World's Largest Water Balloon Fight

So remember water balloon fights when you were a kid? You spend what seems like HOOOUUURSS filling up a few balloons, you throw them at your friends (or attempt to while mostly missing...) and running around the yard. You’re barely event wet and all your hard work is over in about a minute. 

Well when it comes to the world’s LARGEST water balloon fight it’s nothing like you remember from your childhood days. Try 11,622 people and a whopping 236,484 water balloons! Unreal. 

I’ve had the pleasure of helping a ministry (CSF) on the University of Kentucky’s campus out with this event for the past 5 years! And each year it’s been a huge success!! Sometimes stealing the title away from other organizations (like Microsoft) and sometimes just breaking a breaking their own record. 

It’s always fun and exciting to be a part of an official Genesis record! Plus the fight is an incredible thing to be a part of and to watch. So much work goes into it but it is always worth it. 

Check out the official video for this years fight! 

Here are so pics I snapped that night.

finishing touches on field set up

so many balloons

the balloons are really pretty

The hubs and myself

with some awesome lady's working one of the many check in stations

a small glimpse of the madness starting

Homemade Peach Iced Tea

I absolutely LOVE peaches. In just about every form. A special favorite of mine if fresh peach ice cream on a waffle cone. *yum* It takes me back to the days of going on vacations to Florida every summer and making a pit stop at this peach farm and deli shop in Alabama on both the trip down and back home. We would buy big crates of peaches and eat them all week long on breaks from the beach. Then on the way home we would stop again and buy more to bring back to Kentucky. They were so good. 

I still remember the way the little place smelled, and watching it grow from year to year. And sometimes if we were lucky we would eat lunch there at the deli. There is something about a southern deli and rocking chairs on the porch. But if we were even luckier we were able to get ice cream. They also had ice cream that they made. All if which was delicious but I always got the peach for myself. They used their own peaches in a vanilla ice cream base and it was to die for. And that’s big coming from me cause there are very few sweets I like that don’t include chocolate. I’m kind of a diva that way. 

So when I started seeing peaches at the farmers market this year I wanted some. Unfortunately the husband isn’t a huge fan of peaches. He’ll eat just about anything but he doesn’t like peaches. How can this be? So I finally did buy some from the farmers market, but it’s so hard to me to eat that many before they go bad! 

So I decided to make peach iced tea with them! And believe it or not this IS one peach thing John will enjoy. Plus we’re cutting back on buying coke at the store and making a switch to pitches of Crystal Light in the fridge, so this is basically the same thing! 

This was SO easy and it tastes great! 

All you have to do is make some iced tea. Use whatever tea you like normally and make according to the package. I prefer Luzianne for my iced tea. It comes in the big bags {one bag per quart of water but I always throw in one extra bag cause I like my tea strong}. Leave some room in you pitcher with the peaches, ice, and cool water. 

For the peach flavor you need a few ripe peaches. The peaches I had gotten were small ones of I use three but if you have big ones two would be enough. 

I pitted and skinned them. My were SUPER ripe so it was kind of a mushy mess. I made sure to do it all over the bowl I was collecting them in so all the juices were together and not running down my counter. 

Then I put them all in my food processor. {Seriously this thing is one of my best friends. It amazing. I think I use it almost every day at least once.} 

I chopped it all up until it was a soupy! I added less than 1/4C of water to help make it very thin. 

After I took my tea bags out of my pitcher I mixed in my liquid peaches and some sugar {sweeten to your liking with sugar, sweetener or a combo} I think I used a little less than 1C. 

Once everything is all mixed up and dissolved add a bunch of ice and if you still have room some cool tap water to fill your pitcher up. And now you’re good to go! 

The tea is ready to drink now if you pour it into a glass completely full of ice or you can refrigerate it until you’re ready to drink it. 

I would say it’ll last up to a week in the fridge but good luck making it last that long! 

*sorry if the pictures are a little blurry, I may have dropped my camera last week and then lens may be bent...

DIY T-Shirt & Lace Infinity Scarf

Hello friends! 

I hope everyone had a great weekend and start to their week! Things have gotten a little busy with us but I did manage to craft a little something I’ve had in my head for a little while. 

