Decoupaged Letters, Guest Post

I'm not the only crafter in my family. My sister, Amy made some really cute letters for a friend's baby shower gift, and I asked her if she'd be so kind as to post the how-to and some pictures. She obliged because she's family, and family does that sort of thing. =) So, thanks, Amy, for this cool project. (Oh, and because we're also a family who gives credit where credit is due, Amy got the idea from one of her good friends, Leslie.) Take it away, Ame...

Super Easy Personalized Wall-Hanging Letters (because for the life of me I could not put this project into words any more succinctly than this…)

Step 1: Shopping. Go to your local craft store and find the cardboard or wooden letters. Choose your desired size and style. Then spend some time browsing the scrapbook paper aisle. Find coordinating papers in patterns and solids (I count color-on-color paper as solids, even if they have a design to them) and buy enough to cover all of the letters. You can also buy other scrapbook embellishments, but this was my first try to I was keeping it simple! Lastly, pick out your ribbon to use for hanging. (Well, that’s not last unless you already have Mod Podge, a sponge brush, a glue gun, glue sticks, and a craft knife).

Step 2: Set up. You will need to put down a cutting mat/board if your letters have interior sections to cut out. You will need a pencil, scissors, a craft knife, Mod Podge, a sponge brush, a glue gun, glue sticks, along with your newly acquired supplies. You may want to put paper down so that you don’t get Mod Podge on your table.
Step 3: Trace the outline of your letters onto the scrapbook paper you have chosen for each letter.Step 4: Cut out the letters just inside of your line – you’ll want them slightly smaller than the actual cardboard/wooden letter. Use your craft knife to carefully cut any interior sections.
Step 5: Cover the back of the scrapbook paper with Mod Podge and glue it to the letter.
Step 6: Once the letters have dried, brush a thin layer of Mod Podge over the whole letter. I set them on disposable plastic cups to dry, so that they had a smooth finish on all visible edges. [This step is optional, but I really thought it made the project look finished.]
Step 7: Once the letters are completely dry, glue loops of ribbon to the back – I used 12 inches of ribbon for each letter, so the total length of the loop was about 6 inches, which seemed right for the size of letter I used.Step 8: Hang and enjoy, or gift your letters!

Homemade Oatmeal Bath

Did you know you could make the oatmeal bath remedy for dry skin at home? My skin doesn't take Texas' changing tides of hot and cold weather very well. I've been using Eucerin daily, but it's just not cutting it. When Hannah was napping yesterday I was really wishing I had some Aveeno bath so I could soak. I looked it up online, and lo and behold, there are tons of homemade recipes out there.

The only non-optional ingredient in the soaking powder is the oatmeal. Process 1 cup of oatmeal in a food processor or a spice grinder until very fine. You can test the consistency by mixing a spoonful into a cup of warm water. If it dissolves and turns the water a milky color, it's ready to go. At this point you can add a few drops of essential oil, dried flower petals, 1 cup of dried milk powder, and a tablespoon of baking soda.

If this will be used for a child, use only the oatmeal (as I did - I have sensitive skin to oils and such). Add the mixture to a tubful of warm (not hot) water, and make sure to soak for at least 15-20 minutes. As soon as you get out of the tub, pat dry and lather up with your favorite lotion. But be careful! This makes the bathtub super slippery.

Happy soaking!

Homemade Babyfood Tutorial, Part Five

Meats

Okay, once again, I'm not going to make suggestions about when you should start different foods because this is very dependent upon each child and family's personal preferences. But here are the directions I've used for meats.



So far I've done turkey and chicken. I used our Thanksgiving turkey leftovers to make some babyfood, then I bought a whole chicken. My preference is to use free-range, organic poultry because it is antibiotic and growth hormone-free. Also, free-range birds are fed an all-grain, natural diet. The result is that there is a more lean, less fat bird that has grown naturally without the aid of growth hormones. Of course this is just my opinion and does not at all affect the recipes. I just feel like I'm saving a ton of money on baby food by making my own, so I'm able to spend a little more on the highest quality ingredients. (For example, one jar of baby food meat is around $1.29. I paid $5.49 for a whole chicken which made more than 25 servings. Great deal.)

This entire gallon-sized Ziploc is a combination of dinners made from just one small chicken.

Okay, moving on. Prepare your poultry either by baking, pan-frying (with as little oil as possible), or poaching. I tend to prefer poaching because I can further flavor the meat with onions, garlic, etc. in the cooking water, then I have that water to use to thin it in the food processor. Just make sure you do not use any salt to flavor the water.

