The Trick To Cutting Olives Easily

So I was making my potato salad the other night for the 4th.

Of course chopping the onion, the celery, the egg....

and then it came time to slice the olives in half.

That's when it occurred to me that not everyone might know the handy dandy little trick I do for cutting them in half.

It's actually something I learned from my husband

 this is how they do it at the catering company he works at

Because of course....time is money!! You have to get your prep done quick

Here's what you do

Get 2 deli container lids

Like the kind that come on the olive bars in the deli

Or sour cream lids will work too

 Fill one of the lids with your olives

Place the other lid over the top 

and slice in between the two lids

The result?

Perfectly sliced in half olives!
Done in a snap and they aren't rolling all over the place 

And it's not just for olives....No sir!

Now you can easily and quickly slice any chokeable item.

You know.....the things you can't leave around for toddlers.

Grapes, cherry tomatoes, cherries....those kinds of things!

Speaking of chokeables...have you ever watched In the Motherhood?

Well you should!

It started as an internet show with Chelsea Handler (my favorite!) Leah Remini,(she's hilarious) and some lady I don't know

Here's an episode where the ladies get together and eat all the chokeables they never get to have when their kids are around

Funny stuff huh?

4th of July Cake

Just wanted to share a few pictures from 4th of July last year.

Look at this cool cake

I got the tutorial from here  

http://17andbaking.com/2009/07/01/a-little-taste-of-independence/ 

Here is my niece Brooke chowing down on the sweet delectables

And of course Wrigley is nearby just in case something is dropped

And here is Elsa showing off her berry creation

  

Have you seen the Pin on Pinterest of raspberries stuffed with chocolate chips?

Well, Elsa did it with blueberries!  Homegirl was WAAAAAY ahead of the times.  I'm proud.

Patriotic Wreath

Following Uncle Sam's orders in my last craft post HERE <---

I have made yet another patriotic outdoor decoration to bring out the innner flag waver in you!  It'll make you bleed the red, white, and blue!

Impressive rhyming skills huh?

I DID win the district wide poetry contest in both the 1st AND 2nd grades.

Maybe someday I'll share those pieces of poetic genius with you all.....but until then I must leave you in suspense.  

This wreath is made in pretty much the exact same fashion as my Easter Wreath. 

^ Click on that to see the full tutorial

The general gist of it is cutting out a cardboard circle, hot gluing on colored gift shreddy...paper...things.  This time I used the foily kind. Give it a trim, glue on your stuff, then glue on a pop tab for hanging and yer done!  


The decorations I used were these cute star picks from 99c only that I just ripped the wires out of.  I also got the big bow from there too.  It's all glittery....shocking right?  Me? And glitter?

 The littler stars I found at Michaels and I HAD TO HAVE THEM! 
They just went so perfectly with the other ones I had.  Don't let the $2.99 on the bag full you....I got those babies for a dolla! 

Now you got yourself a wreath 

You'll get alot of use out of this.  Labor Day, Veterans Day, 4th of July, Memorial Day, Sept. 11th.

Kitchen Sink Stuffed Mushrooms

So this is one of those recipes where you clean out your fridge.....


No Really.  

Hubby cleaned out the fridge the other night and I decided to use up all the odds and ends.  Bible...this really happened.  I'm not being one of those Foodnetwork people who claim this recipe is great for using leftovers and they have fake leftovers.....my leftovers are LEGIT leftovers and scraps! 

They sat next to the moldy container of....something.  And next to the old jar of jam that has left a sticky ring.  Yummm.

On the subject of cleaning out the fridge, I gotta give my boy some major brownie points.  (also because he is a brownie....so double points for him!)
 I don't really "do" the whole fridge cleaning "thang"  I might do a quick sweep and throw away the things that aren't completely furry yet, but if its real funky....I kinda push it towards the back.


I know......I know!!  Bad Wife!  Bad!

 I just can't do the fur...and the smells.....oh dear god the smells!   Bleh!

This is also why I don't believe in tupperware.  I prefer to just save every sour cream, yogurt, or chinese food container that ever enters my house.  That way if I even suspect that it's funkadelic.  I can pitch it without hesitation or guilt.

Obviously thought I won't throw out bowls and dishes....and that's when I give it the ole pushy push towards the back until the boy gets around to it.  





Welp......now that you probably think less of me....let's give you a recipe!  Actually, not much of a recipe because I don't have exact amounts, this is all meaured in "ish"  It's more to give you an idea of the possibilities and then you can use whatever you have on hand....

