October 29, 2010

Upcycled Onesie

I have had this pink onesie sitting around for quite awhile now (as in, since before Audrey was born). It is actually really nice quality, but it had one of those silly sayings they put on baby clothes written on it. You know the ones I'm talking about... "Mommy's Angel", "Daddy Loves Me", etc, etc.  Neither my husband nor I are big fans of those types of clothes so it has never been worn. I decided this was a waste of a perfectly good onesie so I changed it. Five minutes, a quick drawing, a little cutting, ironing, and sewing and now Audrey has a super cute bird onesie. I really do mean just five minutes, Miss A is teething and that is pretty much all the time I had due to her VERY short nap today.

Want to make one? Here's how I did it: 

Trace or draw your design onto a piece of paper and then cut it out.

Cut a piece of fusible interfacing big enough for your design and iron it to the wrong side of your fabric.

Trace your design onto the interfacing and then cut it out.

Peel off the back of the interfacing and position it on your fabric wherever you want it. Iron it on.

Sew around the very edge of your fabric. I just used a straight stitch, but you could get fancy and use something else.

And you're done! Like I said, it is a super quick and easy project.

I think Audrey is pretty happy with it too.



October 28, 2010

Merry Christmas!!

Alright, I realize that Christmas is still months away,  but Christmas came early in our house this year in the form of a beautiful new Canon Rebel T1i. I am beyond excited.

{source}
 This camera is amazing. I have a ton to learn, but am looking forward to (hopefully) taking some beautiful photos.

October 25, 2010

Happy Monday

We are on a mini-vacation at my parent's house and enjoying every minute of it. Fall is in full swing here and it is beautiful. We have visited family, been pampered by my mom, and spent an afternoon at the park. Hope all of your weeks are starting off just as well. See you in a few days when we head back to reality. 

October 22, 2010

Pasta!

A couple of years ago we were looking through my in-law's garage for something and I stumbled upon a great find. A pasta machine! Not quite what we were originally looking for, but I was super excited.


I love how worn the box is and the information pamphlet inside is just as good. It is very obvious that the person who wrote the English instructions did not speak English as a first language, or maybe it is just a direct translation of the Italian. Either way, it makes for a funny read.



I have no idea how old this thing is. I couldn't find a date anywhere on it. The only thing I see is a Long's price sticker that says $1.13. I find that a little hard to believe, but who knows. I'm sure it isn't an antique by any means, but it definitely has been around awhile.


Lucky for me, the in-laws were all too happy to get it out of the garage as it had been a hand-me-down to them from a friend and hadn't been used. I was so excited to bring it home and use it, but for some reason it just sat and didn't get used at our house either - until last night! I was experimenting with a new pasta recipe and really wanted a wide cut noodle to go with the sauce, I wasn't happy with the selection at the store so I decided to make my own. Oh my gosh, what have I been waiting for. Making your own noodles is actually really easy and really fun. They tasted good too! 


Just in case you were wondering, the experimental sauce was really good too. I'll share that recipe soon.

disclaimer: I didn't realize I had a smudge on my camera lens until way after the fact, so sorry all the pictures have a bit of a blur to them!

October 17, 2010

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie


As a general rule I try not to make dessert when it is just Bryce and I around here because we end up eating way too much of it. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity yesterday when we were lucky enough to have Bryce's parents and brother come for a visit and dinner. In addition to an amazing meal of smoked beef brisket, cheesy corn bake (something so incredible and decadent it deserves a whole post to itself), coleslaw, and cornbread I made this Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie recipe that I saw on Annie's Eats (an amazing food blog that you should definitely check out).


The name pretty much sums it up, it is a mix of some of the best parts of dessert - graham cracker crust, apple pie like filling, cheesecake with a hint of lemony goodness, whipped cream, and caramel, lots of caramel. Needless to say, this is not a health food. Making it took a bit of time and I had a few stumbles along the way, including smoking out our entire house when butter started dripping on the bottom of the oven (I tried really hard to blame the smoke on Bryce because he was cooking bacon at the same time, but sadly, it was all too obvious who was at fault when we opened the oven). When it was all said and done (and the smoked cleared out) the dessert was actually really good. As rich as it sounds it wasn't too overly sweet and all the different components really made a good combination. If you are looking for a new dessert to try I would definitely recommend it.

P.S. Don't you just love my new tablecloth? I do!

