Freezer Crockpot Meals

The Concept of this idea was GENIUS!

Here's the Jist: 

   You spend 1 day in the kitchen, pre-preparing a set of meals. You then place them in a Ziplock Freezer Bag and freeze. Then the night before lay out which meal you want to thaw, throw it in the Crockpot to cook all day and BAM! Supper is done! 

Here's how my experience went:

 I searched high and low and read every blog I could find on Pintrest. Spent a whole day doing it. Learning the Ins and Outs of this process. 

Everyone made one thing very clear. 

         Start With A Clean Kitchen

Welp, there was my first problem. (Should have been a sign, lol)

Anyway I made my grocery list, compiling recipes that sounded appealing for my family and went to the store to buy my supplies. 

I spent around $50 for a total of 5 meals. ((Disclaimer: I forgot a couple random items which I later picked up adding additional cost))

The recipes that I chose were:

BBQ Chicken

Beef Fajitas

Chicken Catatorie

Stuffed Green Peppers

Salisbury Steak 

Bunch of Twice Baked Potatoes

I started by completely cleaning my kitchen...and that seemed to take forever ...

But then I began the cutting and diceing...

I made it into 2 of the meals, then I caved and quit, lol

The BBQ Chicken and the Beef Fajitas and Baked Potatoes were a handful to get done. Only because I was also having to make supper for that night during the same time. 

So let's skip ahead to the important part! The TASTING! 

Cause the execution of course was gravy, ((see explanation above))

BBQ CHICKEN

HORRIBLE!! 

They boys ate it but I do not understand how...it was just...bad 

TWICE BAKED POTATOES

Now these are awesome! And SOO worth it! I did a whole small bag of potatoes which leaves me still stocked up on some just waiting to be eaten!  But you don't cook them in the crockpot you cook them in the oven. 

BEEF FAJITAS 

Soggy, bland and a soppy mess! 

Ended up sautéing them in a skillet with some soy sauce to make them editable! 

CHICKEN CATATORIE

Remember that part about me caving and giving up on the prep? Well this was one it happened too, lol. Never the less though I made it in the crockpot and it was pretty tasty! 

STUFFED GREEN PEPPERS

Skipped prep on this one too, lol. But made them fresh (not in the crockpot) and they ROCK! 

SALSBURY STEAK

Didn't do this one at all, lol. 

So my conclusion is I don't know if the freezer to crockpot part is what made the recipes bland and not worth eating but this was DEFINATLY not good!! 

Won't be bothering with it again! 

~Sumer~

Super Simple Christmas Decorations

One Cold Winter Day, As I sit bored as can be. I looked around and decided I needed more Christmas Deocrations. Something New..Different...Something maybe I can make myself, cause I was too lazy to get out, lol. 

So I searched Pintrest and found pictures of snowflakes made out of Popsicle sticks! How Easy!

I had some left over sticks from a previous project, so I broke out the ol' trusty glue gun, some paint that I had on hand, and as a bonus I had some glitter glue left too!! 

So I constructed these snowflakes that are Super Cute and were SUPER SIMPLE!! 

And it only cost me 1.00!!! (And only because I picked up more Popsicle sticks at The Dollar Tree next time I was in town to make more, lol)

Merry Christmas Everybody!! 

*~Sumer~*

LIGHTSABERS RULE!!

I'm not for sure who was more excited about this DIY, my boys or me, lol. 

We already have light sabers, but for a very cheap cost and for the sake of having something "new" (oh and the fact that they are less likely to hurt one another helps!) we took on this challenge!!!!!  :)

VERY SIMPLE SUPPLIES!

Found them all at the Dollar Tree, except for the little silver Duck tape that was less than $2.00 at Walmart and of course the cutting supplies I already had at home. 

Step #1

Cut the pool noodle in half. Use bread knife that has a serrated edge for easy cutting. 

Step #2 

Cut two pieces of duck tape and position over the end to look like this

Step #3 

Take the black electric tape and just start wrapping up to wherever you want. 

Step#4

Time to let your imagination go wild! 

Just cut and make whatever design you want!! 

And Vola! YOUR DONE! 

*Disclaimer: If you have Star War fans in your household be prepared to google the different light sabers from the movies to make them "accurate". 

    I had to remind my 2 boys twice that these are just something simple to play with and for fun, because I was getting requests for buttons, switches, and places to put crystals, lol. 

All in All this is a GREAT project and SUPER easy to make!! 

