Craft binder

I've been thinking of making a craft binder for a long time. Now that I have a month off from school, this is the perfect time to get organized. Plus, I happened to find this large empty 3-ring binder in a drawer and the page protectors and dividers were on sale for back to school.
I tore idea pages out of some of my favorite magazines, including Family Fun (one of the BEST magazines for people with kiddos!), Parents, Creating Keepsakes, Simple Scrapbooks, Paper Crafts and Card Maker.
I labeled my tabs: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Cards, Scrapbooking, Birthdays, Kids (as in general kids crafts),Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Miscellaneous (for things such as home decor and outdoor spaces). I would have done more but I ran out of dividers.....

Jack insisted that I include the "hello" (cell phone) in the pic:

Banana cake

Yesterday was Jessica's birthday so I made her a cake. I was going to do the Mt. Dew cake again but decided this banana cake sounded more fun. It may seem strange that I have a picture of the unfrosted cake, but I have a good reason. I am a TERRIBLE cake froster. I can make beautiful cupcakes, but when I try to frost a whole cake, it is a disaster. They usually taste pretty good!

I frosted it with cream cheese frosting on the outside and chocolate frosting. Now that I think about it, I should have added sliced bananas on the inside. YUM!

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® white cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and whole eggs called for on cake mix box
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas (4 medium)
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Grease bottom only of 2 9 inch round pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, eggs and mashed bananas on low speed 30 seconds; beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in chocolate chips. Pour into pans.
2. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes.
3. Frost as desired.

Zucchini Bread

We got a giant zucchini from my parents so I used my Grandmother's recipe to make bread. I usually shred the zucchini but I chopped it in the food processor instead.
I doubled this recipe and it made 2 large loaves and 4 small.


1 cup oil
3 eggs
1 Tsp salt
1 Tsp baking soda
1 1/2 Tsp baking powder
3 Tsp cinnamon
2 Tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Mix oil, eggs, sugar, salt, soda, powder, cinnamon, vanilla. If using self rising flour, omit soda and salt. Stir in flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in zucchini. Fold in nuts and chocolate. Grease and flour (or spray) pans. Bake at 325 45-60 minutes.

Place mats

My Mom made me these beautiful place mats:

Crock Pot Chops

I threw this together in just a few minutes and it turned out great! Very simple and the family loved it. Jacob does not eat mushrooms and he cleaned his plate!

6 boneless pork chops
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can button mushrooms, sliced
1 envelope Lipton onion soup mix
Water

Spray the crock pot with cooking spray. Place chops in bottom of crock pot, pour on soup, soup mix and mushrooms. Fill the soup can with water, pour in over ingredients. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

I served this over wild rice and broccoli on the side.

Riley

At work we like to decorate the birth rooms of our employees to make them feel special and welcome. This was for my NICU night shift co-worker Christine (one of the amazing RN's)when she had her baby girl Riley last week. I made this at the desk (on a designated break of course) and did not expect it to be so HUGE! We're still not sure how exactly some of the letters in "Welcome" came out in caps, though. It's a mystery.

Mountain Dew Cake

My Mom had (I say had since I took the magazine) a 2007 Paula Deen magazine with a ton of recipes that I want to try. This one, Mountain Dew Cake, looked too silly NOT to try! It turned out moist and very delicious. I'm sure the main reason it turned out good was because I used my beautiful red Kitchen Aid mixer!

Too bad I can't have more than a nibble....


(I borrowed this image from the web since I can't find my trusty camera!)

Mountain Dew Cake

1 box lemon cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Supreme Lemon)
1 box lemon flavored pudding mix
1 can Mountain Dew soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs

Mix cake and pudding mixes. Add other ingredients and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10 cup bundt pan. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing.