homeade natural bug sprays

that supposedly work!
bug sprays
at first glance, it looks like a lot of these depend heavily on witch hazel and I believe that has a considerable drying factor on skin, and given my dry skin issues and my younger sons eczema, I'm not sure how well this will work....still researching

homemade chicken nuggets

from grocery shrink
nuggets

deep dish pepperoni pizza with arugula salad

from real simple
pizza and salad

homemade tater tots

from pioneer woman
tater tots

sausage pancakes on a stick

from pioneer woman
breakfast "corndogs"

bibimbop with bulgogi

a conglomeration of 4 different cooking light recipes
hang on tight!

for the meat (bulgogi)
1 pound tip sirloin steak, trimmed (I got thin sliced)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vineagar
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
3+ cloves garlic minced

3 cups hot cooked rice
1 tablespoon sesame oil
4 eggs
butter for pan frying eggs
hot asian sauce (optional)

for vegetables:
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar divided
1 teaspoon minced garlic divided
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger divided
1 cup julienne cut cucumber peeled and seeded
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
12 teaspoon rice vinegar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 cup fresh bean sprouts (or 1/2 can bean sprouts drained)
2 10 ounce packages fresh spinach
1/4 cups finely chopped green onions


1. wrap beef in plastic wrap, freeze 1 hour or until firm. remove plastic wrap, cut beef diagonally across grain into 1/16 inch slices. Combine beef, sugar, and next 5 ingredients (sugar through garlic) in a large zip top plastic bag. seal and marinate in fridge 1 hour turning bag occasionally.
2. Combine 1/3 cup water, vinegar, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and crushed red pepper in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add carrot, and remove from heat, let stand 30 minutes. Drain.
3. combine cucumber and next 5 ingredients (cuke through 1 garlic clove). set aside.
4. Heat a large skillet over high heat for 4 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil. swirl to coat. add rice to pan in a single layer. cook for 1 minute (do not stir) remove from heat and let stand 20 minutes.
5. combine remaining 1 teaspoon sugar, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, remaining 1/2 teaspoon ginger, soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon oil, stirring with a whisk.
6. heat a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. add 1 teaspoon oil, swirl to coat. add 1 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce mixture and bean sprouts to pan. saute 1 minute. remove sprouts from pan. keep warm.
7. add 1 teaspoon oil to pan, swirl to coat. add 1 teaspoon garlic and remaining soy sauce mixture. add spinach and onions to pan, saute 1-2 minutes or until spinach wilts. (I had to add half, cook it down, then add the rest for it all to fit in the pan). remove spinach from pan, keep warm.
8.Heat a small nonstick skillet and add beef mixture, stir fry 3 minutes or until done. remove from pan. cover and keep warm.
9. melt butter in pan. break 1 egg into hot skillet. cook eeg 1 minute, carefully turn over. sprinkle with dash of salt. cook and additional minute or until desired degree of doneness. remove from pan. cover and keep warm. repeat procedure with remaining eggs and salt.
10. spoon 3/4 cup rice into each of 4 bowls. arrange 1/4 cup each of beef, carrot, cucumber mixture, bean sprouts and spinach over each serving. top each serving with 1 egg and 1 teaspoon hot sauce if desired.

all of these steps took about 1 1/2 hours to complete...but they were worth it!
I served with mondu (potstickers) and edamame.

a TON of pancake ideas

from tasty kitchen
pancakes

open faced quesadillas

from $10 dinners
quesadilla

mini bacon and egg tarts

from cooking light
tarts

EOM Hearty Italian chicken noodle soup

made WITHOUT a recipe from cleaning out the freezer and the pantry....and it turned out pretty good!

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 pound ground chicken
2 cups seasoned pureed veggies (leftover from making the chicken broth)
generous dashes of seasoned salt or Jane's Crazy Salt
1 bay leaf
1-2 frozen cubes homemade pesto (probably about 2 or 3 tbsp each)
fresh grated parmesan cheese
1 box of pasta (I used 1/2 radiatore and 1/2 garden rotini)

1)start defrosting the frozen veggies and chicken broth by placing the bags in a big bowl of hot water.
2)drizzle a few tbsp of evoo in a large pot and cook the ground chicken, season with a few shakes of seasoning.
3)add broth, water, pesto, bay leaf, and veggie puree...it's ok if its not completely thawed...it will be soon! Bring to a boil
4)add pasta and boil according to directions
5)once pasta has reached desired tenderness serve immediately garnished with parmesan cheese.
(this would also be pretty good with whole frozen veggies added with the pasta)

serve to a toddler with most of broth drained away and lots of cheese on top!

potato crusted chicken fingers

from cooking light
chicken fingers

Baked Mozzarella Bites

from cooking light
cheese

smoky potato pancakes

from cooking light
smoky potato pancakes

hot chocolate cookies

from recipezaar.com
I wanted to make cookies for some guests, but didnt have any chocolate chips, oatmeal or any of the traditional cookie ingredients...but then it hit me....I have HOT COCOA! It has sugar, powdered milk, cocoa....sounds like ingredients in some sort of dessert...so I got online and found this recipe. I did NOT make this with the marshmallows or the glaze and still thought these tasted pretty good. we pressed a few of the cookies with dried cranberries...and I also used raspberry flavored hot cocoa mix instead of the regular chocolate. I thought they were pretty good!

For the cookies
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup instant hot chocolate powdered cocoa mix
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup low-fat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
24 large marshmallows, cut in half crosswise


For the glaze
1 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup low-fat milk
2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder
Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:Prep Time: 15 mins
Total Time: 23 mins
1 Preheat oven to 350
2 In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa mix, baking soda and salt.
3 In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing until combined after each. Mix in milk and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
4 Using a teaspoon cookie scoop, drop the dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake until the cookie are set, about 8 minutes. Remove and carefully place a marshmallow, cut side down, in the center of each cookie. Place back in the oven and continue baking until the marshmallow begins to look puffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove and let cookies sit on the baking sheet for 1 minute before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely.
5 To make the glaze: Place confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, add butter, milk and cocoa. Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil - let cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool for 5 minutes. Pour mixture into the bowl of confectioners' sugar and beat until creamy.
6 Immediately spoon a little of the glaze over each of the cooled cookies.

Sausage Egg and Cheese Muffins

these arent your traditional breakfast muffins....they are made with sausage and eggs and biscuits! YUM! I had these at church a few months ago and hadnt seen an actual recipe, until I saw it on Jena's blog! I already have the ingredients (although we arent huge sausage fans, so I will try it with bacon instead) I cant wait to make them!
try this!

Sausage Egg and Cheese Muffins

Breakfast Butter Balls

from my Friend Jena's blog....
I've had such good luck with her sourdough recipe, that I'm planning to try a few more of her recipes!

try this!
breakfast butter balls

jello jigglers

1 (3 ounce) packages Jello gelatin, any flavor
1 cup boiling water


Directions:Prep Time: 0 mins
Total Time: 5 mins
1 Dump the boiling water in a bowl.
2 Slowly stir in the jello, add a little at a time.
3 Stir well.
4 Pour into small bread pan or jello molds.
5 Refrigerate, will be firm in 1 hour.

(I tripled this with no problem at all!)

butternut squash mac and cheese

from "Tasty Kitchen"

Butter nut squash mac and cheese

Ham and Potato Casserole

tweaked from Southern Livings "Easy Weeknight Favorites"
my tweaks are highlighted RED
 1 (26 ounce) package frozen shredded potatoes-(I actually ended up using a 30 ounce package)
1 (1 pound) ham slice, cut into bite sized pieces
1 (10.75 ounce) can cream of potato soup, (or any "cream of" soup) undiluted-(I used 2 cans of soup...1 didnt seem like enough)
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 TBS minced onion (or to taste)...optional
1 TBS Mrs Dash-garlic and herb...optional
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
paprika

 Combine first 4 (or six) ingredients; spoon mixture into a lightly greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.  sprinkle with cheeses (sprinkle parm first) and paprika.  Bake 5 more inutes or until thoroughly heated.
6-8 servings
I am also trying this out as a freezer meal by dividing the potato mixture in half and putting into 2 smaller casserole dishes, one to be cooked the same time and temp, and one to be frozen and cooked later when needed.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

tweaked from recipezaar.com
Ingredients
3 ripe bananas (I used 2 frozen (and thawed) bananas and 1 brown banana)
3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour (or just use 1 1/2 cups ap flour)
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce (I only had sweetened....they were still good!)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips (I had almost a cup of mini morsels...YUM!)
Directions
1. Mash bananas.
2. Add remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and mix.
3. Add chocolate chips and stir
4. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake at 350 for approx 15-20 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean).