Imperfect Crazy Life

Since my kids' school district doesn't make the healthiest lunches, I pack my kids' lunches. Making your own jello cups is a great way to save on money. It costs me about $.35 to make 5 cups of jello. Even better yet I can make my kids' favorite jello for them. I buy the Glad 1/2 cup reusable containers. I think it's about $2.50 for 8 cups at Walmart. This is simple to make the cups. Follow the directions on the jello box. Then it is time let the jello cool and set. You pour the jello into individual cups to set. Allow the jello to set and now you have jello cups for school lunches or snacks. Add some fruit to the jello for something special.

For our latest cooking competition we decided to do an Appetizer cook off. This teams were set up Big D and Mickey. I was teamed with Little D. This was going to be a hard one. I kept my mouth shut and let Little D take the lead. He first wanted to make boneless wings like Texas Roadhouse does. Then he decided to go with a 7 layer dip. Big D and Mickey had the same idea and they picked making boneless wings. Off we went to the store. With a $10 limit, the teams were gathering what they needed. My team didn't need much since we have everything at home but refried beans and chips. We decided to grab a Smore's Pie for dessert that night. We spent $8 of our $10. Mickey and Big D needed chicken and some spices. The refrigerated section were they keep the meats was broken. The store only had boneless skinless chicken thighs sitting out. With our groceries in hand, we headed home. Little D wanted personal size dips. This helped with are presentation. 7 layers. Refried ...

Chocolate River vs. Neapolitan Bombe! Since my kids are still little and learning to cook. We do teams for our cooking competitions. Big D and Little D were on a team. Well, Mickey and I were the other team. For this competition we decided to do a dessert one. We do a $10 limit. The teams have to come up with a dessert, name and present the dish. I have a lot of skills in the kitchen so I tend to let the little one I'm teamed up with take the lead. Big D has skills but not as much as I do. Mickey and I came up with what we are calling the Neapolitan Bombe. It is a Ice cream bombe. Since it's a Neapolitan, we have strawberry and vanilla ice cream. Chocolate is a chocolate brownie layer. We added a cookie fudge layer like in Dairy Queen cakes. Then lined the bottom with peanut butter cups chopped up. Then topped with cool whip and more peanut butter cups on the top. Big D and Little D make what they called a Chocolate River. It started with Rocky Road ice cre...

Big D and I love Christmas. It's not about giving or getting presents. It's about that feeling! This Christmas was awesome! The love and atmosphere  was right on. This year we took the time to make ornaments for the tree since this was the first year together for Christmas. The kids loved making ornaments. Especially knowing they would have something they made on the Christmas tree. We use air dry homemade "Clay" to make the ornaments. You will need: 1 Box of Baking Soda 1 cup of Cornstarch 1 1/2 cups of water Mix all the ingredients in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Constantly stir until then mixture gets to hard to stir with a spoon. Allow the clay to cool for 15 minutes. It should be cool enough to tough. Now knead the dough for 5 minutes. The clay should be smooth. Keep the clay wrapped when not using it. The clay takes 1-2 days to day. More if the clay is really thick. Roll out the clay and shape your ornaments.

My fiance and I love to going camping but where we live right now we can't do the type of camping we love. Plus we don't get to go camping too often. I wanted to make date night at home extra special! I set our small 3 person tent up in the room. It has a mesh style top if you don't part the cover over it. I hang up white light on the ceiling to symbolize the stars. We made hot dogs on a electric grill. Then for dessert we ate s'mores I made earlier in the oven. After we eat dinner we laid back on several blankets and pillows and talk. A little game of truth or dare made our date night awesome!! This was extra special for us then a normal night of a movie or playing a game together. For the s'mores, I broke the graham crackers in half and lined them on a cookie sheet. Then I cut marshmallows in half and placed them on the graham crackers. Then I put the cookie sheet under the boiler. Let the marshmallows toast til they are nicely browned. Tak...

Seriously, I would have never imagined my life this way. It wasn't that long ago that I was in a loveless marriage. I was miserable and my health started to suffer. One day I decided that I have enough! Enough!!! So I changed my life. The first start was ending a 12 year marriage. It was scary, but I felt so relieved when I decided to go for it. I had my two kids to worry about. Shortly after this I meet the most amazing man, I could ever imagine. I always heard that opposites attract. Forget that! This is so far from my relationship right now. I have a lot in common with him. I love that he is the sweetest, caring man, I know. He makes me feel like I'm the most important person in the world. I just had a birthday. I was really looking forward to it because it has been years since I have. A few days before my birthday, Derek was starting to get really excited. He planned to celebrate my birthday the day before since he was scheduled a long shift and it was Monday. Derek mad...

If you are ever downtown Savannah, GA, I highly suggest trying out the Soda Pop Shoppe. It is a small but amazing sandwich shop. They make milkshakes and malt right in front of you. If you want to mix to flavors go for it! Little man suggests mixing chocolate with the mint chocolate. It cuts down on the mint flavor. I personally enjoyed the owner and his right hand man. Will and Steve make the visit special. With the Girl Scouts meeting near by the owner saw an opportunity to make a more kid friendly restaurant. Hot dogs and sandwiches! They also sell candy! I suggest putting away your phone before stepping in the store. You will miss out on a good lunch or dinner if you don't. There also is a sign near the register that says they will charge you a $1 if you're on the phone. Plus it's just respectful, simple as that. Take the time and look around the shop, you will find some funny and amazing things. When ordering a sandwich, try the all the way option. I promi...