A New Website and Peanut Butter Cookies

I've heard about these websites that generate recipes based on what you have in your kitchen at that very second.  What a great idea!  I never know what to cook and it always bums me out when I find a good recipe, then realize it will cost $20.00 to make because we have absolutely nothing that is in the recipe.

After a quick google search, I found one that I thought looked good.  RecipeMatcher.com  I was craving dessert so I went in the kitchen and put in the most random ingredients I had.  Peanut Butter, oats, brown sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder (which I was sure was expired but it doesn't until Dec 2010, woohoo!), walnuts, sugar, etc.  I also included some fruit I had (peaches, bananas, apples).  Then I hit the magic button.  Generate recipe.  In seconds, there was 112 pages of recipes I could make using those ingredients.  The cool thing, is that the best matches are first and then they will list out what other ingredients you need to make the recipes that aren't exact matches.  One of the options was peach cobbler!!  But let's be honest here, I'm not that ambitious, especially at 9PM.  I am more of an instant gratification girl.  So, when I saw peanut butter cookies ready in 12 minutes, I went to work.

Impossibly Good Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup sugar - white
1 egg
Sugar - white, Optional (for rolling)

Directions:
1 - Mix together until smooth.
2 - Drop by teaspoon onto cookie sheet two inches apart.  If desired, roll in extra sugar before placing on cookie sheet.
3 - Press with fork and press again in opposite direction.
4 - Bake 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees.

*I added chocolate chips to mine.  If you want to do this, mix them in with the ingredients in #1.

I found that the ten minutes while I waited for the cookies was just enough time to clean the kitchen, and with only three ingredients, it was so easy!

After this, I put EVERYTHING in my freezer, refrigerator and cabinets into the generator to see what it would come up with.  I will post asap the next thing I make and it will be something for dinner!

Cool Apps for Weary Searchers

I am in a constant struggle when I sit down and search for new apps for my iPhone.  Inevitably, I end up completely frustrated by the fact that I am inundated with apps that don’t appeal to me.  (Come on Apple, you have the Genius technology in the iTunes Store for music, develop the same concept for app downloading!!)  Anyway, through my frustration, I press on and have discovered a few apps I can’t live without. 

Pingchat2!
Price: FREE
I love my iPhone, don’t get me wrong, but it always makes me mad when someone with a Blackberry posts on Facebook their messaging ID with the cute statement, “message me on my Blackberry.”  Seriously?  How does a single feature make me feel so inadequate when I have the coolest phone ever?  Well, I’m proud to say that I will no longer have to feel that way. PingChat2 is a free messaging app.  This app is similar to Blackberry Messenger where an iPhone user creates a username and shares it with other iPhone users who have this app.  The app was recently upgraded to include multi-media messaging, group chat and more.  The app is also in development for Android and Blackberry phones.  Woo hoo!

Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives
Price: $1.99

Anyone else into Guy Fieri’s Food Network show Diners, Drive-in’s and Dives?  I hope I’m not the only one that is completely enthralled by the greasy goodness he showcases each week.  I had a brilliant idea that I would develop an app for this show (you know, in all my spare time) that maps out every diner, drive-in or dive that Guy has visited.  To my dismay (and delight), there was already one in the app store!  This app is incredible.  It tracks your location and you can find the nearest restaurant and get directions.  In addition, it features recipes from the restaurant that you can email to yourself or others craving a juicy heart attack.

What To Expect
Price: FREE

This app has become an essential part of my daily routine.  Developed from the book What To Expect When You’re Expecting, this app tracks your pregnancy weekly and provides daily updates on the baby’s development.  It also has a feature for baby bump pictures so you can track your growth throughout the pregnancy.  Okay, so maybe you aren’t pregnant and you are wondering how this app could work for you?  Off the top of my head, you could track your friend’s beer belly.  Wait… maybe that should be an app too!

iVideoCamera
Price: $.99

I have an iPhone 3G. (Please don’t disregard my entire blog post because I have such an ancient version, I’m an early adopter!)  The truth is I want the 3GS, long for the 3GS but my phone still works great and I can’t justify getting a new one yet.  How do I manage with this antiquated phone?  Well, it was difficult until I found the iVideoCamera app that enables video recording on the iPhone 3G!  The app is very simple to use, takes great footage and the sound is perfect.  It was a challenge to get the video off my phone and onto the computer but that was totally user-error.  Once I mastered that, this app quickly became a must-have for me.  There are hi and lo video quality setting s and 16 different effects to enhance your recording like black and white and soft glow.  Now I can disguise my 3G iPhone as a 3GS for at least another year.  Score!

Shop Savvy Barcode Scanner
Price: FREE

This app is free and I’m not sure when and how often I would use it, however, I like the idea.  By using the camera feature on the iPhone, the app searches for a barcode on products.  You line it up, it turns green – and BAM – your product pops up.  Based on your location, it provides the cheapest price on the web or the cheapest price locally.  You can also type the product in manually if the barcode isn’t reading.  I was impressed with how quickly the information populated.  When you find a product you like, you can add it to a wish list or tag it for a price alert where you can watch the price of the product.  LOVE IT!