Introducing the DIY t-shirt and lace infinity scarf! Woo! What a mouth full! But it’s super easy and super cute and fun. 

The hardest part for me was figuring out what shirt I wanted to cut up!

You’ll need an old shirt (preferably one that’s soft, like a jersey knit type feel), some lace fabric, and a sewing machine and you are good to go. 

The first thing I did was find a shirt and I cut the bottom off. You want to cut it pretty thick since it’ll be for a scarf, plus you can always error on the side of too much since you’ll be hemming it in anyway. 

After you cut the bottom off you’ll need to take the stitches out of one of the side seams. 

Now you need to cut some lace. I cut my lace slightly wider than my t-shirt since I was again going to hem it in. Also you’re gonna want to cut it as long as you want the lace section to be. I think mines maybe a foot.

Next you sew the lace’s ends to either end of where you took the seam out of the shirt bottom. Make sure the inside of the lace and shirt seams you create are on the same side as the other t-shirt seam we didn’t take out! 

Once you’ve sown the ends of the lace to the ends of your shirt you’ve created a big circle of fabric! Basically an infinity scarf! 

Now for some housekeeping.

Pin and hem the entire side of the scarf on the side that you cut off the shirt. So just pin all the way around both the shirt and the lace part and create a hem. Then on the other side you only need to hem the lace in to the same width of the shirts natural hem (which we never touched). 

After that just trim up the hems extra fabric, and cut your extra thread and you and good to go! 

Seriously, so easy. 

*please excuse the rough looking nail job! Today was my day to redo them, unfortunately that happen after my little crafting adventure ;)

the great {cheap} steak out.

Like most husbands mine loves him some red meat. I know, I know. Shocking! But with keeping the groceries within budget and under same much as possible it’s safe to say we’re not eating porterhouse and filet mignon every week!! But we do enjoy a yummy steak every other week. And we honestly only spend (give or take a little) $5 on it.

Tips for a yummy and CHEAP steak:

1.) Buy a cheap cut. We buy a “marinating cut” at the store. Your store should have it and it’ll be right on the label. Between the two of us we rrreally can’t (and shouldn’t) eat more than a pound of meat. So we buy something under one pound. Also look for one that is in the $4-$6 range (for two people) that has the most “marbling” aka fat throughout the meat. This will give you a more tender steak.

2.) It’s a marinating cut so of course marinate it. Obviously it’s not a super expensive steak so the meat alone isn’t like going to Malones (not that I’ve ever been) so you aren’t gonna “ruin” it by not eating it as is, you want to enhance the flavor. 

For our marinade I use the same basic ingredients but sometimes edit it based on my mood or what we have in the house. 

You want to mix in a container that will fit your steak all the ingredients. Use about equal parts of the liquid ingredients, just enough so you can submerge your steak in it once it’s all mixed up. And I would guess close to a tablespoon of the dried herbs, I just sort of dump a little in.

-Soy sauce

-Red wine vinegar 

-Balsamic vinegar

-Worcestershire sauce (insert Shrek the 3rd Donkey quote)

-Canola/Vegetable/Olive oil (which ever you prefer or have on hand)

-2 or 3 fresh garlic cloves, minced

-Basil

-Parsley

-Rosemary

-Oregano 

-Black pepper

Again you can made substitutions or add something to it. Today I added a little cumin and I’ve also put fresh jalapeño, cilantro, and red onion that I minced real fine in my food processor first into it instead of the more “Italian” herbs before. 

After you have it all mixed up submerge your steak in it for at least 2-3 hours. If you think it get it ready earlier then do it! I wouldn’t do it any sooner than the morning of though. 

3.) Before you cook it let the steak come to room temperature! This helps to keep it tender. Take the steak out of the marinade and let it sit on a plate for maybe 20 mins or so. This will give you a more tender steak and that’s what you want! 

At this point I’ve also started sprinkling a little garlic salt on the steak while it sits. Not too much cause that can be wayyy too salty but just a sprinkle over the top will do.

4.) Now you’re ready to cook it! You can cook it any way you want but one last important thing to remember is to use a meat thermometer! This way you don’t over cook it. I always cook ours medium rare. 

We have one of the thermometers that you can set what you want to cook it to and leave it in the meat and it will beep when it’s ready. Super handy. 

So you can grill it, sear it, or broil it. We can’t have a grill where we live so we have a handy dandy George Forman and I cook it on that. 

5.) Once your steak it done put it on a platter and let it rest again for a few minutes. This way all the juices have time to soak into the meat. If you cut it too soon all the juices will run out but if you wait they will stay put!

6.) Eat. Enjoy. 

I hope you enjoy a cheap and yummy steak sometime soon!

Goettafest

Have you ever had goetta?! {ged-da} Eh, chances are a lot of you out there haven’t. Unless you’ve spent anytime living around Cincinnati. We love our goetta. Seriously. We even have multiple festivals for it.

For those of you not in the know I’ll explain what it is. Basically it’s a breakfast meat. Yes, seriously. It’s sort of like a sausage, and typically sold in plastic wrapped link like sausage and you can slice it and fry it up or sort of brown it like hamburger meat. It has a little bit of a spice to it like sausage but it’s its own sort of taste. The two biggest ingredients are ground pork (or a combination of pork/beef) and steel cut oats. It’s super popular around Cincinnati where we have a lot of german roots and was a peasant dish made to help meat stretch further.

It might not sound like the most appetizing thing even just hearing about it but I admit it pretty good! It’s actually the only breakfast meat I’ll eat, I’m not a fan of the others. 

This past weekend there was a local Goettafest down on the Ohio River. Some how my adorable husband has made it his entire life without going to a single Goettafest. Unbelievable. So we remedied that this weekend and went. 

As we strolled into the festival we past by dinky carnival and bounce rides for kidos, a caricature artist, booths and booths of food where the “typical” ingredient has been replaced with goetta instead, lots of people and a live cover-band. 

After scooping out the options (which included goetta nachos, hot brown with turkey goetta, goetta burrito, goetta corn dog, deep fried goetta balls, goetta {not crap} rangoon, goetta sushi, goetta hoagie, goetta cheese coney and more!) we got a goetta calzone from Papa Johns. I’ve gotten it before and informed John that it was good so that’s why he wanted to try it, and it was very good. 

Then we got a little more adventurous. They also have goetta desserts but I’ve never been brave enough to try one, but the husband was! So we went the the local bakery booth and got the goetta brownie. The goetta was only in the chocolate ganache on top and it just gave it a little sweet and salty taste but you honestly hardly knew it was there. And it was a pretty darn good brownie!

Quick update on Mr. Pit! The pit is cracking and i noticed when changing and refilling his water that there is a white sprout growing, all tucked up inside it! yay!! 

Mr. Pit (growing an avocado tree part 1)

Meet Mr. Pit. He came from an avocado. He’s been all wrapped up in his mother for a while now. Most recently they’ve lived in the bowl we keep on our kitchen table. They’ve had friends. The Banana Crew of course, then there’s the Lemon family, Mr. Orange, and Miss Honeydew.

But now he’s one his own. (Shhh don’t tell him but his mom will be very instrumental in tonight dinner...)

Look how pretty he is!!

This week I came across how to grow an avocado tree! Now obviously living in Kentucky is not the best atmosphere for harvesting avocados but you can grow a tree indoors. Kinda fun huh? The hubs has been wanting a larger indoor plant for the apartment so I’m gonna give it a whirl! 

First you gotta get an avocado. Then once you eat it (or if you just let it sit and get ripe and don’t eat it. You’re loss.) take the pit out. I would scoop it out and not whack it with the chefs knife and take it out so you don’t mess it up. 

Then you give it a bath. Just wash all the slimy goodness off and dry it.

Then you figure out the top and bottom. The bottom is a little flatter and the top comes to a small point. If you remember to pay attention when taking it out you can’t get it wrong cause it’s the same as the top of the avocado itself. The top of the pit will be on top with the top of the fruit (aka where you can see where it was connected to it’s tree). Mine looked like the roots already want to come out the bottom so it was super easy. 

See!!

Ok then you stick a few toothpicks in it! It’s actually really easy to stick them in. You do this because the bottom of the pit has to stay in water 24/7 while the top needs to say out of water 24/7. This way you can place it in a cup suspended over water. After I did mine I realized I should have put the toothpick in at an angle and not straight on that way they would rest it a little lower in the cup and I wouldn’t have to have it filled to the brim all the time. Oh well. 

