Oh, how lucky we are!

I'm a week late, but here's a quick recap of our St. Patrick's Day!

The kids bring out the best in me and make me want to celebrate every little holiday.  Gone are the days where St. Patrick's Day means green beer and an impending hangover (at least for now, never say never!).  I've also been known in the past to use my eye color as my 'green' on the holiday.  Lame!

Anyhoo, we didn't do anything too extravagant, but we did do a few St. Paddy's inspired things.  After all, my kids are part Irish so I can't deprive them of their holiday!

 

 

First up, a photo shoot!  Surprised?  You shouldn't be :)

When we got back from Kindermusik, I got my sous chefs in position and we decided to make some green Cheerio treats.  But not before another photo shoot!

Seriously, how cute are they!?

Redmond was so excited that he got to sit on the counter and put the food coloring into the melted butter and marshmallows.  But, mainly that he got to sit on the counter :)

They turned out great.....and very green!

 

For dinner, I decided I wanted to start making an Irish or, at the very least, Irish-inspired dinner.  This year I made a Guinness Beef Stew and Irish Soda Bread.  Next year I'll be sure to make myself something too so I'm not just eating bread.  Not that I mind.

 

I think next year we'll get more into the holiday.  I saw some great ideas for a Leprechaun trap and having a Leprechaun visit while the kids are sleeping.  Why do I have a feeling that this holiday is going to get bigger and bigger every year!? 

Did you do anything special to celebrate?

Orange Scented Kitchen Cleaner

The good news about this cleaner?  It forces you to eat your Vitamin C!  It takes some patience to get started (2 weeks), but it only uses 2 ingredients, 3 if you choose to use essential oil.  The essential oil isn't necessary but helps mask the vinegar smell a bit more.  Not to mention orange essential oil has numerous benefits including it being a natural antidepressant and aphrodisiac ;)

Ingredients & Supplies:
Peel of 2 oranges
Vinegar
Water
Pint Mason Jar
Spray Bottle
Orange essential oil (optional)

Directions:
1.  Place orange peels into glass mason jar and cover with vinegar.  Allow to sit for 2 weeks.

 

2.  After 2 weeks, discard orange peels and pour vinegar into a spray bottle along with 5-10 drops orange essential oil.  Start by adding in one part water to every two parts of vinegar.  Dilute more if desired.  Shake well and start cleaning!

 

To test out my new cleaner, I went straight for the dirtiest, grimiest, most ignored thing in my kitchen.  My microwave.  We don't use our microwave too often and it gets cleaned even less often so it was in need of a good scrub.  Thankfully, actual scrubbing wasn't necessary.  I sprayed the orange cleaner and let it sit for about two minutes.  All the grime and food stains wiped right off!

 

 

I've been using this cleaner exclusively for about three weeks now and I don't plan on stopping.  No more store-bought, chemical-laden kitchen cleaners for our house!