Mango-Pineapple Black Bean Salsa Recipe

Scott's cooked up another tasty creation that I wanted to share with you. This time it's a black bean salsa and there's actually no cooking involved! Black beans are so tasty and good for you!

Homemade Mango-Pineapple Black Bean Salsa Recipe

Ingredients: 

3-15oz. cans of black beans, drain two of the cans

1 medium sized red onion, chopped 

6-8 small Roma tomatoes, diced 

1 mango, chopped

10oz. fresh pineapple, diced (You can substitute the mango or pineapple with papaya) 

2 medium sized jalapenos, free of seeds and finely diced 

7oz. organic cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Instructions: 

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and marinate in the fridge overnight. Serve with tortilla chips. (We like to eat the organic blue corn tortilla chips.) It's perfect for when you're entertaining or simply want a movie night at home!

Like this recipe? Also be sure to try my Homemade Black Bean Dip Recipe. You can also make black beans into burgers with some cooked down barley and small chopped veggies as suggested by Angelique C. on my fan page. Or do what Sandra B. does and combine 1 can Black beans + 1 can corn + 1 can diced tomato w/chilies + lime juice and cilantro for another fantastic black bean dip!

What's your favorite recipe for black beans?
 

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DIY Weekend Beauty Recipes

Want a weekend wind down? Here are a few great diy recipes to make for your weekend beauty fix!

1. How to Make Your Own Rose Water via Care2

2. 13 Wonderful Ways to Use Epsom Salt via Care2

3. Delicious Cinnamon & Sugar Lip Scrub via Deliciously Organized

4. DIY Chocolate Facial via Beauty With Brains

5. Wake-Up Scrub via Whole Living

6. Homemade Facial Masks via Spa at Home

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Getting By On a Budget - Books to Read

I got divorced just over a year ago, and I'm finally to the point where I'm going to be able to move out of my parents' house and back on my own again. Except this time around it's not going to be as easy because my income is significantly reduced over what it was when I was married and my ex-husband was the bread winner. As a result, I've really been researching ways to save money but to still be able to enjoy life on a budget. In doing so, I came across a few great books that I thought you might be interested in too!

I am super excited about the book, Make Your Place: Affordable & Sustainable Nesting Skills by Raleigh Briggs. I think this book is beautiful and it brings back memories of when 'zines were a trend and mail order was god, before the internet took over the masses and amazon made it's way into the world as the first big internet retailer. Sort of in the way that mustaches are trendy now. Except this book is much more useful than a mustache on a mug! Written and illustrated by Raleigh Briggs, this book is a DIY collection from the author's 'zines and illustrations containing her amazing ideas for making and keeping a DIY household. There are how to's and recipes for making cleaning solutions, using herbs to heal, dealing with "women" related problems, setting up a garden, and so much more. If you're interested in becoming more sustainable and a little more green, this is definite one book you'll want to buy!

You may also be interested in the book, The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking: Decorating, Dining, and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency -- On a Budget! by Kate Payne. This book is your source for decorating, homemaking, and dining on little to no money. It's the perfect book if you're on your own for the first time - especially if you have a limited budget - or just want to explore new ways of saving money. This book contains ideas for thrift shopping with a purpose, urban gardening, cleaning, cooking, decorating, saving space and more!

And if you are REALLY into growing as much of your own food as possible, definitely check out The Urban Homestead (Expanded & Revised Edition): Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City (Process Self-reliance Series).

It'd love to hear some of the things you do to save money in your household as well as inexpensive ways to entertain or have fun!

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DIY Home Decorating Ideas - Wood Grain Trend

I've recently started looking for an apartment to rent so I've been extra inspired by ways to decorated your home. Here are a few inspirational home decorating ideas I've recently run across that I wouldn't mind using in my own home.

Wood grain is a huge trend lately. So exploit it's versatility and use it rooms that are shared between the guys and the girls! Left: DIY Tree Branch Side Table via ManMade; Right: David Stark Wood Slices Dinnerware Set (right) via West Elm (Try it yourself with plain ceramic plates and non-toxic porcelain paint pens. I use Pebeo Porcelaine Paint Pens.)

DIY Storage Ideas. Left: DIY Ikea Nasum Basket Shelving via Livet Hemma; Right: DIY Industrial Record Cabinet via A Beautiful Mess Blog

For more inspirational home decorating ideas and diy projects, visit my For the Home board on Pinterest. What is your favorite home decorating trend right now?

