creamy cucumber dill sauce

Here is a recipe that we have had about once a week lately. One because we have had plenty of cucumbers in our garden and two because it is fast and easy when it is hot outside and I don't feel like cooking dinner. This is a creamy cucumber dill sauce that we have inside a tortilla or pita pocket bread with sliced tomatoes. If some of your family members are wondering where the meat is (most husbands) then this is also very good with shredded chicken (I really like it this way too).
This is one of my favorite summer meals.

Creamy Cucumber Dill Sauce

3-4 Large Cucumbers
1 Cup of Sour Cream
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice
1 Tablespoon Vinegar (I use whatever I had on hand)
Onion (The original recipe called for one small onion but that is too much for me. I add just a little bit diced if I have one in the fridge or a little sprinkle of dehydrated onion.)
1 Tablespoon of Dill
Salt and Pepper to taste

Peal and slice cucumbers and mix all ingredients together. I have noticed that this is one of those recipes that tastes better when the flavors all have time to blend together so if possible let is sit in the fridge for a couple of hours. Hope you like it!

great granola

The search for the perfect granola recipe was a long one. I wanted one that is healthy, but doesn't have a long list of ingredients, one that is simple and easy to make, and maybe even one that my kids would choose to eat over cold cereal. Eventually, I came up this one on my own. It has everything I want and still gets a thumbs up from the kids.



Honey Almond Granola


Preheat oven to 300.


1 cup water
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
Mix these ingredients in a saucepan and warm until butter is melted.

In a large bowl mix:
6 cups quick oats
5 cups of a mixture of other ingredients of your choice *(quick oats, regular oats, rolled grain mix, crisp rice cereal, sunflower seed, flax seed, coconut, etc.)
1/4- 1/2 cup chopped or sliced almonds
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix well.


Pour the liquid mixture over the grain mixture.
Divide granola in half and spread onto two large baking sheets.
Bake each pan for 30 minutes.

Enjoy as it is, or after baking add 1-2 cups dried fruit.

* I usually use 1 cup crisp rice cereal and 4 cups rolled six grain mix. The six grain mix is made up of red wheat, white wheat, rye, oats, barley, and sunflower seeds. The rice cereal adds a crispy texture while the six grain mix adds nutritional value.

pickles to petals

Yes these use to be full of PICKLES. Our family loves pickles and on a pretty regular basis we buy this huge jar of pickles from Sam's Club, which are pretty inexpensive. These jars are nice big 1 gallon glass jars that I can't just throw away. A few of them sat in my pantry for a while until I thought of this idea. I needed a container for ribbon scraps and flowers petals.

I washed them good and then tore off the label. I found of piece of scrap paper and made labels and then glued them on with Mod Podge. I didn't keep the lid but if you wanted to I found a cute way to cover it with paper here. Here is what they ended up looking like.

a new pocket for polly

Before

The New Pocket

Have you noticed the many fun projects and toys are made with this clear plastic vinyl? Seeing so many, I also started to notice how many small items are packaged in it: socks, underpants, and many others. I bought these little mesh bags at the dollar store and I was about to throw the package away when I had this idea.

I covered the cardboard insert with scrapbook paper and then added a little handle with a hole punch and some ribbon. I thought that this would work great for all those little Polly Pockets, Playmobils, Legos, and any other treasure your little ones want to tote around.

skirt to sundress

I have recently seen so many great re-purposing ideas out there. I found a great tutorial on Make It and Love It for a cute sundress made from a men's dress shirt. After looking at this I decided to try it with a skirt I had. I love the pattern but every time I tried it on I didn't love the fit soooo... it became a sundress.
I cut off a strip from the top to make straps, gathered the top with some elastic, and sewed the straps on. I did not have enough fabric to make the cute flower like on the other one so I just stacked some flowers together, added a button, and then attached it to the dress with a bar pin. (I will post a tutorial on these flowers soon along with the many way that you can use them.)

twirly jean skirt

My little ones each had a few pair of jeans that had holes in the knees. I had been keeping them in my mending pile trying to figure out some way to still use them and then I found a tutorial for this cute little twirly jean skirt while I was blog jogging.

