April Loves of the Month

Somehow it’s the end of April already.  Here in Phoenix that means that our air conditioners have been on for a bit, and in other parts of the country, such as Nebraska, that means that it may snow tomorrow.  Crazyness.  I would love some of that cold air to come here and in return I’d be willing to share some of our heat :)  If only it worked that way!

Since it’s the end of April that also means it’s time for my loves of the month - my favorite music, movies, books, or anything else that I think everyone should know about because it’s just so darn amazing.

Based on a recommendation, I read Mindy Kaling’s (from the Mindy Project and The Office “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns)” and I loved it.  It’s a very quick read and full of random, funny stories.  It was right up my alley.  I told Mr. C I had plenty of weird, random, funny stories and maybe I should write a book like this.  He politely informed me that no one would read it.  Ha!

Mr. C and I checked out the movie “Homerun” this past weekend and loved it.  Although it’s partially about baseball, the movie is more about family, dealing with the past and forgiving even when it seems impossible.   The movie is from a Christian perspective and had a really great message.  The acting was a bit cheesy in a few parts, but overall it was a great movie and definitely one I’d recommend seeing and supporting in the theatre.

Sara Bareilles is one of my all-time favorite artists.  Her songs are always unexpected, anything but cliché, and her voice is natural and beautiful.  Her songs have a great message and since hearing one of her hits years ago, “Love Song”, about her refusal to sell out to the pop scene by just writing a catchy song, I’ve been a huge fan.  I’ve never been disappointed by her music, and her new single, “Brave”, does not disappoint.  You can check out the music video here (also a great music video).

Fossil Collective is my favorite album of the month.  One of their songs was free on itunes and after one listen I was hooked.  The album is mellow and original.  If you haven’t figured it out by now I’m mostly an alternative girl and I like albums with some substance that I can play straight through without getting bored.  This album was just that for me.

…However I’m also loving ZZ Ward’s album.  I really tried to just pick one, but I couldn’t!  I originally fell in love with her song, “Put the Gun Down” which is a perfect song to blast with the windows open (if you were wondering).  While I love the entire album, “Til the Casket Drops”, “Last Love Song”, and “Lil Darlin” are a few of the songs I find myself repeating the most.

Did you find any amazing books, movies, or songs/albums this month?  If so I’d love to hear about them!  We have an upcoming trip and I really need a great book for the flight.

Fabric Flower Wreath

I have a bit of a wreath obsession.  I recently realized I didn’t have one for spring/summer which is of course a huge problem.  I’ve been itching to make one of those yarn wreaths that have been popping up all over pinterest and I figured this was a great opportunity for that. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

-foam wreath form

-yarn

-felt scraps

-fabric scraps (I used a combo of scraps and some quilting squares you can usually pick up for around $2)

-buttons for the center of the flowers

-hot glue gun

Wrap the form completely in yarn.  I did this while watching TV and it went pretty quick.  To start, I looped the yarn around and tied a knot, continued wrapping, and when I finished I tied another knot in the back of the wreath.

For the flowers you’ll need to cut out 8 equal circles for the base and 8 smaller circles for the center (I used a stencil, but as long as your fabric is semi-circle shaped that’s just fine).  You can cut more or less circles, depending on how full you want your flower.  You’ll also need a small felt circle.  The felt acts as your base so you just need it large enough to be able to glue the tips of the base petals on.

For each circle, fold it in half, then half again.  You just glue this onto the felt circle.  Mine halfway overlapped since I used 8 circles.  Repeat with the second set of circles and finish with a pretty button on top.  When I was finished I glued inside some of the “petals” as necessary.

For each circle, fold it in half, then half again.  You just glue this onto the felt circle.  Mine halfway overlapped since I used 8 circles.  Repeat with the second set of circles and finish with a pretty button on top.  When I was finished I glued inside some of the “petals” as necessary.

I varied the size of my three flowers but you can really do whatever floats your boat.

I chose to pin my flowers onto the wreath so I can swap them out as the seasons change, but you could also glue it if you’d prefer.

That’s it!  It would be pretty to hang with a piece of burlap or ribbon too.

Dishwasher Detailing

Just try to keep your socks on for this super exciting post today.  Today’s post is all about…..(drumroll)……cleaning your dishwasher!  Did you like that suspense?  You might be thinking “who the heck cleans their dishwasher, doesn’t it clean itself?  Has Mrs. C lost her mind”?  The short answer is no, I have not lost my mind.

I started to notice that the glasses were coming out of the dishwasher with food stuck to the bottom of them.  Typically I noticed this when I was halfway done with my water and finally realized there was icky stuff in my glass.  One day I had enough and decided it was time to clean our dishwasher.  Here’s what I did:

1. Check the bottom of the dishwasher to ensure there’s nothing blocking the drain.

2. Pour 1 cup of vinegar in a dishwasher safe measuring cup/bowl and set it on the top rack.  The dishwasher should be empty except for this.

3. Run a full cycle on the hottest setting (I find that it helps to run the sink water until it’s hot – I know, not super eco-friendly- before I start the dishwasher)

4. Once the cycle has finished, wipe down the inside of the dishwasher, including the bottom.  Be careful to avoid burning yourself on the heating element.

That’s it!  I was shocked at how clean my dishes have been since then.  The glasses come out sparkly clean now and it was so simple I wish I had tried it earlier.

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!  One of the reasons I love Earth Day is because Target always gives out free bags!  There are other reasons to enjoy the day though; one being that it’s a great reminder to examine how our living is directly impacting our world.  In the past few years there’s been a huge push to “be green”.  While the slogan is overused and a bit tacky, many companies have been jumping on the bandwagon and upping their recycling efforts.  By now, recycling is pretty thoughtless; most of us have recycle bins at work and home that accept almost anything.  I found out the other day that we can recycle plates at work – plates that have BBQ sauce and coleslaw smeared all over them, as long as you scrape them off.  That’s just plain craziness!

A few years ago I went on a natural/eco-friendly kick but I realized that it’s important to do what works for your lifestyle and time. I’m not suggesting to only do what’s easy, but if you have 10 kids and live in a snowy climate then drying your clothes on a line probably isn’t going to work for you.  Here are a few small, but easy things we’ve continued doing at the Centner house to do our part for the environment.

We ALWAYS take our reusable bags to the grocery store.  It was difficult to remember for the first few weeks but eventually it became a habit and I just grab them when I grab my grocery list.  We bought a few large canvas bags from Whole Foods and what fits in one bag is equal to about 4-7 plastic bags (BTW, what’s up with those baggers only putting 2 items in each plastic bag?).  We’ve had the canvas bags for at least two years and they have held up great.   Most places give you around a 5 cent credit per bag as well so theoretically the bags would pay for themselves in ten years….ok, maybe sooner….

We even went a step farther and bought our own produce bags as well.  I ordered these from a wonderful shop on Etsy, Love for Earth but I’ve seen them popping up in a lot of stores lately.  We get lots of compliments from cashiers on these so if you’re trying to pick up a cashier these might be your meal ticket!

We also use small bags from Whole Foods for our lunches.  Previously I would take plastic grocery bags to work and end up throwing them away when I was finished which  just resulted in a lot of trash.  These do wear out eventually but last a good year if you take care of them and I've seen so many other cute lunch bags.

We purchased reusable ziplock type bags to use for things like veggies, fruit, and sandwiches in our lunches (also from Love for Earth).  I have to admit that I haven’t been using these as much as I used to, but if you pack lunches they are a great investment.  We also use Tupperware type containers for things I used to put in ziplock bags, such as grapes, chips, veggies, etc.  These require a small investment in the beginning but have definitely paid themselves off since I’m not buying ziplock bags like they are going out of style anymore.

Last year I decided to try to cut out as many paper products as possible (I'm never getting rid of toilet paper though...that’s a bit too far for me!).  We started by buying some basic cloth napkins that we use everyday.  I love that they can be bleached and they look much nicer than paper napkins.  I found these on Etsy from Love for Earth (I REALLY like their products if you can't tell) as well.