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Chocolate Bark with Pistachios and Pink Himalayan Salt Recipe

One of my facebook friends recently posted a delectable photograph of some chocolate bark she made with pistachios and Pink Himalayan salt. So I went hunting for a recipe to make my own for multiple reasons. One, I get chocolate cravings from time to time that must be fulfilled. Two, dark chocolate is good for your soul. It helps to prevent depression, anxiety and stress and it has all those great anti-oxidants. The darker, the better. Three, pistachios are so good for you. Nuts like peanuts, almonds and pistachios are a much healthier snack than potato chips and they help keep your blood sugar where it should be while blessing your diet with fiber and antioxidants. They may be high in fat, but it's good fat so you're not likely to pack on pounds snacking on nuts. Plus, it's been found that consuming potatoes causing a rise in blood sugar and regular consumption over time actually adds weight. So if no one is treating you to chocolates this Valentine's Day, make your own! Or better yet, make a batch for yourself and your female friends to remind them they are awesome!

Chocolate-Almond Bark with Sea Salt from Bon Appetit

Bon Appetit has a recipe for Chocolate-Almond Bark with Sea Salt. I improvised on this to get just the chocolate bark recipe I was looking for.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw sugar

1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

1 1/2 cups pistachios minus the shells

1lb. finely chopped, unsweetened dark chocolate (62%–70% cacao)

Coarse Pink Himalayan Salt 

Follow the instructions on Bon Appetit for making your Chocolate-Pistachio Bark with Pink Himalayan Salt.

There's also a great alternative to this recipe at With Style and Grace Blog that skips adding the butter and uses sweetened dark chocolate instead of adding sugar. Or, you could even consider adding dried cranberries!

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt from Mountain Rose Herbs

You can save on your purchase of Pink Himalayan Salt by buying it in bulk along with any other spices and culinary salts you like to use. Not only is Pink Himalayan Salt great for cooking - it  is one of the purest salts available for culinary, therapeutic and cosmetic uses - and it contains a quantifiable amount of 84 trace elements & iron. Buy some for cooking and use the extra for your favorite bath salt recipes! I highly recommend Mountain Rose Herbs for your bulk purchases.

What are some of your favorite ingredients to add to chocolate?

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Homemaking Tips for Making Life Easier

You, my lovely readers have been sharing some great homemaking tips in response to several of my blog posts, so I wanted to combine them in one location to give everyone a chance to read about them! Here are a few useful tips you may want to try yourself!

From Everyday Homemaking Tips:

• The best way to get blood out of fabric is hydrogen peroxide. Soak, scrub, rinse with cool water. Repeat until clean. - by Anonymous
• If you are in the middle of painting a room and you want to take a break and resume another day wrap your roller in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer, then when you are ready to paint again just thaw out your roller and your ready to go. - by abr76
• BEST overall cleaner in a spray bottle, mix half rubbing alcohol{any scent}half water and a drop of dish detergent. Kills germs and safe to use. A doctor's office secret! - by Anonymous
• Keep a small spray bottle of lemon juice in your fridge. If your little ones only eat half an apple, spray the other half with lemon juice and wrap in plastic or baggie for tomorrow. Cut a banana in half, spray the end with lemon juice and fit into a small plastic lid. I save juice lids of various sizes just for things like this. The best size for my bananas, SunnyD lids from individual juice bottles. It will fit snugly and keep out little flying critters and keep the end fresh. You can leave it out on a counter. - by KarenSluder
• If you use a Pyrex dish to bake a chicken, pot roast, scalloped potatoes. etc., fill the dish with water, drop a dryer sheet in the dish, and rinse it out in the morning. I have found it actually works! - by Anonymous 

From Home Office Organizing Tips and DIY Projects:

• I got my windows tinted on my car as a present but the guy who did it told me I could no longer use the cup holders that hook on the window anymore. I found another use for them. I put one on my toilet tank and put the top back down on it to hold it steady and put a can of air freshener in it. - by Anonymous

From Household Tips for Organizing and Living:

• Take your conditioner from the shower and fill half an empty spray bottle with it. Fill the rest with water and shake it up well. You have your own leave-in conditioner, detangler, whatever you want to call it. Too strong, make it a third of the conditioner and two thirds water, or one quarter conditioner to three quarters water.... whichever works for you. - by Anonymous
• I HATE to iron. I took an empty spray bottle and put half of it with my liquid fabric softener and filled the rest with water. When my items come out of the dryer wrinkled I take one item out and keep the other stuff drying in the dryer to prevent more wrinkles. I lay it on a flat surface and spray it with the softener spray and press the wrinkles out with my hands. Spray and press as much as you need to. This works beautifully for denim! Just let it air dry once the wrinkles are out.
  This mixture also works well for spraying down to freshen fabrics in the rest of the house that do not get washed often or at all like curtains, furniture and carpets.
  Also works well for static in clothing. Or in a pinch and laundry day is not here yet, spray your not too dirty clothing to freshen it up for one more wearing. - by Anonymous

