~Pick a Pin: Wheat Tortillas~

I recently decided that I need to start utilizing my Pinterest boards a little more. I have actually made a lot of the recipes I've pinned, but I want to get to the sewing and crafting pins too! So I'm going to go through and pick some of my pins, and feature them here.

First up: wheat tortillas. The recipe is here. I was looking for something for lunch and decided on these. They were really good! And easy. Time-consuming, perhaps...but the taste is so much better than purchased tortillas, and there are not 32 ingredients in them. Just four.

This is where my picture should go:

But alas, after I ate lunch, and did a few things outside, I came back to photograph the remaining tortillas, they were gone. My husband enjoyed them too. ;-)

I filled them with beans which I had made previously, salsa I canned last year, and some shredded cheese. It was quite gratifying to know that I had made everything except for the cheese. I don't think I'll be making cheddar cheese any time soon! But I will be making these tortillas again!

Stay tuned for more Pinterest projects! I'm looking forward to some crafting, sewing, and cooking!

~Grape Jelly~

The last time my daughter went grocery shopping with me, she pointed to some grape jelly and asked what it was. I realized she's never had grape jelly! So I found some that was sugar free, and bought it for her. She loves it! She's eaten most of the jar in less than two weeks, so I figured I should make some of my own.

If you're looking for a quick canning project, here you go! I used Welch's 100% grape juice, a box of no-sugar pectin, and that's it! Of course, it isn't as sweet as regular jelly, but for our house it's perfect! I let my daughter help as much as possible, so she is quite proud of our jelly! Since I knew she would want to sample the jelly sooner rather than later, I left one of the jars unsealed and stored it in the fridge.

While I would love to source fresh Concord grapes and cook and strain the juice myself, I have to admit this is much easier! Now I can start my 2013 canning record. :-D

~Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies~

Do you ever have one of those days that chocolate just seems necessary? Today is one of those days for me!

I decided to make a batch of my favorite cookies, but I changed them up this time and they came out delicious! Who knew you could improve a Mrs. Field's cookie recipe? :-)

Preheat oven to 350*.

Cream together:
1/2 cup soft coconut oil (or butter)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Sift together, then add to creamed mixture:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt

Stir in:
1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened)
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Drop or form cookies and place on ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. I like to make bigger cookies, so mine usually take about 15 minutes.

~Mango Ginger Jam~

I came across this preserves recipe and instantly wanted to try it out! Thankfully, ataulfo mangoes went on sale shortly after I found the recipe, so I was able to give it a go.

Since I wasn't canning it, I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I didn't let it sit overnight with the lime rinds, so even though it has lime juice in it, the finished product doesn't have much of a lime flavor. But that's ok - I like it the way it is! I ended up with a pint, since my six mangoes yielded only 2 cups of cut fruit.

When I first tried it, I wasn't sure if I even liked it! Then one morning I put spooned it into some yogurt...and...wow! I was hooked! It reminded me of the ginger yogurt I used to get at one of our favorite Indian restaurants in California (though that yogurt didn't have fruit in it).

Since I didn't can it, I guess this doesn't count as the kick-off to my 2013 season for canning, eh? I'm looking forward to cherries which should be in season relatively soon. I have a few cherry recipes to try this year!

~Gardening~

This year we decided to have our garden here at our house. The drought last summer (but mostly the decision to not water!) killed off most of our grass anyhow! Plus having our garden in our yard will be way more convenient!

Our garden so far:

 



I must say that my husband has done about 99.9% of the work so far. I planted a 3-foot row of radishes and a 1 1/2 foot row of peas the other night.

Kevin also read up on how to start seeds, and has started almost all the plants we will be planting this summer:

They're doing pretty well! The trick is to have florescent lights hanging over the plants, and have the bulbs almost touching the plants. The bulbs aren't hot, and if the light is right there, the plants won't bolt and get too big before planting season. This project is one which my daughter got involved in. She got to plant almost all the seeds! She enjoyed the treks down to the basement to "check on the plants".

While I am not too involved at this point of the process, I most assuredly will be involved with the picking and canning part!

We will be growing quite a bit this year!
corn
zucchini
peas (sugar)
radishes
lettuce
carrots
cucumber (pickling and salad)
beans (wax and green)
tomatoes (three varieties for canning plus a cherry variety)
tomatillos
assorted herbs

and I'm probably leaving some things out! We have grand plans this year! :)

~Apron Dress~

Last week I sewed one of my daughter's dresses. I finished it Saturday, and she wanted to wear it. It was cold outside, but why not? We need our spring to get more springy! 

