Early Monday

Well, I intend to avoid labor on Labor Day so I thought I would post my recipe today.
So here is my favorite muffin recipe -- hooray for FALL and wonderful baked goods.

Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

1c. old fashioned oats
1 c. natural applesauce
2 T. plus 1 t. oil
1 T. baking powder (ok, we've just learned about Rumfords Aluminum Free and it really does make a WORLD of a difference when you're baking! We bought ours at Good Earth)
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. rice milk (or reg. milk or soy, whatever!)
3/4 c. whole wheat flour (by the way, I am trying to use up my hard red wheat and it has been doing fine for these muffins. Pancakes on the other hand ....)
1/4 c. dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dry ingredients by hand. Make a well in the center and pour in your applesauce. Add your milk and oil on top of that. Mix together until everything is moist. Pour into pre-greased muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes. Check and bake more as needed.

By the way, if you LOVE healthy cooking -- or simply want to learn more about it, check out THIS AWESOME BLOG.

What's today??

I love this idea for a fun (and pretty simple) calendar! This looks like something you could easily make yourself out of wood without directions.
The great thing about this project is that it can easily be customized for any style -- manly for your husband's office, or girly for your craft room.
If you have a Cricut you could even cut your own vinyl letters so you don't have to do any stenciling (which I'm really not good at!).
The directions (as well as a "manly" example) can be found HERE. (photo and directions courtesy of Canon).

Ways to say "Thanks"

I love paper crafts and I love simple projects that can be used as a "Thank You" gift. I have to bring a treat once a month for church as a reward for sisters who did the assigned reading before class, so I am always looking for simple inexpensive paper crafts.
I used this idea on Sunday and made a very simplified version of this project using paper I had on hand. I still think it turned out cute, though I used KoolAid over Crystal Light. I hate Crystal Light. Splenda taste makes me want to barf. Just thought I'd share.

Here is the link.




While this crafters' style doesn't necessarily match mine, I still love the adorable idea of using CD slips as cookie envelopes! I have a ton of those things (and I'm pretty sure they're cheap anyway), and this would be a really cute way to use them. Now if only my cookies looked as perfectly flat and round as hers ....
Ok, maybe I'll buy the cookies :) Here is the LINK.

Monday again??!

Well it's been a busy week with a "mini-vacation" so unfortunately poor SynergyMom has been neglected!
The Monday recipe is one I tried for dinner tonight. I've been searching for the perfect imitation of Paradise Bakery's Fire Roasted Tomato Soup -- but to no avail.
I did find THIS recipe from the company that makes the canned fire roasted tomatoes. We followed the recipe exactly and it was tasty but not the same as P.B's. I think I would still make it again though because it has a lot more flavor punch than a traditional tomato soup!

Enjoy!

Monday recipe

So, I made this recipe for a family freezer-meal swap. The dangerous part was that I had never tried the recipe before ;) I went off of my love for black beans and assumed it would taste good. Guess what? It does! We tried it tonight and I really liked it. YUM.

Hooray for cheap, delicious, filling, healthy foods :)

Beany Joes (that's what we're calling them. The recipe calls them "Black Bean Sloppy Joes")

1/4 cups olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2-4 tablespoons chili powder
1 green pepper, chopped
6 cups cooked black turtle beans
2-4 tablespoons Worsestire sauce (or however you spell that)
1 teaspoon oregano
2 cups tomato sauce
When ready to serve you will need:
10 slices whole wheat bread or rolls
Sandwich fixings such as lettuce, tomatoes, pickle, mustard

In large skillet or pan, saute onions and peppers in olive oil, and chili powder and cook until just fragrant. Add remaining ingredients, simmer briefly. Freeze in zippered plastic freezer bag. To serve, thaw overnight in refrigerator, heat through. Serve on bread or rolls.

If you google OAMC or "freezer meals" you can find a lot of delicious recipes you can stash in your freezer. I hate to say it, but I don't remember the site I got this from! It was on an OAMC vegetarian site ... sorry!

