DIY Swiffer Wet Jet Pads

Over the weekend, I found this great tutorial to make your own REUSABLE Swiffer Wet Jet pads. We recently bought a swiffer wet jet when we moved into our house here. The floor in our kitchen is tile and seems to always be dirty, no matter what I do. When we first moved in, my husband and I actually scrubbed the floor on our hands and knees, trying to get it as clean as possible. With that being said, cleaning the floor using our Swiffer is fairly expensive as the pads cost a lot of money. I was super excited when I found this great tutorial. 

On the morning that I made these, I cleaned the floor in the kitchen using the actual Swiffer pads. Even though I had already cleaned the floor, once I was done making these, I wanted to try them out. I was in shock how dirty the pad was after cleaning the kitchen. I really believe that these work much better than the Swiffer pads. 


If you are looking to make your own, be sure to check out DIY Diva's Tutorial: here (It's really easy to follow)

Materials:
Gerber pre-fold padded cloth diapers
Velcro (soft side only), 2 9inch pieces of Velcro per pad
Pins, Thread, Ruler, Sewing Machine

**Each cloth diaper will make 2 reusable pads.**

 

Chicken and Rice Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce

I am a Thai food fanatic. Since I’ve been working on becoming a bit more calorie-conscious, I was thrilled to find the inspiration for a lighter version of my favorite peanut sauce.  This dish was bursting with spicy flavor – I didn’t even miss the extra calories!

Sauce: 

1 can (14-oz) far free chicken broth

5 T peanut butter

1 T Sriracha chili sauce

2 T honey

2 T soy sauce

1 inch fresh ginger, finely minced

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Chicken:

1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized chunks

Salt and pepper

1 T Sriracha chili sauce

Juice of ½ lime

5 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 inch fresh ginger, finely minced

1 T soy sauce

½ T sesame oil

1 pkg rice noodles

¼ cup shredded carrots

Juice of ½ lime

2 T cilantro

Whisk together sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sauce is well blended and smooth, about 5-10 minutes.

In a large colander, rinse rice noodles with cold water. Set aside and let soften at least 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss chicken with salt and pepper, Sriracha, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Heat sesame oil over high heat in a wok or large skillet. Add chicken and sauté until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

Add noodles to pan and toss with peanut sauce. Add carrots and chicken and toss to combine. Remove from heat and sprinkle with lime juice and cilantro.

*Recipe modified from Skinnytaste

Charleston Cheese Dip

I had planned on bringing cupcakes to the Super Bowl party that we were going to today. I made what I thought would be awesome cherry limeade cupcakes but for some reason, when they came out of the oven, I knew something wasn't right and there was no way that I was going to be bringing them anywhere. I am going to have to try the recipe again and see what went wrong but I wasn't going to mess with it today. Thankfully, my husband was able to run to the store quick and pick up the ingredients for this cheese dip.

1/2 cup light mayo
1 8oz. package fat free cream cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
2 green onions, chopped
Dash of cayenne pepper
8 Ritz crackers, crushed
6 sliced cooked bacon, crushed

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine mayo, cream cheese, cheeses, onions and cayenne pepper. Mix until well blended. Transfer to baking pan. (I used a glass pie pan)

2. Top with crushed Ritz crackers. Bake for 15 minutes until heated through. Cover with bacon. Serve while warm and enjoy with Ritz crackers.

Recipe from Real Mom Kitchen

Rosemary-Garlic Cornish Game Hens

Preparing an unfamiliar dish can be intimidating, but these juicy hens are a great, easy substitute to get you out of the chicken rut. Elegant enough for a special occasion, simple enough for a weeknight.

3-4 Cornish game hens 

1 lemon, zested and quartered

2 tsp. rosemary

3 T. olive oil

12-15 garlic cloves

½ cup white wine

½ cup chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup water

2 T. flour

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Clean and drain hens and place in a large roasting pan; rub with 1 T. olive oil and season with salt, pepper, lemon zest, and rosemary. Place a lemon wedge inside the cavity of each hen. Remove peel from garlic cloves and arrange around hens. Roast, uncovered, for 25 minutes.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together wine, broth, and remaining olive oil. Pour over hens and roast an additional 25 minutes, until juices run clear. Baste every 10 minutes.

