Nomi-Bome-June-Nokiomi...

Work in my Study

2012-01-13T20:06:00.000-08:00

This past week I spent some time finishing up the paint job in my study. I'm very happy to have it done because it means I can finally hang things on the walls. I woke up feeling unmotivated to get out of bed, but suddenly I thought "I can hang things!" I jumped up, threw some clothes on and went right to work. Now I have a few art prints, a magnet board and a clock all hanging beautifully on the walls instead of stacked in the corner of my closet. I also selected some material with which to make some curtains for the window. I wasn't even planning that. I recovered an ottoman that has been lying around and I recovered the children's bench I made a while back. I still haven't painted the legs so there won't be a picture up yet. Everything is looking much lovelier in here and I wish I had the photography skills to do everything the justice it deserves.

Stained glass

2011-11-20T19:12:00.000-08:00

Grandma and I have been hard at work making stained glass windows for my house. Here are the first 3 of who knows how many. I have 10 2' x 2' windows in my house that I would love to put these in. I'll let you know how the installation goes when we are brave enough to tackle that.

Another Pinterest post

2011-11-20T19:09:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot. I am getting lots of ideas for activities with the kids. Here is one of our recent favorites:

Feel free to follow my Pinterest boards here if you aren't already. Better yet start your own. It's so much fun!

2011-11-20T18:57:00.000-08:00

I am loving Pinterest right now. There is so much inspiration out there for me to soak up and it helps me get excited about being creative. I especially love having a place to store pictures of food. Mmmm. Here are a couple of the recipes I have tried:

found here.

These cookies that were so easy and yummy. Found here.

I was very excited to find a shrimp boil. When we lived in Texas we had an annual tradition of going to a shrimp boil at Central Market in Plano. The last time we were there we were right next to a room where Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook was giving a cooking demo. So this year we were really missing the shrimp boil and I found a delicious recipe to try. It was so good! Looking at the pictures is making me really hungry. You can find it here.

Living Room Makeover!

2011-08-18T20:26:00.001-07:00

The makeover has happened!!! I love my new living room and hope to post more information about all the details as they come to me. For now I am just happy to enjoy our new space. Laura Burkhardt was there to set up all the elements she picked out and even brought me a 3 piece painting she was generous enough to paint for me. I love it all! The chairs are still waiting for slipcovers so don't look to closely there, but feel free to look closely at the boxes on the TV console. They look great there.

I love all the pillows and the lamp, the painting and the furniture. My kids especially like the Moroccan pouf and the hidden storage in the ottoman.

Don't get your hopes up

2011-07-28T19:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, I don't want you to think this is the home makeover I've been telling you about. That is still coming, but it hasn't happened yet. I was home with the kids on a Saturday while Chris went to sing at a wedding in La Conner. Thanks to a Pinterest link (here) I had an idea to keep us busy for the day. It didn't take much time, I had all the materials on hand, and it kept the kids busy for days. Just so you know, I didn't let the perfection of the inspiration keep me from creating my own version.

Decorative Boxes

2011-07-28T08:03:00.000-07:00

I've been having an exciting couple of weeks for my shop. I am learning a lot along the way about marketing, photography, shipping prices, etc. It turns out my shipping prices were extremely low. I had no idea it would cost so much to send a box in a box.

I had my first sale. Hooray! My first sale is going to a famous couple who are getting married, but I don't want to type their names online in case somehow it got back to them and spoiled the surprise. Ask me about it if you are interested. Just a couple of days later I sold 4 more boxes so I really feel on a roll. There has been a lot of happy dancing around here lately.

I am working on my first commission order. Fun to see what other people would like to be in the shop. I have to stick with the fabrics that make me happy, but it would be nice to have more input on what else people would like to see.

It will be fun to see what my boxes end up being used for in the future; decorative boxes, gift boxes, baby nursery storage, etc.

My Etsy Shop

2011-07-01T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally created an Etsy shop for my boxes. I've been a little nervous about all the little details that are involved, but so far everything is falling into place.

The garden

2011-06-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

I have been stressing about our yard for about 1 year now. I've been slaving away trying to remove most of the rocks from the soil, but it seems like a never-ending job. About a month ago I cleared a space for 2 garden boxes. We built the boxes and then tried unsuccessfully to borrow a truck to haul some garden soil for our boxes. Finally, Chris rented a truck and purchased a truckload of nice 50/50 soil and compost. Of course, me being who I am the 2 nights after we filled one of the boxes I was thinking about where I wanted to move them. I ended up waking up the next morning (yesterday) and preparing a new location for 1 box, moved the box with Chris's help, and moved all the soil out of the box we had filled 2 days before. We now have a garden box with soil, I purchased plants yesterday, and last night we planted the plants as a family. I now have to figure out what to do with the other garden box. I have included a picture of the location I would like to put it, but right now that location is covered with kind of a lot of rocks and my back is screaming at me to not even think about it.

My current projects

2011-06-07T09:38:00.000-07:00

For the last couple of months I have become a little obsessed with covering boxes in fabric. First, I recovered 2 of the blue boxes I bought at Ikea a while back. Next, I bought 10 really cheap boxes from Ikea to cover. Most recently I started buying boxes online, I received a shipment of 50 boxes that I then had to send back and take a huge financial hit to pay the return shipping. Finally, I bought some (18) nesting boxes on Ebay that have a nice incandescent cellophane on them which doesn't allow glue to stick quite as well. I have been ripping the cellophane off to get the box down to the nice white finish and then gluing fabric on. I fully intend on buying more boxes in the near future. I have about 6 boxes left of the 18 to finish and next I plan on working on some smaller sizes. I would like to skip the Ebay seller and the box importing company and go straight to the Chinese company who makes them. Wish me luck. I have found this to be a wonderful hobby to work on while my husband and I watch TV at night.

You may be able to see in the picture, the cheap boxes I bought from Ikea have a print that shows through some of the fabric. These boxes are the ones on the bottom of each shelf. Stacked on top are the boxes from Ebay that have white underneath so that allows the brightness of the colors of the fabric to show rather than be muddled by a brown and black box underneath.

Ok, last one for tonight

2011-06-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

Just had to share the deviled eggs I made for Easter. Have you ever seen such beautiful eggs? I had no idea this was possible, but it was on a blog so I gave it a try. Cool, huh? The colors did seem to make it a little more difficult to entice people to eat them, but they were fun.

More projects

2011-06-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

In March I took Fiona with me to visit friends and family in Texas. While we were there I stocked up on costumes for Fiona thanks to Grandma Hathaway's excellent garage sale skills. Of course I needed somewhere to store them.
In April, my dad and I built this costume rack for the kids to store their disguises, dresses, and costumes. It has definitely helped them remember to dress up more.

A Project!

2011-06-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

I made something. It is a little bench for the kids to sit on while they read books upstairs. The legs still need to be painted, but otherwise I am happy with it. It is impossible to get 2 kids to sit still for a picture when you really want them to.

Skip to February

2011-06-06T21:02:00.001-07:00

I entered this picture in a living room makeover contest and I actually won. As of today no work has been done, but I am assured it will probably be done in July.

November

2011-06-06T20:56:00.001-07:00

Homemade mozzarella sticks are harder to make than you would think. This was my best attempt. They weren't as tasty as I was hoping either. Maybe next time.

October

2011-06-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

We lost our camera in October. I believe that is the month Erin came to visit and we painted my kitchen and dining room a beautiful blue. Keep your eyes open and you might get a glimpse of it in future pictures.

Blueberries

2011-06-06T20:50:00.000-07:00

In September we were introduced to the Blueberry Park in Tacoma. Acres of blueberry bushes taken care of by volunteers. We took several trips and enjoyed making blueberry muffins, pancakes, smoothies, the kuchen pictured, and just eating lots of fresh blueberries. We are looking forward to going back next year.

August

2011-06-06T20:42:00.000-07:00

In August we moved into our new home! Hurray! We started hosting weekly Sunday dinners with as much family as possible. In addition to regular Sunday meals we have hosted Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and many birthday celebrations. We are now branching out to invite friends over for dinners, but so far we have only done that once.
I enjoy trying new and old recipes out on such a large audience.

Long time no see

2011-06-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks Erin for reminding me there are people who come to my blog even if I'm not always one of them. I guess I'll just start uploading pictures that I have and let you know what I've been up to this past year.

Banh Mi

2010-04-13T05:41:00.000-07:00

This sandwich is one of my new favorites. I had these for lunch 3 days in a row while I had the ingredients. I didn't make the meat shown here. Perhaps I will do that the next time around. It is just such a delicious blend of flavors. I highly encourage you to find one of these to try. Just watch out, they can be a little on the spicy side if you aren't careful.

The recipe for the pickled carrots and daikon can be found here.

For the rest of the ingredients I used the following:

A hoagie bun (not crusty enough)
Teriyaki chicken (not homemade)
English cucumber
Cilantro
Serrano chile (no seeds or membranes)
Hoisin sauce
Sriracha hot sauce (teensy bit)

Another Find

2010-04-13T05:39:00.000-07:00

I didn't make these, but I bought them along with the chair. I'm so excited to watch these once we find a VCR. I love these! Only 50 cents each!

A Chair Makeover

2010-04-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

Before:

This project came after a trip to the local thrift store, CCA. Lincoln had played a little too rough on one of our dining room chairs and it had been irreparably damaged. While at CCA I found this chair and a little footstool and decided these would be the perfect items to try to recover in fabric. I was wrong. The chair was very difficult to recover because I couldn't take the seat off. It was glued on. So I found an alternative way to sew directly onto it. I'm glad I'm done because I will never do that again. What a pain! I used a curved upholstery needle and lots of time to get the thing done.

After:

Chicken Noodle Soup

2010-04-13T05:25:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe on The Pioneer Woman's blog and decided to give it a try. There were some bumpy patches, but once I tasted it I had no regrets. So good. You can find the recipe here.

Macaroni Casserole

2010-04-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, almost done for tonight and I haven't even gotten to my chair redo. I am posting an Allan family classic. I don't eat the celery, but I couldn't make it without it. It would seem wrong.

Ingredients: I don't think I used a recipe so I will give the approximates

16 oz. cooked, drained and cooled macaroni noodles
1 can tuna
3-4 celery stalks
8 oz. grated cheddar

The sauce is made by mixing equal parts mayo and mustard. It should be heavier on the mustard flavor so add more mustard as needed. It should also be on the dry side. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Delicious salad to accompany any BBQ.

Crepes!

2010-04-11T18:44:00.001-07:00

Seriously, how many food posts in a row do I have to do before I get to a craft I worked on? I guess it's good I have my appetite back. I think we made these on Christmas, but Chris has no idea and I don't feel like researching any further. They turned out really well, the first ones we made were a little on the thin side so we had to experiment to get them just the right thickness for our tastes. We ate them with leftover huckleberries from summertime in Wyoming. I don't remember what else we found....bananas, chocolate, strawberry jam, etc. Just check out the rim of the plate to see.

Tortilla Soup

2010-04-11T18:37:00.000-07:00

This soup turned out to be a very large recipe. My large pot was almost overflowing. The nice thing was we didn't have to feel bad about loading up our bowls with lots of the bulk of the soup rather than lots of broth. Mmmm....all of these food posts are making me hungry.

3 Tbsps olive oil
4-6 corn tortillas, diced
1 Tbsp of cumin
2 Tbsps of chili powder
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1 large onion
a large handful of cilantro leaves
2 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp of cumin
2 Tbsps of chili powder
8 cups chicken broth or stock

OPTIONAL ADD INS:
2 cups frozen corn
1 (14 ounce) can black, pinto, or
Kidney beans
leftover shredded chicken

In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add tortillas and saute until beginning to brown. Add cumin and chili powder and saute for one minute. Meanwhile, combine in the blender the garlic, onion, cilantro, and tomatoes. Puree until smooth. Add tomato mixture and chicken broth to pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for at least 20 minutes and up to one hour. Add any optional add ins for last few minutes of simmering. Serve soup with tortilla chips, cheese, avocado, cilantro, sour cream and lime wedges.

Inari Sushi

2010-04-11T18:25:00.000-07:00

While on a visit to my family in WA I went to a local Asian Market to pick up some seasoning for my sister. I also took advantage of the opportunity to look for Inari Sushi wraps, sushi rice, and sweet rice. I found the Inari wraps in the refrigerated section of the store. They even had some seasoning to add to the rice. I discovered Inari while I was in Hawaii 6 years ago and whenever I see sushi for sale I look for it. It is very difficult to come by. Now you can look for it when you are out. It turned out great! I was also happy to find some Chinese BBQ Pork to make it a full meal. So good, and another item I can hardly ever find. What's up Texas?! So as you can see, they are orange pouches made from soy. You stuff them with rice and sometimes they have sesame seeds. The soy pouches are wet and sticky, but oh so yummy! The sushi is best dipped in soy sauce and wasabi with a little pickled ginger on top. The BBQ Pork can be dipped in hot chinese mustard, ketchup and sesame seeds. I know, probably not so authentic, but good.

Indian Fry Bread

2010-04-11T18:20:00.001-07:00

Watch out! There may be quite a few updates coming. I don't know if you've noticed, but it's been a while since I posted anything here.

Indian Fry Bread:
3 cups flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 1/3 cup warm water
Vegetable oil for frying

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Add the water and knead the dough until soft. Roll the dough into ¼ inch thick, then cut the rounds 4 inches in diameter. Fry the bread in 2-3 inches of hot oil until puffed and browned on both sides. Drain on paper towels. (Can put powdered sugar in a paper bag and add hot fry bread to be coated.)

Guacamole

2009-11-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

After years of eating restaurant/store/packet prepared guacamole I finally discovered that my favorite guacamole is homemade by me. It's perfect! You add what you like and leave out what you don't like. I leave out onions for me and tomatoes for Chris. The ingredients for my guacamole are as follows:

2-3 avocados
1 serrano chile pepper, (chopped, remove seeds and ribs)
1 clove garlic (pressed or chopped)
1/2 lime (juice)
a pinch of kosher salt
cilantro (chopped)

Spaghetti Squash Tossed with Olive Oil, Avocado and Parmesan

2009-11-07T16:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, just a couple more posts for today to catch up. I found this recipe here. It was very delicious. Not terribly filling, but so so good.

Green Onions

2009-11-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

This summer I watched The Next Food Network Star and learned some handy tips from Melissa D'Arabian. One tip was that after cutting green onions you can put the roots in a glass of water to regrow them. I gave it a try and it worked great. It isn't something you can do forever, but I used them several times so I really felt like I got my money's worth.

A Summer Hat

2009-11-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

I made this hat for Fiona in anticipation of a trip to Wyoming. Although the weather would be much cooler there than summer in Texas, I knew we would be spending much more time outside as a result of the lovely weather. I used one of Fiona's other hats as a pattern and chose some fun colors to create a reversible sun hat.

It ended up being a little small for her head, but we made it work.

Magnets

2009-10-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

I made these magnets at a Super Saturday activity a couple of weeks ago. That inspired me to create many more magnets, but I don't have pictures of those yet. These were created using images from a Hancock's of Paducah catalog I got in the mail recently.

To make the magnets, we used clear glass stones, Modge Podge, magnets and Gorilla Glue. You can use paper, fabric, pictures, etc. for the images inside.
I'm not sure why I put the stone with the crack in the front.

Yummy sandwich

2009-07-27T06:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post this sandwich so we don't forget about it. It was pretty delicious. Being inspired by a recipe here I was shopping and found salami on sale so I picked some up, got a nice loaf of bread, some provolone, baby spinach, and kalamata olive spread. When I got home, we put the ingredients (minus the spinach) on both sides and broiled them until the cheese browned. The leftovers were great cold as well.

A simple makeover

2009-07-27T06:15:00.000-07:00

Lincoln's little table was starting to look pretty bad and I finally got around to covering it. I found a great green and white contact paper to match the kitchen. I took the table and chairs apart and covered the white then put everything back together. It was a nice hour project while Fiona slept and Lincoln "helped" with the tools. I may paint the wood someday. I don't see that happening for a long time.

Home again

2009-05-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

I don't suppose I'll be posting any recipes or projects for quite some time. Our new little baby will be keeping me very busy for the next few months. I'm really just here to remove the growing baby on the sidebar. I wouldn't want anyone to think I was getting more and more overdue.

Lincoln's dresser redo

2009-04-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the best before shot I could find.

Here's the after.

The white paint is what I'm using for trim in our rooms. The blue paint is a small can I bought a long time ago on the mistake shelf at the hardware store. I wasn't sure how it would turn out and whether I would like it with the two colors, but I really love it. I like how the details show more in the after. I never really paid attention to them until I painted them. I love putting new hardware on things. I had to haggle to get them for a good price, but it all worked out. I still can't pay $40 for hardware when I paid $5 for the dresser. I managed to get all 10 drawer pulls for $10. I got to use the drill quite a bit since I couldn't find hardware that fit the existing holes. I used 1 of the 2 existing holes and filled the other with a mixture of elmer's glue and toilet paper. I found that recipe online and it seemed like the perfect filler.

A few more nesting projects

2009-03-19T19:17:00.001-07:00

I've been busy nesting away and it's been a while since I posted something so I figured I'd show you what I've been up to lately. First off, we have Lincoln's (and eventually Fiona's) bedroom. I finished painting the walls, but I still need to paint the trim white. I hung the curtain rod and made a red curtain to block out more light when we want Lincoln to sleep. I really like the red even though it was chosen based on the limited fabric selection I had in that amount of yardage.

Next, we have the storage and changing table we will be keeping in our bedroom when Fiona first comes. I showed you the little dresser earlier. The changing table was purchased on Craigslist. I made a cover for the changing pad and covered some boxes with fabric.

I love this fabric.

I love this fabric too.

Ikea boxes

2009-02-22T20:23:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to post a picture of the boxes I found at Ikea. They are great for hiding away the stacks of piano books that were previously visible in this space. Last week I bought a third and I know exactly where it will go. That's another project for this week. I'm crossing my fingers that the nesting energy will stay with me.

A makeover project

2009-02-22T20:00:00.000-08:00

When we were living in an apartment a year and a half ago we had a small chest of drawers we used for random storage. I picked it up at a garage sale and I think I paid about $4-5 for it. The yellow paint on it was already sanded and ready to be redone, but of course I didn't get around to doing anything about it. Then we moved and the yellow chest went into our in-laws' attic. It had been forgotten. Recently it reappeared and was brought back to our house right when we needed it. I had actually tried to buy similar things on Craigslist. The other bonus was that it came back right when I'm in the middle of painting walls so adding an additional item that was ready to go was no problem. Lincoln and Chris helped with the primer and then I painted two coats in between using that same paint for the trim in the study. I don't have a picture of the wall in the study yet, maybe I'll end up painting the other 3 walls too and can get a great after picture to post.

So anyway, I'm posting the before and after pictures as well as a closeup of the new drawer knobs I put in. They were a little on the pricey side ($3 each) considering the price I paid for the dresser, but they are lovely and I'm glad I splurged a little and got some I really like.

Some new inspiration

2009-01-16T13:59:00.001-08:00

Lately I've been really trying to organize my home and make it more visually pleasing. This past week I started reading the House of Turquoise blog and yesterday my friend Erin loaned me an organizing magazine. Those three things combined with a chance encounter with the Container Store last night led me to purchase these beautiful turquoise and blue baskets for organizing. It all seemed like destiny.

Thank you Janet Bell!

2008-10-27T13:48:00.000-07:00

I found an artist I really like and I have added the top 2 prints to my previous collection of 1 (the 3rd print). If you want to learn more about the artist, go here.

I made something!

2008-10-26T12:41:00.000-07:00

Oh, but first I have to give you a garden update. Everything had been destroyed by the rabbit(?) except for one miraculous tomato plant that kept hanging in there. We were watching the 5 tomatoes as they grew and started to ripen. Unfortunately, I went outside to check on the plant today and sadly it has been destroyed. There is a stalk surrounded by shredded branches and leaves. No sign of the tomatoes. It is a sad day.

So back to what I made. About a week or two ago I was playing with Lincoln in the nursery room at the church while we waited for Chris to finish up some other business. They had a few baby dolls in the cupboard, but I noticed the babies were sadly lacking in clothing and blankets. Rather than clothe the dolls I decided to tackle the easier task of providing a blanket. It turned into a mat for a bed, a pillow and a quilt. I love it so much! I had been planning on using these squares for a larger quilt, but I'm thinking a quilt that can be completely finished by the end of Finding Nemo is not such a bad thing. When I delivered the bedding to the nursery today I quickly discovered that 1 set will definitely not be enough as there are at least 3 baby dolls there.

