Category Archives: cooking

fruit snacks…yum yum!

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I interrupt these regularly scheduled programming to share a recipe success today!
I’m on a mission these days to slowly find replacement recipes for all the processed stuff we buy…organic and not organic. Mostly for frugality reasons. This fruit snack recipe has been stashed for a while and today I finally got up the nerve to try it.

I’m sad to say I can’t give credit where it came from. I pinned it a while ago and deleted the pin once I printed it. Just know that I didn’t make this up…some other smarter person did!

100% juice fruit snacks

1/3 cup 100% frozen fruit juice concentrate (thawed)
2-3 .25 envelopes unflavored gelatin
silicone/bendable molds

Pour the juice into a small saucepan. Sprinkle the gelatin over the juice and let it sit for a few minutes. (watch it…it moves and squirms like something alive. It’s weird) Put the pan over medium heat and stir until all the gelatin is completely dissolved. Pour the mixture into a measuring cup with a spout so you can easily fill your molds. Fill the molds and allow to set at least 20 minutes. You can speed up the process a bit by putting them in the fridge.

My notes..

1. I used cranberry juice which after it was cooked started to kind of smell funny. I’m pretty sure this was the juice. They taste like cranberry juice but honestly don’t smell great.
2. I used a silicone ice tray from Ikea. There is no way you could get these out without using a flexible mold of some sort.
3. I used 2 packages of gelatin and it was the perfect consistency. I think 3 would make them crazy tough.
4. This recipe is tiny and I can’t remember how much unflavored gelatine is so I really don’t know how frugal these are. I would have to research that a little bit.

Overall these were super easy and I’ll definitely try it again with a different kind of juice.

best. sugar cookie. ever

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sugar cookie

Looking for a versatile, easy sugar cookie for your holiday baking? Look no further!
I’ve had this recipe in my stash for 15+ years and it’s been a holiday staple for making cookies to enjoy and share.
This recipe is great for rolling into balls and cooking right away, refrigerating and then rolling out to cut with cookie cutters and it also is awesome for using with a cookie press.

I think this came originally from a Cooking Light magazine and really the only changes I’ve made to the original recipe is the use of real unsalted butter instead of margarine and using raw sugar.

Sugar Cookies

3 T unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 2 T raw sugar (divided)
1 egg
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t nutmeg

Cream butter and gradually add 2/3 cup sugar. Beat at medium speed with a mixer until well blended.
Add egg and lemon juice; beat well.
Combine flour, baking soda and nutmeg; gradually add to the creamed mixture, beating well.
**there are times I’ve made this and it’s come out a little dry so I add water by the teaspoon until I can see it starting to come together.
Shape dough into balls, roll in remaining 2 T sugar OR colored sugar for a holiday gift.
Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes.
Cool on wire rack.
Yield: 26 cookies

a birthday post

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Today is my chick’s 6th birthday. In many ways I think I’m in denial that my baby is now 6, but I won’t go there because today is a day to celebrate.
Here she is at about 3 months.

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She is all about horses so we did a horse theme for our family gathering tonight. I convinced her to have cupcakes pretty much so I can make my favorite cupcakes ever…cookies and cream! I’ll have to share the recipe later.

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I made a little banner out of scrapbook paper, stitched it together and hung it off these lollipop sticks I grabbed at Michael’s. I also found a tube of little horses that were perfect for grazing in their green sprinkled field!

 

And the big birthday gift was something that I hinted at a few days ago…this awesome bunk bed for her dolls that my oh so talented husband made. The plans are based off this bed by Ana White and I had seen where people had taken that bed and turned it into bunks. I counted my blessings being married to a handyman and he went at it!

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As you can see, my quilts ended up being a little short and honestly so are the mattresses. I’m thinking that I’ll go back and redo the mattresses at some point, but the quilts are short to stay!

Happy 6th Birthday to my chickadee!

fantastic friday {november 16.12}

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Hello friends! Time for another weekly wrap up of some great finds from around the web this week.
It has been a crazy week around here and I’m in great denial that Thanksgiving is next week! And December…come on!

great FABRIC: the fabricshoppe on etsy has long been one of my favorite little shops and I recently ordered some Christmasy fat quarters. I haven’t really paid much attention to the holiday fabric out this year and was pleasantly surprised to find some really cute stuff.

to whet your APPETITE: It’s time to start thinking Thanksgiving meals if you haven’t already. One of my go-to recipes is this one for sweet potatoes by the Pioneer Woman. I love it because it’s really not overly sweet like most of the other recipes are.

