Fred-n-Sara

We are having computer issues at our house; our desk top pretty much died yesterday, so Fred was trying to fix it and busy backing up all our files from the hard drive in case it’s unsalvagable (which seems to be the case), so this post is late, but it’s still good!

I belong to a forum made up of Northeast Ohio moms and moms to be, and we share lots of things, from child raising tips to doctor recommendations to food, and this is one recipe that I found to be very very tasty :)  It’s a good summer treat, and for today’s holiday, I am thinking I may add some blueberries to it for a red, white, and blue look!

Strawberry Pretzel Salad

• 3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
• Pretzels, coarsely crushed to make 2 c.
• 3T Sugar
• 6 oz strawberry gelatin (large box)
• 2 c. boiling water
• 2 pkgs. (10 oz each) frozen strawberries
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 3/4 c. powdered sugar
• 8 oz. Cool Whip (thawed)

-Preheat oven to 400 degrees
-Combine melted butter, sugar and pretzels, mixing well; press into 9×13 baking dish.
-Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes. Cool.
-In mixer bowl, mix together cream cheese and sugar until blended well. Fold in Cool Whip.
-Spread Cool Whip mixture over cooled pretzel crust. Place in fridge while preparing gelatin.
-Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.
-Immediately add frozen strawberries. Let stand 10 minutes then gently break berries apart.
-Pour strawberry mixture over white layer.
-Cover with lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate.

Call me crazy, but when I find useful things like this, I get excited…

Have you ever realized all the useful ways to use baking soda?  Yes, it’s good for baking, but there are a million other uses!  That’s why I’ve been buying a 5 pound bag of Arm and Hammer from BJ’s when I need it (once every few months or so).  Why so much?  Well, here’s what I use it for:

Kitchen:

• Open box (I use a little jar from Cal’s baby food without the lid) in the fridge to keep odors at bay.
• Sprinkled in the bottom of the trash can to keep odors down again.
• Every once in a while I’ll use it in the dishwasher; just run it empty with some vinegar and baking soda to clean it out.
• I use it as a scrub with my all purpose cleaner to clean the sink out (and fridge when it needs it, or whatever else needs a good scrubbing!)

Bathroom:

• I sprinkle some in the tub, sink, and toilet to scrub out all the stains; soap scum, toothpaste, hard water spots…it really gets everything nice and squeaky clean!  (I keep an old parmesan cheese container, the shaker kind, full of it under the bathroom sink).  It works just like commercial “soft scrubs” only much cheaper and non-toxic!
• Pour some (about a cup) down the drain and follow it with boiling water and vinegar to unclog plumbing.

Other Uses:

• To clean my jewelry I make a paste with baking soda and water and scrub my rings and things with an old tooth brush.  Rinse and I have sparkley jewels again!
• I make my own laundry detergent with it as one of the ingredients.
• Speaking of laundry, if you use cloth diapers, it’s good to throw a little in every once in a while when washing them to keep the stink out.

There are a bunch of other ways to use it too, which I am realizing, here’s a good place to start!

and now back to cleaning the bathroom…

Boy!

Just in case you didn’t know already.

Oh, and that’s his little face, two tiny fists, and belly!

Last week played out like a week on VH1’s Best Week Ever for Fred:

• Fred entered and won a contest via Twitter.  He had to submit a joke to win Nintento Wii points (to download video games).  So he submits his favorite joke: “Why don’t seagulls fly over the bay?”   “Because they’d be bagels” and link to his website comic strip.  Fred was very proud of himself…and now I’ll never hear the end of this corney joke!
• Fred also finished putting our basement back together (with the help of his hard working dad, of course!); tiled the floor, cleaned up the left over mess from the waterproofing we had done in May, and put all our things back the way they were (only more organized!).
• Then, on Saturday he found another good video game buy at the Hartville Flea Market.  I don’t know what the game he got is, but he paid $5 for a game that is supposedly selling on Ebay for close to $100.  Now he just has to decide if he’s going to keep it or try to sell it.
• Cal had a good week too, he kept very busy playing and playing and playing.  He’s talking so much now, his favorite word is “hi” which he says all the time!  I have to try to get it on video, Cal just babbles and babbles, it makes me smile.
• Calvin and I went to visit some friends and family this week.  He got to have lunch with his great grandma and later in the week, play with his friend Caelan, a little girl who’s exactly 1 month older than him (I know, already after the older women!).  The two kids had fun, as did the moms
• Me?  I’m just working on growing this baby, keeping cool, and making sure my feet don’t swell too much!  And of course, enjoying my family!

I meant to start this last week too, but I completely forgot (hopefully that won’t happen too often!).  I am always looking for new things to try out in the kitchen (read: feel free to send me fun recipes!), and some things I try are too good just to keep to myself.  Like this recipe; it’s from relatives of mine.  My little sister collected a bunch of recipes for me from everyone who attended my bridal shower (over 2 years ago now) and the following recipe is from that collection:

Gail and Katie’s Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

• 1 c. peanut butter
• 1 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 egg

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine and mix all ingredients together in medium mixing bowl.  Drop onto cookie sheet (I used a small ice cream scoop, like this one).  Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes about 1 and a half dozen cookies (next time I make these, which will be today, I’m doubling the recipe).

I made these for Fred (who loves peanut butter) and they turned out great!  They are a little crumbly, but very tasty.  Since there’s no flour in them, they are more peanut buttery tasting than your average beanut butter cookies.  Try the recipe and let me know what you think!