My Favorite Pinterest Finds...so far

So I mentioned several weeks ago that I have new-found love affair with Pinterest.

Well, I do.

And I'm not feeling too bad about it, because I think it has actually been a great benefit to my family!

Here are some of the "pins" I've tried recently:

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup in the Slow cooker found here

Ummm, one word:  YUMM!  This got 6 thumbs-up at our house...and recipes like that are hard to come by.  Next time I think I will try blending it all up at the end, just for grins...but we liked loved it this way too.




I bought about 5 pounds of lentils at our natural foods co-op recently.  I use them in Lentil and Brown Rice Casserole side dish...and in Beef and Lentil Soup...and in Lentil Stew...but I'm always up for discovering new ways to use healthy ingredients.  So I was happy when I came across this pin...

Curried Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup found here.

We really liked it!  I made about 1.5 times the recipe (because that was how many sweet potatoes I had) and that made enough for three meals for the 6 of us.  Well, the 7 of us - G had some of the broth and the sweet potatoes....he said it was yummy.


And Pinterest is certainly not only good for finding recipes.  No, no.

I've also found some new cute ways to fix Elisabeth's hair:

Can you tell how much she liked this?

She liked it so much that when I wanted to try something else new a few days later, she didn't want to at first, she just wanted me to do it the other way again...but then she was happy she let me do it:

She loved it!  She's worn it this way several times now...she calls it "Criss-cross pigtails."

It was our turn to provide supper at Community Group two Sunday nights ago.  I brought a big 'ol double batch of my Crockpot Lasagna, some garlic bread we made with our homemade bread, and a batch of these York Peppermint Patty Brownies (found here):

But instead of their brownie recipe, I used my Chocolate Chip Brownie recipe, and just put a layer of York Peppermint goodness in the middle.  I also brought a pan of regular 'ol plain Chocolate Chip Brownies, for those weirdos who don't care for Chocolate and mint together.



I also recently found and re-pinned an article that will help improve my photography (found here).

When I am snapping a picture of someone, I now know how to consistently get that bokeh effect in the background (that "pleasantly blurry" look).

I read it Friday night, and then tried it out on these two cuties at the soccer game on Saturday morning:

Our little friend Kellen - sorry it's sideways!

A pin that has been very helpful in my home management I found here.  It's a DIY Dry Erase Weekly Calendar.  They used a 8-opening Collage Picture Frame.  I loved it!  I found the exact same frame at the Wally...but just couldn't bring myself to spend the $13 when I have umpteen million empty frames at my house already.  So I picked one out and I've been using it in the kitchen for a couple weeks already.

I printed a weekly grid in Excel and slipped it into the frame.  I write what we're having for dinner at the top of the box, and any appointments/activities we have scheduled for that day.  This helps me to be more on top of any prep I need to do (thaw something out, etc.)...

...and the children love being able to see our menu and schedule at a glance.  Bonus: the kiddos think it is very cool that it looks 3-D when I write on the glass that is a 1/2 in. above the grid on the framed sheet of paper.


I've also tried this homemade shaving Lotion found here.

Jas and I have both been using it...and like it.  This wasn't something I went looking for, but when I saw the pin and realized I had all the (4) ingredients on hand, I thought I'd give it a shot.  I like that it was easy to do, and that I could make it using the shampoo, conditioner, lotion and baby oil that I feel comfortable with that I purchased through our co-op.

And last - but certainly not least - I found this pin just today...after Noah used our neti pot this morning:

Forgive me for the crude humor, but we have laughed about this all. day. long.  Maybe we need to get out more...