Apricot Blueberry Banana Smoothie

My neighbor always brings me his extras from his garden. Right before we left on a trip he brought me a big bowl of apricots. I knew we would get them eaten and that they wouldn't last until we got home. So I pitted,sliced them and threw them in a ziploc in the freezer. Let me tell you, they make a fantastic smoothie!

Here's what you need:

Apricot Blueberry Banana Smoothie

• 1/2 C frozen apricots


• 1/4 C frozen blueberries


• 1 fresh or frozen banana


• a splash of OJ


• a few cubes of ice

Blend it all up and it tastes like you just went to Jamba Juice! So good!

Crockpot Applesauce

A good friend happened to have an excess of apples and I was happy to take some off her hands. I knew I wanted to make applesauce with them.

Here's what I needed:

Crockpot Applesauce:

• 12 apples peels, cored and in chunks (I can't remember what kind of apples they were!! But they were sweet and crisp reminding me of a honeycrisp)


• 1/2 C water


• 1 TBSP lemon juice


• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon


• 3/4 C brown sugar

Put your apple chunks in your crock and pour everything else on top. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. They are down when you can break up the apples with a wooden spoon. I prefer a chunky applesauce and used a potato smasher to smash the apples once they were done. Store in the refrigerator. Make approximately 4 cups.

Peanut Chocolate Caramel Chex Mix

I was looking for a quick, easy and fun snack to make my kids that did not involve the oven. It's HOT here and I didn't want to add to the temperature. I came across a recipe for PAYDAY Chex Mix and thought I would give it a go, with a few adjustments for my family.

A very Simple recipe:
Peanut Chocolate Caramel Chex Mix

• 8 Cups Rice Chex


• 14 oz bag of Caramels, unwrapped


• 1 TBSP Milk


• 1 1/2 C Roasted Peanuts


• 1/2-3/4 C Chocolate Chips

In a large bowl place Rice Chex and peanuts. Line a baking sheet with wax paper. In a microwave safe bowl place unwrapped caramels and milk. Microwave for 1 minute and stir. Continue in 30 second increments, stirring after each 30 seconds until caramel is smooth. Once smoothly quickly pour over Chex/peanut mixture and stir until coated. Pour in chocolate chips and mix. Spread onto wax paper lined baking sheet and let set up. Enjoy & Eat!

Ikea Hack-Bathroom & Jewelry Storage

Storage is a universal problem throughout my home and I know I'm not the only person that struggles with it. I'm constantly going through things, getting rid of things, reorganizing things, etc. But there are certain things that you still need around. And for those things you just need for find a home for them. In the bathroom It's nice if that home is not the countertop. Here is my solution and it come in at about $5.

What you need is:

• 1 BEKVAM Spice Rack from IKEA ($3.99)


• 1 package of mug hooks ($.97)

That's it!!!

Our bathroom is separated so the toilet shower is in one space and the sink is in a another space, neither of which is very big. The shelf space up above to hold lotions and hair stuff :

And the hooks below to hang necklaces and earrings (admittedly I do not own a lot of jewelry, but obviously there is a lot more space under here for hooks and more jewelry!). I just hand screwed each of the hooks in, the wood is soft enough to do it. If you find it difficult or want to make sure your spacing is correct, before hanging your shelf, hammer a nail partway in and pull it out wherever you would like hook. This will help you screw your hooks in.

 Six Sisters' Stuff

Today I will choose Joy

A few months ago a wonderful friend moved away. I helped her clean out her garage and she had a bunch of wood stuck up in her rafters that she was just going to send off to the dump. I quickly grabbed it and stuck it in my trunk knowing at some point it would become something beautiful!

Here's what I started with:

I sanded and poly-ed it and used brown vinyl and a new favorite saying "Today I will choose Joy"

I love how it turned out. It's right about our slider out to the backyard.

"Mock Mason Jar" Lego Storage

I've been seeing all sorts of storage and planting ideas popping up using mason jars and hose clamps. I thought they were fun but couldn't find a use for any of them in my home. What I did need was more LEGO storage! But I didn't want to use glass mason jars with LEGOs. So here's what I did, I used plastic peanut butter jars!! The large peanut butter jars are larger enough for even an adult hand to get to the bottom of!

So, here's what you need to make your own:

• A piece of wood, cut to length, sanded and stained (or painted)


• Plastic peanut butter jars (I used large PB jars from Costco)


• Hose clamps (they were about $1.50 a piece)


• Screws


• Tools-screw driver, hammer & 1 large nail

It was fairly simple, A stained piece of wood with 3 hose clamps and 3 PB jars attached. The only tricky part for me was getting the hose clamps on. You have to hammer a hole through the back of the hole clamp to put a screw through the back to attach it to the wood. We didn't happen to have any large nails. That would have helped the process considerably, but I got the job done!. Once the 3 clamps are attached to the wood tighten around the jars and attach onto the wall! Fill them up with LEGOs and enjoy!

Above this fun storage solutions is another simple LEGO storage idea from the DollarTree. These wooden boxes were natural wood and got a quick coat of spray paint. I will admit though that they rarely have minifigs in them. My LEGO loving kid keeps his minifigs in use most of the time!!

Mailbox Makeover

Our old mailbox wasn't that old. Maybe 3 or 4 years old. But for some reason (could it be our crazy intense summer heat or regular high wind advisories?) it no longer stayed shut and the flag would not stay up. While wander Home Depot on Friday night with all 4 kids in tow we came across a stack of mailboxes and the price was right, $5.

I brought it home and dressed it up with some vinyl and installed it. It is a huge improvement over the old.

Before

After: