and a green pipecleaner (chenille stem?) makes one very fun little pumpkin all ready for decorating! AND they're useful when you're done with them ;)

Mr. Almost 4 loves them so much he was inspired to write 'PUMPKIN' in their honor.

He asked me how to spell it and wrote it all by himself without any letters to copy *proud mummy moment there*

Linking up with Funky Junk Interiors and

Ghost Footprints

Here's a Halloween craft you can make and pull out every year. This would be really neat framed together with prints from years past, fun way to see how much your little ones have grown since last Halloween!

You need a couple sheets of black cardstock and white and black paint. Oh, and cloths. Lots of cloths, some to clean the feet and fingers and some to clean the footprints off the floor when your four year old misses the cloth put down to avoid printing the floor... anyway lol

Black fingerprints make their little eyes and scary mouths and you're good to go!

First Time Apple Butter-ing

I made apple butter for the first time last week using some (1/10) of my Azure Standard organic 'juice' apples. I had never even had apple butter before, in fact, I didn't really even know what it WAS but my husband loves it and now I do too!

We had it spread with a little butter on homemade whole wheat bread *drool* How have I lived so long without apple butter!?!

Crockpot Apple Butter

 6lbs of apples

1 3/4C sugar (the original recipe called for FOUR cups!)

2 to 2 1/2t cinnamon

1/4t cloves

1/4t or so of nutmeg (I just sprinkled this in, eyeball it!)
1/4t salt

Peel, core and cut your apples into large chunks then shred in a food processor

Dump all the ingredients into a crockpot, mix up a bit and cook on high for a couple hours

Cook on low overnight and allow to cool before putting it through the food processor again (or leave it chunky if you like it that way)

Put it all back in the crockpot and cook on low, uncovered until it thickens up to your desired consistency
Process however you wish; I froze mine in jars because I'm not into canning

Look at that beautiful dark deliciousness!

I love it so much that I have another batch in the crockpot right now!

How do you eat your apple butter? We're going to try it on scones next!

DIY Spiked Dinosaur Hoodie

I just finished the first half of P's Halloween costume; it was a blast to make! And he LOVES it

All I needed was a cheap hooded sweatshirt and some felt

The spikes on the back are slightly bigger than 3" on all sides, the ones on his head are 2.5". I cut two triangles for each spike and sew them together with a simple straight stitch on each side.

To attach the spikes I cut down the seam in the hood and down the middle of the back of the sweater. Then all you have to do is turn the sweater inside out, right sides together, sandwich the spikes between the two layers and sew straight down the hood and back. 

And you're done!

Linking up with Whip it up Wednesday, No Time for Flashcards and Strut Your Stuff on Somewhat Simple

Toilet Roll Bats

Here's another easy Halloween craft for the kids. Toilet roll bats with hand print wings!

All you need is a toilet paper roll, card stock, scissors, glue, tape and chalk for hand tracing. Make sure everyone in the family gets in on the action so you can see how much mum and dad's hands have grown in a year ;)

And if you're lucky someone (daddy) might just put up some fishing line so you can fly your bats around the dining room!

Linking up with Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas, Art for Little Hands and No Time for Flash Cards

Reducing Waste in the Bathroom!

Reducing our foodprint while coming in under budget is one of our daily goals. We focus a lot on reducing waste in the kitchen by throwing away less packaging and storing and using leftovers appropriately but the bathroom is a great place to cut back too! One day we'd love to be able to go without trash pick up completely!

Buying one product that has multiple uses is a great place to start

The three of us use Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Pure-Castile Soap for bathing and washing dirty hands and I also use it in place of a shaving gel. This one soap has replaced all the gels and washes we could ever need and it smells so good! (and is good for you!) While it costs more than regular soap from the store I have found that one bar lasts us a few months. Look out for sales on Amazon or buy it at almost half price from a Frontier co-op.

Dr. Bronner's LIquid Castile Soap is another great multi-purpose soap. A little goes a very long way; when diluted it can be used as a chemical free hand soap, shampoo, body wash/soap, laundry detergent... you can even wash the dog with it!