Before and After

2008-09-15T19:41:00.000-07:00

Click on the images to see enlarged photos.

A new project

2008-08-31T19:08:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to do a really simple quilt for my second try. I had the squares all laid out and everything. Then I don't know what happened, but all of a sudden I had to do something completely different and harder. After 1 month, I finally have the first block sewn. It is a little crooked looking, but hopefully I can fix that as the quilt top comes together. I wanted this one to be all about pink. It should be finished around 2015. Meanwhile look at how TwoTimesLeaves is showing me up here.

Ok if you liked that last game.....

2008-08-22T07:50:00.001-07:00

My English

2008-08-19T13:23:00.001-07:00

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

20% Upper Midwestern

10% Yankee

5% Midwestern

0% Dixie

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Our wooden family is getting bigger

2008-08-03T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest editions, can anyone guess who they are?

I showed them to Lincoln just a minute ago and he immediately recognized them. The one in the yellow shirt just read him a story before he went down for his nap.

Do you think it looks any better?

2008-07-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

This week I had a wonderful breakthrough in the world of home organization. I am not extremely good at keeping my house free of clutter and I usually just adapt to the mess and forget it's there. Last week when we came back from vacation, I realized something could actually be done to improve the disastrous situation that we call home. I selected one area of our house to focus on which happens to be the craziest, most cluttered area I have ever seen. Let's see if you agree that the buffet is an improvement to the "organization" I had before.

The before shot:

And, the after:

I really love it.

Burp Cloths

2008-07-31T19:33:00.000-07:00

These turned out really well. I like that they were started and finished in less than an hour and I even managed to use freshly laundered cloth diapers and less recently laundered fabric. I was proud of myself for washing and ironing both the fabric and the diapers. I guess it's good to take those small victories when they come along.

Washington trip

2008-07-27T19:27:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from visiting my family in Washington for a week and a half. It was such a nice visit with wonderful food, beautiful weather and the very best company. The weather was gorgeous and we got to spend lots of time outside. I actually got to see all 5 of my siblings in the same place at the same time which hasn't happened in about 4 years. It was so fun! We saw my sister, her husband, and baby sealed in the Seattle Temple and it was a very special day. They were all glowing, but especially baby E. This is the sealing outfit I made for him. It wasn't the easiest project I've done to date, but like always, I learned a lot in the process.

The shirt is so light and delicate! My favorite is the corduroy pants, I love corduroy!

A return to older days

2008-07-01T19:58:00.000-07:00

This is my first attempt at headwear. I did have some guides to help me along the way, and I think it turned out very well. This will be for Pioneer Day on July 24th, but I'm not sure I can resist wearing it around much more frequently. What a great way to beat the Texas heat while gardening!

This is my last effort

2008-07-01T19:53:00.000-07:00

I haven't given up yet, but I am getting close. I bought a new tomato plant, some cucumbers, a dill plant, and a cilantro plant. I also picked up another package of beans. I wrapped the garden in plastic chicken wire and used tent poles and shoelaces to keep it from falling in and smashing the plants. I purchased some plant food and sprinkled it around the plants. I will do my best to water them daily or every two days.

Fruit Salad

2008-07-01T19:50:00.000-07:00

6 cups sliced fruit
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix yogurt, honey and cinnamon. Pour over fruit. Serve immediately, the fruit doesn't look good after refrigeration.

Some baby blocks

2008-06-18T20:07:00.000-07:00

I briefly skimmed a tutorial the other day that taught how to make cute soft baby blocks. I decided to use 2 layers of foam and a jingle bell inside. These are just my first tries, but I was thinking I could applique all kinds of neat things on the different sides.

Oh, and for anyone who likes seeing where people do their creative work, this is my end table. I purchased it a year ago at a garage sale for $5. I use it as my sewing table so I can sew in the living room and watch tv while I sew. I can't really watch tv while I sew, but I still like being somewhere that is so open. I sit on the couch with my table in front of me and my sewing box on the couch next to me. The table has room for the machine, scissors, and a pin cushion. It works beautifully.

The tutorial I mentioned can be found here.

Our mini family!!!

2008-06-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

I keep seeing such cute wooden dolls around in stores ($$$!) and on blogs so I decided to make some for Lincoln. They are in a rough state right now, Lincoln played with them before the hands and finish could be applied so Daddy especially is in a bit of a bruised state. I'm afraid I probably won't touch up those scars before finishing them up. Lincoln really loves them. He likes to make mom and dad kiss and the family went to the zoo and drove the bus the other day.

The garden update

2008-06-18T19:54:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid there isn't much good news with regard to the garden. It isn't doing so hot. The birds? ate all but one cucumber plant before this picture, it has since perished as well. The dill died out, the cabbage plants died out, the cilantro is barely hanging on. The onions and radishes are doing relatively well. The beans, well, I'm not sure what's going to happen. There is a lot of damage, but also some growth. We'll see. I haven't gotten around to putting a fence up around it yet, but I may miss my chance. Oh, and the tomato and pepper plants seem to be maintaining their size without too many leaf losses. I tried to replant some cilantro and dill, but those lasted about a week before dying in the house and then outside.

A tote for Kate

2008-06-18T19:48:00.000-07:00

I already sent it to her and she has received it so now I can post the pictures I took. Unfortunately, I packed it up before taking these pictures so I had to unpack and repack it.

Oh, and it's reversable.

The dinosaur didn't come with the bag, he was just exploring.

Another update

2008-06-10T19:44:00.000-07:00

I seem to get all my blogging done in big spurts. Sorry about that. Here is a photo of Raelee in the dress I made for her. It turns out it fit her really well. I am so excited!

An applique project

2008-06-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite artists/bloggers is syko. She creates some really beautiful artwork using scraps of fabric and stitched details. I have been inspired for a while, and now this is my first attempt at anything related to her craft. I don't really know how she does her appliques so mine may be way off, but I like it.

Oh, and the frame was just a test to see what it looked like flat, it doesn't fit and it isn't a permanent resting place.

My first makeover

2008-06-10T19:24:00.001-07:00

From this:

To this:

I bought the pillow for 50 cents at a garage sale with the intention of making it over in new fabric. I only took about a month to do it and I'd say that's pretty good. The other day, my husband was wishing we had more pillows near the couch and I remembered it was on the to-do list.

