Recipes that Work

I love Pinterest.  I really do.  In fact, every morning when I get to work, I "warm" up by pinning for 10 minutes before getting to work (don't judge- I have first hour plan anyway!).  But, there have been several times that I see something and wonder, "does that really work?"  I am sure there are more of you out there that think just like me.  So, I thought I would post about some pins I have tried and have found to be true.

• Canned beans from dry beans.  At Crockpot 365, I found a recipe for making 3 cans of black beans from 1 bag of dried beans using your crock.  YES PLEASE.  It works great, and I actually had about 4 cans in the end, which ended up being $.25/can.  That's a 75% savings!  When you cook them yourself, you can also add other flavors, like lime, garlic, and jalapeno (which is what I did!  Put these ingredients in during the cooking part, not the soaking!).  When they are done, let them cool and separate them out into baggies, then freeze.  We ate some last night with Crock Pot Sante Fe Chicken (we made them into tacos.  and P.S. LOVE Gina's Skinny Recipes!) and they were great!  We like to add beans to just about every meat dish we make- taquitos, tacos, meatballs, burgers- to make it stretch (and I can spend less on meat).  By being able to add beans for only a quarter, it saves us some serious change!

• Freezer Apple Sauce.  Did you know apples will soften when they are frozen and be mushy once defrosted?  Yep, true.  Back to Her Roots has tons of easy, healthy recipes like this one.  Simply peel and core apples, soak in lemon-water, drain, and freeze in a bag with cinnamon and nutmeg.  Once frozen solid (I let mine go overnight), take out and defrost, then put in the food processor.  This would be easy baby food or just plain applesauce.  I made it and used it instead of oil in our fav Six Week Bran Muffins to make them fat free. 

By golly, that is Temptations ovenware!  Seriously, love love love this line from QVC.  My grandma hooks me up all the time with their stuff.  It's gorgeous, dishwasher, oven, and microwave safe, and comes with lids and trivets.  Check them out!

• Glamour magazine (one of my personal favs) wrote an article about an all-purpose textile stain remover that is made with one part Dawn dish soap, two parts hydrogen peroxide.  It claims to be pure magic, and I was skeptical.  TRUE DAT it is magic!  I use it on the multiple pee stains our lovely puppy leaves for us and any stain I find in the carpet or laundry.  You can add water and soak clothing in it, too.  We used to spend about $12/month on Spot Shot for the dog (which I used on any stain we had) and it worked great on urine- not old stains.  This stuff is A) much cheaper, B) works on urine and C) works on old stains I could never get out before.  I bought the clear Dawn for my first batch and then used blue "Dawn" from Aldi the second time.  Both work great.  The blue dye will turn clear in a few days, but you can use it immediately.
• Freezer Love.  Before Pinterest came along, I came up with a lot of little quirks and routines to make our life easier and save money.  However, Pinterest has definitely fueled this obsession of mine.  I love finding freezer-friendly, healthy meals and meal kits that allow me to cook on the weekends when I enjoy it and have the time to do it.  We can easily get in meal planning ruts, but Pinterest keeps in on my toes.  Let's be honest:  Pinterest is the new google.  Whether it's a tutorial for my 6th grade sewers or the recipe for DIY whole wheat pizza dough, just search on Pinterest and you are in business.  I'd rather find a recipe from a blogger who knows what she's talking about than some commercial website. When my sister-in-law had her baby, I made up some cookie dough and put it in the freezer, then bagged it so she could easily make one or two cookies when her and her husband needed a quick, yummy dessert.  Searched for a cute printable and you've got a great gift for a new mommy!

Printable Source

• Photogshop Tutorials.  Thanks to photogs who are willing to share their secrets, I have learned so much about photoshop and our DSLR from Pinterest.  Check out my sweet niece:

Just thought I would share some things I love about Pinterest.  I haven't done a sewing tutorial in a while.  I'll get on that!