I'm back...

Hello!

WOW! It's been FOREVER. Life has just been crazy busy and now that we're thru Halloween/birthdays/family visits I feel like I can breathe again before the chaos of the holidays! I want to give an update on things/projects/etc, but first I want to share this recipe. It's for spaghetti squash and meatballs.

I've been loosely following the Paleo diet, though admittedly it's more like 80/20. Hey, it's better than nothing! I've just been trying very hard to consider what I'm eating before I just stuff my face. I've also been working on doing more slow cooker recipes. This is the best time of year for it and with two kids underfoot, it works out great. This way I'm not dealing with feeding them, bath time and bedtime all while cooking dinner for my darling and myself.

Without further ado, here it is...

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Ingredients for Meatballs:
1 pound ground beef or sausage
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
Egg white

1. Mix all ingredients and form balls. I was able to get 8 nice sized ones.

Other ingredients:
1 25 oz jar spaghetti sauce- I love Trader Joe's Organic with mushrooms.
1/2 spaghetti squash- I could only fit one half in my crockpot, but if you can fit both halves go for it!

1. Rinse well, cut squash in half horizontally and scoop out seeds.
2. Pour sauce into slow cooker.
3. Put half squash cut side down into slow cooker/sauce.
4. Place meatballs around squash.
5. Cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5.
6. Take out squash and use a fork to remove insides so it resembles spaghetti noodles.
7. Put meatballs and sauce on squash and enjoy!

Crazy!

Hello!

Just wanted to post that we've got a four month sleep regression and possible HFM happening at our house right now. So, needless to say, I'm beat! I'll be back soon with more recipes, etc! In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying your fall weather and change of seasons!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Hello!

My little guy and I went to the science museum the other day and I learned this fun fact! Well, this post is dedicated to Ruth Wakefield and her "delicious mistake!"

For me there is nothing that makes a home more homey than the smell of fresh baked cookies. Especially chocolate chip cookies! I love to add butterscotch to any recipe I can, and these are so good! When we go camping these are a major component of the "Smore-gasm!" (Marshmallow and peanut butter cup sandwiched between two of these equals tasty sugar coma!) This recipe makes quite a few and I typically freeze at least half for later.


Ingredients:
Makes about 6 dozen

3 2/3 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions:

1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl, mix well and set aside.

2. Using a mixer, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy – about 5 minutes.

3. Add eggs.

4. Stir in vanilla.

5. Slowly dry ingredients mixing until just combined.

6. Fold in chocolate and butterscotch chips. Refrigerate dough for at least 12 hours.

7. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350.

8. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

9. Grab a glass of milk and enjoy the homey goodness!

My little helper!

All finished!

Rag Bracelets and Headband

Hello!

I'm currently working on a big project for my almost 3 year old's birthday. I tend to be an immediate gratification crafter, so this one is killing me a bit. I'll share photos once it's complete. While I'm working on a long term project, I can't help myself but to throw a quick, easy project into the mix. Yes, it takes me away from the big one, but sometimes you just want a craft project that takes 15 minutes to complete! (And uses up some of those scraps you JUST CAN'T THROW AWAY!)

I love making my own headbands because rarely can I find them to fit-even the elastic ones are too small and slowly ease their way back until they fall off! And bracelets, well, bracelets are a bit of an obsession! Especially for summer. It all started very young for me, making friendship bracelets and I've loved to create them ever since. These two are pretty rad!

 

I taught myself how to braid with more than 3 strands in middle school, I think. At some point I need to do up a tutorial about braiding with 4 and 5 strands for those who don't know how, but in the meantime here are photos of the rag bracelets and headband I made with 5 strands braided together...

 

 

Dino-hoodie!

Hello!

I have a friend whose little girl is turning 2 this week and I was wracking my brain about what to make her. Luckily, I take pictures of all my past projects! I scrolled though them and found the perfect, easy project to whip up for her- a dino-hoodie! You can find hoodies with this theme pretty easily, but not so much for girls. I'm not a huge fan of "pretty pink princess" stuff, so I tend to use black or gray with purple and sometimes pink.

