Baby Girl

We were lucky enough to get another ultrasound done only a week after the first one (gender ultrasound, that is). Because the baby was fast asleep in a tight little ball the first time, the tech didn't get the pictures that the OBGYN wanted, so they brought us in only a week later. Wahoo! And it is really a girl this time. And a good thing, too, because I had already bought some clothes for her. I have a very creative and talented friend who has decided to sell some of the cute little things that she makes. I know that a lot of you reading this right now have cute little girls, so CLICK HERE for her shop, and HERE for her other shop, and HERE for her blog. adorable
adorable
adorable
and adorable!

The BLT

My favorite sandwich would have to be a BLT sandwich, with mayo and yellow mustard, on toasted whole wheat bread. Yummy! For those of you who are challenged in the language of abbreviations, a BLT is a Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwich. I remember visiting my Grandma and Grandpa Breseman one summer (I think we were in Michigan somewhere, they lived there and in Florida). It is sad that a lot of my memories are moth eaten, full of holes. Most of my memories that are still in my brain involve food, however. Back to the story... Visiting Grandma and Pa "B"... We all went to lunch and I ordered a BLT. I still remember that BLT for it was the first time I ever partook in a toasted BLT. I am not sure whether I had added the mustard in later years or not. But I do remember that this was the first time it was toasted. From then on, I became a BLT junkie! And if we were in Michigan, I was pretty young. I will have to ask my mom about that one.

So after that long intro to the main point of this entry... I give you a couple shots of our garden.

Behold, the garden tomato! This beautiful Roma tomato plant is already sporting 1-2 inch long fruit. Paul planted five tomato plants this year and they are all thriving. The best part is that here is the Bluegrass Region, we get two crops, one in Summer and one in Fall. A garden tomato is just what the doctor ordered for the perfect BLT! Here is a shot from our lettuce patch. We planted a mix, so we have no clue what variety anything is, but it sure looks pretty. Again, perfect for a BLT!
And now the bacon.... Sorry, no shots of our pig, which we are going to fatten up and slice into bacon strips for our BLT's!!!

Now if I only had the energy to bake my own bread... Nah!

Fusion Bites and Leftovers

Store bought won ton wrapper don't last very long in the refrigerator, so I have been trying to use them up. I needed to use them, but I REALLY wanted to make some Mexican food. OK, I really wanted to EAT Mexican food.

Mexican Won tons - an explanation, not a recipe, I never keep track of what I put in.

Filling:


Ground turkey burger
Taco Seasoning
Cream Cheese (or a mixture of cheese is yummy, like Parmesan, mozzarella, and Swiss)
Can of green chilies

Mix and place about a tablespoon of the filling onto the won ton wrapper. Wet the ends of the wrapper with water and fold to your liking. Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown. Then dip in this yummy sauce:

Chili Tomato Sauce:


Can of Tomato Sauce
Small Dash of Cumin
Dash of Garlic
More Dashes of Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper

Microwave until warm and use with your yummy won tons!

And then Leftovers... I had sauce and taco seasoning left, so I recycled them into this bean dip. Dallin loved it and ate about half of this bean dip during a Conference Session on Sunday.


Bean Dip: (you don't have to use the fat free, but I can assure you that this did not taste fat free!)

1 can of fat free refried beans
8 oz. cream cheese, fat free
taco seasoning (about half the packet)
the rest of the chili tomato sauce (recipe above)
mozzarella cheese, enough to cover the top
sliced green onions

Spread beans on the bottom of a shallow casserole dish (mine was 9x11in). In a separate bowl mix the cream cheese and the taco seasoning together. Then spread this mixture on top of the beans. Pour the chili tomato sauce on top of the cream cheese mixture and then sprinkle with the cheese and the green onions. Bake for 30 mins at 350-375 degrees. I put it under the broiler for a bit at the very end. Serve with chips of your choice.

Adventures in Thrifting

I decided to give thrifting sweaters a try I went to Goodwill and found loads and loads of things that I could buy. I ended up getting two bed sheets, and three sweaters all for $11. The bed sheets have such fun, vintage patterns that I can't wait to cut up and make something out of. The mossy green sweater was already felted a bit, so I am going to felt it a bit more. There was a pink chenille sweater that I pulled apart and made Maggie, the whale (next to maggie in the picture is Max, the octopus, a product of my scrap yarn experiment). And then there was the SUPER large, grey hoody pullover. I got so much yarn out of this one, although the quality of the yarn is not that good. It is quite thick, which is nice, but... I will try to explain it how Paul did. (It was made in Ecuador, by the way). Paul's description, "They had the sheep and the loom and the knitting machine all right next to each other and there was one long piece of wool/yarn that went from one station to the next. No cleaning, or removing burrs and dirt, just one continuous string." If I could illustrate, there would be a drawing of the whole contraption.This is a picture of the yarn drying after I washed it for the second time. I am actually glad that the yarn is so "shoddy" because I can experiment with it a lot and not be afraid to ruin it. I am planning on dying it all different colors. I read on a blog somewhere (and of course I can't find it anymore) about dying yarn with Kool Aid. Sounds like fun, probably smells good, too!

To Me, Pure Indulgence

Chicken fingers are one of my many favorite foods. They are yummy, yummy, yummy! But I can never eat one plain. It has to have creamy honey mustard to dunk it in. I love my honey mustard sauce, so I made one that was a litter lower in fat. Somehow, eating fried chicken fingers with this low-fat sauce, made me feel a little better about cheating on my diet!

Honey Mustard Sauce:

3 parts low fat mayo
1 part yellow mustard
1 part honey, honey
A few grinds of pepper

Whisk and devour!

