moving.......

Well, I've needed to do this for a really long time, because my daughter accidentally messed up my Google/Blogger log-in......so I've been using her's for a long time......and needing to move my blog to my own log-in, etc.

I'm hoping that this will inspire me to post and share more, plus give my blog a much-needed face-lift.

So please change your links to this new one and follow me there, because I sure would hate losing you all. :-)

Here is my new address:

http://countrylifemom.blogspot.com/

I hope to see you there soon and please excuse the dust as I do some cleaning.... :-)

Finally back and Frosted Banana Bars.....

Well, it's been forever since I've shared anything here. Lots have happened, some not so great (actually quite terrible) and some awesome.....isn't that life? I'm hoping to get back into posting here. I'm finally getting my creativity back and have lots of projects that I'm working on.

But for now, I'll share with you a recipe for an awesome dessert bar that I made today. This is one of those recipes that copies went around of when I was working several years ago. We used to have big pot lucks for lunch a couple of times a year and these bars were made one time. They are so good and I had some bananas sitting around that desperately needed to be turned into something yummy, so this is what I made. I hope you enjoy!

One quick note......this is supposed to be baked in a 15"x10"x1" baking pan and I don't have one, so I used my baking dish that was a bit smaller. Needless to say, when the 25 minutes of cooking time was up, my bars weren't even close to being done. I ended up cooking them at least 15-20 minutes longer. So, if you are using a smaller pan, be sure to add some time and just keep watching them until they are done. :-)

Frosted Banana Bars:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)

Frosting:

1- 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

3-3/4 to 4 cups confectioners' sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add the creamed mixture. Stir in bananas. Spread into a greased 15"x10"x1" baking pan. Bake at 350F degrees for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool.

For the frosting, in a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. Gradually beat in enough confectioners' sugar to achieve desired consistency. Frost bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Yum.

Crafty Friday - beaded crosses

Well, I know that I said yesterday that Friday was going to be for paper crafts, but I think that I need to change that to general crafting! :-) I have been given the honor of helping to make the gifts for my daughter's 8th grade class. She goes to a small Catholic school, so there are about 60 kids in her grade. The other day I was given the supplies to make beaded crosses that will be given to the children next week at their Graduation Breakfast. I'm not sure who came up with the idea, but these are too pretty to not share!

First of all, look at all of these beautiful beads!

I just love all of the different colors. I am afraid to work on this project, because it might get me hooked on beading and I DO NOT need another hobby! lol But, all of these colors and playing with these beads really looks like so much fun! I have to admit that I'm one of those people who has to keep certain things separated, like all of my food in it's own pile on my plate, things that are similar grouped together just so......so that's why I came up with using one of GG's plastic plates to hold all of the beads. It works perfect for the job that I'm doing!

And here is what the completed beaded cross looks like......

The cross is made from wrapping 24-guage beading wire around two toothpicks that are in the shape of a cross. I honestly haven't made any of the actual crosses, they were given to me already made. But, I was told that this is how they were made. You just keep wrapping and wrapping until all of the toothpick is completely covered with wire. Then you start wrapping more wire on and adding beads here and there and wrapping the wire around the beads to secure them into place. It's quite easy and very pretty! As I'm making them this weekend, I will snap some photos so that I can share a tutorial on how to make them. :-) I just thought that these were too pretty to not share with you all today! And, it's what's crafty at my house today.....that and more crochet washcloths! lol I am so addicted to making them. They are so easy and a great way to help me unwind after a long day.

I hope you all had a wonderful Friday....it was so beautiful here today and an absolutely perfect day for daughter's Field Day at school! Happy Friday!

A new beginning.....

I've been wanting to do things different here for awhile and I think that nows the time! So, hopefully you will enjoy these changes and the information I want to share with you all.

To make things easier, I am going to start having daily themes for my posts. Things are pretty busy here right now with the end of the school year approaching. I have two children graduating this year. One from high school and one from 8th grade! So, I'm not sure that I will be able to share a post each day until things calm down a bit. But, here is what I've come up with as to what I would like to share with you and when.

