Handy Housewife

     I don't know if y'all realize this, but it's hot here in the South.  I know, right!?  Who would've thought!  Seriously, though, even with the breezes we've been enjoying lately, it's hot, which makes running that much more of a chore.  I enjoy running, but I have a problem getting out there.  I come up with excuses, and the heat doesn't help.  What also doesn't help is the fact that my baby girl is no longer the tiny toddler that I could strap into her stroller, knowing that she'd take a nap while I ran.  No; she's a big girl now, and I feel like such a bad mommy for strapping her in the stroller, knowing how bored she gets.  That's why I came up with this awesome Listening Scavenger Hunt to keep her entertained.  I found the idea here, but the original poster's list didn't have pictures, so I made my own.  Monkey was so excited about using her super listener ears to find the things listed that she didn't even put up a fight when I went to buckle her in.  Unfortunately we heard all of the things listed before my warm up finished, but she kept checking things off the list, some more than once.  I think I'll make another one soon with a few more items, but if you want to use this for your little one (even if they're not strapped into a stroller) feel free to click the link above and print it out.

     I've also been feeling a little adventurous in the kitchen, and that's why I decided to make my own bread.  I used this recipe as a guideline, but I tweaked it and made it mine.    I'm rather proud of how it came out, so here it is:

Bacon Jalapeño Cheesy Bread
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups shredded Colby Jack and Monterey cheese + extra to sprinkle on top
11 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
2 1/2 TBS olive oil
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
chopped pickled jalapeño peppers

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a bread pan.  In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add bacon, reserving one slice, and cheese, mix well.  If desired add a handful of pickled jalapeño peppers.  In a separate bowl whisk together eggs, oil and buttermilk.  Combine liquid with dry ingredients, using a wooden spoon to mix.  Pour dough into bread pan.  Sprinkle jalapeños, reserved crumbled bacon, and extra cheese over the top.  Bake 50-55 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes away clean.

Before

After

     This makes a great breakfast bread.  It's perfect for J to grab a slice, heat it up for 30 seconds and chow down on his way to work.

    My adventures didn't just stop with awesome bread.  Oh no!  This wild child even made her own laundry detergent.  That's right, getting crazy in here.  :-P   My friend was talking about how she makes her own laundry detergent.  My ears perked up when she told me it cost her about $28 for supplies, and that the detergent lasted about seven months.  That's $4 a month, y'all!  I pay about $16 every two weeks for Gain, which is $32 a month!  Then she told me that it is even safe to use on delicates, but it would be powerful enough to get rid of the man funk in my hubby's uniforms.  She was even sweet enough to give me a couple samples of the batch she'd made.   I was sold, so today I headed to Wal-Mart and gathered my supplies to make my first batch.  Here's what you'll need to make your own:

1 (4 lb 12 oz) box of Borax

1 (3 lb 7 oz) box of Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
1 (3 lb) container of Oxyclean
2 (14.1 oz) bars of Zote OR 3 bars of Fels-Naptha
1 (4 lb) box of Arm and Hammer Baking Soda
55 oz of Purex Crystals (about 2 containers)
A container to put everything into (I used a 5-gallon plastic storage container I got at Walmart for $4)
cheese grater
gloves, if desired

Hand mix all ingredients, except Fels-Naptha or Zote. Grate Fels-Naptha and Zote, add to mix. Use 2-4 tablespoons per load. Or keep the Oxi-Clean scoop, and use about a half scoop for small-regular loads, and a full scoop for large/extra stinking loads. :-)

Here are a few helpful hints from my awesome frined:

-Fels-Naptha can be hard to grate and may cause irritation (so wear gloves); Zote is easier to grate and is easier on your skin

-2 containers of Downy Unstoppables can be substituted for the 2 containers of Purex Crystals

Ta-Da

   I was actually excited to do laundry this afternoon.  I know, I need my head examined, but my laundry room smells so good!  My grand total after tax, including the cheese grater, plastic tub, and gloves was $36.60.  Even if I only get 6 months worth out of it, that's $6 a month vs my usual $32 a month.  Yeah, I'm feeling like quite the handy housewife right about now.  I hope y'all find this as useful as I did :-)

I'm Thankful for Bacon

   On the way to school this morning Monkey was reciting her numbers for me, and I was enjoying listening to her prattle along.  Then something caught my attention.

