Homemade Campfire Starter

Pin Rating: 5

Cost: $0

Original Pin Here

I'm super excited that summer is here! Okay, maybe it's not officially summer yet, but it definitely feels like it.  My boyfriend and I went camping a couple of weeks ago, and it was such a wonderful trip to kick off the summer.  I looked up a few items on Pintrest that might come in handy during our camping trip and this TP + Lint firestarted caught my eye. It was easy enough to make, especially since I've started hoarding toilet paper rolls for my TP art. So I just  stuffed a couple of rolls with dryer lint before heading out and hoped for the best! I also convinced my boyfriend to grab some free firewood from craigslist since I didn't want to buy any. (However, we also decided to buy some duraflame in case our natural log block did not catch on fire.)

So the TP Roll stuffed with lint worked wonderfully.  It burned right away and we were able to throw it into the pit and have it go blazing for a good chunk of time.

Unfortunately our wood block was too big it didn't catch fire.  We definitely failed at being scouts and lighting a camp fire properly.  Next time we'll go with smaller wood blocks instead of the huge one.  :)  But I highly recommend using the TP + Lint rolls as your fire starters.  No lighter fluid required since the lint is highly flammable. 

Home made Valentine's Chocolates!

Valentine's day is tomorrow!  Do you need a last minute idea for a valentine's gift?  Why not some home made chocolates?  They're quick and easy to make and gives a personalized touch to each piece of chocolate.  So I don't normally make or give out Valentine's gifts but I was watching an anime a couple of months ago (Fruits Basket) and there was an episode about Valentine's Day and White Day and I was determined to make my own chocolates to hand out for Valentines to hand out to my friends.  

So for those who don't know here's a quick recap from the wiki page on White Day.  In Japan Valentine's is typically observed by females to present chocolates and gifts to males to show their affection - in my case friendship.  Handmade chocolates are usually preferred because it shows sincerity    and emotion put into the home made item.  On White Day, March 15th, the reverse happens where the recipient of the gift returns a gift that is typically something white.  It's silly, but I also secretly hope for something in return on White day ^_^.  I blame it on me watching so much Japanese anime although I live in America.   

So here's how I made the Valentine's day chocolates.

• 2-3 different colored candy melts (candy waffers)
• Chocolate Waffers of your choice (I used dark chocolates)
• Peanut Butter Filling and/or nuts for fillings
• Note: I don't have step by step instructions for this but check out the link.  They have to chill for 1 hour so be sure to do this step first.
• Requires: Butter, Pb, powdered sugar
• Zip lock bags
• 1-2 candy trays
• I used the Roses & Hearts from Hobby Lobby

Big thanks for my friend A for the chocolates in bulk and showing me the PB Filling recipe.

Garlicy Baked Shrimp

Pin Rating: 4.5

Duration: 5 min for prep & 25 minutes for the shrimp dish to bake(~ 20 minutes for the spaghetti - water takes forever to boil!)

My sister has been trying to clean out the freezer for a couple of weeks now since we've seemed to have stock piled the freezer full of food and haven't touched any of it yet.  We just happened to have 1 pound of shrimp and we weren't sure what to make for dinner until my sister reminded me I have a yummy looking shrimp dish pinned on one of my Pintrest boards (http://pinterest.com/pin/231724343298452022/).  The dish came out pretty good, but lacked a little flavor and it was probably due to me not adding white wine since there wasn't already a bottle at home. But other than that, delicious!

• 1 lb. of Medium or Large Shrimp (pre-peeled and deveined will save you a lot of time!)
• 1/4 cup softened butter (I let mine sit out to room temperature)
• 4 cloves of garlic (It calls for sliced but I had some minced - not pictured)
• 2 tbps white wine
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp parsley
• Olive oil

Homemade Taco Shells & Bowls

Pin Rating: 5

Duration: 20-30 minutes (7-10 minute cook time per batch)

Mini Rant about the pin: The taco bowl pin drove me a little nuts because when I went to go look at the original instructions there were none!  This was an actual upload by a user so it didn't link up to a website and the pin itself didn't have any instructions.  I'll repin my own picture in a bit with instructions so that there's a good copy out there on Pintrest for everyone to repin.   End of rant. :)

Last month my boyfriend decided he wants to start budgeting a little better so we went grocery shopping.  Some Guerrero corn tortillas were on sale so we grabbed a pack.  Once we got home he decided to have a snack and took one bite of it and almost immediately had a frown on his face.  Apparently these are not the tortillas that he likes.  So since we bought them and we have them I turned to Pintrest for some ways to spice them up a bit so that they're more to his liking.  This quick and simple recipe did the trick!  He loved them and said they were way better this time.  (I made this over at my boyfriend's house and only had my phone so pictures aren't that great but hopefully you can get a good idea of what is going on)

Here's the original pin for the taco shells: http://pinterest.com/pin/231724343298465668/  I used the instructions from this pin to make both shapes of tortilla.

What you'll need:

• Cooking oil (spray or have a brush handy is recommended)
• Tortillas
• Oven rack
• Muffin tin
• Oven @ 375°F

First microwave your tortillas wrapped in paper towel for at least 30 seconds.  This gets them soft and flexible so that they won't break as easily when you're handling them.  I didn't have a brush handy or a spray so I poured some olive oil onto a plate and then dipped the tortilla evenly on both sides.