Christmas Party Finger Food-SO EASY

No Recipe needed! So easy! 

I hope that this sparks your imagination!

Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Boards? I'm obsessed!

Ok, how fun are these!!!??

 

Article Credit

VERY MERRY INDEED!!!

No Bake Summer Berry Icebox Cake

I ran across this brilliant idea while visiting cakescottage.com and thought it was a lovely idea with July 4th coming up soon!

No Bake Summer Berry Icebox Cake

 

CREDIT

This is a beautiful cake that would grace any table for a Patriotic holiday!

Author: CakesCottage

Recipe type: Dessert

Serves: 12-16

Ingredients

• 19 oz graham crackers
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 2 (3.4 oz) packages Vanilla Instant Pudding
• 2-1/2 cups cold milk
• 12 oz Cool whip (or homemade whipped cream)
• 3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 oz white chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Beat cream cheese and dry pudding mixes in large bowl with mixer until blended.
2. Gradually beat in milk.
3. Gently stir in Cool Whip or homemade whipped cream, reserving ½ cup.
4. Spread a thin layer of cool whip in a 9x13 pan just to coat the bottom.
5. Layer 5 graham crackers across the center of the pan, then 2 more, breaking them as needed to fit around the top and bottom edges.
6. Spread a layer of pudding mixture over grahams and top with a layer of blueberries and sliced strawberries.
7. Place graham crackers on top of berries, then pudding mixture, then layer of berries again.
8. Repeat the graham-pudding-berries layers 1 more time (3 times total) and you should reach the top of the pan.
9. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight until the graham crackers have softened completely.
10. When ready to serve, melt white chocolate chips in a bowl as directed on package and drizzle over dessert.
11. You can use a spoon to drizzle it over the tops of the berries or you can put it into a small zip-top bag and snip of the corner for an easy "piping bag."

You could easily make this gluten free by using gluten free graham crackers, and making sure your white chocolate chips are gluten free!

Blessings from our Garden

This week I processed our zucchini and froze it....

I found this nice big container at the Dollar Tree

that fits in between the frig shelves and can hold

a lot of produce

I put my Bosch to use

This was a great find years ago on ebay

The herbs and cukes were made into the

pickles you can see in a jars in a pic

below

We ate the green beans (called Dragon's Tongue) 

from Baker's Creek

I love cut flowers and try to

have them in the house

whenever we have them available to

cut

Two Ingredient Pancakes!

credit
Yep, one banana, two eggs, and fry them...that's it!
Definitely trying these!

Great recipe that I saw on pinterest originally!

Warmer Days are Coming...a Fun Craft to do to Get Ready!

Link

This looks easy--I might try it-how about you?   Thought that it would
probably be best to get small sized flip flops (maybe at the Dollar Store?)
Get a flat  Styrofoam wreath and cover it w/a solid coordinating ribbon. Hot
glue the flip flops to the wreath, add silk flowers w/hot glue. Then, add
a length of ribbon to hang it with... sounds simple!?
A fun way to gear up for the warmer days ahead! Maybe get you in the mood
for Summer!? :)

Mason Jar Ideas...

Are you on Pinterest?

(If you are--feel free to follow my boards!)

 

I must confess that I am, and I love it!

Some of the ideas I've seen lately that interested me involve

Mason Jars.

(I LOVE Mason Jars!)

Thought I'd share them on here w/you...

(I've put the links under each picture if you want

to go see the how-to or other ideas)

Link to Gooseberry Patch

 

 

Link to blog

 

 

Link to more ideas

 

 

Link to site

Neat Tips

Tips for Today

Saw these great tips on facebook, thought I'd repost for you to read!

Hope you find them helpful!

Place a layer of waxed paper on top of kitchen cupboards to prevent grease and dust from settling. Switch out every few months to keep them clean.



Store cut lettuce in mason jars and refrigerate to make it last much longer
Via Salad in a Jar

Use cupcake cases to cover drinks glasses in the summer and prevent flies from dropping inVia Modern Day Proverbs Wife

Now...if I can just remember these when I need to! lol
 

What I've Been Up To...

I really love cut flowers in the house! My husband and son sometimes bless me by

buying me some (my husband brought me some yesterday as a matter of fact!)

But, I also love to cut them from my yard--one of my fav things to do!

I recently had these lovely pink peonies and sage that I cut and brought in.

Alongside them you see the blessing of a bumper-crop of strawberries!

I held one so you could see how huge they are!

Don't these look pretty in the vase below?

Also, I am still on the Gaps diet...and here is my typical lunch...

salad, fruit, and kefir. It's so nice to have lettuce from the garden,

and the strawberries too--makes life easier!

When we went to visit our friends in Ohio last year, one of them made "Garden Tea" for us to drink.

I have an abundance of mint as you can see below, so I made some...

Basically, I just took filtered water and put it in my Vitamix--then I took washed mint (mine is apple mint)

and put it stems and all in the vitamix and blended it.

I strained it into the pitcher--and drank it.

It is really good!

Here's another batch of strawberries, and some snow peas too.

I really enjoy these fresh garden blessings!

If you read my previous post here, you know that I've been cleaning and decluttering for over a month.

It culminated today with our yardsale (our community had one) and since our son Brad is the president

of our civic assoc., we wanted to participate.

Everything that was left was loaded in the back of Brad's truck and the guys took it

all to Goodwill.

Phil and I also worked hard last night (it was pouring outside-so a great time to do it) cleaning out our attic.

We spent less than 1 1/2 hours, but we got alot done! And, I feel so much better now!

And, we made a little extra money to boot! :)

June is always a busy month for us, and ours is getting cranked up already!

Still Plugging Away!

Yep, I'm still cleaning and decluttering!

Above is a pic of my bedroom when I finished it.

I even cleaned out all the drawers and closets.

As I've gone along, I've made little notes of things I need to replace.

Above is a new throw rug for the entryway.

(I really like the colors!)

I also found this sweet little lamp for the top of the bookshelf in my bedroom.

To the left of it is a picture that I found a frame for (took me forever to find the right size!)

The picture is special because my dear Mom painted it. :)

This week, I am tackling the family room.

I am happy it worked out this way--it's hot outside,

an my family room is in the basement...nice and COOL!

I'm Still At It!

Yep, I'm still cleaning up a storm in my home these days!

I am sort of Spring Cleaning...yet not. Click here to read the

explanation and previous post on this.

So far I have decluttered and cleaned our:

• Foyer
• Dining Room
• Kitchen
• Office
• Downstairs Bath

And I'm about 2/3 done the Master Bedroom.

I am doing all the drawer, cabinets, etc...

Plus, washing throw rugs, curtains, dust ruffles, and windows...

I also touched up the paint.

It's a lot of work, but I am so happy with what I've gotten done so far!

Lord willing, I will be finishing the Bedroom on Monday.

(this will including "switching the summer/winter clothes as we do not have big enough

closets to keep both seasons in them at the same time-thus they are stored in the attic)

Then I will do the Upstairs Bath, the Living Room, Family Room, and Play Room.

After that, I will have to do the dreaded workshop and garage...I am hoping for help

with those! :)

Once I am finished, I will continue doing my Zones monthly, and

only have to spend 15 min/daily to do that.

Much easier than letting it all go and having to "play catch up"!

Hope you are enjoying this lovely Spring weather

-I have gotten out some during my breaks and really love this time of year!

Blessings!