You can find tutorials for these hoodies all over pinterest as I did. The tricky thing I've found is finding a plain hoodie. It seems like every brand MUST put their logo/screen print/obnoxious something or other splashed across it! I've ordered them online before, but this time was able to find one at H&M in the boys section. They had 6 great colors and there are a couple other littles getting these as gift soon!
 

 Here's the finished hoodie...

This is one I made for my little guy once upon a time!

 

 And another...

ROAR!

Happy Thoughts Sunday

Hello!

Phew! This past week flew by and I'm feeling just a bit wrecked. My 3 month old has been sleeping in 4-5 hour chunks, but for one reason or another my almost 3 year old has been waking up in the middle of those chunks, so I've not been able to sleep more that a couple hours at a time. I seem to have a bit of insomnia as well. So many things to do lately that my brain just won't shut off. I know part of it is because I've hardly been able to exercise like I normally do. Time to get on it! Here are some more uplifting thoughts!

• These waffles look ah-mazing! What a great use of zucchini!
• This looks like a fun project for little guy and I to do together. He loves all things Halloween...just like his mom!
• The weather here is changing! The nights definitely feel like fall, but it's still getting close to 90 during the day. This makes for very interesting dressing. Layer, layer, layer! My favorite thing to do!
• I'm very excited for this collection to be at Target! I really like the collaborations with designers Target does. 
• Owls make me happy! Especially these cool magnets!
• We haven't had sushi night in a while. These little guys would be a welcome addition!
• It's all Toy Story right now at our house. Little guy's 3rd birthday is in a few weeks and that's the theme he wants. Luckily, it's a cute one! There are so many great things to make food and decorations with this theme...the to-do list grows...
• I love this "look book" page! When I was 13 I finally got my own room. Sadly, it was the nineties and my stepmother made me pick colors that went with the rest of the house-which was decorated in pastels. I chose peach and seafoam even though I desperately wanted black and white. I swore then that my kids would be able to decorate their space how they want. Luckily, I don't prescribe to the "all rooms must match" mentality!

Hope you have a great week ahead!!

Popsicle Stick Puzzles

Hello!

Here's a fun, easy craft for your little one. It helps develop fine motor, memory, matching and problem solving skills. You can use any picture, drawing, etc you want!

Supplies:

• Wide popsicle sticks- you'll want to lay them out on your photo to figure out how many you need.
• Modge Podge and brush
• Picture
• Exacto knife or scissors

Directions:

1. Pick your picture. For this one I used a 4" x 5" blank card.

2. Lay your sticks on the card to determine how many you'll need. For a 4" x 5" picture you'll need 5 sticks glued vertically.

3. Use a stick as a straight edge to cut picture with an exacto knife. Or mark on back and cut with scissors.

4. Brush on Modge Podge and stick your strips to sticks.

5. Show the puzzle all together to your toddler, then mix up the pieces for them to do it.

I've found that more graphic pictures work for my almost 3 year old. He really likes the ones I make out of photos of us too! You can orient them horizontally or vertically. Here are other ones we've made...

 This one is from a High Five magazine ad.

 

Here's one showing color combinations and shapes. This is a good graphic example.

Here's an example of a photo one.

Happy Crafting!

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Bread

Hello!

It's my favorite time of year! Harvest, Halloween, chill in the air and baking pumpkin bread!

This is my all time favorite recipe for pumpkin bread. A few notes, I use fresh pumpkin puree which tends to have more water than canned pumpkin. If you are using canned add 1/2 cup of water instead of 1/4 cup. I love to put a bit of butter on a slice while still warm. Yum!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

4 eggs 
2 cups pumpkin puree  
1 tsp vanilla  
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tsp salt 
2 tsp ground cinnamon 
2 tsp ground nutmeg 

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 cup water 
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

2. Grease and flour two 9-inch loaf pans.*

3. Mix white sugar, brown sugar, and eggs in a large bowl; stir in pumpkin and vanilla and mix well.  

4. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice in another bowl. 

5. Add wet mixture to dry, adding water as you go. 

6. Mix in chocolate chips.

7. Pour into prepared loaf pans.

8. Bake 55 to 60 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

*I've also made this using mini bread and muffin pans. Check after 40 minutes and add time from there until toothpick comes out clean.

