Getting ready for Baby

I took this beauty completly apart, washed every inch of the plastic, and machine washed all the fabric.  I of course, had to let it air dry for several days.  Well, believe me, it was very challenging to put it all back together with now instructions.  Sorry for the terrible pics, but I had run out of room to put it.  I had 2 carseats, one stroller, 1 bassinet, and 1 pack and play all taken apart and cleaning at one time.  What was I thinking. You can see the tiny bows I put on it, I would have chosen huge bows.  Dani likes small and simple.   I am happy with it.

Gluten Free Crackers

My crackers are gluten free

1 box  Glutions GF Crackers
1Cup gluten free Pretzels
1/2 c oil
3 TB Ranch Dressing Powder
Sprinkle pepper flakes

Mix all ingredients, wait 10 minutes, stir again.
Bake 15 min at 250 degrees

Spicy Crackers - Not gluten free
4 sleeves fat free Saltines
1 cup canalo oil
3 tb Ranch Dressing Powder
3 TB Pepper flakes
use same directions as for GF.

Awww

Isn't this the cutest.???   I keep saying, I'm not buying one more thing, then I found something like this.  Too cute. 

Crocheting

I have been crocheting lots of little things.  This is the cutest little dishrag.  I use it as a coaster.  It is suppose to fit the curves of your hand.  It was on Etsy.  I love all the little patterns you can buy to try new things.  Tiffany wants me to do slippers, that is for another day.

Cowboy Caviar, Salad in a jar

I found this wonderful recipe at Jo's Country Junction.  Of course I made a few changes, but we all loved it.  You can eat with chips, I just eat it as a salad.  I made a huge bowl, but all my little visitors took home a little jar, so I have my 2 little snack. 

Cowboy Caviar

1 can blackeyed peas
1 can pinto beans
1 can corn
1 can garbazono beans
small jar pimento, ok I bought a jar, and lost it.  So none in this salad
1 cup chopped green peppers
1 cup chopped onion
Toni Chachere's
 dressing
1 c vinegar
1/4 c grapeseed oil
3/4 c sugar
mix well, pour over salad, let sit in icebox for a couple of hours before serving.

I have put beets in this salad, or canned carrots.

Healthy Eating

Did I mention, it feels like cooking healthy food has taken over my life, its worst then the laundry creaping out of your baskets, down the hallways.  You know the feeling.   But, we have been eating well. We eat out 1 meal a week, so I am responsible for all 20 meals and snacks.  With all the restrictions, you really can't just stop somewhere and pick up junk.

This was sliced baked potatoe, topped with lean meat smothered with onions and mushrooms. No added fat.  Then a little sauted zuchnicci.  We have found Kev can have 6 ounces of meat twice a week, this is 4 ozs.  We actually think it is a nice portion.

We are doing high potassium, low fat, no gluten, no perservations or food coloring, or sweetners, high protien.  Sheeze, anything else to watch. 

Burp Rags

I finished about 25 of these for gifts.  The frayed one was found off the web.  She had the cute little pattern.  She said she put batting in hers.  I did not, our weather is really hot here, so 2 layers of cute flannel was plenty.  Sewing these were really quick, the clipping, that was boring and seemed to take forever.  I just watched a movie, and kept clipping.  I am really happy with these.

The smaller ones was just copied off a tiny burp pad I bought from the Dollar Store.  Now these are my kind of project, I just whipped them up on the serger.  You can see the colorful thread I used.  I love quick projects.

Salads in a jar

Ok, this one looks simple, but it is wonderful.

Dip recipe
1 Packet Ranch Dressing
1/2 cup FF milk
1 cup Oinkas Greek yogurt
Put in jar and shake till smooth

Put about 2 T dip in bottom of jar
1 can rinsed black beans  I divided this into the 4 jars
1 T shredded Chedder cheese
1 avocado divided 4 ways
6 sliced grape tomated sliced, per jar

This was wonderful, It is supposed to be eaten with chips, but I ate it as a salad.
Next time I make them, I will add more tomatoes, bell peppers, and maybe some celery.
They stayed fresh for 4 days, and the beans were wonderful in the ranch dip.