Basically after the meat is fully-cooked, cut it into cubes, and add it to the food processor. Blend for 30 seconds, then thin with the cooking water to your desired consistency by adding a tablespoon at a time and blending for 5 seconds. When it is done, you can freeze as-is in ice cube trays, or you can combine with rice, veggies, or fruits like apples, blueberries, or pears before freezing.

Some helpful hints:

• There are great books with recipe ideas and food combinations for baby food. However, I always browse the baby food aisle in the grocery stores and get my ideas from the jars. It will give you a good idea for combining certain fruits and veggies as well as pastas and grains.
• It may be a good idea to freeze just plain meats (as in no combinations or dinners) at first until you get a sense of the combinations that your baby likes. Then you can thaw one cube of meat with one cube of apple, blueberry, corn, etc. If your baby doesn't like it, you haven't wasted an entire chicken.
• It is a good idea to use a whole chicken or turkey when you can because white meat does not blend quite as well. The fat content in dark meat lends itself to pureeing. Because of this, I always blend a combination of white and dark meats. By the way, a little dark meat goes a long way in the pureeing process, so there's no need to use equal parts.

More Finished Projects

Homemade Babyfood Tutorial, Part Four

Finger Foods

Once your baby is ready to start eating finger foods, food prep becomes very easy. I make the food ahead of time just as I did the purees and the mashes. I steam, saute, or bake the food, cut it into cubes, put in ice cube trays, then fill the cubes with the water I used to steam or homemade (salt-free!) broths.

Another easy option is to cut the fruit or veggie into matchsticks before cooking. Line them on a baking sheet after they are tender and cooled and freeze. Once they are frozen, put them in a zip-top bag in the freezer. You can pull out one or two sticks at a time, thaw them, then cut them into cubes.

Sometimes foods are difficult for your baby to pick up because they are slippery. To help them out, crush up some Cheerios in a ziploc bag until they are crumbs. Add the slippery finger foods to the bag and shake until they are coated. This will give your baby something to grip.

Easy Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I whipped these up Saturday to take to a friend's for dinner, and they were a hit. Thought I'd share the recipe:

Ingredients

1 small onion, diced

4 chicken breasts

1 can Rotel - whatever flavor you like

1 block of cream cheese

2 cans of green enchilada sauce

1 package of flour tortillas

1 cup of shredded Mexican-blend cheese

Fresh cilantro (optional)

Spices to taste (I used chicken fajita seasoning, pepper, and garlic powder)

Directions

In a large skillet, saute onion until translucent. Add chicken breasts, and cook until done stirring frequently. At this point the onions should be carmelized. Chop, shred, or dice the chicken into small pieces. Stir in Rotel (drained) and cream cheese. Stir until everything is melted together into one creamy delicious mess. =)

Preheat oven to 375. Meanwhile, pour one can of enchilada sauce into a pie plate. One-by-one, dip each tortilla into the sauce, place one spoonful of the filling into the tortilla, roll it up, and put it in a baking dish. Once you've used up all of the filling, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce from the pie plate and the remaining can of enchilada sauce on top. Sprinkle a cup (or more!) of cheese on top, then sprinkle with cilantro leaves to taste. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese on top is bubbly and lightly browned, and dig in!

Homemade Babyfood Tutorial, Part Three

Once your baby is used to the new tastes of foods, he or she may be ready for more texture and thickness. At this point, try making foods in different ways - baking, sauteing, etc. Here I cubed a couple of sweet potatoes then baked them on a cookie sheet until they were able to be fork-mashed.

Once the food is slightly cooled, use a pastry blender or a mix 'n chop to mash. Then freeze the food as you did the purees.

For some reason my mashed foods were harder to remove from the ice cube trays. In this case, I would grab a 9x13 baking dish and fill it about an inch full with warm tap water. Set the trays in the water to loosen the cubes.