From Helpful Tips for Everyday Success:

• Freezing meals is a good idea. I do that with chili beans and other soups. sometimes meatloaf or other pastas like lasagna. It really does save a lot of time and headache when you're hungry. - by ij
• I took two receiving blankets and a plain metal hanger to make an earring holder. I folded one in half and draped it on the bottom of the hanger. I put my earrings on that pushing the hook/post all the way through all of the layers (to keep it from sliding one way or the other) and when they were all on it I draped the other blanket over it to help from dust settling on them and reduce tarnishing.
  Another is a medium to large width chain, a plastic child's clothing hanger and two curtain rings (I used the ones shaped like a pear). Take one of the rings and hook it through one end of the chain and hang it on one side of the hanger. Do the same to the other side. Now you can hang your dangle earrings on it and hang it somewhere. If you have a very dusty house like me get a plastic grocery bag and put a small hole in the center of the bottom and put the hook of the hanger through it to protect the jewelry. - by Anonymous
• Old pillowcases are wonderful for protecting clothing in a closet or when traveling. If you have old ones with a zipper, even better. Put a small hole in the center of the closed side. If you worry about fraying put a coat of clear nail polish on the edges of the hole once it is cut and allow it to dry. Whatever clothing or whatever you have on the hanger is protected. Put your choice of items on the hanger and place the hook of the hanger through the hole of the pillowcase and gently pull the pillowcase down over the hanger. I used this when moving for my jewelry with the zipper ones and even if the jewelry came off of the hanger it did not go far because of the zipper. If you have a long enough pillowcase and a short item you are protecting, you can tie the pillowcase off at the bottom too or use a rubberband (keep in mind that rubber bands break, harden and snap fairly easily too so maybe use and old twist off of a bag of bread) - by Anonymous
• When you buy a frozen dinner they usually come in the black plastic microwaveable dishes. They are easy to clean and reuse. I prefer the ones in sections but any will do. If you cook a meal and have leftovers these are perfect. When you eat the meal save the black container and put the leftovers of a meal you cooked in it. Most of them will fit in a resealable freezer baggie. Put the food in the dish, put the dish in a baggie and put that in the freezer. They are very handy to have around and it is your own cooking so you KNOW what is in it too. Personally, I clean the dish and the baggie and reuse them as a pair. - by Anonymous
• If you washed baby bottles by hand you likely have a unit to drip dry the bottles and parts. These work great to drip dry resealable baggies that you have washed to reuse. - by Anonymous
• Take a bottle of something to drink with you easily. Get a carabiner clip (these days they are cheap and easy to get) and take an O ring (I buy them individually at Menards) that is just a tiny bit smaller than the opening of the bottle. Use a sturdy and fairly large jump ring and attach the clip to the o-ring with the jump ring. Put the o-ring over the top of the water bottle until the bottle widens. Put the carabiner on a belt loop or purse strap and you should be good to go. - by Anonymous
• I do not like lotion on my hands but I love it on the rest of me. I took a round sponge about a quarter inch thick and about an inch and a half in diameter and glued it to a bottle top which was close to the same diameter as the sponge. That makes a great applicator for face cream. - by Anonymous

And, here are a few more great tips I've discovered:

• Use Bar Keeper's Friend to clean your stainless steel sink. It's great for taking out hard water spots. Also try it for cleaning stainless steel pots and pans and removing stains from kitchen counters. - via Pinterest
• To clean and deodorize your microwave, fill a small container with water and a dash of vinegar. Heat on high for 5 minutes, then carefully remove the dish and wipe down your microwave with a wet cloth. - via Crafty Little Gnome  
• Combine equal parts of water and white vinegar into a spray bottle and spritz on baseboards and kitchen floors to deter ants. Also use outdoors on your patio or picnic table right before family gatherings to keep ants away! - via Martha Stewart

How to Make a Wall Mounted Magnetic Spice Rack from theKitchn

Save money on groceries buying herbs and spices in bulk. (I buy mine from Mountain Rose Herbs.) You can either recycle containers to store them in, or craft a DIY Wall Mounted Magnetic Spice Rack to also save on kitchen space. Need more ideas for saving space in the kitchen? Mount a painted peg board on the wall to hang commonly used utensils, pots, and pans and use tiered shelves in your cabinets to organize canned goods in a way that makes them easy to both inventory and grab when you need them. You can also free up counter space by getting rid of that bulky knife block and instead mounting a Magnetic Knife Storage Strip above your counter to hold knives and kitchen scissors.

What are your favorite tips for organizing or cleaning your home that you find you use on a regular basis?

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