                                                                      SALADS

 

This is just my plain salads.  I put in the dressing, put in whole grape tomatoes, put in a little lettuce.  then a fresh organic egg on top.  Yum  Stayed fresh for 4 days.  I'm not sure why they stay fresh so long in a little glass jar, but I sure am happy about it.  Hubby doesn't see the attraction, leaves more for me. 

Eating Healthy

Well, I have to try out the new broth.  So I roaster a large chicken with potatoes, broth and Poulty Bouquet.   It smelled wonderful.  I promise I have done something other then cooking, but it sure seems to take a lot of time cooking healthy.

Homemade broth

Most of you know, our quest for eating healthy.  We try to stay away from food colorings, perservatives, and gluten.  Hubby eats a little gluten, me not a bit.  So we use broth to flavor a lot of meals, some meals I was paying $8.00 for broth, not to mention having to bring all those cans home.
Well, this is $8.00 worth of fresh veggies.  Look how easy, I chopped them into huge pieces, seasoned them with olive oil and Toni Chachere's.  Quick and easy, and I estimated it made $24.00 of broth.  That makes me happy.

Wash, and chop in large pieces
1 bunch celery
2 bell peppers, seed also
3 onions, I left the peelings on
1 pack carrots
drizzle on olive oil
drop in 3 cloves olives
season to taste
bake 2 hours at 350
cover with water, simmer 2 hours
cool
strain
I put in glass jars and froze.  Leave at least 1 inch space at top
We have used it in several recipes, and love it.

Food in a jar

Well, its all the rage.  And I love it.  I have been having lots of fun making treats in a jar.  For some reason, I thing they stay fresher, look better, and you get portion control.  I may keep eating if the bowl is out, but for some reason, I would NEVER eat 2 jars.  I do bring the jars to work.  Haven't had any break.

For these pudding treats I used:

5 pint jars
1/2 sliced banana to each jar
Mix one large vanilla pudding according to directions, I shook mine in a jar
Divide pudding evenly
put 4 low fat Vanilla wafers on top
Close lid, and refigerate immediately.

Hubby loved these, they only lasted 3 days, but were still fresh for that long.

Christmas Wrapping

I can't be more excited.  These will be the wrapping for our Christmas presents.  We like to use reuseable bags, etc.  I found these at the Dollar Tree.  I plan on putting a big bow on each, and fill with handmade goodies.  We give dog treats to some people, this is the first year in a while they have had the big dog bowls, so we were excited about that.  The girls and I are giving some joint gifts this year, I think it will be fun. 

Practing quilting

At the beginning of the year I decided to do a challenge for learning quilting techniques.  With our crazy year, I didn't get too far, but everyone who received a practing pot pad was happy.  I have a whole stack ready to practice on.  I would really like to start back doing the challenge.  I used blanket stitch to finish this binding.  I am very happy with it.  What a great way to practice a new technique.  If you don't like it, you haven't wasted a whole lot of time.

Block a day

Here's our little sweetie watching guard as I am cutting out fabric.  Here is a whole bunch of string blocks that I am work on at one time.  I don't think I am going to like tearing all the paper off.  I wonder if I would have been happier using fabric.  Which would you rather us?

Block a day

Well, my block a day kinda fell to the way side.  But I plan on slowly finding them in the stack, and see how many I can finish this year.

Another Finish

This is a small fleece blanket for a friends baby.  I love small finishes.

Long time

Wow, has it really been that long since I blogged.  Well, it has been a busy 6 months.  We are expecting a grandbaby.  Very busy sewing for the little tike. Helped get the nursery together.  We have helped one daughter move out, then moved into her new place.  Husband has had a major health issue.  It is unbelievable how much time you spend at doctor's offices trying to get answers. 

But I have had a little fun in crafting.  Here is some baby items made for a dear friends 1st baby.
The top pic is a close up the fabric.  Is it not wonderful.  I am happy with the monogram.  I did have issues with the thread breaking.  But it seems like I always do when I use my big machine.

Small finishes

I went to a baby shower yesterday. I made several of these tiny fleece blankets for carseat covers. It was a wonderful shower. Lots of fun food, and even a little wine. Lots of people I hadn't seen for a while.

I am finishing up some scrap sewing today. I want to get a little cleaned out of the scrap bags before I start sewing on my new projets. The flip flop quilt. Hmmmmmmmm, gluten free cresent rolls. Very yummy. I was really missing cresent rolls. So this recipe was quite nice. I put cheese and chili in them. I had to fight Kevin for them.

I made some plain, they were very good also. That's what I miss the most, is nice soft rolls.

Hope everyones weekend was nice, Kevin is working on my new air conditioning system. Kev is all excited about the lower electricity rates, I am more excited that I will be getting 2 new closets. Yahoo, the systems are going in the attic. So I get 2 full size closets. Kevin has given me a clock of 1 month. yahoo, that means I get to sew quietly so I am out of his way. I can't wait to clean up my sewing room.

Flip Flop Block

This is the fabric I am thinking of starting one with. I will probably do the blue. I really should do the pink, I have 3 boy quilts ready for quilts, but no girl quilts.

Who has seen this neat little template? I just got it Friday. I didn't buy the pattern book. Now I wish I had. If anyone has made this quilt, please leave a comment of how you liked working with the templates.

I think I will just make the curved blocks until I can make it to town to and buy the pattern books. They have several other templates that I would love to try.

Small finishes

I finished 2 of these today. They are also for Christmas. You put crayons in it, roll it up, and tie it. Cute, quiet way to keep crayons together for little ones. I think I tested this one for a digitizer. I have made probably a hundred of these over the years. Makes great little presents for little ones. I have even given some to teenagers in cool prints with hugh coloring books.

Christmas top

I once saw cute little pins with numbers on them, I wanted some. Not too crazy about the price. So I made my own. I love it. I don't have a problem keeping my little stacks straight to sew. But I like to keep my rows numbered to keep them straight. I sewed this one on my serger, so I really don't want to unsew. I know lots of quilters cringe when I say I sew some quilts on my serger. My I love it, fast, super strong seams, and I have never had a problem quilting it.

Christmas top

This one is a little challenging to put together. I had one square of some fabrics, and 25 of others. It was hard to get a good mix, I just finally did the best I could. Really fun to sew, little stressful to layout, easy to iron. It won't be a very big quilt.

New starts

I bought this bundle years ago, then I chopped off little strips for baby quilts to add color. So I really didn't know how big the quilt will be. I did have a few charms that someone had given me. It was quite fun making this one. I usually make scrappy ones, lots of ironing and sorting, and straightening . This was all in one little basket, just had to do a little ironing, and little cutting.

Don't know if I should count this as a new start since most of the squares just needed a little trimming down. This will be a Christmas present. Yes, I know, I will be finishing it Christmas Eve.

Small finishes

Here's 2 cute drawer sachets I made on my embroidery machine. The little square pillow is a freebie from S.W.A.K. I love their designs. I just bought some snowflakes from them, and I will show them soon.

I can't remember where I got the little cutie baby.

I was hoping to free motion quilt today, but we are having a big supper at our house tomorrow. So I am busy cooking turkey, rice dressing, cornbread dressing, potatoe casserole. Can't wait.

Small finishes

Here's 4 little teething blankets for a baby shower. I love finishes, even if they are small. I also love being prepared for baby showers. This one is a month away, and I think I have all I need for it. I do think I will buy a pack of diapers. Can never go wrong with those.

block a day

This is a whole stack that I have ironed. Now I just need to add another strip, iron, and I will have about 50 more done.

oops

I sewed 2 blocks together. hmmmmmm, how did that happen. Oh well, it wasn't hard to fix.