Remove hens from oven and tent with foil to keep warm. Add pan juices to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk together water and flour until smooth; add to the saucepan. Boil until gravy is thickened. Pour over hens to serve.

Valentine Yarn Wreath

Looking for a simple craft for a February spruce-up? This simple yarn wreath provides a touch of Valentine’s spirit and color.

You’ll need: a heart-shaped foam wreath base, yarn (I used multi-color yarn), a hot glue gun, a strip of ribbon, and embellishments. I found all of my supplies at Hobby Lobby. 

To begin, use hot glue to secure the ribbon strip to the top of the heart in a loop (used for hanging the wreath). Attach the beginning of the yarn to the bottom of the heart with hot glue and begin wrapping around the wreath, pushing the yarn close together so that you can no longer see the white base.

Keep wrapping. (Hint: When you come to a stopping point, simply glue the yarn down where you stopped to avoid unraveling.) On the top and bottom of the heart, the yarn will need to be securely glued in order to maintain its form. (Make sure to pull out the secured ribbon for hanging)

When the yarn completely covers the wreath base, snip off the end and attach with glue.

Play with the embellishments to decide on a layout; then use hot glue to secure to the wreath.

Allow your wreath to dry and hang. 

DIY Glass Etching

A friend of mine told me how she had made some personalized gifts for her husband using glass etching. After she told me about it, I looked it up online and found out how easy it was so I decided to give it a try. The glass etching product was slightly expensive but luckily with a 40% off coupon, it wasn't so bad. I am very happy with the way this turned out and hope to do it to our whole wine glass collection. 

Supplies:

Wine Glass or other glass object
Glass Etching Cream (Armor Etch)
Contact Paper stencil
Foam Brush

1. If you have craft cutter, you can cut out your image or design onto contact paper or you will have to create your own design on contact paper using an exacto knife.

2. Apply contact paper stencil to wine glass. You will want to make sure that there are no air bubbles so that the glass etching doesn't seep through. As you can see from my picture, I had a bit of trouble getting the contact paper to stick to the wine glass exactly how I wanted it to. Luckily, I was able to get the contact paper pressed down enough so that the glass etching didn't seep out.

 

 3. Apply a thick layer of glass etching onto stencil according to Armor Etch instructions. You want to make sure that you only get the glass etching where you want it as it is permanent and you will not be able to remove it.

4. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes. Wash off with  water and remove stencil. Rewash with soap and water.

5. Enjoy your newly etched wine glass!

White Chicken Chili

Ever since moving, I tend to go to the grocery store once maybe twice a week. I usually like grocery shopping but here, you really have to plan when you are going to go. It seems like most of the time there are a lot of people at the store and it's hard to navigate your cart around everyone else. Plus, I am not 100% accustomed to the store yet so sometimes I have to really look for what I want which can also be difficult in a crowded store. This week, I have yet to get to the store. I did run into a Walmart Marketplace last night on the way home from renting Life as we know it but only picked up enough for last nights dinner. Luckily, I had some frozen chicken in the freezer and enough ingredients in the pantry to whip up this quick, easy, and tasty soup. I am not sure if someone has been paying my husband lately to say the food is the best he has ever had but tonight again, he said it was the best soup that I have ever made.

2 cooked medium chicken breasts, cubed
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tsp. olive oil
32 oz. chicken broth
2 15 1/2 oz. cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed
1 can Rotel w/ green chilies
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried cilantro
Salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 cup low fat sour cream
Mexican cheese (for topping)


1. In a large pot, saute onions with olive oil until tender.

2. Add beans, Rotel, oregano, cumin, cilantro, salt & pepper. Bring to a boil then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

3. Add chicken and heat until chicken is warm.

4. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream. Dish into bowls and top with Mexican cheese.