You absolutely can make your own food color dyes for your Easter eggs. You simply need two ingredients: food coloring and vinegar.
Mix 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of food coloring with 2 teaspoons of vinegar in a container that is deep enough for the egg. Add water to the half way point in the container. Slowly place the eggs into the containers. Depending on your helpers ages, placing the eggs into the container and dye might take a while, or need an adults hand. A bigger spoon also helps in putting the egg in the container and helps in preventing cracks.
Remove the egg from the dye, pat dry with a paper towel and place in a holder. The egg carton works as a great drying rack.
For more great egg decorating ideas check out:
Amazing Moms
Friday, April 2, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Dear Just Be: I need to do spring cleaning, but what does that involve?
Spring cleaning, you start thinking about doing it the first day you can roll down your car windows and enjoy the sun and breeze on your face. To some spring cleaning is cleaning every nook and cranny in their home. To others, it is simply getting out their spring/summer clothes and throwing them in the wash. The point of spring cleaning is to freshen your home and to be ready for the upcoming seasons that can be a little crazy because people are out and about enjoying the outdoors and vacations, graduations, weddings, family reunions, etc. The first step to spring cleaning is to create a plan, and if you have more than just you in the home, designate who is going to do what task for that plan.
The next easy step in spring cleaning is to de-clutter. Get rid of items that you haven’t used in a year or that are broken or have been broken for some time. The reality is if you haven’t used it or gotten it fixed, you’re not going to. Also, if you find something and your reaction is: “oh, I thought I lost this, or that is where that went,” then obviously, the item doesn’t mean that much to you and you should let it go.
Another simple step for spring cleaning is to wash your windows. Spring and summer months offer bountiful sunny days, especially here in Colorado, so let that sun come into your home as much it can. The sun will help your plants to grow, warm your home and provide you with some of the daily needed Vitamin D.
Another project, if you own a home, inspect your home’s exterior for any potential problem areas. Problem areas can be a leaking cutter, missing or broken shingles or siding. Also, pull out and touch up any out door furniture.
The list for spring cleaning is endless, so concentrate on the areas that are going to put your mind at ease. For more great ideas on how to get started on spring cleaning visit:
Right at Home – Great lists!
Organized Home
Woman’s Day
The next easy step in spring cleaning is to de-clutter. Get rid of items that you haven’t used in a year or that are broken or have been broken for some time. The reality is if you haven’t used it or gotten it fixed, you’re not going to. Also, if you find something and your reaction is: “oh, I thought I lost this, or that is where that went,” then obviously, the item doesn’t mean that much to you and you should let it go.
Another simple step for spring cleaning is to wash your windows. Spring and summer months offer bountiful sunny days, especially here in Colorado, so let that sun come into your home as much it can. The sun will help your plants to grow, warm your home and provide you with some of the daily needed Vitamin D.
Another project, if you own a home, inspect your home’s exterior for any potential problem areas. Problem areas can be a leaking cutter, missing or broken shingles or siding. Also, pull out and touch up any out door furniture.
The list for spring cleaning is endless, so concentrate on the areas that are going to put your mind at ease. For more great ideas on how to get started on spring cleaning visit:
Right at Home – Great lists!
Organized Home
Woman’s Day
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Dear Just Be: I need a side dish for Easter dinner. Do you have any colorful ideas?
An easy, yet colorful, side dish to compliment any table is our favorite German Red Cabbage recipe!
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup sliced green apples
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions
1. Place butter, cabbage, apples, and sugar into a large pot. Pour in the vinegar and water, and season with salt, pepper, and clove.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
You can also feel good bringing this dish knowing that red cabbage is a good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.
Ingredients
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 5 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup sliced green apples
• 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Directions
1. Place butter, cabbage, apples, and sugar into a large pot. Pour in the vinegar and water, and season with salt, pepper, and clove.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until the cabbage is tender, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
You can also feel good bringing this dish knowing that red cabbage is a good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Dear Just Be: I used my fireplace a lot this winter and need to clean it out but don’t know how. Help!
