Pinterest Busters: The Meal!

I forgot to post a Pinterest Buster on my Pinterest Busting day. Which is mostly because I forgot what day I said I'd do it, so there ya go. But hey, I'm doing it today, and I'll get back on a regular schedule next week. :) Today is a good day for Pinterest Busting because my brain needs a break from the thinking it did yesterday.

Today's Pinterest Busting exercise is all about the meals! I've been using the recipes I've saved on Pinterest as my new handy-dandy meal planning tool. I've been really uninspired lately, cooking-wise, so looking at recipes I've pinned has been helpful in that department.

Last night, I'd planned one thing for dinner, but then Cowgirl had plans with a friend who's moving, and hubby had to work, so it was just me and the Princess. (That kind of sounds like a book title- Me and the Princess.) So I went to my handy dandy food board to see what I could whip up.

The menu:

Appetizer: Hot & Skinny Spinach Dip

Main Course: Ramen Noodle Upgrade

Snack: Roasted Chickpeas

 

Hot and Skinny Spinach Dip

I'd been wanting to make the Hot & Skinny Spinach Dip for a while now, so I was excited to make this. I followed the directions almost exactly. When I say almost exactly, I mean that instead of plain Greek yogurt, I used honey vanilla because it was all I had, and the point was to NOT go to the store. I do not advise doing this. When we ate it, at times, I could taste a weird sweet flavor (the honey vanilla) that just wasn't right. Still, it was really yummy, and I will make this again!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ramen Noodle Upgrade

I wanted to try this recipe because my kids LOVE Ramen noodles, but I want them to have something a little more substantial. This seemed like a nice compromise. I changed this recipe slightly because I'm trying to eat more protein, and added a chopped up grilled chicken breast when I added in the other mix-ins. We also omitted the Siracha, because my kiddo doesn't do spicy.

This recipe was pretty much a bust. Princess took one bite of it and said, "this has a peanut flavor." I said, "That's because it has peanut butter in it, isn't it yummy?" Her response, "No. It's gross. Can I have some ice cream?" She did get ice cream, but only after she finished the nasty stuff. We had to add extra soy sauce to make it palatable, and I think I would have tossed it and made something else had it not been for the chicken. The chicken part was yummy.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roasted Chickpeas

I've been in love with this idea for a while now. I like crunchy snacks. I need to eat more healthy snacks. A marriage made in heaven, right? I made the garlic Parmesan version, but I tasted a chickpea fresh out of the oven before seasonings, and well, it was not yummy. I almost spit it out. But I added the seasonings, and tried it that way. Still not yummy, but better than plain. Princess did spit hers out, and asked for ice cream. This time, since I felt bad for her having also had to eat the nasty ramen, I gave her ice cream. I left them in a bowl on the counter, and because I can't not snack on something if it's there, even those those were nasty little things, I would take a few as I passed. The taste improves with time. I would not say that they're my favorite snack, and I probably won't eat them often, but I still might give them another try, and experiment with the flavors. The crunch is really satisfying, so if I can just find a good flavor, we might have a winner.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bonus! One of my yummy creations! Healthier Hot Chocolate

Since I'm working hard at being healthier, I wanted to try a healthier version of hot chocolate. When I was at the health food store during one of their Christmas sample events, one of the ladies had a machine that she used to make a version of this. Only I forgot everything she used. So here is my best approximation.

1 cup chocolate almond milk
cinnamon to taste

Mix almond milk and cinnamon in a cup. Microwave 1 minute, 30 seconds. Stir and enjoy!

I did some nutrition checking, and the powdered hot chocolate mix has the same amount of calories as the almond milk. So you're not getting a difference calorie-wise, but at least you're not getting all the junk. Also, I've done this with a different brand of almond milk (but can't remember the name), and I liked the flavor better, but this was still yummy.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What fun Pinterest experiments have you done lately?

 

Pinterest Busting the Baking Soda Stove Cleaner

I saw this one a while ago. And if any of you have glass top stoves, you know the deception of thinking that because it doesn't have all those nooks and crannies like your old stove, it'll be sooo much easier to clean. Then your kids make Ramen a few times, and you're looking at these freakish rings that you just can't get off.

Or maybe that's just at my house.

Trust me when I say that I have tried just about everything to get my stove clean. Usually it takes a magic eraser and lots of elbow grease, but we have been known to scrape it off with hubby's Dremel.

So when I saw this trick, I thought I'd try it, but I wasn't terribly hopeful.

Here's what you do:

1. Sprinkle a generous amount of baking soda on to the stovetop.

2. Take a rag (I used a hand towel) and soak it in hot, soapy water. (The site I took it from soaked in a bowl, but why take out a bowl when you have a perfectly good sink?)

3. Wring out about half of the water and lay the rag across the stovetop.

4. Leave it on for about 15 minutes.

5. Using the rag and the paste made from the baking soda, scrub the stovetop.

And... you should have a clean stovetop.

The site I used said she did it twice. I've done it up to three times, and it never comes out perfectly clean, BUT, it is a whole lot better than anything else I've tried. The only thing that has gotten mine any cleaner is when I whine a super lot and hubby takes out his Dremel, scrapes off the mess, and it's dirty the next day. So this is much cheaper, easier, and headache free.

Not perfect, but hey, who needs perfect? I was very happy with the results. In fact, this is now my go-to stove cleaning method. I sprinkle the baking soda, throw on the towel, do my other kitchen cleanup stuff, and then I have a clean stove. Easy-Peasy. Looks better than when I did the other stuff and is less work.