Here are a few suggestions on foods that are easy to mash:

• avocado - no need to cook first...avocado turns brown very quickly in the freezer. If this bothers you, just mash a bit as you go instead of making it ahead of time.
• banana - same as the avocado - mash as you go
• sweet potato
• butternut squash
• acorn squash
• pumpkin
• fingerling or new potatoes

Homemade Babyfood Tutorial, Part Two

Making the baby food is very easy. Here are a couple of things to remember when getting started:

• Babies may be allergic or sensitive to certain foods. Because of this, it is important that you only introduce one food at a time. I was careful to even change the water I steamed food in and to clean all of my appliances in between foods at first.
• When you're introducing a baby to solid foods, texture can be a huge part of their experience. To minimize their adverse reaction, make sure you get the first foods perfectly smooth, velvety, and thin.
• Certain foods absorb nitrates from the soil differently. For this reason, doctors recommend that homemade carrots and leafy greens be restricted until 12 months. This is a bit controversial, so ask your doctor and do what you feel comfortable with. We chose to use Gerber for carrots and spinach and other greens.
• Boiling fruits and veggies will cause them to lose their nutrients into the water. If you must boil them, make sure you use just a little bit of water and then puree that water with the food. When you steam a food, if the water is deep enough to touch the food, the same thing will apply.
• There are a few different theories out there on good first foods. I recommend that you do your research to find what makes the most sense to your family. For these tutorials I'm going to start with fruits and veggies then move on to proteins.

Making the food:

All steamers will come with directions on steaming certain foods. If you have trouble, there are some great Internet resources available. The basic instructions are to make sure the food in the basket is not touching the water, and steam until the veggies or fruits are tender enough to puree.

Let them cool slightly, dump them into the food processor, and puree for 1 minute. At this point, they may be too thick. I would recommend that you use the water used to steam to thin them as some of the nutrients will have dripped into it. This way you are adding back the nutrients that were lost. Other options are to use unsweetened fruit juice, water, or breastmilk. If you are making the food in batches to freeze, it is not recommended to use formula to thin the food. The proteins and nutrients in formula break down when frozen, so it will lose its nutritional value. You can use formula after you thaw the veggies or fruit to thin them. The desired consistency for babies being introduced to solids is a very smooth, runny consistency.

After the food is velvety-smooth, let it cool completely. Use a spoon to pour it into ice cube trays, and freeze overnight. When the cubes are frozen, put them into plastic zip-top food storage bags, label them with the food and the date, and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months. (Again, this is debatable, so store them for as long as you feel comfortable.)When it is time to feed, grab a couple of cubes, thaw in the microwave, and enjoy! Once you have determined that your baby is not allergic to a particular food, it is okay to mix them and make yummy combinations like pear blueberry...

or mango, strawberry kiwi.

At this point, you may choose to combine foods before freezing. I found it easiest to just keep them separate, however, so I could make different combinations each meal.

Here are some helpful hints for these first foods:

• When you thaw the food, if it is too thin, it can be thickened with a little rice cereal or oatmeal.
• Save the water that you used to steam the fruits, and freeze it into ice cube trays. You have basically made your own diluted fruit juice. You can either melt these cubes to give to your baby in a sippie cup later on or use the cubes in a mesh feeder when your baby is teething as a very slightly-flavored ice cube. Some fruit juices are a natural laxative and may come in handy to have on hand.
• Lastly, do not overdo it with the perfectly smooth purees. It won't be long before your baby will be able to handle texture, so you want to keep the purees to the amount your baby would consume in just a month or so.

Homemade Babyfood Tutorial, Part One

UPDATED TO ADD: Thank you so much, Jenny! I forgot to mention that it is not recommended to make your own cereals. There is absolutely no nutritional value in rice. So, even though it is easy and cheap, there is no need for a baby to have a homemade cereal - it would be a filler only and would keep them from being hungry enough for the nutritional things they need. Instead, the commercial cereals are fortified heavily in iron and other nutritional needs. Please keep commenting with your tips and suggestions throughout this blog series! I'd love to learn as we go.

I've been taking pictures here and there and filing away basic hints for making homemade babyfood. I know several of my friends are interested in a tutorial, so I thought I'd post it here. I make all of Hannah's food. My reasoning is strictly financial, but we have found enormous benefits additionally. Here is the basic argument for making your own baby food:

• You control what goes into the food - quality, quantity, and extras
• There are no preservatives (something we found out after the fact that Hannah is very sensitive to!)
• It is VERY cost-effective
• It's easy
• The purees taste just like the real thing, so the transition to table food is much easier
• The possibilities of food combinations are endless!

Okay, here are the tools I use most frequently. 1) Steamer - We got this one from WalMart on sale for $20. It has honestly been the best investment that I've ever made in an appliance. I almost use it once a day! I'd highly recommend this one because every part is dishwasher safe - awesome.

2) Ice Cube Trays - I go through these quickly. I'm about to invest in all silicone because I find the plastic ones break very easily with how frequently they're used around here.