Maybe you're the one with the problem

2008-06-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

So I drove 40 minutes to Garland to look through a lady's fabric stash. She advertised on Craigslist that she would sell some of her stash by the yard for $3-$5 per yard. I thought, well, ther probably won't be a whole lot I like so I'll put $40 as my max and I don't have to spend it all if I don't find enough that I really want. This weekend, I worked as quickly as I could to make the $40 doing my new data entry job. I took out the cash so I wouldn't spend more than my limit and Lincoln and I drove off on our journey to Garland. Chris took the old car so I could drive on the toll roads and that in itself proves how dedicated I was to looking at this fabric. The end of the story is she had a lot of really cool fabric that I really wanted and I spent more than 3 times my budget. Oops.

I bought 2 yards each of these:

Then 1 yard each of these:

Then 1/4 yard of these:

and these:

Can you really blame me though? I mean, come on!

Afterwards, we went to see where Chris works and have lunch with him. Lincoln fell asleep in the car on the way home. I managed to stay awake. It was a fun day trip, but it sure wore me out.

Another dress for Raelee

2008-06-01T21:08:00.000-07:00

This was a learning experience. I learned that it is important to make casings for elastic and then thread the elastic through afterwards. I didn't do it that way and you can kind of tell. Although I tried to make the dress a 2T, it wouldn't go on my 2T model so I'm not sure it will fit Raelee either. The other part of it that I tried for the first time was the gathering at the waist. I loosely basted and then pulled the thread to the desired amount of gathering. I will do better when I try to do somthing similar in the future, but for now this was a pretty good first attempt. Maybe I will make one in my size.

On a spiritual note

2008-05-23T11:40:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure about posting this here, but then I remembered this is my blog and I can do what I want here. Anyway, I was having a low day this morning. I think it was the sugar low from the chocolate cake with fudge frosting I ate last night. I was feeling depressed and angry. I decided to go visit my friend Holly. She has had my diaper bag since she babysat for us on Tuesday and I have had some stuff to give her as well. I decided to take along the Ensign (I am her visiting teacher) even though I hadn't really read it yet. I haven't read one in months actually. I kind of skimmed and found a bold passage that stuck out to me and later read through it with her. It was a good reminder to me and lifted my low spirits as did the 2 hour talk we had while I was there. The section was this: "Some are lost because they are weary." Lately I have been feeling weary. It gets better some days, but overall I have not been feeling joy in all that I have to accomplish. The reminder I got from this talk was to let the Lord carry some of that burden. It was a message that reminded me that I have accomplished great things when I have involved the Lord in my life. I have not been doing that as much as I ought to lately and I have been feeling the strain that results from carrying my burdens by myself. Why do I forget so quickly when I have had so many experiences that have taught me to trust in His help? You can find the whole talk here if you are interested.

Things are sprouting

2008-05-10T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'm fortunate to have a helper with my gardening this year. He loves to do whatever I will let him. The beans are by far the fastest growing seeds I planted. The cucumbers came in at second place. So far the bunny who visits our back yard hasn't done any serious damage to the vegetable plants.

Our backyard surprise

2008-05-07T21:16:00.000-07:00

I'm always excited when new flowers pop out in our yard that we didn't know about when we bought the house. These are climbing the back of our house and they are so bright and colorful.

So what if I don't have a little girl

2008-05-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

I wanted to make a little girl's dress so this one will be for Raelee if it fits her and her parents approve. She can wear it with a shirt underneath and it will totally be modest. The dress was based on a dress Raelee outgrew and her mother loaned to me to use as a pattern. I'm hoping to try it on Lincoln to see if it really is a size 2T like I had planned. I messed up the first time and had to cut the skirt and top a little, so it may turn out to be too short. We'll have to see.

Ebay

2008-05-01T16:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to some garage sales with my friend Erin. We found some little lead animals and bought the whole box of them for only 50 cents. After looking them up on Ebay, we decided they might be better sold rather than stuck up someone's nose so I listed them. The final price was $193.50 plus shipping! It was crazy! We are so excited about our little Ebay sale.

Lincoln's little car bag

2008-05-01T16:48:00.000-07:00

I am mostly happy with this little bag. I wanted to have the drawstrings to pull the bag tight, but I forgot to leave the seams open to pass the drawstrings through so it's a little rough right now. Maybe the next one will be better.

The Garden

2008-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I started another project: a vegetable garden in the back yard. Here are some pictures of what I've done so far. The first picture is of our box spring mattress frame. Link and I ripped out all the fabric from the top and the bottom. Then we moved the frame to the perfect garden spot in our yard. (By the way, I didn't try to dress Lincoln up like one of those cute calendar babies, he did this to himself after trying on the pajamas I made him. He loves his hats and also note the rain boots he really did put on all by himself!) Yesterday and today I filled the frame with soil, peat moss, and compost. Then I planted all the plants and seeds. I'll try to update you on the progress, good or bad. That picture with the white blocks in it actually has words if you click on it. I put in the names of the plants so you can see what I planted. Oh, and the plants are actually pretty evenly spaced it just looks funny because of where I was standing to take the picture.

Pajama Bottoms

2008-04-25T20:01:00.001-07:00

These are for my boy. It is hard coming up with fun sewing projects with a boy in mind. Most of the fabric I have is quite girly and most of the cool patterns I see are for girls. I had this fabric in my stash and one day realized I didn't have to make a blanket with it. Lincoln is testing them out as we speak.

More green and blue

2008-04-17T19:39:00.000-07:00

This is my first solo skirt. When I was in college I had a wonderful roommate (Liz) who helped me make a couple of skirts, but this is the first I have done on my own. It turned out way better than I thought it was going to and I like it a lot. I think I will go ahead and find some material to line the inside with to make it a little less transparent. I love the blue flowers and I'm glad I finally got brave enough to cut this material. One of these days I will figure out how to post pictures from the places that inspire these creations. For now you will have to be satisfied with the pictures I take.

Here is a closeup of the fabric.
It isn't quite as cream colored as it looks,
but it isn't bright white either.

My first quilt

2008-04-17T13:04:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the quilt I've been working on. Ok, so it didn't take that long. I started with lots of strips that were already cut and I just had to select the colors and sew them together. After creating several strips I then sewed the strips together. I cut out some blocks and put them around the border. It went very smoothly except for the parts I messed up on and had to redo. Somehow the picture of the back didn't get uploaded, but the fabric I used is a greenish with clouds and you can see it in the blocks at the bottom of the quilt. It's the fifth from the left.

The quilt:

Close-up #1:

Close-up #2:

Pulled pork

2008-04-11T12:12:00.000-07:00

A recipe from a blog I just found written by a former ward member. She makes some really yummy sounding food. You can find the recipe here. We had it with leftover "Kate's Pasta Salad" and Ghiradelli's Triple Chocolate brownies for dessert. Of course for the BBQ sauce I had to make my special sauce with mustard and brown sugar and it was super delicious.

More Shirts

2008-04-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

The shirt collection is getting bigger. I made a new type and a repeat of the other shirt in a new fabric. The new shirt is kind of a v-neck wrap in a green with white trim, but it proved to be very difficult and I will not make another one. After being happy with the pink and white shirt I went crazy and cut out pieces to make about 6 more. This light greenish one is one of those I finally got to. I needed something fairly easy to do and since it was cut out it only took me 2 days to finish.

Home Projects

2008-04-11T11:58:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Lincoln and I went to Flower Mound to visit his friend Luke and my friend Nicole. While we were there, Nicole mentioned some projects she was doing around the house and I was very impressed by how "manly" they were. It made me realize that some of the jobs I had been leaving for Chris to get done were actually things I could do myself. It was an epiphany. So this week I learned how to use a power drill and did a few very easy projects.

I hung a picture:

I put up a towel rack:

I put in a shower caddy:

Last of all, I hung a curtain rod:

Yay Commenters!

2008-04-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

I'm glad some of my friends and family have found the blog already. Thank you for your comments and love. I think I will start writing more regularly, but who knows. Make sure you all get add me to your google reader so you will know when I update. If you don't know what that is ask me and I will have my husband send you a lengthy email explaining it. It is awesome! Trust me you need it. I will have important recipe posts and you will want to see the cool sewing projects I'm working on. Oh, and you will find out when I get to do exciting things such as: go to the grocery store (all by myself!) and listen to Radiohead on the way there and back. (thanks Chris for letting me use the MP3 player and for watching Lincoln all night!) Today I am itching for a haircut. It might just overtake me to the point that I will go ahead and hack at it myself. I looked at Albertsons for some hair accessories, but all they had was the same old stuff. My hair is too thick to be held up by those wimpy little clips. The Albertsons in Frisco is so very lonely. I feel bad every time I go there because it is so empty. I even felt guilty using a coupon because I wanted them to make some money. Fortunately, it is very conducive to my "mommy alone time".

A new blog for me!

2008-04-07T12:12:00.000-07:00

I decided to move to blogger because my husband, bless his heart, is a little on the busy side right now and I needed something easier to use. I'm sure I will still need lots of his help. Today I had big plans for getting lots done around the house, but instead went for something I could do sitting still for 2 hours straight. Please leave comments once in a while so I know this isn't just my private journal. Ok, so I'm not very good at that myself. I keep up with a lot of you without letting you know. Sorry. I'll try to do better at that too.

My 5th Life

2008-04-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

I never really believed in reincarnation, but I do think I've had at least 5 rather seperate phases to my life. When I look back on the past it's hard to believe that the person back then was still me. It's as if I died at the end of each stage and came back a whole new person.

Stage 1: Childhood. I love reflecting on this time and I miss it more than any other stage. It was full of dreams and imagination, beauty, joy, playfulness. I felt my family's love for me and I enjoyed being who I was. I played in the pond with cousins, rode bikes, explored the yard looking for ancient artifacts, played capture the flag with neighbors, etc. It was a magical time.

Stage 2: Teenage Years. I would never go back. Not even for 1 million dollars. It was a lonely and depressing time. Emotions and hormones made me a train wreck. I did enjoy babysitting and reading, beading and jalapeno chips. I felt very alone.

Stage 3: College. This is where things started to get fun again. I took lots of classes that I was interested in: Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Humanities, Geography, Art History, Piano, Dance (social and folk), History. It was so much fun and I made lots of great friends. I graduated and stayed at school to work in the library. The best job ever with the best coworkers ever! It was a great time. I saved money, spent money, hung out with friends, took classes for free on work time. I went to the international cinema. I dated! I didn't go on a date until I was 18 and I didn't even know that guy's name. College didn't pick up immediately, but eventually as I came out of my shell boys started to be interested.

Stage 4: Marriage. I love being married and Chris is a wonderful husband. I don't tell him that nearly enough. We have so much fun together and the first few years were so nice. He was in school and worked part time. I was working full time. After work I would come home and work on the giant jigsaw puzzle. It was a struggle to come to terms with my previous expectations of marriage and home life and what it actually turned out to be. The house was never that clean, the dinner wasn't always home cooked, I wasn't the homemaker and wife I expected to immediately become. We did work through it and come to terms with the reality of our life together.

Stage 5: Mommyhood. This stage was surprisingly difficult in the beginning. My body crashed after giving birth and I sunk into a depression and anxiety hole deeper than I had ever felt before. I couldn't eat, get dressed, anything but sleep and hope to wake up feeling better. I had been so excited and nervous about the baby, but I then things went very wrong. Fortunately with medication and time everything got gradually better and better and I love my little boy so so much. We still have difficult days, but we have so much fun together and he is such a cute little person. Now I am working on fun hobbies like sewing, canning, reading, cooking, and sometime soon gardening. I am enjoying my 5th life and hope for many fun and interesting lives to come.

My best deal

2008-04-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

All this for only $3.00 total! Everything in all 3 pictures! This is why I couldn't help going back a 5th time.
Squares of really cute fabric:

Fat quarters and strips, oh so many strips. Mother, I loved your strips of color quilt. I think you may be able to make another or 10.:

Finally, the pieces that have been sewn already, also the batiks, and some random pieces that were of odd sizes.:

My Stash

2008-04-03T11:55:00.001-07:00

In case you can't tell, I'm catching up for a long time of not posting anything. I think Chris still has pictures on his computer I need for my blog, but I don't remember what they are anymore. He just uploaded the ones I'm now posting, and yes, I do know how to do it myself, but it's easier if he does it for me, isn't it?
So now I'll include some pictures I took of my fabric stash. I went to an estate sale, and then back again, and again, and again, and once more. It was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up! The lady who passed away was an amazing quilter and had a whole 2 rooms full of fabric. Something like 300 bolts plus smaller amounts of fabric. It was crazy, but in a good way for me.
Now that I have a ton of fabric, I am no longer afraid to sew because I know even if I make 1,000 mistakes there is still no way I will get through all the fabric I have.
Large (Bolts):

Medium (Yardage):

Smaller (fat quarters mostly):

I don't have pictures of all the scraps I have in about 10 extra large ziploc bags. Look at the post about my $3.00 deal to see how much fits in 1 bag.

I made a shirt!

2008-04-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

It took a couple of tries. First I made a rough pattern and pinned it onto myself, then I made a version in white that had some problems. When I did this one I was able to improve even more and I'm happy with the way it turned out. The first day I worked up the courage to wear it Lincoln and I went to the park and he cut open his lip and bled all over the new shirt. At least he was ok and the shirt was too.

The New PB&J

2008-04-03T11:54:00.000-07:00

Corn tortillas fried for 10 seconds in oil and blotted dry on paper towels.
Avocado
Tomato
Black Beans
Cheddar
Sour Cream and Salsa for dipping.
This makes a great quick and pretty healthy lunch.