It is important to clean out your fireplace at the end of every winter season. Not cleaning your fireplace can become a fire hazard – causing chimney fires. Cleaning your fireplace is done in less than 10 steps.
1. Lay tarp on carpeting near and around the fireplace.
2. Remove large pieces of wood from the fireplace. Put all large pieces in the trash.
3. Vacuum soot and ashes out of the fireplace. (For the best results, use a shop vac.)
4. Put newspaper on top of the tarp at the hearth and inside the fireplace.
5. Make a solution of one gallon warm water and one cup bleach. Use a scrub brush and the water to scrub soot off the interior of the fireplace.
6. Throw the newspapers in the trash. Wipe up any remaining water with old rags.
7. Clean the floor of the fireplace. Use the same solution of water. Mop up the water with paper towels afterward and throw them away.
8. Clean fireplace grates outside. Lay down several layers of newspaper and lay the grate on top. Use oven cleaner or bleach water to clean the grate.
9. If you have a glass door with your fireplace, use glass cleaner and newspapers, not paper towels to clean the fireplace doors.
1. Lay tarp on carpeting near and around the fireplace.
2. Remove large pieces of wood from the fireplace. Put all large pieces in the trash.
3. Vacuum soot and ashes out of the fireplace. (For the best results, use a shop vac.)
4. Put newspaper on top of the tarp at the hearth and inside the fireplace.
5. Make a solution of one gallon warm water and one cup bleach. Use a scrub brush and the water to scrub soot off the interior of the fireplace.
6. Throw the newspapers in the trash. Wipe up any remaining water with old rags.
7. Clean the floor of the fireplace. Use the same solution of water. Mop up the water with paper towels afterward and throw them away.
8. Clean fireplace grates outside. Lay down several layers of newspaper and lay the grate on top. Use oven cleaner or bleach water to clean the grate.
9. If you have a glass door with your fireplace, use glass cleaner and newspapers, not paper towels to clean the fireplace doors.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Dear Just Be: I'd like to treat some friends to dinner at my place but just realized this week is Passover - any recipe ideas?
Passover will begin tomorrow Tuesday, March 30 and continue for 7 days until Monday, April 5. However, in the Jewish calendar, a holiday begins on the sunset of the previous day, so observing Jews will celebrate Passover on the sunset of Monday, March 29.
To celebrate the holiday, why not try this Matzah Vegetable Lasagna which makes 8 to 12 servings?
Matzah, enough to make four layers in a 13x9x2" baking dish, lightly moistened with water. Do not soak, instead wet them as you layer them.
3 cups ricotta
24 oz. shredded mozzarella, divided
1 cup grated parmesan, divided
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
3 eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups your favorite spaghetti/tomato sauce
Mix ricotta, 5 cups of the mozzarella, 3/4 cup of the parmesan, parsley and eggs.
Spoon 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with one layer of moistened matzah. Layer 1/3 of the cheese mixture and 2/3 cup of the sauce in dish. Repeat layers twice. Cover with a final layer of moistened matzah, 1 cup of sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup parmessan.
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with additional sauce.
You can also include a sauteed green vegetable in this, such as two prepackaged bags of spinach sauteed in olive oil with chopped garlic. You can also use thick sliced eggplant, zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, and three large portobello mushroom caps and marinate them in kosher l'pesah Balsamic Marinade (premade, sold in the Passover section of some supermarkets) and then grill them.
Layer half of the grilled vegetables on top of the first layer of cheese mixture and then cover with the 2/3 cup of the sauce and second layer of moistened matzah, then put the sauteed spinach on top of the second layer of cheese, sauce, matzah, and then cheese, the rest of the grilled vegetables, sauce, and then the final layer of matzah, sauce, mozzarella, and parmesan.
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