Rain or Shine I recommend this for some simple fun! 

Oh and Trenton came up with the idea if using them in a Pool as well because, "Well they are after all pool noodles and will float"

:D

**Made By Sumer**

String Art Awesomeness

I loved this SO SO much! I need more wood!

♦Elisha♦

Wax Paper Disaster

My husband has a lot of plaques and awards he acquired throughout his Navy career. Every person who has been in the military a long time has an "I Love Me" wall which we are attempting to create in our den. I saw in the Pinterest World that you can use wax paper to arrange pictures on the wall. Brilliant?!....not so much!

Here is the design I was going for.

Then I turned them all over, keeping the same design.

Lay wax paper over the back of the pictures. This was when my disaster started. There is no easy way to keep the wax paper straight...and if your wax paper isn't straight, then how are you going to know it's straight on the wall? I also had to tape the wax paper in a million places or it fell all apart.  Then I made holes in the wax paper where the holes in the pictures were so I knew where the nails were supposed to go on the wall.

First attempt at hanging the wax paper. Now, if you have a really really super small arrangement you're doing, it might work fine. My arrangement was at least 4 feet tall and maybe about 6 feet wide. I was also doing this all by myself. I am woman hear me roar.

This was probably my millionth attempt at getting the stupid paper straight on the wall. I was hot and frustrated and I don't like giving up!

UGH!! Never again!! If you have 5 people helping you, you might be able to pull off this "tip". Pinterest Fail!

♦Elisha♦

Philly Filled Bell Peppers

We love Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches and we love peppers...so why not put them together?!

I made a mistake cutting the peppers..it's suppose to be lengthwise. I was scared all the cheese would run out since I had holes in the bottom of each half, but it really wasn't that bad.  There are several different variations of the recipe. Mine said to roast the peppers in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes before adding anything to them..which is what I did. Since I had holes in the bottom of my peppers, I lined the baking sheet with foil, plus I like containing the mess.

While the peppers were roasting, I sautéed up some onion, mushroom and garlic. Once the onions are good and caramelized, add in pieces of sliced roast beef. I recommend getting roast beef from the deli and not the kind in a package....just because it's better quality and tastes like real beef.  I didn't really measure any of these ingredients. My husband doesn't really like mushrooms but I love them, so I added enough for me but not enough for him to be able to taste much of them. Just use your best judgement :) 

 Next, line the roasted peppers with provolone cheese. Do this while the peppers are still hot! It makes the cheese malleable and easier to put in the pepper, or just get the shredded kind.

Then fill those puppies up with the meat mixture

Top with more cheese.

Pop those babies in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is nice and gooey on top.

I was recently given some Lemon Boy yellow tomatoes and boy are those suckers good! My husband's aunt has a huge garden and has been supplying us with fresh veggies. Every meal we have beautiful fresh vegetables and I love it!

My husband really liked these carb friendly stuffed peppers. Next time I make them, I will of course make sure to cut them the right way! Also, I will add some yellow or red peppers...maybe some basil. They were missing some flavor. Overall, this dinner was a hit at my house! 

♦Elisha♦

DIY Coasters

I'm refusing to buy more coasters. 

I don't know where mine keep disappearing to, but I'm pretty sure it's one of those things your kids or significant other take or hide just to drive the Mom crazy when they turn around and ask you where one is and all you can find is ONE. 

And well let's face it, no one really uses them anyway. 

So I ran across this post on Pintrest on how to make your own that look like cute little pallets!!

Simple enough!?

Went to the ol' trusty Dollar Tree and picked up some Popsicle sticks. And put the hot glue gun to work!!

So, First the post on Pintrest is just a picture, with no directions, but thats ok, it can't be too hard to figure out....

You basically just flashback to stacking sticks and glueing them together. The concept is pretty cut and dry. 

Start by making a square and just add on    

I mean it's simple...and looks like it will do the job a coaster is suppose to do...get lost in your house somewhere or make you look fancy when you hand your house guest a drink and place it on a coaster.  

BUT

Mine looks NOTHING like the picture! 

After studying the picture they could not have used only these sticks!

It appears they used small blocks and different sized "planks" to get the more Pallet effect. 

And of course as you can see by their picture there is no rounded edges. 

Well I attempted to cut off the round edges and it was HARD! So I didn't. 

Anyway with all that aside here is their Coaster... And then there's mine...

**Made By Sumer**