Freezing Tomatoes

Hello!

I am not much of a gardener, so I leave that up to my guy. I tell him, "You grow it, I'll cook it!"

Right now we have tomatoes like crazy and for some reason people keep giving us more! Well, I discovered something new a few years ago...you can freeze tomatoes! I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Um, duh." but growing up we only canned them and they were sort of bleh when you opened them to cook with. With freezing, there's a freshness that stays in the tomatoes! They are so good to cook with during the off season. I've used them in stir fry, tacos and countless crockpot recipes. It's SUPER easy and you don't need jars and all that canning equipment. Here is the sight I used.

As it turns out there are a lot of other things you can freeze that I didn't realize. Rhubarb is one I grew up thinking you couldn't freeze, but if you cut it into 1/4" chunks, spread on a cookie sheet to freeze and transfer to Ziplocks, it works great. To cook with you leave it frozen and you would blueberries.

Peaches are another one that we would always can in jars, but you CAN freeze them. This site shows you how. The key to both rhubarb and peaches, like blueberries, is NOT thawing them. You use them frozen or the get mushy.

My next project is freezing pumpkin. It's a bit of work, but SO much better than the canned stuff in stores!

Happy harvest!

Quinoa Kale Salad Recipe

Hello!

I want to share my absolute favorite quinoa dish with you guys! I mean, favorite, I could eat this pretty much everyday! It can be served warm or cold.

A few notes on this salad... This is the site I use for directions on how to make quinoa. It's great! I've never had under or over cooked quinoa, and it's never mushy. I've made this salad using everything from kale to chard to spinach. (Just be sure to use a bunch, it cooks down a lot!) I used kale in these directions since it's my favorite, but you can use what you have on hand. Same with the onions. I've used yellow, sweet, purple and green. I use Trader Joe's raw sliced almonds and toast them on a cookie sheet at 350 for 4 minutes.

Quinoa Kale Salad

Ingredients:
3/4 cup dry quinoa- cooked as directed
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup onions- chopped
Bunch of kale- chopped and spines removed
1/3 cup craisins
1/2 cup feta
1/4 cup toasted almonds
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt coconut oil in skillet and added onions. Cook 3 minutes

2. Add kale and splash with about 1/4 cup water to steam. Cook about 5 minutes

3. In a bowl, add cooked quinoa, onion/kale mixture, craisins, feta* and almonds. Toss with salt and pepper.

4. Enjoy!

*If you are planning to serve it cold... mix everything except feta and refrigerate a few hours. Mix in feta upon serving.

Happy Thoughts Sunday

Hello!

• Hmmm...maybe I need to start doing macrame again! I used to make and sell a lot hippie, hemp jewelry in college.
• These look so cozy!We had a couple of days that the chill in the air was welcome, but now it's back to hot, hot, hot!
• My littles are doing really well with sleep right now. I keep waiting for it to blow up! Having 2 kids has only reinforced my momming philosophy- "No fear, no expectations!"
• While also keeping this in mind!
• I'm a sucker for cool cheap t-shirts. This site has some fun ones!
• Bags, bags and more bags!
• Looking forward to this afternoon. I have some girlfriends coming over for a "stitch 'n bitch." Hopefully, lots of stitching, wine drinking and not too much bitching!

Hope you have a fantastic week ahead!

Tiny Scraps!

Hello!

My name is Nikki and I'm a tiny fabric scrap hoarder.

 I cannot seem to throw any scrap, even the tiniest one away...I mean, I might NEED it! Growing up one of my neighbors was a lady who made quilts. She had an amazingly organized sewing room full of teeny tiny scraps and she would use them all! She made quilts until she passed away at 98 years old. Truly incredible.

A while back I had a friend look at all my organized little scraps and said, "You know you're never going to use all of these, right?" Well, I've been on a mission to prove her wrong!

If you visit my etsy shop you'll find a few things I've created using some of those tiny scraps. I recently finished a project in which I would cut and sew pieces for 15 minutes a day with no plan and use those tiny scraps to create something. Going in I had no idea what the end result would be. Another pillow? A blanket? a skirt? I had a few ideas rolling around in my head. Well, this is what I ended up making....