Cutting back on paper and plastic used in the bathroom saves trees and improves our health

Cloth wipes replace tissues, cotton balls/pads, baby wipes and for some, even toilet paper (also known as 'family cloth'! There is nothing better than a soft and squishy wipe on a raw, runny nose, not even lotioned tissues come close to their awesomeness. I made 2 or 3 dozen cloth wipes while I was pregnant almost 5 years ago and we are still using them today. I like to take a few with us if we go out to eat, they're better at cleaning sticky little hands than flimsy paper napkins.

For woman, mama cloth is one of the easiest ways to cut back on waste, improve your health and save a little (or a LOT of) cash. Cloth pads are comfortable, effective, cost efficient and cute!! Pink Daisy's stay dry feminine pads are one of my favorite kinds!

Pink Daisy Stay Dry Mama Cloth

Nursing mamas can take advantage of soft, absorbent reusable hemp, bamboo or cotton breast pads. Wool backed ones are also available for extra leak protection! They come in a wide variety of thicknesses, absorbency as well as shapes and styles; standard/flat or contoured for more discreet protection

If your husband or son is using disposable razors, tell him to stop! Just switching to the kind that you replace only the cartridge of will save a ton of trash and money! For those who are really into their shaving and want to get all authentic and old timey about it there are lots of other reusable options out there if you can afford them (we can not, though I guess you'd save over time...)

Reusable toothbrushes are another way you can reduce waste. What? You don't want to use the same toothbrush for the rest of your life? OK, how about one that you replace just the head on as needed? Better? I have an Eco-dent Toothbrush that I absolutely love. They make kid's toothbrushes too!

Finally, when it comes to cleaning your bathroom you can really save by using vinegar, water and a microfiber towel. Those three things along with a toilet brush and some baking soda will clean your entire bathroom for pennies and you won't have much trash to throw away in the end either. Wash the towel when you're done and throw it back in the cupboard. Everything else gets washed away with a little water and is safe for the water system and environment.

How do you reduce waste in the bathroom or save money while being environmentally friendly? What would you like to do but are too scared to try?

Fingerprint Flower Bookmark

P made this at school and I thought it would make a wonderful gift for a parent or grandparent that loves to read! Christmas is coming up ;)

Fingerprints are used as the flower petals and leaves. You can have them draw on the back or write out a special poem for them

Giant Pumpkin?

What would you do with a giant orange (edible) pumpkin? That isn't pumpkin pie?

And 60lbs of apples?

These are the dilemmas I face tonight.

Paper Pumpkin Decorations/Ornaments

For these you'll need card stock, a ruler, scissors and a stapler. Each pumpkin needs 1 6" long strip, 2 7" strips, 2 9" strips and 2 11" strips. You can also do say 5, 6, 8, 10 and so on. Cutting the strips is great scissor practice for kiddos, if you can talk them into helping : \

Stack the strips one on top of each other from longest to smallest and back to largest again; 11, 9, 7, 6, 9, 11 and secure with a staple or paper clip. Line the other ends of the strips up so they are flush with each other and staple

Voila!

You can add stalks and leaves and hang them and what not, we didn't quite get that far! Maybe for the next bunch of pumpkins!

Day 3 of October :) We spent days 1 and 2 building something for our booth at a local fall festival. Photos are coming!

31 Days of October!

It's October! Finally! It's still hot outside but the end is in sight. I think?

October has to be one of my favorite months. Mostly because my birthday is later this month. But I also love Halloween  and all things fall... or autumn. My goal for this month is to do one thing every day that's 'in season'; a craft with the monkey, a recipe, sewing project, party or outing.

We have a lot going on this month; I am doing the party for P's class at school as well as hosting the Halloween playgroup (thank you Pinterest!), sewing P's costume for the numerous fall festivals we're attending and trick-or-treating, my birthday (!) and, AND

on October 20th

I am going to go see Alton Brown at a Barnes and Noble downtown

Highlight of the year

The century maybe!

And on the 25th? Our first CSA delivery

October is going to be awesome!