Saturday, February 05, 2011
Monday, January 31, 2011
Homemade Play Dough
Today was one of those days...had to keep the kiddo happy & occupied, so homemade play dough it was! I found a ton of great recipes from this site...
Play Dough Recipes
We went with the cream-of-tarter recipe, because I had all the ingredients at hand.
Update: This stuff stayed fresh for a week!
Play Dough Recipes
We went with the cream-of-tarter recipe, because I had all the ingredients at hand.
Update: This stuff stayed fresh for a week!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Saturday, January 08, 2011
Sunday, January 02, 2011
A day in the life: Weekend Picture 1
Picky eater.
I don't have enough discipline to do a real 365 photo set, but I can recap my week into one weekend photo. So here is the best of a typical day in the life of me!
Have a great weekend, and oh hey Happy New Year! :)
I don't have enough discipline to do a real 365 photo set, but I can recap my week into one weekend photo. So here is the best of a typical day in the life of me!
Have a great weekend, and oh hey Happy New Year! :)
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
My Baby's Stocking
I just finished making a stocking for the baby...
I was trying to match his brother's that I made a couple years ago!
The stockings are just made out of a quilting weight cotton on the outside, inside I used fusible fleece, and the folded over top and letters are made out of regular craft felt. I used a stocking template that I found on Martha Stewart.com and improvised the rest!
I was trying to match his brother's that I made a couple years ago!
The stockings are just made out of a quilting weight cotton on the outside, inside I used fusible fleece, and the folded over top and letters are made out of regular craft felt. I used a stocking template that I found on Martha Stewart.com and improvised the rest!
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Paper Snowflakes
My sister in law came over to make some paper snowflakes with me and the boys, and she said she used to make snowflakes out of coffee filters. So we tried it, and they turned out better than the regular paper kind. Since the filters are already circular, they were made into perfect snow flakes!
Just fold the filter in half, then in half a couple more times and make your cuts, it was super fun!
Here is a site to help with the cuts...
http://www.papersnowflakes.com/patterns.htm
Just fold the filter in half, then in half a couple more times and make your cuts, it was super fun!
Here is a site to help with the cuts...
http://www.papersnowflakes.com/patterns.htm
Friday, December 03, 2010
My Under $5 Holiday Wreath
I kind of threw this together last minute, but for under $5 I thought it turned out cute!
Wreath form I got ant my local craft store, on sale for $1.99
Bunches of berries at the same craft store, $0.59 each
Poinsettias I had from another decoration that I bought from the Dollar Tree a few years ago, so basically free
Round ball ornaments also came from the Dollar Tree, I think it was a 15 pack for $1
Total= $4.17
Just hot glued all the pieces on the wreath and easy peasy Holiday Wreath!
Wreath form I got ant my local craft store, on sale for $1.99
Bunches of berries at the same craft store, $0.59 each
Poinsettias I had from another decoration that I bought from the Dollar Tree a few years ago, so basically free
Round ball ornaments also came from the Dollar Tree, I think it was a 15 pack for $1
Total= $4.17
Just hot glued all the pieces on the wreath and easy peasy Holiday Wreath!
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Beaded Candy Cane Onaments
These are so easy to make. Some of you have probably made them before, I know I made them when I was a kid and just had my 2.5 year old help me make some to fill in our tree!
Beaded Candy Cane Ornament
Supplies:
12" White chenille pipe cleaners
20 Clear translucent tri-beads
18 Red translucent tri-beads
Scissors
Instructions:
1. Measure and cut the pipe cleaners to 6 inches for each ornament
2. Start with two clear beads turn end of the pipe cleaner around the bead.
3. Feed the rest of the beads continuing with 2 red beads, followed by 2 clear beads etc, until all the beads are used up.
4. When the last bead is added, bend the pipe cleaner around the bead.
5. Bend the top into a candy cane shape.
You can add ribbon to hang on your tree, but we just hang the ornament as is.
You can also use all translucent beads or green and translucent beads to make pretty variations, enjoy!
