Gardeners Hand Scrub

I love to garden (even though my garden this year doesn't seem to be doing so well). One day while perusing through Pinterest I came across this delightful looking item called Gardener's Hand Scrub. So I pinned it! http://pinterest.com/pin/151785449911599409/ I used a pomegranate dish soap and it turned out amazing. I gave a jar each to two of my friends that also have gardens. I will do this again. This is super easy, makes a great gift and something that the kids can do too. Next time I will try different "flavors"!

NASTY NASTY GROUT

OK so those of you who know me know that we purchased a foreclosure in 2009. Well along with that came 10 years of grout stains. I tried the Shark, the Monster and all kinds of cleaners. I finally found something that worked and guess what???? It came from the Dollar Tree! That's right $1. I tried the Pinterest posts but most required the use of bleach and that is just too fumy for me. So while browsing through the Dollar Tree one Day I found a product called LA's Totally Awesome Tile Grout Cleaner.

Our Grout was so gross that a simple spray would not work alone so I decided to use the Dollar Tree Quick Eraser along with the cleaner. Guess what????? It worked. I only have about 900 sqft of tile but the grout made me sick to look at. Who knows what was under there????? YUK! Clean your tile people...it can be done cheap. I Love Dollar Tree. The image is of the same tiles, however the lighting was different as you can see but you CAN see the grout.

What's For Dinner

OK SO I didn't think I would make two posts in one day but here I am. I found this great recipe for Island Chicken on...Yeup you guessed it Pinterest. http://pinterest.com/pin/280912095477670517/
It looked so yummy I wanted to lick my iPad. I followed the directions for the marinade except instead of soy sauce I added Organic Tamari. It tastes like soy sauce but is soooo much better.

I had to taste it before I added the chicken just to see what it was like. I have to say it was a little bland for my taste. When I think of "Island Food" I think of flavor and spice! So I decided to tweak this as bit. I was on a mission for Island Flavor. For starters, I added another clove of garlic....I LOVE GARLIC! I was looking for some spice but really didn't want to go the cayenne pepper route. I decided to use Sriacha Hot Chili Sauce. I added a tablespoon for some heat (I would like more but the kids were eating too so I had to tone it down. I felt that it also needed something sweet so that is where the honey comes in. I added a tablespoon of honey and taste tested again. YUM!

After marinating for a couple of hours......on the grill it went. I have to say it turned out pretty darn good! I served it with grilled asparagus, marzano tomatoes with Gorgonzola cheese with a balsamic drizzle and of course a nice glass of pinot grigio white wine.

I recommend this recipe but taste the marinade first and tweak to your taste. Bon Appetite!

Teacher Gifts

So school ended last week and we are all really excited that summer is finally here. The twins graduated from pre-school and I was looking for something unique to give to their teachers. So what did I do? Why I went to Pinterest of course. I found these great planter gifts that were decorated with chalkboard paint and had a ruler painted around the rim.  http://pinterest.com/pin/276901077059310316/ "What a great idea!" I said. So off to Home Depot I went. I spent $5.00 for two pots about 6 inches in diameter, $5.00 for a can of Rust-Oleum Chalkboard Paint and $4 for two begonia plants. I already had soil and thanks to my love of crafts, I had plenty of acrylic paint for the ruler.

I was surprised that the chalkboard paint dried so quickly. I am talking seconds. It was hot outside so maybe that had something to do with it but I was extremely happy because I could start my project right away. I am very impatient and I hate to wait! I then painted the top ring of the pot yellow (I did have to wait for this to dry). I wrapped a measuring tape around the top of the pot exposing enough of the top to make markings for the ruler. I used a permanent marker instead of paint. Much easier, quicker and less mess. You will find that if you are trying to make the ruler EXACTLY like a ruler it will not work as the circumference is not exactly even. So I improvised and when I got closer to the end, I made my marks a little wider and I just turned the pot so that those marks were in the back.

I wrote "Thank you for helping me grow" on the pot with yellow chalk and Viola! I went a little further and glued a gift card to a pencil and stuck it in the pot but the pot alone is a great gift and easy to do. I would definitely recommend this project.


This is my finished product

Happy Pinning....Kris

A Whole New World

OK So I'm new to blogging so this may start out really slow but I will try to post as much as I can. If you haven't discovered Pinterest....shame on you. This is the most amazing site and I love that the world can share crafts, recipes, ideas, helps and websites with each other. Wouldnt it be nice if we could all get along like this in "the real world"? Cook, Craft and Be Merry I say! Stay tuned. I will be posting some things I have tried really soon. Happy Pinning!