Make My Day Camp

I've decided my March challenge is that I'm not going to purchase anything that isn't necessary - which isn't easy because I love to shop haha!! Amazon makes it tooooo easy to order up anything that pops into my head and I really want to be more intentional this month in my purchases.

Because really, do I need to buy another mascara when I have 10 in my drawer already? No.

Obviously I'm going to shop for groceries and necessary items, and if anyone wants me to go shopping with them I'll go just to be with them, or if something comes up and I really need to buy a new item of clothing that I don't already own (that isn't going to happen but I'm putting it on here in case you want to do the challenge with me and are worried you'll not be dressed appropriately haha) there can be exceptions to my limited spending month - there's no hard rules, it's just a challenge to pay more attention and not buy more random things this month that I don't actually need!

Anyone with me?

PS: this has nothing to do with the consumer boycott happening today nationwide that wants people to not buy anything for 24 hours to demonstrate that people have the power to make a dent in a companies bottom line or whatever. I've done "no-shopping for a month" personal challenges many times in the past and it's for no other reason than I have too much stuff which is why last month's challenge was to get rid of one thing a day!!

2.28.24: boursin chicken

2.28.23: TT: snickerdoodle white choc chip cookies

2.28.22: tater tot sausage breakfast casserole

2.28.21: 🔥 week 9

2.28.20: make your own dryer sponges

2.28.19: cucumber 'sushi' appetizer

2.28.18: March step challenge

2.28.17: tip for how to clean the oven window glass

2.28.16: grilled steak and chicken salad

Thursday, February 27, 2025

Felt Shamrocks

This is a repeat craft for St. Patrick's day that I thought you might like to see again since it's been 7 years since I posted it and it's a cute easy project.

Original post from 3/2018:

I had an idea to make shamrock flowers to decorate my table on Saturday (St. Patrick's Day dinner) so googled for some examples...didn't really find anything I liked but saw a few felt shamrocks and thought they'd be cute at everyone's place setting. I followed the directions I found here, but changed them a bit by tweaking the shape to get them how I wanted them to look, but they still weren't perfect - the centers looked a little rough and I could see the glue...what to put in the middle tho? Aha - how about a shiny lucky penny?

You need 4 leaves, see picture for the shape - they are about 2" square and sort of shaped like a tooth (do they look like teeth to you? or maybe a heart with the bottom notched?) and then a thin strip for the stem.

Pinch the bottom notches together and glue. I started with Elmers but that was taking too long to dry so I ended up getting the hot glue gun out and then they were done pretty much instantly.

Glue 2 of the leaves together, repeat. Then put the stem in between and glue all pieces together.

These look fine like this, but I finished them by hot gluing a shiny penny to the middle. These are so quick and easy to make that I'm making a few more so everyone at the table can have one! I'm thinking I'll place one on top of a napkin on everyone's plate before dinner.

2.27.24: tt make brown sugar

2.27.23: paper folder #2

2.27.22: 🔥 week 9

2.27.21: irish coffee

2.27.20: goldenrod

2.27.19: samoa sheet cake

2.27.18: quinoa salad

2.27.17: make a beaded bauble ring

2.27.16: tomato pear chutney

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Shamrock Pretzels

I posted this in '21 and totally forgot about making these - in case you also forgot and want to make them I'm sharing it again!

Original post from 3/2021:

My sis sent me this idea last year but I didn't get around to making them , and of course forgot all about it. I found it again while going thru photos the other day, so made a mental note to get the ingredients (you know my 'mental notes' are pretty pointless, I really need to write it down!). Seeing pretzels today at the grocery store reminded me that I wanted to make them, grabbed the 3 things I needed, came home and put them together in just a few minutes. How cute! I'm going to individually bag them and take to tap class (along with eating one. or two. we'll see hahaha).

You'll need small pretzel twists, pretzel sticks, unwrapped rolos, and green m&m's.

Preheat oven to 250'. Put a piece of parchment paper or a silpat on a cookie sheet. Lay out 3 pretzel twists and 1 pretzel stick to form the shamrock. Place a rolo in the center; bake for 3 minutes. Remove from oven, top with a green m&m and gently press it into the rolo. You'll want the rolo to spread a little bit so it'll stick the pretzels together and keep the shamrock shape. I used the end of a big skewer to press them down and not get chocolate all over my fingers - the chocolate stays melty for quite a while, after pushing the m&m's down go back thru and adjust the pretzels tighter together to help them hold their shape. Pop the tray into the fridge until the chocolate is set. That's it!

2.26.24: marinated cheese appetizer

2.26.23: 🔥 week 9

2.26.22: oops I missed a day!

2.26.21: laundry room refresh

2.26.20: chicken with balsamic peppers

2.26.19: tip-sy tuesday: stained carpet

2.26.18: adding a safety chain to a bracelet

2.26.17: Missy's seafood gumbo

Tuesday, February 25, 2025

Tip-sy Tuesday: foaming hand soap

I have a foaming hand soap dispenser and ran out of the soap, instead of buying more I thought I'd make it myself - and yep, it's very easy. Mix together 1 part soap with 5 parts warm water and shake vigorously to combine.