Beaded Candy Cane Ornament
Supplies:
12" White chenille pipe cleaners
20 Clear translucent tri-beads
18 Red translucent tri-beads
Scissors
Instructions:
1. Measure and cut the pipe cleaners to 6 inches for each ornament
2. Start with two clear beads turn end of the pipe cleaner around the bead.
3. Feed the rest of the beads continuing with 2 red beads, followed by 2 clear beads etc, until all the beads are used up.
4. When the last bead is added, bend the pipe cleaner around the bead.
5. Bend the top into a candy cane shape.
You can add ribbon to hang on your tree, but we just hang the ornament as is.
You can also use all translucent beads or green and translucent beads to make pretty variations, enjoy!
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Bread and Butter Pickles!
My neighbor, just brought over 7 pounds of cucumbers from her garden this afternoon. So I took it upon my self to make some bread and butter pickles! Can't wait to eat them in about 4 weeks or so!
Recipe
Ingredients
6-7 pounds of pickling cucumbers - I used regular, but smaller pickling cucumbers will make for a crisper pickle
5 cups white vinegar
5 cups sugar (I only used 3 cups)
1 tablespoon of pickling salt
1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/2 tablespoon pepper corns
Pinch of ground cloves or 1/2 teaspoon of pickling spice
1 teaspoon turmeric (optional for color)
Directions
Combine vinegar, sugar, and spices in a pot and bring to boil, let simmer for about 5 minutes. Slice cukes 1/4" thick and pack in hot jars. Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the cucumber slices, leaving about a 1/2" head space. Make sure there are no air bubbles by running a knife or chop stick around the inside of the jars, wipe rim clean, add lids and finger tighten. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Wait 3-4 weeks before eating. Enjoy!
Recipe
Ingredients
6-7 pounds of pickling cucumbers - I used regular, but smaller pickling cucumbers will make for a crisper pickle
5 cups white vinegar
5 cups sugar (I only used 3 cups)
1 tablespoon of pickling salt
1/2 tablespoon mustard seeds
1/2 tablespoon pepper corns
Pinch of ground cloves or 1/2 teaspoon of pickling spice
1 teaspoon turmeric (optional for color)
Directions
Combine vinegar, sugar, and spices in a pot and bring to boil, let simmer for about 5 minutes. Slice cukes 1/4" thick and pack in hot jars. Slowly pour the hot pickling liquid over the cucumber slices, leaving about a 1/2" head space. Make sure there are no air bubbles by running a knife or chop stick around the inside of the jars, wipe rim clean, add lids and finger tighten. Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes. Wait 3-4 weeks before eating. Enjoy!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 05, 2010
Home grown sprouts
A recent trip to my local grocery store left me super disappointed when I was searching for fresh sprouts to add to my sandwiches. I thought they should be pretty easy to grow yourself. So I started surfing the web and sure enough you can make sprouts right on your windowsill, using all sorts of regular dried beans.
I came across this website classbrain and followed the directions, using a glass mason jar to sprout my lentils.
I bought just a regular 1 pound bag of my store brand's lentils. I was surprised how quickly the lentils started to sprout. By day six I had about 2 one inch sprouts coming from each bean, that tasted crisp and fresh. I couldn't ask for a better tasting sprout! (Click the photo above to see my process larger)
From what I've read, lentils are a fantastic source of B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, zinc and much more. Since you can eat sprouts raw, you retain all of that incredible nutritional value, which is an A+ in my book!
The only thing I would do differently next time, is maybe buy organic lentils in bulk. I'm thinking a better quality bean might grow a heartier and longer sprout. I'm also thinking of now investing in a fancy schmancy sprouter, since this was so easy to do!
Below is a close up of day 3 when the lentils began to sprout, and day 6 when the sprouts were ready to eat!
Let me know how your lentil sprouting goes! ♥
Monday, February 01, 2010
Homemade Pop Tarts! (Vegan)
Okay, so I LOVE pop-tarts, who doesn't? I don't however love that they are filled with HFCS, artificial colors and flavors. So I thought I would make my own, I know ambitious right? heh heh. I was searching different recipes online and most were vegan, so I came up with this recipe that is sure to please anyone!