Then in about 2-4 (I think, relying on memory) it should have roots come out the bottom and a little plant pop out the top! 

Here’s hoping first times a charm!! I will keep you updated on Mr. Pit’s progress and (hopefully) when he makes it to the second part (potting) I will share how to do it! 

best ever cheese sticks

One of my favorite parts of being a wife is weekly menu planning and grocery shopping. I know. I’m crazy. But I absolutely love it. Sometimes I feel like have I more meal ideas than we can get to and a few favorites we can’t get enough of. Plus I love planning our list, clipping coupons and finding us the best deals. 

One way to balance things is by having a system of sorts. To cut down on our grocery bill we have at least one vegetarian and one pasta dish a week. And then to make sure we get some of our favorites in without getting sick of them we have steak one week and pizza the next. Repeat.

This week of pizza week. And not to toot my own horn but I knocked it out of the park tonight. In fact the hubs would rather have my pizza than order some. On the menu tonight? Buffalo chicken pizza, cheese sticks, and salad. 

I’ll admit that my inspiration for my cheese sticks are not 100% my own cause I did work briefly...very briefly...at a pizza place in college. Did I mention that it was a sketchy pizza place? But that’s besides the point. But here is how I did it. Ready?

Ok, so I have to share this. The biggest garlic clove EVER. I had to cut it into three different portions so it would fit in my garlic press. I had to do three rounds of pressing. 

Just to compare. Normal seedless grape. Grape tomato. Largest garlic clove ever. {And please ignore all the cut marks, that is what you get when renting an apartment.}

There she is. The best cheese sticks. Yummy.

And again. I didn't cook it on this sheet though, after I snapped some pics I covered it in foil and a towel on here to keep warm till we were ready for it!

Bubbly, brown cheese, ready for their close up. 

Here’s what you do for the best cheese sticks you’ll every make.

Best Every Cheese Sticks:

-pizza dough

-3 tbs butter

-2-3 garlic cloves

-shredded mozzarella cheese 

Pre-heat oven to 450F.

1.) Melt the butter and add the garlic (depending on how big your cloves are is how many you need and also if you like it extra garlicly or not! Me, I love the garlic. Bring! It! On!) Once all melty set aside.

2.) Take the pizza dough and roll it out. I like to roll mine out and then place on a pizza peel that has been dusted with cornmeal since I cook mine on a pizza stone and it keeps it from sticking BUT you can cook it on a baking sheet if you want and if it’s non-stick {or you use parchment paper/baking mat} you don’t need cornmeal.

3.) Once the dough is rolled out take your pizza cutter and cut the dough in half and then cut strips of dough going across the opposite way. Cut the strips as thick as you want your cheese sticks. You’ll end up for a bunch of sticks that are half the length of your dough this way. If your dough pulls apart after cutting push them back so they are close together. 

4.) Then brush the dough with the garlic butter. Really slather it on there. 

5.) Now it’s time for the CHEESE. Take your shredded cheese and sprinkle allll over your dough. Really cover from edge to edge like you would a pizza. And if some cheese is hanging off that’s ok because it creates the crispy “burnt” cheese and that is yummy. 

6.) Place in your pre-heated oven and bake for about 10 mins (give or take). You want to cook it till it looks like the dough is cooked and all the cheese is melty. The cheese on the very edge with start to get dark brown. 

7.) Now it’s time for the real fun. Switch your oven off bake and turn on the HI broil. This will start to rrrreally make your cheese bubble and brown. You HAVE to keep your eye on it. If you don’t you might burn all your sticks. Watch it. It will bubble madly but wait until you get more browning of your cheese to take it out but don’t over do it and burn it. You can go quickly from toasty to burnt with the broiler. 

8.) Eat. Your. Heart. Out. Dip in left over garlic butter, pizza sauce, or creamy thick ranch. 

So it’s not healthy but I didn’t say it was the healthiest cheese sticks ever. Just the best. 

And just in case in you weren't hungry enough I wanted to share pics of our buffalo chicken pizza. Yum!

Jealous yet?