Aunt Wendy's Dilled Green Beans

2008-03-24T11:53:00.001-07:00

I canned by myself for the first time today. It was quite an adventure and I learned a lot about what to do differently the next time.
WENDY’S DILLED GREEN BEANS
Ingredients
4 # fresh whole green beans
El Toro Dehydrated Chile Japones (Red Peppers-crushed)
Whole mustard seed
Fresh dill plant
Garlic cloves
5 C cider vinegar (1 ¼ qt.)
5 C. water (1 ¼ qt.)
½ C. salt
7 pint jars
Instructions
Wash beans thoroughly, drain and cut into lengths to fill pint jars
Combine vinegar, water, & salt – heat to boiling
Pack beans into clean, hot jars
Add to each jar:
¼ tsp. hot red crushed peppers
½ tsp. whole mustard seed
2 sprigs fresh dill
1 clove garlic
Pour boiling liquid over beans filling to ½ “ from top of jar
Adjust jar lids
Process in boiling water for 5 minutes starting from the time water in canner is boiling
Remove jars and complete seals if necessary.
Set jars upright 2” apart.
Let cool on wire rack
Store for 5 – 6 months in pantry
Beans canned in August or September make a nice Christmas gift

Pizza Dough

2008-03-24T11:53:00.000-07:00

This is the pizza dough recipe I use currently:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup warm water
1 package yeast
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
Pour warm water into bowl. Add honey and salt. Mix until well blended. Add yeast and mix. Let sit 5 minutes. Add 1 cup flour and the olive oil and mix until well blended. Add the rest of the flour and mix well.
Knead dough, cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm, dry area 45 minutes. Punch dough down. Cover and let rise another hour to an hour and a half. Roll out dough onto pizza pans.

Minestrone Soup A La Madeline

2008-03-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

This is first soup I have ever made and boy was it a good first try. My friend Erin gave me the recipe as well as some of her leftover ingredients and said it was definitely worth trying. It was so so so good! I chopped the vegetables in the food processor so it was actually really easy to make. Very hearty when the sauce boils down and you just end up with a really thick bowl of soup. I wish it wasn't all gone.

2 brown onions (I used one yellow)
1/2 bunch fresh basil
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro
1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley
6 cups vegetable stock
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 cubes vegetable stock (I lost the ones I bought so I put in some chicken top ramen flavoring)
13 oz. canned tomatoes
1/2 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup pearl barley
4 bay leaves
2 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery, finely chopped (I didn't have)
2 carrots, finely chopped
1/2 parsnip, finely chopped
1 small turnip, finely chopped
1 can red kidney beans, washed thoroughly
ground pepper
Place the onions, basil, cilantro and parsley in a food processor and blend until finely chopped. In a large soup pot, place vegetable stock, soy sauce, one cup of hot water and stock cubes mixed with one cup of warm water. Stir and add onion and herb mix from the food processor. Place the tomatoes in the food processor and blend; add to soup pot. Add lentils, pearl barley and bay leaves. Cover and cook on low heat. Pass the garlic through a garlic press and add to the pot. Add the celery, carrots, parsnip and turnip to the pot. Cover and cook slowly for 80 minutes stirring occasionally. Season with black pepper. Add the kidney beans and cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaves.

I've been tagged.

2008-02-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.B: Each player answers the questions about themselves. C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
10 years ago today...
I was 18 and in my second quarter at Pierce College in Washington. I babysat my cousins in the afternoons.
5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Budget for the month
2. Make dinner
3. Get Lincoln to go potty in the toilet (he's been doing it a lot lately)
4. Clean up the living room
5. Spend at least a little time with my husband between his work and choir meeting tonight.
I enjoy:
Foreign films and good food. Classic books, mostly by Dickens.
What would I do if I were suddenly a billionaire?
Chris would work from home. We would buy a home in Washington and spend our summers there. Pay off debts, save, and help others out.
3 of my bad habits:
1. I play way too much Freecell
2. I eat way too much pizza
3. Is not showering or getting dressed until evening a bad habit?
5 places I have lived:
1. Sumner, WA
2. Milton, WA
3. Provo, UT
4. Flower Mound, TX
5. The Colony, TX
5 jobs I have had:
1. Picking raspberries
2. REI in the wrapping department
3. Incredible Universe (computer salesperson)
4. Ben Franklin Crafts
5. BYU Library
5 things people don't know about me:
1. I love game shows
2. I love spicy/salty foods way more than sweets
3. I have a huge scar from getting my appendix out at 5
4. My taste in music is a bit strange (generally bands not from America)
5. I am a great cook! At least I think so.
I don't know who to tag because I'm not sure who even knows I have a personal blog. I'll tag Nancy, Mom, and Erin.

Sewing Class Project #2

2008-01-31T11:51:00.000-08:00

We made purses, and since I finished early I also got to make the extra little bag to go inside. I still have a one thing to do on the inside of the purse, but it's hand stitching so I didn't want to spend time doing it in the class. My 5 week class is over! I'm hoping to take Beginner 2 in April once they offer an evening class. This was so much fun!

Oatmeal Muffins

2008-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe I got from a ward in college. They handed out recipe books ("Recipes Yo Mama wants you to know...") with recipes from all the girls in Relief Society. This is a recipe from Cara Ricks.
1 cup oats
1 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 well beaten egg
1/4 cup oil
Combine oats, milk and honey. Let stand 15 minutes. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Combine egg and oil and then add to oatmeal mixture. Add all at once to the dry ingredients, stirring just to moisten. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 425 for 20-25 min.
For mine, I didn't sift anything I just whisked the dry ingredients. They finished cooking around 15 minutes and were even a little darker than I would have preferred. I think our oven tries to sabotage my cooking.

Sewing Class Project #1

2008-01-18T11:49:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I finished the apron I was making in my sewing class. There are a few errors I chose not to redo, but overall I'm very pleased with how it turned out. I'm proud to say I finally finished a sewing item without having anyone do the hard parts for me. I hope I can use some of what I learned for future projects.

Sweet & Sour Pineapple Chicken Recipe

2008-01-18T11:49:00.000-08:00

This was adapted from a recipe I found online. I left out 2 cups celery so you can add that too if you want.
2 cups green pepper
2 Tbsp. oil
1 tin (14 oz.) unsweetened pineapple tidbits (drained)
2 cups drained pineapple juice with water added to make up
5 Tbsp. cornstarch
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 cups left over chicken, cut in cubes
cooked rice (as required)

Sautee vegetables in oil until tender crisp. Remove from pan. Combine pineapple juice with water, cornstarch, brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in saucepan. Cook, stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Add drained pineapple, vegetables and chicken. Heat and serve with rice.

We used 2 green peppers, 3 chicken breasts, 2 five oz. tins of pineapples (one was shredded), and 3 scoops of rice into the rice cooker. The sauce amazingly transformed into sweet and sour sauce before our eyes. It was incredible. It was a very tasty, pretty easy recipe and we will definitely make it again.

Hawaiian Sunrise (thank you Palio's!)

2007-12-09T11:48:00.000-08:00

The difference between a Hawaiian pizza and a Hawaiian Sunrise is the addition of dried cranberries and roasted cashews. It is delicious! We used ham leftover from a spiral sliced glazed ham we bought a month or so ago and froze. So I was a little skimpy on the ham (sorry Chris!), but it was delicious. Then of course the pineapple (I use shredded). The sauce was not my favorite for pizza. I used Barilla's spaghetti sauce which I love on pasta, but on this pizza I didn't love it. I'm looking forward to trying the cold leftovers to see how they are. I wish we had more leftover of course.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2007-12-09T11:47:00.000-08:00

This pizza is so so so good. Chris and I can't get enough of it. We made it tonight because the pizza yesterday (sausage and olive) burned very badly in our naughty oven. It just didn't give me my pizza fix. So today I decided to make a pineapple pizza. I figured since all I had for toppings was olives for a second pizza I should probably just make a BBQ chicken pizza. Why do I forget how much I love it?! So one thing led to another and we ended up with a Hawaiian Sunrise pizza (copied from one of our favorite places Palio's), and the BBQ pizza.
Use whatever dough recipe you want for the crust.
Boil 1 chicken breast.
Shred chicken.
In a small saucepan mix (all measurements are approximate):
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp chopped onion
shredded chicken
Cook over low-med. heat while stirring.
Spoon sauce/chicken over crust and top with generous amounts of shredded mozzarella cheese.

My first sewing project

2007-12-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Ok, first of all, no I did not make what you see in the first picture! We are focusing on the second picture! I got my sewing machine all set up today (by myself!). The instructions covered about 90% of what I needed to know to get it going so I was glad I was able to figure out that extra 10% on my own. My first project was one that I've been looking forward to for a few weeks. We bought Lincoln a quiet book for church that has little stuffed animals/fruit/things/etc. inside for each letter of the alphabet. Well since I paid $1 for it at a garage sale I couldn't complain that 3 of the letters were missing their little stuffed toy. Today I filled in the "Q" with a tiny quilt. Yes, it could be better, but this was my first time sewing on my new machine and I must say I'm quite pleased with how it went. Hey, maybe I'll even inspire my mom to start a doll-sized line of her famous quilts. If you have any ideas for the "Y" and the "V" please let me know. All I can think of are yo-yo, vase, and violin. We'll see how that goes.

Hybrid Pancakes

2007-11-25T11:46:00.000-08:00

I decided to make a cross between my mom's pancake recipe and the one I make for Lincoln. Result: Hybrids!
Combine:
3/4 cup whole rolled oats (ground into a course flour by blender)
1 cup flour
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Stir in:
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp cooking oil
1 Ripe banana (optional)
Mix until ingredients combined and lumps are small. Use a measuring cup to scoop out small amounts of batter into the pan. Cook on medium or a little lower until bubbles form and stay after popping. Then flip and cook for a couple of minutes on the other side. You can serve these plain, with butter, or with butter and any number of pancake toppings. They are delicious!

My "lasagna"

2007-11-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

1-2 boxes rotini pasta
16 oz. container cottage cheese
16 oz. shredded mozzarella
1 jar spaghetti sauce
Boil noodles in salted water. Drain noodles when they are al dente. In a 9x13 pan layer noodles, sauce, cottage cheese, and lastly mozzarella then repeat until you have a nice full pan. (Usually 2-3 layers.) Make sure there is a lot of cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes until the cheese is starting to brown. You may substitute lasagna noodles for the rotini, but this will take longer to layer. I don't usually use all the sauce or cottage cheese if I am making a single batch. That is personal preference.

Chicken Enchiladas #1

2007-11-18T11:44:00.000-08:00

I've decided to add some recipes even if I haven't cooked them in a while. I'll add pictures later.
2 chicken breasts (boiled and shredded)
1 generous cup shredded cheddar
1 can diced green chilies
1 can refried beans
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 package flour tortillas
Mix the shredded chicken, cheese, chilies, and beans in a bowl. Coat a tortilla with the enchilada sauce and spoon filling onto the tortilla. Roll up and place in a 9x13" pan that has some enchilada sauce in the bottom. Repeat until you run out of filling and tortillas. Sprinkle cheese on top and bake in a 375 degree oven for about 35 minutes.

Kate's Pasta Salad

2007-11-17T11:43:00.000-08:00

1 box/bag penne (boiled)
1 can/bag/jar artichoke hearts (pulled apart)
1 bag/box cherry tomatoes
1 package Italian Salad Dressing (prepared)
1 can black olives
1 container feta
1-2 breasts chicken (cooked and shredded)
It was sooooo delicious and easy!

The Insects are Cheating

2007-10-04T11:42:00.000-07:00

Ok, I do try to live in harmony with the insect kingdom, but come on how much can a person take? There are some simple rules and if they are in violation of those rules they deserve what is coming to them. I consider myself a generous person when it comes to whether or not I will inflict the death penalty on these creatures when they are in violation of the rules. I did have a fire and bite me the other day, and I think I'm allowed to kill a bug that comes into my home and bites me. That's self defense. (By the way, fire ants are named that for a reason. It feels just like a burn). I try to put bugs outside alive from time to time, and I let the spiders live in the house as long as they agree not to bite me or my little boy or climb in my mouth while I'm sleeping. That's fair enough isn't it? When they lay eggs in the house though, that's crossing the line. I can't support entire families of insects in the house. I'm sorry, I just don't have the room. So when there were aphids all over my indoor nasturtiums (bad idea by the way), I hunted every last one down. Then when the baby spiders hatched, I did the same. When maggots crawled around our house, I found every last one. Those were moments of wrath I do not care to revisit in detail. Tonight, I've had enough with the mosquitoes. They're cheating! Yesterday I went outside and got several mosquito bites in the 10 or so minutes I was out there. Fair enough, it was night and I was in their territory (although some of those bites occurred in the garage which should technically be neutral ground). Then earlier today I received more bites when I went outside to watch Lincoln and Chris test out the new bike trailer. At this point I was a little peeved. Chris pointed out that he hadn't been bitten at all and he was outside much longer than I was, plus it was early enough in the day they shouldn't have been out eating blood yet. Tonight was the last straw. Here I was sitting at the computer INSIDE!!! Minding my own business and I received no less than 5 mosquito bites! From 1 mosquito! In the house! I would have exacted some revenge, but I lost the little cheater.

Chicken Nuggets

2007-09-18T11:42:00.000-07:00

This recipe was taken from the Kroger Shredded Wheat box. We are hoping to try an asian style chicken nugget next.
2 cups Shredded Wheat, crushed to 1 cup
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 tsp seasoned salt
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise (we used regular)
1 Tbsp honey
2 tsp prepared mustard
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 x 2 inch strips
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine cereal, Parmesan, seasoned salt, paprika and garlic powder. Combine mayonnaise, honey and mustard. Stir chicken strips into mayonnaise mixture; roll in cereal mixture to coat evenly. Place on rack in shallow baking pan. Bake 12-15 minutes or until strips are no longer pink in center.
We were a little worried that we cooked them too long, but the cheese just tasted better the browner it was.