Live Simply, Simply Live

Brown Sugar Cake

OK. Asked and answered, complete with a picture. (How is that for service, hmmm?)

1 box yellow cake mix (or white, if you are out of yellow. Like I was)

3.4 oz Jello vanilla pudding (the little box)

4 eggs

3/4 C. sour cream (any brand, but not the fat free stuff. ewwww)

1/2 C. veggie oil

2/3 C. water

1 C. packed brown sugar

1 C. chopped pecans

2 T. powdered sugar in shaker

Cinnamon and sugar in shaker (like for cinnamon toast)

Mix first 6 ingredients really well, about 3 minutes. Add brown sugar until blended then toss in the nuts (if you don't like nuts you can skip this step, but it really is better with them). Spray bundt cake pan with cooking spray (WAY easier than doing the butter/crisco/flour thing) then sprinkle a bunch of cinnamon and sugar in the bottom and on the sides of the pan. You can skip this step too, but it is stinking good with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 for one hour or so, til the toothpick thing comes out clear. Cool in pan, then on a wire rack then when completely cool sprinkle it with powdered sugar. Very tasty and even better on the 2nd day (if it lasts that long).

Fun Cricut Contest...

Tag I'm it!

This is contest entry for those crazy folks at TodaysMama and Cricut.  Be sure to check out Cricut's cool new cartridges and the chance at $30,000 in travel for you and your friends at The Great Gypsy Escape!

Great Escape Meme
1. If you could escape to anywhere in the world where would it be? Right now? Maine. Or maybe Montana. SUre was pretty a few weeks ago in MT.

2. What song do you play when you are by yourself in the car?  Testify to Love by Avalon.

3. If you had a night to yourself, and money was no object, what would you do? Really depends on the mood of the night... Maybe a Christian concert and dessert or B & N with Starbucks tossed in for good measure.

4. What is your guilty pleasure? Taking a bike ride when I should be doing chores.

5. What is the farthest place you have traveled away from your home? East Coast. Now that I'm no longer teaching I don't travel much.

6. Last book that you couldn't put down? Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. I've read many other good books since then, but that one has really stuck with me.

7. When you want to escape into another time, what movie do you watch? You've Got Maill is a long time favorite... also like Indiana Jones when I need a bit of action.

8. What is your favorite local escape? Hood River, OR. So beautiful!

9. How do you escape on a budget? Riding my bike is free :)

10. Best food you've ever had while on vacation. A lobster bake after a class I taught in New England. OMH it was to die for good.

Bless you all and I hope you play along!

Disclaimer and a new favorite find

Not all Goodwill Outlets are created equal. More on that in a moment.

 

But first!These babies are MINE!!! ALL MINE! In order to get there ^ I have to back track.

Bri and I, happy with our most recent DD success, went to a different Goodwill outlet store. One in Portland. A larger store, a roomier store, a store with a whole lot more bins. But it was nasty. I mean seriously, disgustingly, ickily gross. We lasted less than 3 minutes. Tops. It was packed with too many smelly bodies, it was dirty and the stuff in the bins, well, it was ready for plastics recycling and the local landfill. Majorly disappointing. So, we drove to the westside (we used to live there, when I did dispatch for Washington County) and checked out Brian's favorite Goodwill. He's partial to the books and they always have agreat selection there. Plus, the store is always CLEAN. Total and complete score. Many great finds.... favorite brands, good quality, decent prices. In fact, I had to stop myself. I found 4 Longaberger baskets that I NEEDED for ridiculously cheap prices and I found THEM! My boots.

I'm a total country girl at heart and would live in the country in a heartbeat if I could. In fact, I fell completely and absolutely in love with Kalispell, but that's a story for another day. I love almost all things associated with the country.... John Deere tractors, cool hats and boots. Love me some good cowgirl boots. But I've got 4 kids and I'm cheap so $125 on boots is pretty much never gonna happen.

BUT, some wonderful, kind soul donated those boots to the Goodwill, they are in fantastic shape and they fit like they were made for me!!!! No way I was leaving the store without those babies.

I've already worn them twice and it was meant to be. We are MFEO (Sleepless in Seattle, anyone?). I'm in complete love and they are officially my new favorite find.

Dumpster Diving

Finally! I'm posting about my latest hobby. I've long been a Goodwill fan (no secret there) but I've recently discovered something even better... dumpster diving! Matt's version of diving involves back of businesses, real dumpters, and, well, gross dirty dumpsters. He swears he's never been, but has friends that love it. My version involves Goodwill outlet stores. The stuff that either doesn't sell at regular Goodwills or is donated at the outlets. Row after row after row of bins with all kinds of stuff. Dirt cheap stuff. Price is usually by pound. And if you go over 25 pounds it's even dirtier cheap. I've got some killer deals on totes, clothes,  truck cables, backpacks, etc. Best yet, I've got Brian hooked on it... though he mostly goes for the book bins. Here is todays haul:

 

2 Hollister shorts (jones),1 AE jeans (Jones), 4 sweaters (me), 3 sweat jackets/tops (j & a and J friends), 1 blouse (me), 4 t sirts (j and friends), 5 camies (various females), 1 reebok jacket (Tim).

AND...

 

2 folding bleacher seats, 1 Totes tote, 1 Pierre Cardin mens over night type bag, 1 easton baseball bat bag (for as friend at work), 1 huge Lancome tote, 1 cambridge day planner, Liz Claiborne black purse, Columbia Sportswear lunch bag and a Creative Memories tool tote.... all but the bleacher seats are brand new, never been used. The CM tool tote still has the "how to load" paperwork inside.

My grand total for the loot? $24.49

Not exactly the steal Sharyn got yard saling the other day, but still, I'm pretty darn pleased.

My best deals to date? The brand new tire cables for our 1 ton truck and Amy's North Face rain coat.

ETA: they don't use REAL dumpsters at the Goodwill Outlets, they use large bins. The bins just remind me of dumpsters because, well, sometimes there is some pretty icky stuff tossed in the bins. And some of the stuff they include isn't fit for human viewing (IE, the moldy pasta sauce jar I saw in one bin today). So, "dumpster diving" at the Goodwill Outlets is simply my term.... what I call my new hobby. Don't know that the good folks from Goodwill would like it so much :)