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January 29, 2012

Our Week {in cell phone pictures}


I love this fish bowl.
The perfect resting place for my bag of chai tea.



A little valentines treat...tutorial coming soon!


An afternoon snack.


Hubby trying to flirt with me using his dinner plate...it worked.


Getting a little artsy.





Citrus avocado dressing, salad and brown rice risotto primavera for dinner!




An afternoon walk on a beautiful sunny day!



A trip to Old Navy.
Apparently my son has a thing for flip flops. We bought some.


Love this!






A bundled up trip to the park at sunset.


Finished up the week staying up far too late reading The Hunger Games.


Hope you had a great week!

I'm linking up with Amy over at a good life



January 27, 2012

Roasted Veggie Enchiladas


I was so excited find this recipe when I stumbled upon it on pinterest.
It seems like a bit of an odd assortment, but I'm a sucker for roasted veggies of any kind, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I'm soooo glad I did! I love the tradition of the tortillas, cheese and salsa, but absolutely love the lightness, freshness and flavor that the roasted veggies add.

Plus, you don't have to spend a bunch of time rolling them. Bonus.

Here's how it goes down:


Cut your veggies so they're all about the same size. Toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and cumin. Roast at 425 for about 35 minutes


They'll look like this when they come out....mmmmmmm.



Now comes the layering.
Spread 1/2 the salsa onto the bottom of a baking pan.


Add a layer of tortillas, tearing them if needed, to fit into the nooks and crannies.


On top of the tortillas, add 1/2 of the roasted veggies.


Next, add a large handful of spinach and spread it out.


Then, a layer of cheese!


Start the last layer by adding more tortillas...


The rest of the salsa...


The other 1/2 of the roasted veggies...


And top it with another handful of spinach and some cheese!


Layers of enchilada goodness.



Bake covered at 350 for about 20 minutes, remove foil and bake for another 10.


Cut yourself a slice and enjoy!

Ingredients:
2  bell peppers, diced
1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup corn kernels
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and black pepper
2 cups pico de gallo or salsa
2 big handfulls of baby spinach leaves
10 flour tortillas
2 cups shredded cheese

Directions:
bell peppers, cauliflower, sweet potato, onion, and corn kernels onto cookie sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the cumin and minced garlic over top. Add a generous pinch or two of salt and black pepper. Then, use your hands to mix everything together. After everything is coated well, spread the vegetables evenly in the pan. Roast at 425 for 30-40 minutes until vegetables are tender and begin to brown in spots. Stir or shake the pan every 10 minutes for even roasting.

Spread half of the salsa into a 9X13 baking dish. Add a layer of tortilla (tearing if needed) to completely cover the salsa. Top with half of the vegetables, a handful of spinach, and 1/3 of the cheese. Make another layer of tortilla, salsa, vegetables, spinach, and cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

recipe via



January 25, 2012

Wordless Wednesday:From head, to toe







Body painting.
Covered in paint. From head, to toe.

I have a feeling I'm going to be finding paint in his ears for quite some time.

linking up with these ladies for wordless wednesday:
and then, she snapped, baby baby lemon, the paper mama


January 23, 2012

Homemade laundry soap {eco-friendly & cheap!}





Laundry soap is expensive. Like, whoa.
Especially if you try and buy an all natural eco-friendly brand.
I always talked myself into buying it.
You know, better for the environment, and better for our skin and it's not like we use 5 gallons a week or anything.

Still, if there's an easy way to make an all natural product for less, I'm all for it!

I researched lots of homemade laundry soap recipes (there are lots out there) and kind of picked the one I thought would work best - and be the easiest!

I tried to take some half way decent pictures of the steps that I was slightly confused about while reading the recipes, so I hope they help.

It really is easy.

Here goes!

For the entire recipe you'll need:
Water
An old laundry detergent container
1 bar Fels-Naptha soap
1 cup of washing soda (it's different from baking soda)
1/2 cup of borax
5 gallon bucket & funnel (make things easier)

The first step is to grate the bar of fels-naptha soap into a pot.
(I was surprised that it was yellow...I guess I was expecting it to be white??)


It will look like grated cheese :)
Add about 4 cups of water to the pot and melt the soap over medium-low heat, stirring every few seconds.
Fill a 5 gallon bucket 1/2 full with warm water.
Once the soap is all melted, pour the liquid into the bucket.
Then, mix in the washing soda and borax. Stir that up until it's dissolved.


Add warm tap water until the bucket is full.
Put the lid on and let it sit overnight to 'gel'.


When you open the bucket the next day, the mixture will be thick - notice the spoon is standing straight up!
We added another 4 cups of warm tap water and attempted to stir some of the large clumps out...it actually helped.


And then it's time to pour!
Notice my lovely assistant?! :)
This is when a funnel comes in handy.


Our mixture was still a little on the chunky side, but we used the back end of the spoon to help it get through the funnel.


Fill your container 1/2 way with the soap mixture.
Add warm tap water to make the container full.
Give it a good shake and you'll have your very own laundry soap!


And Ta Da! Make yourself a cute little label, and be proud of the fact you just helped the environment and saved your family money...aahhhhh, I love multitasking.


You'll have lots of soap mixture left over in your 5 gallon bucket. Just pop the lid on and save it. When your soap runs out,  add more of the mixture and more water. The 5 gallon bucket will make 10 gallons of detergent...and all for only a few dollars :)



For those who like their laundry to have more of a scent, you could add a few drops of essential oil to each container you make - lavender would be amazing!

Cheers to doing laundry!






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