Growing avocado trees from scratch

Avocados are delicious and very loved in our household so I was joking around with my hubby last night that I could grow it out of the 2 pits I used tonight for dinner :)

That said, I got the pits, glass of water, toothpicks out and prepared the pits for their long journey (few weeks/months) to becoming a yummy avocado tree.

I think the picture will show you enough detail of how it's done :)

I read I have to refresh the water every 2 days so hopefully I won't forget that ;) 

To let you be part of this progress I will every day take a picture and post it. This blogging is so much fun :)

Finally here are the "pits in progress" :)

Pimp up my picture frames

The picture frames I found yesterday are in need of a makeover to fit my beach interior decorations :)

So this is how i found them before I tackled the 6 picture frames:

(The 6th one is larger so you will see it in the next pictures)

I want them look weathered with some color coming through, you will see what I mean...

I used Gesso (white) since I have a big bottle of it, to set kind of a base to cover the brown of the wood.

(Instead of gesso you can use any acrylic paint in whatever color you fancy of course)

One coat done:

No I have to let it dry and apply a second coat of gesso.

Here is my setup on the dining room table:

This second coat needs to really dry so we all have to wait...:)

I will show you the next stages as I get there of course!

Your Trash could be my Treasure Day

So as my previous post told you I rescued two plants today from the trash :D

As I blogged and talked about this little adventure on Facebook, I had no idea that I would be ending up, getting my arm twisted to go "alley" trash shopping again...
We have sooooo many alleys in this area so I was only able, in 85F, to cover 4 alleys on my treasure hunt.

Well off I went, really 2 steps in the alley behind our house I found 6 picture frames and a "wreath" plastic container box...SCORE. And easy cos I could just turn around and leave it in our garage.

One alley over I found a big(ger) picture frame (no glass though) but some dunes/ocean pic (B&W) in it. Fine, mine!

Walking in the alley, made me giggle especially when I decided why not take all the empty bottles too. I go to the recycle center every 2-3 months anyway, it's cash money baby!! Well, picked up two big garbage bags of empty bottles up while treasure hunting in the alleys :D

I saw a lot of furniture, desks, tables, chairs etc...just needed a facelift.
Oh and all the things you can do with clothing, but that's for next time :D

So guess what I will be doing soon...YES!!! I will start refinishing the frames and use them!!

What a fun day!!! And it was so much fun interacting with everyone on my Treasure Hunt!!!
Thank you for participating!!!
See you tomorrow :)

Plant rescue mission - from trash to pretty

On my daily morning walk I notice, while crossing the alley, that someone threw out 2 perfectly nice house plants in some old wasted basket.

I hate seeing things go to waste and I love plants so you guessed it :)

Perfectly goes within my budget too (don't laugh...ah well...laugh!!!) FREE!!!

Immediately after I dropped off the puppy at home, I walked back and took the 2 plants.

I forgot to take picture of both ;)

Here is a pot I still had in the garage, with some soil too

Thrifty and free!!!

Here they are ready to go on my dining room table :)

Gotta look up what kind of plants they are though...do you know?

Better picture of my latest sewing project

Here is a better picture, taken in daylight of my latest sewing projects:

Another sewing project finished :)

I totally forgot to share with you the sewing project I finished yesterday.

Part of the reason was that they were used immediately :)

That's a good sign though...

Look in my Etsy Shop (the link is at the left top above the header "my Etsy Shop") for more of my creative sewing projects since that's the way I support my blog and projects here...thank you :)

Or click here: www.etsy.com/shop/calicreative 

First pillow case (the big one), I finished a few weeks ago already.

The smaller ones I finished yesterday :)

Sorry for the dark picture...:(

Frugal again: Homemade soap for the dish washer :)

I never thought of sharing my frugal recipes but I get some many emails to share more...well here we go...

One general tip:

Turn OFF the "heated dry" function on your dish washer!!

This saves you "etching" of your dishes and lower energy bill :)

SOAP FOR YOUR DISHWASHER

 

1 cup of Borax

1 cup of Washing Soda

1 cup of Baking Soda

1/3 cup of Kosher Salt

 

(MIX ALL INGREDIENTS VERY WELL!!!)