Picture perfect

I have to thank my friend Loralee for this great idea. The picture board she made for her daughter was so cute. I wish I had a picture of it, pink rick-rack and all! I finally got pictures printed for the photo board that I made for Dallin's room. It only took me two months to order them! Digital camera's are my favorite, especially since I take twenty pictures of one thing and only one actually turns out decent. The problem is that I never get around to printing them. I need to be better at it and get some scrapbooking done with them or something. Back to the picture board... I haven't decided if little yellow stars will find their way onto the mini clothes pins to tie the flag theme together or not. Maybe in two more months.

Sail Away

With Dallin's room evolving into a sailboat theme, the step stool that I have been planning on making him for a while had to have a sailboat on it. I purchased the unfinished stool at Michael's and made my own template for the boat. I got out my acrylics and painted away, making sure every line was as straight as possible (ha ha, I can never make a straight line). I waited for the paint to dry. Then.... Like every other paint job I do, I have to make it look old and dirty. I got out the electric sander, held my breath, and "ruined" the paint job. I love this technique.

botón, bouton, ボタン, κουμπί

Any way you say it, they are still fun and fancy free. After a long two week wait, I received my "vintage button lot" from ebay in the mail. Now, what to do, what to do???

Way too many PJ bottoms?? Oh Scrap!

After cleaning out my closet the other day and finding about 15 pairs of pajama bottoms, I thought that Dallin could use a rug for his bedroom. I picked out 3 pair of somewhat coordinating pairs and started ripping. I then ran to the store and grabbed a couple dollar yards of dark blue fabric and went to work crocheting. I LOVE it and Dallin has pointed at it so I think that means he likes it too! Close up shot... Some of these fabrics came from bottoms that were given to us by family members, so it was nice to still have them around, and not off to Good Will.

One Dollar Vase

My friend and I found these cute Spring vases at our local dollar store, ONE DOLLAR! Too bad I brought it home and promptly knocked it over and broke it!

One done, it's a miracle!

I finished this blanket a couple weeks ago. I am so proud of myself for actually finishing it and not putting in a corner to gather dust. Some people think that the best part of a project is finishing it. I love finishing projects, yet I love the creative process that I go through while I am making something. I get bored easily doing the same thing all the time, however. Thus my billions of unfinished projects. Anyway, the blanket is finished and only a little crooked in spots. But, hey, I made up the pattern myself, so it came out better than I thought it would!

Dinner for one... and 1/2

Boy, it is late and I am tired. I often put off going to bed, just for the quiet time that I get all by myself. Dallin took a nap from 1pm to 5pm, I couldn't stand to wake him up. It was a great afternoon for me. One of those nap times where nothing got done but vegging. And oh, how I love to veg after a mentally exhausting morning full of toddler. The long and late nap resulted in a late bed time. After three attempts of putting a screaming little boy into bed and then pulling him out of bed, he finally got to bed at 9:30. I am a big fan of the 7 o'clock bed time, but tonight, we snuggled together on the couch watching Arthur and American Idol late into the night. There is nothing better than a snuggle. I have been jonesin' for some fresh garden produce lately. That's not happening, however, so I opened up a can of diced tomatoes and made dinner for one and a half. The half comes from Dallin sitting on my lap, poking and prodding my bruschetta and nibbling every piece of bread on the plate. Here is my "lazy woman's a little of this, a little of that" version of bruschetta:

One can of diced, peeled tomatoes
A little salt and ground pepper
A little dried parsley
A little dried oregano
A lot more dried basil
A little garlic powder
A shot of balsamic vinegar
About a tablespoon of dried onions

Combine and chill long enough for flavors to meld and for dried ingredients to rehydrate (this makes me feel REALLY lazy, but it works) then return to room temperature to eat. I sprinkled a bit of parmesan cheese on top as well.

For the bread I drizzled extra virgin olive oil on the slices of yummy multigrain mini french bread and put it under the broiler until toasty. I then rubbed the bread with a clove of garlic. Then top the bread with the tomatoes and eat it all up, soooo yummy!

Leftovers tonight??

I have been trying to figure out what to do with all my leftover scraps of fabric and yarn. They just sit around, gathering dust and feeling lonely. In order to use these extras up, I have put myself on a buying freeze (except the $6 cash that I found in my pocket the other day, which, by the way is hard to find in any pocket these days and the Lowes gift card that has $5 on it). Here is what I came up with. I designed this purse that I am going to call "Grass". I only spent $2 on the handles and the rest is made out of scrap yarn. I have a lining pinned in it, but I am not feeling the love from it, so I might have to make a trip to the fabric store. I found this tubing in the plumbing department. It is amazing what kind of ideas you can get by scouring the aisles of a home improvement store.

Cuz' I'm Dreamin'

I have a very talented and crafty friend (she is a super seamstress) who has the coolest blog. I love to look at it and the fun things that she makes. Her most recent entry shows some cute button flowers that she just bought. The other night, after reading her blog, I had a dream. In this dream I was making those same button flowers, except they were a bit different. I was sticking spice drops onto wire and putting them in a big ceramic vase. So, after waking up and laughing at myself and my odd dreams, I had to make them. Here is what I came up with. I like the "hope of Spring" that they bring. I AM ready for Spring! Thanks for the inspirational dream, Sara!

Flower Power

Paul gave me some beautiful tulips for Valentines Day. I am going to try to replant the bulbs in our front yard. Hopefully my black thumb will turn green this year!! I am so proud of this flower that I crocheted because I made it from reading a pattern, something that does not come easy for me. I made the flower into a pin for the end of a scarf that I made a friend of mine.
Here is a pretty pink one.