Hat for Titus

Since we have had snow and freezing temps for the past week, I knitted Noah a hat with ear flaps.It turned out so cute that I couldn't resist making one for my only and favorite nephew, Titus.
Noah took it out for a test run...

Tags

So the holidays and crafting go hand in hand for me.
I saw this idea in a magazine (I don't remember which one)
And so I thought I would try a cheaper version than buying their premade set.
I love the way they turned out. The idea is make the tag and then you can hang it on the tree as an ornament.
I love the double duty! It would be a great craft for kids because they can decorate it any way they would like. One thing I wish I had done was bought a punch so I didn't have to hand cut every window out.
I did purchase the adhesive backed craft paper and that was a huge time saver!
Yay for personalized Christmas!

Mitts

I have been knitting a lot because I want to make handmade gifts for the holidays. I finished some mittens today and I come into the living room and Dave has Noah dressed like this:
I laughed so hard and had to take a picture of all the crazy.
The great part about these mittens are they are thrummed mittens and are fuzzy on the inside from knitting roving into it. I knitted these to try out the pattern I will be making a red pair and a pink pair for my lovely nieces in Idaho where it actually gets cold.
While on the subject, I also knit some endpaper mittens and I love them. They were a lot of fun to knit but they took a little longer than I thought.
As I finish the Christmas presents I will post them.

PIRATES BOOTY

I saw some pants in an online magazine called small. I thought they were cute so I went to the website to see how much they were, or if they sold the pattern. The pants are called Jolly Rogers and were selling here, guess how much they were asking?! 80 dollars! I could not believe my eyes. The funniest/craziest part, they were sold out. I was thinking, ummm... who buys $80 dollar pants for their baby? So I decided I was going to make Noah pants for $6 dollars. Here they are. He is almost grown out of them.

Taste of Fall

Yesterday we had to make a much needed dump run, so my Dad and JJ came to help with the truck. It was feeling very fall-ish outside so I made Potato Soup and Pumpkin Bars.
The pumpkin bars are Dave's all time favorite dessert (it is mostly the frosting)
Here are the recipes.
Potato soup

3 lbs red potatoes
3 cups chicken stock
2 cups of water
1 cup diced onion
3/4 cup diced carrot
3/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced bacon
2 Tblsp butter
4 Tblsp flour
2 brats (I like Johnsonville brats), optional
salt and pepper, extra chicken stock

Cut red potatoes with skin on and boil in 2 cups chicken stock and 2 cups water. 5 minutes into boiling add the brats. Take the brats out when they are cooked through. In a skillet cook bacon until almost done then add onion, carrots and celery and saute for 3 - 5 minutes. add butter, when the butter is melted add the flour and mix into the veg. When mixed in then throw the whole mixture into the pot of potatoes (make sure potatoes are cooked) and mix. Take out a 1/2 cup of potatoes and mash and then add back into the soup. This should make the soup rather thick. Cut up the cooked sausage and add to soup. Cook on med-low until all veggies are cooked, add salt and pepper and more chicken stock to your taste and consistency.
Top with cheese and green onions if you like.

Dave's Favorite Pumpkin Bars with Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

For pumpkin bars:

3 eggs
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
15 oz (1 can or a scant 2 cups of home cooked) pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Using an electric mixer, mix eggs, sugars, oil, applesauce, and pumpkin until smooth and well-blended. In another bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture in several batches, mixing by hand after each batch. Lightly spray with cooking spray an 11″x15″ jelly roll pan or cookie sheet with sides and pour batter into it. Bake at 350 F for 25-30 minutes. Allow to cool well before frosting.

For frosting:

1/4 cup salted butter
1 8-oz package cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar

In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook, stirring and checking frequently, until it turns a medium brown color and gives off a caramel odor. Allow to cool for at least half an hour before proceeding.

Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and butter until uniform in color and texture. Add powdered sugar, half a cup at a time, until completely combined. Use to frost pumpkin bars, reserving any excess.

YUUUUUUUUUUUM!

I haven't tried these yet, but had to post about them. Potato chips in the microwave.
ummmm... sign me up! I love potato chips!
Click HERE for the link. And let me know if you have made them. I am going to try it tonight!

Holiday Gifts Home Made Edition

My mom is a canning nut. As long as I can remember I have been snapping beans and peeling tomatoes every summer and fall to can. Well, since we won't have a ton of money this year for holiday gifts I decided to make some of my mom's famous Berry Vinegar(it is called vinegar but it tastes like syrup). The recipe is easy and it delicious on pancakes and ice cream!

