SIMPLE MINI CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE FOR VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

I’ve found myself so busy with everyday life that I decided to stop doing Facebook. What do I mean? I mean, I decided I needed a break. No. I wouldn’t use it that much, just when breastfeeding. I would stop scrolling through all the posts and reading comments and getting agitated or curious.

I really do like any post that makes me think or inspires some sort of thoughtful cognitive application. I love being involved in clarifying discourse. I like the smart people on Facebook who fight battles with their intellect and knowledge. I like being the spectator. I enjoy posts that prick at me, or bother me, and I like ones that inspire me too. I really love them all–(except memes with cute animals or any uncreative “reshare” post.)

BUT….this was taking WAY too much time and removing me from things that I wanted to accomplish, like blog, write, sew, bake, paint… work on my online course–anything more productive that Facebook.

The list of things I want to try grows by the day and I find myself overwhelmed with ideas and unable to tackle any of them. Having two children is great because it really gets you thinking of all the things you could be doing or learning–meanwhile, I’ve got a bucking bronco and I’m trying to change his diaper as he runs off screaming mid-diaper change EVERY SINGLE TIME.

On this blog I like to post what I’m doing; what I just whipped up–even if it’s a bit boring or “imperfect”. What else are you going to blog about if you can’t fit it into your “everyday happenings”, right?

With Valentine’s Day coming up very soon, I thought I’d share a pic of a cake I recently made.

This is a simple little Valentine’s Day Cake. I thought this one up but I’m sure there are a million similar versions out there.

Instead of using a big cake pan (like the big one pictured below) I used the two little ones.

I used the recipe off the back of this Hershey’s Cocoa powder box:

Very easy.

Once the chocolate cake was baked and cooled in the fridge, I whipped up a chocolate ganache (there are a million recipes on the internet). I just used the ones with heavy whipping cream, chocolate chips and light corn syrup.

I made a raspberry filling. I cooked up red raspberries in a little pot with a squeeze of lemon juice and some sugar and corn starch.

Then I made a little raspberry heart shape on the top of the ganache (once the ganache had hardened).

Let your imagination take you away this Valentine’s Day!

FELT IS SO FUN!!!! HOW TO USE IT?

For a while now I have been experimenting with felt and its sundry uses. You know, that plush, soft, fuzzy stuff that is made from PLASTIC BAGS??!! YES! RECYCLED PLASTIC BAGS! You can get it in sheets at your local fabric store or even places like Michaels, Walmart or Hobby Lobby–usually $1-$1.50 per sheet. I buy a ton when it goes down to 50 cents a sheet at Joann Fabrics.

It looks kind of like this. Always keep a bag of cut-up scraps. Also, have your glue gun handy. This is how I attach cut felt pieces together.

Felt is bright and colorful. It’s durable and fun to cut up and use! You can sew it on things. (I cut up my husband’s old shirts and turn them into boy shirts). I finish them off with felt appliques that I design, cut out and sew on. Here are 3 (toddler) boy shirts I made from scratch this week. 2 of them have felt applications. You can see my felt elephant and palm tree.

You can also make a FELT BOARD as I like to call it. It reminds me of the flannel graph board that was used by missionaries and in Sunday schools in the 70’s and 80’s. I took an old canvas and covered it with the non-slip stuff that you put under rugs. This non-slip material was being stored in a closet and not being used….so why not?

Then you staple it on a canvas or board and put a bunch of velcro pieces on it. Children who haven’t watched a ton of television like to stick the felt pieces on the board and make up stories.

Like this:

You can also make your own fun felt books as I have here:

Felt is so much fun! Cutting it out and making your own creations with a glue gun is one of my favorite things to do. Bonus: the kids get a new thing to play with!

“I’d like a Martini”. My painting today.

For more intense paintings on cardboard, check out my art blog:

Thanks,

Renee

https://asliceofmytravelstrashandtoddlers.wordpress.com

Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice. (Welcome to my painting blog :)

Lately I’ve become obsessed with painting.

I decided to create a separate blog documenting my dive into FUN AND BRIGHT acrylic painting on recycled cardboard boxes.

I’m just starting out but you can plunge into my painting blog here:

MY PAINTING AND ARTWORK BLOG!

Oh, and I’m haphazard and very free with my art/painting here. Perfection is out the door because I feel so liberated using cheap materials! I’m just having fun.

A little color will brighten your day. Guaranteed.

ACNE SCAR UPDATE (1 Year After FRAXEL LASER). DON’T DO IT!

A while back I had posted about my ACNE SCAR FRAXEL LASER EXPERIENCE (yes, this is my most-viewed blog post, you can dig it up as I won’t be linking to it here). I Wanted to finally give an update. Yes, It has been ONE FULL YEAR since my 3 FRAXEL LASER TREATMENTS.

BEFORE FRAXEL LASER SKIN RESURFACING: Yeah I’m just too vain. I don’t even know why I worry about such trivial things, my skin didn’t even look that bad (as you can see from my before picture below).

Never forget, there are people out there who actually have real problems. There are people out there without limbs… people who have full-body burns. Now that’s suffering!

Anytime you see someone complaining about their looks, remember to think of legitimate victims, not someone like me with literally nothing to complain about.

AFTER FRAXEL LASER RESURFACING: 3 spaced out treatments during 2017-18 $1,200 (for all 3).

I guess I’m glad I took before and after pictures. Would I do Fraxel again? NO. The reason? Despite making my skin smoother and the depressions less noticeable, it seems to have thinned my dermis and even my underlying “baby fat layer”. These are two important layers which give youth and glow to the skin.

People with a thicker dermis and more fat look younger than people with a thinner fat and dermal layers. Fraxel laser will make you look older because it inevitably thins out your skin. I guarantee it. They will tell you up and down that it doesn’t. But this has been my experience.

I really have no other way of describing this. I think that acne scar subcision would have been a much better solution to maintain the previous thickness of my skin.

Guess what? I will be getting ACNE SCAR SUBCISION along with injectable filler THIS COMING MONDAY. Oh how I wish I would have known about this option and had someone willing to give it to me before my FRAXEL LASER SURGERY. Yeah, it’s a more involved process and the technician would have had to work on each individual acne scar (and I have HUNDREDS of acne scars on my face) but the overall thickness of my dermis and fat later would have remained the same.

REMEMBER once these skin layers are diminished, it will be very, very hard to get them back. The medical spa professionals/Estheticians etc will tell you that “they will regenerate” and that “collagen synthesis will occur”. Not much. You’ll notice smoother skin but much thinner too. I don’t like this part.

P.S. I’m no expert but I AM both an RN and an Esthetician, so I’m not entirely clueless.

Crescent Rolls With a Twist (also, cheap and trashy cardboard Christmas Tree Ornaments)

To get this fantastic Crescent Roll Dough, head over to this website for a great recipe:

Crescent Roll Dough

I’ve used this recipe 2 times now and have been very pleased with the results. The first time I made cinnamon rolls (super yummy!) and the second time, I made the crescent rolls.

I added things like: chocolate chips and fresh cranberry sauce. I added chocolate chips for a few of them. I mixed up my homemade cranberry sauce and brie cheese in a few others. I also tried a mix of chocolate chips and cranberry sauce. It was a brunch delight.

One has chocolate chips. The other has Brie cheese and leftover (homemade) cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving! You can freeze cranberry sauce and thaw it when you need it again 🙂

Here are some more:

Wrap them up in whatever conformation you desire.

And pop them in the oven.

Remove them from the oven when they are baked. (I followed the baking directions of the recipe linked at the top of this blog post. I HIGHLY recommend that you use this recipe too!)

This was a great way to use up the remainder of my crescent roll dough.

IMG_20181124_122346943_BURST000_COVER_TOP

Cardboard Christmas Tree Ornaments

Find some cardboard. I used cardboard from a diaper box. Cut your cardboard into Christmas shapes or whatever comes to your mind. Get glitter. Get paper clips so you’ll be able to hang them up. Get a glue gun. Find paint and paintbrushes. Also, I like to add various embellishments from my stash of old beads, unpaired earrings and broken jewelry.

I also reused cardboard from other random boxes and then I painted the front of the ornaments, added glitter and glue-gunned random embellishments.

GRR IT’S A BEAR MARKET OUT THERE TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like my pomegranate ornament:

And here are a bunch of our other ornament creations!

And a turtle my daughter and I made together:

And another fun one:

Finally. A snowman.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our home to yours 🙂

My $5.00 Thrift Store OTTOMAN REMODEL. BEFORE AND AFTER

Anchorage Earthquake Recap

We made it through the big 7.0 earthquake here in Anchorage, Alaska (Friday November 30th 2018 at 8:29am). Thank you very much! There were no fatalities here, just lots of damage to our city. We have lots to be thankful for right now–especially for people. We thank scientists, engineers and strong building codes. The famous Haiti earthquake of 2010 killed 300,000 people and was also a 7.0.