3) Freezer Bags - I buy quart and gallon-sized

4) Food Processor - This one is the Cuisinart Mini Prep - cheap, high-quality, and all dishwasher safe

5) Pastry Blender - I rarely use the food processor at this point in Hannah's development. I typically mash everything with either this pastry blender or my mix n' chop (see #7).

6) Fine Mesh Strainer - After pureeing things like peas, green beans, corn, or anything that's stringy or has a skin to it, you'll want to press it through a fine or medium mesh strainer to achieve a more desirable consistency for your baby at first.

7) Pampered Chef Mix n' Chop - This has become my favorite all-purpose kitchen tool. It is safe for non-stick pans, so I can use it to chop up ground beef or turkey, it is very sturdy so I can use it to mash fairly firm things, and it was a very good buy at $9.50. Lucky for you, I'm hosting a Pampered Chef catalog show now through January 30th. Let me know if you're interested in buying one of these or anything else!

8) Steamer basket - I have only used this a couple of times, but I got it for $1 in Target's dollar section. It's worth it if you don't want to buy the countertop steamer or if you want to steam multiple things at once.

Taco Pie

Here's the "recipe" I promised:

Amy's Taco Pie

Ingredients:

1 pre-made pie crust (I used store-bought)

1 lb. ground beef

1 small sweet onion

taco seasoning to taste

favorite taco fillings

sour cream

1 cup cheese

Directions:

Bake pie crust at the temperature on the directions for 5-10 minutes. (I did 8.) Meanwhile, brown the ground beef with the onion, chopped in a medium skillet. Stir in the taco seasoning to taste. The stir in your favorite taco fillings. We used corn, black olives, green onions, and the lime and cilantro Rotel. I would have loved to have had fresh cilantro - yum! Pour this mixture into your partially-baked pie crust. Dollop sour cream on top, then sprinkle with cheese. Bake at the same temperature for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted, the filling is bubbly, and the crust is lightly browned.

This is seriously delicious stuff. Thank you so much to my sister, Amy, for the easy recipe.

Jello Aquariums

Rachael Ray had the cutest idea, again using Jello. This would be perfect for an underwater-themed birthday party or even to go along with lessons about the sea in elementary school.
Click HERE for the recipe.

Frittata - Sounds fancy, but it's not!

In this economic crunch, we're trying to eat at home almost exclusively putting me in the kitchen daily. Dinners are easy, but lunch is daunting to me. I get tired of soup and a sandwich every day, and I try to make something that can be sent with my husband to work as well. So we do a lot of leftovers around here. I've recently discovered frittatas and their simplicity and cost-effectiveness. They can be made with just about anything you can dream up, they're so easy to make, and they're different and delicious. Here's the basic idea:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. In a small, oven-proof skillet over medium heat, sautee your ingredients in a tsp of butter to your desired doneness. Meanwhile, beat your eggs with a fork until all of the yolks are broken and well-mixed. Add your eggs to the skillet, and let sit until the eggs are cooked about an inch around the edges of the pan. Transfer to the oven, and bake until set.

The other day I made a taco pie (recipe courtesy of my sister and will be posted soon). I had more of the filling than I could fit into the pie, so I saved the extras. I also made my new chocolate chip cookie recipe which calls for an egg yolk, so I saved the egg white. I added the ingredients to my small (6-ish inch) skillet (yielding about 1 cup of filling), cooked until reheated, then added the egg white plus one more egg. Just before I put it in the oven, I sprinkled the top with a Mexican blend of cheeses. It took about 8 minutes in the oven, and I had a delicious lunch. Since it was too much for me to finish, I have a delicious Saturday brunch waiting for me.

Other filling ideas: bacon and tomato, shredded chicken with sliced bell peppers, asparagus and proscuitto, ham and cheese...

Busy, Busy, Busy

First, some news:
If, by any chance, you are reading this today (Friday, January 16th), then you still have time to join me. My sister told me about a great way to be of encouragement to a family in need. You can read their story here and find directions on how you can contribute here. I am an aspiring scrapbooker with little actual skill, so I did what I do better - quilt. I hope it's appropriate, but I made an 8 1/2 by 11 prayer quilt to be added to the binder. Please take a minute to send something if you feel so led.

Next, I'm very excited to have been contacted by an awesome website that wants to feature my coffee cozies! I do not have any details yet, so I'll wait on sharing anything more, but check back as I'll post as soon as I know anything.

Gosh, my needles have been flying lately. I thought I'd share what I've been up to as business has been booming. I still have a way to go before I finish all my projects on order, but here's where I've been.

