Tried & True Tuesday

I was a busy bee today.  I was awake before the sun even came up and decided to use the quiet of the morning to work on a few projects.  My first, was to clean out and re-organize my bedroom.  Which I did and it feels soooo good! Then, I got to start on the fun and yummy stuff.  My mom has a great recipe for Zucchini Muffins.  We all love them, but I also wanted to try one that I found and tweaked to suit myself.  Shout out to my sister....Thanks for the zucchini, fresh from her garden.

Mom's Zucchini Muffins....or Bread 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease cupcake tins or bread pans. 

You will need
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups flour (I used wheat flour)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons chia seeds (optional)
2 cups grated zucchini (skin and all)

Mix the all the dry ingredients in a bowl, same with the wet ingredients.  Combine both mixtures and put in 2 bread pans or about 24 cupcake tins.  Bake muffins for approximately 20 minutes and loaves for approximately 40-45 minutes.  Insert a knife into the center of the muffin or loaf, if it comes out clean they are done. 



My Zucchini Muffins

Preheat oven at 350 degrees, grease cupcake tins or bread pans.

You will need
2 eggs
3/4 cup melted butter                                         
1 1/2 cups honey
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
3 cups wheat flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 cups grated zucchini (skin and all)
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Mix the all the dry ingredients in a bowl, same with the wet ingredients. Combine both mixtures and put in 2 bread pans or about 24 cupcake tins. Bake muffins for approximately 20 minutes and loaves for approximately 40-45 minutes. Insert a knife into the center of the muffin or loaf, if it comes out clean they are done.  I love how rustic looking my muffins turned out!

Homemade Ice Packs

Ice packs are my best friend!  Before my brain decompression surgery, I had made some hot/cold rice packs to use, but they didn't get a cold as I would have liked them to.  And when I say "I" made them, I mean my mom sewed them and I added the rice and essential oils.  I hate strongly dislike sewing.  I would rather poke my eyes out with the straight pins.  I do have one ice pack that I had bought at Wal-Mart, but when that one got warm, I was outta luck.  My mom had seen a recipe for the homemade ice packs some time ago and told me about them.  I finally made one last night! I love the fact that they freeze quickly, they are so simple to make and inexpensive!

Homemade Ice Packs  (for a large ice pack)

2 one gallon size Ziploc bags
2 cups water
1 cup rubbing alcohol
food coloring (optional)

Place one bag in a bowl and fold over the edges, add water, alcohol and food coloring.  Zip the bag closed, mix and then place inside another bag for extra protection from spills etc.  Put in your freezer and you can use it for as long as you'd like.

And there you have it...I said it was simple :)



Recycled Chunky Crayons

My son is now 10 and he very seldom uses his crayons.  Well, except for melting them onto canvas.  That was a fun project and turned out really neat.  He has some tweaking that he wants to do to it, then he will post his finished masterpiece.  He wanted to make chunky crayons for his three year old cousin.  So, we unwrapped a bunch of crayons this morning and broke them into little pieces.  After spraying a mini-muffins tin with non-stick spray, he dropped different colors in each little spot.  We put them in the oven that was already preheated (from earlier baking) at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the crayons were fully melted.   Here is what ours looked like when they cooled.

I love that my son is so thoughtful.  My niece is going to love these! 

_________****UPDATE****______

Last week I started my "NO POO" revolution.  I have washed my hair four times with the baking soda/water mixture and conditioned with the vinegar/water mixture.  I am liking it so far.  My hair feels very clean,  has more body and feels thicker.  I will admit, it's hard not to reach for the shampoo and all that lather, but I am not going to give up on this!

Have a splendid day!

-Nicole