dishing up creative goodness
When my daughter came up to me last week and asked for a peanut butter sandwich – and we were out of bread – I had to get a bit creative. And that’s where this 4 Ingredient Beer Bread came from.
I’m amazed at how simple it is to make bread with 4 ingredients. But it’s totally doable. And this bread? Yeah… it’s good.
You can find the full recipe featured on Someday I’ll Learn today!
This post brought to you by PERK. All opinions are 100% mine.
Once you have kids, the state of the interior of your car pretty much implodes. From toys to crackers (smushed for added texture) to clothes and diapers, our cars become mobile homes filled with everything we need to care for our kids. So how do we keep a clean car with kids? It’s simple.
But you have to be willing to follow these steps and make sure you have a system in place to keep the mess at bay. If you’re like me… this may fall to the wayside with the craziness of life. But that’s ok, simply do a deep clean, start back at step one and get back in it!
The first thing we have to do is deep clean the car. Grab a laundry basket and a trash can. Put all of the toys, clothes, etc in the laundry basket to bring into the home and sort and throw out all of the waste in the trash can. Then run a vacuum over everything and wipe the surfaces down. Now you’re ready for maintenance!
The sun is shining, spring is almost here, and the kids are aching to get in the dirt! For us that means one thing… planning out our spring garden beds.
Are you planning your garden yet?
Why not get the kids involved with these great tips featured on Someday I’ll Learn.
I absolutely love multi-purpose kitchen gadgets. If it doesn’t do more than one thing, I don’t want it in my kitchen taking up space! When I was asked to check out the latest Zojirushi rice cooker and see how it fared compared to my smaller rice cooker I knew i wanted to find more ways to test it out than just make rice. So I figured out how to make oatmeal in a rice cooker. And I have to say… I’m pretty impressed!
I already loved the Zojirushi brand and own one of their bread machines (all the way back from when my husband and I first got married) and the smaller rice cooker so including this larger capacity rice cooker into our home was perfect. The Zojirushi NL-AAC10 is a great multi-use rice cooker. And I’ve not only made rice and oatmeal in it, but I’ve also used it to steam things as well. Hello delicious dumplings and pot stickers!
Making oatmeal in a rice cooker is a piece of cake! As simple as dumping the ingredients in, adjusting the settings for porridge, and letting it cook. The rice cooker does all of the work. Wait… did I just give that all away in the beginning of the post? Well let me just show you the pretty pictures and talk about this awesome machine.
Aided by microcomputer technology, this category of rice cooker takes having rice on your menu from “occasional” to “serious”. Basically, the microchip does all the thinking for you, as far as adjusting cooking times and temperatures according to the type of rice you are cooking, and timing the pre-soaking of the raw grains and the final “wait” period during steaming.
That means you’re left with perfectly cooked food that every family member will love! No more burnt rice on the bottom. And it also means that you can make a delicious breakfast, lunch, or dinner using the same rice cooker.
1. Add 2 cups of old fashioned oats into the rice cooker*. Then add in 3 cups of water (or milk if you prefer a creamier oatmeal). Add any mix ins or flavors and stir together to combine. I added 1 diced apple, 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, and a tablespoon of brown sugar.
*For this recipe I consulted my rice cooker’s manual to see if there was a minimum amount of oats I needed to use for this rice cooker. I also wanted to make sure I was using the correct amount of liquid. If you’re using steel cut oats, double check the manual to see what the minimum amount is as well as what the liquid level should be.
2. Using the menu button, set rice cooker to porridge setting (bottom right). Once the setting is selected, hit the start button. A melody should play letting you know that the rice cooker has started the cooking process. Sit back and relax as your food cooks.
3. When the rice cooker is done cooking the oatmeal it will play a melody again. Don’t worry if you aren’t immediately available – the rice cooker will go to the warm setting after it’s done cooking. When you’re ready to eat, open the lid carefully and scoop out your oatmeal.
This 5-1/2-cup rice cooker and warmer makes 10 cups of cooked rice and includes a variety of cooking functions including white rice/sushi, mixed rice, porridge, sweet, brown, steam, and quick cooking.
If you’re looking for a great rice cooker to add to your kitchen definitely check out the great line of Zojirushi rice cookers.
Love what you see? Try these recipes!
Vanilla Raisin Oatmeal Squares
Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothies
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #FamilyMobile shop featuring Walmart Best Plans has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.
Tax time is a huge deal in our home. Since I am self employed I need to figure out all of my expenses, income, write offs, etc on top of what my husband makes and it’s pretty time consuming. With all the work put into filing our taxes, we do still get a small return back to spend on something fun. And since we’re working on lowering our monthly expenses, that something fun will be the lowest priced unlimited plans at Walmart.
When all’s finally said and done – after we file our taxes and figure out how to lower our monthly expenses – I finally get me time again to do the things I love. That me time is something I desperately need with two small kids at home. Time to enjoy my favorite hobbies without worrying about bills, taxes, and going over our monthly budget.
This weekend I found myself with a bit of me time. It isn’t to often this opportunity arises so I took full advantage and made something for me. This adorable crochet Instagram phone cover for my new Concord phone.
I had seen images of this phone cover before but could never find a pattern so I simply grabbed my hook, gathered up what remnants and skeins I had in my collection, grabbed my phone and started playing around.
I have to say that I’m quite happy with what I ended up with! You can find the pattern available for download in PDF form here. A little relaxing crochet time left me feeling fabulous and ready to create more! [Read more…]
With our city in an ever constant drought, we’ve taken quite a few steps over the years to reduce the amount of water we use in our home. But with the addition of two children in our lives, it’s been hard to stick with the conservation efforts we’ve made.
So when we heard about the rain barrel rebate program through the City of San Diego we knew we needed to investigate further. And we were so glad we did.
Then we found out that Dixieline was running a sale on 60 gallon rain barrels for $90. So our $75 rebate and $90 sale price meant that we were paying $15 out of pocket for each barrel. Now that rocks! We picked up two for our home and are considering going back to get two more (limit of 4). [Read more…]
I created my healthy #Outshine Funny Face Frozen Fruit Bars as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars by Crowdtap.
You know that time in the day that you just start craving something sweet or salty? Because I know it isn’t just me! There’s some time either right after nap time and before my husband gets home or after the kids are in bed that I just crave something bad.
And since I’m on Weight Watchers and trying to watch the mindless snacking, I’ve been trying to find alternatives for my old go-to’s as well as healthy snacks that the kids can enjoy with me as well. So when I found these deliciously tasty looking frozen fruit bars on my most recent grocery trip I knew I had to try them.
60-70 calories each and no fat?! Sign me up! Plus I knew the perfect way to make these bars the ultimate after school snack for the kids. Put funny faces on them! What kid could resist awesome funny face frozen fruit bars? Not mine. [Read more…]
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This #JungleFresh shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.
With the Blu-Ray/Combo Pack Diamond Edition release of Disney’s The Jungle Book coming out next Tuesday (2/11), I thought it’d be nice to celebrate with a Jungle Book inspired family dinner.
I wanted something healthy yet delicious that would please the whole family so I headed out to Walmart to get some inspiration for my dish. And of course as soon as I walked in I found myself in the produce department.
Fresh fruit was the perfect place to start planning our meal. So I decided we’d make some fruit skewers ala Baloo in The Jungle Book. Remember the scene when he turns his finger nail into a fruit skewer? Yeah, that one. [Read more…]
For a few weeks now I’ve been craving street tacos. Simple, easy, and delicious. So for the big game I decided to make some tequila lime pork tacos after making margaritas earlier in the week.
I mean, what’s more fitting to pair with a margarita than a tequila lime pork taco? And I made this delicious tomatillo avocado sauce that paired perfectly with the meat. Simple I tell ya!
The tequila lime marinade I used contained 6 ingredients: tequila, lime juice, red crushed peppers, diced green chilies, cumin, and garlic. And you only need about 2 hours to marinade the meat.
While I waited for the meat to marinade I made the tomatillo avocado sauce in our food processor. So simple! I put it in the fridge to let the ingredients meld together a bit.
Then it was time to put everything together and cook the meat!
Now this meat… it’d be amazingly good just on its own if you’re looking for a great pork dish. The flavor was so tasty and the marinade really worked it’s way into the meat to tenderize it.
She enjoys sharing her family life in San Diego and features everything from delectable recipes to sharing DIY tips around the home and garden, what she's crafting and more.
