An easy and pretty little girl’s hair style Pin It

My two youngest dd’s (ages 7 and 6) love having their hair put up in a pretty ‘do’. The lighter haired dd has naturally curly hair while the darker haired one has stick straight hair.

I found this post with step by step pictures of how to do a pin curl bun over at Heavenly Homemakers.

I don’t remember doing pin curls in any of my 3 daughter’s hair (isn’t that awful) and the post encouraged me to put my little girls  hair up in them.  I fixed their hair Sunday morning and they went to church with their “curls”.  They loved them.  

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Another use for Zucchini! Poor Man's Zucchini "Crab" Cakes Pin It

I found the recipe for this over at Homestead Blessings (first recipe on that page) and decided to try it.  I am so glad I did as they were delicious!   My children are not picky eaters but they along with us had our reservations with this.  That reservation did not last past the first bite. They were begging for more and asking me to make them again sometime. Dh laughed and said, “Looks like we have a winner.” I agree!

Now I have yet another use for zucchini and especially those jars of shredded zucchini I canned up a couple of years ago.

If you can shredded zucchini and want to try this recipe, empty the zucchini into a strainer/colander and squeeze out as much of the water as possible.

Being the frugal type, I didn’t want to go buy a can of Old Bay Seasoning just to use for this recipe.  What if we didn’t like it? That would have been money used for nothing.  So I did a google search and found this recipe to make the “mock” version of it.    The recipe says to use a spice grinder or small food processor to grind the items but a blender works just as well if you have neither of those.

 

here are the recipes so you can print them out together

--------------------------------------------------------

Poor Man's Zucchini "Crab" Cakes
source Homestead Blessings
1 ½ cup shredded zucchini, patted dry
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp grated onion
2 tbsp all- purpose flour
1 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp old bay seasoning
2 eggs slightly beaten
Oil for frying
Combine all the ingredients. Heat oil for frying and drop by rounded spoonful into oil and fry until crisp brown. Serve with tarter sauce.

----------------------------------------
OLD BAY SEASONING RECIPE
source: What's Cooking America


1 tablespoon celery seeds
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
6 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon whole cardamoms
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
4 whole cloves
1 teaspoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1/4 teaspoon mace
In a spice grinder or small food processor, combine all of the ingredients. Grind well and store in a small glass jar. Best if used within 6 months (date your jar).

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Plastic Bag Holder, 2 Bandanas, & an extra wide Curtain - all from a pair of curtains. Pin It

Many of you know how I like to recycle and use things on hand. This project takes care of two things.

I recycled a pair of curtains I found free at the local thrift store in one of their freebie boxes. I made the pair of curtains into a wide single one for oldest dd’s kitchen window

and with the remnants left,  I made her this matching plastic bag holder.

After making the bag holder, I two pieces left that were big enough to make my two younger daughters a bandana each. They were so cute dressed almost alike with their little aprons on helping me clean. I have left a little strip of the gingham and ribbon for another project sometime.  There is also two floral thin strips that I trimmed off the edges that I can use for the girls as ties for when one of them wears piggy tails.

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Bi-LO BOGO Deals 6/23-6/29 Pin It

This Week's Advertised B1G1F Deals:**

**Prices valid June 23 - June 29, 2010 w/ your BONUSCARD®

Meat:
Southern Home Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins, 40 oz. Frozen

London Broil Beef Roast, Pre-Packaged with FREE portion of equal or lesser value included

Oscar Mayer Wieners or Beef Franks, 14-16 oz. Assorted Varieties

Shady Brook Farms Turkey Franks, 14 oz.

Steak-umm Burgers, 32 oz.

Lloyd’s Chicken or Pork Barbeque, 18 oz.

Plumrose Heat n’ Serve Baby Back Ribs, 16 oz. or Spare Ribs 24 oz.

John Soules Chicken Strips, 16 oz.

Land O’ Frost Canadian Bacon, 7 oz. Original or Maple or Ham Steak, 8 oz.

Carolina Pride Ham or Turkey, 10 oz. Sliced or Cubed

Underwood Deviled Ham, 2.2 oz
$2/$1 - $1/1 IP = BOTH FREE (then look at the Arnold Bread bogo deal posted)

Seafood:

Southern Home Shrimp, 12-16 oz. Bag Frozen

Southern Home Tilapia or Bay Scallops, 16 oz. Bag Frozen

Ocean Eclipse Mahi Mahi or Salmon Fillets, 16 oz. Bag Frozen

Harbor Bay Mussels or Clams, 16 oz. Bag Frozen


Breakfast, Baking & Bread:

Kellogg’s Cereals, Select Sizes & Varieties
-.70/1 Apple Jacks, or Pops (if these are included

Ocean Spray Instant Oatmeal, 8 Count Assorted Varieties

Keebler Ready Crust, 6 oz. or Keebler Tarts - 24 oz.

Arnold Bread, 24 oz. 100% Whole Wheat,12 Grain or Honey Wheat
-$1 off bread tearpad q wyb 1 Underwood Meat product (these are on bogo this week too!)

Southern Home Instant Gelatin, .44-3 oz.

Southern Home Pudding, 1.34-3.9 oz. Assorted Varieties

Grocery:
Wish-Bone Salad Dressing, 16 oz. Bottle Select Varieties

Hellmann’s Mayonnaise, 30 oz. Select Varieties

Southern Home Canned Fruit, 15-15.25 oz. Assorted Varieties

Blue Ribbon Extra Long Grain White Rice, 2 lb.

Southern Home Foam Plates, 50 Count

McCormick Grill Mates Seasoning Mix, .71-1.25 oz.

McCormick Grill Mates Dry Rub - 3.25-4.41 oz.

Idahoan Flavored Instant Mashed Potatoes, 4-4.1 oz. Select Varieties

Pompeian OlivExtra Blended Olive Oil, 48 oz.

Allens Cut Italian Green Beans or Lima Beans, 14.5-15.5 oz. Select Varieties

Naturally More Peanut Butter, 16 oz.


Vlasic Dill Spears, Stackers, Relish or Dill Chips 9.24 oz. Select Varieties'
-.55/1 hangtag

Snacks & Candy:

Nabisco Chips Ahoy!9.5-16 oz.Assorted Varieties

Emerald Deluxe Mixed Nuts, Almonds or Whole Cashews, 10-11 oz. Select Varieties

Pop•Secret Popcorn, 6 Pack Assorted Varieties

Southern Home Graham Crackers, 14-14.5 oz. Assorted Varieties

Keebler Pecan Sandies, 9.5-16 oz. Assorted Varieties

Keebler Club Crackers or Sticks, 9-16 oz. Assorted Varieties

Nabisco Snak Saks, 5.5-8 oz. Assorted Varieties


Frozen & Dairy:

Mayfield Select Ice Cream, 48 oz. Assorted Varieties

Popsicle Treats, 18-24 Pack Select Varieties

Palermo’s Thin, Hearth or Rustic Pizza, 13.2-32.36 oz.

Philly Swirl Frozen Treats, 17.5-24 oz. Assorted Varieties


Beverage:

RedRose Family Size Tea Bags, 22 Count Select Varieties (Excludes Decaf)
-.50/1 IP $2/2.29 - use two q's and get two for .29!

Household, Paper & General Merchandise:

Wisk Liquid Laundry Detergent, 50 oz.

All Laundry Detergent, 32-50 oz. Original Scent

Southern Home Resealable Storage or Freezer Bags, 15-25 Count

Comet Powder Cleaner, 17-21 oz. or


Pure Citrus Air Fresheners, 7 oz. or Chore Boy Longlast Scrubber - 1 Count

Match Light Instant Light Charcoal, 6.8-7.2 lb.

Dixie Plates, 14-48 Count 2/$3.29
-.55/1 SS = 2/$1.29 when you use two coupons that double

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Goodbye Aunt Dot until I see you again in heaven Pin It

I'm tired as all get out.. emotionally and physically. We drove in to our hometown area for my favorite Aunt's viewing and funeral and then drove back home... almost an 8 hour round trip. It wears you out especially when you're driving back home in the late night hours. We got home around 3 a.m. 

There were over 200 people who came to the viewing if not close or more than 300. The funeral home was packed as were the pews for the funeral. You can tell a lot about a person's life at their funeral. She was well loved by many and stood for what she believed.   I saw so many relatives and family friends I hadn't seen in years (since the "old timers" stopped doing the family reunions - we should start doing those again).

Aunt Dot was a God-fearing, bible-believing, Saved Christian so I have no worries as to where she is this morning. She had the most precious smile on her face laying in her casket. She was at peace from this world. I lost it when her daughter in law started singing during the funeral.  She sang  "Flight Without An Airplane" and "Beulah Land". She raised 5 small children on her own when her husband was killed by a dynamite blast in early 1950’s. She never remarried.  The oldest was 7 at the time and youngest was just 3 months. What a strong woman and as one of the pastor’s said last night during the funeral… “She was a Proverbs 31 woman.”