be NEAT (as in organized): A technology cabinet!?! When we redo our kitchen this is totally going to happen!

a TUTORIAL to do: This is a fantastic tutorial for a chapstick holder. Perfect for stockings and perfect for my little chick that has a bad habit of sucking on her bottom lip!

becoming more AWARE: These kinds of things are why I love Pinterest…a box of sunshine. Never would I think to create something like this! My husband has been working like a madman this week at work and it was fun to grab a few yellow colored things in the checkout line and pack up a little bag of sunshine for him.

something to SEW: have you ever been on spoonflower? It’s this great site where people submit their own fabric designs and then have them printed. Those of us uncreative fabric designers can then purchase their designs if so desired. I love this retrotastic camera camera bag print.

to TRIM my house with: I have a plant window above my kitchen sink and would love to make something like this to hang from it!

ILLUSTRATION to stitch: I would love to take this illustration and turn it into a real pillow. It would be lovely to have out around February…a lovely red print with a white chain stitch…ahh!

CUTE: I love these simple little hair flowers made from ric rac. Too cute.

Have a happy weekend!!!

 

baked pumpkin oatmeal

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I will spare you a photo (I’m totally at a loss to make oatmeal look appealing) but this is the best baked oatmeal I’ve made…ever. Even my oatmeal hating daughter ate 2 servings of it!

I combined two recipes that I have in my collection. One from Lynn’s Kitchen Adventures and another one that I didn’t save the author (sorry). So if you are hankering for a good, warm breakfast with some yummy pumpkin flavor look no further!

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

3 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbs ground flax meal
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbs canola oil (or you could use butter)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I make this heaping)
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

Topping
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans)

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients except for the topping.
Spread into a greased 9×13 pan.
Sprinkle topping on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (or until set)
Enjoy!

fantastic friday {nov 2}

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Hello friends! Whew, after 31 days of embroidery we are finally back to regular programming. If you followed along with my stitches I hope you learned something. I sure did! Now I need to come up with the perfect embroidery that might encompass all the cool stitches I learned!

If you are new to following this little space, on Fridays I recap some great finds from around the web that fit into these random little categories that I created that spell out the word “fantastic” because I love that word. It just rolls off your tongue. So here we go!!

great FABRIC: Fall quilt market is over and True Up has started posting all their awesome findings. If you want to see what’s up and coming in the world of textiles in the next few months head on over there and follow along!

to whet your APPETITE: pumpkins & apples? can’t go wrong there!

be NEAT (as in organized): I’m on a mission to greatly reduce our grocery budget without being one of coupon fanatics that stocks up their house with 12 boxes of hamburger helper! Here is a great site with some good ideas (albeit many of her recipies I would alter) and I love this grocery list printable on a fun little clipboard!

a TUTORIAL to do: It’s going to be another American Girl birthday and Christmas in this house for my chick and I’m desperately searching the web for ideas of things to make vs. buy. This is a great cloak made from a santa hat, we are using this tutorial to make her a bunk bed and I also plan on trying to make one of these fitted sheets for the bed too.

becoming more AWARE: I just finished reading this book. I’ve mentioned it here before, but you need to read it. It will change your life.

something to SEW: I totally am in love with this raincoat by Oliver + S. Well actually I’m always in love with Oliver + S, but this raincoat is totally cute.

to TRIM my house with: Love this Fall front door and stoop.

ILLUSTRATION to stitch: This is my new favorite quote and I know just the person I should stitch it up for.

CUTE: This blog, ollibird, is pretty awesome and if I had a color printer I would print these asap. Totally cute.

 

Have a happy weekend!!!

fantastic fridays {are baaaaack}

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I have to be honest, I’m not really back. It’s been a hard week and I’ve pushed too hard and have paid for it dearly the last 48 hours. One of those…and why didn’t I listen to my body sort of things? That said, I’m on a mission to enter back into my life as much as I possibly can and blogging is still sitting isn’t it? So here is my first take at Fantastic Fridays in a month or so…it does feel good to be back!

great FABRIC: True Up has been posting some pretty awesome stuff lately in the fabric world and this line from Celina Mancurti caught my eye the other day. I love the naturalness of the fabric colors and just the softness of it all.

to whet your APPETITE: Thanks to gobs of friends, I’ve not done a lot of cooking in the last few weeks, but I have been pinning a bunch of new stuff. I’ve been trying to build of a stash of good recipies for my husband to have for his lunches (and subsequently mine too). This Oriental Chicken Salad looks so good and I love the idea of all these jar salads that keep popping up online.

