We are headed to Chicago this week to see grandma for her birthday.  So I really only need to plan two dinner meals this week.  We will be having 1)Meatballs with Smashed Taters and 2) Baked Ham.  That is it pretty easy week for the kitchen department.

We worked really hard today starting with the cleaning project.  I would have started another video but with it being 11:00 and we finally got the army bunk out and the new bed and Ethan was tired.  We would have had it done earlier but we stopped to watch Where The Wild Things Are.  We have a lot of stuff sorted and a lot of things tossed out in the trash.  Tomorrow we will finish up some surfaces and hopefully get to the closet.  So far it is a success but there is still a lot of work to be done and then I will need to find homes for the items that I decide to keep.  I asked Ethan to keep two shelves in the closet but he offered them all to me we will see if I need the space but I did clear off my small bookshelf in the room which he can use so maybe it won’t be so bad.  It sure does look strange with the built in desk tore out.  It is definately not my room anymore and we have been talking paint colors so come this spring when things warm up and we can ventilate a bit better it is bound to change more. 

I can’t wait to show you the final project.  One weekend and a bit of commitment can really change a room if you put your mind to it.  If you have a disasterous room or if you feel your entire house is a disaster just take a room a month and work at it.  Most of us don’t have more than twelve rooms in our homes and if you do I am sure you can combine two small rooms and finish in a year.  After you get one done just make sure to do a tidy weekly and keep it up.  I know I am feeling motivated to make some changes around here!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of wellnessdaily.com. All opinions are 100% mine.

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I can hardly believe I am putting this out there but I told you that you were going to start getting into my everyday life.  First off I avoid cameras like the plague.  I don’t mind being behind them although I am still learning the art of photography but being in front is an entirely different perspective.  For this reason doing a video and talking to you is painful.  Over time I hope it gets easier.  I normally don’t get fancied up so you will see me in a t-shirt and yoga pants without my makeup at most times.  I guess that is okay if you came over to visit that is what you would get anyway.  I wasn’t put on the earth to impress you with my great looks but rather to just be me. Oh yeah and I never claimed to be a great housekeeper but you will know when you see this room it has become our dumping ground (especially my desk which I do not use)!  Anyway, I hope that in a couple days I can show you a totally different looking room.  This really is going to be a big project because I want to go through everything and figure out what to do with it.  No more move an item to another dumping ground which I tend to be familiar with.  Seriously how can I tell the kiddo to clean his room when my mess is in there from a moment prior to his arrival.

I have been doing a lot of soul searching as of late.  I am not sure what really started it.  Maybe it was feeling overwhelmed, the demands of finishing this review, that giveaway or just trying to keep up with the other mom bloggers.  While I was gone to Mexico on my mission trip we were challenged to “walk the wall” which is literally taking a prayer walk around the wall that surrounds the orphanage property.  It is a thing that I think really likely made a huge change for me.  Why would walking around a wall change things?  Well it gave me time to reflect on how I am living.  You seriously think about these things when you see poverty first hand and not in a magazine or on a website.  I definately took my opportunity to pray but no I didn’t hear any loud voice booming a direction in which I should go.  Let me share a few pictures of my experience “walking the wall”.

However, since I have been home I have really been attempting to get things in order and trying to find the meaning in the life I already have.  I tend to really be someone who keeps to myself with a couple of exceptions.  While I am perfectly okay with keeping to myself, I really want to get my blog back to a real place.  I want you, my fantastic readers, to know it is okay to be chaotic for a day, a week or a month as life hands us seasons where just surviving is all we can manage.  I have had those seasons but it is really my time for change.  I want to get back to posting about my everyday life. 

You will still see some reviews and a few giveaways but I want to do them for me not because I need to see numbers of visitors that are huge.  Seriously, are any of them reading my content or is it just a greed fest.  We live in a society that tells us buy this, get that and you will feel important.  I have things I enjoy like all of you but what I really enjoy is being me without a sheet of marketing always on my front page.  It is back to the real me, in my yoga pants, without my makeup just living my not so ordinary life.  I hope to continue to see your comments and would love your suggestions as I share with you life in My Red Apron.

Hello everyone thanks for stopping by to link up your giveaways.  I would love to encourage you to become a follower of My Red Apron this week.  I have a goal to get break the 500 mark on followers/subscribers this month and would love your help.  Have a great Friday and make sure you share the love and browse some of the other giveaway listings!

