Pinterest Addict...Coffee Creamer!!

There isn't a morning that I wake up and don't want a nice hot mug of caffeinated goodness. Even if there are times that I half caff it, the ritual of coffee in my hands to start the day makes the day seem full of possibility (even that includes lunch in lil man's hair, floor, and maybe the ceiling).

I love flavored coffee creamer...vanilla, cinnamon, caramel, mocha, sugar cookie...you name it, I love it. But, there are weeks that I skip my little treat, not just for cost but because I'm seriously starting to read labels. If there are too many things I don't recognize, I tend to skip it.

Enter Pinterest! (Of course!!)

I actually found this homemade pin on a friend's board who is getting to know her kitchen. And she's very picky. So I knew it had to be good.

And, it gave me something to do with all those spaghetti sauce glass jars and a glass bottle from the vinegar that went into the natural weed killer.



All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk (I've even tried the fat free one), milk of your choice, and flavoring (I added vanilla extract and ground cinnamon).

For my batch, I emptied half of the sweetened condensed milk into a jar, added one and a half teaspoons vanilla extract, a dash of cinnamon, and filled with skim milk. Put the lid on, shake it up, and you are ready to go. Since I usually add skim to my creamer to lighten it up, this ratio works wonderfully for me. For convenience, I funneled it into the empty vinegar bottle (it pours easier!). Then, I use the mason jar to make the rest and store in the refrigerator. You need to shake it up before you pour ;-), but so worth it.



Now, I have over two weeks of yummy morning moments to enjoy for less than the cost of a single ready-made bottle. Moments that will be enjoyed, even as we read our morning books, race our cars on the dog, and drop our Goldfish crackers all over the floor...

Weekly Pinterest Addiction...Eco-Friendly!

Not only does Pinterest feed my dessert addiction (where else can you find an Oreo Red Velvet Truffle Brownie???????), but my poor pitiful yard may get a little attention out of my early morning browsing.

Before lil man, I spent hours in my yard, enjoying digging in the dirt, planting flowers, rearranging the stones and plants, and just being outdoors. Okay, maybe not hours, but pretty darn close. But, in the last two years, that in touch with nature time has gone to the wayside.
Until lil man discovered how much he loves it. He is my boy, after all!

So much changes when you have a baby. I've become more and more concerned with things that I may have taken for granted before. I've always been a recycle and try to do best for the environment kinda girl. But, even I admit that there were more things I could've done.

Pesticides/chemicals scare the bejeezus out of me, not only for my pup, but for my son. And then, there's the whole bee situation. I used something I thought was safe before, but now, I'm not so sure.

Enter Pinterest! After doing a quick search I found a "recipe" for a non-toxic weed killer, which I did a bit of back-up research on, as well.

White vinegar, table salt, and dish soap. Easy, safe, and much cheaper.





Most of the info I scoured recommended applying the mixture (I cut down the "recipe" to a pint of vinegar, 1/8 cup salt, and dash of dish soap) about three times, in the early morning, for the best results.

I wanted to get pictures of my before and after, but I was too anxious to get to spraying. I can tell you it worked just as well, if not better than the times I used Round-Up.

But this time, I feel so much better about having playtime, for all of us, outside!!

I loved the safe/eco-friendly aspect (to which I was playfully teased), and the husband loved the cheap (to which I playfully teased back).