Monkey:  "11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17..."

Me:  "Wait a second, what happened to 14?"

Monkey:  "He got stuck in the mud."

Me: .....

   I swear that child doesn't miss a beat.  She never passes up an opportunity to make me laugh.  She's pretty witty, and I'm so thankful to have her in my life.

   Speaking of being thankful, it is November, and I've notice quite a few people doing a daily "I'm thankful for..." status update of Facebook.  That gave me a cute idea.  Instead of a daily Facebook status, Monkey and I are doing a thankful tree.  Everyday we write one thing Monkey is thankful for on a leaf, and she adds it to the tree.  We'll keep this up until Thanksgiving when I'll post a picture of the finished product.  Here's a preview, though:

     I think we're off to a good start :-)  I also have an amazing recipe to share tonight for Honey Mustard Chicken.  Before I get to the recipe, let me just say, I had a go-to recipe for this dish.  Had.  This one is better, so that other one has officially been replaced.  Here it is:

Honey Mustard Mozzarella Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3/4 cup honey
1/2 cup mustard (I ran out of regular mustard, so I mixed 1/4 cup Dijon with 1/4 regular; it was perfect)
lemon pepper to taste
4 slices of bacon, cut in half
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Place chicken breasts in 2-qrt baking dish.  Cover with mustard and honey.  Sprinkle with lemon pepper.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Add two bacon slices to each chicken breast.  Cover with mozzarella.  Return to oven and bake 10 more minutes, or until bacon is crispy and cheese is bubbly.  Enjoy!
   

     Well this is going to be a short post, because my child is jumping on my back as I type, hollering, "Pony! Pony!"  Y'all have a good night :-)

Update:  As promised, here's Monkey's finished tree:

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken

     After the great amount of comments I received on my Facebook status about these scrum-diddly-yumptious morsels, I decided I definitely needed to share the recipe.  So here it is: Bacon Wrapped Chicken Stuffed with Jalapenos & Cream Cheese.

You'll need:

8 boneless, skinless chicken tenders

1 jalapeno, chopped into small pieces

3 oz cream cheese

bacon, cut in half

   Flatten your chicken strips with a meat mallet, and cut in half.  Soften cream cheese.  Place about a tsp of cream cheese on each chicken strip. Sprinkle with about 1/4 tsp of jalapenos.  Roll up chicken, and wrap bacon around it.  Stick your toothpick in.   

 Repeat for the remaining chicken tenders.

  J put these on the grill, and they were pretty darn tasty.  We had an argument over who would be able to take the leftovers to work the next day.  He won, but forgot them so I actually got to eat them today ;-)

  If you haven't figured it out yet, I love to cook.  It's one of those few things that never gets old.  It never becomes a chore.  It's just fun for me.  That being said, it's something I really want to share with my daughter.  Being 2 1/2, there's not much she's been able to help me with when it comes to actual cooking.  Today however I was struck with one of those should-have-been-obvious thoughts.  She can help me make Rice Krispie Treats!  After all, isn't that a right of passage in the kitchen?  One of the first things I remember learning to make was a Rice Krispie Treat.

   She did really well, and here are a few photos from the experience.

Melt 3 tbs butter or margarine.

Add four cups of mini marshmallows.

One...

Two....

Three...

Four!

Stir over low heat until melted.

Turn off heat.  Add six cups of Rice Krispies and stir until coated.

  Pour into a  pan, and let set.  Cut into little squares.

   Monkey had so much fun with this, and it was good to share something I enjoy so much with the person I love best in this world.

Update:  This morning I set out all my ingredients that needed to defrost to make these again, but due to the fact that I don't watch the news I didn't realize that it would be pouring down rain.  We don't have a covered back porch, so instead of grilling these, we decided to attempt to bake them.  J was nice enough to do the honors, as I was in a crazed state of "Oh-my-God-this-house-is-a-wreck", and was too "indisposed" to cook.  Not only did his come out just as good as, if not better than mine, he also made them look prettier.  I appreciate that he cooked, but I resent him a little for doing such a great job.

So, if you want to bake these instead of grill them, preheat your oven to 400 and place these on a greased cooking sheet.  Put them in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through.