Whenever I was in her home or saw her at my Papaw & Granny’s home, she always had a smile on her face and showed me love. She always called me Laurie as did my Papaw & Granny.  I’m going to miss her so much.

God - give my Aunt Dot a hug from me this morning. Tell her I love her and I'll see here again some day in Heaven.

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Win a Free Bosch Mixer Pin It

Want to win a Bosch mixer?? Then head on over to Deals to Meals for all the details on how you could become the winner of a Free Bosch Mixer! Various ways to enter. There will be one winner. Contest runs through June 30th, 2010!

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All You Magazine July 2010 List of Coupons Pin It

If you have trouble seeing the table below, go to this link: All You July 2010 Coupons.

Advertiser	Coupon Value	Expiration Date
Borden® Singles Sensations®	$1.00	09/05/10
Brut®	$1.00	07/31/10
Chips Ahoy! Made with Reese’s or Chips Ahoy! Made with Heath	$1.00 off 1	12/31/10
Colgate® ProClinical™	$1.00	08/31/10
Colgate® Toothbrush	$0.75	08/31/10
Colgate® Wisp®	$0.50	08/31/10
Contessa MicroSteam™ or On the Stove™ Meal	$1.00 off any 1	09/30/10
Cottonelle®	$1.00 off toilet paper	09/30/10
Cottonelle®	$0.50 off moist wipes	09/30/10
Dr. Scholl’s® For Her Comfort Insoles and ALL YOU magazine’s August issue	$1.00	08/27/10
Earth Options by Raid®	$1.00	08/30/10
Edy’s® or Dreyer’s™, The Skinny Cow™, and Häagen-Dazs® cups, 3.6 oz. or larger	$1.00	08/31/10
Eucerin® Daily Skin Balance Skin-Fortifying Body Lotion and ALL YOU magazine’s August issue	$1.00	08/27/10
Fast Classics	$1.25	09/30/10
Fast Fixin’	$1.00	09/30/10
Glade® product and ALL YOU magazine’s August issue	$1.00	08/27/10
Green Works® Natural Cleaners	$0.75	08/31/10
Green Works® Natural Laundry Detergent	$2.00	08/31/10
Häagen-Dazs®, 14 oz. or larger	$1.00	07/31/10
Infusium23®	$1.00	08/31/10
Jack Links 6.2oz. Jerky and Nuggets	$1.00	10/31/10
Jimmy Dean® Breakfast Casserole	$2.00	08/31/10
Jimmy Dean® Pancakes & Sausage Minis	$1.00	08/31/10
Lean Cuisine® Market Creations™	$1.00 off any 2	08/31/10
Midol®	$1.00	12/31/10
NIVEA Body Wash product and ALL YOU magazine’s August issue	$1.00	08/27/10
NUK Breast Feeding Products	$1.50	12/31/10
NUK Breast Pump	$5.00	12/31/10
Rimmel Bronzers	$2.00	07/31/10
Schick® Disposable Razor	$2.00 off any 1	07/30/10
Schick® Quattro for Women® or Intuition Plus® Razor or Refill	$4.00 off any 1	07/30/10
Sleep®	$2.00	08/31/10
StarKist® Pouch Products	Buy 1, Get 1 FREE (Up to $2.20 value)	08/13/10
Sunsilk	$1.00	08/18/10
Tetley® Tea	$0.50	07/31/10
TripleFlex®	$5.00	08/31/10
Viva®	$0.75 off	07/31/10
Windex™ Outdoor All-In-One Glass Cleaning Tool Starter Kit and ALL YOU magazine’s August issue	$1.00	08/27/10
Total	$53.70

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Chive Blossom Vinegar Pin It

About 3 weeks ago, I looked up online how to make chive blossom vinegar and found this blog post with pictures, etc. and the directions that person used is found here (left side of the page in the pinkish area).

So on May 20th, I cut the best looking chive blossoms from the herb garden and put them into a jar with white vinegar to steep.

It has been almost 4 weeks since I put that into the jar and put it in the cabinet. 

I strained the blossoms out and ended up with a beautiful pink chive infused vinegar.  It smells wonderful. I can’t wait to taste it on a homegrown salad.

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Recipe Tab Bar is Revamped Pin It

I revamped the Recipe Tab bar after some comments that it was too long and hard to navigate.

Now it is divided into categories and when you click on a particular one, you will go to another page on my blog with the recipes for that category.

Enjoy!

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Frigidaire Stoves & Chest Freezers – BUYERS BEWARE!! Pin It

Some of you may recall my previous post regarding my Frigidaire Chest Freezer and Range:

• Frigidaire is Forgettable!!
• Appliance Woes

The company repaired the issues BUT GUESS WHAT?!   They are acting up again!!

Yep, I am not kidding (wish I were). 

The very Frigidaire  stove “eye” element the repairman fixed is acting up again!  It doesn’t heat up sometimes at all. Oh sure you can turn the knob on but the “eye” doesn’t heat up.  No sparks shooting out at me like last time but that’s probably only a “time will tell thing”.  They are refusing to fix it now because they say “due to the age of the appliance”!!  They should be looking at the issue at hand in regards to when it was repaired the last time for this EXACT SAME THING!!  If it causes my house to catch on fire due to a short in it or whatever, you can bet your sweet bippy that Frigidaire will be held accountable!  

 

The Chest Freezer – well the lid inside cover has broken away from the screws that are supposed to hold it on.  The gasket or rubber seal is coming off again in the process due to that.   All that means that I can’t put anything near the top of the freezer because it will not get completely frozen.  I am having to dehydrate and can the stuff up out of our freezer due to this. The Frigidaire  company is REFUSING to fix this issue “due to the age of the applianace”. They should be looking at the issue at hand in regards to when it was repaired the last time for this EXACT SAME THING!! 

 

So if you are looking for a new range or chest freezer – DO NOT CONSIDER FRIGIDAIRE!!  You are just looking for trouble!  

 

Unless they do a 360 and show some satisfactory customer service on this mess, we will NEVER buy another Frigidaire product again and you can bet your sweet bippy that we won't be recommending them either. 

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My salad spinner Pin It

I bought this salad spinner secondhand at a local thrift store for $2 (I think).  I have more than got my money’s worth of use out of it.  ' One of us accidentally dropped it at some point and snapped off one of the lid clamps but it sill works if you hold it down on that side.

No gardener or household in my opinion should be without one of these babies. You can usually find them at thrift stores and yard sales for next to nothing.  They are various sizes too so you can find one that suits your family size needs.  This is one of the larger ones.

I wash our homegrown lettuce, spinach, kale, etc. (as well as garden surplus of these that a friend gives us), fill the strainer inside the spinner, and I usually have a volunteer or two (aka my children) at the ready who loves to spin this. 

Even if you don’t grow a garden, you can still wash your store bought or farmer’s market lettuce, etc. in one of these.

(The picture taken while it was in use. I had to stop ds#2 for a second so I could take a picture while I had inspiration for a blog post.)

So do you use a salad spinner?

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Blackberry Cobbler Pin It

If you can pick your own blackberries do so. Blackberry Cobbler made with fresh, wild blackberries is divine Southern food! We pick blackberries in the summer and I freeze some as well as make blackberry jam. The frozen ones get used for cobblers, muffins, pancakes, and more.

Preheat oven to 350 You will need: 3/4 of a stick of butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 cup self-rising flour 1 cup milk 4 cups of blackberries, fresh or frozen vanilla ice cream for topping

In a large baking dish, melt butter, set aside. Mix flour and sugar together. Gradually add milk and mix well. Place cups of berries onto melted butter (do not stir) but put them evenly as possibly over the bottom of the baking dish. Pour the batter evenly over top of the berries. Do not stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Serve while warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

 

A variation of this is to use 1 cup of buttermilk pancake mix or 1 cup of Belgian waffle Mix… You may need to think it down just a little more than the 1 cup of milk calls for. You want it to be a little runny but not too much. You could also just use water instead of the milk if you use either of these mixes.

If you use either of those, forgo the sugar as that will already be in the mix.

Enjoy!

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New signups to swagbucks gets extra 20 swagbucks!! extra swagbucks offer ends 6/11/10 Pin It

If you haven't signed up for swagbucks, you should.

Use the Swagbucks search engine to win Swagbucks. Use their toolbar and log in daily to get an instant 1 Swagbuck. Take their daily poll and get another one.  Fridays are Mega Swag Bucks Days.  You can increase your chances of winning Mega Swag Bucks denominations (10, 20, 50, 100).