10 cups of raspberries or Blackberries (these are the only 2 I have tried)
2 cups of vinegar
*sugar

In a glass bowl place berries in and pour vinegar over them. Smash the berries in vinegar. Cover bowl and leave on counter for 4 days. Each day smash the berries. On the 4th day strain the berries into a bowl through a cheesecloth or jelly bag. ( I strained it 3 times to make it a clearer liquid and to get all the juice possible out of the pulp). Throw the pulp away. You will have anywhere from 3-6 cups of juice, depending on the berries. Put juice in a pan on the stove top with 1 cup of sugar for every cup of juice. Stir until it comes to a boil. Let it boil for 20 minutes on low-med heat, stirring occasionally. Skim the foam off the top. Pour your syrup into the jars and put hot lids on them and rings and voila! Easy peasy gifts!
It is also so yummy and cheap if you can find a place to pick the berries for free.

Menu Plan

Here is what I am serving up this week...

MONDAY - Tacos (yum)

TUESDAY - Stroganoff

WEDNESDAY - Chicken, Broccoli and Rice

THURSDAY - Pasta -spaghetti?

FRIDAY - leftovers

SATURDAY - Barbeque steaks

SUNDAY - sandwiches.

Meal plan

Monday
Meatloaf
Hot Crash Potatoes
Spinach

Tuesday
Barbeque Chicken
Pasta Salad
Grilled Zucchini

Wednesday
Pork Chops
Wild Rice
Broccoli

Thursday
Tacos

Friday
Leftovers

Saturday
Brats
potato salad
grilled veggies

Sunday
Sandwiches.

Monday Menu Planning

Time to plan my meals for the week.
Tonight: Pot Roast
Tuesday: French Dips using leftover pot roast
Wednesday: Black Pepper Chicken and Rice
Thursday: Tacos -My Nieces may come over. They love tacos.
Blueberry Cake
Friday: Pork loin and Sweet potato mash
Saturday: Pasta and barbeque
Sunday: Chef Salad
Time to write my grocery list!

FREE BREAD

In Sundays paper, there is a coupon for FREE Sara Lee bread.

I love the word FREE.

Beating the Heat!

Summer has been odd here in the Northwest, some hot days, some warm, a lot of cloudy and humid days. We have a portable air conditioner in our home, we don't have central air. Our house tends to heat up.
Therefore, cooking with the oven is not an option unless used early in the morning. So what have I been using?
My Crockpot.
Yes ladies and gents, the return of ol' faithful. Where do I get my recipe ideas from? Crockpot365. This lady is crockpotting every day this year and posting her recipes. Some are pretty outrageous, but I have found some reasonable ones as well. My sister in law, lovely Sarah, makes some GREAT pulled pork sandwiches with her crockpot. What is your specialty?

The wheels on the bus

Are about to go round and round...
Last Sunday's paper has great deals in it for all the kids snacky snacks for their lunches or I buy it because I make my husband a lunch every morning. And you can get the snacks with coupons for free or 5 bucks, depending on the items you choose.
Walgreens is having a 4/10 or 5/10 deals on Kelloggs products.
Here is one scenerio that can land you two 5 dollar register rewards (these are the little coupons that come out of the other receipt machine, they are good off of your next purchase.)
Ok. So. Here is what you buy.
4 boxes of cereal (smart start, special k, fruit loops, corn pops, raison bran, mix and match)
2 boxes of pop tarts
2 boxes of rice krispie treats (if they have them, they have been sold out wherever I have gone.)
2 boxes of keebler cookies (the kind that are on the promo)

Nutrigrain bars are also in the promo.
Use the 5 different $1/2 coupons and your total should be about 17-19 dollars. Then you get 2- 5 dollar back coupons AND you can send the 10 dollar rebate in for buying 10 kelloggs products (the rebate is found attached to the same coupon ad in the Sunday paper.) It is a little bit of work but worth it for the savings. To get 2 rebates, you have to buy the promo, like 4 cereals and 4 pop tarts, I learned my lesson the hard way. Oh and my Walgreens wouldn't let me use the register rewards for more kelloggs products. I don't know why.
I know I am kind of a freak about this but if it is saving us money and helping me be able to stay at home, it is worth it to me.
And my husband will get deliciousness in his lunch and for breakfast.

First Deal

I am generally not a big fan of Rachael Ray because of her overindulgence of making her own cooking terms(EVOO)and she is tetering on being annoying. BUT you can get a year subscription of her magazine for $2 at www.lowpricesubs.com go and search 2 dollar subscriptions. YUMMO! Take that Rachael Ray, I just got your magazine for less than it is to make and mail it. Who's annoying now?!

Posting

So I am not sure about my background. I will probably change it but I loved the bears!