I'm a sucker for new totes and this one came out really cute! It was made using only what I had on hand.

One one the supplies I use the most with these tiny scrap projects is light weight heat bond. I usually lay out a piece of muslin and just iron all the the scraps down individually, then stitch. It works great to keep everything in place and give a more solid feel. Be sure to use Heat 'n Bond lite- you can sew it without gumming up your needle. Another option, though a little more expensive, is fusible interfacing.

What do you make with your tiny scraps? I can't be the only hoarder out there! Ha!

Airmail Wristlet

Hello!

I'm so excited about this latest project! I made this for a friend for her birthday. Now that she has it, I can post pics. I want to make another one with a tutorial, but for now here is the finished product. Believe it or not, it wasn't easy finding that red, white and blue fabric! And I lucked out on the "airmail" fabric used for the lining- it was in the clearance section of one of my local fabric stores!

Lemon Zucchini Bread

Hello!

Zucchinis are in season right now and one of my favorite things to make with them is bread. I'm constantly trying to perfect and change my recipes. This one ended up being really great!

Lemon Zucchini Bread
Makes one loaf

1 cup shredded zucchini
2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
6 tbsps butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp coconut milk (I'm sure what ever milk you have will work)

1. Preheat 375 degrees.

2. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

3. Shred the zucchini with a box grater and drain by squeezing the zucchini between several layers of paper towels.

4.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Set aside.

5. In separate bowl mix sugars, butter, eggs, yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla.

6.  Stir the zucchini and the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture until just moistened.

7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface.

8. Bake 25 minutes, rotate pan and bake 20-25 minutes more until the loaf is golden brown and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer bread to a plate.

9. While bread is baking, prepare your glaze by mixing powdered sugar, lemon juice and milk together.

10. While bread is still warm drizzle glaze over bread- you'll have to scoop up whatever drips off and do several times.

11. Enjoy! I like to put a bit of butter on while it's warm-yum!

Caprese...yum!

Hello!

I love this time of year! There are so many delicious fruits and vegetables in season. One of my favorites is fresh tomatoes. I have a bit of a black thumb, so I don't do any gardening. Luckily, my guy loves to plant things- and can keep them alive! Life has been busy with a newborn and toddler so he didn't plant much this year, however. Mostly transplanted and rearranged the garden beds and pots. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that a bunch of tomatoes from last year came back! They are starting to put fruit on now. Since they are mostly sun gold and cherry tomatoes, I couldn't do the traditional Caprese salad, so I simply chopped them in quarters, mixed them with basil from the garden, fresh cubed mozzarella, a splash of olive oil and salt and pepper. They are amazing!!

Wooden Coins/Sticker Memory Game Tutorial

Hello!

My almost 3 year old LOVES matching games. He doesn't really understand the whole "turn cards upside down" memory game concept yet, but this game has kept him quite busy even so. I just leave all the coins turned upright and mix them together, then he looks for matches. He also loves to stack things so when he grows tired of matching he makes "towers" out of them. The possibilities are endless with this one. You could do shapes and colors themed, their favorite characters, animals, anything! It was very easy to make and cheap!

Wooden Coins/Sticker Memory Game

Supplies:

Wooden circles-what ever even number and size you like
Stickers

There's basically 1 step to this project- put your stickers on the coins! Just make sure you have 2 of each design or your toddler may get very confused, angry, sad, frustrated, annoyed, slap happy...you get the picture!

I'm going to add a Step 2: Pour yourself a glass of wine for making a fun game for your kiddo!

Below is a set I made out of cardstock and "Cars" themed stickers. The cards are 1 1/2" by 2"

Happy Thoughts Sunday!

Hello!

I've been thinking that Sunday might be a good day to share happy thoughts from the past week, fashion I'm loving, projects I want to do, etc! So here's my first "Happy Thoughts Sunday" post!

