Pinterest is the devil

I cannot say I wasn't warned. All my FB friends say the Pinterest is the new time-suck, that they are complusively pinning the cutest/funniest/most creative things and then never doing anything about it. That or they are complaining about the stupid people who forever caption recipes "Yum" or "I WILL make this" when the picture is nonspecific and unhelpful - Noone cares if you think SOMETHING over rice looks yummy, YOU HAVE TO TELL US WHAT IT IS.

Sheer curiousity compelled me to check it out.... and now I have Pinned endless boards of all kinds of things. So now Aidan and I have endless projects, recipes and art to do on my days off. Instead of feeling accomplished and organized, I think it's getting a little out of hand. In the last 3 months, in addition to all the stuff we normally do on a "stay home day", we have also:

1) made watercolor bubble pictures

http://www.meetthedubiens.com/2011/01/bubble-painting.html

2) Found printable handwriting sheets that he really likes

http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/08/z-handwriting-worksheets.html

3) made so many library trips - we are working our way thru the "100 books every kid should read in Kindergarten"
http://www.woodbridge.lib.nj.us/100books.htm

4) Made a scrapbook page based on a 20-question "interview" with him to capture his 4-yr-old personality

http://reavespartyofthree.blogspot.com/2011/09/20-questions-birthday-q-album.html

5) Created an emergency activity kit out of an Altoid tin. (Keeps him busy in service, at appointments, etc)

http://kimboscrafts.blogspot.com/2010/07/curiously-strong-mint.html

6) We started some of our seedlings (more on that later) in self-watering water bottle "planters" (I included the picture so you can imagine it ) http://www.desperategardener.com/2011/03/creative-containers.html

7) Made an entire gallon of liquid hand soap

http://www.thefarmersnest.com/2011/11/liquid-hand-soap-diy.html

8) Discovered that we can regrow green onions in a glass of water in the windowsill

http://homemadeserenity.blogspot.com/2011/03/putting-food-by-beef-onions-and-vanilla.html

9) Started and planted 2 celery stumps. This is super-easy. Also my mother-in-law and mom have started doing this, too, so I guess it's also catching :)

http://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/re-growing-celery/

And then we started making some of the recipes I found on Pinterest. THAT was also a mistake. First we made quinoa bites, which reminded me fried rice, somehow. This was also the day that I realized I can make quinoa in my electric rice cooker, so now we are eating it all the time.

http://www.soveryblessed.com/2012/01/cheesy-quinoa-bites.html

One day we made homemade taco, ranch and onion soup seasonings mixes- Aidan thought this was so cool that we could make ranch completely from scratch! (Since I am a little OCD, we put the mixes in recycled jars, then printed out labels with the recipe and usage directions on them because naked jars bother me. Then we covered the labels in packing tape, because packing tape is dishwater-proof).

http://selfreliancebyjamie.blogspot.com/2011/08/tis-seasonings.html

That went so well we added a jar of dry "cream of whatever" soup mix; this takes the gloop, excess salt and guilt out of those old-school casseroles that I love but never make because I HATE canned cream-of-mushroom soup!!

http://1orangegiraffe.blogspot.com/2011/07/anything-you-wanna-call-it-casserole.html?showComment=1310864846151#c3489139395376988271

Then we made homemade granola bars; these were so cute! We used our silicone molds to portion them, which is why they are such cutsy little hearts ;)

http://www.anotherlunch.com/2010/05/recipe-chocolate-chip-granola-bites.html

Then last time we made cookies, Aidan scooped half of the batch into ice-cube trays so that we could freeze them. This way, we can bake freezer cookies without having to thaw/shape frozen dough.

I told you, Pinterest is the devil. The stuff-to-do is endless...

So by then I was feeling so crafty that I kept going, making hubbie freezer breakfast burritos. Hot breakfast on demand made him SO happy, especially since I sent a bottle of firecracker salsa to work with them. I altered this recipe, omiting the bacon, doubling the veggies and using hot sausage. As long as the contents freeze well, I don't think you could mess them up.
http://www.hotcouponworld.com/2012/01/freezer-meal-breakfast-burriotos/

Even Paul got into it - HE made the jalepeno popper dip I had intended to make for the Superbowl party. (That was the day I came down with the flu and I was not about to make food to share with people) The dip mysteriously disappeared in 15 minutes.
http://www.bigredkitchen.com/2008/10/jalapeo-popper-dip.html

Hopefully spring will help break the addiction (but first we have to make colored bath fizzies, I already bought the stuff). We will be spending more time outside, since we went a little berserk in the greenhouse
Below is one of five seedling trays. We planted tomatoes, herbs, a few flowers, 2 kinds of squash, cantelope and I don't even remember what else. Obviously we will give most of them away, since I don't plant much of a garden, but it's a fun February thing to do.

3/15 update:

Now we have also done a batch of No Bake Energy Bites (basically what would happen if a no-bake cookie and a granola bar has a baby)http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

And made endless newspaper pots for the endless seedlings we already planted so that I can start giving them awayhttp://lindycottagehill.blogspot.com/2011/03/recycled-newspaper-pots_19.html

And made a batch of this weed killer. The jury is still out if it really workshttp://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2009/07/eliminate-herbicide-drift.html