Pinterest Party!

I've been mulling this idea for a while, but as I've been looking at my calendar, I realized that I have almost no time to get it going unless I do it now!

Since I'm trying to find the incentive to actually DO some of the great projects I keep finding on Pinterest, I've decided it's not enough to simply post once a week about them... I'm taking it to the next level! I'm having a Pinterest Party at my house.

Some of you live too far away, but I'm hoping to take lots of pictures to spark your creativity. And, I'll be having a contest for you to pin your favorite ideas. If you are local and we know each other personally, let me know and I'll send you an invite!

 

Here are the deets!

1. Bring your favorite Pinterest food to share.

2. Bring a Pinterest craft that you made to exchange for someone else's Pinterest craft.

3. Bring copies of the recipe and craft directions for those who want to try it themselves.

4. Come and have fun!

 

 

Pinterest Busting the Mattress Cleaner

I've been working on my Pinterest projects, more importantly, seeing which ones work. Last week, I tackled my microwave. This week's project, in honor of being husband-free (he's on a trip), I decided to tackle cleaning my mattress.

Now you have to understand, I'm married to a stinky man. Well, I think all men stink, but my man does physical work for a living, so he comes home stinky. Plus, I let my dog sleep on the bed. Which means I have a stinky bed. I really hate having a stinky bed. So when I saw this pin to clean your mattress, I just had to try it.

Following the directions, I measured out a cup of baking soda (I put it in a plastic container since I didn't have a mason jar) and added 4 drops of lavender essential oil. I put on the lid, shook it up really good, and got to work. I tried sprinkling it with a kitchen strainer, but my holes were too big and I don't think it sprinkled very well. So I had to really watch how it sprinkled because otherwise, I got clumps of the cleaner. I noticed that a fast motion was better than slow.

Then, I let it sit while we went out to dinner and take hubby to the airport. When we came home, I went to vacuum it and realized I had a small problem. Someone lost the upholstery attachment for my vacuum. That happens a lot in my house. We have these ghosts- I don't know, someone, and no one- and they have a tendency to lose things. I had to vacuum it with my regular hose attachment and it was a real pain. So... before you start this project, make sure that you didn't have a mysterious ghost take your upholstery attachment.

When I finished, my mattress smelled great. I loved crawling in bed to clean sheets and clean mattress. The lavender smell was light and soothing. I am really sensitive to strong scents, and I didn't think it was overpowering.

I can't speak to the claim of getting rid of dust mites, but I'll take it. I'd like to think those nasty things are gone. :) One thing I will mention is that this does not take the stains out of your mattress... so if you're looking for it to take out the stains, you'll have to find another solution.

All in all, I'm really happy with the results. I'm calling it confirmed! Of course, hubby hasn't slept in the bed yet, so he might not agree, but I'm not sure I want to let him get my bed all stinky again. Hmmm... I wonder if Pinterest has any stinky husband eliminators?

Pinterest Busting the Microwave Cleaner

I don't know about you, but I find the whole microwave cleaning thing more than daunting. I've bought the spatter covers (and then my kids don't use them), I've threatened bodily harm to my family if they don't cover things in the microwave, and my microwave still looks like this:



So there you have it... my dirty microwave. After I saw a pin on Pinterest telling me how to get it clean and shiny, I thought, "what have I got to lose?" Dirt, germs, and probably diseases I'd rather not know about.

The directions said to follow these steps:

1. Pour 1 cup of vinegar into a 2 cup measuring cup.

2. Add 1 cup of hot water.

3. Microwave for about ten minutes.

4. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, then wipe with a wet cloth.

 

I followed those instructions. There was still a lot of junk stuck inside the microwave. Something really icky was caked under the turntable, so I took it out and soaked it, then cleaned underneath. I had to really scrape to get the caked stuff off. Then I noticed that the top of the microwave was still kinda icky.

 



 

I grabbed my usual spray cleaner and sprayed and scrubbed, but it wouldn't come off.  After about 5 minutes, I went back to Old Faithful, aka my Magic Eraser, and scrubbed the rest off.

I then went back to the original instructions, took some rubbing alcohol, and shined it up. I thought the rubbing alcohol left it streaky, so I ended up having to go back and fix the streaks. Still, it did end up looking nice at the end.

Conclusion:

While this was not a quick fix and it didn't seem like it came as easily as the pin implied, I did think that it made it easier to clean the inside of my microwave. I did have to scrub, but it wasn't nearly as much as I've had to do in the past. I'd say this one is mostly confirmed. It definitely helps, but it's not the complete fix.



 

Have you tried this method of cleaning your microwave? Did it work for you?

Pinterest Busters!

 

I have a slight Pinterest addiction. I thought I had it under control, aka I stopped visiting, but when I needed to get on for a work project, I couldn't stop. I love finding all of the great projects and seeing how I can do different things. But as my pinning has gotten out of control, I've realized that I have a lot of cool ideas, but there's so many things I'd like to do that it's almost overwhelming. What do I do? How do I start?

I'm not a very handy or crafty person. I like them in theory, but I'm terrible at executing most projects. As I look at some of the ideas, I also wonder- does this thing really work? I've tried making a few pins with limited success. Is it me? Or is it the project? And, as I see that there are similar recipes for the same food/cleaning hint/etc, I wonder which is the most effective.

Which has led me to my quest- Pinterest Busting!

Every Thursday, I'm going to post a new Pinterest project that I've attempted- and the results. I hope you'll join me and share your projects as well as your results. What works? What doesn't? What are you willing to attempt?