round 2 of the of the secret thrift shop

I found this awesome porcelain fondue pot. It even had the original tags inside!

Okay...I decided to make one more little quick trip to my secret thrift store today. They said they are going to continue putting out new stuff till they move in May..AND with %75 off I just had to take a peek. I rationalized with myself that if I buy something new, I need to donate something old. A) So I don't turn into a hoarder. B) To keep the cycle of thrifting going.

Vintage Pyrex baking dish..LOVE Pyrex...

This great little vintage purse.

2 heart shaped gold pendants that I am going to put on a necklace.

A stack of 8x10 wood frames that I am going to stain all the same color to FINALLY put these pictures up on our wall.

If anybody knows what this is please leave me a comment and tell me! I don't have a clue. But...I have big plans for this unknown artifact tomorrow.

baked banana ambrosia

Last night after I put Max to bed..and had a little glass of wine ;)..I was browsing my new thrifted cookbook and bookmarked a bunch of desserts I wanted to try. We have a ton of bananas in our fridge at the moment so I hopped on over to the banana section. I spotted something that sounded delicious...Baked Banana Ambrosia! ...I had to google to word ambrosia because I had no idea what it meant. According to dictionary.com it means "The food of the gods"....there was also another meaning that said it meant "A fruit dessert made of shredded coconut and oranges"...Boring. I like the first definition.

What you'll need:

• 4 peeled bananas
• 5 tablespoons of orange juice
  
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup of shredded coconut ( I used a little more)

1. Cut bananas into little slices. Place them in a baking dish that has a lid.

2. Combine orange juice, lemon juice and honey in a small bowl. Pour over banana slices.

3. Pour coconut over bananas; cover.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes.

5. Serve warm

Such a simple YUMMY little treat!

Sharing this recipe here.

thrifting loot

My favorite, very hidden thriftstore is moving..because it is secret and no one can find it but me..SAD FACE!...BUT they are having a moving sale for the month of April and everything is 75% off! Happy face!! I made my way over there today and found some lovely things.

• 2 unique little cocktail glasses-the lady behind me in line said they would be perfect ice cream glasses and I agree..
• 2 glass plates. I have always wanted little glass plates. Perfect for when friends come over and you serve a slice of pie on them.
• 2 beautiful hand painted plates, which remind me of something you would find at Anthropologie....but without the crazy price tag.
  

Yep I may be a little obsessed with leather belts..but I found some great ones!.. So and I figured since they were on SALE (this is how hoarders think) I couldn't NOT get them :)

A little stack of t-shirts..okay not that cool..but the project I plan on doing with them is.

My receipt! Happy Face!

As I was leaving I decided to take a quick peek at the book section. I found this little gem. It was published in 1954 and has all these amazing recipes that I can not wait to try!

10 whole cents! I couldn't believe it.

recycled belt bracelet

You are pretty much guaranteed to find a plethora of belts at any thrift store. BIG ones, small ones, leather ones, fabric ones, plastic ones..you get the idea...you name it they've probably got it. I have been on the lookout for a white, skinny leather belt. I have been wanting to do this little project for a while now, just had to wait till the right belt came along..and it did!

What you need:

• Old belt (I found mine at the Goodwill for $2)
• Scissors
• Leather punching tool. If you don't have this you can use a nail and a hammer.

Fasten the belt around your wrist to figure out how tight you want it.

Use a pencil to mark where the new hole for the buckle is going to go.

Punch your hole.

Cut about an inch behind the buckle, and round it out with the scissors.

You now have a recycled belt bracelet :)

I plan on using the remainder of the belt for another little project soon.

a breath of fresh air

There were thousands of beautiful wild flowers

Rest stop

The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately. Perfect hiking weather...and no we didn't travel two hours away to find awesome hiking trails ;)

It was a teeny bit cloudy, which equals amazing lighting for picture taking in the aperture mode..yep did not use automatic once OR the flash..pretty big deal ha!

Have a wonderful Easter everyone!

chocolate avocado muffins

Avocados and chocolate? Yep they go together...I promise! I picked up some organic locally grown avocados yesterday and made some yummy antioxidant packed muffins! I was almost sure there were no other weirdos who would put avocados in muffins, but I was wrong. I guess you can put anything in a muffin, even sardines...NO thank you, sardines are staying out of my muffins...but there is an actual recipe if your curious.

What you'll need:

• 2 ripe organic avocados
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 5 unsweetened baking squares
  
• 1 tsp baking powder...I once made a cake and thought "Oh well I don't have baking powder and the recipe only calls for 2 little scoops..so I will leave it out." Result = flat cake :(
  
• 1 tsp baking soda
  
• 4 tbs of honey
  
• A couple dashes of salt
• 2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 3/4 unsweetened almond milk
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
  

Mush up the two avocados.

In a large bowl add melted chocolate, olive oil, honey, vanilla, and almond milk.
In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.
Mix the avocado mixture with the dry ingredients until you have a nice smooth consistency.

I was a tiny bit worried that these would taste funky..but nope they are delicious!!

diy environmentally friendly candle

What you'll need:

• Recycled baby jars
• Essential oil (you can also use vanilla or almond extract)
• Toxic free crayons for color
• Pre-waxed wire wick (Michaels)
• Microwavable soy wax

Why soy is better than traditional paraffin wax:

• Its biodegradable
• Its non-toxic. With a little guy crawling around the last thing I want is him inhaling toxic "German chocolate cake" scented candles.
• Its renewable...which equals better for the planet.
  

Melt wax in microwave for about 1 min 30 sec. Let cool. Add essential oil.

Melt crayon (more on this at the end) on the stove for about 30 seconds. One crayon adds a lot of color and melts FAST.

Place wick at bottom of candle...and pour wax in.

Let candles cool for about 20 min. Trim wick..actually should have done this earlier..but I forgot :)

Enjoy your toxin free soy candle!

Lesson learned:
Use an OLD pot that you don't mind getting ruined by dried crayon wax. Woooopsie. Should have realized that when wax is REALLY HOT and you pour cold faucet water on it immediately, you make it HARD and it sticks and doesn't come off. Well..now I have a craft pot.

There are so many things you can do, big or small to make our planet a safer cleaner place to live. I want to be a good example to my little sponge (Max) and teach him...even though we are just one family we can make a difference....
Simple things like buying organic locally grown food, reusing materials and recycling bottles and glass jars is a great place to start. In honor of Earth Day this Friday, I am going to do my best to post a "Green diy" each day this week as a reminder of how easy is it to be a little more environmentally friendly.

home sweet home

Baby after bath is one of the best things ever.

Noticed today (that's what happens when you stop trying to plan butterfly adventures) that our apple tree was starting to blossom.

Enjoyed the beautiful warm evening with my husband.

A few months ago I bombarded Ian with this new family plan. Every Saturday was going to be some sort of family fun day...where we would do something active and FUN and NEW..EVERY Saturday (yes I can be a little annoying at times). The idea was to get out of town and DO stuff. You know..like go to the Zoo, baseball games, crazy hiking adventures two hours away, butterfly farms ( where you wear bright colors and the butterflies flock to you...he was not diggin this idea) and the list goes on and on. After a few weekends of my crazy idea I decided that it is totally okay to be at home with my two favorite people in the whole world... and relax. Plus I highly doubt the Zoo and the Long Beach fish aquarium are going anywhere anytime soon...