How-To Foil Line Your Oven

I keep cookie sheets (2) on top of each other in the oven. Does anyone else do that?

With every project there is a story. This story, while funny now, was not so funny a few Saturdays ago.

All I wanted was some stupid cornbread. I used the special recipe on the back of the cornmeal box and it looked yummy! I was even thinking I could cut up hotdogs and stick the hotdogs & corn muffin mix into muffin tins. Hello-- home made bite-sized corn dogs.

Anyways, while the oven was preheating it started to smell bad. I opened the oven to see a flame. Awesome.

Turns out there was stuff on the bottom of the oven that caught on fire. I didn't see it, but we use the oven a lot so I'm sure it's possible. Who knows.

So because we cannot run the oven clean cycle while the dogs are home (the smell is bad for babies and dogs), I just cleaned it myself.

I used water, an old sponge, and dish soap. It literally got everything off! When it was all done I microwaved a wet cloth and did one final wipe down. That was it. The whole cleaning process took maybe 10 minutes.

 Before I was done I really wanted something to catch all the stuff that falls and that I could remove and either clean OR throw away.

Introducing.. tin foil.

It's pretty simple! Seriously. It did use a lot of tin foil, though.

:: Obviously, make sure your oven is off and has been off for a long period of time (1 day).

:: Tear off 4 long rectangles from the tin foil container. 

:: Fold your 4 rectangles in half, and place along the bottom of the oven.

:: Make sure your tin foil goes below the element. Feel free to lift your element up as your need to so you can get everywhere. The element in our oven was easy to move around. Check your oven's manual if you're nervous to touch it.

:: Pat the foil down and make sure it's on there nicely.

:: Your oven is ready for use! This will probably last a while but definitely replace when stuff starts to fall. (Probably after Thanksgiving with that turkey?!)

Good luck! xO

Smoothie Recipe-- Just 3 Ingredients

I didn't realize how many smoothie recipes I've posted. Whoops! We've had the chocolate banana and spinach smoothie, the smoothie trick using a popsicle, and I've even put broccoli in my smoothie.

Today's smoothie recipe is a bit less "complicated" with just 3 ingredients.

Of course the spinach is completely optional, but I always add it if I have it in the fridge. 

Tip: If you've never done spinach in a smoothie before, start with a small amount-- smaller than a handful. I have never been able to tell there is spinach in my smoothie but I made one for my sister and she could taste it. 

Very Berry Smoothie

-- 1 cup frozen berries (I use a combination bag from Target that had raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
-- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (As you can see I use Light & Fit because it's low calorie).
-- 1 cup milk
-- large handful of spinach (Optional)

Blend until well incorporated.

Sorry, I completely forgot to get a picture of the actual smoothie. Whoops! It doesn't turn green at all because the berries are so dark.

PS-- Can you spot my handy soap dispenser? Cute, huh?

Cool Idea-- Syrup Dispenser As Dish Soap Pourer!

Isn't this awesome? 

I have always used those olive oil dispensers for dish soap-- here's a picture if you need a visual. Ours was clear and it was always such a pain! Nathan always had issues getting the soap out, one time a fly got in there (how in the world does that happen?), and yesterday the soap stopped coming out.

So off to Target we went in hopes of finding something to dispense dish soap. For $6.99 this little gem popped up and I fell in love. Nathan loved it because "it's unique and we are unique".

I just dumped the soap from the oil dispenser straight into the new one. I had to wash the blender earlier and the dispenser worked perfectly-- opened, closed, and didn't spill. I'm sure with time that will change but for how cute it is? I'll gladly wipe it up everyday. :-)

Broccoli In A Smoothie? Delicious!

I am loving smoothies lately! Well, I've always loved them but lately they are just perfect after my 11AM run and I end up having one for lunch. So tasty, nutritious, and cold!

So today when I got back from my run and got everything out for my smoothie, I noticed the most important part was missing-- spinach! What the heck how did I not write that down?

A bag of broccoli pops into my head so I dragged it out of the freezer and gave it a whirly-bird.

It was super tasty!

I used about 1 handful-- I was too nervous to put anymore in. I used my other nifty smoothie trick (more on that here) instead of our "regular" smoothie recipe. 

You can see a tiny peek at the roses Nathan got me!

I was a teeny bit worried about it being "gritty", but it really wasn't. I blended it for about 30 seconds longer than I normally do, so that could be why. We also have a pretty "fancy" blender, LOL. It's the Ninja Pro Blender. My dream blender is the Vitamix but until then, this blender will suffice. :)

Enjoy! xO

New Smoothie Trick!

A few weeks ago I posted my Chocolate Banana Spinach Smoothie recipe. It's absolutely delicious and Nathan enjoys it almost it everyday! 

But, I'm not a chocolate person. I needed a fun way to add some flavor to my smoothies without being hugely caloric (Cough cough peanut butter) or expensive. 

Enter strawberry fruit bars. They are perfect!

I prepared my smoothie as I normally do-- milk, spinach, frozen strawberries, frozen bananas-- then I added in the fruit bars. Yes, I took them off the stick.

It was so delicious. The bars added just enough flavor and at 80 calories, I feel OK about adding that to my smoothie! 

Oh-- I used our Organic Skim Milk (Click here to read more on our organic journey) and couldn't taste a difference. :) Looks like we'll be buying that from now on. 

Enjoy! xO