new year resolutions

The time to celebrate the new year is coming and that means everyone is planning for their new year parties and coming up with their new year resolutions. somethings you can start to do around the home the new year is to fix all the things in your house that need small fixes, work on keeping the house clean and organized, and try out some different recipes, or a new set up in the living room. hears some tips to start off the new year right

 1. clear your home of clutter, they great thing about the new year is the illusion of starting fresh, even though its just a day after December 31. not much can happen in a day but you can always start something in a day. work on organizing everything into storage containers or donate/throw away the things you no longer need nor want. 

 2. if you have noticed your bills have gone up in the past year? there are so many easy ways that can cut down your energy usage and save you money. 

• when leaving the house turn off air conditioning and turn down heat at night
• it doesn't seem like much but switching out light bulbs for florescent bulbs can save you a lot
• use a low flow shower head
• when not using phone/computer chargers, appliances, or lamps, unplug them from the wall. also instead of leaving your computer on when not in use, switch it to sleep mode
• always turn off the lights when you leave a room. people don't realize how much of a waste of energy it is to leave lights on all day.

these are just some habits you can learn for the new year

 3.keeping the house clean is very easy to let get out of control. so my challenge for you is to come up with a cleaning schedule. i know that sounds dorky and lame, and you probably wont keep up with it but you might keep some of the daily habits of dusting every week or cleaning in those forgotten places in your kitchen.

tip:to control the garbage and make it a habit to take out the trash use a smaller trash can. the result is because the track bin fills up so fast, the garage doesn't build up as much and start to stink up the house. 

*try to get in a habit that is something is out of place or you use it you always out it back immediately after you are done with it. that way once you get into the routine 

 4. renovating an entire room is always fun to do and a great way to start off a new year, but it can take time and money. if you are looking for a new look just try to change up the arrangement of the furniture in the room or the decorations on the wall. also a new set of pillows can add a lot of character and change to a room. if you don't want to buy new pillows you can ways just buy, or make pillow covers to go over the ones you have now. saving you money on the pillows and allowing you to change back to the original design. 

5. set goals. don't say you want to redo every room. make a plan to paint the kitchen before a certain date, then put in a new window before this date and so on. this makes the work load seem less stressful and the due date is motivation to get it done. this is also a better than when it comes to finances because you are able to spread out the pay and plan for what you can and can not pay for. it is a problem if you do a couple rooms all at once because if you run into a problem that takes a lot out of your budget you either have to live in an unfinished room for a lot longer than you planned, and/or have to take out a certain renovation from the plans

spritz cookies

my mom and uncles favorite cookies to made are spritz cookies. they are a tradition my mom and uncle did with their parents and we still use the same cookie press they used. you can make so many different kind of designed and shapes with the cookie press, that's what makes spritz cookies fun.

Ingredients:

shortening

sugar

egg

vanilla

sifter flour

salt

baking powder

Step one: place 1 cup of shortening and 3/4 cup of sugar and mix in an electric mixer

Step two: mix in 1 egg and 1 tsp of vanilla

 Step three: in a separate bowl mix together 2 1/4 cups of sifted flour, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 1/4 tsp of baking powder. (sorry I forgot baking powder picture

 Step four: gradually mix in dry ingredients mixture

Step five: fill the cookie press with the cookie dough, pick out the shape you want to make, and press out your cookies shapes onto an ungreased cookies sheet. add the tiny crystalized sprinkles if you want.

 Step six: bake in the oven at 375 for 10-12 minutes.

peppernuts

the most wonderful time of the year and like most people I am getting stressed out trying to run around to find the perfect gifts for everyone in my life, make all the plans I need, and keep with my school work. one of my favorite things to do for the holidays is baking for when we have company and as gifts for friends. one of the baked good I like to make at my house are peppernuts (pronounced as pepper- knots) , or as my siblings and I used to call them when we were younger, dog treats. don't worry they don't taste any thing like dog treats but they may be described to look like them.

ingredients:

shortening/oleo

sugar

eggs

cinnamon

baking soda

flour

all spice

ground cloves

nutmeg

pure anise extract

corn syrup

molasses

water

Step one: add 1 cup of creamed shortening and after you have creamed the shortening add 1 cup of sugar into electric mixer and mix

Step two: beat 2 eggs in separate bowl and then add into the cream mixture

Step three: add in 1 1/2 tsp of pure anise extract, 1 tsp on cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of all spice, 1/4 tsp of ground cloves, and 1/2 tsp of nutmeg into electric mixer and mix together.

Step four: in a separate bowl combine 1/4 cup of corn syrup, 1/2 cup of molasses

Step five: in another bowl mix 1/3 cup of water, and 1 tsp of baking soda and then add that to the syrup mixture. after mixing that add it into the creamed mixture that you originally made

Step six: add 6 2/3 cups of flour and then chill in the fridge for 4 hours
Tip: ad only half of the flour at one time and mix and then add the rest. or continuously have the mixer on and pour one cup of flour in at a time.

Step seven: roll out multiple 1/4 inch in diameter "snakes" of dough onto a greased pan and cut so that each cut is about 1/8 of an inch apart.
 

Step eight: for each separate peppernut press your finger on top so they are in an oval shape.