Any time something calls for a ratio like this one of 1:5 (meaning one part product, five parts water) you can figure out the quantities by adding the 2 numbers together to figure how many parts in total (in this case 1+5=6 parts total) . Find how many ounces your container will hold - I don't know how many ounces my dispenser is but let's make it easy and say it's 12 ounces. So divide 12 by 6 parts and it's 2 ounces per part. So to make the foaming soap you'll combine 2 ounces of soap with 10 ounces of water (for a total of 12 ounces). Note: 10 ounces of water is 2 ounces times 5 parts. Make sense?

You can use this formula no matter the size of container - let's do it with coffee. Now I have no idea how much coffee to water you would need but this is just an example of how to work ratios. If you have a jug that is 64oz. that you're filling with coffee and the recipe calls for a ration of 1:10 meaning 1 part product and 10 parts water, add the 2 numbers to get the total number of parts (in this case 1+10=11 parts total). Now divide the size of the jug by the number of parts (64÷11=5.818). So you would add 5.8 ounces of coffee and 58 ounces of water (I would round to nearest whole number and use 6 ounces coffee).

Hope I made this somewhat clear!! Math is not my strong suit LOL

2.25.24: 🔥 week 8

2.25.23: large-batch Manhattan cocktails

2.25.22: steak sauce by Brooke

2.25.21: tater tot casserole (lightened up)

2.25.20: organize curly ribbon

2.25.19: double bed skirt

2.25.18: potato tacos

2.25.17: old fashioned (cocktail)

2.25.16: photo scavenger hunt

Monday, February 24, 2025

Kid Craft: Paper Leprachaun (re-run)

It's been 4 years since Brooke shared how to make a paper leprechaun so I thought I'd re-run it for you - what a fun craft just in time for the kiddo's to make for St. Patrick's Day! Here's the original post:

Hey guys! Today my friend made a Leprechaun for St. Patrick’s day! She used paper, scissors, glue, and Googlie eyes! First she traced and cut out her hand for the leprechauns beard/ hair and cut out a head, mouth, eyebrows, nose, and a hat. She glued it all together. First she glued his face and hat all together. Then she glued the face on top of the hand cut out (or his beard) then glued his hat on top! So easy and so cute!

2.24.24: words

2.24.23: vegetable dip

2.24.22: olive garden chicken

2.24.21: jammer cream scones

2.24.20: St. Patrick's day flower wreath

2.24.19: 🔥

2.24.18: fringed lampshade

2.24.17: formula for having short hair

2.24.16: baked salami chips

Sunday, February 23, 2025

🔥 Around the Campfire (week 8)

Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp last week:

Posts ~

2/16: 🔥 week 7

2/17: catching up

2/18: TT removing fridge odors

2/19: kid friendly St. Patrick's day jello cups

2/20: chicken cordon bleu casserole

2/21: chicken cordon bleu casserole GF

2/22: words

That's it for this week! See you next week for more projects, crafts, recipes, whatever we can think of to make at camp - bye :)

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

2.23.24: msti - buffalo chicken 'nachos'

2.23.23: orange blossom dressing

2.23.22: Mexican hot chocolate cookies

2.23.21: TT cleaning shrimp hack

2.23.20: 🔥week 8

2.23.19: turkey tetrazzini

2.23.18: random acts of crochet

2.23.17: frozen cooked chicken

2.23.16: how to separate eggs

Saturday, February 22, 2025

2/22 ~ Words

2.22.24: oreo pie

2.22.23: carrot cake

2.22.22: TT how to remove an in-wall t.p. holder

2.22.21: unstuffed cordon bleu

2.22.20: bacon-infused vodka

2.22.19: oatmeal face scrub

2.22.18: homemade tortilla chips

2.22.17: white chocolate macadamia cookies

2.22.16: making dreamcatchers

Friday, February 21, 2025

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole - Low Carb, GF

Yesterday I posted a recipe for chicken cordon bleu casserole that everyone other than my gluten-free niece loved, I also made a GF version so she could also have chicken cordon bleu with us - found this one that has a different sauce since she can't have flour, and it's really good. The sauce is very thick and I spread it on top of the chicken instead of pouring it on like the more traditional version yesterday, maybe if I added more liquid (like broth or milk) so it was thinner it would have coated the entire casserole instead of staying on top, but even tho this looked a little weird it tasted really good - I think everyone pretty much tried both and there were no complaints about either one!

I only made a 2-quart dish of this one since I knew a full recipe would make way too much in addition to yesterday's 13x9 - there were 8 of us and we still had lots of leftovers.

6 cups shredded cooked chicken (from about 2 lb chicken)
6 oz ham cut into bite size pieces
4 oz butter melted
6 oz cream cheese softened
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp white wine (optional)
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
5 oz swiss cheese

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350. Put the chicken in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Layer the pieces of ham on top.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer combine the melted butter, softened cream cheese, white wine (if using), mustard, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until a thick sauce forms. Spread this sauce over the chicken and ham in the baking dish.
Lay the slices of swiss cheese on top of the sauce. Bake for 30-40 minutes until hot.
If you want the cheese more golden and bubbly you can broil it for 2 minutes at the end but do not leave it unattended as it burns very easily.