6 portabella mushroom caps (this is the only ingredient that won't end in ish)
4ish cups of fresh spinach (you could use frozen and use less)
3ish cloves of garlic
1/2 c. ish green onion 
1 tomato diced (ok, I lied...no ish here)
1ish cup mozzarella
1/2ish cup feta
1/2ish cup parmesan
1 cupish sour cream  (I would prefer to have used cream cheese but I was out)
1/3ish cup diced pimento  (roasted red peppers would be even yummier!)
Salt & Peppa 


Simply mix it all together and season to taste.

Stuff your caps and bake at 350 for about 30 mins or until the cheeses are all melty and your mushroom is soft.  It will ooze some mushroomy juices and then you'll know they're gettin there




Alllllll done!

Add whatever you got at home.....bacon....different cheeses...maybe olives?  Whatevs!  




And before I end this, Id like to give one more round of applause to my personal refrigerator cleaner.  


If he were here he would either bow or do the pageant girl wave....no joke.

4th of July Decor

Someday I want my house to be the one on the block with the flag waving, the pinwheels in the ground, and these these swags hung from anything I can possibly hang them from.....ANYTHING!

I want to be like this house here....but like x1000 

 Yep...it's a dream I have.  But it may take some time for me to get there...like maybe owning a house first.....so I'm starting small


Like this little dealio here

99c only always has terra cotta pots.  So I got one and painted it white with some leftover primer I had.  Then I taped it off to create stripes

 Then I painted the top rim blue.  I tried using a stencil to paint on some white stars but that turned out to be a hot mess.  Maybe its just me though...I dunno.  
I had to cover over it with more blue and now I'm on the look out for some stickers or something to use instead.

Unless somebody out there can tell me how to paint on stars without it looking like a preschool project. No hate on the preschool art though....they make some snazzy stuff!

 Then I just filled it up with red crinkle paper from the ole Dollar Tree and star picks and flowers from Michaels. 

It would make a good centerpiece for your table, or you can put it by the front door like I do.   

I choose to believe Uncle Sam himself would be quite proud.  


So proud in fact, that he would tell me...........

Will do Uncle Sam.  Will do.

DIY Cheap & Personalized Wedding Napkins for Wedding (or any occasion!)

For our wedding I wanted cute napkins for our bar but I wasn't willing to pay to get them monogrammed.

I also didn't feel like buying an embossing kit because I wasn't sure If I would ever use it again....and I'm cheap.

Soooo...

I bought some plain pink and brown cocktail napkins from Party City and used a 50% off coupon at Michael's and got this Staz On Ink pad for around $4

My sister got me this cute stamp for Christmas, but you could also get a custom made one with your monogram or a design that you can use for multiple projects for your wedding

 And stamp away!  


It goes really quick.  I stamped while I watched Real Housewives marathons.    Go figure.....


The Staz On ink is awesome!  I did SEVERAL tests to make sure the ink wouldn't transfer onto people faces when they used them


Cause wouldn't that just be awesome.  My guests covered in brown ink smudged across their face.  That's something that would happen to me


Here's the finished thing

So simple but adds a nice personal touch to any party
 

DIY Floppy Summer Hat

Annnnddd......I'm back!

Feels like forever since I've posted.  Over 2 weeks or so. Did you miss me?  (Waves to my one reader.....my sister Bree) hahaha ;)

I went to Vegas last weekend and you know how that goes.  It took a week for me to get ready and then a week to recover....which equals no energy for posting.

I give major props to those bloggers who keep their shit up to date even when they're on the go.  I'll get there someday...I hope.

So In my preparation for my trip I of course set up crazy expectations in my head.  Luckily, my friend that I was going with is similar.  

We both had visions of ourselves laying poolside on a gorgeous chaise lounge...
 cool refreshing drink in hand....wearing our grandma swimsuits....sitting with one leg flat and and the other with the knee bent so we look like the girls in movies......all with a big floppy hat on. 

 Please tell me other people play out their life expectations like this?  Every single little detail?   Good!  Glad I'm not alone.


So I was in need of a big flippity floppity hat!


I found this hat at the good ole Dollar Tree

 Not bad.....but a little lackluster.  It needed a little sumthin sumthin.

 So at midnight I was hot gluing on some black ribbon I had and a cute black button that I bought at Walamrt.....at 11PM

 I had to leave my house at 4 AM to make my flight.   Can you tell what kind of person I am?


Yep.  I'm the kind that is up allll night on Xmas even wrapping gifts.  I procrastinate.


But at least I had a cute hat for laying by the hotel pool.








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Ya know what the kicker is?  We didn't even end up going to the pool at all. -__-




But that's ok.  I still gained a cute hat.  And I'm sorta fighting the urge to go buy more and make a whole collection.  Different colored ribbon....maybe some flowers or gems...or maybe even paint them!  I could go wild!