I love the way it turned out and as you can see it is great for twirling.

berry blue umbrella with a chance of pink lemonade

A little while ago we posted homemade play dough. Today we mixed up another batch with Kool-Aid and glitter. It has been a big hit. Instead of adding food coloring in the recipe we added a little 20 cent Kool-Aid packet. My little ones picked Berry Blue and Pink Lemonade. This makes fun colors and adds a fun scent.

foaming hand soap

Everyone once and a while I venture in to Bath and Body Works to get some of their foaming hand soap. I love these soaps but we go through them quickly and they can add up fast when they may not be a necessity in your budget.

I love the foaming soap especially with little ones. No more soggy soap bars and no more sticky liquid soap left all over the sink. When the soap is gone I just refill the container half way up with liquid hand soap( from the big refill jugs), and the other half with water.
Shake it up good to mix it and give it a few pumps. It doesn't smell as good as the original but it sure saves on $$ and messes.

growing up growth chart

Everyday kids are growing a little bigger. Some days it feels like a lot bigger.
This "life size ruler" growth chart is a fun way to track how fast they are growing.


Here is how to make it.

1" x 8" x 6' piece of pine wood -- I found mine at Home Depot pre-cut and ready to use.

Use paint or a wood oil (like linseed) to finish the surface of the wood.

Use paint, a sharpie marker, or a vinyl sticker to create the look of a large ruler.
A vinyl sticker makes the project a little easier and is available in our store. 
To apply the sticker:   Without removing the backing, tape the entire sticker into place with masking tape.  Pull back the bottom 12 inches and remove the backing.  Press this part of the sticker back down into place.  Now that it it secure, pull back the rest of the sticker, remove sections of the backing and press into place.  Be sure that the markings are staying aligned with the edge of the board.  When all the vinyl is in place, press on the markings to ensure that they will stick and then remove the top masking.

Start the lettering at zero if you want to just leave it standing on the floor. If you want to hang it on the wall, figure out how far up you want it.(ie. 6 inches from the floor) and start with that mark.

The fun part: Measure and mark kids heights.

Start a fun birthday tradition of measuring and marking the growth chart.

Many families already have a growth chart marked on a wall or door somewhere. Transferring that information to a board like this, protects it from the inevitable renovation or move.

I didn't start on this project until most of my kids were older. I used school and medical records to mark their heights from the past so we could compare everyone's as they grow.

simply raspberry jam

I know, it is a little early to be thinking about Christmas, but wouldn't this be a great gift? Local raspberries in season have resulted in raspberry jam, raspberry smoothies and fresh raspberry lemonade. These little jars were so cute, we filled eight of them with this simple jam recipe. But now we are not sure if we can wait until christmas to give them away.

Simply Raspberry Jam

8 cups raspberries - fresh or frozen

5 cups sugar

2 tbsp. lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients in a large pot and heat to boiling. Stir frequently and boil for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and spoon any bubbles from the top (there is nothing wrong with them, they just don't look pretty in the jar). Spoon the jam into warm jars, wipe off the rims of the jars and place lids and rings on.

Process (heat in boiling water bath) for 15 minutes.

Makes about 4 pints.

photo fun for simple scrapbooks

With two kids and a busy life I am very far behind on our scrapbooks but I am trying to catch up. This is a cute, simple, but creative scrapbook idea that will be fun to look back on. This is a peek into the things that they love at the moment and play with everyday.

Our littlest one loves her dollies no matter what size and her favorite book that she asks for everyday is "Go Dog Go". She knows it so well now she gathers her blankie and all of her little friends on her bed to read to them.

These are a few other things that you would step over or see being packed around by our other little girl. She loves her backpack and would put her whole room in it if it would fit. It will be filled with Fancy Nancy and Holly Hobbie books, a Hello Kitty game, her blankie, baby, dress-ups, tootsie roll pillow, and swim goggles. We always see the hoppy ball go up and down the hall at least a few times each day.

This photo idea would be fun to do for each person in your family or have your family go in on one together. If anyone has any simple ideas for scrapbooking to help ones like me stay caught up we would love you to share your thoughts. Happy scrapbooking!

tin can stilts

We saw these tin can stilts this summer at a local festival. Every child that walked by could not resist stepping on and giving them a try, including ours. At the summer festival some were made from cans like these and others were made plastic buckets. We looked around our house and found cans and some yellow rope to create ours.

1. We spray painted the cans white, you could choose any color or leave them plain.
2. Drill holes on two sides of each can.
3. Measure the length of the rope handles for the height of your child.
4. Poke the rope handles through the hole and tie a knot to keep it from slipping out.
5. Ready for little legs to go walking.