Lastly, I switched to mostly Norwex products for cleaning.  My friend began selling them last year and I was hooked from the beginning.  The cloths are all antibacterial which means that I can clean my bathroom counter and mirrors (among other things) with just the cloths and water.  I’ve saved so much money on cleaning products and I appreciate that I can avoid using harsh chemicals.  Eventually I purchased the sweeper and mop which work like a swiffer except that I can wash the pads instead of throwing them away.

I’m setting more eco goals for myself this year and hope I've inspired you to set a few for your house this year.  For one, I’m hoping to actually begin using those reusable Target bags. 

The little things really do add up, especially if everyone is doing their part.  When I change the toilet paper roll and think that it would be so much easier to throw it away than to walk to the recycle bin (which isn’t honestly that far away), I just think about how my 20 second laziness will mean that there’s one more item going to the dump.  I find my way to the recycle bin pretty darn quickly.

FYI - I’m not being compensated to endorse any of these products/companies – I just enjoy their products and hope you will too.

Happy Earth Day!

Mushroom Stuffed Shells

I'm back!  I'm sorry for my lack of blogging, I've just had so much going on and to be honest I think I misplaced my motivation for awhile as well.  Sometimes you just need a break and I decided to just let myself take one.  Although I was breaking from blogging, I didn't stop trying out new recipes and I have some wonderful ones to share with you.  I really can't even remember how I ever found anything online before Pinterest.  Did I have to google everything?  That sounds horrible!

Without further ado, I have one of my favorite cool weather recipes to share with you.  For those of you in the states that actually have seasons, this is a great time of year to make this.  For those of you also in AZ, you might want to whip this up soon since we're already hitting the 80's and it's only going downhill from here!

I stumbled upon a stuffed shells recipe and made a few tweeks until I was completely in love with it.  It's one of my favorite dishes to make during the week because it reheats well and we have delicious leftovers for days after.

Stuffed Shells

Slightly adapted from: 101cookbooks.com

8-10 servings

Sauce Ingredients

1/3 c. olive oil

1 ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes

dash of salt

6 garlic cloves (this translates to 2-3 large spoonfuls of minced garlic to me...)

28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

14 oz. can chopped tomatoes

Filling Ingredients

15 oz. container light ricotta cheese

1 egg, beaten

1 c. grated mozzarella

1 bunch chives, chopped

lemon zest (1/3 of lemon)

1 lb. baby bella mushrooms, sliced

butter or oil for cooking

25-30 jumbo dried pasta shells

Put a large pot to boil and prepare shells in well-salted water according to directions (prepare al dente).  DO NOT OVERCOOK shells.  In the meantime, make the sauce and filling.  If noodles are cooked before sauce and filling is ready, I drain them and drizzle a bit of olive oil over them to keep them from sticking together.

To make sauce – combine olive oil, red pepper flakes, salt, and garlic in saucepan.  Sauté for about a minute or until fragrant.  Stir in tomatoes and heat to gentle simmer.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.  Simmer until ready to assemble shells.

To make filling – Sauté mushrooms in butter or oil until cooked (I start with 1 TB butter or oil and add more as needed).  Mushrooms will release liquid, darken, and will be very tender.  I typically sample quite a few just to make sure they are done :)

Combine all filling ingredients in medium bowl and mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and begin assembling shells.

Spread 1/3 of sauce across bottom of 9 x 13 pan.  Fill each shell with filling and arrange in a single layer across pan. (I like to lay out the filled shells on a cutting board so I can adjust the filling as needed).  Ladle remaining sauce over shells, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes, removing foil after 15 minutes.  

Enjoy!  I'd love to know what you think if you try these.  They can be very addicting!

January Loves

I love getting recommendations for almost anything; I think that you have to feel strongly about something to recommend it to your best friend or mother.  That's how I've found some of my favorite books, restaurants, stores, products and so many other things.  At the end of every month I'll be posting my "loves of the month", my favorite books, music, movies, food, and anything else I think you just shouldn't live without knowing about.