I’m not going to lie; I found this app today when doing another annoying long search.  It’s finding apps like this that gives me the satisfaction to keep searching.  It gives me hope that there are worthy apps available outside of the Top 25 in each category listed in the app store.  I compare it to when I play golf and I wiff the ball over and over.  Has this ever happened to you?  I threaten to give up, throw my clubs in the pond and stomp to the clubhouse for a cold drink.  It’s always at that point I hit the ball with such grace, the drive is amazingly straight, absolutely beautiful and might as well have been a hole-in-one from the satisfaction I give myself. My heart soars and my sole mission in life at that second is to tell everyone within earshot (and on speed dial) about the perfect drive I just hit.  Yeah, that’s what it feels like when I find a really awesome app.

My New Favorite Product

I have been trying to slowly change the way I clean my house.  Instead of doing a massive cleaning once a week, I've been trying to clean daily.  That includes laundry, dishwasher, wiping the sink in the bathrooms down each day, etc.  These are small items but it really makes a big difference.  I think that this is part of "nesting" but I'm not sure.  Like yesterday, I was in the shower and when I was done with my wash cloth I wiped off the top ledge of the shower.  We've lived in this house for four years and I have never noticed (or had the urge to clean) that ledge.  I know you are in suspense so I will tell you, it was disgusting!  Small thing completed but it all adds up.

In my effort to change the way I clean, I am updating my cleaning products.  I have been doing research about different products and asking friends for their recommendations on the products they can't live without.  It is a slow process but I'm phasing out the old cleaners and replacing with better, fun ones.  My thought is that if I like the cleaner, I will clean more.  I'm not sure the validity behind that statement but I will keep you posted.  And just an FYI, one of my goals is to vacuum daily and to do this I think it is necessary to have a Dyson, so I'm taking donations for this.

Through my research, I realized that Method has introduced laundry detergent.  I use a few Method products and love how they clean and smell (and the bottles are always cool) so I wanted to give it a try.  I had a coupon for $2.00 off so I bought the 25 load bottle of peony blossom. You can get your coupon here.

The coolest thing about this product is that it comes in a squirt bottle, similar to hand soap.  I love this because the previous bottle of detergent had streaks of liquid coming down the sides of the bottle and it was a mess.  The instructions are on the small bottle made for single hand use.  It is simply, 2 squirts for a small load and 4 for a medium load.  The detergent is standard machine and HE machine compatible.  The best part, it smells perfect.  It doesn't have an overbearing fragrance and is just sweet enough to get hints of throughout the day.

This is the best product I've found in a long time!  If you try it, let me know!

The end of my sewing machine... almost

As most of you know, I love all things about crafting.  Specifically, crocheting, knitting and sewing are my favorites.  I don't consider myself an expert at ANY of these crafts and they are listed in order of my experience above.  Well, I play around with selling items on Etsy and Artfire and received an order over the weekend.  To my dismay, it was an item I had already given to someone but forgot to take off my site.  A make-up bag.  This make-up bag is precious.  I loved it so much when I made it that I had to make one of myself too.  It is black with white polka dots and a teal silky lining.  Instead of returning the order, I decided that I would just make another one.  "How hard could it be?", I thought, since I've made two already.  I started the project off by cutting my finger with my rotary blade, ouch.  After a few more pricks from pins and no sympathy from my husband, it was time to start sewing.  At least, that's what should have happened.

The first sections go fine.  Everything is as it should be.  The machine running smoothly, the fabric and thread working seamlessly together.  The bag was looking beautiful.  Then, I decided to try something different.  I don't even understand what happened.  I just turned the knob that drops my needle one way instead of the other and my entire machine collapsed before my eyes.  I ended up having to take it apart four times trying to figure out how to fix it.  (Funny mental picture, I'm still learning how to work the basics of the sewing machine, yet I think I can fix a mechanical error!)  My heart is pounding.  I love my sewing machine.  It isn't the best out there but I love it.  In fact, it's a project runway model which, I have to confess, I bought with the intentions of mastering so I could go on the show.  I knew that the machine was done. Anyway, after about 2 hours of randomly blowing on important looking mechanisms, I have the machine up and running again.  I finished the sewing and turned it right side out to find a few spots that the machine missed.  That means I have to go in by hand and sew them.  I don't mind doing it, but it takes away the professional look from the bag. 

So, to keep an extremely long story relatively short, I should have just returned the purchase and saved myself a stressful night.

Here is a picture of the finished product.

How Is Your Heart?

I was listening to Klove today and someone was talking about how their friend always asks "How is your heart?" when they meet up.  I love this.  She went on to say that it was enlightening because there was no barrier that needed to be broken down throughout the conversation.  Everything was out in the open within the first minute.

So many times I try to hide how my heart is.  Whether its joyful, confused, saddened, broken, frustrated - whatever I'm feeling, I try to maintain a steady attitude.  I don't want to appear to joyful in fear of hurting someone else who is going through something terrible or confess to being broken because it shows weakness.

Today, I realized that I'm completely wrong in the way I'm thinking.  I should not  hide how my heart is.  I should confide in close friends who can help me work through the tough times and rejoice with me in the great times.

My goal for the rest of this month is to constantly ask myself "How is your heart today?" and spend time reflecting on how I'm feeling.