Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Deliciousness

I've never cooked shrimp before, let alone de-veined it (gross). Cilantro used to be far from my list of likes, but pregnancy must have changed that because I really like it now. And lime...mmmmmmmmm. So, with a little extra time on my hands and a great recipe, I decided to try making a shrimp dish. It wasn't hard at all, just a little time consuming. I actually really enjoyed it and working with all the fresh ingredients to make the sauce from scratch. The kitchen smelled so good. Next time I'm doubling the recipe, we didn't have any leftovers.

Cilantro lime shrimp on brown rice

BEST root beer ever

Carrot Cake cupcakes for dessert

The Candy Cannon

Uncle Dana never disappoints. He has some of the coolest toys. At the family reunion this weekend he introduced me to Tannerite, a simple explosive with impressive power. He put jars of it inside two cantaloupes, shot them with his gun (from a distance), and vaporized it. All that was left was a wet spot on the soil and the smell of cantaloupe. No rind, no orange pulpy mess, nothing. Pretty cool.

As awesome as that was, he topped it later when he brought out the CANDY CANNON - I want one!!  It took him 9 months of phone calls to get a guy to make this thing for him. So worth it. With a little gun powder and a fuze, candy flies sky high and then drops on an anxiously waiting crowd of grand kids with bags, outstretched shirts, and upside down hats to catch the falling pieces and collect them from the ground. It makes an Easter egg hunt look weak.

Dana getting set up. The sun had just set, but we still got 2 rounds out before it was too dark to find the candy

A lid goes on top of this and then he lights the fuze

 If you listen closely, you can hear the candy hit the ground. It's kinda hard to see in the dusk lighting

Homemade wipes? No thanks!

This week my helpful sister sent me a link to a blog giving directions for how to make homemade wipes. I'm prepping for motherhood and researching all the products and finding things I like and don't like. Wipes have been an adventure (Brandon would call it "an ordeal"). I had no idea there were so many kinds, textures, smells, ingredients, etc. Not to mention price comparisons. I'm trying to narrow it down to something I want to feel and smell everyday. I actually had a reaction to one type that made my hands turn red and itchy. So I was excited to give her suggestion a try especially because I'd be choosing the scent (I have a very sensitive Schenk sense of smell. Thanks great grandma Schenk).

List of supplies

• a round plastic container with a tight-fitting lid

• thick, strong roll of white paper towels (we prefer Viva brand, as it is very thick and strong but also soft and cloth-like)

• Sharp, serrated knife to cut paper towel roll in half

• 2 cups water that has been boiled and cooled to room temperature

• 2 Tbsp. baby shampoo or baby wash

• 1 Tbsp. baby oil

All I needed to do was cut a roll of paper towels in half, add some ingredients as instructed and let the paper towels soak up the goodness until they are ready to be used as wipes (see full instructions on the blog link above). Easy enough.

The picture of the knife cutting through the paper towel roll on the blog looked beautiful

Picture taken from http://www.homemademamas.net/2010/07/homemade-baby-wipes.html

Here is mine:
(btw, I couldn't find the brand of paper towel they suggested in plain white. And I didn't have round tupperware adequate for the task and wasn't going to invest in one just for this because have you seen the price of tupperware?? so I used a ziplock bag that essentially worked the same):

Notice the 3 knives, pair of scissors, and shreds of paper towel mess. It was NOT an easy task. Don't let anyone tell you yanking the cardboard core out of a paper towel roll is smooth

And the finished result:

What you can't see is that HALF the roll is actually pretty dry

VERDICT: Uh-uh...not going to do it. It took waaaaaaay too long, made a huge mess, and half my roll was practically dry. I'm not sure the savings for making your own out-benefit the time it takes to make such an inferior product. Of course, I may just be a failure when it comes to making homemade, money saving, quality products...oh well. Cheers to the mothers at the Homemade Mamas Blog. I envy your skills, but let the commercial wipes search continue for me...


PS: Yes, Brandon, you were right.