Where was I during the earthquake? In the kitchen. I had just finished cleaning up after breakfast. As usual, Samson was covered in food and would need the usual 5-7 minute wipe down. I looked at the clock. It was 8:21 am. I removed him from his highchair and he started to wander into the living room. I started to walk to the coffee pot when I started to hear a rumble and a little shaking. “Earthquake” I shouted.

Without hesitation I scooped up both of my children. I dashed right into the hallway/doorway area. All I could do was shield both of them with my body as the house began to shake uncontrollably. The house was having a grand mal and I didn’t know what to do.

The painters, who earlier in the week were at the tip-top of a giant ladder painting our 20+ foot tall walls had now progressed to the shorter walls in the hallways and kitchen. As luck would have it, neither were on a ladder when the big quake started.

All I remember is a lot of real fright and cursing from all of us. I guess it didn’t last that long. But it seemed like an eternity. Both of our painters were life-long Alaskans. “Is this fairly normal to experience this?” I asked during the quake. “No. Never felt anything like this.” they said.

This past week has been one seizure after another…one aftershock after another. Sometimes I feel like I’m on a boat at sea.

My Thrift Store Ottoman Remodel

On the brighter side, I finally finished the ottoman I have been incrementally working on for 2 months.

In October I came across this old $5.00 Ottoman. I had to snatch it. Of course, a refreshment would be needed.

And here is a close up. The top vinyl covering was starting to break down.

Good news. The underlying structure and foam padding on this Ottoman were in terrific shape. All I needed to do was cut off the old vinyl fabric right along the seams and learn how to sew a snug, new one. Another sewing challenge for me.

Cut off all the vinyl material that covers the ottoman along the seams. Avoid puncturing the underlying foam.
Keep the old material that covers the ottoman. You will use it as your pattern for sewing a new one. Find some material (or vinyl) that you’d like to be the new cover. I used leftover vinyl from this project!
Once you sew the cover for the ottoman, find a neat decorative fringe/trim at Joann’s Fabric to attach to the bottom part of the vinyl. These are a bit spendy. However, just bring in your 50% coupon to use for one item and you can get 2.5 yards of this fancy stuff for around $20. I attached this trim by sewing it onto the bottom, open section of the vinyl. You could probably glue gun it, but I wanted it to be securely attached for a LONG TIME.
Once you sew your vinyl cover and before you snug it onto your ottoman, put it in your dryer for 10-25 seconds on LOW HEAT. Do this with extreme caution! I thought of this idea and realized that it works, but do it only for a few seconds on low heat. It will soften the vinyl just enough so that you can fit it around your ottoman.

YOU WANT TO GET THE BEST POSSIBLE FIT SO THAT IT DOESN’T LOOK TOO FUNKY.

Here is the old vinyl that I cut from the ottoman. Use this as your pattern to sew your new cover. You get the idea.

Here is the finished product.

My White on White Rocking Chair Renovation

The frustrating part about this blog post is that I already uploaded it but WordPress did not publish it or even save it in my drafts. There is probably nothing more angering that waking up early–before the kids arise–working hard on a project–and then having it disappear after it’s published.

Over a year ago I was lumbering around pregnant in Habitat for Humanity. I was pushing my two year old in her stroller. I didn’t think anything could possibly get better. Who would buy a beaten-up book shelf for $65?

It dawned on me how lucky I was with all my flea market finds when living in the Old World. In Germany, for instance, there was an endless supply of flea markets and gorgeous retro items were cheap–or at least you could negotiate a cheap price.

Here is an incredible (older) painting I snagged for only 60 euros from the Homburg flea market in Germany. It was painted on a piece of thin particle board and beginning to break down. I had it framed (for $140) and look at how it turned out? I can’t wait to hang it on our living room wall!

Here is another flea market painting we bought in Krakow, Poland.

Oh and this one below is mine. Crazy cardboard paintings… sorry but had to post.. I’m still working on it.

Habitat for Humanity and ALL THRIFT STORES in America have been a considerable disappointment since our move back to this continent. Everything is expensive and looks like it originally came from Walmart (after being used for 20 years of course).

I was looking for a rocking chair and I happened to intersect a stubby, older rocker for $30. I was not happy with the price. But I decided that despite its flaws, I would try and restore it.