 

I like the way it turned out. It was simple enough. Bias tape application is never my favorite, but I always seem drawn to things with bias tape on them, so I just soldier through.

I made a size 4 in a size 5 length, Butterick B5019. It's a little big, but at the rate my daughter is growing she'll probably outgrow it by the end of the summer! :)

~Spring Fabric~

I have had this pile of yummy spring fabric sitting on my sewing table for a few weeks now! I am so anxious to sew!

The bottom fabric is a piece from IKEA. It has Huge Flowers all over it. My friend that I was with talked me into getting it since I was on the fence about it. I got it with the tentative plans to make a skirt for myself. I warned her that I would blame her if I look ridiculous. ;-)

The other fabrics are for my daughter, to be turned into three spring dresses. The white fabric on top is actually two king size pillowcases. I plan on making a nightie for my daughter out of one of them, and dip dying it with an ombre effect.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I was sick for about two weeks. I'd be clutching my coffee or tea, my ear throbbing in pain, and stare at that fabric wishing I could sew. Does that paint a pathetic enough picture? Haha...I was really sick! I am so glad to be well now! Now that I'm caught up on housework, I feel like I finally have the green light to sew! After taking the above picture, I cut an apron dress out of the pink plaid fabric.

~Pinterest Fail~

Have you seen the pin that links to cleaning vinegar? You take the peel from four oranges and put it in a Mason jar (what else, it's Pinterest, right? LOL) and cover the rinds with white vinegar. Two weeks later you have "awesome cleaning vinegar".

I tried it, and failed.

 

 

I can't blame Pinterest, really. I stuck the rinds in there and forgot about them, for longer than 2 weeks, I'm sure! Then my daughter was sick for about a week, then I was sick for two weeks, and...the vinegar got quite scuzzy.

 

I dumped the contents outside, and I must admit that the vinegar didn't smell bad. But it didn't look like something I wanted to clean with either. Maybe next time I try this I'll keep the pickling time to the recommended two weeks. ;-)

~Heart Bookmark~

Made recently, for a friend going through cancer:

A tatted heart bookmark. I found the perfect card to go along with it. Praying is all I really can do - but I do hope that the card and bookmark cheered her day.

~Emma and Her Wardrobe~

A long time ago, I participated in Randi's courthouse steps sew-along. Only, I didn't quite finish my project. One day last week, I spied my unfinished project in a stack and decided to bind the edges and give it to my daughter as a blanket for her doll that we gave her for Christmas.

I had some scraps of binding in my bias tape bin, so I sewed those together and bound the edge. I did a sloppy quick job on the binding, but I don't think Emma minds. ;-) Though, I still have two doll blankets from my childhood, so maybe I should have taken more care. Anyhow...it's done! :)

We got the doll, Emma, from JoAnn's. I highly unrecommend these dolls! But we happened to get a good deal on it so we went with it! I also got the shoes at JoAnn's.

I made all the clothing. That was both fun and challenging. Challenging, in that it was hard to make the clothes and keep everything a secret! By night time I was tired and didn't feel like sewing, and it was dangerous to try to sew during my daughter's "quiet time" (which is usually anything but quiet, that's a work in progress!). In fact, one day after my daughter's quiet time, I quickly put all my sewing stuff away, and while I was in the other room she went into my room and spotted the doll on my bed! She asked my husband, "It doesn't have any clothes. Is Mommy making clothes for it?"

But, all got finished in time for Christmas (with two days to spare!). I had to buy velcro and elastic, otherwise I had all the materials and trims to make the clothes.

I used Simplicity 2296 for the lavender tunic and pants, and Simplicity 4347 for everything else. The latter pattern is a reprint of a vintage pattern, so that was fun. :) I did modify some of the directions to make it easier to sew, as well as use velcro (the pattern called for snaps). I didn't want my daughter to be frustrated in getting the clothes on and off!

~Happy Valentine's Day~

Valentine's Day is not the biggest deal around here, but this year I decided to make my daughter a Valentine's skirt. I had the fabric - one yard of fabric with a deep border printed on both sides of the salvage - so I quickly whipped up a very full skirt.