Step nine: bake for 8 min at 400 degrees

most interesting houses i've ever seen

Over the summer I took a trip with my high school church group to Detroit. it was a huge mission trip that brought people from all over the United States and even some countries on the other side of the world. Detroit as we walked through the street where he made history, and talk to people that came to see and hear about his work is seen to many people as a scary place of violence and poverty, but while I was there I saw that there was more to it, it was just a city that had gone though some tough times and is building its self back up. while I was in Detroit we got to see this amazing project called the "Heidelberg project". the art work is an entire street and the houses on that street, houses that had been mistreated, and one of the houses is the home of the man who made this project, Tyree Guyton. he was inspired to do this project because these homes were seen as trash and were probably going to be torn down by the city, but "Tyree Guyton " turned it into something inspiring and more attractive then what I was before. his main technic is that he covered anything with multi colored poka-dots because that was his fathers favorite thing. one of the homes at the street was even his own house that his mother still lives on. what was even better than restoring these homes to having a different purpose is that he used materials that he would find around the neighborhood and was seen as trash to anyone else. this project was all recycles material, so he cleaned up the neighborhood and put it all in the street into his own sculptures he created. however amazing this project was many people didn't like it. the became a main conflict in the neighborhood, and some of his art work was forcibly taken down by the city. what I love about this project is that its something you defiantly don't see everyday, and in a city that has had so much violence and has grown to have a bad reputation, this street is a good representation that even in the "bad" neighborhoods of Detroit there is color, and joy. to this day "Tyree Guyton " adds to his art work and I was even able to see and talk to him. I highly encourage you to go see this street of art and the homes there because it is truly amazing. there is so much there to see that I think anyone would find interesting.
this project proves that a home isn't just a roof, some windows and a door or a street. it all tells a story of someone's life and to someone that home means something to them, because to have a place to call home is important.

House Hunters

"House Hunters" is a show on HGTV that isn't one on my favorites list, but it is defiantly not the worst show to watch.

      The show is like many basic shows on HGTV, they show relaters take people who are in search of a new house and once the buyer has picked one they fix it up to be perfect to what the buyers want. in my opinion this wouldn't be my first show that I would recommend to someone on HGTV. its basic and not as entertaining as other shows. I also have read that this show is technically not a reality show. I'm not to surprised because I think a lot of shows on HGTV aren't as real is they seem. The show picks clients who already have their eye on a house and so they show them two other random houses already knowing they will pick the one. that's one of the criticisms about this show because it is called a reality show, but it really isn't. the other thing about this show that I don't particularly like is that its practically the same thing in every episode. I haven't watched the show much because I get bored with it pretty quickly so I don't pay attention much to when it is on.

      There is also "House Hunters International" which I find much more interesting, mainly because it shows amazing exotic places, and vacation homes all around the globe. the different between the international show and the original is the it is around the world and usually are for people who are moving or looking to buy a vacation home. however the show is still the same because there is still the relator showing people three different homes to choose from. I think what makes this show more interesting form the original is that the homes are more interesting because unlike most the shows on
HGTV it shows homes from around the world. these houses have many different styles especially in the locations with different cultures than we usually see in America.

homemade no bake cheesecake

cheesecake is one of my favorite desserts, whether it's a baked cheesecake, or refrigerated its all good to me. My problem is that many of the cheesecakes that you buy from the store or order from a restaurants have the label "is made in a factory that processes and handles tree nuts". My mothers solution is to use grandmothers recipe to make our own cheese cake at home. there are two kind of ways you can make cheesecake, baked cheesecake and refrigerated cheese cake. Both are easy, however I prefer making refrigerated so I don't have to use the oven.

Ingredients:

1pkg of 8oz cream cheese

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1/3cup of lemon juice

1tsp vanilla

crust ingredients:

1 stick of butter

1 package (not box) of graham crackers

 Step One: use a large electric mixing bowl to make the cheesecake part of the cake (the crust will be in a separate bowl) add in 1pkg of cream cheese, 1 14oz of sweetened condensed milk, 1/3 cup of lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.
 Tip: let cream cheese set and reach room temperature before you add everything else with it.

Step Two: start to mix ingredients with the mixer until it becomes fluffy and has no further clumps. start out by mixing it slowly them speed it up as it gets thicker
Tip: the longer you mix it the thicker it will get.

Step Three: while cheesecake is mixing you can start the graham cracker crust. its extremely easy to make and only takes gram crackers and butter. use a food processor to mix one package of graham crackers.
tip: break up graham crackers into smaller pieces before putting them into processor to make it easier to mix. don't add in entire package of graham crackers at once.

 Step Four: melt 1 stick of butter in microwave. (in the picture there are two sticks of butter because I made a double batch)
Tip: cover with a paper towel incase it explodes and makes a mess in the microwave. also take out of microwave multiple times to mix before it melts completely. cut up stick up butter to make it melt easier.

Step Five: gradually stir in melted butter evenly into the crushed up graham crackers

 Step Six: pour into squared pan

 Step Seven: spread out evenly and flatten all across the bottom of the pan

 Step Eight: pour cream cheese evenly into pan

Step Nine: smooth out the top of the cheese cake

Step Ten: put plastic wrap on top of cheese cake and set in the fridge to set. leave in the fridge for 24 hours

Step Eleven: after 24 hours in the fried the cheese cake is ready to cut and eat. use any pie fillings or fruit of your choosing to put on top and enjoy!