Outgoing Projects:

A scarf for my neice:And two secret projects that I'll share in their entirety later:

Coffee Cozies

New items up in the shop

If you have kids who are old enough to color

then this calendar is really cool.

Cleaning Tip

I really enjoy cleaning, but only under the perfect circumstances which NEVER happens, so I rarely enjoy doing it. =) Nowadays I try to find time to clean when Miss Priss is napping. I turn on some fun music (think Mama Mia soundtrack) and try to take my time (if I have it which I usually do not). I've always appreciated easy cleaning tips that make things quick and simple.
So when I heard this tip years and years ago, I filed it away and now use it every single time I clean. Instead of trying to use a vacuum, wet rag, etc., I use a lint roller to dust my lamp shades. It works perfectly, doesn't clump up the dust like my vacuum did, and doesn't turn the dust and dirt into mud thus staining the lampshade like a wet rag would. I have a super, super dusty house, so mine need dusting each time I clean, but yours may be less problematic. Either way, this is a quick and easy hint.

So Cute

This Jello idea is awesome! Can't wait to have a reason to make it.

Corn Casserole

UPDATE: Jenny, I found a fake-out Jiffy mix recipe. I think you could probably skip the veg. oil (although the Jiffy box does have lard in the ingredients, but I would think the butter in the casserole recipe would take care of that for you). Click here for the mix recipe.

This is probably my all-time favorite side dish. We make it all the time, and it goes with quite a variety of dinners. I make it to go with taco soup, chili, or even just for me to dig a spoon into. =) You can change it up by adding taco seasoning, chili powder, chives, etc. depending on what you're serving it with. I even saw on a recipe board that someone ate cornbread with a little butter and maple syrup.

Here's the basic recipe:

Ingredients:

1 box Jiffy cornbread mix

1 egg

1 stick of butter, melted

1 can of sweet corn, drained

1 can of creamed corn

Directions:

Mix everything together. Place in a greased baking dish (I use my medium casserole dish, but you could use an 8x8 pan or double the recipe for a 9x13), and bake at 350 for 45 minutes. The center should not be completely set, but the edges should be a golden brown.

Hope you find this recipe as delicious and versatile as I do!

Kitchen Tip

I buy in bulk and freeze A LOT. I usually store things in Ziploc bags in the freezer because they're so easy to store flat and to mark dates and contents on. Plus, there's no clean-up when you're done. The problem with Ziploc bags is that they are not easy to fill without making a huge mess. Before when I would buy lots of ground beef or turkey, dividing and freezing it was such a pain because my hands were so messy that I got the outside of the bags all slimy and greasy too. I started fitting the Ziplocs inside of a plastic cup folding the tops down over the sides. This way I'm able to scoop things to freeze right inside, and the outside, my hands, and the zip-top stay clean. So simple, but so helpful.

Another tip about storing and freezing in Ziplocs is to lay them as flat as you can in the freezer. That way the bags will freeze flat and can be stacked on top of one another. I've got a stack of frozen turkey broth, frozen tomato paste (doesn't it seem like all recipes only use 2 Tablespoons out of the can?!), and frozen meats. This takes up very little room in my freezer since they're stacked like that.

Again, hope this helps you as much as it has helped me!

Handmade Christmas 2008

This year I decided to do an entirely handmade holiday. I thought I'd share pictures of the gifts in case it will help with gift ideas for you all.

I made a folding picnic blanket for my sister-in-law and her family. It folds into itself creating a bag. There are pockets in each corner for which I sewed bean bags to keep the blanket in place in windy weather. The bean bags fit into the outside pocket when folded.

For my 2-year-old train-loving nephew, I made a travel book of tracks.

My 7-year-old nephew runs a store out of his bedroom selling his drawings. =) He needed a storefront, so we came up with one together. This is designed to hang over a door. The top pocket is clear vinyl. He designed a store sign to fit there. The black rectangle is chalkboard fabric, and the bottom pockets are to organize his wares. A set of business cards completed his gift.A teepee for my 5-year-old nephew. And, finally, a photo quilt for my mother-in-law.

Knitting Tip

Do you knit or crochet? If so, I hope this is helpful. I seem to knit a lot of patterns that are repeating. I'm interrupted a lot, so I tried to start keeping track of what section I'm on by marking on a paper. But, inevitably, I don't always have the paper with me, and I easily lose track. One day I came up with a very simple solution, and I've LOVED how much it's helped. To keep track of my sections, I tie a knot in the tail of the yarn for each one completed. That way I always have the tally with the project so I know right where I've left off. Hope this helps you too!