Harvest Moon Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• dash salt
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• bag of almond splinters
• bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preparation:

Stir together flour, ground almonds, baking powder, and salt; set aside.In a mixing bowl cream butter and sugar at medium speed of electric hand held mixer. Beat in egg and almond & vanilla extracts. Stir flour and ground almond mixture into the creamed mixture. Cover with plastic wrap; chill for about 2 hours. Shape dough into small balls, about 3/4-inch. Place balls 2 inches apart; flatten slightly with the bottom of a glass. Bake at 350° for about 12 minutes, or until set but not browned. Melt a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a saucepan on low heat. Dip cookies in melted chocolate so 1/3-1/2 of the sides of the cookies are covered. Place a few pieces of almond splinters on the chocolate part of the cookies and let cool completely. Makes about 4 dozen almond cookies. I put brown baking parchment on the bottom of my cookie sheets so the cookies don't stick. They peel right off the paper and the paper keeps the bottom of the cookies from browning too much.

 

New Twisted Witches Website

 

I've had quite a few people wanting to purchase products I've been making. At first I thought of creating an Ebay or Etsy store, but those sights charge too much in fees for me. So with some good advice from a friend on facebook, I decided to check out Weebly. I had already checked out GoDaddy for building my own website, but they are a little pricey when you have limited funds. Weebly is so much cheaper and easier to use. So, here in a few days I will have my Twisted Witches website up and running. Still trying to figure out some details to make sure people are able to purchase items from the website, the shipping, and if this is all going to work correctly. I have part of the website done. I still have to post products and the info. & prices. I also need to type up a paragraph about Twisted Witches on the Home page. I can't wait to get this done and get things going. Also, I will have new products that I can add soon. I'm so excited.

Pizza Pasta

Last night I wanted to make pasta, but do it in a way that was different than what I usually make. So, I came up with the following recipe and it was pretty good. I served garlic cheese bread with the pasta. I just buy garlic Texas Toast and put shredded mozzarella on it. Than cook it at 425* for 10-15 minutes. The following is the pasta recipe.

Pizza Pasta

1 1/2 lb. of ground beef
1 bag of mini pepperonis
1 box of wheat penne noodles
2 cans spaghetti sauce (I use Hunt's)
1 small can of mushroom bits & pieces

Brown the ground beef and cook noodles as directed on box. Drain both when done. Add ground beef to the noodles in a big pot. Add mini pepperonis (make sure to remove the moisture pack and throw away) and spaghetti sauce. Mix well and serve.

If you want you can add peppers, shredded cheese, sausage, Canadian bacon, and etc. I used what I had in the house at the time. Salad would be a great side dish to add to this meal as well.

New Favorite Laundry Products!

As a mother of 4 kiddos (5 if you count the hubby) I'm constantly doing laundry. Over the years I've used all different types of laundry detergents, softeners, and dryer sheets. For the last several years I've been using Gain products and they smell amazing. In the last few months when money was tight we had to use cheaper brands that I don't like to use. Well recently I ran across some newer laundry products that I've been wanting to try and now that I have they are by far my faves.

Tide Laundry Detergent Pods

Tide pods are the new trend in laundry cleaning. They are a detergent, stain fighter, and brightener all in one. They are easy and convenient to use. I use one pod for small and medium loads of clothes and two pods for larger and extra large loads. There has been a problem with little children thinking they are candy and trying to eat them so I have mine put up and a locking bathroom door to keep my children out. They are a little expensive, but hopefully in the future they will come down in price. They do a great job of leaving clothes clean and smelling great. I use the Spring Meadow scent.

 

 

Snuggle Exhilarations Fabric Softener & Dryer Sheets

 

Snuggle makes some great smelling fabric softeners and dryer sheets. I came across some of their newer ones called Snuggle Exhilarations. The White Lavender and Sandalwood Twist was the one that caught my eye and I had to try it. The scent is wonderful and leaves clothes smelling amazing. This is the best smelling fabric softener and dryer sheets I have ever used. It's main scent is lavender and sandalwood mixed with vanilla and musk. It also has hints of almond and violet. I would recommend this to anyone. They have several other scents to choose from if lavender isn't the scent for you.

 



School Time Again!

Time for my kiddos to start school again. Tomorrow will be their first day for the 2012-2013 school year. I was going to keep Brendan home for another year, but everyone talked me into letting him go and he wants to go. He will have to take 2 years of Pre-school because of the new age change that says a child had to turn 5 by July 31st to start school in August. Brendan's birthday is September 25. I'm actually happy he has to wait another year, because we started landed when he was 4 and he turned 5 on September 15, which was just weeks after he started Kindergarten. But because he was so much younger then the other students he struggled last year and will be in Kindergarten again this year. Landon is still struggling with his speech problem and will be in Special Ed. again also to help him with his struggle with reading and writing. Brianne will be in 2nd grade and will have a few different teachers this year. She has ADHD so she struggles in school also, mostly with reading and writing. Hailey is doing great as usual. She's a very smart girl and doesn't have any learning disabilities like her younger siblings. She was in a class for gifted kids last year. I'm hoping she will be in that same class again this year. Hailey will be in 3rd grade this year. I hope they all do well this year and I know I need to make a better effort at helping them at home. I'm really happy that the remodeling in the school is done and that they are back in the McPhee building. Now if they are late, I can afford to drive them to school because I won't have to drive clear to the south side of the city. I need to make sure they have their flu shots this year also. I spaced it off last year and they were sick more then usual.

Sending 4 children to school isn't cheap at all. I'm lucky enough to have my kids going to a elementary school that gives them all the school supplies that they will need to use in school. I don't have to buy their supplies so that saves us some money. My kiddos are approved for free lunches and breakfasts due to our low family income, so that helps us as well. Glenn and I are still responsible for buying their backpacks, clothes, and shoes. It's not cheap when you have 4 kiddos and that's even when you buy items on clearance and cheaper brands. We bought all the kiddos a backpack, a new pair of shoes, socks, underwear for Landon, bras for Hailey, and 4 outfits per kid and spent almost $400. That's a lot of money when your family income is around $2,200 a month for six people. I'm hoping that we can afford pics this year because they are so expensive too. I might just buy a couple of cheap backgrounds and do the pics myself again this year. I already have the photography equipment to do it. I can get backgrounds and order copies of the pics from Mpix for half the price it would cost to just pay for the pros to do the pics. I have a month or two to decide. I will still pay for the class pics. I think it's important for the kids to remember who they went to school with and they can look back at the pics and remember what a great time they had in school. Anyway, looking forward to a great school year!

Fabric Refresher Recipe

I have both pets and kids, so I'm always worried about our house not smelling good. I don't like to have to buy febreeze all the time because it is so expensive and we go through it fast. I like to try and use earth friendly products also. So, I started looking around on the internet for recipes to make my own fabric refresher. After a lot of looking, I finally found one I like and had to share. Enjoy!

Fabric Refresher Recipe

*1 cup Vodka (80 proof works well)
*1 cup water
*1/2 tsp. Essential Oils (I used rose & jasmine)
*1/2 tsp. Glycerin
*Spray Bottle

Mix all the ingredients in the spray bottle. Shake well and spray.

Summer Is Ending

July is ending and so is my kids' summer break. In a 2 & 1/2 weeks they will back in school again. It's been a long, very hot and stressful summer. I picked the wrong summer to try and plant a garden. With record breaking temps, it was so hot that all my fruit, veggie, and herb plants died. I also had flowers that I had planted last year that started the summer off well and then they all died as well. Living in the Heartland of the U.S. you get to see just how bad things can get. Most of the local farmers crops are completely destroyed thanks to the hot weather. Now they are saying that prices on meat, eggs, & milk are going to go up. With having four kids and only one income that is really going to effect us when it happens. Food prices are all read outrageous so it's nerve wracking to know they are going to sky rocket even more due to an overly hot summer. We wanted to take the kids to the zoo this summer, but it's just been way too hot to go. We have a yearly pass that we got from the zoo for free and is good up until next spring, so when the weather cools a little we will find the time to go. With summer coming to an end, so is Glenn's job at the jail. They will be done with it in the next few weeks. I'm hoping they keep Glenn working and put him on another job, but we're not sure what's going to happen. It's been nice to have a steady income coming into the house. We have stayed caught up with the bills, I have been able to make more of my products and order more, and we will have the money to buy clothes and bags for the kids for school. I'm sad that Brendan (my youngest) will be starting school this year. He's my baby and I'm not sure if I'm ready to let him go. I know when my kids grow up and move out on their own, I'm going to be a wreck. I'm making Glenn take him on his first day so that I don't have to break down and cry in front of everyone. I know, I'm a big baby and it's only for 3 1/2 hours a day. It's hard letting the youngest go when you are a stay at home mom and have always had one or more kiddos at home. I know he needs to go, not only for him but for me as well. I can use that kid free time to focus more on getting my business started. I've been working hard and I've never been more determined in my life to do something then I have been with starting Twisted Witches. It's going slow right now due to the kids being on summer break and financial reasons. I want to do everything right too, because I want this to be a family business and I want it to last. I don't want it to fizzle out before I even get it up and going. So, that's what has been going on lately. I'm trying to get ready to celebrate Lammas and get the kiddos ready to start school. I'm so ready for the weather to cool and for fall to come.