Sunday- Living the Liturgy

One of the things that I really want to start doing is to incorporate the daily rhythms of the Church into our daily lives. I plan on sharing the ideas, activities and cooking that I have chosen for that week each Sunday.

Monday – Meal Plan Monday

Our weekly menu with some recipe shares and links.

Tuesday – Time with Tots

Another goal that I have is to start doing more organized and planned activities with my little 2 (almost 3!) year-old daughter, GG, so I will be sharing those ideas with you each Tuesday.

Wednesday- Sharing the wealth....

One of the ways that I de-stress at night is to surf the internet for fun blogs with craft project and recipes. I'll share my discoveries with you on Wednesdays!

Thursday- A Homemakers Tale

A time for me to share how I'm trying to make the most out of being a country girt at heart living in the city and all things homemaking!

Friday- Papercraft Projects

I'll show you any scrapbooking layouts, cards and other paper crafting projects that I've completed that week.

Saturday- Sew Wonderful

I'm trying to do more sewing (of all types!) so I keep you posted on what I'm working on and the finished product!

I hope that you enjoy these changes that I plan on making and if you like what you see, please share my link with your friends. Please let me know what you think and I look forward to sharing with you all!

a little softie bunny.....

So, I stumbled upon this super, cute (and FREE!) pattern for a softie bunny and I knew I wasn't going to be happy until I sewed one up for myself. I raided my fabric scraps and found some flannel check fabric and some cute blue floral fabric and in no time I had a sweet little bunny! If you decide to make this for a baby, I would use thread and sew the eyes, like I did the nose and not use buttons or anything that could be pulled off and swallowed.

I had to give her some sort of accessory, so I decided to make a fabric yo-yo and embellished ith with a button and some "leaves" that I made from ribbon. Now we just need to think of a good name for her........any suggestions? :-)

Homemade Produce Wash

I've been using this all-natural produce wash for a little while now. I made up a new batch of it today, so I took some pictures and thought I would share. It's super easy and WAY CHEAPER than the stuff that you buy at your grocery store.

Homemade Produce Wash:

1 spray bottle + one recycled jar

1 cup water

1 cup vinegar

1 tablespoon baking soda

20 drops grapefruit seed extract - (I get mine at Whole Foods)

Put the water and vinegar in a deep pitcher or big bowl. This is why...........

When you add the baking soda, cool science happens! lol The baking soda and the vinegar react and foam up like crazy. I was using an 8-cup measuring cup and it came very close to foaming over the top.

After the foam goes away, stir well. It will probably foam up again, but not as badly as the first time. Fill up your spray bottle and if you have any left over, pour it into your recycled glass jar. Be sure to label your jar, so you know what's inside!

To use, spray your produce and let it sit on your counter or in a bowl for 5 to 10 minutes. Rinse well and eat!

For small produce, like grapes and blueberries, I place the fruit in a bowl, spray the fruit real well and mix them up a bit with my fingers, spraying on more wash here and there. Then I let them sit and rinse.

I found this recipe at Recipezaar and I think it works great!

Game Face - layout

First of all, I have to say this.........

GO BIG RED!!!!!!!

Okay, now that I have that out of my system....lol I also have to say that the photo of my kids on the second page (acting like the statues) is by far one of my most favorite photos of my kids ever! lol I have a copy of this on my fridge and it makes me laugh every time I look at it. It's great for those times when I'm grumpy. lol This layout covers a couple of challenges. It was my submission at Practical Scrappers for their Bling Challenge that was last week (yep, I'm late on sharing mine here on my blog!) and it's also for a sketch challenge at a great Yahoo! Group called ScrapFromYourStash. The sketch is by Shawn at Nuts About Sketches. She has tons and tons of awesome sketches, so be sure to visit her blog to see them!!!!

Things are still crazy here.....I'm averaging one page a week......which I guess is better than zero! I'm trying to pull out all of my winter clothes right now, pack them up and move in my summer clothes. I need to do that for little GG, too, so I have quite a bit of clothes to go through!

I hope to share more with you soon!