You accumulate the swagbucks and then redeem them for prizes such as paypal, Amazon gift cards, and more.

For all new signups, you can get 30 swagbucks just for signing up and you can enter code: SUMMEROFSWAG and get an additional 20 swagbucks!  This code is good until Midnight on June 11, 2010.

Sign up for swagbucks

There are two chances coming up to earn more Swagbucks too

1. Monday is a Swag Code Extravaganza –  releasing at least 5 Swag Codes throughout the day.

2. Each day next week they will be highlighting a different high value SwagBuck as well.   Starting on Monday it will be worth 25. Every 7th search win on Swagbucks will be awarded that big bill, meaning that more people will have big wins next week!  (note others are searching too so you may or may not hit that 7th Search at the right time to win it. )

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Free Museums, Science Centers & Zoos in 27 States This Weekend when you present a Bank of America Card Pin It

From Red Plum:

“Want something free to do with the kids this weekend? How about a bunch of something frees! Your local zoo, children's museum, botanical garden or science center just may let at least one family member in free this Saturday and Sunday. That is if you're lucky enough to live near one of the 100+ centers offering free admission this weekend to anyone presenting a Bank of America card. It's part of BofA's Museums on Us promotion. Saturday and Sunday will find museums in 27 states free for BofA customers, as will the first full weekend of every month through September (with more 2010 dates promised!). You will need to bring both your Bank of America card and a photo ID to get your one free admission.”

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Updated Pics of Our Garden & other Growing areas Pin It

This is our main garden in the fenced area in the back and the newly put in 5 growing areas in the front outside of the fenced area.

I did not take a picture of the cherry trees growing to the left of this area.  The remaining block raised bed there is asparagus.

I also didn’t take a picture of the apple and peach trees that are growing up near the front of the chicken coop in the right back of the above picture. Nor the grapes that are growing on the other side of that shaded tree area on the right in the above photo. You can see a photo of those on this post though: I am so sore!

This is the rock ring bed under the tree at the fenced garden area. We have 2 different lettuce and deer tongue  spinach growing here.

and a close up view of the potato growing experiment for this year.  Potatoes growing in newspaper and straw.  You lay the newspaper down a few layers thick and then lay your seed potatoes on top of that and cover with straw.  Some have not come up yet and may not.

The raised bed along the front of the house at the sidewalk. First year planting in the bed here so it’s still getting there.  That’s a pear tree hiding behind my farm bell post there.

A view of the herb garden now that is has been heavily mulched to keep down the weeds. I previously posted another view of the updated herb garden here.

Our 5 remaining Plum trees. Thought there were only 4 but one is very small and just starting to come back.  One is hiding between the lilac and Quince tree there too.    The newly built raised bed on the other side of our large front porch area. Oldest son (age 11) built this today. Will fill this up with dirt and compost and get it ready for planting more herbs, maybe a couple more fruit trees and who knows what else.  Our 3 blueberry bushes are thriving. These grow along the lower end of our main fenced in garden.

 

The growing season is coming along nicely. We’ve had plenty and I do plenty of rain in recent times and everything is loving it (except me with the mud).

Still need to finish the garden fence (hence the mud preventing it) and put in more raised beds in the fenced in main garden.  Hubby mentioned another rock ring garden around another tree near the lettuce one shown and mentioned above.   We hope to eventually get the back yard into a garden oasis (lots of work in the making) and a place to hang out and have cookouts, etc.   Plans for a greenhouse has been talked about as well as an addition onto the house to make a new kitchen that also works as my summer kitchen and put a patio outside there for sitting, barbecuing, etc.   Long road to get all that done as we can only do so much as time and money permits. A little at a time but hopefully things will come together more and more as they are now. 

I hope you have enjoyed this montage of photos and feel free to peruse the other homestead posts on my blog.

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Our Clothesline needs some attention or rather tension Pin It

Poor thing’s a little saggy. I know how it feels. lol 

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Meet our new rain barrel Pin It

This is our new rain barrel… salvaged and free to us! 

It’s a 500 gallon plastic tank that has a lid and four hookups on it… two at the top and two at the bottom. Hubby brought it home tonight.  He was given the tank by someone he knows through his construction job.

Now to get guttering on the house and hook this baby up to catch rainwater for watering our gardens in the summer time. Sure will help cut back on the city water bill especially now that our well pump for our well is fried.

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