• I'm loving that both my littles have been going to bed and nap at the same time this past week. I'm enjoying it while it lasts!
• It cooled down quite a bit here the past few days, which I'm thankful for. It's been unusually hot and dry around here. When the temp gets above 75, I get a bit grumpy!
• That being said, I'm totally looking forward to sweater weather!
• Happy I was able to get a few more projects done. Can't wait to share some soon!
• This drink looks tasty! We have so much mint right now! I think maybe a bit of rum or vodka would be good in it...
• I finished this book the other day and loved it! I can't believe I never read it when I was younger. It's a very quick read- which is good with kiddos around. Can't wait to see the movie! I've since moved on to "Gathering Blue", which is the second book of the series. So far so good!

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Death by Smores!

Hello!

I must confess that I am a bit of a sugar freak and I LOVE baking! I have to plan on giving away a good portion of what I bake or I will eat all of it. All. Of. It. 

Here's a recipe that is great to make anytime- especially during the winter months when campfire s'mores seem like a distant memory. If you haven't tried Reese's peanut butter cups instead of Hershey's bars on your s'mores- do it! I love butterscotch as well, so I put some in these and it sent them over the top!

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup almond butter
2 eggs
1 Tbsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs (12 cracker squares crushed)
1 cup old fashioned oats
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup butterscotch chips
2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup chopped Reese's peanut butter cups

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with non stick spray.

3. Mix butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Add almond butter and continue mixing.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each egg. Add in vanilla.

5. Combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, oats, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a small mixing bowl.

6. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, slowly stirring until well combined.

7. Stir in the butterscotch chips.

8. Refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes.

9. Spread 2/3 of the dough on the bottom of the pan.

10. Top with semi sweet chocolate chips.

11. Sprinkle marshmallows on top of chocolate chips.

12. Drop the remaining dough on top of marshmallows- I just used my hands and made tiny pieces.

13 Sprinkle chopped Reese's over top.

14. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely and then cut into bars.

15. Grab a glass of milk, these babies are sweet!

Random Objects Matching Game

Hello!

Here's a really simple game to make for your little one and it doesn't have to cost a thing!

Random Objects Matching Game

Supplies: 

Cardstock-any size you like
Random objects
Fine point Sharpie

Step 1: Lay out your objects so that they fit on page. (I used 4" x 6" so it would fit in a sandwich size Ziplock  for easy transport)

Step 2: With Sharpie, trace objects on the page

Step 3: Show your toddler page with all objects on it then remove them. Have them put the objects back on page. This game improves matching as well as fine motor skills

Color Wheel Matching Game Tutorial

Hello!

Welcome to my page! I've been wanting to do this for some time now and I realize I just need to do it and stop thinking about doing it! I feel like I have some fun stuff to share. I'm not sure exactly what I want this page to be yet, so bare with me. I love to make things and my favorite blogs are those in which the author shares how they've made or done something. Whether it's recipes, art or crafts.

I have an almost 3 year old and a 3 month old. I'm always trying to find new and interesting ways to teach, and distract, my 3 year old while I tend to the little one. Here is a project I made recently. It's SO easy! I had all of the supplies already and you probably do to if you do any creating at home. It's a good lesson in colors and promotes fine motor skills. I've been working on making games that fit into sandwich size Ziplocks for easy transport/storage.

Color Wheel Matching Game

Supplies:

White cardstock cut into 5 1/2" diameter circle
Ruler
Fine point sharpie
Paper punch in 1" diameter
Paper/cardstock in colors of the rainbow, plus brown and black
Glue- I used Modge Podge
8 Clothes pins
Sandwich size Ziplock for storage
Optional- clear contact paper to make more durable

Step 1: With your ruler mark off  8 "pie pieces" on your 5 1/2" circle with your sharpie

Step 2: Using 1" punch, punch out 1 circle in each color and glue to each pie piece

Step 3: Cut 1 strip of each color the width and length of your clothespin

Step 4: Glue strips to clothes pins- I put a coat of modge podge over each strip for durability

Step 5: This is optional, but I sealed the whole 5 1/2" circle between 2 pieces of contact paper once it was dry

Step 6: Have fun with your toddler matching the clothes pin to the circle!

You could also make this with paint or markers. I'm thinking it will be fun to use patterned paper next!