Cheapskate

I went to get my hair cut the other night, and somehow we got on the subject of being cheap. Tammi, my hairstylist, said she was the Queen of bargain shopping. I told her I was cheaper because I only cut my hair once a year. Then she laughed at me. But then I started thinking about it and these are reasons why I think I am a cheapskate:

1. I cut my hair once, maybe twice, a year. Usually when I have an under $5 Great Clips coupon.
2. We don't want to pay for trash tickets so Michael takes our trash to his work dumpster.
3. It takes me 6 months to buy a pair of pants when I actually need a pair because $20 just isn't cheap enough. Question: why is it a pair of pants? It's only one.
4. We don't turn the a/c on unless it's going to be more than 95 outside.
5. We almost never use the a/c in our car to save gas.
6. We use grocery bags for Tippy's poo bags.

That's all I can think of for now. We're cool, but we're crazy...

New Food Pyramid

The USDA changed the food pyramid into something called myplate. They have left behind the food pyramid and brought in a more conceptual idea. Find more info at:

choosemyplate.gov

It now shows what your plate should contain. I LOVE this new concept! I hope this will help everyone understand more of what the ratio of food intake should be. Good job USDA!

Board Games!

As many of you know Michael and I LOVE board games! We now have almost 200 games in our collection. Since games are one of our passions, we decided to start a blog about them.

boardgameaddicts.blogspot.com

Enter the world of board game addicts and prepare to learn about different games, what we like about them, and if it would be a game you would want to buy!

Freezer Paper Projects!

For activity day girls we had them make their own canvas bags. They were super fun and easy to make! Here are the tools you will need:

*Something to put the design on (a bag, a shirt, a onesie, etc.)
*Freezer paper
*An exacto knife
*Something to cut on (cardboard or a cutting board)
*Fabric paint
*Paint sponges
*Paper plates
*An iron and ironing board

Here's how to do it:

Take clip art from the internet that you want to use. It needs to be simple. Something like this:

So, now trace this picture onto the rough side of the freezer paper. Then cut out the meat of the picture (the petals and the middle stem of the flower). You should have a square piece of freezer paper with a flower cut out of it. Now take this paper with shiny side down and iron it onto your bag or shirt. Then take your sponges and paint! 

 This is what it should look like. Now just wait until it dries (it shouldn't take too long). If you're in a hurry you can blow dry it dry. Then peel it off and behold the results!

Beautiful! 

School's out forever!!

I finally got my Bachelor's degree!! Yay for me! I finished in May 2011 and got my Bachelor's in Communication that I started oh so many years ago. Now, I want to become a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist so I can be a personal trainer but also coach people about their nutrition. One day I would like to become a registered dietician! That's my goal. Anyway, Michael threw me a surprise party for graduating. Isn't he so sneaky? Except I knew about it, I just didn't know when it was :)

 This is my cool sign!

 These are my cool friends!

These are my cool presents!

Hooray for graduating!!

Cake decorating class!

So I started taking a cake decorating class for fun and here's what I've done so far!

The 1st week I decorated some cookies, basically just learning the star tip.

The 2nd week I filled and decorated a cake! It was super fun. This week we only learned to use the round tip. Can you see my fish, bubbles and seaweed stuff?

And fish don't live without water so I had to add it to the sides!

How to Make Sushi!

At the request of many of you, here is how to make your own sushi. This will save you tons of $$ and you can get super creative.

To make the rice:

I use a rice cooker. It is super easy.
If you use white rice, use 1/4 C less the amount of water as normal. Example: For 2 C rice you would only put in 3 3/4 C water.
If you use brown rice (which I do) cook the rice normal. Example: For 2 C brown rice use 4 C water.

When the rice is done, add about 1 tbsp white or rice vinegar per each cup of rice. I like mine a little more vinegary so I do one extra tbsp. Then I add 2 tbsp Chia seeds but you can use Sesame seeds. Stir all this together.

To make the sushi:

Cut up anything you want in your sushi. Examples:

-Carrots
-Avocados
-Cucumber
-Zucchini
-Green Onion
-Cooked Eggs
-Crab
-Tuna
-Pickled Daikon (a delicious Korean radish)
-Red, Green or Yellow Peppers

Here is a picture of everything I used:

Now, take your toasted/roasted seaweed and place it shiny side down. SO, there is a shiny and a rough side. You want the rough side up and shiny side down. OK?

Now take some rice and spread it over about 1/4 - 1/2 of the seaweed like this

Now put your fixins in the middle of the rice pile like this

Now it's time to roll it up! Start at the side with the rice and fixins and roll it up once and try to shape it roundly.

Then pick up the top part of the bamboo mat and pull it so you can roll the sushi roll one more time. If you do not pick up the bamboo mat, you will roll it up with the sushi roll. Tasty.

Spuish down the roll and shape it roundly. Then pull the bamboo sheet again and roll the sushi roll up one more time.

Repeat process until the sushi roll is completely rounded and done.

Then cut the rolls with a serrated knife because they work the best. Then enjoy the beauty of your homemade sushi!!