Next, I waited in a long line to purchase it.

I was in for a surprise as I walked up to the cashier. “Oh, some lady already bought that rocking chair for you.”

I’ve heard of “pay-it-forward” where someone in front of you buys your drink at the local coffee drive through. This was even better. A STRANGER JUST BOUGHT ME A ROCKING CHAIR! So much to celebrate in life, right?

For me, part of the fun in life is picking up a piece of old furniture and taking it apart–but only if you get it for a cheap price. Otherwise, I’m buying something new.

Once home, I removed the seat cushion. In case your eyes deceive you, that isn’t cornbread–it’s a piece of ancient yellow foam between the layer of upholstery fabric; it was crumbling into pieces and I ended up having to vacuum everywhere after opening. You never know what you’re gonna get!. The foam was crumbling into little pieces.

Next? Throw out the old foam, vacuum up all the crumbles, measure your foam and buy a new piece. Price? anywhere from $29- $65 a square foot. I bought this 3 inch foam piece for $13–(but only because I brought my 50% coupon and got it half off). JoAnn Fabrics of course. FOAM IS NOT CHEAP. If you can salvage your foam or re-use a piece from a pillow/seat at a thrift store, do it. You’ll be saving tons!

I also bought some white vinyl fabric to reupholster this new foam cushion that would be the new seat!

I found some old left-over paint in our garage–it was actually EXTERIOR HOUSE PAINT and about 8 years old too! I refused to go out and buy new paint. I like to use what I already have. After hand sanding and wiping down the rocking chair, I painted 4 coats of this paint:

My lovely 3 year old trying out the “new” chair. New paint, new fabric cushion!

Now let’s take a look at the before and after picture:

Before

After

Taxes–by Renee

When you force other people to do your labor for free we call that slavery.

When an (invisible, abstract) system called the “church” forces it’s congregants to give it money (from their labor) for the “benefit of everyone”, we call that tithing.

When an (invisible, abstract) system called the “government” forces society members to give it money (from their labor) for the “benefit of everyone” we call that taxation.

I finally get it.

What to do with OLD LEFTOVER RICE/QUINOA?

Alright, so just a quickie here. Nothing too exciting.

Do you ever have 1,2…3 day old rice or quinoa in your fridge and you’re not sure what to do with it? You feel bad about wasting it so you just let it sit there, but then you eventually toss it out. Or…you make unhealthy fried rice.

That’s what I’ve always done. It gets kind of stale and sometimes the birds will eat it if I season it correctly.

What if I could just eat it? I’m always a sucker for trying things that save money.

Maybe, one day when you’re good and brave like me, you can revive it…transform it into Jambalaya or West African Jolof Rice.

My family *DOES NOT* like this kind of food, but I happen to LOVE it;
so here goes..just for my taste buds.

So grab some of the ingredients pictured below. These are what I had on hand…(oh, and maybe a slice of bacon or two and some extra diced tomatoes sitting in your fridge if they happen to be there..). It’s really not a big deal.

On the stove, heat your olive oil on medium-low. Add your diced up Anaheim chili pepper, diced onion and grated carrot. Saute a bit.

Toss in some diced up sausage and/or bacon. Sprinkle seasoning. Throw in your refrigerated leftover rice and/or quinoa (I used both). Sprinkle olive oil into the mixture as it Cooks on the stove top.

Super easy and done!

A plate full of Jambalaya from OLD rice and Quinoa. Hey, it actually tasted fine. But even better? It was healthier than some other options and I used everything that I already had on hand.

Don’t eat the rice past a few days.

If you want to transform older rice into a Jolof-style, you can add a tablespoon or two of tomato paste into the olive oil as it’s cooking/almost beginning to fry/just getting hot.

Once you cook the tomato paste in the oil for a minute or two, add the leftover rice or quinoa and add a sprinkling of water. (You have to experiment as it depends on how much leftover rice you have–so go easy on the water– and you don’t want it to turn soggy, just slightly moist and revived.) You can add veggies that you have cooked in another pot or sauce pan to the red/Jolof rice. You can add fried meats or fish too.

No. It’s not gonna taste like the authentic Ghanaian Jolof rice, or the Thieboudienne (red rice and fish) from Senegal. But it works if you’re in a pinch for dinner.

A Slice of My Trash, Travels and Tots

A Slice of My Travels and Baby Blog

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