Ingredients ~
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 tbs sugar (optional)
Filling
All fruit spread or preserves, preferably strawberry
Icing
1/2 confectioners sugar
1 tsp water
1 tsp of the above filling
Rainbow sprinkles
Directions
Mix flour and sugar with fork. Stir in oil and water, whisk with fork to thicken.
Pour in flour and mix with fork. Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick and cut roughly into 10 - 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch rectangles. You can make them square if you wish or use your favorite cookie cutter shape. I wanted them to resemble real pop-tarts, so I left mine rectangleish. This should make about 5 tarts.
With a spoon put a dollop of your fruit spread in the middle of each rectangle, leaving about a 1/4 inch all around the sides. With your finger dab a little water on the edges and place another rectangle dough on top, pressing the sides down to seal. Take a fork and dip it in a little flour and press all four sides closed, making a nice seal. With a tooth pick, poke little vent holes on top.
Bake at 400F until for about 15 minutes or until the edges turn a nice golden brown. Let cool completely before icing.
To make the icing mix all the ingredients together until smooth, and more water if needed. Spread thinly over your tarts, and add sprinkles. Eat and enjoy!
I hope you liked this recipe as much as I did, is was a nice little treat for me on a cold and snowy Monday!
♥
Ingredients ~
Dough
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup veggie oil
1/2 cup ice cold water
1 tbs sugar (optional)
Filling
All fruit spread or preserves, preferably strawberry
Icing
1/2 confectioners sugar
1 tsp water
1 tsp of the above filling
Rainbow sprinkles
Directions
Mix flour and sugar with fork. Stir in oil and water, whisk with fork to thicken.
Pour in flour and mix with fork. Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick and cut roughly into 10 - 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch rectangles. You can make them square if you wish or use your favorite cookie cutter shape. I wanted them to resemble real pop-tarts, so I left mine rectangleish. This should make about 5 tarts.
With a spoon put a dollop of your fruit spread in the middle of each rectangle, leaving about a 1/4 inch all around the sides. With your finger dab a little water on the edges and place another rectangle dough on top, pressing the sides down to seal. Take a fork and dip it in a little flour and press all four sides closed, making a nice seal. With a tooth pick, poke little vent holes on top.
Bake at 400F until for about 15 minutes or until the edges turn a nice golden brown. Let cool completely before icing.
To make the icing mix all the ingredients together until smooth, and more water if needed. Spread thinly over your tarts, and add sprinkles. Eat and enjoy!
I hope you liked this recipe as much as I did, is was a nice little treat for me on a cold and snowy Monday!
♥
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Pitas and Falafels
I realize that most of my posts lately have been about food, but I can't help it, I'm preggo and preggo ladies like to eat :)
I've still been on the chickpea kick lately, so I whipped up some delicious falafel burgers on homemade pita bread. The bread was actually really easy to make, I don't think I'll ever buy it again. I used plain all purpose flour for mine, and found the recipe here.
For the falafel burger I pretty much winged it, once I have a nice recipe I'll share. I roughly used this recipe and added rolled oats and bread crumbs.
Anyway it definitely curbed my cravings, so this preggo lady is full and happy!
I've still been on the chickpea kick lately, so I whipped up some delicious falafel burgers on homemade pita bread. The bread was actually really easy to make, I don't think I'll ever buy it again. I used plain all purpose flour for mine, and found the recipe here.
For the falafel burger I pretty much winged it, once I have a nice recipe I'll share. I roughly used this recipe and added rolled oats and bread crumbs.
Anyway it definitely curbed my cravings, so this preggo lady is full and happy!
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Yummy Hummus!
Now that I'm preggo with number 2, all I've been craving is hummus! I have never been a fan of store bought hummus, so I always make my own.
Here is my favorite basic recipe...
1 can (15oz) Chickpeas, drained but reserve 1/3 cup of liquid
1 tbl Olive Oil
1/2 - 2 tsp Cumin
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper
Cumin is the main ingredient for hummus to taste like hummus, I use it sparingly though so I would suggest starting out with 1/2 tsp and then adding more to your liking.
Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and pulse, add the reserved chickpea liquid and blend until smooth & creamy. Serve with homemade pita or tortillas chips. Or spread in a half pita with some sprouts and roasted red peppers, for a delicious & healthy sandwich!
You can add to this basic recipe to make different flavors of hummus. I sometimes add a 1/4 of cooked black beans and a clove of garlic, for a great tasting black bean hummus. Or you can add sun dried tomato paste and fresh basil. The possibilities are endless!
For the chips, I use about 3 white corn tortillas cut in eighths, coat lightly with one tsp olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt. Spread them out on a cookie sheet, and then bake for about 15 minutes at 350 until crispy. Alternatively you can make these chips with wholegrain flour tortillas or pita bread too, so good!
Enjoy ♥
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Pumpkin Soup
Oh how I love Fall and the cooler weather. It makes me in the mood for warm soup in bread bowls, stripey socks, and wool scarves.
Here's a soup I made recently, that was oh so good!
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups mashed cooked fresh pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup half and half or milk
Sour Cream
Put cooked pumpkin, salt, ginger, nutmeg, olive oil, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Slowly add in chicken broth and blend together until smooth. In a large sauce pan melt butter and flour to create a roux. Slowly pour in half and half and then stir in pumpkin mixture. Simmer on low until soup starts to feel thick. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds with a side of crusty bread. Serves 4-6.
~ I bought a pumpkin pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin from the grocery store, it was about 6 inches in diameter, and yielded about 2 cups of pumpkin once cooked. Pumpkin pie pumpkins are very hard to cut into! I actually put the entire pumpkin in my stock pot and boiled until the skin was soft. Then I cut the pumpkin in half and scooped out the seeds (roasted them later) the pumpkin came off the skin perfectly!
Here's a soup I made recently, that was oh so good!
Creamy Pumpkin Soup
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cups mashed cooked fresh pumpkin
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground pepper
3 cups chicken broth
3/4 cup half and half or milk
Sour Cream
Put cooked pumpkin, salt, ginger, nutmeg, olive oil, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Slowly add in chicken broth and blend together until smooth. In a large sauce pan melt butter and flour to create a roux. Slowly pour in half and half and then stir in pumpkin mixture. Simmer on low until soup starts to feel thick. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds with a side of crusty bread. Serves 4-6.
~ I bought a pumpkin pie pumpkin or sugar pumpkin from the grocery store, it was about 6 inches in diameter, and yielded about 2 cups of pumpkin once cooked. Pumpkin pie pumpkins are very hard to cut into! I actually put the entire pumpkin in my stock pot and boiled until the skin was soft. Then I cut the pumpkin in half and scooped out the seeds (roasted them later) the pumpkin came off the skin perfectly!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Free Alphabet Poster
I don't have a whole lot of money to decorate my kids room, let alone my whole house, so I've come up with some fun and cheap ideas to make mi casa all fancy like over the years!
I've been drooling over some gorgeous alphabet prints over at Etsy for my son's room.
I especially love petitcollage's Animal Alphabet Silkscreen Poster and pennypeoples's Alphabet Print.
Both of these prints inspired me to come up with my own alphabet collage to adorn my little ones wall...
I printed this out with my regular ink jet printer and slapped a $5 Walmart frame around it, and whoo hoo instant art!
I made this print in 6 different colors, so you can print them out too.
The size of the poster is 8x10 inches, just click the link below to see the original size, then right click to save to your computer and print.
Brown
Green
Teal
Orange
Pink
Purple
Enjoy! ♥
I've been drooling over some gorgeous alphabet prints over at Etsy for my son's room.
I especially love petitcollage's Animal Alphabet Silkscreen Poster and pennypeoples's Alphabet Print.
Both of these prints inspired me to come up with my own alphabet collage to adorn my little ones wall...
I printed this out with my regular ink jet printer and slapped a $5 Walmart frame around it, and whoo hoo instant art!
I made this print in 6 different colors, so you can print them out too.
The size of the poster is 8x10 inches, just click the link below to see the original size, then right click to save to your computer and print.
Brown
Green
Teal
Orange
Pink
Purple
Enjoy! ♥
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