Social Lubricant

Jello is for kids, but jello shots…those are for adults. For some reason, people stop making jello shots after college. Why is that? When you throw a party, it takes about two hours for everyone to have a few drinks, loosen up, and start mingling with each other.  Passing around shots of vodka is a bit aggressive, but who can say no to a colorful, flavorful jello shot? Make jello shots for you next party or bring them to someone else’s party. I promise you, they will be a hit!

Directions 

Boil one cup of hot water

Add Pack of jello and stir until dissolved.

Add one cup of liquor

Tequila-Margarita

Lime Jello

Tequila

Vodka-Lemon Drop

Lemon Jello

Absolut Citron

Rum-Peach Pie

Peach Jello

Rum

Sausage

Its delicious and you can buy it in all shapes, sizes and flavors.  Italian Sausage, Moroccan Sausage, Thai Sausage, oh my! When we were younger, my mom would always cook my sister and I something to take with us to eat on our walk to the bus stop. We would tread through giant back yards in the treacherous snow during the cold, hard winter to get to the bus. I was always too pissed off about going to school to eat my breakfast so I’d just throw mine in the woods. One day, all of this changed! My mom wrapped a small maple sausage link in a warm buttermilk croissant and drizzled it with maple syrup. That cold winter day, the sausage biscuit warmed my insides and I knew from that point forward that I needed to share this recipe with others. 

Safe Sausage

One pack of your favorite frozen sausages(I recommend Maple)

One pack of Buttermilk Croissants

Defrost the sausage and precook ½ way in the microwave.

Roll out the croissants on a baking sheet

Put the sausage at the tip of the croissant and wrap it up

Bake on 375 degrees for 12 minutes or until the croissants are lightly browned.

Drizzle maple syrup on top of the croissants or put on the side for dipping. 

Wanna Bone?

You are what you eat and so are your pets. I buy our dog treats from the cookie buffet at PETCO. It didn’t strike me that this could be unhealthy for her until I got an endorsement from an overweight PETCO employee that told me she “eats them all day long”. This led me to look up the ingredients in some of the most popular dog treats on the shelves. Just to name a few of my findings: Phosphoric Acid, Bacon Fat, Propylene Glycol, and Potassium Sorbate. These are not things that we want our pets eating on a daily basis. If we want our pets to live a healthy lifestyle, we need to feed them healthy foods. Below are a few easy recipes for baking your pet healthy treats with ingredients that you would eat!

Doggy Style

Ingredients

32 OZ container of yogurt

1 Cup Peanut Butter

Directions

Melt peanut butter

Mix yogurt and melted peanut butter in a bowl

Pour mixture into cupcake papers and freeze

Snoop Doggy Dog

Ingredients

2 Cups whole wheat flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 Cup of Peanut Butter

1 Cup peanut Butter(chunky or smooth)

1 Cup Milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

IN a bowl, combine flour and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add dry ingredients.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out dough to ¼ inch thickness.

Cut into dog bones or hearts, or whatever youd like.

Baked for 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet.

*If your dog LOVES bacon, press a tiny piece of cooked bacon into the center before placing on a cooling rack.

Nips

Ingredients

1 ½ Cups rolled oats

¼ Cup vegetable Oil

½ Cup flour

 ½ Cup tuna oil, chicken, or beef bouillon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Mix all ingredients into a dough

Dust hands in flour and form ½ inch thick round biscuits.

Set on greased cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes

Not Your Every Night Facial

Getting a facial is a wonderful experience, but its also an expensive one. You can use ingredients from your kitchen to create an at home spa experience. Dim the lights, light a few candles, turn on some Marvin Gaye and get started!

Steam your face

Boil 3 cups of water

Add two bags of herbal tea(chamomile and jasmine are my two favorites)

Once the water has cooled down(should be slightly warm), place a clean washcloth in the tea.

Ring it out and place it on your face .

Wash face with facial cleanser.

Exfoliate

1/2 Cup of finely ground oats

1 tablespoon of finely ground almonds

1 tablespoon f honey

1 tablespoon of aloe vera.

Rub gently onto your face in circular motions

  

Mask

Mash up ½ of a ripe banana

1/2 Cup of oats in a bowl and add a bit of water

Mix the banana into the bowl of water and oats.

Leave on face for 5 minutes and wash off.

She Get It From Her Mama

My mom is the most creative person that I know. She is always thinking of inexpensive ways to create something marvelous. When she first came to visit me in LA, my balcony was just a standing space for smokers. With less than $100, we were able to turn the balcony into an outdoor sanctuary.

Back Door Guests are Always the Best

Astroturf costs between $2-$3 per sq ft. at most hardware stores. Always buy a little more than you think you need.

Lay Astroturf out on the balcony or back porch and cut off the extras with a box knife or Heavy Duty scissors.

Buy outdoor wooden folding chairs (new or used) to put on top of the Astroturf

Buy colorful, patterned cushion to tie on to the seat of the chairs.

Buy a small table and cover it up with a nice long piece of fun fabric. It can be an old tablecloth or buy a piece from a wholesale fabric store.

Buy a couple of colorful tea candleholders and some tea candles to line the border of the balcony.

If you’re working with a budget, visit thrift stores and yard sales for the chairs and table.   

Whipped

This is the easiest recipe that I will ever post. You need two ingredients: pudding mix and Cool Whip.  Cool Whip is a great summer treat because its light and very low in calories. By adding pudding mix, you can add a burst of color and flavor to any ordinary snack.

Buy your favorite flavor of pudding and mix ¼ of the package into the container of Cool Whip.

My favorites are:

Angel Food Cake with fresh Blueberries and Lemon Cool Whip

Fresh Strawberries with Strawberry Cool Whip

Chocolate Pudding with Cappuccino Cool Whip

Chocolate Cream Pie with Pasticcio Cool Whip

Condomints

Tired of the same condiment routine everyday? Try pulling out a few ingredients from your Cupboard to add a burst of flavor to your meals. 

Spice Up your Life

Ketchup: Throw some Tabasco in your ketchup and call it a day. People love variety. Try making it for your next bbq.

Colonel Mustard-In the Kitchen-With Eight Ingredients

Mustard: I only keep one mustard in the house and that’s Yellow mustard. You can alter that mustard into any other flavor that you’d want. When adding to your mustard, you need to be careful with the amount of ingredients that you add. You don’t want to end up with a soupy concoction. Tangy Mustard: a bit of oil & vinegar, very finely chopped garlic and onion.  Sweet Mustard: Add brown sugar and honey. Japanese Spicy Mustard: Soy Sauce, sesame seeds, finely chopped garlic. 

Ayo for Mayo

Mayo: You can add almost any spice to your mayo. My top three are dill, rosemary, and cayenne pepper. Try a dill and lemon mayo with a cold tuna sandwich or a cayenne pepper mayo on a Swiss cheese burger. Use whatever you have in your spice cabinet to create something unique.

Gangster Wrap

Some people are good planners. I am not one of those people. 

I run to the mall hours before a party and try to find a gift. I spend the drive home convincing myself that I have leftover wrapping paper in some closet that does not exist. I get home and there is no wrapping paper. I have a difficult time reasoning with the fact that I should go out and spend $4.99 on something that someone, grinning ear to ear, will tear up and throw away right in front of my eyes. I am not the type to "throw away money" so instead, i've always  recycled items that I have around the house to wrap gifts.

Use the inside of a shopping bag or a brown paper grocery bag

Wrap the present with the plain color facing the outside of the gift.

You can use the following items to turn this blank canvas into an artistic masterpiece.

·      Grab some markers, crayons, or colored pencils and draw some cool art.

·      If you have white paint, mix it with food coloring and paint something

·      Cut out letters from a magazine and paste a personal message on the present.

·      Go raid your Christmas decorations for:

o   Garland

o   Ribbon from an ordainment or string to make a bow

o   Branches from a wreath

The Peeping Aubree

If i’ve been to your bathroom, i've been in your medicine cabinet.  I’m not ashamed to admit it because we all do it. Today I will offer you a word of advice: Clean and organize your medicine cabinet! It only takes a few minutes and it will make a big difference.  

What does not belong in your medicine cabinet?

Medicine

We do not need to know that you are depressed or if you have a yeast infection. Only keep the bare necessities in your cabinet and hide the personal stuff.

What does belong in your medicine cabinet?

We’re in there looking for three things: lotion, hairspray, or floss.

Keep the products in your medicine cabinet to a minimum: toothbrush, toothpaste, face lotion, deodorant, and any “juicy” products that look pretty, add color, and smell great.

Science Friday

*For magnetic medicine cabinets only.

Take out all of your shelves.

Buy small circular magnets and super-glue.

Super-glue the magnets on to your products and place them any which way you'd like(horizontal, vertical, upside down)

You can do this with your eye shadow, nail polish, toothbrush, and pretty much anything that the magnet can hold.  The larger the product, the more magnets you will need to use.

It’s a great way to fit more into your cabinet while keeping it neat and fun. 

Cheap & Easy

One can of soda, a pack of saltine crackers, and two Jack Daniels chocolates later, i’ve finally decided today’s topic.

We all have furniture and the necessary items in our living space, but what really makes a house a home is what's on the walls. 

This first item will help you tremendously with your jewelry organization and also acts as wall candy.

The Framed Earring

One Empty Picture Frame(glass removed)

One piece of soft, thin cloth with a fun pattern

One piece of thin, flat natural cork

Cut the cork and the cloth to fit the picture frame

Staple or Glue both pieces to the back of the frame, cloth on top of cork facing forward

Hang frame and hang earrings

We all want more closet space and no one wants a hat on the bed so here is a great way to create more space and avoid 30 days of bad luck. Reuse your old doorknobs, cabinet knobs, or anything that you find suitable to turn your bland wall in to a hat and coat rack!  

Hats Off To You

Door knobs

Cabinet knobs

Knick Knacks that can hold weight and will not stick out too far from the wall

If you want to get fancy with it, you can have certain knobs customized at any hardware store with your family member’s names. 

Welcome

Welcome to my blog! I will be sharing ideas, local news, recipes, art, funny stories, and pages from my sister’s diary. Today I’m feeling a recipe. I had this snack for the first time at a restaurant called BARCELONA in New Haven, CT and it quickly became one of my favorites.  Its super tasty and requires very few ingredients.

Rustic Sweet Potato Fries with Warm Herbed Goat Cheese and Honey

Wash 2 Large Sweet Potatoes

Leave skin on for flavor

You can cut the potato any way you’d like

Sprinkle a fair amount of salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 25minutes at 375 degrees

Warm up herbed goat cheese in a sauté pan

Drizzle honey over goat cheese

Allow the fries to cool and then place them on top of warm goat cheese or on the side for dipping