October 14, 2010

Lettuce Wraps


I saw this recipe for Asian Lettuce Cups in the August issue of Cooking Light and knew I wanted to try it. I wasn't disappointed, they were good. But, I thought with a few adjustments they could be even better. So here is my adaptation of the recipe.

Lettuce Wraps (adapted from Cooking Light, August 2010)

Meat Mixture
1.5 tbsp canola oil
3 cups coarsely chopped shiitake mushrooms
2 chicken breasts, minced or 1 pound ground chicken breast
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
3 tbsp white onion, chopped
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki or 0.5 tbsp Teriyaki sauce and 0.5 tbsp soy sauce
1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
1 head Boston lettuce or Bibb lettuce

Sauce
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp Sriracha
1/4 tsp salt


Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute mushrooms for five minutes or until tender. Remove from heat and place mushrooms in a large bowl. 
 

Meanwhile, combine chicken, garlic, ginger, onion, Soy Vay, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine. 


Heat remaining 0.5 tablespoon of oil in pan and add meat mixture. Cook 5-7 minutes or until chicken starts to brown and is cooked through. Remove from heat and combine with cooked mushrooms and water chestnuts.


 In a small bowl whisk together sauce ingredients. 


And it's time to serve. 


Place a spoonful of the chicken mixture into a leaf of lettuce and drizzle a spoonful of sauce over the top. Eat and enjoy! 


October 12, 2010

How was your weekend?

Mine was fantastic. We flew up to Portland for a three day weekend. We didn't do anything too exciting and contrary to what my sister was telling people, we didn't run the Portland Marathon, but we did get to spend a lot of time with family, see my brother and sister-in-law's new house, meet their new dog Charlie, eat some really good food, do a little shopping, and I even got to see my friend Kira when we stopped by her work. All in all a great weekend.

{Erica and Audrey watching the Oregon State game}

October 6, 2010

Sleeves

I found these cute shirts at the store for only $1 each. I knew I couldn't pass up a deal like that so I grabbed one of each.


They are very cute as is, but I was originally looking for something with long sleeves. So I added some.


I couldn't believe how quick and easy this was. Sleeves always looked so intimidating, but it was so simple and took about ten minutes a shirt.

I think Audrey is happy with them also.

October 4, 2010

Four Months

Audrey is four months old today. That makes me very excited! For some reason I have always thought that I will know we are making it when we get to four months. Well not only are we making it work, but we are loving every minute of it. We have one happy, smiley, bubble blowing, slobbery, blue-eyed, beautiful baby girl. Here's to the next four months being just as amazing!

{4 months}

P.S. Go Beavs!!

October 3, 2010

Winter Garden

or would it be a fall garden? I'm not really sure. But, I do know that I am planting again. I pulled out our summer garden a few weeks ago and was missing it already, so I figured a winter garden was the ticket. This is the first time I am planting at this time of the year so I don't really know what I'm doing. I'm sure I'll learn along the way.

Since I don't know what I'm doing, I am going to start small. I have a tendency to want to plant everything. From starts I've planted brussel sprouts (because we can't get enough of them) and cauliflower. I have also planted carrots and lettuce from seeds.  I have my fingers crossed that we will be eating something fresh from the garden soon.

{Don't you just love the look of a freshly planted garden?}

Oh, what's that big plant in the garden you ask - well our pepper is finally producing so I just couldn't bring myself to pull it out quite yet.

October 1, 2010

I Made Pants!

Since fall is approaching (yes, I know that technically it is already fall, but considering we have seen multiple days of triple digit weather this week, I am still waiting for the real fall to show up) I thought Audrey could use a few more warmer items of clothing. I started with this jumper and tights set and I am currently working on a few long sleeved shirts, and earlier this week I made her a pair of pants. I have never made pants. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I figured if I could make tights, pants couldn't be too different... right?

So...  I traced, I cut, I sewed, I ironed, I made a few adjustments, I sewed and ironed some more, I hemmed and added elastic and in the end I had pants. Some pretty decent looking pants.


Unfortunately, my cute little cloth diapered baby's bottom was much too big for the not-at-all-stretchy corduroy I chose to use and the pants didn't fit. Bummed, but not deterred, I knew I could somehow make it work. So I ripped out the back seam and added an extra panel to make the bottom bigger. It worked! Now little miss has some cute corduroy pants to sport once fall decides to make an appearance.