be NEAT (as in organized): I’m dreaming and doing some light research on reorganizing my pantry cabinets so I can trash the doors (which are basically trash in and of themselves) and have pinned a couple of great pantry storage ideas…such as taking all your cereal out of the boxes and I’m saving my pennies to buy a bunch of these wooden crates from some art stores to stain and stencil just like these.

a TUTORIAL to do: love this tutorial for a 10 minute pillowcase...think of all the great fabrics that you could use that would make such an awesome birthday gift for someone (stuffed with some good books perhaps?)

becoming more AWARE: My bestest offered this book on prayer to me as a good read while I’ve been recovering and while I’m only 1/4 of the way through it I can say it’s a life changing book.

something to SEW: I came across this pattern company in the last month and I love all their packaging and love the simplicity, yet uniqueness, of all their patterns.

to TRIM my house with: October is going to be upon us before we know it and Fall is my most favorite time to decorate (despite the fact that I have like zero decorations). I’m not one for going out at all for Halloween decorations, but I have these huge windows in our family room that are begging for something fun like this.

ILLUSTRATION to stitch:  FYI: This is a bad pin so just look at the picture (don’t follow it) but I love the idea of designing a typography for an old family recipe and then embroidering it...might just be what my momma is getting for Christmas this year :)

CUTE: if you have girls and your girls love dolls, this is a super cute (and easy) way to make a little play desk set for them at a fraction of the cost if you bought from that store with the big red bags.

fantastic fridays {july 6 2012}

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It’s Friday again. I was chilling at the beach last week, but am happy to finally be recovered from our trip, I’ve caught up on the laundry, vacuumed up more sand than I would like to admit and getting back into the swing of blogging again.
It’s time to share some of my favorite links from this past week.
Happy Weekend!

great FABRIC: If you’ve never taken a look at Cloud 9 fabrics, you need to. They are all organic cotton and are amazing. I’ve never seen a design from them I didn’t love and honestly if you are planning a nursery for a new babe in your life…seriously check them out.

to whet your APPETITE: I spent more time than I would love to admit doing a better job organizing my pinterest boards for food. Instead of one big board, I’ve got them all separated out into categories now. Here’s a link to my dinner board.

be NEAT (as in organized): This is a great photo of what I would love to do when (if) we ever redo our kitchen! A little nook just for brooms, dustpans etc.

a TUTORIAL to do: This is a lovely dress tutorial for the little chicks in your life.

becoming more AWARE: 10 ways to teach your child to pray.

something to SEW: A new pattern company is always a treat and Green Bee patterns is seeking to hit up all of us who have a love affair with Japanese patterns, but feel intimidated because of the language barrier. I can’t wait to see what all she creates in the coming months.

to TRIM my house with: I would so love to find an old cheap (free?) dresser to turn into a kitchen island. This green one is my favorite!

ILLUSTRATION to stitch: I’m constantly pinning illustrations and quotes I would love to design and stitch. Here is one of my favorites from this past week.

CUTE: fairy, elf and gnome craft ideas. too cute.

fantastic fridays {june 15}

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On Fridays I recap some fantastic finds from around the world wide web.

Happy Weekend!

great FABRIC: birch fabrics are probably one of my newest loves. They make organic cotton that is just lovely. They have a bunch of new lines coming out this Fall that are just awesome (and finally something for the boys in my house!)

to whet your APPETITE: We eat a lot of mexican in our house and these mini tacos look great (might even satisfy the smallest of us here)

be NATURAL and NEAT (as in organized): One of my goals for when school starts back is to be a bit more creative with lunches for my 3 that leave this house everyday. I have a love-hate relationship with this lunch storage. I love the idea, hate the plastic boxes…wondering a way to take something like this and tweak it to fit our lunch stuff

a TUTORIAL to do: This reversible bucket hat by oliver + s is ADorable! If only I had time to get it done before we left for the beach (along with like a million other things!)

AWESOME embroidery: Sarah Jane debuted a new fabric collection with a sea theme and I knew she would come out with some awesome embroidery patterns. She did not disappoint. The mermaid would be awesome in the kid’s bathroom and my son would love the ship.

something to SEW: love this “good morning sunshine” pillowcase! Would be a great way to use of scraps and practice applique.

to TRIM my house with: One day our back porch is going to look like this. I might be 75 years old before it happens, but at least I’ll have a comfy place to sit!

INSPIRATIONAL: In an effort to be more intentional about special days, I just love this idea of having friends sign a tablecloth at parties and other special times and then embroidering them. How fun would that be at a rehearsal dinner or something fun when your kids are grown?

CUTE: This giant, magnetic scrabble board is too awesome!