Are you getting ready for your garden yet?  If not it really is about that time, especially if you are planting seeds indoors first.  I will have a slight delay this year because I am headed to Chicago again and no one will be here to water my plants so starting the 15th I will be planting my heart out.  If you are a beginner or avid gardener I have recently reviewed a set great gardening books from Better Homes and Gardens which I have to recommend to you.

Beds and Borders (Better Homes & Gardens)

The first book is Beds & Borders.  This book is awesome in the fact that it shows you a huge variety of plants and beds with diagrams on what to plant where to get the same results as the pictures.  My favorite part though is that every plant listed also lists it’s zone and a substitute idea for non-included zones.  Living in zone 4 we are so borderline on what we can and cannot successfully plant.  I love having substitution ideas and I might take some suggestions and redo the front bed I took bushes out of two years ago.  Thank you Better Homes & Gardens!

Complete Guide to Container Gardening (Better Homes & Gardens)

The second book is the Complete Guide to Container Gardening.  Most people would enjoy a container plant or variety of plants.  This book is going to show you containers from the simple to the extravagant.  There is a lot of information between the covers of this book.  Not only will you see the beautiful containers but you will get the diagrams on how to arrange them.  You will also learn about different types of containers some of which you will even learn to make.  If you don’t have a lot of lawn you can dig up setting a container on an entry way or hanging on a window would be a great way to have a green thumb.

I recently finished reading Dead Fred, Flying Lunchboxes and the Good Luck Circle by Frank McKinney.  It is a wonderfully imaginitive tale about a fish (Dead Fred) that needs help saving his kingdom of High Voltage.  The story is based on over a 1000 walks that took place on the way to school between Frank McKinney and his daughter. 

Ppeekk (pronounced peekee) is the main character and you will follow her through a journey of trying to save Dead Fred the fish and his underwater kingdom of High Voltage.  She is new to town and soon meets friends whom she lets in on her secret.  Ppeekk and her friends work together with creativity, research and teamwork to help Dead Fred and their new underwater friends.  The story is enchanting as a fairy tale but advanced enough for the tween reader to stay involved in the story.  There is a lot of adventure and twists that keep the story moving.  My boys are enjoying this book as well and recommend you buying it for your children. 

Visit Dead Fred online and purchase the book.  Proceeds from the book support The Caring House Project Foundation which has built 11 villages in Haiti.

A copy of this book was provided by Ascot Media for the purposes of this review no other compensation was given.

While I was gone on the mission trip a couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to learn to make salsa from Miriam.  It was great fun even if she didn’t speak any English we got things figured out.  There isn’t any measuring in this recipe and I do have a couple pictures so if you are comfortable dumping and cooking this will make you feel right at home if you aren’t well you can try it and see how your salsa turns out.

What you will need:

• Dried red chili peppers
• Vegetable oil
• Salt
• Onion
• Garlic
• Water
• Tomato Sauce

To try to make this a bit easier I am going to list steps numerically for you.

1. Tear stems off of your dried chili peppers. Wear gloves!  (We used 1/2 of a plastic grocery sack to make approximately 10 – 700mL bottles)

   

2. Soak chili peppers in a bowl of water to plump them up for around 10 minutes.
3. Heat a large skillet and dry roast the chili peppers on med-low heat until they slightly blister

   

4. Add oil enough to swirl and coat a few peppers and the bottom of the pan, add about 1/4 onion in a chunk or two, continue to roast for around 10 minutes ** The heat of the peppers will make it somewhat uncomfortable to breathe and you may want a window open or ventilation fan running.
5. Transfer enough peppers to the blender to fill it half full.
6. Add water to cover peppers.
7. Add enough salt to lightly cover the top of the peppers.

   

8. Add a garlic clove with roots removed.
9. Blend for at least 5 minutes on puree cycle.
10.   Dump blended mixture in a large bowl.
11.   Repeat 1-10 until you have used up your peppers.
12.   Add tomato sauce and stir well (we used 3 - 8 oz cans but it is pretty spicy you may want more)

    

13.   Put into bottles to freeze or can in jars.  We used water bottles because in Mexico we brought our water in so we just reused the same bottles we got water from.

You now have some Mexican Salsa.  It is hot more of a creep on you and bite your tongue hot than just hot from the start. 

If you were interested in saving 30% off of a Flirty Apron you still can they have extended the savings until this Thursday 3/4.  You can see the entire deal and coupon code here.