I spent a lot of January reading and I was trying to get away from the young adult books (since I'm about 10 years out of that age bracket), but I read some great reviews about the book Divergent by Veronica Roth so I decided to give it a try.  I had that book and the sequel, Insurgent, done in less than a week and found myself sad that I'd have to wait months for the third book.  The book has a very Hunger Games feel and similarly has a dystopian setting.  For me, the book was an insightful look into community, finding oneself, and an ultimate choice between right and wrong and it was a nice change from some of the other young adult books that have one main focus.

If you're looking for something a bit more serious, I Couldn't Love You More by Jillian Medoff is also a great read.  I was sucked into this book as well and found myself on the couch reading whenever I had a free minute.  This book ultimately dealt with the impossible choice when a parent must pick which child to save.  Entertwined through the book are stories of family relationships, dealing with the past, and moments that change lives forever.

Lastly I have some amazing music to recommend.  I downloaded The Lumineers album for my flight home over Christmas and I fell in love with it instantly.  The Lumineers are a folk rock band although most people would probably label them alternative.  Once mainstream music picks up alt songs that's usually about the time I become sick of them, but I'm still in love with this album, even the very overplayed song Ho Hey.  This has quickly become the playlist I throw on when I'm cooking and I seem to find a way to play it almost daily even when I'm not cooking.  The songs are catchy but soulful and the album has a very unique feel; going from sweet with the cello playing the background to a rockish feel that always seems to lead to me dancing in the kitchen with Coconut or a spatula (Coconut gets sick of dancing with me sometimes).  

If you have any books, music, unknown movie, amazing website, or anything else you'd like to recommend, I'd love to hear about it!  You can always share your recommendations in the comments section or on my blog facebook page and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the books or album if you give them a shot :)

Happy 2013!

2012 was full of small joys, new experiences, some sad and trying times, some friendships made deeper and some that didn't stand up, the familiar presence of family and friends, and a lot of the everyday routine that comes from working, cooking, cleaning, and sleeping like any normal human being.  As I was reading friends' posts on facebook, I realized that 2012 was a slightly uneventful year for me.  We had some celebrations and milestones, but if I'm being honest, I'd say I was a bit lazy/comfortable in 2012 actually.  

Mr. C and I spent the afternoon of January 1, 2013 being lazy so I certainly hope that's not an indication of the year to come.  I don't really believe in resolutions because they seem to just be set to be broken.  They're overdone and every year it seems that the same resolutions come up, proving that not much came of them the year before.  However, every year around January 1 I get a burst of energy and decide I want to organize everything, eat super healthy, take walks daily, do my devotions, get plenty of sleep, and spend time focusing on the people I love while maybe making some huge changes like moving to China or saving a million dollars (still working on the lottery for that one...).  I follow that up with thinking, "this year (insert year) is going to be the best EVER!"  Then life kicks in and I find myself driving the same way to work, groggy and eating my not-so-amazing breakfast I grabbed on my way out the door as I power-walked faster than I have in months since I haven't been taking daily walks.  I glance at the calendar, and realize holy cow, it's December 31st and I've forgotten all my resolutions.  This is the relationship between resolutions and I.  It's not that I don't love my life; it's pretty great in so many ways, but we all have things we want to change, and resolutions are the hope that in the new year we'll do just that.  Sometimes life becomes too full of things that we forget to stop and take some time to do something that makes our day extraordinary or just appreciate everything we've been blessed with.  So no matter how I try to give up, I can't stop that excitement that hits me when I realize it's a new year.  This year I'm not writing specific resolutions but I have ideas in my head about things I'd like to work on, and this year I'm going to attempt to do just that.  Without setting myself up for failure, I've decided that this year is going to be the best year ever (I used lowercase letters to show how I wasn't letting myself get caught up in this new year's thing).  I hope the new year holds amazing things for you and I'd like to thank you again for caring enough to let me share a part of my life with you through my blog, even when I've had a lazy year and become a bit of a blogger slacker :)  One of my resolutions is to be a better blogger!