Food Storage Analyzer

For the past year my family has been doing our best to try and build up our food storage. We started stocking up on items from different sales in our local grocery stores and buying from our local cannery. However, there were some items that we could not find, such as egg powder. So, I was told about this website www.beprepared.com. They have a variety of different food and emergency supplies that are important for all families to have. Recently they sent me an e-mail to try there Food Storage Analyzer and review it and in return they would send out a $10 gift card. So, of course I did it. I found the analyzer easy to use and understand. I enjoyed looking through and calculating the items I have and what I need. There were a lot of items that I have stocked up on that were not included in the list but I figured that the items they chose were the basic things that all families need in order to make a decent, healthy meal. It was nice seeing how many days we could survive on the food we have in our food storage and the nutrition we would recieve. I highly recommend using this. Even if you are not interested in obtaining the gift card, it would be worth using in order to review your storage and calculate how much you have in supply, what items you are in need of and how much it would cost in order to buy the items that you need.

Grapevine pumpkin

I recently found this on a blog and fell in love. Usually I am not drawn to things that look messy but I love the simplicity of it and thought it would look great on a front porch (I still need to put it outside). I plan on giving this one to my mother in-law. Sp, when I make my next one I plan on making a longer stem so it stands out more and I might wrap a thin green ribbon around the stem.













Here is a link to the tutorial: http://makeitandloveit.blogspot.com/2009/09/grapevine-pumpkin.html

Swagbucks

My friend Sarah recently introduced me to the website swagbucks.com. It is a search engine that allows you to earn points while searching the web! With these points you can use them towards different prizes (examples: giftcards to restaurants and amazon, Dvd's, books, ect.) So, if you search the web, this might be something worth looking into. If you are interested go to swagbucks.com or click on the link on the side of the page or down below!

Snack-O'-Lantern

Snack-o'-Lantern













I just received this e-mail from the disney family fun website and I thought it would be adorable treat for kids.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Navel orange
Canned or fresh fruit salad
1. To make one lantern, use a small knife to slice the top off a navel orange and cut around its interior to hollow it out. Scoop out the orange segments, chop them, and mix them with canned or fresh fruit salad.

2. Carve small facial features in one side of the orange, then cut a slit in the lid to accommodate the handle of a green plastic spoon. Fill the lantern with fruit salad. Insert the spoon and set the lid in place.

Halloween food

I made these cupcakes last year for a birthday. They are time consuming to make but would be perfect for a Halloween party. I got the idea for the cupcakes from wilton.com.
























I made these for my kids last year and plan on making them again this year. They didn't turn out as well as I would have liked (next time I need more pudding and a better cup) but I thought they were really cute.














1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate
2 cups cold milk
6 drops green food coloring
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
8 OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, crushed Make It

MELT chocolate in microwave as directed on package. Use a clean small paint brush to paint a monster face on the inside of each of four clear 5-oz. plastic cups with the melted chocolate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

ADD milk and food coloring to dry pudding mix in medium bowl. Beat with wire whisk 2 min. or until well blended. Immediately pour into prepared cups.

TOP with the cookie crumbs. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Store any leftover desserts in refrigerator.


Don't forget to check out the crafts I made last year for halloween in the post below!

Cheap Halloween decorations

I love decorating for Halloween. I have a few decorations that came from the store (my mother in-law has spoiled me by buying me a few over the years and even loaning me some of her favorites) but some of my decorations are homemade. These homemade decorations are easy to make and very inexpensive:) These pictures are from last year since I haven't gotten around to decorating yet but I will soon. All of these ideas came from Marthastewart.com. Here are a few of the decorations I chose to make last year:

Paper Bats! Here is the link: http://www.marthastewart.com/article/decorating-with-paper-silhouettes?
I didn't get around to doing the large bats but I might next year.














Paper mice and cobwebs! Sorry the mice are a little hard to see in this picture. I thought that they were adorable (in a scary way of course) and I loved putting them all over the house. As much as I liked them the kids liked them more than I did:) Here is the link for the mice silhouettes:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/paper-mice?

Also, if you didn't notice I have a lot of cobwebs hung up around the fireplace. I know they can come off a little tacky but I really like the cobwebs and I think it adds a nice touch to the decorations.













I LOVE these flyaway giveaways. They are easy to make and are a great way to give someone some cookies or candy as a Halloween gift.