Saturday, March 24, 2012

Maia Haircut

After months of fighting with the girls to chop off a few inches, and Miss Maia watching Em with her short hair, she to decided she to wanted short hair.  Since the fabulous Rachel Notle was already doing mine she went ahead and cut Maia's =)  She went even shorter then her sister!  The look on daddy's face was priceless.


Not one to be out done, Miss K insisted she get her hair cut too!  We did a fake cut for her ;) 



It took FOREVER to finally find a great hair stylist down here, but I found Rachel 3 years ago and we will be using her for good!  Rachel works for the Jcpenny Salon in Roseville, MI.  She is a FT SAHM mommy of 2 beautiful babies and works alternating weekends at Jcpenny!  For limited time, make an appointment with Rachel, let her know Kemaily referred you and you will receive your choice of 1 complimentary treatment FREE!  Call 586.296.2907 ext 3 to set up your appointment!!
Haircut
Glossing Treatment
Deep Conditioning
Eyebrow Shaping

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Baking

I LOVE to bake, I would bake all day if it meant I didn't have to cook, & I wouldn't gain weight.  Sadly that will never happen, but a girl can dream =)  Just like you after dealing with kids, work, and housework the last thing you want to do it is bake.  Since that will mean you will be 1. stuck in the kitchen longer and 2. be forced to clean up that mess to. 

The cost of the premade snacks from stores is insane!  My family loves things like muffins or granola bars for breakfast, now $3.99 for a 4 pack of muffins for our family is just not going to cut it.  Yes they taste great and are no work for you(since your clean up is recycling the container) but the cost to your budget is worse.  I have this friend that loves to try recipes and is always posting a new recipe.  She found this strawberry bread recipe that she made as muffins instead and after hearing her talk about them I had to try it.  They were amazing to say the least in our family's opinion.  Before this recipe my muffins were horrid, they would taste rubbery on the bottoms or really tough so I quit making them.  It wasn't until this recipe and many tutorials that I perfected them and can finally make an amazing muffin!  lol gone are the days of gagging. 

When I make these I double and sometimes triple the batch!  I divide the rest into 2 day meal size portions and freeze them.  Make sure you get all the air out of the bag, some people use a straw and suck the air out from the bottom that way.  Just make sure you watch out for those muffin crumbs when doing it unless you like having something unexpectedly causing you to choke*speaking from experience*.   We can usually get 12-15 days worth of muffins doing this with minimal cost, especially when stores have strawberries on sale for a $1!  To purchase that in store you would be spending close to $60!!   To make the strawberry chopping quicker, I highly suggest a food chopper of some sort, I currently use the hand chopper from oxo.  You can take your frustration out on the chopper, so you can consider it a multipurpose tool ;)

I purchase my baking goods in bulk also such as
flour -25 pds $8 - warehouse store
sugar - 10 pds
brown sugar - 7pds $5 - warehouse store
baking soda
vegetable oil  1.25 gal

When we moved I was able to find a home w/ cabinets galore, I keep my basic baking ingredients in the cabinet above, and my baking drawer just off to the left.  When baking they are both opened and everything is right in reach!  I hate stopping to wash things while baking(as you can see from multiple measuring cups from Ikea), when I'm baking, I'm baking, cleaning will be done as soon as they are in the oven.  The cupboard below that drawer contains all the flour, sugars, oil, etc.


Here's the recipe http://www.vintagevictuals.com/2009/07/strawberry-bread.html



When making granola bars vs buying premades you know what is going into them, you don't have to worry about what artificial or preservatives have been added.

Granola Bars
3 C. any granola(I buy a granola cereal that's on sale)
1/2 C honey
1/3 C peanuts, other nuts, or chocolate chips
2 eggs

Combine well and press into a greased 8x8 baking pan. 
Bake at 350 for 20 min's. 
Makes approx. 9-12 bars. 

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Vintage Chiffon Headbands

We are always working hard to create the latest and greatest hair accessories and we have come up with a new one!!  Our shabby chic chiffon hair accessories are gorgeous on anyone of any age.  Our shabby chic chiffon flowers are so versatile, they are perfect whether it is for photo's, parties, work, or even everyday wear.



Sunday, March 4, 2012

Meal Planning

Some people think that I enjoy organizing and planning ahead, nothing could be farther from the truth.  I do not like it, but I hate chaos more, and that is what seems to happen when I don't.  I'm still getting the hang of working full time, raising 3 kids, running a home, & also being a teacher to a 1st & 3rd grader.  My husband works 50-70 hr weeks, never know when he will be home, and we never know if he will have a day off until the night before.  He averages 2-3 days off a month, on a good month it's more like 3-5.  All of this is the reason as to why I do what I do!  So if it is 1 in the morning and I'm heading to bed and I get the urge to organize? I do it! Odds are I will be to exhausted and not in the right frame of mind to do it later.  I am not a morning person.

The first place to start when getting your house more streamlined?  I think it's meal planning.  Meals are the one constant thing in your life that will never change, you have to eat, or at least your kids do.  Once you knock that challenge out of the way everything else becomes easier!  When I first started I would print off a 1 month calender and fill it out, now I fill out 3 months in advance so instead of stressing about it 12x's a year? I only have to do it 4x's a year =)  Eventually I would like to get it down to 1 or 2x's a year.  Stepping stones......

I don't use cookbooks, I hate clutter!!  I prefer to borrow books from the library, copy what I want and return.  I'm pretty sure with the amount of cooking, baking, and organizing books I check out each month they think I am a incapable of either and my house looks like a tornado went through.  I keep all my recipes in a accordion file.  I take out the recipes the night before, or I pin them to the fridge so I don't have to dig for them later.  I would love to make a cookbook scrapbook but since I change my mind so much it wouldn't work out to well. 

Some places we've found great recipes our family will eat are
kraftfoods.com
allrecipes.com
tasteofhome.com

With 5 of us and crazy schedules I stick to basics, no fancy ingredients, should be on the table within 30 minutes-1 hour(unless crockpot) after starting, and as fresh of ingredients as possible.  I always keep staples such as
diced tomatoes
tomato paste
spaghetti sauce
black beans
cream of mushroom
noodles(spag, elbow, rotoni, penne, ziti)
spices
bread crumbs
kidney beans
olives
In our freezer you will find rows of frozen veggies, enough chicken and pork for a few months, and beef for an entire year.  When it comes to grocery shopping I stock  up on sale items, only the ones that we use of course.  I usually only hit 1 store a week, maybe 2, and a warehouse once every 2-3 months.  Shopping with 3 is exhausting I think, so I would rather spend more time on 1 trip then dragging them multiple times throughout the week.

Once finished filling everything out, as much as possible I keep everything together taped inside the cabinet by the oven.