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!