 

1 tsp. of Citric Acid added per dish wash cycle!!!

(you can get this at Dharma Trading Co. or check the canning/preserve aisles0

 

Instead of using Finish, I use just Vinegar in the Finish compartment :)

 

Just think with these ingredients how many loads of homemade laundry soap and home made soap for the dish washer you get for pennies!

CLICK HERE FOR MY HOME MADE LAUNDRY SOAP RECIPE

 

I have more tips...stay tuned!!!

 

 

New Infinity Shawl/Scarf/Cowl in my Etsy Shop

I had to finish sewing some custom orders and when that was all done today, I made a new Infinity Scarf for my Etsy Shop :)

Hope you like it and I may have to make 1 more in this color combo...

 

 

No it's time for coffee first!

Etsy Shop Calicreative OPEN!!!

More available in Etsy Shop: Calicreative

 

Update on the whole chicken recipe in your crock pot…

Yesterday I gave you my recipe for a whole chicken in your crock pot, see this link for details.

Here is the picture after it's done...see it is "falling" apart of the bones...YUMMY!!!

Frugal again...whole chicken recipe in your crockpot

So today I went to Costco and stocked up for 9 days worth of groceries, including meat/fresh veggies! And I only spend $85!!! No coupons were needed either :)

We like to make a sandwich for lunch so I decided to buy 2 whole chickens (not alive anymore RIP)
Chicken breasts for dinner, wings for sandwiches and legs for in a chicken salad, PERFECT! That gives me at least 3 meals!

Washed the whole chicken thoroughly in the sink, added my spices and got out my good old crockpot.
I burned a whole chicken once in the oven so since then it's crockpot only for the whole chicken :)

Don't forget to deep clean the sink, surfaces and your hands after you are done prepping the chicken!!! You don't want any contaminations!!!

Spices for the medium rub I used:
cayenne pepper
pepper
sea salt
onion powder
garlic powder
cumin

you can use anything you like or prefer of course but this was what I had available in my spice cabinet.

Ball up some foil so the whole chicken can "rest" on them :)

And whoop....there it is in the crockpot:
2hrs on high and 5hrs on low (about 165degrees F)

That is it!!!
Any questions...let me know or tell me if it worked out for you if you try this out :)

Recipe for a meal in your Crockpot

So working on my budget includes also food but it still needs to be healthy and I don't like standing in the kitchen all day ;)

Here is a recipe that I use for beans, brown rice and turkey:

3 cans of beans (I used here 1 can of Pinto beans and 2 cans of black beans) no need to drain
1 tbs of melted butter
1 cup of brown rice
1 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cup of water
1 can of diced tomatoes
salt to taste
1 lbs of ground turkey

Brown the ground turkey in a pan on the stove without adding butter.
Put all the ingredients in your crockpot and stir till they are well mixed together.

Let it sit on high for about 2-2.5hrs (occasionally stir) and you will find this:

Yummy!!!
Bon Appetite!!!
It will easily serve 3!

PS: you can substitute the ground turkey for ground beef :)

Going frugal: powdered laundry soap

Starting to live up to my budgets so the first big thing I wanted to tackle was the laundry detergent bill.

So I bought:

Zote : laundry bar of soap (0.99 ct at Smart & Final)

Borax ($5.49 at Ralph's)

Washing Soda ($3.99 at Ralph's)

You grate the whole bar of laundry soap (14 oz). I just used my cheese grater to to do but make sure you wash it thoroughly afterwards. Than add 1 3/4 cup of Borax and 1 3/4 cup of Washing soda in a container.

Mix these ingredients together very well and VOILA use 1/2 oz (approx. 2 tbs) per load of laundry.

Put the soap in when u turn on your washer, let it fill up like a hand deep with water and add your laundry.

HE machine safe!! 

Note: it doesn't make any suds but your clothes will come out clean :)

I use it for colored, whites etc, no problem with fading.

This will lasts you for a long time and it totally fits in my budget :)

Questions? Let me know by leaving a comment.

I will be posting more tips on household savings and cooking on a budget soon