My daughter loves it! So much so, that she's already worn it and I had to run it through the wash yesterday to ensure that she could wear it today!

 

 

I have a feeling that it will get plenty of use, regardless of the holiday-themed print!

~Chocolate Covered Strawberries~

I've been reading The Frugal Girl lately, and she just posted about making chocolate-covered strawberries. And, she got the ingredients at Aldi. Plus, I was going there today. So...what to do but make some for dessert?

They were so good! There were leftovers too, so we'll see how those fare in the fridge!

And on the subject of Aldi: I haven't shopped there for quite a while, but when I started reading Kristen's blog, and saw the different things she was getting, I decided to stop by and try shopping there again. I think my Aldi might not have a very high turnover on their produce, so some of it leaves a little to be desired. But if I'm choosy, I can still get good-quality produce for better prices, so I've been shopping there a bit more if I have the time.

~Hair Bling~

Quite a while back, I asked a "what would you do" type of question on my blog. Gray hair coming in, what should I do??? Well, two years of not pulling my gray hairs nor coloring has given me what I call "hair bling". At this point, I'm honestly not that gray white. It doesn't really show up on pictures otherwise I'd show you. ;-) But I do have quite a few sparkly hairs. They're the length of my hair cut, and multiplying rapidly.

I decided to just let my hair be natural, at least for now. However, I do reserve the right to color my hair if I so wish. ;-) The grays really don't bother me at the moment!

I was talking with my mom a while back and she told me a story of her mom, and how when my mom was a teenager, my grandma ruined an outfit with semi-permanent hair dye because it all rubbed off on her collar. After that, my grandma decided to just let her hair be. I always loved my grandma's hair, especially when she was older. It was so white and pretty! I think, knowing what a beautiful person my grandma was (inside and out), and knowing that she was confident enough to not dye her hair, has helped me make the decision to not dye.

I found this interesting blog post: The History of Hair Color. Looks like women have been dying their hair for thousands and thousands of years. But that doesn't mean I have to. :D

~Steam Mop~

A steam mop is something that I have wanted for a long time. We only have two carpeted rooms in our house, so the thought of using a steam mop rather than a mop and bucket really appealed to me. I decided to use my Christmas money on a steam mop. I looked at the reviews on Amazon, and the one that stood out as the best for my money was the Eureka Enviro steam mop:



When I got it, I was so excited to use it. It cleaned my wood floors so well! I moved on to my kitchen, ignoring the all caps warning: NOT FOR USE ON VINYL STICK-ON TILES. Bah, what was it going to do? I figured I wouldn't keep the mop in one place for long, just in case. While I was mopping, I needed to change the outlet where it was plugged in. I forgot to put the mop on the little tray it comes with. Five minutes after I had finished mopping, I walked through the kitchen and saw a tile peeling off the floor. Great...I guess the warning was for good reason! What were the previous owners thinking when they used those silly tiles anyhow???

Overall, I'm very happy with this mop. The steam works to get stuck-on food and stickers off the floor very well (the random princess stickers, you know...not that I have stickers plastered all over my floor or anything, but occasionally I'll have a rogue princess get stuck to my floor). I love the fact that it cleans with just water, no chemicals or cleaners. Because of the size it doesn't get in tight corners very well, and it doesn't clean the best right by the baseboard (but I suppose that would be true of any mop). It doesn't fit under cupboards, which isn't really an issue for me seeing that I'm not supposed to use it on my kitchen flooring anyhow! LOL My floors feel so much cleaner now!

Please note: links above are my Amazon referral links. I purchased this item with my own money.

~Felt + Glue Gun = Flowers~

I own a glue gun, but it is one of those low-heat ones, so while the glue won't burn you, neither will it stick to much of anything. It's pretty pointless. So needless to say I don't do much "crafting".

At my last MOPS meeting, the craft was flowers. I have made a few flowers out of organza, but not felt. There were three types of flowers demonstrated, and I tried all three, plus a variation on one of them. Fun times!

I have decided a proper glue gun is necessary. Crafting is fun! Especially if you don't burn your fingers....several at my table were passing an ice cube around but thankfully I kept my fingers away from the molten lava. ;-)

I didn't realize till I had glued the last hair clip on, but there were pins at each table too. I would have put a pin on the purple flower so that I could wear it. But it has a hair clip on it and my daughter has happily claimed all four. :-)