Go green :)

What a pretty way to reuse old stubby crayons! I even think these would make a great birthday party gift -- just throw in a coloring book and you're set.
Check out the easy instructions HERE.
Also, sorry it has taken me so long to post this week. I haven't been in a blogging state of mind ;) I have SOO many cute gift-type crafts that I can't wait to share (though I might wait till Christmas time... can't decide), and I'm working on some fun projects myself! Hopefully they will turn out cute so I can blog them :) Don't forget, if YOU Have an awesome idea, or found something cool online I would LOVE LOVE LOVE if you e-mailed it my way (I'm almost ready to resort to begging you people!) synergymom@gmail.com .

Recipe time!

Ok, I LOVE this recipe. It's simple, good for you, and SOOO easy to make. That basically makes it the best recipe EVER in my book ;)

So here ya go: (the recipe was found on the back of the bag of puffed wheat I bought at Good Earth).

3 cups puffed wheat (or whatever whole grain)
1 cup dried fruit (we did cranberries because they're tangy)
1 cup crunchy all natural peanut butter
1/2 cup honey

Mix your p.b. and honey together in a bowl (we warmed them up a bit in the microwave to make them mushy for stirring). Carefully mix in your wheat and dried fruit. Pat into a lightly greased 8x8 pan. Let cool in refrigerator. Enjoy!

*We had to keep ours in for several hours because heating the ingredients up made them pretty mushy -- hence they fell apart easily.

Home decorating

Here is another idea from my crafty sister Chelsee. She took a photo her hubby had taken of the temple they were married in and had Kinkos transfer it to a canvas. Two flower pics found online make the set complete. She is using the personalized canvas pics on the wall in her bedroom. I really love the look of canvas wall art I think it's very classy and it's even better when you can make it yourself! Btw, SORRY the pic is so dark. If you click on it you'll be able to see it better. Aargh.
Here is a blog that has helpful directions if you want to make some of your own.

Pretty game

I think this is a beautiful memory game from THIS BLOG. What a great way to use some of your favorite scrapbook papers! You could even put pictures of family members on the opposite side of the tiles -- help your children learn the names of their relatives while playing a fun (and beautiful) matching game!

Tutus

Thanks to my 3-year old dancing diva I was inspired to make a homemade tutu. My sister joined in the fun and made a mini version for her soon-to-arrive baby girl because we both agreed it would make a WAY cute picture.
These simple tutus cost $2.75 to make. TOTAL. You really can't beat a craft like that! I simply went to the Dollar Store and picked up a package of those elastic headbands (you know, the large kind that sporty girls wear to keep their bangs out of their face). Then we went to Walmart, picked out 2 yards of sparkly tulle and went to work knotting the 3 inch wide strips along the headband (which becomes the waistband on a toddler).
I initially tried a slip knot, but due to my VERY limited knowledge of knots, I didn't realize how unreliable that knot was. The tutu looked adorable because of the little loops it created along the top, but the knots quickly fell apart. So either I'm really bad at slip knots or they simply don't stay put. Either way I ended up doing a traditional shoe-tying knot (whatever that's called!). It wasn't as cute, but my daughter didn't care and she loves having another tutu to play in. She is starting a ballet class this month so now she'll have some dance-wear variety ;)


Here is my daughter in the finished product:
And here is the beginning of the green/blue one that my sister was making (see the difference the cute slip knots make? Oh well.)

Recipe

Wow, I totally forgot about my recipe! We went to Seven Peaks waterpark yesterday and I came home so tired I simply went to bed early and didn't spend any time on the computer (that's a miracle for me).
Since I'm short on time (not only did I go to bed early but I SLEPT IN), here is a simple idea from this blog.
I think this looks delicious and hey, it's got to be healthier than an otter pop :)

I'm in love ... with a monkey

I'm in love with this project. I love that I have kids young enough to appreciate it. I love that she has an incredibly detailed photo tutorial. I love that it only takes two socks and two buttons to make it. I love that it would make the cutest baby shower gift ever.